Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 79

August Author Challenge 2020

My publisher, Darkstroke has set us his authors a challenge for the month of August. Each day we have been set a task. Today being the first task of the month, we have to introduce ourselves. Here goes.

What can I tell you about myself that I haven’t already told you? Okay, let start with the basics. I was born in England, Britain. I’ve always hated the fact my brother had more freedom than me. Whenever he went off to play with his mates, and I couldn’t go. My Mum would always tell me “He could because he was a boy, and girls were expected to stay at home.”

I didn’t see that as being fair. For quite a long time, I hated the fact I was born a girl and not a boy. I didn’t want to get married, stay at home and have babies when there was a world out there waiting to be discovered. When growing up, I always dressed like a boy in jeans or trousers. I hated having to wear dresses. By the time I reached my early twenties, I owned a motorbike.

[image error]Paula (don’t mess with me) Biker

Of course, I did marry and had one baby. Being a housewife was great, but there was something missing from my life. I needed a creative outlet. As a child, I was always drawing and painting. At sixteen I failed to get into a local college to study art because I was unable to pass the entry exam of math and English. After being very disappointed about not getting in, I signed up for some art evening classes. Once my son was born, I no longer had time for art or anything else. Life then got in the way as my marriage broke down and I had to go back to work full-time to support myself and son.

A few years down the line, I managed, by some miracle to off my mortgage while working in dead-end job on low pay, and met an amazing man who understood that my creative side needed wings. When the opportunity came for me to take redundancy he encouraged me and it was at this point my creative freedom was born as I followed my dream.

The journey hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it. I still prefer trousers to skirt or dresses. In today’s world girls and women have far more freedom than my mother or grandmother had. Can we have it all yet. I’m not sure.

I know once thing for sure. Hard work does pay but only if you are willing to stay focused on your goal. My first crime novel, Stone Angels is launched on 11th August. This isn’t the end of my journey but the beginning. I hope you will drop by my blog, and help me to celebrate. It will be good to see you.

[image error]Paula & Stone Angels

Stone Angels

Soon the day will come I have been waiting for when I first set out on my writing journey. On the 11th August my first crime novel will be launched.

Stone Angels tells the story of an artist James Ravencroft and his desire to become more famous than his dead artist mother. Here’s my book trailer.

[image error]Stone Angels

Guest Book Tour: Ann Christine Tabaka

Welcome to my guest page. Here, every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest book release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

Welcome to my guest page, Ann Christine. I’m so pleased to have a chance to chat with you. I’ve put in an order for a cup of tea with a drop of milk and no sugar. The clubhouse tearoom isn’t to busy today, so we should have to wait to long for our drinks.

[image error]Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

While we are waiting, can I start by asking you, when you first begun your writing journey what drew you to your chosen genre? 

I have to admit that my genre chose me, not the other way around. I started off as a visual artist, illustrating and painting. I majored in fine arts when I started college, but soon switched to science where there were more good jobs. 

Like most teenage girls, I always kept a pen and notebook, and jotted down little rhymes and musings. I wrote love poems, loss poems, and poems about the events of the day (the Vietnam War, etc.). I also loved to write about the beauty in nature. One day, after decades of not writing, I drug out my old notebook and shared some of my poems on Facebook. I got so much encouragement that I decided to give it a try again, only this time, more seriously. It became my joy and my bane. I love writing and I hate writing. It has become an integral part of who I am, so I hope that I never throw it away, like I did my art. 

What writing elements do you think is your strongest points, and what would you like to do better?

That is a very hard question for me. I struggle with believing that I have any “strong points,” but if I had to pick one, it is that I write from my heart and feelings. I put myself into every poem that I write. Most of my poems are very personal, about family, or events. Because of that, maybe everyone cannot relate to my poems, since they have not experience what I have. Sometimes I jot off an entire poem in one sitting when the subject matter is important to me.

