Weekend Writing Warriors

Another eight sentences from ‘Irish Inheritance’, my current work in progress. Having been told she is about to inherit a large sum of money and a share of a house in Ireland, Jenna is then informed she needs to go to Dublin to meet with someone from the Irish law firm dealing with the estate. Her lawyer says he will contact her employer and request leave of absence for her. Here is Jenna's response:

 

“Actually, Mr. Haslam, I don’t have an employer, at least not at the moment. I’m an actress and I’m—er—between jobs at the moment.”

 

“I see.” The lawyer cleared his throat, and Jenna had the impression she might as well have said she was a nightclub stripper. “Well, of course, that simplifies things.”

 

Not really, she thought, twisting her lips wryly, but maybe Charley would lend her the money for a quick trip to Dublin. No, hold on. If she was due to inherit twenty-five thousand pounds plus half a house, perhaps she could get some kind of advance.

 

Many thanks for visiting each week, and for your comments. I’m delighted you like the beginning of this story!

 

 

This is a photo of the small town of Clifden in the west of Couny Galway,

where a lot of this story will take place.

 

For more snippets from the 'Weekend Writing Warriors',

please visit http://www.wewriwa.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/

Always a Writer?

Continuing my Thursday Challenge to myself to click ‘Random Article’ in Wikipedia and write about whatever article comes up first, and also link the topic in some way to writing.

 

Today’s article is about someone called Derek Drymon, who evidently is a storyboard artist and animated cartoonist. He’s worked on various cartoon including SpongeBob SquarePants, Shrek and Kung Fu Panda (plus others I’d never heard of!)

 

I have no drawing ability at all, even though my grandfather was an amateur artist. He was also a very keen gardener, and often painted pictures of his prize-winning dahlias. Sadly, his  artistic and gardening skills have not been passed on to me or, to my knowledge, to any of his descendants.

 

One part of the article about Mr Drymon did capture my attention though. As a child he enjoyed drawing and making comic books. I wonder how many of today’s writers first started as children? I certainly did. I remember having a brown exercise book in which I wrote my stories when I was about eight or nine.

 

People sometimes ask me, “When did you become a writer?” My answer is, “When I first learnt to write.” Before that, the stories were in my head and I made up different scenarios for my dolls and teddy bear to act out. I never consciously ‘became’ a writer. In a sense, I’ve always been one. Writing is as natural to me as breathing!

 

How about you? Did you ‘decide’ to write, or have you always written stories?

Weekend Writing Warriors

Eight more sentences from my current ‘work in progress’, provisionally titled ‘Irish Inheritance’. Jenna has just been informed of her inheritance by a London lawyer.

 

“You said I had a half share of the house and the fifty thousand pounds.” Even saying the words seemed surreal. She hadn’t yet wrapped her mind around what the money actually meant. “Who gets the other half?”

 

“I’m sorry, Ms. Sutton, I don’t have that information. The Dublin law firm is dealing with the estate and I’m sure Mr. McGrath will be able to tell you more when you meet him in Dublin.”

 

“When I meet him in—? Whoa, hold on, who says I’m going to meet him?”

 

 

Another photo of Connemara for you!

 

 

For more snippets from the 'Weekend Writing Warriors',

please visit http://www.wewriwa.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/

 

 

Book Blurbs

Continuing my Thursday Challenge to myself to click ‘Random Article’ in Wikipedia and write about whatever article comes up first, and also link the topic in some way to writing.

 

Today’s article was about a movie called Pancho Villa, a ‘spaghetti western’ made in 1972, starring Telly Savalas and Clint Walker. The plot, according to Wikipedia, is: After being double-crossed in an arms deal planned by arms dealer Scotty, the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and Scotty raid a US Army weapons depot in retaliation.

 

I have to admit that this ‘blurb’ does absolutely nothing to attract me to the movie. For one thing, it’s totally confusing. If Pancho Villa has been double-crossed by Scotty, why is he then working alongside him? And why are they raiding a US depot? In retaliation for what?

 

Secondly, I have absolutely no interest in arms deals, or raids on weapons depots.

Thirdly, I’m not madly keen on westerns either!

This made me think about book blurbs, and what attracts me or put me off when I read a blurb.

