Kismet: a word derived from Turkish and Hindi-Urdu, meaning Fate or Destiny, a predetermined course of events. The word evolved from Persian qesmat, from Arabic qisma, meaning "lot", from qasama, "to divide, allot". Kismet is also used in Bulgarian,Macedonian, and in some dialects of Serbo-Croatian as luck. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismet) ^------ This is the working title of my novel.
When I was younger, I couldn't keep my imagination from running wild. It seemed like I always had a new idea, or a new character that I wanted to explore or develop (it used to completely pull my attention from school; instead of notes from lecture, they would be notes on a new story!). I eventually wound up with three fantastic plots that I would have loved to see to completion. Unfortunately, it was clear that I would never be able to make any of them publishable if I continued trying to work on all three at the same time (not enough hours in the day and all that). I ultimately settled on what would eventually become known as Kismet.
It, admittedly, began as a silly little role play between a friend of mine and I about eight years ago. Back then, I was in a bad place (emotionally, mentally), and I couldn't bring myself to write on my own. I used role playing with a good friend of mine as a creative outlet and as an escape from all the tough stuff I was facing at the time. The general "skeleton" of the story was something of my own making, with bits and pieces taken and inspired by various books, comics and cartoons I was watching, while the "meat" of it was the original work my friend and I did together.
Going back and reading the original logs really makes it clear how far the story has evolved over the years. It's grown with me and my understanding of people and the world, and is a bit of a window into my own past, I suppose.
I've shared it with only a handful of people, as I'm 1) incredibly self-conscious about my writing. The story might be fantastic and creative, compelling and intriguing, but the writing? That may or may not suck. 2) I'm absolutely terrified that someone might steal the story, the characters, the places, etc. This is something I've been pouring my heart and soul in to for eight years. If someone were to take it from me, what could essentially be considered my life's work--I'd be so devastated...I don't even know what I'd do.
That being said, making this blog and wanting to share my work is a huge step for me. I want to get better, and my dream is to become a published author. (If I really want to express that deep dark fairy-tale wish, it would be to have a book just as popular and influential as Harry Potter, complete with shirts and movies and at theme park. While my story is hardly aimed towards children, it's that magnitude of fame and recognition that I'd really like to achieve.) The only way to get better is to share my work with others and learn from whatever mistakes I've made, and truly listen to any advice that's offered.
So that's what I'm here to do.
Brace yourselves!
-Salem