Ryker and Cloud Atlas

Before I start I want to let you know that I’m writing from the Boston Public Library right on Copley Station. If you ever have a chance to visit Boston City, I highly recommend visiting this amazing public space. I posted some pictures!

The Boston Public Library

The Trinity Church across from BPL

John Hancock Building

Old South Church

SO! Reworking the opening scene with Ryker had not been as bad as I thought it would be. His personality burst through quite easily and I found myself very loosely basing his character on a friend of mine. Zackaria and Meliz responded well to him as well. In this scene, Ryker is the troublemaker that the girls have to give extra attention to or else he will kill himself unintentionally.

COT opens up with the Kato siblings engaged in a high risk activity because they all share a love for thrills now and then, not just Ryker. Ryker's problem is that he likes taking it several notches higher above the girls' comfort levels, which is exactly what happens in this scene. He performs a variety of stunts that flame the ire of his sisters, especially Zackaria. A mistake or rather freaky malfunction sends him plummeting to his death and Z desperately tries to save him.

Ryker's reaction to facing death was different than that of Chrisa's. While Chrisa screamed everything her life was worth, crying to Z to do everything she could to save her, Ryker told Z to stay away because she might be pulled into death with him. He accepts his imminent demise. The precarious situation presents the siblings with a horrifying truth: there is no way to save Ryker. Unless of course a supernatural event takes, which is what happens, except this supernatural event can be explained through COT's pseudo-science, but the siblings don't know that yet. COT doesn't have magic; anything super that happens is a result of science. I'll explain more of COT's universe in a later entry. :)                                                           *****

I want to shift gears and talk a little bit about the movie Cloud Atlas I saw yesterday with my best friend from high school. We missed a good twenty minutes of the movie's beginning because we were late. We didn't mind since the movie was 2 hours and 44 minutes long.

However, jumping in that point of the movie, we were confused by the multiple story lines taking place in six different eras, along with the same actors playing different people. Thankfully, I read a bit about the structure of the movie so I wasn't totally baffled but my friend was so I offered as much insight as I could without spoiling it. The most difficult part of the movie for me was the post-apocalyptic vernacular. I wish they had given us subtitles because although they spoke English, the accent and broken English made it almost a foreign language to me.

Overall, the movie had a grand, ambitious plot and delivered scenes, visually speaking, I would never forget (One scene made my stomach turn inside out; you'll know if you catch the movie). Other lines and scenes even got laughs out of my friend and me. I liked the whole Buddhist vibe of a character forever living from one life to another and so on; how all our lives are connected; and how our actions, however simple they may be, rippled through and across time and people. The movie collects itself rather nicely toward the end, making better sense. I found myself caring more for the characters and feeling satisfied once it finished. After some cautious pause, I decided it was a good, rather interesting movie that made me think. I’m not surprised the Wachowski siblings made it. This is just their kind of stuff. Haha

Well that’s all for today.

Thanks for reading,

CSS

Good-bye Chrisa; Hello Ryker. Why Change is Good.

HI :)

I mentioned in my previous post that I had made a big change to COT. This single change means I'll have to do more work. Now, why on earth would I do something that would result in more hard work for me? Because it's refreshing, new, and just what COT needs to push it over the edge, and I'll admit, be more marketable. It's one of those executive decisions that I struggled with for a bit but ultimately decided was for the best. Now, I'm really excited about how this change can transform my book.

So what big change did I make? If you're not familiar with COT, it tells the sci-fi story of three adopted sisters who possess a terrifying secret that can not only destroy their world, but their minds as well. The girls live in a universe of intergalactic antagonists, beautiful but conniving dictators, former killers turned scientists, assassins, and more. The MCs' names are Zackaria, Meliz and Chrisa, and they each have their own quirk that makes them unique. Zackaria possesses a deadly temper that matches her bossy character; Meliz is an aloof, cold girl who is also intelligently manipulative; and Chrisa is a borderline suicidal thrill seeker. I love these girls. I've known them for seventeen years'; they're my daughters.

HOWEVER…dum dum dum…I've decided to release Chrisa into oblivion to have her become Ryker, a boy who embraces her thrill seeker personality except his will be two notches above hers. Their problems will be different as well. Chrisa suffered from the lack of normalcy and honesty in her life because of the bizarreness suffocating her. Ryker's problems are that he can't experience happiness despite this thrill seeker ways, along with the bizarreness of his life. They both are super cheerful on the outside, but deeply sad on the inside.

So, COT will no longer be about three sisters, but three siblings, Zackaria, Ryker, and Meliz. I think Ryker's personality will serve as a good counterbalance to Zackaria. As the leader of the group, Zackaria's  character often overshadowed that of her sisters. She will still remain the leader of this new group, but Ryker will add a new dynamic that equals things out. Meliz has always been withdrawn so I feel her character will also benefit from Ryker's appearance. She has two super hot-headed siblings, and is now more than ever their voice of reason and calmness.

It's very hard to say good-bye to Chrisa, but I know she will live on in Ryker. And now you understand what I meant about all the work I'll have to do. I'll need to rework all the scenes involving Chrisa and make sure that the character encompasses Ryker's personality and not just left over bits of Chrisa. It will be a challenge, but one that I embrace and ready for. Change is good.

thanks for reading,
CSS