Career Be Thy Destiny!

Those of us who write consider writing our career I think whether or not it supports us full-time.
I have to think of it in this way simply because I'm not interested in thinkng of myself in any other way.

I think, therefore I write. Boy! Is that true!

Writing has always been there. It was there when I was making up plays for my friends and yes, I can recall at age 7 or 8 acting out the 'plays' I wrote.

I don't recall any other 'performers' I only remember my little friends, sincere loyal little guys applauding and enjoying whatever nonsense I had written. Ah those were the days.

If any writer was asked to name their career I think theyd get 'writing' in there somewhere.
You might say I'm a legal secretary but I write or I'm a medical records librarian but I write.

Years ago when I was in acting school one never said they were a waitress or usher 'and they were studying acting.' No! They said they were actors and if pressed they'd mention they were working 'as such and such.'

I happent to fully agree with that way of thinking, whether we earn enough from writing to be self- supporthing or not, WE ARE WRITERS, OUR CHOSEN CAREER IS WRITING.
It's just the way it is, we were born that way, we can't do anything about it, we wouldn't want to do anything about it either!

The Oxford Dictionary defines 'career' as:
(the)  "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work,,,"

See that?! It is USUALLY considered to pertain to remunerative work. USUALLY not ALWAYS! So hey! If you consider your writing your career and the moolah isn't rolling in yet, IT'S OKAY!

It's okay to say you're a writer! And that's good because if you are writing, YOU'RE A WRITER!
And if you are a writer, THAT IS YOUR CAREER!

End of story?!

Well there are zillions of stories in the Naked City and in your head! And you're going to develop them and get them published and thrill the world because you're a writer!

THE END (for now)!

Head-Hopping To Do Or Not To Do!

I'll just say it straight out: I have a huge problem with head hopping. I don't like to read it and I don't like to write it.

I find it confusing and off-putting.
My novel was written in the first person and I have won over converts who really don't like first person because I go deeply into other characters despite the one person narrating it. Many times that character ('I') is actually just the narrator so it can be done.

By the way, I like the sound of a narrative that is pulling me into a particular story. I just do. I find I enjoy those sorts of books and stories the most.

The sequel is also in first person, however there is a journal involved which enables me to have an entirely different character discussing, as it happens, his immortal existence.

And just because I like to experiment (and so far, fingers crossed, it's working) I have my main character not only read the journal, but I have her (intermittently) discuss what she's reading with the journal writer as well as interacting with minor characters.

Strange? Well perhaps but it seems to be working so far!

For short fiction, I write in third person and I do not ever head hop. That's just me. If a writer can make it work, that's fantastic, I'm all for experimenting and being daring! I just don't feel it right for me.

Now, a funny thing happened while I was writing The House on Blackstone Moor, I decided to have a portion of the book in the voice of another character, but guess what? My publisher didn't care for it. She did leave it entirely up to me and I took her advice and changed it. I feel that she was entirely right and I was oh so very wrong to have done it the other way in the first place.

Head hopping, no head hopping it's up to the writer's own point of view to decide!

Reassing New Year's Resoluations

You know what? I think we need to re-think 'New Year's Resolutions.' Why wait to change things yearly? Why not daily?

I'm not being 'cute', seriously--if there are things in your life that need changing why not just evaluate them and see what you can do about them now? Maybe there are two more things you'd like to add onto your resolution list.

I don't make a lot of resolutions. I make a few at most. Last year I just wanted to finish my book and stop smoking and I accomplished both of those things.

This year I'd like to lose some weight and get my sequel done. I also would love to 'encourage' my husband to stop smoking. Yes, the campaign has begun and he knows it! I go nicely, nicely first!

I think the single most important thing I have found about making any sort of resolution or promise to myself is to have realistic expectations. That said, I think we should all reach for whatever goal we have in mind. I think people can push themselves to achieve things they might not feel were within their reach. 