Starting with the third point, just as I’m not interested in western movies, there are various genres of books that don’t interest me. Paranormal, erotica, fantasy, sci-fi – if I see any of those words in a blurb, I’m very likely to put the book on the shelf (or turn to something else on Amazon). Of course I accept that plenty of people do like western movies, and have different tastes in books. It’s simply a matter of personal choice, and doesn’t reflect the quality of the movie or book.

Second point – the ‘subject matter’. In the movie, this was arms deals and raids, which of course are not restricted to westerns. Again, however, it’s not something I would choose to watch. The same applies to books, even if I am looking specifically at my personal choice of genre i.e. contemporary romance. If I see a book about a Greek shipping billionaire, or a rich Arab sheikh, or Italian count, I’m unlikely to buy it. Similarly, if there’s murder or fraud or other crime, I probably won’t be tempted either.

Which brings me to maybe the most important point about blurbs. The Pancho Villa blurb is one of the worst I have read, not just because it is confusing, but also because it simply doesn’t tell you enough about the story. It seems there is a fine line between revealing too much in a blurb, and not telling enough.

The best advice I read about blurbs was quite simple:

1. Who’s the hero?
2. Who’s the heroine?
3. What’s the main conflict?
4. End with a question which is basically the ‘log line’ or main hook for your book.

Thus the ‘blurb’ for my recent release was: Anna Richards has a dream of going to live and study in Paris, but when Matthew Carlton comes into her life, her dream changes direction. Attraction sparks between them, but Matt’s behaviour is strangely inconsistent. Anna is shocked when she discovers the reason and is sure there is no future for them. Can Paris work its magic and make her dream come true?

What puts you off in a book blurb - and what attracts you? 

Honesty

‘Honesty’ is the topic chosen this week by Magical Mystical Mimi for TheWriters’ Post. In her blog Mimi talks about how young children are invariably honest in what they say – sometimes to the extreme embarrassment of their parents (as in: “Mummy, why is that lady so fat?” or, to their first grade teacher, “My daddy jumps up and down on the bed with mummy.” - !!)

 

Somewhere along the line, we learn to think before we speak, not to make personal remarks to or about other people, to be tactful, to take care not to hurt others’ feelings. In doing so, we learn about ‘little white lies’.

 

If we tell someone their dress/hairstyle/whatever looks great when in fact we think it doesn’t really suit them, how honest are we being? Maybe it depends on how well we know the person, as to whether we’re tactful or 'brutally' honest with them.

 

Do I tell someone on Facebook that the cover of their book would not make me buy the book in a million years? Some covers (and blurbs) are a complete turn-off for me. Am I being dishonest by saying nothing? 

 

If I read a novel that I find weak/boring/poorly written do I write an honest review giving the reasons why I disliked it? The reverse side, of course, is that it would be dishonest to write a glowing review and/or give the book five stars.

 

I believe that we should use honesty to encourage, not criticize; to build someone up, not tear them down. As Thumper said in ‘Bambi’, “If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.”

Weekend Writing Warriors

In honour of St Patrick’s Day, my eight sentences today are the start of my current ‘work in progress’, provisionally titled ‘Irish Inheritance.’

 

“A house in Ireland?” Jenna stared over the mahogany desk at the lawyer. “Someone I’ve never heard of has left me a house in Ireland?”

 

The grey-haired man raised his head, and looked at her over his rimless spectacles. “A half share of the house, Ms. Sutton, along with a half share of what, at current exchange rates, amounts to approximately fifty thousand pounds.”

 

Jenna shook her head and swiped some strands of her hair back behind her ear. Any minute now someone was going to leap out from under the desk and cry ‘April Fool’. Except this was May, not April, and surely it was unethical for Mr. Haslam, of Hargreaves, Haslam, and Hesketh, to play practical jokes on anyone.

 

And here is the beautiful part of Ireland which is the setting for the story – Connemara on the west coast.

 

 

For more snippets from the 'Weekend Writing Warriors',

please visit http://www.wewriwa.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/

 

 

Traffic Jams - and Writer's Block?

Continuing my Thursday Challenge to myself to click ‘Random Article’ in Wikipedia and write about whatever article comes up first, and also link the topic in some way to writing.

