Stop the world I want to get off.

Two weeks ago I had an attack of labyrinthitis. It came out of the blue, one moment I was watching Lucy having a fitting for her wedding dress, the next the room began to spin. Luckily it didn't last long so I managed the journey home on the train. It wasn't until later that evening that the true horror set in. By Sunday morning I could not get out of bed. I was sick and dizzy, I couldn't read, or bear any light. I lay there in the semi dark feeling rather scared and very, very sorry for myself.

This lasted for about three days, until finally the pills the lovely Dr.Kahn prescribed kicked in and I could stagger drunkenly down stairs to lie in front of day time TV.  This was all I could manage. No reading, no writing, nothing for a whole week.

Strangely enough, however, those days were some of the most productive, creatively, that I've had in a long time. Stories flooded my imagination. It was as if I needed the break from the computer and any other stimulation to free the creative processes.

Perhaps we all need this sort of break. Not the being ill bit, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but the down time to give the creative side of the brain the time and space to flower.

1000 Words

Want to write three books a year? Sounds crazy but inspired by a post from  Caffeinated Catherine catherineryanhoward about her goals for 2013, I'm now writing 1000 words each day minimum allowed. That way if I keep up the schedule I should have 365,000 words by the end of the year, which means at least three long, novels. That would be amazing and actually all I'm hoping for is to write the books I have in my plan and to finish off all the uncompleted projects I began in 2012.

Not having started until the end of this month I won't make the full number, but who cares. This way works for me and the best thing of all is that you get to put a big pink, sorry but that was the only colour marker I had, tick on the calendar on the days you've done your total.

Shape-changing in Kidsgrove

On a cold winter day with hints of snow blowing in the air, I drove to Kidsgrove for a workshop on creatures that walk on the dark side.

In a high ceilinged classroom, with footsteps echoing down the corridor outside, Nine Two and I shared our ideas about shape changers, while the rest of the pupils and staff of Clough Hall Technology School went about their usual business.  

The trouble with shape-changers is that they are not what they appear to be. What can seem friendly and familiar might be dangerous and not to be trusted. One of the characters in my novel for kids of all ages, “Dragonfire” is Jocelyn von Drackenberg, the shape-changing dragon. On first meeting he appears kind and helpful, but as the story develops, it becomes more and more obvious that he has very sinister motives.

Showing a real feel for dark fantasy the class concentrated on creating an atmosphere of fear and horror. Some of the settings were conventional. Brandon wrote about John visiting his nan’s grave, with “the wind whistling and the leaves crackling under his feet.” Courtney, however, “was walking down the school corridor late at night …when I saw a figure in the darkness.” While Joe chose “the barren pitch” of an empty football stadium.

Others chose familiar situations, which became more horrific as their stories progressed. Chloe was at home on the upstairs landing when she “saw a man with the body of a dragon, his eyes were yellow. He spoke my name.” Callum was walking home on a Friday night when “All I could think about was the field I had to cross.”

In the other stories the horror became more acute as the writers realized that parents were not what they seemed. Harry wrote that the eyes that peered through the darkness “were just one pair of glasses. They looked a lot like my dad’s glasses and that’s when it hit me, there he was, my dad; but something’s changed…”

Parents are people you should be able to rely on when things get scary, which is why Fern’s story was so effective.
“”Where are you? Please I’m scared. Stop!” Silence, as I turned around. “Mum?” I asked. “Is that you?” No reply.” While in another story, whose writer unfortunately remains anonymous,  “I heard my name being called from outside the door. A light, yet harsh voice. It was my nan.  “Why are you here? How did you get in?” I asked…no reply just a slight smile was drawn on her face.”

The gorier side of horror wasn’t ignored. Hannah woke to “hear a dragging sound. My door opens and something is dragging my parents in the next room ….blood running from my mother’s eyes and my dad’s nose. The creature got its claws and stuck them in my mother’s chest getting blood. It started scribbling blood on the wall…As my eyes adjusted in darkness I could see what it said “I KNOW YOU’RE AWAKE.””

Truly horrific!

Thanks Nine Two for a terrifying afternoon.   

Workshopping Dragonfire

One of the best things about being a writer of children’s books is that it gets you into schools. I’m one of those people who really enjoy working with kids and the workshops I did at Clough Hall Technology NAMe on Friday were brilliant. Thanks guys and thanks Chris Nelson for inviting me.

My first group was Nine Three. We had less than an hour so I decided that the best approach was to concentrate on writing dragon poems. Or at least the first draft of a dragon poem, because by the time I had introduced myself and my books and they had introduced themselves there was little more than forty minutes of writing time left.

