HEMMED IN BY HISTORICAL FACT

English Normans
by 1203 they were changing
Illustration by Glen McBeth

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. ~ Ambrose Bierce

I am writing a historical MG novel.

The setting has been easiest to piece together because there are many sources full of the details -as long as what I want to know is what the great men of the day were doing.

Even in 1203, most people were getting on with the basics - survival. I looked for the wonder, and the joy, in living in those times: food, weaponry, warmth and friendships.

During research for one of my secondary characters, I found a person who, if he hadn't been murdered, possibly at the hands of the king, would have changed British history. I want to thread him into my tale. I'm having a problem. I want to use him but - if he'd lived - why wouldn't he have asserted his claim to the throne when he was old enough?

IS THERE A STRONG ENOUGH REASON FOR SOMEONE TO TURN THEIR BACK ON THEIR DESTINY? 

TEASER, TWIST AND TIP-TOEING TOWARDS THE UNEXPECTED

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

I got all anti-frey on this book
Then I remembered it was
 written by Pittacus Lore ;)

• Share the title and the author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

THE POWER OF SIX

I wish the author was Pittacus Lore, Lorien's ruling elder. I have no trouble picturing him struggling to surviving on Earth while preparing for the war that will decide the fate of the last handful of free Loriens, and the fate of the people of Earth.

pg 11

We still share that secret, but somewhere along the way Adelina has stopped acknowledging it. Somewhere along the way the plan to bide our time until we felt strong enough and safe enough to leave has been replaced with Adelina's desire to simply stay - or her fear to leave.

As I'm sure you can all appreciate, I've been busy with work and life and writing.

Write-essential 2 - the twist in the plot - has been syphoning off my time lately.

Plot twists are essential. After vibrantly-real characters, the plot twist is the element of the story everyone remembers.

In my wip there’s a boy whose life changes unexpectedly. As one of a group, he learns new skills and gets embroiled in adventures.

There is tension in the group: animosity.

I wanted to hint that among the usual rivalries something was at play - something more extreme.

But I didn’t want to give the reader the plot twist painted in sky-high lettering at some point after chapter 3.

Rachelle Gardner, on her blog, said: "When you foreshadow, the reader usually doesn’t notice it when they initially read it. But later they might have an “aha” moment, remember it, and put two and two together.” A delicate touch is necessary if the reader isn’t consciously pick up on at first. “Often foreshadowing can’t even be detected until someone reads your novel for a second time. It’s that subtle."

My favourite plot twist came in a film. The plot twist at the end of The Sixth Sense - I didn't see it coming.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TWIST IN FICTION OR IN FILMS?

ASK YOURSELF, MC, DO YOU DESERVE TO SIT ON THE SHELVES?

SO, ASK YOURSELF, MC, DO YOU
DESERVE TO SIT ON THE SHELVES?

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper. ~ Steve Martin

If you think about it, the MC in your novel, if he wants to be noticed, will need to develop in an unpredictable way.  This is because the shelves are stuffed with MCs. 

It occurred to me, as a wanna-be author, that the question I need to ask my MC is What is it about you that means you deserves a place up there? What makes you so special?

From an idea and authorly discipline, every MC started as nothing but a keystroke but it should keep on changing as the word grows.

Enthusiasm and large dose of inquisitiveness has prepared the wanna-be writer with two basic tools for the job. 

Research backs-up that fiction up with facts.

I think characters mess with your head.

Dot to dot development is the predictable way to go but, when I was younger, I just wanted to slash about with free-form strokes and add a little variation to those early-learning puzzles. Some things never change.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER THAT MEANS THEY DESERVE TO SIT ON THE SHELVES?

THE LEAFLET OF FRESH THINKING

Giuseppe Arcimboldo [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Do you like my last post?

I got into soooo much trouble for writing I intended to be "present in the here-and-now" while simultaneously making us late for an appointment that had been on the calendar for months. I left the post abandoned as a reminder that family comes first. Ouch!

Things are less hectic now.

So... on the subject of writing, I've had an idea.

I received a leaflet through the door. Funnily enough, it wasn’t about writing. Strangely enough, by the time I finished reading it…it was.

I’ve noticed that getting published is a bit of a difficult trick to pull off. I must look for a recipe ;) 

The basic storylines and plots have always been around, lately, I’ve spent many happy hours considering how my approach could be new, original or fresh. 

I blame The Leaflet.

WHAT WAS THE LEAFLET?

It was from a company offering to deliver seasonal organic vegetable boxes to my home. It was very pretty: maroon at the header with stripes of various shades of green almost to the final third. The image at the bottom was golden nugget of inspiration. Not a golden nugget of the cereal or chicken variety, this picture was a plain brown cardboard box. You’re a writer. I know you’re with me.

