Bright colours and happiness

Thank you so much for all your kind messages and congratulations, everyone! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about all of this. It is such a relief, after two years of work and striving for publication, to reach this milestone.

At this stage, my editor wants to release the book in early 2011. Which seems like a long time to wait, particularly if you are blessed with the patience of a fruit fly, as I am, until you realise that it needs to be published at that time in order to have the best chance of succeeding. New books are generally released at the beginning of the year, after the big names have released new titles in the northern hemisphere's autumn, in time for Christmas. Early 2010 is only six months away, and so my book won't be ready in time. Hence the wait! I'm just happy that it's all coming true. (Yes, I am still checking and rechecking the emails to make sure it is not an elaborate hallucination).

A couple of you have asked whether I can reveal the title of the book. It would be my pleasure! The book is called 'Ngozi', which is a Shona word meaning (loosely translated), 'vengeful ghosts.' Here's an excerpt from my query letter, where I gave a brief blurb:

"Being a white Zimbabwean in the 1990s is a near-perfect life. Your clothes are always clean and ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gins and tonics are served on the verandah, and, in theory at least, black and white live in harmony. As Mugabe’s presidency turns sour, however, this idyllic and privileged world begins to crumble into anarchy.

Told through the eyes of a young girl, Ngozi follows the struggle of one troubled white family to stay afloat in the collapsing economy and escalating horror of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. When the farm invasions begin, the violence threatens to destroy their way of life forever, and escaping the vengeful ghosts (‘ngozi’) of their past seems impossible. Can they stay, or must they go?"

Thanks again for all your support through this whole process - I appreciate it greatly.

P.S. The lovely vintage bag I'm carrying was a birthday gift from my friend Hannah. My old favourite is out of action after the dastardly mugger broke it, so I'm especially delighted to have a beautiful new bag!

This is how I'm feeling today!

P.S. I'm working towards my dream of owning a coat in every colour possible.
P.P.S. Just one day till my birthday!

Bits and bobs

Wow, a lot of catching up to do! Thank you so much for all your comments, everyone - I'm a little behind, but catching up fast.

It has been a busy - and very productive - few days. Work is going really well on both books - I resurrected my on-hold young adult one last week as well. I don't usually work on two projects at once: I started working on the young adult one as a Busman's holiday to counteract the occasional fatigue and boredom I feel with my work in progress. Sometimes writing can feel like wading through treacle, and it has been really helpful to switch between the two when my enthusiasm fades on one.

"You might not be at the point where you're stalled because of burnout, or deadline pressures, but if you keep writing, eventually you're likely to hit some variation of this problem. We all seem to run over most of the same ruts in the road sooner or later, after all. If and when you do bounce across this one, keep my busman's holiday in mind. Sometimes the only thing that will set your writing free is to write just for yourself. No matter how tight your deadline is or how desperate you are to get a particular project out the door, remember that your brain is not hardware. It doesn't come with software programmed to produce two thousand words a day, day in and day out. Your mind is a mystery, and one that likes to play. It can do more than you can imagine, but only if you give it a little time of its own, to just burst free without constraints or specified objectives. " - Holly Lisle

I find working on something different and writing with the pressure taken off is more relaxing than taking a complete break from working. It might not work for everybody, but if you are experiencing that wading-through-treacle feeling, it might be worth a shot.

The yWriter5 software has made an emormous difference to the way I work, as well, and has helped me immensely. I'm planning a whole post on this software and its benefits to the novel-writing process soon, but why wait for me to endorse it? It's free! Go download it and have a play.

Thank you so much for all the links you sent me on this post. I have drawn the name of the person who will receive a little parcel of goodies, and it is Elena Lu!. Please leave your email address in the comments, and I'll be in touch.

P.S. I have been thinking of a little get-together for Christchurch bloggers for a while. It would be lovely to meet those of you I haven't, and catch up with those I have. I thought The Tea Room on Lincoln Road would be a good place to meet for tea and cupcakes, and we could go on a little thrifting trip afterwards. Leave me a comment if you're interested in coming along!

"Am I getting mixed signals?"

