Transit Installment 28

Who's That Knockin' On My Door? The Captain's daughter and she's scared out of her gourd.

Hurricane Kaala is blowing the Andaman Pearl around the South China Sea threatening to send the ship and her cargo to the bottom. In this installment, a terrified Lovely Bayani bangs on Jessamyn’s door seeking shelter in her cabin. (Everything will be okay, I promise: Captain Bayani has survived rougher seas and there’s a lot more of the novel to come so it would be a shame to do in the protagonist this early).

Jessamyn gets Lovely settled in her bed so they don’t roll around the cabin. She’s forgotten to lock the maneki-neko up in a secure drawer but it waves from her night stand, cheerful as ever. Trust a cat to keep its balance when the world’s going bonkers. Lovely eventually falls asleep, spooned into Jessamyn’s body. The world will look different tomorrow. And we will learn much more about Lovely Bayani.

We have an initial author’s proof of Transit from the printer and there are a few bugs, not features, to eliminate. After that it’s full steam ahead. Books to order, logistics to iron out for the upcoming release party, arrangements to make at the bank for the influx of cash that will surely follow once the book hits the shelves. Not to mention the movie rights.

While we’re dreaming, I’ve been thinking about the audio book and what sort of voice would best present the novel. I was watching Tár last night and there’s is an unexpected confluence between that movie and Transit, not in terms of story but in terms of a culture that most people have never heard about (absent the throwaway discussion about the Shipibo-Conibo people in Adam Gopnik’s interview of the Lydia Tár character, portrayed so brilliantly by Cate Blanchett).

The nexus between Transit and Tár won’t be apparent from what I have posted so far. But a character is coming soon to the serialization from guess which indigenous culture who is pivotal to the narrative. Look for Èlia to make her appearance when the ship docks in Singapore. She’s a composer and performer who will be Lovely Bayani’s roommate at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. I’ll have more to say about kene, ikaros and other everyday magic (mentioned by Lydia Tár in the aforementioned interview) in future posts. Meanwhile, what did you think of Tár?

Cate Blanchett’s voice and delivery seems perfect as the voice of Jessamyn Quilter. My guess is that she is busy, and unaffordable, but someone whose voice has her qualities would make a wonderful narrator for a Transit audio book.

Thanks again to all of you who are responsible for my subscriber count creeping up! Everything is still free to read so if you are enjoying Transit and the other writings posted to my Substack, please let your friends who might also enjoy my work know and encourage them to subscribe. I appreciate you and your support of my efforts.

Within the next couple of weeks I expect to let you know that the novel is available for purchase. In the meantime, enjoy Transit, posted under the Novels tab of Marty Writes Stories.