I'm Sharon Cho, known as Shair to most of my close friends. Approaching my fifth decade in life was something I never thought I'd do, the thought having always been that I'd most likely die before my 30th birthday. My childhood consisted of dreaming, reading and being sick 70% of the time. My teens consisted of me trying to figure out Society and why I didn't fit in. My twenties were spent trying to kill myself with fun, lack of sleep and lack of food. Then, I had the best fun in my 30's.
I learned to relax, I learned to give without asking back, and I learned to love the thrill of the chase. Part of my writing, is to experience the thrill of the chase again, since now in my 40's, I'm a middle-aged married lady who given a chase, would rather watch it on TV. Heh.
I learned to relax, I learned to give without asking back, and I learned to love the thrill of the chase. Part of my writing, is to experience the thrill of the chase again, since now in my 40's, I'm a middle-aged married lady who given a chase, would rather watch it on TV. Heh.
In my thirties, I became a comic book agent, helping artists and writers fulfill their dreams in their chosen vocations. At some point in the middle of my stint there, an idea formed, which became the comic book Nobody, published by Oni Press. Because I had little faith in my own drive, I asked another writer whom I respected, to co-write this with me, Alex Amado.
The book was a critical success, a sales failure, but an optionable success. After the 4-book mini-series came out, we got a one-year option on it. After the four books were collected into a trade paperback by AIT publishing, we got a two-year option from Hollywood. Alas, the options went nowhere and the rights are reverted back to us.
During this time, Xena came on TV. Here, a culmination of a bunch of my passions coalesced into one single show. Strong women, women warriors, love between two women that felt genuine, fighting and not just any fighting - high-wire fighting from HK Cinema! I was in love. And out of that, the seeds of Woven Tales were born.
For fifteen years, the characters of Tristien (back then named Tristan) and Kat haunted my fantasies. Sure their best friends were Xena and Gabrielle and they often had the same Gods roaming in the same lands, but I wasn't interested in telling Xena's and Gabrielle's stories. There were already writers for that. No, I wanted to tell my own tales, but have these strong women as supporting cast. (less work if you use existing characters as supporting cast Heh).
In 2004, I tried Nanowrimo. The Three H Foundation was my first attempt. I think I got to 10,000 words and petered out. Yes, you will see the Three H Academy here in the Woven Tales. It was the story of Tristien's childhood and that was right around the time Harry Potter hit it big. I thought, I have a school, let's write about the school. In 2005, I wanted to write An Act of Balance, which had little to do with Woven Tales. I got to about 12,000 words and petered out. In 2006, I hated Bush so much I wanted to write a metaphor which resulted in about 15,000 words for Escalating Descent.
As you can see, I was right about my drive. Up to now, the only completed and published works I had were a poem, a short story and a 4 issue comic book. Well, I dropped Nanowrimo for 2007 & 2008 thinking, why bother. But then, 2009 came along. My life was in flux. My wife battled with personal and health demons and I was helpless beside her. We took in a roommate. I thought I could lose my wife any moment.
At her urging, I zoned out from life starting October 25. I figured that since I knew the last 5 days in November would be spent travelling and in Arizona at my in-laws, I started Nanowrimo 5 days early so I could finish 5 days early. Yes, technically I was cheating, but who cared - Nanowrimo's supposed to be a tool.
I wrote 60,000 during those 30 days. I didn't blog about it this time and maybe that was the difference. All I did was write. I came home from work, and re-read the previous night's writings to edit it. Then I'd write anywhere from 1,000 words to 3,000 words. To hit 50,000 you need to write 1,667 words a night on average.
Then I dropped the whole thing cause Life got weird.
March, 2011 - My wife has been hounding me for more stories these past two years. I came up with stories of the Goddhai for her. I'm not even sure what happened. But I re-read what I wrote in 2009 and I get the cold sweats, because I knew I had the makings. It needed to be edited, rethought and worked out, but damn if all the ingredients weren't already there.
And that's how a 15-year old story finally gets to be written. One of these days, I'll write about influences, about character, about how I write.
The book was a critical success, a sales failure, but an optionable success. After the 4-book mini-series came out, we got a one-year option on it. After the four books were collected into a trade paperback by AIT publishing, we got a two-year option from Hollywood. Alas, the options went nowhere and the rights are reverted back to us.
During this time, Xena came on TV. Here, a culmination of a bunch of my passions coalesced into one single show. Strong women, women warriors, love between two women that felt genuine, fighting and not just any fighting - high-wire fighting from HK Cinema! I was in love. And out of that, the seeds of Woven Tales were born.
For fifteen years, the characters of Tristien (back then named Tristan) and Kat haunted my fantasies. Sure their best friends were Xena and Gabrielle and they often had the same Gods roaming in the same lands, but I wasn't interested in telling Xena's and Gabrielle's stories. There were already writers for that. No, I wanted to tell my own tales, but have these strong women as supporting cast. (less work if you use existing characters as supporting cast Heh).
In 2004, I tried Nanowrimo. The Three H Foundation was my first attempt. I think I got to 10,000 words and petered out. Yes, you will see the Three H Academy here in the Woven Tales. It was the story of Tristien's childhood and that was right around the time Harry Potter hit it big. I thought, I have a school, let's write about the school. In 2005, I wanted to write An Act of Balance, which had little to do with Woven Tales. I got to about 12,000 words and petered out. In 2006, I hated Bush so much I wanted to write a metaphor which resulted in about 15,000 words for Escalating Descent.
As you can see, I was right about my drive. Up to now, the only completed and published works I had were a poem, a short story and a 4 issue comic book. Well, I dropped Nanowrimo for 2007 & 2008 thinking, why bother. But then, 2009 came along. My life was in flux. My wife battled with personal and health demons and I was helpless beside her. We took in a roommate. I thought I could lose my wife any moment.
At her urging, I zoned out from life starting October 25. I figured that since I knew the last 5 days in November would be spent travelling and in Arizona at my in-laws, I started Nanowrimo 5 days early so I could finish 5 days early. Yes, technically I was cheating, but who cared - Nanowrimo's supposed to be a tool.
I wrote 60,000 during those 30 days. I didn't blog about it this time and maybe that was the difference. All I did was write. I came home from work, and re-read the previous night's writings to edit it. Then I'd write anywhere from 1,000 words to 3,000 words. To hit 50,000 you need to write 1,667 words a night on average.
Then I dropped the whole thing cause Life got weird.
March, 2011 - My wife has been hounding me for more stories these past two years. I came up with stories of the Goddhai for her. I'm not even sure what happened. But I re-read what I wrote in 2009 and I get the cold sweats, because I knew I had the makings. It needed to be edited, rethought and worked out, but damn if all the ingredients weren't already there.
And that's how a 15-year old story finally gets to be written. One of these days, I'll write about influences, about character, about how I write.