In the image of the cardboard box were the usual suspects of healthy eating: potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, leeks, onions and a juicy red pepper. The basic, the short and chewy, the tough at the core, the lean and red, the fluffy one, the many layered, the tear jerker and the zing? ;) Isn’t that just the essence of character and plotting? :D

Even though everyone is importing the exotic vegetables and spooning in the spice, there are only a certain number of basic elements in fiction. It’s your treatment of them, the combinations you try, that brings something fresh to your story.

I'm writing.

Like all writers, I set my story somewhere I’ve -- helpfully -- described. 

As the setting I’m creating is bounded by historical accuracy, I’ve been trying to expand my brain – and I'd love to find a way to expand my desk – so I can glance through the resources that keep me on the right track. 

Until recently, I’ve never explained what it is about the everyday experience my MC finds wonderful.  Right now, I can’t see him admiring the blood-bright drops of berries in the hedgerows, or the midnight velvet of the sloe, but he can delight in the crispy frosted verge slightly before he runs to mark footprints all through it.

How could I make my story unique?

My WIP is MG so MG, me on the right track.unded by ns to mark footprints through it.te.  I picked the familiar theme of friendship but I contrasted it with a bitter rivalry. I looked at a situation familiar to many children: siblings who share a parent. Brother from another mother! In my wip, one has no idea this is biologically true while for his sibling the fact that there is another son has been acidic.  

I have mirrored, but reflected, this situation in the friendship that develops between two other characters.

I wasn’t heading for healthy, seasonal, ethical and delicious but, now I come to think of it, it isn’t a bad place to start.

I’D NEVER WRITE WITHOUT ONION ;) WHICH VEGETABLE DO YOU THINK IS ESSENTIAL IN YOUR WRITING?

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Calvin Coolidge

Every New Year’s Day, I love to think about the year that’s raced to its end, as well as the promise of the year ahead. It’s so me: if I’m not reflecting I’m analysing and if I’m not doing that I’m planning.

My goals for this year are:

• To read more
• To set time related goals
• To live life to the full
• Be thankful for everything I have
• To find new music to be passionate about
• Learn something new –my course prospective is earmarked with my determination to achieve this one
• Travel somewhere I’ve never been to before – we have a wedding to attend in Corfu but this won’t meet my “never-been” criterion. My big somewhere might end up being a holiday camp with a football team!
• Eat healthy
• To live in the now

THE 5 ESSENCES THAT FLAVOUR A HERO

Indiana - a perfect hero

Nature abhors a hero. For one thing, he violates the law of conservation of energy. For another, how can it be the survival of the fittest when the fittest keeps putting himself in situations where he is most likely to be creamed? ~ Solomon Short

The true hero must be a real person with a complex personality.

If they start out big, and strong, and tough, and super-skilled, and super-powered, what is heroic about their journey? They are just doing the same-old.

A hero needs:

·         Flaws

·         Fears

·         Weaknesses

·         Internal contradictions

·         Quirks

To be a hero, the character must be layered in conflicts that, just as much as the physical difficulties, become the source of friction that roughens the path to a successful conclusion.

A hero has to overcome self-doubt and fear to conquer the obstacles in their path.

They are not heroic if the stakes aren’t higher, and the clock isn’t ticking.

TEASER TUESDAY - Christmas Gems - THE STORY OF HOLLY AND IVY Rumer Godden

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of ShouldBe Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and the author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Tuesday nights before Christmas, after excitement and looks,

I plan to share stories from seasonal books.

The tales I am seeking were crafted with care,

With the best of the season enfolded in there:

;)

I recently discovered the author Rumer Godden. This probably came as a surprise to her as she was first published in the 1950s and passed away in 1998.

My first December Teaser Tuesday is from: The Story of Holly and Ivy written by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Christian Birmingham

On the opening page of the book it says: "This is a story about wishing:"

        An orphaned girl wishes for a doll to hold and a family to love her

        A Christmas doll wishes for a child to own her

        A childless woman wishes for a little girl to look after

This is the story of three wishes.

Read in instalments, this is a perfect children's Christmas story.

A lamp in the passageway outside gave just enough light. Ivy’s legs began to feel heavy and warm; her fingers and toes seemed to uncurl and stretch in the warmth; while her eyelids seemed to curl up.

I found this book on a display in a charity shop. It's a Christmas gem.

WHICH BOOK DO YOU RECOMMEND I READ BEFORE CHRISTMAS?

http://www.carols.org.uk/twas_the_night_before_christmas.htm

DID I MENTION WINNING THE COMPETITION?

NO, I DIDN'T MENTION THAT I WON IT. 

MY SHORT STORY IS GOING TO BE PUBLISHED IN E-BOOK FORM WHEN LAURENCE O'BRYAN'S: THE JERUSALEM PUZZLE IS PUBLISHED IN JUNE.

(IT'LL MAKE A NICE BIRTHDAY PRESENT!)

NOW, TELL ME HONESTLY, CAN YOU SEE ME AS CRIME AND MYSTERY WRITER?

So far, whole life included, I've read six and a half crime and mystery stories. 

Do you think I'll need to read a few more?