[image error]The Creative Ann Christine Tabaka

What would I like to do better?  Ha, everything! No really! I have so many friends that write with such passion and depth, that I am always saying “I want to write like her/him.”I am shocked (and extremely pleased) whenever anyone tells me that they think my work is good.

I wish I was smarter – that I knew the kind of elaborate poetic language that many of the other poets use. I am constantly looking up words and researching references, but I just can’t seem to write with the flair that so many others do. Maybe it is because I am intellectually lazy. Oh, I excelled at math and science, but I used to hate Grammar and English Literature. In school, I did everything I could to get out of having to read those long boring classic novels. I still have trouble reading to this day.  Maybe that is why I prefer poetry to fiction writing.

How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

None, At least not on my computer. I still do all my writing with a pen and paper. When I am happy with a draft, then I transfer it to a “Working On” file in my Poem folder.  Once in the folder, I still revisit it every day until I am happy with the results. 

Now, as far as how many “unfinished projects” I have, I have so many notebooks scatter about with half the pages torn out and the other half still being worked on, that you would be astonished. I am always writing down whatever comes into my mind, so I have pages with one line on them (waiting for a poem), pages with one or two stanzas/sections on them (waiting to be concluded), and pages with sort-of finished poems (waiting to be polished up). I still have notebooks from two years ago that I am constantly trying to decide if there is anything worthwhile in to revisit. At any time, I would say I have at least 20 or more poems in some stage of the process. 

[image error]Ann Christine’s book cover

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter? (If you only write short stories, or play or poetry do you plan your story (poem), or let the characters lead you.)

To be honest, I rarely ever plan my poems. Thoughts just come out of my head and I use them as a starting place. Once I have enough substance on the paper, then I go back and play with it to see how it comes out in the end, and if it is worth keeping. Towards the end point, I put in the twists and turns to try to make the poem more interesting and cohesive. 

Even with the few short stories that I have written and published, I never really thought about the whole story, the middle or the end, until I actually got there. I usually have an idea that I start with, and just hope that I can come up with enough of a plot to make it work out. I often struggle to fill in the middle and come up with a decent conclusion. I even have a harder time with drabbles. I can always come up with a decent beginning idea, but then I get lost and don’t know how to bring it around in just 100 words. I rarely know how I want it to end until I get there. I know that is not the way professional established writers write, but I never was trained to write. I just do it on impulse. 

When reading your work through do you ever find that your daily mood swings are reflected in your writing?

Almost always. If I am upset or frustrated, I write dark poems about loss, and despair. If I had a good day where most things went well, then I usually write about the beauty of nature, or places that are dear to me. Sometimes when I am sad, I write about my childhood, my family, and especially my mother. There is the rare moment when a themed submission entices me to try my hand at something that I am not familiar with, and then my mood doesn’t seem to step in as much. I am too absorbed in meeting the demands of the theme. I don’t write to themes very often, when I do, the theme has to intrigue me to begin with. 

8) Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

Yes, often times they are. Many of my poems have been about my mother, father, brothers, babcia [grandmother], my exes, and my present husband. I have written poems about people that I thought were my friends, but had betrayed me, and about celebrities or politicians in the news.

Even a few of my short stories were originally based on people I know and family, with a lot of fabrication thrown in to make to the story more interesting. I am not sure what you would call a mix of fiction and non-fiction, but many of my short stories are that way. I don’t know, maybe everyone who writes fiction has a modicum of fact in their story.

Is there anything about you your readers might be surprised to find out?

Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen … I do not like to read! Yes, you read that correctly.  For someone who purports to be a poet and writer, I dislike reading. I am an extremely slow reader, and have a lot of trouble absorbing what I am reading. I have to keep stopping and going back to check what I just read (or read a few days ago). It is painful for me to read an entire book. I even have a hard time re-reading my own work to check for errors (and there are often a lot of them). I know I have some sort of learning disability, and I am often read the wrong word. I exchange letters, and sometime read words backwards. Doing crossword puzzles is a riot for me. I read something 5 or 6 times and it doesn’t make sense. Then, my husband comes over to  read it and tells me that is not word at all. So when I am asked to purchase and read a friend’s book to review, sometimes it takes me several months to get through it … that is after I get through the other 20 books in my pile that have been accumulating for over a year. I envy people who can speed read (or something of the sort). If you had any idea how many typos I already had to correct just in this one interview, you would not believe it. 