But as for a set of resolutions, sometimes the very idea of change can be paralyzing. Very often if that is the case we don't achieve what we intended.

Resolve and determination should work hand in hand. 'Should' being the key word.

The First Manuscript or Farewell My Lovely DAYDREAM!

My VERY FIRST manuscript was in the crime genre!
Yup, I had been planning on being the next (feminine version) of James M. Cain or Raymond Chandler. I was so into this sort of writing although I was mainly into the film versions of the great noir classics.

Okay, this was the gist if it sounds familiar DON'T TELL ME, OKAY?!

Two sisters grow up the hard way during the Depression. One's called Edie and she marries Danny a minor hoodlum with a damaged leg (shot up). Now, husband and wife don't share the marital bed any more because Edie really (still) loves her detective boy friend, Johnny Banks. Johnny's got a fiery temper and goes a little haywire sometimes. He nearly kills a child murderer for instance. The Chief is patterned more than a little after the Chief in Detective Story (still with me)?
 
Johnny's got a girl (Edie's sister, Beth) who's wild about him only he doesn't appreciate her until after she gets over killed by the villain in the piece, a spoiled mama's boy from Long Island (Desmond Charles) who has had a history of long stays in private nut bins.

Des hates Edie but kills her sister instead which is ironic because Beth was nice to him.

Now that's not the only killing there is! Edie's husband Danny kills a nightclub owner he thinks is having an affair with his wife (Tony, patterned after Steve Cochran) RIGHT LADIES--(always like him)!

I want you to know while working on my masterpiece I'm getting tech help from police!

I also go plowing through every noir crime novel I can find. Read all of Ed McBain (love them )!

But then I run out of steam. I end it (in a fashion, the MS I mean, not my life)! And if you're dying to know how I ended it, Edie has left her husband, gone to Johnny but Des' mommy tries to shoot Johnny only she misses and kills Edie. Poor kid dies in the street and the last line is supposed to knock the reader out with Edie saying just before she croaks it: "death is my destiny..." which is the title, get it?!!!

Okay, I put it away, I take it out. I'm not happy with it. Something's wrong. YEAH HECK SOMETHING'S WRONG I DON'T WRITE CRIME, especially stuff that's been done a zillion times!

oh and by the way, this song by Artie Shaw was my choice for sound track for a film version of my story! 


I mean what was I thinking when I know I mainly read horror? Why did I think I could write a decent crime novel? At least I'm rational most of the time.
So why did I do it in the first place I hear you ask? Who knows? I think I was finding myself and I was experimenting. I realize that now, but not then. Then, I went blank. I just stopped, but then I did the best thing I could have done. I joined the Masters of Horror Writers (writing group), headed up by author Lee Pletzers. It was on Ning then. From there in the space of 10 months I was submitting and getting published.

I kept on writing even though I had no idea when I would dare start another novel. I didn't rush into anything and I'm glad. It took about two years and the wait was worth it. My writing improved, I learned about the markets and grasped reality as much as possible.

We grow while we wait, if we don't stress or pressure ourselves into paralysis. That first MS is our springboard--it might be a mess but it's a first step and first steps are important because every journey begins with one!

My First Acceptance Letter!

Okay, I can recall the first acceptance letter which was actually an email.
It was concerning a story I had written for inclusion in a sci-fi anthology.
I remember hesitating before opening it up. Steeling myself up for the BIG, FAT LET-DOWN I did finally open it.

The gist was something like: your story seems suitable for inclusion...

okay?! I read it as:

Dear Soon-To-Be Famous Writer,

Thank you! THANK YOU SO MUCH! We are thrilled, delighted and ecstatic to publish your absolutely brilliant, evocative, cutting-edge science fiction story you submitted to us.

Never in the history of publishing have we received such a well-written, highly original brilliant little story.

If it is alright with you we are going to contact the leading graphic designers to illustrate your gem. Naturally we will be submitting their work to you first. Of course we will.