Dear Auntie June,

Recently I feel like I have been getting mixed signals from the people I'm trying to attract. It seems like they're interested in me - they pay me all kinds of compliments and they seem to like me - but when it comes to the crunch, none of them wants to commit. For example, today one of them said, "In the end I thought it would be hard to make enough of a platform for this novel to reach a wide audience. It’s lovely and well-written but there were some structural issues I had with the story, particularly the last third. It’s one of those that I did waver over though." What am I doing wrong? How can I get them to take that final step and enter a long-term relationship?

Andrea the Aspiring Author

Auntie June writes,

"Well, it sounds like you're in a pickle, Pickle. I'm sorry to say it, love, but it seems to me like they're just not that into you. Actions speak louder than words, pet, after all. It sounds to me like the right person just hasn't come along for you yet, and you need to be patient. It's probably for the best that these attractions haven't turned into relationships; you want someone who really cares about you wholeheartedly, not someone who's unsure. So chin up, ducks! Worse things happen at sea."

In which I get over-excited and post too many photographs

NEW DRESS NEW DRESS NEW DRESS. New, beloved vintage dress! Is another Rejection Dress bought to cheer myself up. My closet has a few of those.

And now I am facing sideways. I curled the front pieces of my hair for the first time today - I like the silent-film look it has.

Here I get delusions of grandeur and try to look sultry. Instead I look like I am mid-yawn.

And here I crack up because, really, I cannot pose to save my life, and I look like a chipmunk.

Back to normal again! Or what passes for it.

Happy June!

I love the month of June, largely because it's my birthday month (my birthday's on the 20th), and I have grown up not at all when it comes to birthdays. I still get ridiculously excited about parties and presents.

In other news, I am sick! Again! So silly. Just a cold, but it meant I spent most of the weekend in bed. I had my first outing today, to buy groceries, and now that I'm home again I'm looking forward to a lazy afternoon and evening watching telly on the couch.

Thanks so much for your links on the last post - I'm still looking through all of them, and they're great! If you'd still like to add some, please do, they're very helpful.

Hello and goodbye

This will be my last post for a couple of days - the film festival starts tonight! Looks like the weather is going to be wet and freezing all weekend, so I look forward to much trudging through mud at 3am. I'm going to try and keep updating Twitter throughout the weekend as we progress - I guess we'll see how well that idea will work out.

I really loved wearing this outfit today - isn't it great when you're completely happy with what you're wearing? It makes even the rainiest day brighter. I'm also on a high because of some more exciting book developments. When and if things are confirmed, I'll tell you all about it.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

New haircut!

I love it! And can't stop fiddling with it.

Skirtzilla

I found this gorgeous green crinoline in an op-shop on Friday for $15 ... one of my favourite finds yet! It was actually one of those magical thrifting days that unearthed many treasures ... they'll all make appearances soon. LOML calls it Skirtzilla and pretends to be attacked by it.

Now that the book is finished and sent off, the usual post-book blues have set in. I'm looking forward to continuing work on New Book while I wait, but I've also become painfully aware of things that went to the back of my mind during the final weeks of rewrites. Things like my healthy eating and exercise regimen, which suffered somewhat in the final stages of the book. Housework. Money. They all took a back seat to the book, and now they're jumping up and down in the front seat saying "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" I suppose now is a good time to concentrate on all those neglected things. I feel a bit yukky at the moment, because I haven't been eating well and my hair is driving me completely mental, so those will be the first things to tackle.

The evolution of style

Another cold autumn day! I've been working on the changes all day, and I think finishing them all by tomorrow night is within reach.

Lately, I have been thinking about the evolution of style - perhaps since this past year and a half represents the first time I have felt really comfortable with the way I dress. Sometimes I look at my favourite bloggers and wonder how they dressed in high school, at university, or even when they were little kids.

I have a theory that a lot of stylish women start out as people who dress 'weirdly', who experiment, who make a lot of mistakes before they find their own particular look. What do you think?


I remember wearing a white jumpsuit to high school, with a leopard-print scarf around my neck. What was I thinking? And I went through a phase of wearing different ponchos every day for about a month. Oh, and to Prom I wore this enormous sequinned 80s dress that had belonged to my mum. I loved it, but it looked dreadful. I wish I could find a photo of it.

At university I used to wear a big, black, Matrix-style leather jacket and lace gloves. And I carried either my guitar or my sketchbook with me everywhere, purely to look arty. Poser!


