Sunday, September 6, 2009

Takatsu: Plugging Away on an Alphanumeric Keypad.

19 year old university student and aspiring novelist with big dreams of pioneering authentic Japanese style cellphone novels in North America, and to spark a new wave in the publishing industry.

Secondhand Memories, Top Semi-finalist of Textnovel Contest by Takatsu



First of all, it is an honour to be a contributing writer for this blog. I admire all my fellow textnovelists, who are all such superb writers. Thanks to Caitlyn for inviting me to join this group blog. I am truly excited for this project, and look forward to contribute my perspectives on writing, that would be hopefully interesting. =)

Here's a little self-introduction to start things off.


Going by the name of Takatsu or more affectionately, taka-chan, I prefer to wield a mobile phone, instead of pen and paper. I tend to say that I refuse to write in conventional means. No rules, no timeframe, no plans, no drafts, and no goals except to enjoy the process. I write for the sake of writing, for the love of my characters, and letting the story write itself.

In this world, our thumbs race across the small surface of mobile phone keypads like the heart-pounding typing across a computer keyboard. Catch us anywhere on the subway, the bus, in a coffee shop, in the lecture hall, in bed, diligently, artfully and delicately weaving a story out of the fabric of our imagination - on our trusty cellphone screens.

Yes, I am one of those "cellphone novelists", currently working on two of my most heartfelt stories, Secondhand Memories and Wish Upon A Call. And don't try to ask me for my real name, most Japanese cellphone novelists like to remain all so mysterious. And if you do by chance know my real name, well, shhhhh!

In the world of cellphone novels in Japan, the one-worder Japanese pen names, such as Rin, Yoshi, or Mei, are common household terms, on par with bestselling pop culture authors like J.K.Rowling, and more recently, Stephenie Meyer. In fact, top 10 of published bestselling novels in Japan are that of cell phone novels. Most of which have been made into a giant revenue generating kingdom of published hardcover collectibles, tv dramas, films and anime.

Stemming from the high-tech and intricate Japanese mobile or "keitai" culture, cellphone novels became a new genre, when Yoshi first began to email out his chapters from his cellphone, six years ago, to readers that followed his bestselling novel, Deep Love.

Later, cellphone novels evolved to become featured and hosted on websites and mobile sites like Maho I-land that are often funded by publishing companies.

Known for its dramatic and emotional storylines, cellphone novels are serial ongoing novels written in short captivating chapters, packed with simple but delicate language and imagery, that attracted not only the attention of youth culture who never before read or wrote, but also the attention of the Japanese publishing and media industry.

Then came an influx of new aspiring novelists who write their stories on cellphones. The rest is history.

So here I am emerging into the scene from a background of writing fanfiction and multitudes of stories I started and never finished. Since I was 10, writing has become inseperable, though life sometimes got in the way.

Enter Secondhand Memories which is my current project, and also the first true cellphone novel to be written on textnovel, a story in which I hope to start and pioneer Japanese style cellphone novels, in all of its glory in North America, and spark a new and hot wave in the publishing industry. A young adult and romance novel, written in short chapter segments of around 50-100 words, I hope to bring the quality and attractiveness of writing in this new kind of publishing format for your reading pleasure.

I started the novel just based off of a song I listened to, which played a music video through my mind's eye. Since then, it was my first time publicizing any of my work, fatefully choosing textnovel.com. In the beginning, I was sure there would be no response, and it was truly just for fun.

Surprisingly, without promoting the novel in any way, it became widely popular with readers from all across the globe. In the beginning, when the Textnovel Team chose both my stories as Editor's Choices I emailed the founder of the site wondering why on earth my writing was chosen, because I didn't believe I had anything special. Eventually, reviews and votes swarmed the story and brought it up to the most popular lists on textnovel.

On http://textnovel.com, Secondhand Memories and Wish Upon A Call have now become top semi-finalists of textnovel contest 2009, and through these experiences, I hope to make a name for cellphone novels.

Seeing the potential for such novel formats, I would like to ask for your support in my writing projects as well as the climb to gain recognition for cellphone novels in North America.

