Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 80

The Birth of Stone Angels

In 2012 I entered a writing competition run by the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and the Writing Magazine. The theme was Ten. It was the tenth year of the festival. The word count was 1,800. At that time I had only one story and seven nonfiction articles published.

The company where I worked was cutting back on it work force so I applied for redundancy after my husband and I had worked out the numbers. With the money I would receive we would be able to finish paying off the mortgage, clear our loans and could pay our way with one wage coming into the house.

After leaving work, I had a bit of a panicked attack as I wasn’t sure whether I had done the right thing. I had heard it said, ‘Don’t write for money, write for the love of it.’ To start with I knew my standard of writing wasn’t good enough for any publisher to want to publish my work, and my confidence was at an all time low. I was poorly educated and what I knew about writing to be published came from books my husband had purchased off EBay for me.

[image error]Writing Magazine article

The first thing I knew I needed to do was to build a writing CV, so with that in mind I decided to enter writing competitions. Having subscribed to the Writing Magazine (UK) I came across their joint competition with the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Russell and I had been attending them, but taking the decision not to go to the festival on this particular year as a means of saving money.

The competition crime theme was ten. It took me a while to come up with something, but I knew I needed to think outside the box. I read somewhere that to think of three idea and throw the first two away, as most other writers will think of the same thing. My first idea was someone buried underground and they only had ten minutes of air left. I had read about a real case of a man keeping a young woman in a coffin-like box in the floor of his garage. To start with she feared him, then over the time she was imprisoned by him, she began to fear him not returning to her. She lay in the dark not able to move with only a thin pipe giving her oxygen.

My next idea came from the fact most people walk around with their heads down. They never seem to look up, even less now with the invention of mobile phones. My ideas was to hide the bodies in plain sight. But how could I do this? Also I need the murderer to be able to do the deed on his own. The golden rule about murder is there’s less chance of being caught if no one else knows about it.

With this in mind, I create my main character and his ten victims. Roofscapes the short story when down well at my writing group so I then felt quite confident about it as a story, but whether it was a winning story I had to wait and see. Russell and I arrived home from the Whitby Goth Festival late on a Monday afternoon. Just before going to bed I checked my email and found I had won, that I was the overall winner. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

[image error]The email

The Harrogate Crime Writing Festival kept Roofscapes on their website up until last year. The comments and feedback that I received on my winning story often asks when was I going to turn it into a novel. It took me two years of thinking about it, before I could put pen to paper.

I knew I couldn’t take the short story and turn it into a novel, but I could take the characters and tell it from a different view point. The story is told from the last victim’s point of view, while the novel Stone Angels is told from the serial killer’s point of view.

Stone Angels is available to preorder on Amazon and will be launched on the 11th August this year.

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Retweet = Sales?

89% work and worry over work, struggle against lunacy 10%, and friends 1%

Tennessee Williams, with the breakdown of his life : John Laht, Light Fantastic (1996)

The things I thought I knew, and more importantly understood about being a published author has been turned upside down. The reality of being published isn’t the same as dreaming of it. Added to this is the inconvenience of the virus, which has thrown a spanner into all my plans for a book launch. Now I’ve been looking about for other original ideas for marketing my books.

I’ve been slutting around on Twitter. The thing I’ve noticed most is how impersonal Twitter is. Facebook allows you to develop relationships, to get to know your followers on a more personal level. Marketing is about selling a dream and to do this you need to know your customers. The more they know about you the more likely they are to buy your next book (product)

[image error]Photo by Launchpresso on Pexels.com

In the click and share world of Twitter and Facebook, Twitter is the easiest to share, but this leaves me with a nagging question. How productive is clicking and sharing Tweets? And what about Followers? Does having a large number of followers equal more sales?