 

Today’s article is actually something I know about – Marylebone Road in London. It’s one of the major roads in North London, running east-west from Regent’s Park to the A40 which is one of the main routes westwards out of London. It gets its name (which is actually pronounced ‘Marlibon’) from St Mary’s Church which was built on the banks of a small stream or ‘bourne’.

 

Because it is part of the inner London ring-road, it’s frequently congested. I’ve been stuck in traffic jams for ages on part of this road when I’ve been heading for Euston Station. As I’m usually in one of the traditional London black cabs, I watch the taxi meter increasing rapidly in direct contrast to the actual progress, since the fare goes up by 20 pence for every half minute you’re in standing traffic.

 

How do I connect all this to writing? A taxi journey can be similar to writing. Sometimes the road is clear; other times you’re stuck in a traffic jam. In the same way, you can make good progress with your story; other times you’re reduced to a crawl, or a stop-start, or even a complete standstill. Maybe we can learn a lesson from the taxis. When the traffic slows down or stops, the drivers can’t simply abandon their cabs. They have to keep going, knowing they’ll eventually reach their destination, however long it might take.

 

There’s another link between London taxi drivers and writing. To gain their license, black cab drivers have to pass a test called ‘The Knowledge’ which is an in-depth study of about 320 standard routes in central London, and also places of interest (not just the main tourist places, but hotels, theatres, stations, parks, hospitals etc etc etc.) The ‘routes’ can be compared to the writer’s knowledge of grammar, spelling and punctuation; the ‘places of interest’ to the research we need to do and the facts we need to check for every story we write.

 

Returning to the original topic of Marylebone Road, one of London’s major tourist attractions is on this road –Madame Tussauds, the original waxwork museum, established by Marie Tussaud herself in 1835. The museum displays many famous figures which are incredibly lifelike – but they’re still made of wax. Our characters may be like this at times - outwardly lifelike, but lifeless and emotionless. It’s worth thinking about!

 

On a brighter note (literally!), next to Madame Tussauds is the London Planetarium, which reminds me of the quote by Oscar Wilde: We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars. 

My Favourite Hat

‘Hats’ is Jenn Duffy-Pearson’s choice of topic this week for The Writers’ Post on Facebook.

 

I’ve had different ‘hats’ all my life, some real, some figurative. As a Brownie, I wore a brown woollen hat, as a Girl Guide a navy beret. My school also had an ‘outdoor uniform’ as well as the traditional indoor uniform. We all had to wear navy gabardine coats and a navy berets with the school badge sewn on the front of the beret. Woe betide you if a prefect saw you without your beret!

 

Our felt berets, when new, always had a short stub in the centre, known to us as a ‘bobble’ and it was traditional, when you got a new beret, for it to be ‘debobblicated’ i.e. have the bobble removed. This 'ceremony' usually took place while we waited for the school bus in the morning. I remember my mother being very annoyed that the debobblicating left a small hole in my new beret, but I didn’t mind. It simply wasn’t ‘done’ to have a beret with a bobble!

 

More ‘real’ hats followed – woollen hats for hiking and hillwalking, hats to attend weddings, a mortar board when I graduated –and then the ‘figurative’ hats of being a daughter, mother, and teacher. There were times when I felt I also needed a ‘halo’ hat, for coping with teenage daughters, and students too (although maybe they would think a witch’s hat more suitable!)

 

I was the leader of a Girl Guide unit, and hats were part of the uniform. They were rather like the 1960s/70s ‘air hostess’ type of hat, and I think everyone hated them. I remember one National AGM when the Chief Guide stood to address the meeting, and started off by saying, “All right, hats off, ladies!” and everyone removed their hats with a sigh of relief. That same Chief Guide obviously hated the hats too, as she introduced a new uniform, with no obligatory hats for leaders!

 

I haven’t worn a ‘real’ hat for many years, not even for weddings, but I still have some figurative hats. I’m still a mother, of course, and also a grandmother, so there was the babysitting hat, and the picking up from school hat when my grandsons were small, as well as the 'confidential' hat, when my teenage grandsons talked to me about anything and everything, knowing I would never betray their confidences.

