Maybe We'll Write A Story About A Rich Teen Named Cleopatra

Just in case you thought this blog is going to be all My Little Pony all the time for a while, that's not my intent at all. I've just gotten so caught up in stuff -- Fug Madness turned time-consuming, my house is messy, we had taxes to sort out and paperwork to file, proposals to write, and a trip to plan. Exciting stuff, but all of it leaves my eyes and fingers too tired sometimes to blog about my boring feelings.

Jessica and I are hard at work on a proposal for a young-adult novel, or series of novels, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. We're so happy that we're finally toiling away at this, but it's a whole new comfort zone for me and I keep thinking it shouldn't be so tricky -- that if I'm meant to do it, the words and ideas should flow gracefully and naturally through my hands onto the glaring white Word document. But in fact, it's hard. You have to give people names, personalities. You have to avoid the pitfalls of making your main character the least interesting. And worse, the characters have to do things. We think about all the books that read so natural to us, like Suite Scarlett or the Gossip Girl books, and how logical and simple and easy and elegant the premises are that blow up into good drama between clearly defined characters, and we look at what we do and wonder if it will ever seem that right. Of course, this is forgetting that those authors probably sat at home at one point going, "God, this is hard. Will people think Chuck Bass is just a New York version of Bruce Patman? I'd better give him a monkey just in case." We need to find our monkeys.

In happier news, though, we're going to Egypt! Kevin and Jess and I are just in the mood for a really meaty sightseeing trip, and every year that goes by where I'm not knocked up, I figure I might as well try to see more of the world before it gets harder and costlier. So the three of us are dividing a week between Cairo and Luxor, which will be somewhat of a whirlwind but also totally brilliant, I think. Apart from British History, Egypt was always my favorite unit in any history class, and to think I will walk across the sands of Giza toward the pyramids and the Sphinx blows my mind.

It won't be easy -- we'll get sick, I'm sure; everyone does. And there's the heat, the poverty, the touts  and grifters who try to get money from you. But I get more fired up for it by the day, because it's a part of the world I never thought I'd see, and I don't know why. Egypt felt so far, so remote, so inaccessible. I love the pyramids and the idea of the tombs, but it never occurred to me that, hey, they're just right over there, why not go see them? It'll be like strolling through the pages of a history text, but with more sweat. I want to float down the Nile with a drink in my hand, and soar over Luxor in a balloon. Both are on the agenda. I can't believe it.

So the bruising pace of our work is invigorating to me -- it's like pushing toward something. Heads down, pencils up; we're gunning at our departure date so that when we fly off, we're really, truly away, if only for a short time.

Comments

[Jen C-B]

Ooh! I see you've just read Jaclyn Moriarty's book "The Year of Secret Assignments".
I've read all three books in the series, and they are uniformly excellent. One really interesting thing is the way she moves different characters to be the focus in each book, but you still get tiny snippets of what the characters from the previous books are up to. It is really cleverly done.

Enjoy Egypt, you thoroughly deserve it after the sheer genius that was the Fug March Madness.

[jen]

oh what a great trip that will be. I so wish I could come with you. Mint tea! Bargaining! pyramids!

[Jenna]

De-lurking to say yay! You will LOVE Egypt! You will NOT get sick, even eating street food - just don't touch Nile water even with your hand, and don't eat the watermelons. The water's treated in Cairo so teeth-brushing is no problem, but I strongly advise you to bring travel Purell and a bunch of those little travel tissue packs. See if you can hire a driver to take you around for the day to hit Giza (sans tour bus) AND see this other great site called Saqquara. That's where they have the much-older "step" pyramids and incredible tombs (and like, NO crowds). Also, a felucca trip down the nile is AMAZING - see if you can fit it in.

[Michael]

If you are looking for reading material on the plane trip to Egypt, you may want to check out the "Amelia Peabody" series by Elizabeth Peters. They are historical novels set in early 20th century Egypt about a family of archaeologists that mix archeology, action, humor and mystery.

[Erin G.]

Yay! How exciting -- Egypt!! Young-adult novels!!

Splendid. :)

[JennyM]

Oh, wow, I'm so jealous of your trip. I *will* get to Egypt one of these days. I was going to recommend the Amelia Peabody books as well -- they've been favorites since my mom read the first one to me while I was home sick from school, like, 20 years ago. And I think you might like them (as much as I can make that kind of judgment only having known someone through reading their blog for five or six years...).

[JennyM]

(Oh, and congratulations and good luck with the new endeavor!!)

[French Laundry at Home]

Egypt changed my life. Well, Morocco changed my life, first. Then, I went to Egypt two months later, and I was so enamored, it completely shifted the way I thought about so many things. You guys are gonna have a great time.

[Jennifer]

Have fun in Egypt! My best friend just got back from 6 months there in January and he really enjoyed it. His one warning was that it is extremely dusty. It is clear for like one hour early in the morning and then the dirt blows in, so your fingernails will always be dirty. Also, he said their food isn't great. But his pictures and everything else he's told me about Egypt are wonderful.