One more thing, the publisher, has instructed me to offer you a six figure advance for any novel you decide to submit to us. Having seen your story, we can safely assume your novel will be absolutely brilliant.

The other 10 stories in the anthology are like baby poo poo next to yours! Words fail, truly.

Just accept our sincere thanks for deeming us worthy of publishing your story.
Again, many thanks...
I felt as if they wrote that. I felt as if I could conquor the world with my fiction!

Remember that scene where Boris the computer hacker cries out in Golden Eye:
'I AM INVINCIBLE?'

I felt I was!

You know what? I'm glad because i have the rest of my writing life to come back down to earth, because writing's damned difficult so a little day dreaming and happy fantasy can't be a bad thing!

Life's tough, getting published isn't easy. So when the first affirmative letter comes through, GO A LITTLE NUTS! ENJOY YOURSELF!

IF I Could Be One Of My Characters...!

Wow! This is a toughie. I write about supernatural creatures mainly! Oh yeah and insane and evil human ones too!

However, in the spirit of this extremely thought provoking topic I shall endeavor to discuss it!

I'm going to shock everyone by selecting the one character in my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor who is an evil supernatural being--Eco.

Why you may ask would I want to be him?
Well, I think because (in the spirit that this is asked) I would like to live forever, I could if I chose not do any evil.

BUT YOU'RE CHANGING THE CHARACTER, CAROLE! THAT IS SOOOO UNFAIR!

Okay! I give up! I won't change him one iota.

I love Eco, I adore this evil, thoroughly deranged demon spawn because he is mad as a hatter, he is also campy and outrageous!

Put Caligula and Oscar Wilde together with a sprinkling of Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland and you get Eco's essence.

Campy is fun to write! Here's an example! In the scene where Eco appears first he is met by a gypsy housekeeper. He has arrived with his monsterous vampiric 'children' (winged little beasts that he calls his children). The gypsy is horrified and is cowering while Eco, in the best tradition of high camp, is grinning at her!

He then says to two characters who enter the room:

"I don't think she likes me!"

I ask you, how could I not want to be this character?
I'll tell you something he has become so popular he is featured in the sequel, Unholy Testament that I am writing now!

I have a great time as I recount in his own words, his experiences with such characters as diverse as Caligula, Richard the Lionheart, Gille de Rais, Vlad and Elizabeth Bathory to name a few.

It is his story I am telling in a journal, a confession really.
So yes, my choice would be the great character, Eco!

His charm is his mad, unpredictability and that's even to me and I'm writing him!

Goodness!

The First Piece of Memorable Fiction I Wrote!

No! Not War of the Worlds! Permit me to explain!
Technically the very first story I wrote happened to be science fiction.  I was eight years old. I remember the story depicted an invasion of earth by Martians. Apparently Mars had no more children and the Martians came to spirit earth's kiddies away.

My teacher sent for the Principal to come up. I didn't know what was going on, but I remember reading my story out loud to her.

After that I wrote another sci fi story about a large globe in a library. A child somehow manages to open the globe and finds that the inside is actually outer space. She is pulled inside and finds herself flying amongst the stars and planets! And no, she's not frightened. It's pleasurable.

I think there were good reasons for me penning these stories so early on. Both of my parents were sci fi fanatics. I can remember being taken to see every sci fi film that came out.

"Now this is a great film, Carole."

War of the Worlds, The Thing from Another World, Them, The Shrinking Man--yup I saw all of them.
So was it any wonder I wrote those sci fi stories? I don't think so.

Horror though would stay with me, although I still write some sci fi. I got into Edgar Allan Poe and began writing the most morbid poetry by age 12. It was heavy and dire, laden with the most morose thoughts and imagery.

My parents were worried. They went to talk to my teacher. My mother told me many years later. "We did go up to discuss it with her. We were concerned!"

Poor things. My teacher, Mrs. Leshne assured them it was a good thing for it to come out.
"Encourage her don't discourage her."