For my brief hustle on Twitter, I just clicked and shared quite a few random tweets as well as book related tweets. Yes, I increased my followers, but I wouldn’t say I found new friendships. Many were people I already knew through Facebook. I realise the numbers just don’t add up. Please stay with me. I’m not trying to burst your bubble. If it’s working for you, and you’re enjoying swimming with the pack, then please carry on. Hunting in numbers works. Swimming with the crowds means you’re less likely to be picked off, but here’s my problem. The simple fact is my product.i.e my novel is lost among a sea of books. Everyone on Twitter who has a book (or product) for sale is huddled among the masses. Being caught in the dragnet of data flowing from one retweet to another. This doesn’t allow my book to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

[image error]Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Another question that concerns me is the reasoning behind why everyone retweeting? Of course, I understand that much. Okay, let me reword my question. Yes, you might like the tweet, it’s your friend’s tweet, its an interesting question, it’s funny, worth sharing etc, but… Yes, I know you knew a but was coming. Do people retweet in hope that someone will want to check out your name and buy your book (product). You see, I’m more likely to buy someone’s book, if I’ve engaged in a tweet with them, or chatted on a more personal level. For me, a Facebook groups are a great place to get to know other writers, to engage in chats about all sort of writing related things. This allows you to ‘Get-to-Know’ someone much better as they chat not just with you but other members to, about common problems as we all struggle to become published.

I’ve noticed a common theme about tweets, people ask a question. I guess it’s a great way to get a response from others, but does it lead to sales. Another is to share five things about yourself and then to share five friends’ links in your tweet. Does this generate sales, more friendships or just followers?

I’m at a bit of a lost. I don’t wish to waste valuable writing time retweeting stuff if all it does is generate more followers who all wish for sales too. Networking is great, but if all I’m doing is drag-netting useless detritus from the data flow, I’m not improving my sales, and just wasting valuable writing time.

Right, I’m now off to do some writing. Please comment in the box, if you have generated sales from retweeting. Thank you.

Guest’s Book Tour: Gill James

Words in search of a meaning.

Roman Jakobson, The Newest Russian Poetry (1919: revised 1921)

Welcome to my guest page. Here, each week, I’ll be share 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.

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Welcome to my second guest this Gill James, writer and publisher. Gill runs Bridge House Publishing and Chapel Town Books

It’s lovely to have you here, Gill. I hope the tea is to your liking. First may I ask you when you first begun your writing journey and what drew you to chosen your genre?

I started off writing for children.  We were on holiday in Spain, some pretty odd things started happening and my children aged then six and eight ran out of reading material. So, I started writing a story for them, getting a chapter done each day ready to read to them at night. I gradually drifted over to YA – that made sense as I’d been teaching secondary children for over twenty years so I was quite familiar with the target reader. I then realised that although my Schellberg Cycle novels and some of the later ones in the Peace Child series contain young adults they are more for an adult readership. The Schellberg Cycle contains a lot of very strong women, so I realise I’m now moving over to feisty women. 

[image error]The marvellous Gill James

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’m a bit of a planner. I think on that line between planner and panster I’m about half way along. Right in the middle. I plan the whole lot out and then plan each chapter before I start to write. I don’t write a synopsis as such. I leave that until I’m ready to start sending the book out. But I’m always surprised at how at both whole book and individual chapter level the characters take on a mind of their own and led me in all sorts of unexpected directions. I’m very much a believer in getting the first draft down and not editing too much on the way but I do find that my first edit involves dealing with plot holes. I use Scrivener and find that really helps with planning thought I’ll often do the very first plan in a notebook, often sitting in a café. Ah. Those were the days.             

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

Very much so but also in quite an odd way. When I’ve been in a buoyant mood and thought that everything was going swimmingly, I’ve often looked back and found the writing on that day terrible.  At other times when it’s been a real struggle and I may have even doubted my ability to write I‘ve produced my best work. I’ve actually come to recognise these moods and monitor the writing accordingly.  

I also think though that writing is a bit like method acting; you have to almost become your characters. So, you have to force yourself into certain moods.  

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

Indeed, in my Schellberg Cycle. The House on Schellberg Street is very much the story of my late mother-in-law. She actually started writing the book herself but only completed half of the opening chapter. Several other real people appear in the “cast”.  This includes her grandmother who became so fascinating that she deserved a book of her own, hence Clara’s Story. Clara never escaped Nazi Germany because she wouldn’t accept that the law still saw her as Jewish even though she’d changed religion, that she was convinced that the German people would come to their sense and she just would not abandon the disabled children she looked after. There was a lot we didn’t know, so method acting came in again.  How would such and such a person behave in these circumstances?  

