Rodney Dodig

According to the US Geological Service, a few of my friends in Peru and relatives back in the US, we had an earthquake at magnitude 6.9 here on Wednesday. I’m not sure what’s going on with me, but I have yet to feel the earth moving in Peru on these occasions. Maybe my backside is numb from sitting at the computer for long hours trying to get some writing done or possible the shock waves simply go around me. That last one is highly unlikely though. My friend Victoria and Juan Carlos said they felt it in Callao and others in Miraflores, San Borja and Barranco. Peru only averages about one quake a year that exceeds 5.0 in magnitude but they have many below that level. The tectonic plates in this region are very active. To be honest, I hope I never feel one. If I do, I imagine it will be a doozy and cause a great deal of damage not to mention the human factor. At least we don’t have tornadoes down here, although I do wish for the occasional thunder storm.

The writing has been going well. I’m still working on a few short stories and getting chapters done for the book. A big drug bust is about to take place and as soon as I finish this entry for my webpage, the battering ram is going to cave in the door to a nightclub and the SWAT team will invade the kitchen. People will die, some will be wounded and some will get away. I’m looking forward to writing this chapter and making it as exciting to read as it will be to write. The short stories are something else. I have three unfinished stories that, for some reason, I’m having trouble bringing them to an end. There are days where I just have to sit and stare at the screen waiting for the story to come to me. Next week, my goal is to finish at least one of them.

The writers’ group met Thursday. We went over a piece by Katrina. It wasn’t exactly a work of fiction but it was a great humor story. One I think that most of us can relate to, especially if you live in a small town or the country. I thought the story could stand on its own without much modification but Victoria and Amanda had a lot of suggestions. I’m looking forward to reading the edited version. I can see improvements in the groups writing but the greatest improvement I see is our ability to edit. That is a special skill in and of itself.

I saw two movies this week. The first was “Green Lantern” in Spanish. Although I didn’t get everything, I understood a lot and I enjoyed the movie. I still plan to purchase the DVD and watch it in English; there were a couple of important scenes where I was at a loss as to what they were saying. I give this movie 3½ Llamas on my scale. It wasn’t a great work of art but they did a decent job. I have a fondness for all the Super Hero movies anyway. The second movie was “Cowboys and Aliens.” Don’t bother!!!! Terrible over acting and I was seriously disappointed with Harrison Ford. The plot was weak and the ending worse. I give it 1½ Llamas and I’m not sure I can even recommend renting or buying the movie. Actually, don’t do either; it’s a waste of money.

The sun came out briefly Thursday about noon and stayed out till sunset. It was great to feel the warmth. Unfortunately it didn’t last. We are back to our cloudy, drizzly, chilly days. Can’t wait for spring. Tienen un buen fin de semana mis amigos.

I managed an amazing amount of writing the past few days. I edited or wrote six chapters for the novel and managed to start another new short story. Not sure I know where that one is going yet but it does involve a ghost and my friend Katrina. It’s great to feel the flow of words again and my confidence in having the edited version of the book finished by the end of the year is great. While sitting and watching the fishing boats at anchor in Callao, I came up with another short story beginning and managed to write a couple of paragraphs before meeting the group after they exited the Naval Museum. I have to get a few short stories done before I return to the US in October. The writers’ group will continue to meet while I am gone so I must have stories ready for review and posting in that time. Our new member, Amanda White an excellent writer, has been very helpful in her critiques. I am hoping that we can convince her to write a few short stories for the group also.

Editing the book, as any of you who follow this know, has turned into a bigger chore than I originally anticipated. Besides the new story lines that are involved, undoing a couple of murders and greater character development, trying to fit all these new pieces into existing chapters has proved challenging to say the least. I am positive that the work I am doing now is making the book more interesting and a better read. I can’t wait to see my friend Tim Moloney back in the US and get his input on it. I’m also going to send those chapters to my friend Deb and see what she has to say. Both are avid readers and Tim is also a writer. It should be interesting. After I do any editing from their suggestions, I hope to be able to submit it to an agent. Then Larry and I can start book 2.