And so they did. If it wasn't for their huge imagination and their great fondness for incredible films and a good library at home I don't for a minute think I'd have begun writing when I did. I'm not even certain if I'd be writing now!

That's the most important point I'd like to say with regard to this post. Those of us that write are influenced and inspired by so much.  I think every writer has been inspired in their youth, though the actual writing might not have begun until much later.

I would say the Martian story of mine was the most memorable piece of fiction I ever wrote because it was the very first story I ever wrote. And as such it deserves to be acknowledged.

It was the day I took my first steps down the writing road and although life got in the way later on, I found my way back many years later and am I glad I did!

Sources of Inspiration!

The topic this week for me was: what books or magazines do you turn to for inspiration and or writing help?

I'd say I turn to books for inspiration. When I started to write my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor I re-read all the Daphne DuMaurier  books I loved. The House on the Strand, My Cousin Rachel, Rebecca, Frenchmen's Creek and Jamaicia Inn.

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! I said to myself as I read that sweeping, beautiful and haunting narrative.

'Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again...'  (Rebecca)
'They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days...' (My Cousin Rachel)
'The first thing I noticed was the clarity of the air and the sharp green color of the land...' (The House on the Strand)
'When the east wind blows up Helford River the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily on the sandy shores.' (Frenchmen's Creek)
It was a cold, grey day in late November (Jamaica Inn)

and:

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights:
1801: I have just returned from a visit to my landlord. The solitary neighbor I shall be troubled with.'

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
'There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.'

Why those lines, you may ask!
They set the mood. They pull me right into the story. I have questions I want answered! What dream and why? Hanged men? Where is this going? The clarity of the air, what does that mean? Is everything different? And what about taking that seemingly much longed for walk--what was that about?!

The most haunting of them is the opening line from Rebecca. For what is more haunting than a dream? And why did this person dream she went there again...what happened there?

The other lines not only set the mood they intrigue us about the story. In short, they touch my soul. I feel those words, I really do. And because I do they inspire me to write the best fiction I can possibly write. Hopefully I succeed.

I think also that inspiration to write comes from everything around us. I am inspired by the walks I take with my dogs, the walks on farmland and moorland. The wind, the stormy skies, the sound of angry gusts blowing in the chimney are all inspiring.

Further, people are inspiring, a conversation I overhear--an accent. I am greatly inspired to create characters based on people I have seen and heard.

Television and film can also be inspiring. I see something remarkable in a film. Perhaps it's the story or the general atmosphere. One thought leads to another and another and another!

Inspiration can indeed come from the printed word. But it can come from the world around me, the world I am apart of. Stand back writers--take a look and you will open many doors! The road to inspiration lies just ahead!

Social Networks and ME!

I think social networks can be extremely helpful especially for writers. I like Facebook actually more than Twitter. Twitter makes me feel silly sometimes. I mean I like other people's tweets, but rarely my own. I feel foolish saying things like 'I'm going to sleep now, beddy byes' or quoting something that sounds as if it's come out of a fortune cookie.

I'll tell you what I don't like, particularly about Twitter. I hate when someone starts to follow me, I usually follow them back unless they tweet every five minutes about something they are pushing--too spammy.

What I positively detest is getting a direct message which says: CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE. DON'T MISS MY BLOG THIS WEEK, IT'S ABOUT WRITERS!

Well hello! I'm a writer too, a very hard working one and, please give me the courtesy of not hard selling yourself. I'll get there, on my own time in my own way. I love to re-tweet things too. Just Mr. and Mrs. Followers, please don't come on like gangbusters.

Facebook I love, it's a great diversion. I have made friends there that I genuinely like. I have a profile and an official author page. The author page permits me to promote my writing. I never like sending a message out to a zillion people to get them to buy something I've written, too hard sell for my taste. I like people to join my page on their own and to read my blog posts if it interests them.

Privacy issues got way out of hand when Ning was free. A lot of spammers used it for their purposes. Personally, I would gladly shoot to kill any and all spammers from 'why doncha see me on web cam' to 'buy canadian meds!' 'To my name is Gunga Bunga and I have been reading your profile. I think we can be great friends...'

