Blue Lines Blog – Issue #7 The Interview part 1

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A Wrinkle In Time, Author, Blue Lines, book, Coffee, interview, Kenneth Suffern, Madeleine L’Engle, manuscript, reader reviews, Starbucks, The Alchemist

Alright, to switch it up…something different, an interview of the Blue Lines author Kenneth A. Suffern, Jr.

I: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

KS: I am not sure if it was my knowing that I wanted to be a writer, but in the mid eighties, while in parochial school. A student wrote a science fiction story that incorporated all of the students within our 7th grade class. I was amazed at the project, not by the product of his work, but the ability to weave a story and incorporate students, teachers, and faculty into a cohesive story. Within the same year, I tried to resurrect his story in a creative writing piece, but failed miserably. After that, I was not sure that I necessarily wanted to write, but slowly transitioned into writing prose.

I: How long does it take you to write a book?

KS: Blue Lines took about 2 years to write, around 1998 – 2000, but being my first work, and also a cathartic release I have recently began the process of trying to shop it.

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Blue Lines Writer’s Definitions

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Blue Lines, Definitions

man⋅u⋅script/ˈmænyəˌskrɪpt/
Spelled Pronunciation [man-yuh-skript]

–noun 1. the original text of an author’s work, handwritten or now usually typed, that is submitted to a publisher.
2. any text not printed.
3. a book or document written before the invention of printing.
4. writing, as distinguished from print.

–adjective 5. handwritten or typed, not professionally printed.

book (bŏŏk)
n.
A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers.

A printed or written literary work.
A main division of a larger printed or written work: a book of the Old Testament.
A volume in which financial or business transactions are recorded.
books Financial or business records considered as a group: checked the expenditures on the books.
A libretto.
The script of a play.
A set of prescribed standards or rules on which decisions are based: runs the company by the book.
Something regarded as a source of knowledge or understanding.
The total amount of experience, knowledge, understanding, and skill that can be used in solving a problem or performing a task: We used every trick in the book to finish the project on schedule.
Informal Factual information, especially of a private nature: What’s the book on him?

[Middle English bok, from Old English bōc; see bhāgo- in Indo-European roots.]
book’er n.

Love – Art – Zaki Ibrahim

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Zaki Ibrahim

Blue Lines Blog – Issue #6 The KYW Version

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Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, California, Key Yemaya Walker, Peachtree Center, Sacramento, UNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Origins of Blue Lines manuscript…

 

Keeping The Integrity of the Work…

Disclaimer – Before I continue, I would like to make two very important points in regard to my material and to anyone’s feelings.  Because of my intellectual property, and my goal for this to begin my being published, I have to be vague in many areas of the story’s actual content.  I would like to add that should anyone be offended by ANYTHING that I go forward with: 1) if it will offend you, please read objectively, my goal is not and has never been to embarrass or disrespect anyone; 2) although I am explaining why Blue Lines was written, this is a public forum and names will be omitted to protect the innocent; 3) if you know me now, and did not then, this also applies as this relates to why I wrote my work.

Alright…this time around I’m not biding my time in Starbucks waiting to head toward the airport.  Let us make this a little bit easier to follow.  Protagonist, from this point forward known by the characters initials KYW, of course we have the antagonist, Blue Hurt.  So let the story continue…

Again, one of my main focuses was to develop a unique and tangible character, therefore I had the initial context on which to build KYW, and the manuscript allowed for her to develop into the main focus of the book.  But, as the manuscript expanded, and began to allow people to read some of the work, the conundrum was to keep the focus pure.  What I mean by pure, is that when writing a manuscript about a woman, through the voice of that woman, and when the woman on which KYW is based is not around, those who are around started to infiltrate the development of my character.

Blue Lines Blog – Issue #5 The California version

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Blue Lines, UNC

Origins of Blue Lines manuscript…Part um

Revelation…

Disclaimer – Before I continue, I would like to make two very important points in regard to my material and to anyone’s feelings.  Because of my intellectual property, and my goal for this to begin my being published, I have to be vague in many areas of the story’s actual content.  I would like to add that should anyone be offended by ANYTHING that I go forward with: 1) if it will offend you, please read objectively, my goal is not and has never been to embarrass or disrespect anyone; 2) although I am explaining why Blue Lines was written, this is a public forum and names will be omitted to protect the innocent; 3) if you know me now, and did not then, this also applies as this relates to why I wrote my work.