On Sunday I went to Callao with a group of my friends; Larry, Victoria, Juan Carlos, Amanda, Katrina and Oswaldo. We toured the Fort Real Felipe, they went to the Naval Museum while I walked the water front and then we took a city bus (a first for me in Peru) to La Punta. I had been to Real Felipe before but it was nice to see it again but I skipped the Naval Museum because I had been there before also and didn’t think it was worth a second visit. The water front proved interesting. I watched tour boats at dock while the hawkers shouted, “Paseo, Paseo, Paseo,” without giving a price. I browsed the goods of other vendors, bracelets, necklaces, ear rings, and other sea themed goodies. Then as I stood and watched the waves crash against the rocky shore, the beginning of a short story popped into my head. The sound the rocks made reminded me of a candy I used to eat long ago. I think it was called “Pop Rocks.” When you put it in your mouth it made a crackling sound in your ears just like these rocks as they tumbled against each other. La Punta was the highlight of the trip though. Beautiful buildings, a great view of the islands off the coast, and the opportunity to take some good photos made it interesting. Unfortunately, the sun was missing and I definitely want to go back this summer and get some photos while there is sunshine.

Monday I met with Larry again and we went over the chapters I had written or edited. We talked about the chapter he is writing and another one that he is working on. All in all it was a good discussion on where we are going with the changes in the book and what we might make the second book about. After that, I had coffee with Kathy. We had an in depth discussion about love, chemistry and how our past affects those things. It was another good day with friends followed by a trip to the store to replenish supplies in the house. Yo espero que tengan un buen semana.

I managed to get back in the groove with my writing the last few days. I wrote three new chapters for the book and completed a new short story. It’s had to express the great feeling that comes from having a great week like this. My plan is to finish a couple more chapters before Sunday and if the ideas continue to flow well, start another short story. For me, and I’m sure it’s true for a lot of writers, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot. I am working on Chapter 28 now and have outlined chapters up to the middle of the book so I have a guideline for my writing for the next few weeks. If I can keep up the five chapters a week pace, I might have the editing done by the end of the year. Then the book will go to my friend Tim in Carbondale for his editorial input and after that I plan to send it to a few select readers for their impression. While their doing that, I hope that Larry and I can start on the second novel. I’m hoping that the problems that are plaguing him will all be resolved before too long.

Larry and I met this past Monday again and discussed my chapter outlines as well as some of the writing both he and I had completed. I am worried about the chapter on my psychopath. It’s gotten far too long and I’m not sure how I can break it up and supply the information in it to the reader at an acceptable pace throughout the first half of the book. I am pleased with the pacing of action in the chapters I have written so far and have to keep in mind that this book falls under the “thriller” category of crime books. It is certainly not a mystery since you meet all the bad guys in the first third of the book. So, the book is going well and I feel a lot better about the plot and character development than I did in the first draft.

After the meeting with Larry, I met my friend Kathy for coffee. Not much new going on with her. She’s still struggling with the Peruvian divorce system and trying to build a new social life. I hope she joins a couple of the social groups here in Lima. There are good ways to meet other expats here and the Peruvians who appreciate us. Oh, she did get a marriage proposal from a Taxista this week. As she put it, “a guy young enough to be my grandson.” You gotta love Peruvian men and their persistence.

The Writers’ Group met Thursday. We worked over a piece by Victoria. A gutsy, thoughts in my head from a female perspective, piece. Like all our works, it needed some help. I hope we were able to give her some insight and constructive help to rework it for publishing next Thursday. I posted my latest short story after getting home. Here is the link if you are interested in reading it. It’s about a young man who goes to the edge of the sea for solace and finds something unexpected. http://peruwritersgroup.blogspot.com/2011/08/sirens-song.html

I watched a movie called “The Wedding” this week. It stars Uma Thurman amongst others, but she was the reason I bought it. Don’t bother! I give it 2 Llamas on my scale and that is only because Uma Thurman is in it. Pointless! Pointless! And it has one of the worst endings ever!