I always think the next breath would be 'my father works in the bank of Whatta Lotta Noiyve' but he had a heart attack and cannot withdraw the 900 billion dollars he saved--so could you, (yada yada)...!

Privacy issues can be issues! You can make your profile private but when you're like me, trying to interest the entire planet in your novel, you don't and will run into annoying people.

So that's it really, yes I do think social networks work. I think though we should be discerning about them, exerting caution as in all things.

Dear Author, Thank You For Writing This Book!



Sydney Carton climbing the scaffold in 'A Tale of Two Cities.'

The question for me this week was: when you read do you send the author a note? Why or why not?

I'll be honest with you. I don't stay with a book I don't care for. I've heard a writer can learn from reading a poorly written book. My reaction to that truthfully is I'm not interested. I would prefer to read some passages perhaps in order to learn what not to do, but I'm afraid that doesn't include reading the entire book. I mean I'd go off the deep end at some point. I'd not want to pick it up, etc.

With regard to wanting to 'write a note to an author' I'd choose to do this for the most positive of reasons.

A book comes to mind immediately that would warrant such a note. The note would concern one of the most unforgettable characters in the magnificent  A Tale of Two Cities. Now, I'd have very much wanted to dash off a note to Charles Dickens about this book, particulary with regard to the character, Sydney Carton!

To have a man choose to die in another's place for the love of a woman, is profound!
Carton, a careless. bored man who cares about nothing happens to fall deeply in love with a young woman. The only problem is she is deeply in love already with a goodly man who happens to be an aristocrat in 18th Century France!

Written against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this is a tale indeed of two cities: Paris and London. But it is in Paris where our tale ends. It is in this great city that Dickens brings us face to face with Mme. Guillotine and the impending death of Mr. Carton.

I first read this in high school and have re-read it many times over the years. I wish I could have told Dickens how greatly it affected me. How I was never able to forget it.

So you see for me to feel I'd like to type a note (my handwriting is the pits) to an author means I'm reading a very special book. A book that has gripped me and affected me greatly, a book that is indeed talking to me--telling me things, perhaps even changing my values or at the very least if not changing them completely, making me think in ways I never thought before!

When reading Susan Hill, Daphne DuMaurier, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte or Anne Rice to name a few--I have found myself wishing I could tell them how much I was enjoying their stories.

To Anne Rice I'd say, oh Miss Rice! Thank you for writing thought-provoking horror. Horror that depends on a story and finely drawn characters for its power. Thank you for not writing about a giant slug that might have eaten all of Hoboken!

I want to read what I love. I want to savor the prose, feel the setting. I want to experience the story and the characters. I want to feel something. I want it to be worthwhile.

When reading Stephen King's Pet Sematary I fully understood the fear King must have had (in fact I read he was fearful) of one of his children being hit by a truck. I felt that fear and empathized completely.

With regard to that novel, who hasn't wished they could bring back someone they loved from death? Surely it is a fantasy we all share, short of actually plunging into some sort of hideous rite!

I'd say of course I'd love to write to tell the author of a book that has gripped me and affected me how very much I've enoyed it.

I think mainly I would say to each of the authors whose books I have enjoyed: thank you for writing this story, it's enriched my life. It's given me a greater understanding of humanity, of God, of love of all things that are worth thinking about. Yes, dear author! Thank you, indeed!

Critique Groups May Work! However--!

They can work and they might work very well provided any and all axes are left outside as it were.

In other words, how do we know that the opinions that are given are constructive and are not embued with any negativity?

Can we be absolutely positive that those offering criticim are able to be fair? What if they aren't able to be and they don't realize it? Maybe they just don't like stories about vampires or even if they are sworn to adore every single story about vampires (or whatever it is you write about) they just don't like our story. Or even worse, they don't like us?