Sometimes I look at old photos and don't even recognise myself.

How did you dress when you were in high school? Do you remember any particularly mad outfit you wore? I'm interested!

P.S. Can you spot me in this last photo? Even I have trouble.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." - Charles Dickens

Who knew the French Revolution and manuscript revision had so much in common?

I have almost finished the bulk of the changes on the manuscript, and have a satisfying number of pages with big blue ticks on them (as in, the tick symbol, not big blue blood-sucking insects). Tomorrow's job is to write some missing scenes that I need ... and then I'll print out another typescript and give it to my beta reader. I have learned that revision is the most torturous and tedious part of writing a book. It is also, in a way, the most exciting, as you chip away everything that isn't your story to reveal what will be, hopefully, a tight, polished version. Hopefully.

It has taken over my life and turned my brain to chewed bubblegum, but it is also immensely satisfying. I'm going to crack on with the rest of the changes now, and then go to my mother's to watch American Idol. A dose of Adam Lambert will be a suitable reward for a long day of work, I think.

P.S. Ooh, and if you live in Christchurch, try to see Miss Saigon before it closes! It was absolutely glorious and I'm still on a high. Amazing evening. The only low point was the dreadful man sitting behind us who complained that our friend was "a big lad" and he couldn't see past him (he's really not, he's average height), and made us switch seats. We did it, to avoid drama, only to be stuck behind his enormous bald head for the rest of the night. You see, he was "a big lad" too.

P.P.S. My friend Hannah has started a blog: she's new to the blogosphere, so if you have a chance, stop by and say hello. She's such a glamorous lady, and I'm so looking forward to seeing all her outfits online.

LOML's Birthday!

Happy birthday, LOML (Love of My Life). You are wonderful. And now very, very old. (Just kidding).

We've been spending the day relaxing and doing not-much. I gave LOML a model helicopter for his birthday, so we spent the morning figuring out how to fly it (and then chasing the cat around the house with it, which was very entertaining). LOML is building a dolly for his film camera and fixing up his recording equipment for the 48 Hour Film Festival this year - we went shopping at hardware and audio stores, then stopped at an Indian restaurant for lunch. Now he's hammering and sawing outside while I work (and nap) in the sun. Barbecue and birthday cake tonight!

Another Friday the 13th

Work is going swimmingly today, after a rocky start. I was getting mired in details and lost sight of the big picture - the big picture being the new, revised structure of the novel. So I opened up a blank document and started writing a synopsis of the new version. I am actually really surprised by how helpful this was. Writing the plot down in such a truncated form really highlights the direction in which it should go; what works, what doesn't, what slows the pace down or goes off on a tangent. I feel a million times clearer on what I'm doing, and I've made some really good decisions, as well. Have also drunk seven cups of coffee, and the caffeine and work-satisfaction has produced a dizzying high.

On a less happy note, I didn't realise how helpful it was to have a supervisor last year, someone to whom I could email my chapters and who could point out problems ... or just say "You're doing fine, keep going." I miss having a group to talk to, people whose opinions I respect, who will read my work. And whose work I can read, as well. I miss having a tribe. I feel very alone, and I don't know where to find people. I'd join another course, but I don't know of any that haven't already started. I'm so used to staying positive and working through problems rather than dwelling on them that I haven't acknowledged, even to myself, how discouraged I've felt. Now that the comforting framework of the Masters is gone, I'm adrift. Oh well. Hopefully the Universe will provide.

We are off to the theatre tonight - can't wait. Quite apart from the play, people-watching at the theatre is always very interesting. And what they are wearing is equally so. Some people take the opportunity to dress up in evening wear, while some go in jeans and a T-shirt (or a wifebeater vest, shorts and sandals, as one man seemed to think was appropriate last time we went to a play). I think as a culture we've lost a lot of our sense of occasion ... people seem very worried about being over-dressed for things here in Christchurch, so that even if you go to a show or out to a fancy restaurant, the sartorial choices of everyone there hardly ever rise above smart casual. Do you find this where you live? I get a lot of weird looks and comments about being 'very dressed-up.'