So that’s it for now compadres. Enjoy your weekend and keep smiling. Happiness can be contagious.

As noted in my previous post, I took Tacito (the Psychopath in the book) to meet the Writers’ Group and see what they had to say about his childhood. Generally speaking he survived but I am going to have to make changes to the chapter. I knew that the process I used to have him remember his childhood was a little shaky and they agreed with that. One of the comments that stuck out for me was, “obvious literary construction.” In having him think about his childhood, I was linear in his thoughts and we all know that most people don’t think that way. Our thoughts wander helter skelter through our lives, back and forth in time. I also switched views from time to time, which I was aware of. I switched from Tacito’s point of view to the all knowing author’s point of view, not a good thing in a book. Now, I have to change those paragraphs to reflect his thinking. Some didn’t like the names I gave to a few characters in the scene. To that I say, “Too bad!” I like the names so they will stay.

My writing has gone well since the last entry. I finished another new chapter and 80% of a new short story. I also managed to outline the book through chapters 49. That alone will help me keep on track with editing the book. I have decided to leave the two novellas I was working on as they are until I finish this second edit. Today, after posting this entry, I hope to finish another chapter or at least get close to it and finish the short story. I’m glad I remembered that it was time to post to my webpage again today. It’s amazing how time slips away from me in respect to my blog. I wish I could be dedicated enough to writes entries every day. I’m afraid that my everyday life is a little dull for that kind of posting though.

Yesterday in the evening, the neighborhood gathered to listen to a band in the small park, Parque Grecia, that’s a short block from my house. Some unknown person had posted a sign on the door to the house where I live announcing the occasion. I thought it would be fun to attend and see who some of my neighbors are. Generally, people keep to themselves here and I rarely see the people who live around me as I come and go on my little trips or strolls to the store. The band was good, not great. They played strictly Peruvian music and a few people got up and danced. I never did discover the name of the band though. It was a great little break in routine for me. Everyone was friendly, smiling and throwing out the usual “Buenos Tarde, Qué Tal” in greeting. No young people were there, just a few small children and the rest looked like they ranged in age from 35 to 65.

I saw the movie “Splice” with Adrian Brody last night. It was very interesting and a little disturbing. It was hard to explain what was going on to Steve, which means I’m not going to try and explain it here. My recommendation is see it. I give it 4 Llama’s on my scale. It doesn’t necessarily need to be seen on the big screen so rental is fine. You have to play close attention to understand what’s happening on the farm at the end of the movie. That’s all I’ll say. Well, it’s time for me to get back to work on a chapter or the short story. Hope you all had a great weekend, I did!

In my last entry I talked about my one truly evil character, Tacito the Psychopath. Since then I have finished the chapter that describes his childhood. I found it difficult to write. For that reason, I guess I’ll never be a profiler. They say to be good at that job, you have to get so far into the criminals head that you actually become a psychopath yourself. The major trait of this character is his lack of morality. He feels no guilt, has no conscience, nothing he does or could do, bothers him. It was hard trying to think how a child from age 5 to 14 would behave if his mind were wired this way. You also have to consider that they are charming, personable, and would do anything to get their way. Lying, cheating, stealing, murder, torture, and all the rest are their tools of trade. They are so good at it, that you tend to not believe that they are doing those things. So fifteen hundred words later, I finished the chapter where he reminisces about his childhood. I have submitted the chapter for critique at this week’s writers’ group meeting. I hope they can help me polish the piece so that it sounds frightening.

I also managed to edit an earlier chapter to give it a little more depth and write a new chapter about a group of men arranging for a drug deal to go down. That chapter was fun to write and I was able to add another new character, Chico Rascón, a lieutenant in a drug gang. I love that name, the way it rolls off your tongue. I met with Larry on Monday and discussed the writing we had done to date and went over the details of some of our characters and how the changes we have made will affect the rest of the book. Larry is working on a chapter that will create some tension between two characters we have in the newspaper business. I also made a list of the characters we have in the book so far. It’s four pages long. I had no idea that we had that many people in the book. I just hope that we don’t confuse the reader too much.