I believe in the 'ideal reader' that Stephen King speaks of. That is absolutely beyond doubt. However frankly I don't like critique groups. I have no problem however with workshops that offer critiques. Face to face workshops where we can discuss things one to one. That's fine as are critique groups that are also face to face.

I joined a wonderful workshop ten years ago for a time. I hadn't written since I was a teenager and that workshop was the very best thing that could have happened to me. I was enouraged, inspired and critiqued too. I learned in a constructive atmosphere and I learned happily. I don't belong to any now because at the stage I'm in now I feel it would paralyze my writing. My ideas would die before they ever saw the light of day.

But here's another point of mine, as for critiquing in general, I don't like showing a story or a novel (especially an unfinished-barely begun novel) for scrutiny. It's like having a ten day old fetus adjudged for its viablity. IT'S TOO SOON, PEOPLE! The little embryonic bunch of words will not go full-term. It will die before it is drawn forth, before it is allowed to gasp its first breath...!

Okay, I'm getting carried away, sorry.

Answering this question on a purely subjective level: no. Critique groups do not work for me, I am not comfortable. I have to have my story grow and become whatever it becomes.

Possibly the reason for this is also that I am a 'seat of the panster.' I know my characters, have a basic idea of the plot and go for it. I get zero draft done first, then a proper first draft. Now since the zero draft is just that: ZERO, how can I ask anyone what they think of it? I can bounce an idea off someone, that's different but for critiquing, not for me I'm afraid.

Having said that what works for me may not work for another. No one ever lost anything by trying a critique group to see if they liked it, if they could benefit from it.

Nothing in life is certain nor is anything written in stone. With regard to writing, there are no rules. Writing is a great journey and if you find a vessel to sail the stormy seas in that is right for you, climb aboard, set your sail and seek your dream! 

Genre Writing: I AM My Genre!

Remember that fantastic line from 'Wuthering Heights' when Cathy said: "I AM Heathcliff?!"
She says it suddenly with such drama because she has realized something irrefutable; they are so much alike as to be one! There is no denying it. It is quite a moment.

Now, I am not going to discuss 'Wuthering Heights' here. I am referring to this line purely to make a point. This weeks' topic asks: 'within the genre you write, do you know who you are writing for? Do they call to you?' I have to say I couldn't wait to get going with this one!

Gothic fiction with its sweeping and dramatic narrative knows my name. I hear its voice every time I sit down to write. I am writing the sequel now to my gothic novel, 'The House on Blackstone Moor.'
And boy do I ever hear its voice. It is all around me.

As it happens, I live in Yorkshire and have been to the Bronte Parsonage many times as well as the moors around Haworth, the very moors the Brontes walked upon. Anyone with any sort of affinity for gothic romance should visit these places. These dramatic, wind-swept settings shape my writing and always will.

As for the genre in general, those great writers of the past left us a legacy to carry on with: whoever they were and wherever they lived. And by the way, the drama in gothic can be transposed to various settings and times. It is merely up to the writer.

I feel there is a genuine interest in this genre. In fact I don't think it ever went away. Read some of the discussions on Amazon between gothic romance readers and you'll see what I mean.

As for me, I often hear from those readers who wish to read that sort of fiction again. Not re-packaged, but freshly written for today's reader. All the feedback I am getting is confirming this to be true.

I read that gothic romance was no longer popular. That motivated me to write my book.
What better inspiration is there then to be on a mission to help to reinvent gothic romance?
I think we all write within the genre that appeals to us, the one we enjoy reading the most. It is a natural thing.

We watch what's being sold, what's popular, but we should also be unafraid to trail-blaze or to seek to bring new readers over to our genre fold. And then again, we may re-interpret what's gone before or indeed go onto invent some entirely new subgenre!

I believe whatever genre we write in, we must love that genre. It must be part of us, because our writing is really our vision of everything told subjectively. There's a very interesting line in the film, 'Leave Her To Heaven,' when the beautiful but homicidal Ellen says about her father: 'my father said every book was a confession...'