Building blocks

LOML is away in California for the next week. I have conned various friends into staying with me, though, so I'm not too lonely. I'm also trying to stay very busy. As well as my own writing and my freelance work, I have a huge pile of alterations to do.

This week has been an uphill struggle when it comes to writing. For some reason I have been in a state of full-blown resistance, building little writer's blocks for myself like a toddler making a Lego tower. I have a whole array of things I use to block my creativity:

1) Perfectionism. This one's a killer. "Why should I bother doing it if it's not going to be perfect?" Translates as "I'm afraid to finish. I don't trust my abilities."
2) Indifference. "I can't be bothered. I'm bored with it." Translates as "I'm afraid of caring too much about it and then failing," or "I'm afraid of succeeding and causing changes in my comfortable little existence."
3) Guilt. "I feel so guilty about my low productivity. I'm only writing 500 words a day at the moment. Instead of being kind to myself and realising that at least I'm making progress and it will get easier soon, I'm going to stop writing altogether because I feel so guilty about not writing more." Feeling guilty and thinking about how rubbish you are for half an hour is a lot easier than working for half an hour. I've developed a method of mentally splitting myself in half. I let one part of my brain go and sit on the couch and chew its hair and mutter about how guilty it feels about not being productive, while the other part (which has control of my body) sits down and surreptitiously does some work, glancing over at the first part occasionally and going "Mmmm," and "I know what you mean." Then both parts are happy. And I have a page of new writing.
4) Misplaced (and false) virtue. "I really should help Mum/mow the lawn/scrub behind the toilet cistern with an old toothbrush/make lunch for my husband/brush the cat." Translates as "I do things that allow me to feel smug and self-righteous about avoiding the work I know is more important." Also translates as "But I COULDN'T work, I was far too busy. It's not my fault."
5) False pragmatism. "This is never going to sell. Why am I bothering? I should do something practical that I know will make me money."
6) 'Real job' syndrome. "Think of all those people working 12-hour shifts in factories to get by. They'd be disgusted if they knew I was staring at a screen biting my nails and doing nothing. I'm not living in the real world." The counter-attack to this one is, "The world needs artists just as much as it needs doctors, factory-workers and crocodile hunters. I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing."
7) Self-criticism. "This is terrible. Worst thing ever written. Who are you kidding?" Telling yourself something is bad is far easier than working to make it better, and gives you hours of mental entertainment as you self-flagellate and eat lots of chocolate.

And then there are things like drinking endless cups of coffee, making snacks, looking at blogs. Endless displacement activities. For the past couple of weeks I have been relentlessly busy - every hour of every day has been spoken for. I have been telling people, "I've hardly had a chance to work on the new book because of [list of Things To Do]", when in reality I know I have manufactured a lot of this busy-ness to avoid working on the new book. Why? Because it's scary. Because waiting for news from agents has made me lose confidence in myself. Because I feel uncertain about the future. The only way to get past these blocks is to work through them. So that's what I'm trying to do. So I'd better get back to work.

Gah!

Well, I got another rejection this morning. This one said:

"I am afraid that although the novel is exciting and a strong work of fiction, we do not feel that we are the right agents to represent it."

It kind of feels like a dating agency. I'm searching for my Perfect Match, that one person who enjoys pina coladas and walks in the rain as much as I do. Sadly, however, it seems that the people who enjoy pina coladas don't like the rainy walks, and vice versa. I might have stretched this analogy too far.

"Frustrated female writer (23) seeks generous, outgoing agent for long-term partnership. Physical appearance not an issue. Deep pockets preferred."

Anyway. To cheer myself up, I spent my Christmas money on something gorgeous which will be fully revealed soon ...

Thank you!

First of all, thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my giveaway post - I'm excited about the number of people entering, it's going to be fun! If you haven't entered yet, it's the post below this one - or you can click on the icon in the sidebar to be taken directly to the page. I am a bit behind on responding to comments, because life is a bit jam-packed at the moment, but I will reply to them all soon. Thank you also to those who commented for the first time, it's really nice to (virtually) meet you.

I am feeling a million times better today, and we're off to a wedding rehearsal and barbecue tonight - LOML is the official photographer for the wedding on Saturday, and I am acting as his assistant. I also (fanfare, please) picked up my bag. It is an antique doctor's bag, and I love it, particularly because it has my initials in gold on the front.