I read a passage from "Dragonfire" about Jocelyn the shape changing dragon, then we  talked about my picture of a dragon and brainstormed their ideas. Next came the writing. Five words on five lines, the first ones that come to your head about dragons. Not easy if you’ve never done it before, especially if English and poetry aren’t your favourite subjects.

Building from those original five words, the group drafted their poems. We discussed words, eg why big might be less effective than humungous and why we needed something vivid to describe the power of dragons. From this came Natalia's
“Ruthless teeth tear/ Coldblooded murder kills.” And Owen's “Sharp tail/ Sheer teeth/Scaly ripped skin.

Adam gave us the feeling of power and fury “Vicious wings blow/Angry eyes lazer.” As did Bradley’s “Fierce eyes scare.”

Louis also concentrated on the anger of dragons in the lines “Hard head punches/ Angry fire burns.” While Dean’s dragon had an  “Evil temper always fighting…merciless.”

There was little time to discuss structure but Daniel had an instinctive grasp of form ending each line of his poem with a verb, ie,”Enormous teeth grinding/Armoured body protecting.” As did Sean with his brief three lines. “Long scaly/massive black wings/Sharp claws scratch." While Lewis followed Daniels’ pattern, “Fire breathing burns/Powerful roar deafens" in a tightly structured poem.

Ashley gave us “Scaly fluorescent skin.” Which sent my mind whirling on the possible colours of a dragon’s body and Jordon concentrated on the “Bright eyes glowing mysterious,” the more magical elements of the beast.”

At the end of the session everyone had produced a poem in less than an hour. In an ideal world there would have been time to polish and perfect, but schools work to a timetable and I had another group to go to after lunch.

Thanks Nine Three for a great session. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. 

The Next Big Thing

Thanks to Jan Edwards for nominating me as one of her writers who are going onto great things. Another thank you too to Barry Lillie who awarded me the same honour.


Now that the baton has been passed to me, and I've already mentioned two people previously nominated, I'm going for five fresh nominees. These, like the above, are people whose careers you should watch, because they are all immensely talented in their own fields and more than deserve to be The Next Big Thing.

So here goes:

Krishan Coupland
Guy Rowlands
Jonathan Clarkson
Paul Gubbins
Elisa Green

To be honest there are more people out there I would have liked to add to the list, but the rules are to choose only five and I have a sneaking suspicion that I've already bent them a little. So if I haven't mentioned you, think Renegade Writers, it's not that I don't think you're good, brilliant, or deserving of success.

Now to the questions:

1 What is the working title of your next book?

That's "House of Shadows" which is at the being considered by my agent stage. Currently, however, I have "Dragonfire" a kids book 8-12 range, but adults love it too being promoted on Kindle. This is basically aimed at anyone who is suffering from Harry Potter deprivation.

The most recent of my short stories to be in an anthology is "The Satan Stones" in "The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders."

2 Where do your ideas come from?

Places often inspire my stories. The inspiration behind "House of Shadows" is a sinister old house that looms above the estate on the outskirts of Bristol where I lived as a child. The city has provided the background for many of my stories as has the Devil's Ring and Finger, ancient stones in Shropshire.

"Dragonfire" however is based on my family and friends. My daughter Posy was the inspiration for Polly and her brother David and sister Lucy, as well as their partners and half brother, all play important roles, all with their permission of course.

3 What genre does you book fall under?

"House of Shadows" is a supernatural, time slip novel. "Dragonfire"a Harry Potter if there is such a genre, kids' fantasy if not.

4 What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition of your book?

This was hard as I'm not sure the rules allow actors from all different eras, though given the subject matter of "House of Shadows" this ought to be possible. Still this is my 21st Century list: Ann Hathaway as Jo, but with blonde hair, Colin Firth as Richard, the older but still sexy husband, Katie McGarth as Sophia an incarnation of evil and revenge and David Tennant for Nicholas. He has the looks and he is such a brilliant and versatile actor.

5 What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

At Kingsfield where past and present dissolve and melt into one, Jo must fight for her future and her very soul.

6 Will your book be self-published or represented through an agency? 

Hopefully my agent will be able to sell it in the traditional way, if not "House of Shadows" will be unleashed upon the internet.

7 How long did it take you to write the first draft?

Years. The book has been gestating for a long, long time. The first version I planned when I was about twelve and it has developed from there. There has been constant drafting and re-drafting until I asked Jan Edwards to look at it. Her pertinent comments sorted out the basic flaw in the structure and that was it. I can recommend her critical eye to anyone needing an honest appraisal. Also thanks to Beta Reader Rachel Hallett.

