Lucy Mitchell's Blog, page 64

Giving Your Character a Pet – The Hidden Benefits #Writers

Giving my characters pets has helped me overcome some tricky writing situations. From enhancing my characters to moving plots forward these furry characters have at times been my saving grace.

I am a pet person and the owner of a small gang of unruly cats and an over excited dog. As an enthusiastic pet owner I often project human traits onto my animals. I am always talking to my cats and dog. They all have elaborate fictional histories and we often speak to one of my cats about his time as a stowaway on an old sailing boat in the eighteenth century.

In our house we all communicate with each other through the language of barks, meows, hisses, growls, shouts and howls. I also have a husband and two teenage children. We all communicate with each other through the language of eye rolls, sarcasm, food and wi-fi but that’s another blog post.

Giving a character a pet side kick was something I thought writers did when they had an overwhelming urge to write about a particular animal or to leave a legacy for their beloved pet by adding them into their best-selling novel. I have come to realise there is so much more to fictional pets.

One of my favourite authors, Nicola May, adds brilliant pet characters to her romantic comedies. They all have their own personality and leave you with great book memories. I still chuckle about the hilarious African Grey parrot, Lady P and her foul mouth in, Love Me Tinder.

Before I talk about the benefits I think it is important to explain what I believe are the golden rules with fictional pets.

I don’t think you should add your real life pet into a story because you will end up assuming the reader will automatically relate to your pet in the same way you do. They won’t. It is a bit like adding your loved one into a romance story and expecting everyone to fall in love with their strange ways. You are the only one who can relate to your pet (and loved one).

Pet characters need to have annoying or frustrating traits, as well as loveable ones. Most of the time my animals disobey everything I say to them, make a mess of my house, vomit at the wrong times and leave me tearing my hair out. In your books you cannot create angelic household pets who are always alert and on the look out for life saving duties opportunities. This does not happen in real life. My pets tend to be either squabbling, sleeping or digging holes in the garden.

Here are the hidden benefits of giving your fictional character a pet side kick:

A fictional pet can bring two characters together who are trying to avoid each other. In my soon to be published novel, Instructions For Falling In Love Again, I have used Maria the bulldog to get my characters in close contact. Maria loves showering people, wary of dogs, with her affections. She makes a beeline in the park for Mikey, dragging Pippa with her, after he displayed a look of fear.A fictional pet can bring some light relief to a gloomy tale. In real life pets can bring a much-needed smile to your face during dark times and this can apply to fictional characters and their pets. They can also add some fun into the writing process and boy do we need this! Animal / owner relationships don’t have to follow the norm to be endearing to the reader. I love Caitlin Moran’s description of her pet in her book, How To Be A Woman. ‘The stupid new dog is under my bed. She has got pregnant by the small dog, Oscar, who lives over the road. None of us can quite work out how this has happened, as Oscar is one of those small, yappy types of dogs, only slightly bigger than a family-sized tin of baked beans, and the stupid new dog is a fully grown German Shepherd… I look into the dog’s eyes. She is as stupid as a barrel of toes. Galaxies of nothing are going on in her eyes. I’m going to talk to Mum,’ I explain. The dog remains under my bed, looking, as always, deeply nervous about being a dog. The phrase ‘stupid as a barrel of toes’ and coupled with the dog ‘being deeply nervous about bring a dog’ conjure up a comedy picture of the dog. A fictional pet can assist character development, they can help illustrate an important characteristic of one of the main characters. This could be in shown in how the character speaks to the pet or cares for the pet. Useful for characters who live alone and have limited human contact. A fictional pet can help cause conflict and present their character owner with numerous obstacles. This is where those annoying and frustrating animal traits come into play. Fictional pets can help with writer’s block. If you are struggling with block, try adding a pet character and see what happens.

A big shout out to all fictional pets – we love you guys!

Photo by Milica Popovic from Pexels

Have a good day.

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#BookReview Poetic Rituals @RituBhathal #Poetry #TuesdayBookBlog

This book of modern day poems did something miraculous: it made me start reading poetry.

It is safe to say that up until this point I was a poetry virgin. Can you believe this? At forty-five years young I had not properly experienced poetry.

Everyone around me was raving about the delights of poetry, how it could take me to new heights of creative pleasure and how useful it would be for my writing. Even though I was curious, I was also a little bit scared to pop my poetry cherry.

Poetry felt like the next level up for me. I didn’t feel like I could fully appreciate it and so it was something which I actively avoided. Until I read Ritu’s collection of poems, that is.