I could have sworn it opened and shut and that the lock was broken, but I can't get it open now for the life of me. I will probably have to take it to a locksmith - darn. But worth it. Mink isn't impressed, however.

I found this quote of Neil Gaiman's on David Anthony Durham's blog this morning:

"It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn't allow for failure. The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering "Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!" and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there's nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you'll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job."

- Neil Gaiman

When I see I have a response from an agent in my inbox, I do this: say to myself "this is a rejection", take a deep breath, click on it and read it as quickly as possible so there is no suspense at all and I don't get my hopes up. This is definitely not in keeping with The Secret or the chirpy philosophies of Positive Thinking, but it works quite well. If it is a rejection I can say "oh well, no surprise there" (although inside I am ripping a couch cushion apart with my teeth and wailing like a cat on a fence), but if it is something else I am pleasantly surprised. I received two not-rejections over the last couple of days - the first was a request for a full from a partial - yay! and she said she enjoyed the partial - and the second was a note from another agent saying that she was really enjoying the full and would get back to me in the New Year. Hooray! In keeping with my system, however, I'm not getting my hopes up. It's just easier that way. But fingers crossed, all the same.

I posted the full manuscript off to London this morning (to a company that doesn't accept email submissions) - sixty dollars! Holy cow. It still hurts. I think my wallet will need stitches.

Update: LOML opened the bag in five seconds flat. Typical.

The agent-hunting process

A couple of you left comments on the last post asking how this whole agent-hunt shebang works, so I thought I would give a brief description for anyone who's interested. Feel free to skip if you know all this already! And published-type friends, feel free to jump in with any other information in the comments.

Step 1 - write a book. A year of your life passes, waves crash on distant beaches, a tree grows in Brooklyn. When you're finished, revise and edit over and over until you're sick of it. Then do it again.

Step 2 - you're ready to submit your manuscript ... to publishers? Nope. Bad idea. Unless you live in New Zealand and you want it published in New Zealand, because we're so tiny that you can submit directly to publishers here and they don't get grumpy. But if you think your book would do better in an international market, then you need to research agents in your country of choice. I went to a UK database and went through all of the listings to find my selection - you can also look up authors whose work is similar to yours, and see who represents them. And ask for recommendations from writerly friends.

You need an agent. Because publishers really don't like getting unsolicited submissions and often will only look at agent submissions, and because an agent will handle the contracts, financial stuff, legal rights and all the things that, if you're like me, you probably wouldn't be too good at. And they'll also get you a good deal, because it is in their interests.

Step 3 - so, you've found some agencies that look promising. You now need to research the individual agents to find one who would be interested in you, as it would be silly to send your erotic historic vampire romance novel to someone who only deals in science-fiction.

Step 4 - once you've found your agent, you need to write a query letter of great brilliance that will make them want to look at your manuscript. This is hard and evil, but once you have a good query letter it will be the powerful weapon you wield against the forces of darkness (got a bit carried away there), and so it has to be done.

Oh, and check the agency's submission guidelines first - most of them will ask you to send a query letter via post or email (SO much easier and cheaper than post, I wish they all allowed email submissions), but some will allow you to submit a synopsis and partial (that is, part of the manuscript) as well. Always good to check. No point making them crankier by not following the rules.

Step 5 - PERSONALISE the query letter and please don't do what I did once and forget to change the name before you send it to a different agent. Oops. I wrote a post on query letters here which gives Nathan Bransford's excellent query letter formula and my example of how this can be filled out (tee hee). Then read it through, bite your nails, have a stiff drink and send it to your selected agents.

Step 6 - the time scale of publishing is a glacial one, usually. Some agents will reply to you quickly, but some will take ages. It is quite soul-destroying. Hopefully, however, you will receive some chirpy responses from agents saying, yes please, we would love to see your masterpiece. Even better if they allow you to send it as an email attachment rather than asking you to send a pile of paper that looks like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey through the mail. They will request:

a) a partial, which could be anything from the first three chapters to the first 100 pages, or
b) a full.