So here I was, I had already gotten too deep into this unconventional relationship.  I had kind of pegged myself into a strange corner, where I knew what I wanted, and didn’t act.  With us losing touch, the impetus and structure of the manuscript began to take place.  Now with this focus, I was able to string together my thoughts, and the story of Blue Lines chronologically, and develop a cohesive story, in stark contrast to the original draft of scattered plot development.

The Beginning, part II…

First I had to assign names to my characters, my female protagonist could no longer hold the name of “L,” and I could not seriously allow my male antagonist to continue on with a best friend named “Mello Smoothe.”  Therefore I had to draw from my collections of influences in my life and writing.  Although, my story grew out of an anomalous friendship, I could not also create my composite character using her real name, or an apparent construction of her name (i.e. using her Middle Name, as the characters name), therefore drawing on influences ranging from friends, music, etc. I was able to create a name that not only drew from that time, but I used parts of my Cuban heritage, and a name that fit in with the tone of my work to give my character her own identity, and allow for the development of the character over the writing process.

Blue Lines Blog – Issue #4 En Memoriam

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Blue Lines, Farrah Fawcett, Feist, Intuition, Jr., Kat Goduco, Kenneth Suffern, Michael Jackson, Ronnie Owens, Sam Adams, Steve McNair, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Origins of Blue Lines manuscript…Part 2.3

                … The Definition of Insanity cont.

In my attempts to keep my blog schedule consistent, I have to move in a different direction, but also keep with the nature and idea and essence of the origins of my manuscript.  While brainstorming about this installment, I thought that 1) I had drifted off course last week, and ended up rambling; 2) tried to focus on my responsibility in the path I walked along to get to the point of writing my manuscript.  If I were writing today, a great title, or a song title rather, that best describes this work would be “Intuition,” by Feist (if you are reading on MySpace it is in my playlist).

“And it’s impossible to tell

How important something was

And what you might have missed out on

And how it might have changed it all…

…Did I miss out on you.”

These lines perfectly sum up my situation, and why I wrote.  When something does not happen, in this case a relationship, you are always left to wonder…what if?  Therefore I used that “what if,” as the crux of finally taking the few pages that I had written, and determining the story, and true structure of my work.  I looked back at what I did wrong, or what I did not do.  I did not have that opportunity to fix what was not done, thus Blue Lines.

Peachtree Road Race (Day) Playlist

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4th of July, Atlanta, DMX, Jay-Z, Left Eye, Method Man, OutKast, Peachtree Road Race, Piedmont Park, Rage Against The Machine, Redman, W Hotel

Pre race travel / Walking:

1. Oh My God – Jay-Z

2. Suffer – Staind

3. Year Of The Boomerang – Rage Against The Machine

4. Flip Flop Rock – Outkast

5. Notorious Thugs – Biggie feat Bone Thugs

6. The Way I Are (Timbaland vs Nephew) feat Keri Hilson & D.O.E.

7. City Lights – Redman/Methond Man

8. What You Know About – 50 Cent

9. Mamacita – Outkast feat Masada & Witch Doctor

10. Hey Papi – Jay-Z feat Amil & Memphis Bleek

11. I Don’t Need You – Trick Daddy feat trina

12. X Gon’ Give It To Ya – DMX

13. Letter to B.I.G. – Raekwon

14. Phone Tap – The Firm Feat NORE & Nature

15. Deep Cover – Dr. Dre feat Snoop Doggy Dogg (yes I said it)

16. Watch Yo Nuggets – Redman

17. Diesel – Wu-Tang Clan

18. My President Is Black (DC Mix) Young Jeezy feat Jay-Z

19. We Could Take It Outside – Busta Rhymes feat Flipmode Squad

20. Jockin’ Jay-Z – Jay-Z

21. Shot Down – DMX feat 50 Cent & Jadakiss