I think it is. I think we are what we write!

Flash Fiction And The Necessary Ingredients For Great Story Telling!

Writing is writing in my opinion. I happen to like writing flash fiction. I've actually had ideas for a novel and for short stories too from very abreviated flash pieces.  Yes, I think it can work and work well. After all, flash has all of the story requirements: plot, characters--a beginning, middle and an end.

I think we can try out ideas and see how they fly with a flash piece. And actually if you think about it, flash fiction 'cuts to the chase.' It permits no wandering, no day dreaming or padding or beating about the proverbial bush. It works or it doesn't.

Here's a test I thought of! Take a good, well-written dramatic scene from a novel and see if it would make good flash fiction. The novel that immediately comes to mind for me is Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett.

You have a crippled, embittered RAF pilot and his love-starved wife living on a remote Scotish island. It is self-imposed exile for the husband, but it's more. It's a grim abyss he has sunk into. To all intents and purposes it's his brand of hell that his wife and child inhabit with him.

Also included in the story is the very best, most efficient killing machine in the shape of 'Der Nadel' who must get back to Germany with information that will wreck the Allied Invasion of Europe. Just one problem: before this master spy can deliver the goods to Hitler, he gets shipwrecked. I just set the scene okay? Now for the flash piece!

If this was flash fiction it would begin here. The reader would see this nazi spy collapsed outside this remote home. They would know from some good concise writing who he is and what the circumstances are. Just good sparse writing would be enough for the reader (without any 'telling' whatsoever) to understand the entire situation. Just from dialogue and good descriptions the reader would know what is going on and would naturally understand what is at stake.

I think that's a pretty good example of flash fiction working very well to tell a gripping story in a brief but powerful way. I've bared it down deliberately to make my point. So yes, this kind of fiction works very well, in my opinion for the writer.

Websites: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

First let me say hi to you all. I am going to be blogging here on a regular basis and I'm delighted! This is a great topic because websites and blogs should be good but very often they are bad or downright ugly. When they don't attract viewers they're bad because they aren’t fulfilling their potential. So why is that?

Speaking for myself, what often turns me off is what motivated me to create my own blog! Self-indulgent posts in a blog turn me off immediately as in:

'I SOLD THIS—AND I SOLD THAT--! or 'MY BOOK, THE RISE AND FALL OF EVERYTHING (for example) HAS WON THE HOOBEY DOOBEY PRIZE FOR LITERARY GENIUS!'

You get the idea. No reason why the same information can’t be told in a more interesting way! I believe in using images, in slide shows. I’d put up a marching band if I could! Just wanted you to know where I am coming from. Both websites and blogs basically do the same thing. But blogs are not static that’s why I love them. I have seen authors’ websites that I find boring. I think the same thing can be done but with interesting text, presented possibly with some imagination.

I am working on my website now so I can’t really refer you to it YET! There again, I want it to be interesting. I can discuss my own blog, though. Blogs can make you want to scream or fall asleep—or they can hold your interest. I’ve had pretty good feedback about mine.

Before my book was released I had been blogging about the horror genre: books and films with the intention to garner general interest but to do it in a positive way. In the two months leading up to my book’s release (and I am still doing it) I have been blogging solely about my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor.

If you look at my blog:

http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.com/

Purely for educational purposes (!) you will see these posts that discuss the characters, themes and storyline in the novel. I have, I am happy to say, been getting very positive feedback. I am getting a lot of traffic and I am delighted. I put up information that I would wish to read if I were looking at a blog. My blog is my love child! I really am pleased with it. The next test for me will be if I can devise a website that I feel as positive about. Time will tell!

Until next time!

Guest Blogger Carole Gill

The writing bug bit when Carole was 8 years old and she penned her first story about Martians taking all of earth’s children back with them to Mars. It was a promising start but then life got in the way.

There were after all two universities, nursing school and acting school to drop out of.