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

No, personally I never quite understood why anyone would want to use another name other than their own. I have many writer friends that do, and I find it confusing when I am trying to follow their work. I forget who is who and what name they are using. I guess I always felt that I wanted my work out in the universe someday after I am gone, so I wanted everyone to know it was my work (good or bad). It meant something to have my name on a scientific paper in a professional journal when I was a chemist, which is why I kept my maiden name. I will always be me. I was born with this name, and I will be buried with this name. 

Of course I can understand why women used pseudonyms back a hundred or more years ago, when women were not considered capable of being authors. Or if someone likes to write “off color” stories and doesn’t want their name attached to them, since they have family to consider.   

What was your hardest scene to write?

With my poems, some come easily and some are painfully difficult to construct.

When I attempt to write short stories and fiction, almost all of it is difficult for me. I think my hardest was in a story that I wrote to be submitted to an anthology that the proceeds were to go to Australia during the wild brush fires. I wrote about a wildfire, using the imagery that I was familiar with, the Native American civilization. The hardest part was that it was supposed to be a romance story incorporating the fires. Unfortunately, even though I thought that I ended it with a romance, it was obviously not romantic enough. The romance was only a small part of it, so it was rejected from that anthology for the reason that it was NOT a romance story. I am not good at romance stories. I never read them, and am uncomfortable trying to write about them. In the end I lucked out in that another e-journal took the story as it was.   

How long on average does it take you to write a book (story, poem, or play)? 

As I have eluded to before, some poems come out in 5-10 minutes, and other take months to get them to where I want them.

I have written 1,000 word stories in one sitting (with some editing afterwards, of course), and I have labored over a 200 word story for over a week or more. I have never attempted a fiction book.

A book is another story. Even though I put out 2 to 3 books each year, each one is a process of its own. Sometimes I feel as if I am never going to get another entire book together again. With poetry books, I have to piece every poem in place, so I am constantly arranging, and rearranging the format, size, and content.  I occasionally have 2 books going at the same time, and other times there is a long gap between books. I have been blessed that I have been able to manage writing as many books as I have. There are months when I write one or two poems almost every day. Then there are periods when I can’t make myself write anything for so long that I feel as if I may never be able to write again. That infamous dry spell of writers’ block is excruciating. It actually frightens me. But, eventually, something will pop into my little old brain, and I start penning again. I hope and pray that it never completely goes away. It has become so much of what I am, who I am.    

Thank you so much for taking time out to join us for a chat, Ann Christine. It has been so interesting. To find out more about Ann Christine’s writing check out the links below.

Website: Ann Christine Tabaka

Books: Ann Christine Tabaka

Sister Agnes – meet the survivors at “The End of the Road”

Today, you are invited to meet Sister Agnes. She is a nun of the Order of the Sisters of the Peace of Our Lady. She is the youngest of the lot and …

Sister Agnes – meet the survivors at “The End of the Road”

Guest Book Tour: Priscilla Bettis

Welcome to my guest page. Here, every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest book release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

Welcome to my guest page, Priscilla. I’m so pleased to have a chance to chat with you. I’ve put in an order for a coffee with no cream and no sugar. It looks as though we’ve picked the right time as clubhouse tearoom is quite quiet at moment. Here comes our drinks too…

[image error]Photo by bongkarn thanyakij on Pexels.com

As our friendship is quite new I have lots to ask you so may I start with when you first begun your writing journey what drew you to your chosen genre? 

When I was a child, the horror novels I nipped from my parents’ study tied my guts in knots and gave me comfort, strange as that sounds. If you’re going through a tough time no matter your age, knowing that someone else went through something worse and survived helps you keep your chin up.

Tell us a little about your latest writing project.  Is it a new idea, or one you have been mulling over for some time?

