Day 5: Something a Bit Different
Today we're supposed to do something that's different from how we usually blog. I know I found this part a bit of a challenge in the past years, and the same is true this time. I used to think I was kind of imaginative, but I've found that five years in research has kind of diminished my creative streak. I have always wanted to be a fiction writer, but I can't even remember the last time I wrote something! I don't really count the blog for that, as this isn't fiction, and I don't really use my imagination to write here. But I find that this day's task really intimidates me!
Anyway, what I have chosen to do is this (and it has nothing to do with knitting, but that will have to be ok!). A little more than two years ago I started participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month). I only wrote about five pages, but I had a pretty neat idea for a zombie story, with a twist that I still don't think I've read about so far (and I have read A LOT of zombie fiction!). A couple of days ago I opened my file again, and even though I hadn't even looked through it for almost two years, I read it through and kind of decided that I wanted to keep going. This coming month, Thomas will be away a lot with his job, so I'll be alone for a lot of the time. I'm thinking that that might be a good time to start picking up writing again!
I've decided not to tell you about the plot line yet, but I figured I could try to translate a little bit of the first page for you here. Remember, I write it originally in Swedish, so if the language seems a little bit strange here it is because I've translated it for you. Here you go!
"Julia had just gotten through the front door when the phone rang. She threw her black leather jacket on a chair that was in the hallway, and put her purse on the floor. After a long day at the lab, all she wanted was to curl up on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea, but it was her best friend Sara on the phone. Julia looked at the apartment while she spoke. Her two cats came up to her to say hello, just as they usually did when she came home. Gizmo stretched and yawned while she petted him, and gave her a look with his green eyes that seemed to know everything, while Gremlin sat a little distance away beside the sofa. Julia petted both of them while listening to her friend talk.
-Hi, Sara, are you home already?
Julia knew that Sara was going to pick up her husband Alex at Arlanda airport today. Alex had spent the last couple of months in Rwanda with Doctors Without Borders.
-Yes, there was almost no traffic, so it went fast. We made it out of Stockholm before the rush hour.
-How's Alex? Was the flight ok? Has he had a good stay in Rwanda? Julia asked. She picked up the pile of mail from the hallway floor and flicked through it. Mostly bills, and some adds.
-Sure, he's fine. I think he just didn't want to leave early, but that's life I guess. It seems like they got out just in time.
The refugee camp where Alex had worked had been struck by a particularly aggressive strain of Malaria, that had started to become epidemic among the refugees. Despite huge efforts to give the population profylactics, nothing seemed to work. Alex and his colleagues had collected lots of samples for research, to bring to Europe and the States, but the government in Rwanda had become more and more hostile. Finally the foreign doctors had decided to leave.
-I can understand that, Julia said. Will he spend most of his time at Karolinska Hospital now?
-Some, Sara said. But it seems like the microbiology department here in town will get to do some of the research too, at least the less infectious kind. They'll probably run some antibody screenings here.
-Exciting! Julia exclaimed. Although, maybe you shouldn't say that about infectious, deadly diseases. But it isn't every day that you get the chance to work with Malaria here in Linköping. I almost wish I worked with microbiology instead of at the Pathology department."
Ok, what do you think of that set-up? As you might have guessed, there will be zombies involved too, and I figured I might as well write about a place I know so it's set in Linköping. I'll let you know how it's progressing!
/ Jenny
Anyway, what I have chosen to do is this (and it has nothing to do with knitting, but that will have to be ok!). A little more than two years ago I started participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month). I only wrote about five pages, but I had a pretty neat idea for a zombie story, with a twist that I still don't think I've read about so far (and I have read A LOT of zombie fiction!). A couple of days ago I opened my file again, and even though I hadn't even looked through it for almost two years, I read it through and kind of decided that I wanted to keep going. This coming month, Thomas will be away a lot with his job, so I'll be alone for a lot of the time. I'm thinking that that might be a good time to start picking up writing again!
I've decided not to tell you about the plot line yet, but I figured I could try to translate a little bit of the first page for you here. Remember, I write it originally in Swedish, so if the language seems a little bit strange here it is because I've translated it for you. Here you go!
"Julia had just gotten through the front door when the phone rang. She threw her black leather jacket on a chair that was in the hallway, and put her purse on the floor. After a long day at the lab, all she wanted was to curl up on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea, but it was her best friend Sara on the phone. Julia looked at the apartment while she spoke. Her two cats came up to her to say hello, just as they usually did when she came home. Gizmo stretched and yawned while she petted him, and gave her a look with his green eyes that seemed to know everything, while Gremlin sat a little distance away beside the sofa. Julia petted both of them while listening to her friend talk.
-Hi, Sara, are you home already?
Julia knew that Sara was going to pick up her husband Alex at Arlanda airport today. Alex had spent the last couple of months in Rwanda with Doctors Without Borders.
-Yes, there was almost no traffic, so it went fast. We made it out of Stockholm before the rush hour.
-How's Alex? Was the flight ok? Has he had a good stay in Rwanda? Julia asked. She picked up the pile of mail from the hallway floor and flicked through it. Mostly bills, and some adds.
-Sure, he's fine. I think he just didn't want to leave early, but that's life I guess. It seems like they got out just in time.
The refugee camp where Alex had worked had been struck by a particularly aggressive strain of Malaria, that had started to become epidemic among the refugees. Despite huge efforts to give the population profylactics, nothing seemed to work. Alex and his colleagues had collected lots of samples for research, to bring to Europe and the States, but the government in Rwanda had become more and more hostile. Finally the foreign doctors had decided to leave.
-I can understand that, Julia said. Will he spend most of his time at Karolinska Hospital now?
-Some, Sara said. But it seems like the microbiology department here in town will get to do some of the research too, at least the less infectious kind. They'll probably run some antibody screenings here.
-Exciting! Julia exclaimed. Although, maybe you shouldn't say that about infectious, deadly diseases. But it isn't every day that you get the chance to work with Malaria here in Linköping. I almost wish I worked with microbiology instead of at the Pathology department."
Ok, what do you think of that set-up? As you might have guessed, there will be zombies involved too, and I figured I might as well write about a place I know so it's set in Linköping. I'll let you know how it's progressing!
/ Jenny
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