Former executive secretary and frustrated writer, Carole Gill is a New Yorker who lives in Yorkshire. In 2000 she was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development. It was an enriching experience, but she found she preferred short story and novel-writing.

When her angelic husband suggested she try her hand at writing full-time, she did. Within a year she was published in a few sci-fi and horror anthologies.

She has penned a crime novel and a romance novel—but nothing in the horror genre which she prefers. Currently, she is finishing up her work in progress: a dark gothic novel she describes as ‘Jane Eyre with vampires.’

She writes monthly stories for Vamplit’s free online horror magazine, Blood Read, most of which are based on one of her characters, fallen angel spawn and vampire, Monsieur Louis Darton.

*

Hello! What follows is the conversation I had with one of the characters, Darton, in my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor.

It happened suddenly at the end of a writing day. I had just finished a chapter and was about to take a break when I heard a voice say:

“I’m sorry I’m taking over the narrative now.”

“What? You can’t. I didn’t intend for it to be that way. It’s told in the heroine’s voice and it’s going to be like that all the way through!”

“Oh come on now, Carole! You’re a ‘seat of the pantser,’ you don’t plan anything!”

“True, but this is different!”

“Really how?

“I don’t know. It just is!”

“Sorry, I am firm about this! I take over the narrative now and that’s the end of the discussion!”

[Curtain]

Now, this somewhat schizoid scene is based on a real incident. Yes, ladies and gentlemen! Here I was, writing my novel. It’s in the first person, told by the young lady of the tale, Rose Baines, a damaged young woman, the only survivor of her family’s carnage who finds a position as governess at a mysterious and accursed house on the desolate Yorkshire Moors.

Now the narrative was going great. Really humming along, until another character, Monsieur Louis Darton began to make himself understood. After he saw how thoroughly thrown I was by what he said about taking over the narrative, he had me sit down and we discussed the matter calmly over coffee.

“It isn’t that I wish to be domineering, Carole,” he said. “But by writing monthly stories for Blood Read you have gotten to know me so well that you have to show my point of view! I think also the readers of those stories would demand, if you’ll forgive me for saying so, that I have some chapters to narrate myself, in my own voice. I mean I can’t just stay in the back ground and be described only by Rose. Do you see what I mean?”

“Yes,” I answered as I did. “Let me think about it.”

Louis, ever the gentleman, was kind enough to let me mull this one over. As I began to think about switching narratives, I realized that there was a perfect point wherein Louis might take control.

It comes at a crucial time in the novel when Rose has received one horrific shock after another about her employers and her two charges. And if that isn’t enough, there is a hideous discovery she makes in the cellar which quite throws her into a state.

As I was thinking this, Louis began once again:

“Pardon me for just interjecting here. But the thing you have to avoid is paralyzing the action, stopping it dead in its tracks so to speak when the narrative is changed.”

“I know that!” I snapped rather defensively. “You’re a character in my novel. I’m the writer, you know!”

“I do apologize. Of course. But truly, you have created me, I am like your child, surely you should listen to your child.”

He did have a point. I urged him to continue because it was a very good one.

“Think of various crises that may occur, awful things going on that I can describe while still giving constant updates on the condition of the heroine, that’s how I would do it if I were you!”

“Yes! Yes,” I cried! “That’s it! That’s how I will do it!”

“There’s just one thing, what about the ten chapters that lead to the rather surprising climax?”

“I have that already figured out! Rose will take over those last ten chapters to wind it all up!”

“That is excellent! Carole, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!”

“Thank you, Louis! I’m sure you’re right!”

You know what? We often have coffee and discuss the novel and I find that I am open to any reasonable suggestion.

There is a moral here: always listen to your characters because, they know a lot, after all—they take after you, don’t they?

Thanks so much for blogging with us today, Carole! I usually write the intro and say how I met the person and mention their works - but yours was so clever and well done I left it in. Great advice on listening to the inner voices - and I wish you much success penning the rest of the story.