Tuesday, November 4, 2014

WIPpet Wednesday: "Easy As Life"

Well, I've got several excuses for why I haven't WIPpeted lately, but none of them are very fun or interesting and most of them have to do with horrific eye strain. Anyway, I've got a new pair of glasses now and have finally gotten used to them, which means I can actually look at my computer screen without feeling like someone is sticking needles through my retinas. Horray!

I also decided to jump on the NaNoWriMo wagon. If you are interested in supporting Liberty in North Korea's work with refugees rescue campaigns, scroll down to see how that's connected to NaNo. And good luck to all you other NaNo-ers out there! May your word counts soar!

I'm also getting Torn Asunder ready for launch, and as with my other novels I'll be releasing a Bonus Materials ebook. This bonus materials has been particularly fun to write because I've included the Torn Asunder soundtrack. In honor of the first Wednesday in November, here are 11 sentences from the Bonus Materials ebook I've been working on. Please forgive the lack of italics - they don't transfer well from Word and my eyes are still a little sore.

***

Once in college, I went to Broadway and ended up with front-row/center seats to Elton John’s newly-released musical, Aida, with the original cast. I think my seat number was something like A103, and the show moved me like no other theater experience ever has. Aida is a Nubian slave who falls in love with her Egyptian captor Rademes, who is pledged to marry Pharaoh’s daughter. In the midst of this love triangle are the same kind of scenes of political intrigue and doomed love that you read about in Torn Asunder.

Several of the songs from Aida ended up on my personal playlist while I was working on Torn Asunder, but the one that stands out most to me is the song called Easy as Life. At this point in the musical, Aida’s father has also been captured, and when he learns about his daughter’s relationship with the Egyptian prince, he tells her to reject this treasonous love. She has to decide whether to place duty and loyalty above her own emotions.

In a heartbreaking ballad, Aida sings about her choice to give up her love for Rademes in order to fulfill her duty to her own people. The song talks about the impossibility of her situation, and reminds me of the scene when spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler [spoiler alert].  Like Aida, Hannah realizes she must die to her hopes of being with Simon, even though there’s no possible way she can make herself stop loving him.


hear the song here or click for YouTube link

***

Blog Love: Huge thanks to K L Schwengel for hosting the WIPpet Wednesday blog hop, where authors post snippets from the current Works In Progress.

Join the Rescue Campaign: During November, I hope to write 2,000 words a day. I'm looking for a few people willing to sponsor LiNK a dollar for every day I make my goal. The money would go directly to Liberty in North Korea's fundraising campaign - I would never touch it. We're over halfway to our goal of funding the full rescue of one refugee! If you want to sponsor at a dollar a day, let me know and I will tell you at the end of the month how many days I met my word-count goal. You can see the fundraiser at: https://fundraise.libertyinnorthkorea.org/fundraise?fcid=292064

18 comments:

  1. I LOVE the Aida soundtrack! I am very jealous that you got to see the original cast. A local company near here was going to be doing it a couple of years back, but unfortunately had to cancel because the venue became unavailable. I'm holding out that I'll still get to see it performed one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I won't make you jealous telling you how many times. But I have seen it more than once. I'm hoping it comes up here because I'd love to share it with my husband. If it does, you can come crash on the couch. :)

      Delete
  2. Ooh, lucky you, seeing Aida on Broadway with the original cast! That's a great song, and great sound track.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting post Alana. Though I got a bit confused at first and thought I was reading an excerpt from your novel lol. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love musicals and the like, but Aida is missing from my viewing. Reading this made me feel I should fix that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely! It stayed with me for months after I saw it.

      Delete
  5. Aida is definitely on my list of things to see. Good luck with NaNo, I hope you meet your daily goals :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much - good luck to you too if you're participating. And I hope you do get to see Aida one day.

      Delete
  6. You found a video featuring one of your favorite singers, even. :-) That's a beautiful song.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wasn't familiar with the story of Aida until I read this. A powerful story, and a tremendous performance in the video clip. I loved watching her face and body language as she sang. <3

    There are parallels here, I think, to T'Pol, who is Awakened to one man - not something she can just forget about, or repeat with another - but bound by tradition that makes no allowance for love to marry another...

    I hope you're enjoying the wild ride that is NaNo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the parallels you drew and totally see where you're coming from!

      Delete
  8. Not familiar with Aida, but it certainly sounds like something I would be interested in. Good luck with the launch!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm not familiar with Aida either, but I well remember my one Broadway musical experience, "Into the Woods" which completely blew me away. :)

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My brother was in our high school's version of that show!

      Delete