 

Now I wear ‘a ‘retired person’ hat! I very soon decided that retirement was my real ‘vocation’ in life! I’ve travelled more since I retired than I ever did before, and visited places I thought I would never see. I’ve enjoyed being able to ‘do my own thing’, get up late, stay up late, go out for pub lunches with friends, and make meals for myself as and when I want them! I suppose you could say I also now wear a ‘writer’s hat’, having started writing contemporary novels again about five years ago, after a 25 year break.

 

My favourite ‘hat’ is the one I wear right now!

 

Weekend Writing Warriors

Another eight sentences from my contemporary romance, ‘Dream of Paris’.

 

Matt has just told Anna he’s been trying not to fall in love with her, but now he’s backing off again!

 

“I shouldn’t have said anything, not here in Paris.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Everything could be very different once we’re back in Medport.”

 

“No, it doesn’t need to be—”

 

He reached across to squeeze her hand. “Anna, we need time, both of us, so—” Raising his glass, he tilted his head in a small, almost helpless gesture. “Here’s to the future, whatever it may bring.”

 

Why is he so unsure about everything? Nope, I’m not telling you anything more!

 

 

Many thanks to everyone who visits and leaves comments for me!

More Weekend Writing Warriors can be found here.

 

Dream of Paris can be downloaded for Kindle at Amazon USA, Amazon Canada and Amazon UK
Also available in various formats from Smashwords for Nook, iPad, Sony, Kobo, etc
Paperback version also now available on Amazon.

 

Blurb:

 

Anna Richards has a dream of going to live and study in Paris, but when Matthew Carlton comes into her life, her dream changes direction.

 

Attraction sparks between them, but Matt’s behaviour is strangely inconsistent. Anna is shocked when she discovers the reason and is sure there is no future for them.

 

Can Paris work its magic and make her dream come true?

 

Complex Characters

Continuing my Thursday Challenge to myself to click ‘Random Article’ in Wikipedia and write about whatever article comes up first, and also link the topic in some way to writing.

 

Today’s article, for a change, is actually a literary one – The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James. I’ve not read this book, but the article gives a brief summary of the plot, which is basically a struggle between a widow and her son over a house with antique furniture.

 

It occurred to me, as I read about the various characters, that they seemed fairly one-dimensional. The widow is an ‘unprincipled dominator’ who bulldozes her way over other people to get what she wants. The son is weak and ‘brainless’, often very confused. He’s engaged to a woman called Mona, who is coarse and bumptious, and wants the valuable furniture in the house. The narrator of the story is Fleda, who is sensitive but victimised by more decisive people.

 

I’m often ‘put off’ by characters who only appear to have one dimension like these characters seem to have. As I've not read the story, I accept that the summary may only be describing their main characteristics. I hope so because most people (in my opinion, anyway) are complex. We’re a product of our childhood, our environment, and our life experiences, and different facets of our characters will be apparent in different circumstances. For example, is the widow in this story just a domineering old woman who likes to have everything her own way? Or is she frightened of losing her home and treasured possessions as she gets older?

 

Part of our ‘job’ as writers is to explore these different facets of the characters we create and, in some cases, give reasons for the way they act. This doesn’t necessarily mean we should make everything they do or say ‘fit’ with some preconceived character analysis. After all, people can and do act ‘out of character’ at times. Quite often we can’t define, even to ourselves, why we might have acted or reacted in a specific way to something or someone. It may have nothing at all to do with our childhood or upbringing, but simply be a result of how we were feeling at that particular time.

 

However, it’s worth remembering our characters don’t just suddenly ‘appear’ in our stories, but they all had ‘lives’ beforehand, which may influence how they behave in the story we give to them.

School Picture

‘School Picture’ is this week’s theme for the GBE2:Blog On group, so here’s one of mine:

 

Our school had a Rose Queen Festival every June, and our class did the maypole dancing. I think we were 8 or 9 at the time. We had to practise after school for weeks beforehand, learning all the different dances, and whether to hold the ribbons up or down as we wove them into fancy patterns around the pole.

The photo was taken as we paraded onto the field. I think there were about 12 ‘couples’. All the girls wore identical dresses, blue and white check pattern, with frills from each shoulder to the waist, and puff sleeves, and we had white bonnets, short white socks and white canvas shoes. The boys wore white shirts, blue ties, and short grey pants.