8 What other books would you compare this story to?

"Labyrinth" by Kate Mosse and "The Lady of Hay" by Barbara Erskine.

9 Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

KingsWeston House in Bristol.

10 What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Glimpses of Bristol's history and heritage of the Slave Trade and of course the central character, who is a strong and determined woman who forges her own path through life. And there's sex too.
 

November challenge.

Or NaNoWriMo as they call it. Although I've not done it officially, this is the second year I've challenged myself to write 50,000 words of a new book in a month. And I did it. In fact I've written, to date 60,roomintheroofwriters638 words. Impressive or what? Well it might be, or on the other hand it might not. I have, after all, no idea whether the 60,000 words so far are any good. What I do know, however, is that I am loving this way of working.

Every day I set myself a reasonable challenge. Some days I can do 3000 words other only 1000 will be possible. It depends on what else is happening that day. Until I've done my quota there is no checking my e mail, going on Facebook, or Tweeting. Oddly enough not only do I not miss this but I've also come to see how much of my time I was frittering away answering the odd e mail, or following an interesting link. There is time set aside for this, but it happens later in the day.

When I write, I don't edit, I don't think. All I am concerned with is moving the story forward. And developing character. For me this has been one of the most interesting outcomes of this freer way of working. When I began I had a plot, and characters, but my male lead was vague, undefined. I couldn't quite get a handle on exactly who he was. As I wrote however Lanyon came to life. I could see and hear him.

The same thing happened with the narrative. Whereas before I had everything planned to the last detail, this time I'm letting the story go where it will and it is leading me into some unexpected and exciting places.

What will happen with the first edit  I don't know. I don't know how much of the book will remain. The main characters will be there and the problems they face and need to resolve.

For me this is a completely new way of writing. It feels more creative and liberating. It's also faster. Whether the agony will come when the editing process sets in I don't know. What I do know is that this is how I'm going to work in future.

First draft in a month, first edit in another month.

Who knows what I will achieve.

Fifty Shades of Grey: My view on erotic writing.

Here it is for anyone that might have missed it. My words of wisdom on the whole Fifty Shades phenomenon. 

With thanks to John Woodhouse of The Sentinel for his great interview over the phone, I quote, 

Feeling the effect of Fifty Shades by John Woodhouse.

Extract from an article in The Sentinel Magazine…15. 09.12

What does it take to be a top class erotic author? What’s the blueprint for the next EL James?
       One person who’s tried her hand at the format is Misha Herwin. The Basford writer wrote The Devil’s Music for the Black Lace brand that dominated the market in the 80s and 90s. That was 20 years ago and now a successful children’s author, she almost takes it as a compliment that the story was eventually rejected.
        “It came about,” she recalls, ”because I’d sent off another novel I’d written and someone who read it said I wrote good sex scenes- they suggested I try Black Lace.
       “I actually wrote a historical black magic, erotic novel, but the problem I found was how do you fill an entire book with nothing but sex? There’s got to be a story and there’s got to be people and relationships.
      “I thought there’ll have to be a good sex scent in every chapter-surely that will be sufficient. But the problem is how do you keep that going? How, when you are telling a story as well, do you sustain it? It’s complicated.
       “To write an erotic novel is not as easy as people might think. It’s actually very difficult to do it well. You can’t just write endless sex scenes, there has to be a narrative. You could say that it’s to EL James’s credit that she managed to keep the story going.”
       The other difficulty for any writer thinking they can make an easy killing is how to walk the fine line between the erotic and the pornographic.
       “Erotic fiction is a different genre altogether,” says misha. “It’s about sensuality whereas pornographic writing is simply the biological and the physiological. Erotic fiction might imply something whereas the pornographic is just graphic sex. I haven’t read all of Shades but from that point of view it seems quite pedestrian.”
       Misha, a member of the Renegade Writers’ Club a 15-20 strong group which meets at the Red Lion in Hartshill, still has the manuscript for The Devil’s Music, but it’s a genre she’s left far behind. The married mother-of –three is now an established and successful children’s author. Her output is still quite hot- but only because it features dragons.
      Indeed she wonders if, in all the fevered Fifty Shades chit-chat, we haven’t missed a somewhat startling part of the story. “I find it worrying that children can pick it up in a supermarket,” she says. “There’s no “special” shelf in a bookshop, no watershed like on TV. I’ve heard of kids as young as 12 and 13 reading it. Is that the picture of sex we want them to see? I think that’s a problem that’s not been thought through.”