Turning points in one’s reading life, like this, need to be recorded and this is why I am putting Rita Bhathal’s Poetic Rituals on my blog.

Here’s the blurb:

Delve into a book of verse exploring different topics and different genres, all with a RITUal twist.

A collection of poetry drawing on the experiences of the writer, ranging from matters of the heart, love for the family, situations in life and some verses written with a humorous twist.

Here’s my review:

An Ode To Ironing was the first poem I read. After opening Ritu’s book I randomly chose a page to get me started. It brought an instant smile to my face. It is about Ritu’s thoughts when the ironing pile is waving at her. I could relate to this because my ironing pile does the same to me. She also hits the nail on the head by saying ironing is a terrible bore.

Feeling jubilant about enjoying my first proper read of a poem I moved onto Middle-Aged Spread. Oh my goodness, it was like Ritu had climbed inside my mind and extracted out my forty-something issues. The first few lines made me nearly choke on the chocolate bar I was wedging into my mouth while reading. Oh my God I can’t stop eating. My waist-line’s seriously taking a beating. A fun poem to read as you munch your way through a Galaxy bar and try to remember the last time you did some exercise.

Whispers reminded me of listening to my teenage daughters while they are doing each other’s hair in my bedroom. The air is full of, he said, she said, they did, you didn’t. Ritu has captured the art of gossip perfectly.

Brow-terpillars is a poem dedicated to eyebrows and I thought this was fab. It also made me get emotional. As someone who, earlier this year, lost her eyebrows due to stress and anxiety, I have come to appreciate brows. Before my bad patch I had brows like two caterpillars. I used to come out of the beauticians with one up, one down or far too thin. This poem brought back the magic of eyebrows and even though my brow re-growth is slow, I hope to one day read this poem infront of the mirror and smile at the return of my two caterpillers.

These poems were fun to read. There’s a strong family theme running throughout and I think there is scope for future projects with this in mind.

Her poems are full of surprises. I can’t believe in one Ritu manages to add in school bags, uniforms and preparing lunches.

They all got a positive reaction from me; a smile, a chuckle or a knowing nod. These poems got me thinking about things happening in my own life and I’d go to work chewing over different lines in my head.

I now wish I had made a point of reading poetry earlier.

After reading Ritu’s collection I went and purchased some more poetry books.

Thank you, Ritu, for this wonderful collection of poems. You changed my reading life and I will be forever grateful x

3 Things I like about this author:

Ritu has a fabulous award-winning blog. Click here. She bakes the most amazing cakes. She has started writing more poems for writers and authors to help them through the creative journey.

If you fancy reading some modern day poems with a funny twist, then check out Ritu’s work. Click here.

Have a great day, folks.

#loveyourbrows

Not long now until the birth of my own book baby

This is What Happened When I Planted my Book Dream in the Garden #MondayBlogs

Two things have happened this week.

An old plastic bag unearthed itself at the bottom of my garden. At the time I was inspecting a hole in the fence which my dog had made.

Po, my dog, was busying explaining in dog language, a complicated series of barks, woofs and whines, how he was using the hole to communicate with the little spaniel, Lilly, who lives behind us. According to Po, Lilly loves to natter and the gap in the wood made it easier for him to hear her lovely dog voice.

Seconds before I started shouting at my beloved dog for ruining the fence, I spotted the familiar bag, sticking out of the earth, near the compost heap.

A day later I found this draft blog post from April 2016…

I have planted my book dream in the garden.

In life you should always let magic have a go at turning your hopes and dreams into reality. You also have to take action if you want those dreams to happen, but it’s reassuring to know that if your own efforts don’t work, magic might still be able to come up with something.

My family are attempting to grow some veg, so I thought I would….wait for it…plant my book dream at the same time!

This crazy idea came from one of my favourite films, The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

In this sweet, tear-jerking film, a childless couple bury a box in their back garden, containing all of their wishes for a child.

Over a bottle of wine they list out on bits of paper all of their future child’s characteristics and passions and stick them in a box, which they place in the soil.

You need to watch the film to find out what happens next. I have watched it countless times and it always makes me cry. 

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The garden has been turned into a giant vegetable patch and I am now writing down all my wishes for my book dream in the style of The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

A bottle of wine is next to me (like in the film) and I am saying each book characteristic with vigour and power. I think the wine is helping here.

For noting, I don’t think I will bury the book dream in my husband’s neat and tidy vegetable patch, think I will go for somewhere at the back of the shed, near the compost mound. Don’t want my book dream to get in the way of his courgettes and tomatoes plus I have had a few glasses of wine.