I remember being very nervous beforehand, but we had been well trained. Our maypole dances all went well and we managed not to get any of the ribbons tangled!

By the way, my partner was called Edward, and everyone teased me about him being my 'boyfriend'. I wonder what happened to him and where he is now!   

The Next Big Thing

My friend Geralyn (aka GVR Corcillo) tagged me in her blog, and I get to tag two more authors in mine. We’re all talking about our next book – The Next Big Thing – by answering ten questions to help you find new books and new authors to read. I hope you enjoy the fun!

1: What is the working title of your book?
‘Dream of Paris’.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
It originated with a story I wrote when I was in my teens (a long time ago!)

3: What genre does your book come under?
Contemporary romance

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
For Anna, I imagine someone like Jessica Brown Findlay who played Lady Sybil in Downton Abbey- but I can’t think of anyone who looks like Matt –except maybe a younger Colin Firth!

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Anna’s dream of living in Paris is sidetracked when she meets Matt Carlton, but she’s shocked to discover the reason for his inconsistent behavior and is sure there can be no future for them.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
It is published by independent publisher, Rebecca J. Vickery.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
This story has a long history. It began as a short story written in my teens, which I then started to develop into a longer story when I was in my 30s. I resurrected it for NaNoWriMo in 2011, and wrote a ‘first draft’ in just under a month. It then took me about another six months to revise it, as I needed to develop the characters more, and add more detail.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I find it impossible to compare my work with anyone else’s, as I can’t be objective about my stories. Maybe my readers could answer that question better than I can!

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Paris is one of my favourite cities. My first visit there was when I was eighteen, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been there since, but it has never lost its magic for me. So I started off with a heroine with a long-held dream of going to live and study in Paris – until a new man comes into her life…

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I hope readers will enjoy a ‘virtual’ visit to Paris, along with Anna and Matt. You can stroll along the Seine, wander among all the artists in the Place du Tertre, take a romantic evening cruise on a Bateau Mouche, and enjoy a glass of wine at a bistro on the Left Bank.
Part of the novel is set in a high school in southern England. I know the American system is different from ours, so I’ll be interested to know whether non-British readers can relate to the school part of the story.

‘Dream of Paris’ is now available in print and ebook formats from Amazon, as are all my other novels. You can find them on my author page, and also on my website.

If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. If you’re a reviewer and you’re interested in reading and discussing the book, please contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you to Geralyn for inviting me to join the blog hop. Her Next Big Thing blog post is here.

Now I'm tagging two very talented authors to write about their 'Next Big Thing':
Jennifer Wilck and Debra St. John

Weekend Writing Warriors

Eight more sentences from ‘Dream of Paris’. After their first kiss by the River Seine, Matt tells Anna he’d wanted to kiss her for weeks.

 

She stared at him, hardly able to believe what he’d said. All the time she’d been thinking it was an impossible dream, he’d been wanting to kiss her. “Why didn’t you?”

 

His gaze met hers for a few tension-filled moments, and then, without breaking eye-contact, he reached to push a stray strand of hair back from her cheek. His soft fingers traced the outline of her ear as he tucked it behind, and stayed near her earlobe, gently caressing the side of her neck with his fingertips.

 

“Because I’ve been trying not to fall in love with you.”

 

She was sure she’d imagined his words but the tenderness in his eyes told her she hadn’t. For a second she didn’t dare breathe or move, in case she broke the spell.

 

 

Many thanks for visiting and leaving comments for me!

 

Dream of Paris can be downloaded for Kindle at Amazon USA, Amazon Canada and Amazon UK
Also available in various formats from Smashwords for Nook, iPad, Sony, Kobo, etc
Paperback version also now available on Amazon.

 

Blurb:

Anna Richards has a dream of going to live and study in Paris, but when Matthew Carlton comes into her life, her dream changes direction.

Attraction sparks between them, but Matt’s behaviour is strangely inconsistent. Anna is shocked when she discovers the reason and is sure there is no future for them.

Can Paris work its magic and make her dream come true?

 

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of 'Dream of Paris', please visit Romancing the Book and leave a comment for me!