I dream big, and I would look forward to the day when we see youth of all nations writing and reading novels, once again immersed in the publishing industry, whether it be on their cellphone screens or flipping through the pages of a book.

Will the Japanese cellphone novel phenomenon spread across the world? Time will tell.

I look forward to blogging and seeing more of you here!

Please do head on over to http://textnovel.com to check out Secondhand Memories, to read and follow the story as it develops, one chapter at a time!

-taka-chan


Three Reviews for Takatsu and Secondhand Memories:

"Amazing how well you implement the first-person point of view. I've always had a private desire for first-person novels. Hackneyed and cliche, some have said, but there's just something about good writers and first person novels. You are definitely in one of them. Your voice really comes through. Some people will disagree and say, "Well of course. He's writing in first person. It's suppose to engage you in such a way." But I would have to say that not all first-person novels come through as clean as yours does. Simply amazing." - DiogenesMarx, textnovel.com

"Konban wa Takasu san I really liked the story. I believe you reached your goal of the feeling of love and innocence. In places I felt there was a haiku quality of the description. Very well done. A really enjoyable mood from it. I have been to Japan many times and have wondered what was happening in the lives of teenagers I have seen riding on the trains. Of all the things I like to do, just riding on the train - empty or full, I like to do it. Domo arigato for the great mono ga ta ri. ." - ghostcar, textnovel.com

"Takatsu-san has sensibility for words and for captiving stories you can't wait for the next chapter. :)." - hengbok, textnovel.com


Takatsu's Links:

AUTHOR'S OFFICIAL SITE: http://takatsu.tk

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/taka_chan


Links for Secondhand Memories (shortened links):


YOUTUBE TRAILER: http://kl.am/2hmt

ON TEXTNOVEL: http://kl.am/Temm

MOBILE SITE: http://kl.am/2hmm

JOIN THE FACEBOOK PAGE: http://kl.am/2tnr

WORDPRESS: http://kl.am/Tenn (chapters aren't updated as frequently here)

REVIEWS and FANS: http://kl.am/2hmfan

Friday, September 4, 2009

Caitlyn Young, Inveterate Scribbler and Queen of Chatty Blogging

Caitlyn Young is the alter ego of Shalanna Collins, a lifelong writer from Dallas, Texas. Novelist, pianist, belly dancer, baton twirler (but no fire batons *ever* again, by order of the Renner, Texas, Volunteer Fire Brigade), and amateur radio operator, she has published many fascinating short pieces at shalanna.livejournal.com, her weblog (not a "diary"--diaries pretend to some version of the truth, and writers don't hold with strict veracity. We prefer stories. They make more sense.)

CAITLYN YOUNG, SONG FROM THE HEART: an entry in the Dorchester/TextNovel competition

I've been writing since I could grip a crayon. As soon as I realized, around age six, that books didn't just fall from the sky fully formed as the Bible and the Encyclopedia Britannica had, I determined to become a novelist. I started with short fiction, which Mama said was "lying," and immediately forbade. However, I kept at it, despite the disapproval of "storying" (my mother's word for lying, truth-bending, and fact-twisting.) Teachers thought my writing was great, and I have many dedicated teachers to thank for my continued enthusiasm for the written word.

I've been hacking away at this Big Rock Candy Mountain of "getting a novel published by a legitimate large New York house" for quite some time. When I was in fourth grade, I decided to submit some poems and a short story to the New Yorker. Back then, there weren't so many people writing and sending stuff in. My poems were typed on Daddy's big old cast-iron Underwood in his home office, and that was state-of-the-art at the time. My stuff always came winging its way back through the snailmail service, but always with a nice little handscribbled encouragement on the quarter-page rejection slip. I suspect they liked the thought of encouraging a wee bairn, which my juvenilia told them I was. The handwritten encouragements continued until around eight years ago, when the slushpiles flooded and overflowed and editors began shielding themselves from the influx of submissions.