I have a dual timeline haunted house novel that I’ve been working on for, holy cow, eighteen months:

It’s 1979, and thirty-one-year-old Bo Benett is fresh out of prison where he served time for murder. Bo doesn’t remember shooting his father at Tiny Skull, the Benett family’s historic manor house in Virginia. He only remembers a howling witch, pulsing walls, and a gray lizard. Bo’s mother disowns him and moves away. His bedridden aunt and his secretive twin cousins agree to take him in, but they dwell at Tiny Skull now, and the house remembers Bo.

My goal is to enter Witch of the Manor House in Pitmad on September 3rd.

[image error]The Enigmatic Priscilla Bettis

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter?

I am an outliner to the extreme. My last outline was over 10,000 words. I’ve got timelines in there, character goals, notes on the setting, everything. I wrote a Christmas horror story last year without outlining; ugh, it was a terrible, irredeemable story. (I deleted it.) The way I figure, the more I outline, the less I have to rewrite.

Choosing only five of your favourite authors, can you list them in order 1 begin the top of your list and say how have they influenced your writing?

Seriously, only five? That’s cruel.:-) Well, I’ll give it a go.

1. Andy Davidson for his lyrical prose that proves writing can be frightening and beautiful at the same time. When I grow up I want to be Andy Davidson!

2. Shirley Jackson because of her ability to draw readers deep into a character’s psyche. When I grow up I want to be her, too.

3. Ray Bradbury, if you can look past the popular style of writing for his time, you find prose with teeth; it’s evocative and sometimes it bites.

4. Countee Cullen because he and other poets remind me that the sound and meter of the words matter.

5. Brian Kirk for breaking rules and messing with readers’ brains in Will Haunt You. Scary stuff.

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

I ain’t tellin’ because some of them are still alive.

Is there anything about you your readers might be surprised to find out?

I do 20 pushups every day.

Did you uncover things about yourself while writing your books and stories, whether that be a long forgotten memory, a positive experience, etc.?

I wrote a YA horror story (it’s out in an editor’s slush pile as I type this) that tapped into long-ago anger I didn’t know was still there. The writing process was cathartic. It felt good to revisit that time period and “let it all out.”

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

In the winter it’s easier to keep to a writing schedule because I get up early (4:50 a.m.) and write while it’s still dark and quiet. In the summer everything’s bright and noisy and scattered!

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Yes. Priscilla is a hard name to spell, and Bettis is not a common last name. But Priscilla Bettis is me, so I’m sticking with it.

How do you select the names of your characters, and do you know everything about them before you start writing their story?

I keep my eyes and ears out for cool names. I’ve used gravestone names, athlete names, historic names, and classmates from elementary school. I do know everything about my characters before I start. However, chunks of their personalities may get overhauled on the second draft if I think I can make the characters stronger.

This was fun, Paula. Thanks for having me!

It’s been lovely getting to know you, Priscilla. You must drop by again.

Priscilla blogs about her writing journey can be found here

Guest’s Book Tour: Patsy Davies

Welcome to my guest page. Here, every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest book release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

[image error]Photo by John Finkelstein on Pexels.com

Welcome to my guest page, Patsy. I’m so pleased to have a chance to chat with you in the clubhouse tearoom, during a quiet moment. We’ve been following each other progress for quite awhile now. I’m sure it was before you were married and in the early days of blogging. So let me start by asking you, when you first begun your writing journey what drew you to your chosen genre?

I’ve always tried to write things I enjoy reading. As we have to read our own work, often many times in the case of novels, this seemed a sensible plan.

I started off by writing short stories for women’s magazines (if you want to get the guidelines and other information to start your journey on the same route, take a look at the Womagwriter blog). I still write some of those, but will be concentrating more on novels in the future.

[image error]Well traveled Patsy Davies

Tell us a little about latest writing project. Is it a new idea, or one you have been mulling over for some time?