We had a little sun here in Lima this week. It felt good. There has been so much rain and cold here in Lima this winter that I am ready for spring to arrive. I’m also looking forward to my trip back to the US to visit family and friends in October. I haven’t accomplished much the past few days but hope to get a lot done by the end of the week. I am relieved that the US Congress finally reached a deal on the debt ceiling. I was in fear of not receiving my social security checks for a bit. That doesn’t mean that I am happy with the outcome. I have a feeling that the US is on a downward trend, not only as it affects its citizens but the way the rest of the world will perceive it. Not only does the government of the US need to get its head out of its ass, the American people do also. Whatever happened to open and honest debate in our country? Why can’t people compromise on issues of national importance? We have become a nation of ME instead of US. I don’t think it’s too late but we are getting closer and closer to that point.

Happy Hump Day everyone. Enjoy the rest of your week.

In my mind, the most evil character in my book is a psychopath. I had a preconceived notion as to what that means and how a person becomes one. I was wrong. According to some psychiatrists a psychopath is born, not created. If you met one, had one for a friend or in the family; you probably wouldn’t know it. They learn from an early age to pass as normal but they have no moral code whatsoever. They lie, cheat, steal, murder, are incapable of being faithful and have no guilt about any of their actions. They are also charming, likeable, alert, intelligent, confidence inspiring and a huge success with the opposite sex. This is what I want my truly evil character, Tacito Alvarado, to be like. In the first draft of the book, I failed at this miserably. I think I made him more of a sociopath. Here’s a great link to a study done on psychopaths, http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopath.htm it’s lengthy but a good read. I want his sidekick, Simple, to be the sociopath and I will get into that in my next entry.

Larry and I met this past Monday and went over the latest chapters. It was Larry’s chapter on Tacito musing about his upbringing that got me to thinking about what a psychopath is really like. That’s when I came across the article above. He missed the mark also but I must admit that I sent him in that direction. Needless to say I will be editing that chapter to fit the profile. Larry has been having a lot of problems in the home lately and has had to cut back on his writing a lot. The edit/rewrite has been going slowly but we are making progress and that’s what counts. So far, I think what we have done is a vast improvement on the previous version. Let’s hope that agents and publishers agree when we are finished.

After the meeting with Larry, I met with Kathy for a coffee at a restaurant near her apartment. She’s still going through the lengthy legal process of her divorce here in Peru. Who knows how it will end. She and Luis are far apart on how to settle so that means it will go to the courts. I have a feeling it is going to get really ugly before it’s over. She’s managing to stay chipper though and is trying to start a new life and increase her circle of friends. That can be a hard thing in a foreign country, actually it can be a hard thing anywhere.

I went to see Captain America with Steve and Antonio Tuesday evening. Before the movie we stopped in at Chili’s and had one of their “special” margaritas. I must admit they were pretty good. Unlike my life in the US where frequent trips to the bar to meet friends was a normal part of my life, here I rarely drink. I did get a little buzz off of this giant margarita. The movie was good too although I didn’t care for the ending too much. I never got into the Captain America comics growing up, Dr Strange and the X-men were my favorites. I give the movie a 3½ Llama rating on my scale. Special effects and action were great, plot was just OK.

The Writers’ Group met on Thursday minus Larry and Victoria. Larry will be dropping out of the meetings for awhile for the reasons mentioned above. Victoria had a cold (un resfrio in español) and decided to stay home instead of sharing it with us. I am thankful for that. Despite the two being absent, Katrina and Amanda managed to pick my story apart, much like kids pulling the wings off a butterfly. Maybe that was a little too harsh but they seemed to be enjoying it too much. Just kidding ladies, you know I love your critiques. I am becoming a better writer as a result. We also talked about books, other writers, our lives and most anything that popped into our heads. It was a great meeting, all the ladies in the group are witty, charming and intelligent. Hmmmmm!!!!

That’s it for this entry, besides the water is boiling and I need to make another cup of coffee. Have a great weekend everyone. At this point I have no plans other than writing and going to the gym.