Crazy Week
October 12th, 2009 § 7 Comments
It’s been a crazy week. Have had some amazing publicity within the Bosnian community, which has some good and bad points. Have had a lot more blog hits and been getting interview requests with Bosnian media, but also had a blog troll leaving an idiotic comment on my blog to which I responded-read my book before taking pot-shots.
I’m featured in Bosna Magazin, the national Bosnian newspaper, and have participated in an interview with Azra magazin, a newspaper in Sarajevo. A Bosnian film maker contacted me about possibly using my novel for a play, so I’ve posted him a copy of my book. Was speaking to Anne who manges rights within Text and she said not to get my hopes up. The performance industry is full of hot air and there can be a lot of hype to go with it. So it’s fun, but not something I’m banking on.
I was interviewed for Bosnian radio on SBS, where I spoke in my dodgy Bosnian. I had to keep stopping and asking the reporter for Bosnian words, but there are also a lot of English words sprinkled throughout. One of the points I emphasised in the interview is that while my novel is representing Bosnians, it is also representing the issue of mental illness in people who have a migrant background and young people in the Western suburbs.
I’ve been wanting to improve my Bosnian for a while, especially because I want Sofia exposed to the language and want to read to her in Bosnian and have her watch Bosnian cartoons etc when she’s at an age to watch stuff, so now I’m more motivated. I’m going to read the Bosnian newspaper every week and this will get my skills back up. I’m such a fast reader in English that’s it’s really weird to read so slowly in another language.
I also need to create a Bosnian page with info about me for Bosnians to read about, so hopefully I’ll work on that this week. This is where being married to a Bosnian-born comes in handy. While I lived overseas for four years as a child I’ve lost some of my skills so he’s my proofreader.
It’s funny how quickly your head gets turned by this sort of stuff. I started checking my stats every day and was getting 50 hits a day. Then over the weekend they dropped and I was instantly feeling deflated. At least though I’m getting back into the swing of writing every day. While the publicity is fun and makes my ego happy, it also confirms how I need to reconnect with my writing to feel good about myself. So I’m going to push myself to write every day for at least an hour. As soon as I have my headspace consumed with a project I feel content and it’s much easier to put things into perspective.
That’s fantastic, Amra. It’s good that the Bosnian community is getting involved! You’ve written a great novel that tackles issues that need to be raised and recognised in the community in order to change things for the next generation. Sure there will be people who think you’re attacking the culture (my book’s not even published yet and I get people saying ‘hope you’re not bagging the Turks’) but they’re all missing the point. We are writing to inspire change.
Thanks Demet. I agree, we’re writing to inspire change and open up conversations about diversity. By the way you have done me wrong Demet. I am now addicted to Custard Danishes and it’s not good for my waistline. I don’t do those tiny slices you do, I do the jumbo sized and it’s fantastic. We must meet up again before your sojourn to Varuna. I also was reading your blog, but the bebe cried before I could write a comment. Great stuff.
hahahah how good is it! Glad you like it. It’s one of my favourites. You fed me delicious borek there was no room for the danish
We shall definitely meet up before I head off. Hope writing’s going well darling. Kiss your adorable daughter for me.
I had a school friend called Demet once so that is great for that alone!
Great for you learning Bosnian for Sofia, and for writing for an hour. A lot of the Bosnian students work in English words in the exam as well (this happens in many of the Languages Other Than English subjects).
The performance industry may be hot air. We’ll see. Then there’s The Slap coming out on TV, and it would probably be good to have The Good Daughter on TV as well. It’s full of dialogue, that’s for sure, and feisty dialogue, especially between Sahiba and her mother.
I can’t wait to see The Slap on tv. I love that book. It’s so real, gritty and such a page turner. I also adore how Christos keeps shifting points of view so effortlessly.
Writing has always made me feel better. I’m happy about your publicity, though I only heard about you today. I confess that your story has piqued my curiosity. Also, to learn another language is an amazing thing!
Thanks Elisa. I find writing the best therapy and love giving my traumatic memories to my characters.