Sunday, February 10, 2008

Pieces Falling Into Place

This past week I not only finished my culinary studies, but landed a job putting those skills to use. Thank god. Now I'll have a more set schedule, money coming in and can begin lining up research trips to Dearborn.

This is key as I've started writing chapter two where the protagonists, Ngalala and Mbetele, have landed in Detroit and are getting settled in Dearborn. The majority of the book will take place here. I am also starting to introduce local characters who will have important roles throughout the remainder of the book and I need to get a good feel for them in their own setting.

This afternoon I hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York, specifically to take in a tour of African Art. Unfortunately, the tour concentrated on western and central African art, with no mention of southern Africa. Fortunately, I spoke to the guide afterward and she recommended that I speak with a curator in the department for more information. Stay tuned. Ideally, I'd like to learn more about what themes southern African art focuses on and how my characters may either be extensions of their local art or, even more simply, know if southern Africans carry any keepsakes with them that I could incorporate into the story. For example, do they carry around any kind of good luck charms to look over them? Stuff like that.

In other news, pitchers and catchers report in 3 days. 92 hours really, but who's counting?

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