It’s a romantic mystery novel, set partly in my home town of Lee-on-the-Solent and partly in Falmouth. Thankfully it’s not a new idea and I’d already done most of the research for the Falmouth scenes.

The book was started years ago, in response to a competition I’d spotted (I regularly blog about free to enter writing competitions, and had my first novel published as a result of winning one). At the start of lockdown I couldn’t concentrate on short stories, so decided to try something else, and had another go at it. That worked really well. What I’d already written was so bad I immediately saw ways to improve it, and once I got started the story quickly grabbed my attention – and held it. I really hope it does the same for readers!

My fantastic beta readers have given great feedback and I think (hope!) the rewrites are finished and it just needs a little polish before being ready to submit.

In between drafts I put together a collection of 24 previously written short stories, with a clothing theme. Ironically I did most of the work for Dressed To Impress in my PJs.

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How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

I haven’t counted, but I’m pretty sure it’s less than a hundred.

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter? (If you only write short stories, or play do you plan your story, or let the characters lead you.)

With short stories, I just write them.

My working method for novels is changing. Or to be more accurate, I’m developing a method. I didn’t used to plan, which wasted a lot of time – both through years of not knowing what would happen next, and then rewriting or deleting scenes which didn’t work with the final story.

In future I intend to write a rough outline and a synopsis before I start work on the chapters. I’ll probably still change things as I go, but I won’t have to make everything up as I go.

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

None are based entirely on one person, but many are inspired by people I’ve met. My mother-in-law has partially appeared in quite a few stories! I’ve even put people in just so I can delete them.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I don’t have one – nor daily word count targets. Most of my writing is done soon after waking up (which isn’t the same time every day). If I start writing I keep going until it gets tricky, or I have to go and do something else. Generally, if I write at all, it’s for around three hours – but it can be all day.

Although I don’t write every day, there aren’t many days I don’t do anything writing related – even if it is just unconscious research.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I sometimes do.

How do you select the names of your characters? & do you know everything about them before you start writing their story?

Characters are people. Just as with people outside of books, I learn about them gradually. I might start with knowing their name, or what they look like, something they’ve done, or their relationship to somebody else. The longer I spend with them the more I learn.

Just as we can start being friends with someone, work with them or agree to a date before we know their life history, I can start writing a character before I know everything about them.

What was your hardest scene to write?

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The sex scene in Firestarter. I hadn’t intended to write one, ever, but Alice didn’t let me get away with that. She had her hunky fireman, a romantic cottage and open fire and wasn’t going to waste them.

I built up the scene gradually – starting with ‘they did sex’ and adding more detail whenever I felt brave.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

A Year Of Ideas: 365 sets of writing prompts and exercises only took a couple of months.

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My novels have taken much longer. Probably about five years on average – but that includes long periods of abandonment for three of them. I estimate that if I plan properly to start with, and keep going I could write a novel in less than a year.

You can sign up for Patsy’s newsletter here and buy her books here.

Women of Horror

I’m so pleased to have another story published by Kandisha Press. Jill Girardi is working hard to get women’s horror writing more widely known. Graveyard Smash is her second collection of stories all written by women.

The collection is now available from Amazon and other leading online stores.

AMAZON KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D3QDHKR

AMAZON PAPERBACK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D4H2X64/

RAKUTEN KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/graveyard-smash

BARNES AND NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940162813200

APPLE BOOKS/iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1523717444

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Guest’s Book Tour: Charlie Tyler

Welcome to my guest page. Here, every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest book release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

[image error]Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com

Welcome to my guest page, Charlie. I’m so pleased you found the clubhouse tearooms okay. I ordered you a lager, hope it is chilled enough. Please can I start by asking you when you first begun your writing journey what drew you to your chosen genre? 

I’d written quite a few books before I got published and one of them was a romance, but I always feel most comfortable when writing with a slightly dark edge.  It’s like I’m painting a rainbow, but have to sneak a line of black underneath the violet!

[image error]The Fabulous Charlie Tyler

What writing elements do you think is your strongest points, and what would you like to do better?