In the film the couple bury their dreams in the soil and the following night there is this huge magical storm (it only rains over the couple’s house, nowhere else).

I have checked the Welsh weather forecast here and it’s mainly dry for the next few days. No sign of any magical storms.

Would they show up on a weather forecast though? *Chewing on pencil and at same time frantically googling magical storms*

I am not going to give up hope. Tomorrow or in a few days time (post magical storm) my book dream will be a reality.

This blog post will stay in draft mode until my book dream becomes a reality.

*Blonde writer happily skips to bottom of garden, clutching suspicious sealed plastic bag and singing to herself*

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Three Years Later…

The vegetable patch is now a distant memory. I think we lasted a few months and then got bored of my husband’s courgettes.

Okay, so in the film it took a few hours for the magic to happen.

In my life it took just over three years. I blame the Welsh weather, the quality of the soil and the lack of magical storms.

*Trumpet fanfare*

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I know what you must be thinking. In April 2016 I had the idea for Instructions so it was bound to happen – right?

Well, writer friends and readers of this blog will know that since April 2016 I have written thousands of words, countless stories and I have also switched genres. The chances of this story surviving all my creative tantrums, my episodes of dithering, a lot of rejections and it being shelved several times were slim. The family vegetable patch had more of a chance with achieving success.

Also, the thought of being an indie author scared the hell out of me for years. I didn’t think I had the courage to independently publish.

The contents of my little bag three years on… (post being wiped cleaned and sprayed with anti-bacterial spray as it stunk of cat wee. In the film there was no cat wee aroma).

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I have checked my early ideas on the story and they did NOT feature a pub – but the final version does *sigh*

My book is about heaven, true love and it is funny.

Definitely magic at work here, readers!

If you plant your dreams magic might have your back!

Have a great day, watch the film and plant your book dreams.

If you live in Wales you are looking at a three-year SLA (service level agreement) on your dreams happening.

Might be quicker to bury your dreams in other parts of the U.K.

10 Thoughts on First Kisses in Romance Books #firstkisses #AmReadingRomance

The first kiss between a romance book’s main characters is a huge turning point for a romance story. Up until this point both the hero and heroine will have been denying their true feelings, casting smouldering looks and giving each other weird tingling sensations.

It won’t have been easy for the characters as the author will have been busy chucking a myriad of life obstacles at their characters, designed to keep them apart and to keep the reader guessing about when they will get their romance fix.

However, there will come a point in the story where the hero and heroine will suddenly find themselves in close proximity of each other. Hearts will start to gallop, hopes will get raised, temperatures will rise and you, the reader, will be standing on their sofa, book in hand, screaming “JUST KISS HER!”

Here are ten thoughts on the first kisses in romance books:

 

The need for awkwardness. An essential ingredient for any first kiss. I know the awkward first kiss might be regarded as a movie trope, but I think this is what happens in real life. Praise to those authors who bring in a touch of reality to their character’s first kiss and don’t opt for the standard ‘their lips brushed against each other.’  In real life there is always some unplanned head bump, a clash of noses or some confusion about whether to keep eyes open.Surprise. The best first kisses are those that are unexpected, unplanned and happen in the most unromantic settings. They happen when faces are close up and hearts are pounding inside chests. Think car parks, supermarket aisles, hall ways, getting furniture out of vans and doorways.Characters must talk nonsense in the kiss build up. I think this is a must for book characters. Who doesn’t talk gibberish when they are getting carried away with romantic tension?Urgency. I do like the urgency factor when the author creates that ‘now or never’ feeling. They have to kiss them or it will be the end of their world.Kisses cannot go to plan. The first kiss can’t always go to plan. I love it when characters step back in surprise or hesitate just a few seconds before the kiss happens. Limbs. When you kiss someone for the first time you are so nervous you forget about what your limbs are doing or you are so wired your limbs do their own things. Bring those senses to life. Sight, smell, touch, sound and taste are all important when it comes to kissing in books. The more description the better for me. Kiss reality check. I wish first kisses in books would include a reality check i.e. someone popping a mint seconds before they are about to kiss. The outside world disappears. When two people who are strongly attracted to each other kiss for the first time I want to see the world around them disappear; cue the silence. They become so wrapped up in each other that they don’t even notice they are about to get run over by a bus.Post kiss. This is important. How does it end?  Does one pull away first? Do they get interrupted? Are they left thinking that they want more?

Enjoy reading your romance books!

My debut novel, Instructions For Falling In Love Again, is out now. I have added in some fabulous awkward first kisses.

Click here for the link to have a closer look…