Still we beat on, boats against the current. My YA novel _Dulcinea: or Wizardry A-Flute_ was the first runner-up in the 1996 Warner Aspect First Fantasy Novel Contest. I currently have a mystery series under consideration at St. Martin's Press, courtesy of a judge in the last St. Martin's/Malice Domestic contest (I didn't win the prize, but at least I hit an editor's desk), and there are various other books in the stages of submission. However, I feel that the Dorchester/TextNovel contest is the greatest opportunity since the serpent held out the apple to Eve. Wait, that didn't come out right. . . .

This contest offers authors a way in by the back door, as I see it. The contest is counting on authors being able to drum up support for their work in the form of votes on the site. This way, they can tell whose work would attract a following and a fan base--or at least that's the theory. I despise having to go out and beg and troll for readers, but on the other hand, I think it's wonderful that readers can start reading our actual novels chapter by chapter and follow the book to its completion right there on the website. And all for free!

So if you are interested in free reading material, head on over to textnovel.com and have a look at some of the novels that are posted. Only those that are so marked are in the Dorchester "Best Celler" (cell phone novels--thus the spelling) contest. We'd love it if you decided to register on the site (they don't send spam, and it's all FREE) and vote. And if you have a book that you've been working on, why don't you join the site as an author and enter the contest? There's still time; the final decision won't be made until November. Come on, take the challenge--enter and become our worthy competition! It only hurts when you click on "number of votes."

If you would like to take a look at SONG, click on this link or type this into your browser:
http://textnovel.com/stories_list_detail.php?story_id=1368

There you'll find the novel's first few pages and description. IF you like what you see, scroll down that page past the greyed-out box with the description. You'll see the first four pages, which they call a chapter. They make our chapters very short so they can be read on PDAs or cell phones. Wild, right?

To vote, you first register (sign up) for the site, which entails clicking on "Sign Up" on the upper RH corner of the home page at
http://textnovel.com/
Fill out the short form with your name, pen name (it insists on this, even when you register as READER ONLY--you can use your first name and last initial or a handle), and a valid email address. They'll send a confirmation email to that address. Go and click on that link in that email, and it'll take you to the "Registration Complete" message. Then you're in!

If you like the book (or another you find on the site), and you have registered, please vote for it by clicking on THUMBS UP. You can become a fan by clicking on the cell phone icon as well. It would help even more if you do become a fan. That's like a second vote! And who can resist voting TWICE?!

You can vote for as many novels there as you like, or none at all. Either way, feel free to read your fill. There's more where that came from.

FACTOIDS ABOUT SHALANNA COLLINS, WRITING AS CAITLYN YOUNG
Favorite Author(s):Shakespeare, Donald E. Westlake, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Harper Lee
Favorite Book(s):To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, The Secret History, Bellwether (by Connie Willis), Dulcinea (by Shalanna Collins)
Favorite Music/Composers: the Beatles, the Monkees, Bobby Darin, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Vince Guaraldi, R. E. M.
Website(s): http://shalanna.livejournal.com

Stories on Textnovel by this Author
SONG FROM THE HEART Romantic suspense with a paranormal twist -- this is the one that has a good chance in the contest. Here's where your vote, and your subscription (click on the cell phone), would help most.

These two are also in the contest, but aren't very far along yet.
UNBROKEN A ghost story with horses

IN THE PUNDIT'S CORNER A screwball comedy with a suspense subplot

TOMORROW: Our next contestant/blogger!

Secrets Abound . . . Good Reading Ahead

Welcome to the TextNovel Contestants "Revealing All Secrets" Weblog! Here the leading novelists in the Dorchester/TextNovel contests reveal their secrets about writing, life, and getting a good parking place. We'll give you everything from hints and tips on getting those words down on paper to excerpts from our award-winning Editor's Choice novels.

If you're not familiar with the TextNovel concept, visit the contest site at www.textnovel.com and read a few chapters from the novels that are currently in play--all for free! Two or three of us will be winning publishing contracts, and you can help us by reading and voting for our work over on the site. But that's not a requirement in order to visit us here.

Let's get started with the introductions!

Our first guest blogger will be Caitlyn Young, author of SONG FROM THE HEART, a Dorchester contest entry. The book is romantic suspense with a supernatural element. Look for it on shelves--well, soon, we hope, if things work out! For now, read the first several chapters free at

SONG FROM THE HEART