I think my strongest point is my scene setting.  I have a keen sense of writing the visuals in detail, but maybe it’s also my weakest point – sometimes I think I overdo it and it slows down the action.

Tell us a little about latest writing project.  Is it a new idea, or one you have been mulling over for some time?

My new writing project is about two bodies, discovered at the bottom of an oubliette within the grounds of a girls’ boarding school.  Everyone within the school thinks they know what happened and are keeping quiet, so the police have to send in an undercover detective to fathom out how the bodies got there and why.  It’s an idea I’ve had for a while, but I’ve drawn on some of my earlier unpublished works to steal the settings and also one of the deaths! 

How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

None.I can’t help myself!  I have to finish what I started and that goes for reading books too; even if I hate it, I’ll finish it!

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter? (If you only write short stories, or play do you plan your story, or let the characters lead you.)

I’ll write a very rough outline which I suppose vaguely resembles a synopsis, then I’ll go straight into the first chapter and carry on until I finish, referring to and changing the outline notes as I go along.  I only write a ‘proper’ synopsis when the book is finished.

[image error]Charlie’s Fantastic book cover. It’s a great read too.

When reading your work through do you ever find that your daily mood swings are reflected in your writing?

I think it’s the other way around.  The novel I wrote before The Cry of the Lake was very, very dark.  During the working week (pre-Covid), I spend a lot of time on my own and whilst writing that particular novel, it was as though a cloud of gloom had settled over me.  As soon as I finished it, the cloud disappeared. 

What did you learn when writing your book (story, play)? In writing it, how much research did you do?

I did quite a lot of research into how trauma affects the brain and the importance of the reptilian part of the brain; the oldest part, which deals with fight or flight.I also read about treatments, which bury difficult memories within the minduntil the patient is feeling strong enough to deal with them.

How many hours in a day do you write?

On a good day, I get to my desk by 7.30am and write for a couple of hours.  After that I have to deal with what’s going on in the real world.  If I don’t have anything to do in the afternoon, I might do a bit of editing, but normally I don’t have the time.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I did when I was writing romance because I always knew I wanted to write thrillers as well and I didn’t want to confuse my audience.  My romantic fiction name was Kitty Stone because at the time I started my romance story I was in hospital having a kidney stone removed.

What was your hardest scene to write?

The hardest scene to write was the final childhood encounter between Grace and Frank – it left me feeling quite emotionally drained.

Link to book is https://mybook.to./thecryofthelake 

Link to website is https://www.charlietyler.com 

Thank you so much for joining me here today. I look forward to having you join me here again, Charlie.

Guest’s Book Tour: Brian Heys

Welcome to my guest page. Here, every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest new release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

My guest today is the debonair Brian Heys. Welcome to the Clubhouse Tea rooms, Brian. I hope the coffee is to your liking, and isn’t too strong.

[image error]Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Thank you for coming by and joining me today, Brain. Firstly I would like to ask you, what writing elements do you think is your strongest points, and what would you like to do better?

People who read my work tell me they enjoy my short descriptive paragraphs which provide context and setting for a scene. I will often spend a lot of time researching these to ensure they are accurate; for example, I’m aware how the seasons shape nature, and don’t want to make the mistake of writing about swans nesting in Winter! As for what I would like to do better, I would love to be able to drop in thought-provoking statements about the human condition; the sort of pithy quotes that multiple people underline in their Kindle app.

Tell us a little about latest writing project.  Is it a new idea, or one you have been mulling over for some time?

I’m just over halfway through the first draft of a novel, which I started about seven weeks ago after being inspired by a column in the Saturday Telegraph. It begins as a nostalgic coming-of-age story set in Lancashire, punctuated by the music of the 1990s. Once I get an idea, I tend to start writing straight away so I can begin exploring the possibilities.

How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

Once I start a project, I tend to finish it, but I do have two or three unfinished short stories.

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter? (If you only write short stories, or play do you plan your story, or let the characters lead you.)