They might also request a synopsis. These are, if anything, more evil than the query letter. I would actually suggest you write one as soon as you've finished the book, just in case, instead of drinking twelve cups of coffee and doing it in one day after an agent requested it, which is what I did. Once you have a synopsis, it's worth sending it along with your partial or full, even if the agent hasn't requested it. Makes their jobs a bit easier, which is always a good thing. Keeping the agent in a good mood is key.

Step 7 - make sure your manuscript is formatted correctly. There's a good guide here. Make sure you number the pages and put your name and the title of the work on each page, in case they get out of order or lost. This is really important.

Step 8 - send it, along with an informative, polite and businesslike email which has your previous correspondence embedded in it, because agents are busy people and you don't want them to have to go through their inbox searching for your information. That makes them cranky.

Step 9 - this is where the glacial pace kicks in again. A lot of agencies say you shouldn't expect to hear anything until after 3 months have passed. It varies. But hopefully you will receive a request for a full from an agent who had the partial - or perhaps you will even get an offer of representation - sooner rather than later. If you haven't heard from them in 3 months, give them a polite nudge (not literally), like I did yesterday, and hopefully they will respond. It can take months. It can even take a year. Or more. I have only been doing this for three months, so I have a long way to go.

It is a long process, and it is only the start of the even longer process that is publication. Glaciers, slow-moving land mammals and the plots of really boring movies have nothing on the speed of the publishing world. Do I sound a bit impatient? It's probably because I am. Anyway, I hope that answers your questions! Thank you again for all your comments, I really do appreciate them greatly.

Five dollar dress

This is the pinafore dress I found on my thrifting trip yesterday. It was lurking at the back of a rack, but I have a supernatural ability to find plaid anywhere, and so I sniffed it out. Best of all, it was only five dollars! I am completely in love with it, particularly because it has pockets. Pockets! I also found the thin navy belt I'm wearing. All up, the dress, the belt and the tapestry bag cost me ten dollars. Thrifting is great.

I have reached 35,000 words of the book - woo-hoo! - and have also done some work on the Essay of Doom. I'm going to have another trawl through the agent directories this afternoon, too, and see if I can find anyone else to query.

The morning after the night before

I am so tired today. We stayed up until midnight, when all the election results were in. It was a fantastic evening - we had a couple of friends round for a barbecue as we watched the votes trickle in, then cracked open the champagne and dipped strawberries in chocolate at the end of the night. Definitely worth some bags under the eyes today!

I'm making good progress with the novel, as well. Just over 29,000 words at the moment, and I'm going to hit 30,000 by tonight. I'm aiming to finish the 50,000 words required for Nanowrimo by this Thursday night, and then I can slacken the pace a bit to write the rest of what will probably be a 100,000-word draft - that will be a relief.

So tired. We're going to mum's this evening for dinner, which would be relaxing except that I have to cook. I'm not sure how this was decided. I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the room when this decision was made. But that's all right. And I also have the fun job of trying to get a urine sample from Mink tonight before I take him to the vet tomorrow. Urine sample from a cat? Does that sound marginally insane and tricky to anyone else?

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and that all my fellow Aotearoa-dwelling mammals had a fantastic election night!

Slightly sombre

I'm keeping it simple today. We had a lot of errands to run, and tonight we're going to a talk by a former member of Zimbabwe's Black Shadow group who has since become a Christian and gives talks about his experiences. We're going with my best friend and her husband - she and I grew up in Zimbabwe together, and moved to New Zealand within a couple of years of each other.

I haven't heard of the Black Shadow group before, and haven't been able to find any information online, but I'm guessing it is a terrorist group - one formed either under Mugabe's regime or during the Bush War. Interestingly, in Zimbabwe's traditional Karanga belief system, a person has two shadows; a white and a black. The white shadow (mweya) is the soul and the black shadow (nyama, a word which also means 'meat') is the flesh. The mweya is what surives after you die - it leaves the dead body in the form of a worm, which is why the Shona leave a hole from the coffin to the outside world (made by a hollow reed) - for the worm to crawl out. They believe that this worm crawls into an animal, which becomes an ancestral spirit. I have no idea if this pertains to the naming of the Black Shadow group at all, but I'll be interested to find out tonight.

In novel-related news, a character appeared in my book on Friday who I hadn't planned for at all. She just turned up in the middle of a chapter and appears to be here to stay. Very strange. I like it when that happens, though.