Onward the Box

Remember Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit?

If you were reading my blog a few months back, you must have got tired of me talking about it. But she really had some terrific things to say -- and some suggestions that make a lot of sense.

One of the things she said was that before you can write "out of the box" you have to have a box. And I posted pictures of several boxes, some more intriguing than others, but all basically generic boxes.

But now that I am back working on Sebastian's book, I decided to make him and Neely (that's his heroine) their very own box. In this box I intend to put pictures, music, bits and pieces, flotsam and jetsam that will, I hope, bring the two of them and their story to life for me (and help me write outside the box as well as in it).

I spent a good chunk of today working on Seb and Neely's box. I'm not done with it yet. But it's taking the place of the collage I did for Flynn and Sara. I always knew I would have trouble storing a collage, so I was loathe to do another one.

But a box -- well, a box stores itself and the stuff I put in it. So I'm working on the box. Should put up a pic tomorrow if the light is better than it was tonight.

On another note, a few months ago when Michelle Styles was casting about for a hero -- and she and I have something of the same taste in some heroes -- I suggested Mads Mikkelsen as a possibility. I liked Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, but I must say that Mads was the one who really caught my eye. He managed to look terribly sinister, but there always seemed to be this 'other side' that they didn't tap into in that film (of course not -- he was the villain!).

But I went in search of Mads -- and found several films in which he isn't sinister at all. The most recent is a wonderful Danish film called After The Wedding. It was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign language film. I don't know what film won, but it must have been spectacular to beat After The Wedding.

All the actors are terrific. It's powerful and emotional, and from the blurb I thought, "This is another secret baby story." And well, yes, it was. But it was so much more than that, too. It was an excellent example of a good writer taking a time-worn notion and turning it into something that holds viewers riveted for two hours.

And Mads?

What can I say except it's too bad that Sebastian already has a doppelganger. But I'm keeping Mads on the short list for heroes coming up.

And Michelle, go get a copy of After The Wedding, even if you've finished writing your book. You'll get inspiration all over again.