Mid- year Updates with our friend Corner Blomevi👓✏

Hello CTTBies,

This is Corner speaking, and I have some fresh announcements for you. As the mascot and the brain behind this website. I’m glad to present to you our latest updates !

Ultimately, Nuna (our cherished writer and webmaster) hasn’t been able to post regularly…  The good news is that there are some new projects coming on and it’s keeping her busy. She is deeply sorry for her absence, but she’ll be back soon!

As you know, “Corner The Talking Brain” is not only a Blog platform; but it’s also a webnovel  platform where Nuna publishes some of her writings. Therefore, apart from the blog posts (notified via email),  there are also pages  where she publishes fiction.  (click here to access).

After that little explanation, here come the news:

• “Three Expats and a Winter” (sociocultural story)

Being the first fiction published on this website, the first season is over and available. (click here to read). It’s currently on hiatus, but as soon as the muse visits her, Nuna will come back with season two!

• “A Writer Behind The Scenes” (author’s diary)

Cheerful and refreshing, it is based on Nuna’s personal diary where she shares the hoops and lows of her experiences as a newbie author.  It also has a number of episodes available. (Click here to access)

• “Unescorted” (chicklit novel)  

The book was planned to be published at the beginning of this year as an e-book, but there are some major changes to the story and the editing phase has extended a bit. Nuna added more chapters, so the first draft elongated from approximately 50 pages to about 191 pages… Unfortunately we had to postpone the publishing but it will definitely come on.   The story is complete, but still has to be meticulously revised. It’s her first official novel to be published, so as a perfectionist rookie writer, she wants to deliver the best version possible! 
A new release date shall therefore be communicated further ahead.

And now… we saved the best for the last! 

• New project under construction

In regards to the cultural topics that our society has been facing lately,  more specifically concerning the Black Lives Matter movement and the current sensibilization against Anti-asian hate movements, a new project was born. As a great fan of intercultural exchanges and love stories,  Nuna was inspired to start a biracial romantic comedy.

Please stay connected for more information on the contents, the title and also a book excerpt! 

• New look

Our website is undergoing some modifications as far as the presentation and appareance is concerned. We would like it to look better and also offer a better reading experience. There might be some few changes in the colour palette, fonts and other outwards aesthetical aspects, but it will function the same. We apologise for the temporary inconvenience.

• New platforms

To finish, we would like to announce that the audio versions of our blog posts are available on Spotify. On the other hand, videos explaining the content of this website are accessible on our YouTube channel. 

Stay tuned,  and warm regards to all our CTTB fam! 

Corner Blomevi.

Chekhov’s gun, Harry Potter’s magic, Grimm’s longevity and Freud’s science

The magic literary sauce

Recently I have been researching writing techniques to spice up my novels. I’ve always said: if you want to become grand like your references who are successful, follow the steps that they took to get where they are. Apply the tips that worked for them and avoid the mistakes they commited. Our lives are too short to waste time experimenting. As I mentioned in one of the chapters of my diary “A Writer Behind The Scenes”, becoming a great author is not based only on talent, but comes by being humble to learn. (It’s also applicable in any other field). I love this quote from Cindy Trimm: “Your attitude determines your altitude”.

So far I’ve come across these great ingredients:

• Chekhov’s gun

“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

I discovered this concept by chance while I was watching some short writing tutorials on Youtube (links at the end of the page) so I searched it on Wikipedia (read more on Chekhov’s gun.)

It has helped me to be more selective. Sometimes as an author, there is so much one wants to say; but it’s also important to learn how to appropriately transmit the relevant information to the readers, not just a word salad we understand ourselves.  I’m learning to avoid unnecessary details, but also to maintain a certain consistency in my plots.

• Harry Potter’s magic and Grimm’s longevity

I am a great fan of Harry Potter… I completely devoured the story, the creativity is brilliant and the concept is innovative. I also love tales, especially those written by the Grimm brothers. They’ve accompanied me throughout my childhood until now. Aside from the fantasy component that I’m greatly fond of (which turned into my favourite genre as the years went by), I started to consider their tales from a more mature point of view. What made them transcend time, overcome the blackhole of oblivion and leave a steady legacy for 200 years? Their biography is so rich, I’m just starting to learn.

Now that I intend to take writing seriously, I am evolving from being an ardent fan/ reader to becoming a disciple.  I hope my own stories (Tales of Dreamland for example) will benefit from this admirable heritage.

Check the link I read: “What made Harry Potter so successful”

• Freud’s science

I am interested in Psychology as a science, so I do a lot of research on that field. In literature, I am a great fan of psychology novels, webtoons, series, korean dramas etc, whether it’s the main component or it’s combined with other genres.… “It’s okay, that’s love”, “Dr Frost”, “Yumi’s Cells”, “It’s Ok To Not Be Okay” etc… Any story that talks about how thoughts are processed or how the mind functions is my cup of tea. Although the title may suggest so, I don’t focus on Freud only but I research on the whole field in general. I just chose his name because he’s one of the most famous pionners.

As a writer, it’s a necessary ingredient that I add to my plots (my novel Unescorted is full of psychological allusions). It helps me define the characters’ traits and therefore make the story more understandable. It also helps to engage the audience in empathizing or relating with them, therefore making the plot more captivating. More importantly, I don’t want my stories to be only for entertainment or to pass time. Through them, I wish to raise awareness, transmit healing and cause my readers to reflect.

I hope you enjoyed these tips! What were your favourites, and why? And which other ones would you suggest? Let me know in the comments below!

Nuna’s next projects: Book excerpts

A quick peek into my stories

Hola CTTBies!

It’s your cherished Nuna, I’m back after letting Corner join last week. I hope he didn’t make any mistakes, that little brat can be a nuisance sometimes (that was an affectionate comment from me, lol). In any case, I’m taking over for now.

I wanted to share with you about my website and what I’ll be publishing. Initially, it was supposed to be webnovel platform where I would be uploading the stories I’m writing, chapter by chapter, episode by episode. It works just like Wattpad or Webtoon (if you use those platforms, you will understand what I mean). The only difference is that it’s a personal space for my own books; for the moment there are no other authors, unless I get special guests.

On another day I’ll create a special page to explain how to browse through my website.

I was super eager to upload the complete stories (I started some of them in high school). But… I wrote them on paper, so I have a lot to type. Back then I was just scribbling for fun, I didn’t think I’d be creating a webnovel in the future, lol. Moreover, I don’t like some of the old versions. There’s also quite some editing and cross-checking to do. I was just writing as an amateur and I didn’t pay much attention, hehe. Now, I plan to turn my hobby into my future career. In my diary “A Writer Behind The Scenes“, I mention that I recently realized that becoming a successful author was my hidden dream. This quarantine was of benefit to some of us, to some extent…

Since I have great ambitions, I intend to improve and present to the world books that are of quality. I have a really looong way to go. The problem is, I have to work so it’s a bit hard to balance my job and writing. Nonetheless, one has to start somewhere to get anywhere. For that purpose, I will be sharing my process with you. Aside from “A Writer Behind the Scenes” where I narrate specific experiences or fun anecdotes I go through as a noob, I’ll be uploading excerpts of the books I’m working on. If you’re new to the job like me and wants to learn, feel free to join me! And if you’re an experienced professional, I’d be glad and grateful if you could share some tips with me.

By the way, I’m fluent in three languages (French, English and Spanish) so I usually write in those three according to how I feel, (mostly in English though). But don’t worry; for your rescue, the Google Translate widget is available at the end of the page! (Please scroll down).

Thanks for accompanying me on my journey!

With love from your favourite rookie writer,

Nuna Blomevi.

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