I always start by writing the first chapter, just to see what happens. If I like the idea, I will then develop it by putting together a two-page synopsis. However, that synopsis is not a detailed plan of the plot, it’s more like an extended back cover blurb. All my writing is character-driven, and I don’t want to know how my stories will end until I get there.

[image error]Brian Heys

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

Definitely. In fact, I would say all of them are, to different degrees.

Did you uncover things about yourself while writing your books (or stories, play) whether that be a long forgotten memory, a positive experience etc.

Absolutely. I’ve been trawling my memories for experiences to write about, and have surprised myself by how much I can recall once I get going. Sometimes I will laugh but usually I will cry, not because the memories are sad, but because those times are long past, like photographs from the 1970s, faded and tinted with nostalgia. One of the things that has surprised me most is how strong my feelings are about the area where I spent most of my formative years as a young man.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

While working on the first draft, I write every day, and try to write at roughly the same time, but it’s not always possible due to other commitments. I have a full-time job which I have to work around.

Do you set yourself a daily word count?

I have a minimum count of 700 words a day, which I find is achievable. 

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Yes, but he was a drunk and a womaniser who could only write using an olive-coloured IBM Selectric typewriter from the late 1960s. I like him as a character though, so he may end up putting in an appearance in a future work!

How long on average does it take you to write a book (story or play)? 

It will usually take me three or four months to write the first draft of an 80,000-word novel.

Thank you so much for this chat, Brian. Please do drop by again and let us know how you are getting on. To find out more about Brian please check out his blog.

Guest’s Book Tour: Kirsty Ferry

[image error]Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Welcome to my guest page. Here, each week, I’ll be sharing a conversation, over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something, if they are not driving, with a friend about their work in progress, or latest new release. I’ll be talking to all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers.

My guest today is the amazing Kirsty Ferry. Kirsty and I go back a long way when we were both published in an anthology published by English Heritage called ‘Whitby Pure Inspiration’ in 2010.

Please Kirsty can you tell us a little about latest writing project.  Is it a new idea or one you have been mulling over for some time.

I’m working on the fourth book in the Cornish Secrets series. It needs to be written as there are a couple of characters who have had a bit of a will-they, won’t-they relationship over the rest of the series, so I owe it to them and to the readers to tell their story. I know the beginning and the end, but I’m not sure what will happen in the middle yet!

[image error]The Amazing Kirsty Ferry

How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

Currently only two. Book four in the Cornish Secrets series is on there at about 7,500 words, and a sequel to my first self-published book The Memory of Snowis also partially written in several different guises. That’s been lingering a long, long time, and is unlikely to be finished at all. Maybe some things should just stay as standalones.

Do you write a synopsis first or write the first chapter? (If you only write short stories, do you plan your story or let the characters lead you.)

I always start with a concept and work it out as I’m going. I don’t plan my work, and the odd time where I have tried to do it, I’ve always gone off-piste. The only time now I’ll even attempt to plan is when I’m close to the end and need to work out how many chapters I have left and then I’ll put one line in the manuscript at the point of each chapter and build on it. And that inevitably gets altered as well. I find that the characters lead the way once they start becoming ‘alive’ to me.

Choosing only five of your favourite authors, can you list them in order 1 begin the top of your list and say how have they influenced your writing?

Emily Brontë – who wouldn’t want to recreate Wuthering Heights? It’s an amazingly dark and Gothic story and people are still reading it and debating it two hundred years later. I read it when I was a teenager and was entranced.

Victoria Holt – the mistress of Gothic Romance. I devoured her books when I was younger and the first ‘book’I wrote was hugely influenced by her. I began it in 1997, and it got published in 2019 as A Secret Rose – with a lot of changes to it! ( Me too Kirsty)

Mary Stewart – again, a woman who wrote incredible Gothic Romances – but hers were usually contemporary, as she wrote lots in the 1960s, whereas Victoria Holt’s were largely historical. I think I probably combine elements of both styles in my timeslips. Also Mary Stewart wrote a beautiful magical realism romance book called Thornyhold which is one of my favourites and again I would love to write something like that. (Oh yes, another one of my favourites)

Susanna Kearsley – I only discovered Susanna Kearsley a few years ago but I love her work. She again writes wonderful timeslips and dual timelines. Ghosts and seeing ghosts are commonplace and quite normal in her books. Elodie and Kate in the Hartsford Mysteries series probably borrow a little bit of an influence from her work.

Barbara Erskine – dual timelines and ghosts, the influence of the past on the present, and real-life historical characters fictionalised – basically, all that is wonderful in a timeslip book. I don’t think you can write a timeslip or a dual timeline and say you haven’t been influenced in some way by Barbara Erskine’s work. I don’t think I’d ever be able to write about the Druids and Celts the way she does though, and to be honest I’d never even try. I prefer writing about the eighteenth through to the twentieth century, thank you very much!

When reading back through your work do you ever find that you daily mood swings are reflected in your writing?

I don’t know if it’s evident to readers, but I can tell when I’ve got fed up of a particular scene if it’s drawn out too long for my liking – there are certain words I can spot that I’ve used, and that is the point where I generally switch off and come back to it another day. But I’m not going to say what my phrase is, as then everyone will know!

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

Many times! For instance, in my latest book, Lily’s Secret, my historical heroine, the Victorian actress Lily Valentine, is inspired by infamous stage stars of the day, like Evelyn Nesbit, Lillie Langtry and Ellen Terry. In Watch for me by Moonlight, I’ve shamelessly based my Highwayman Ben on Claude Duval, a very famous (and apparently swoonworthy) Gentleman Highwayman who stole a dance from one of the lady’s he held up in her carriage. So yes! The answer is definitely yes.

[image error]Kirsty’s Book Cover

Do you set yourself a daily word count? 

Absolutely not. I refuse to put pressure on myself. I can go weeks without writing a word – life just gets in the way and I have a day job and a family to consider. I know I’ll get back into it when I can, and then it just clicks and I can do 3,000 – 4,000 words in one afternoon if I’m really in the flow.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I have done. I have written a book that was in my head and I needed to get it out there, but it was very, very different to what my readers have come to know. It’s much darker and quite fantastical, a bit of a dark fairytale, really, and I didn’t want them picking it up with my name on the front and getting a shock. as it wasn’t quite what they were used to. One of the reviews on the book does give me away though, and she points out that although it’s a good book, it’s not my usual style! I cleared it all with my publishers first though, as I didn’t want to do anything without letting them know – we all agreed it was the sensible thing to do.

How do you select the names of your characters, & do you know everything about them before you start writing their story?

I used to have a bank of names I liked, and now sadly I’ve used them all up, except one, but I haven’t found a character to suit it yet. It’s getting harder, as I don’t usually like to use names of people I know in case I subconsciously relate to them somehow, but it’s unavoidable to pick different names at times. My latest historical heroine is called Lily. My friend’s daughter is called Lily and I also have a friend called Lily. But the names suited my character and she’s very different from either of the Lily’s I know, so I’m pleased about that. I don’t know everything about the characters – I know enough to get started but they tend to develop and become alive to me, and they are always surprising me. One of my characters had a link to the historical heroine that I didn’t even know about until I was driving to work one day and I just suddenly yelled, ‘that’s it!’ to my steering wheel on a slip-road into Newcastle! The whole book then slotted into place like magic and I knew it was something she’d been hiding and something which wasn’t revealed in the novel until very near the end.

What was your hardest scene to write?

Although I write romance (albeit with a few ghosts and mysteries thrown in), I can’t write Bedroom Scenes, so my scenes are kind of ‘they kissed, blah, blah, blah, and then they didn’t consider anything else for quite some time…’ I’ve actually had someone say she was happy the scenes were like that and to be honest it’s a technique I’ve borrowed from Mary Stewart! I definitely like to leave the reader at the bedroom door.

Thank you, Kirsty for taking time out from your writing to drop by to share a cuppa with me.