[image error]Gill’s amazing book

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

That I sing tenor with a choir? I do find belonging to a choir such a nice contrast with writing. I was also an academic in the day job and that means being the expert in something and working on your own. When you’re with a choir your ego has to get out of the way and you have to work cooperatively with other people. It is so good for your mood and mental health, too. Also, you make a lot of friends. The “tenor” bit is interesting too: I always thought some of the alto parts were dull but I could never sing soprano. One day the choir director asked if I’d try tenor. I gave it a go and was delighted; the range suited my very well and the tenor parts are often really interesting.

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

Writing is my most important activity. I write in the mornings. On a good day that will mean working from about ten past eight through until twelve thirty. Ten thirty until one thirty at weekends That means writing about 2,000 words or editing between 6,000 and 20,000 words. The rest of the day I’ll be keeping up with social media, emails, marketing  and my various publishing and editing duties. But I punctuate all of this with the odd U3A or NWR meeting, choir practice or performance, or visits to author or literature events.        

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I did for a short while use a pseudonym for my children’s novels – Lian Childs. That’s the other half of my full first name and my maiden name, which after all is rather a good one for a children’s writer. The trouble was, I kept forgetting who I was especially when I went on school visits. So, I’ve stopped doing that, it can be useful though if you write in completely different genres.  I have one writing friend who writes under six different names!    

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

I tend to have several projects on the go at the same time, so the first draft of a novel will take about two months, perhaps spread over six months. I then churn it through my fourteen stages of editing which takes another eighteen months or so. But I’m also writing blog posts, short stories, flash fiction and other bits of copy as well. At the moment I have one novel, one non-fiction book and a course for writers in progress.I also pause occasionally to write a short story or a piece of flash fiction. 

Gill James
WRITER / PUBLISHER / CREATIVE WRITING LECTURER

www.gilljames.co.uk
http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/
http://bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/ http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/

 http://cafelit.co.uk/ http://trtpublishing.co.uk
http://www.creativecafeproject.org/
http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/
Girl in a Smart Uniform, the third book in Schellberg Cycle (Stories of Holocaust survival) Available on Amazon/

Guest Book Tour: Dawn Knox

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Welcome to my blog, Dawn to my first guest book tour.

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

My latest project is a saga set in the 18th Century and involves several women from various backgrounds who find themselves on a particular convict ship in 1790 bound for New South Wales. I spent Christmas 2019 in Australia and loved learning about the history of the first settlers. When I got home, I wrote a story which has just been accepted by My Weekly Magazine, to be a Pocket Novel – it’s called ‘Duchess of Sydney’. My current work in progress is what I hope will be the second book in the saga.

How many unfinished projects do you have on your computer?

Too many to count! And there are also unstarted and therefore unfinished projects swirling around in my head!

[image error]Welcome to the lovely Dawn

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

Before I write anything, I usually have an idea of the beginning and ending. I generally make notes so I don’t forget my ideas and then think about plot twists later. But I very rarely sit down at my computer and start writing with no clear plan in mind. Sometimes my stories have started with a specific location, or event or character. The first book in my first historical saga (‘Welcome to Plotlands’) began when I wanted to write about the Plotlands in Dunton, Essex during the 1930s. My latest historical romance was written after a recent trip to Australia where I learned about the arrival of the First Fleet of convict ships and the first settlement in Sydney. And my book ‘The Basilwade Chronicles’ started with one socially inept man who I decided to place in a situation where tact and sensitivity are always needed – speed dating. Sadly, my character displayed neither tact nor sensitivity!

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

Characters in my historical romance, ‘Bletchley Secrets’ were inspired by many of the incredible women I read about during my research who worked at Bletchley Park throughout World War Two. To give the story an air of authenticity, I also included real characters such as the well-known Alan Turing and not so well-known but brilliant Dilly Knox although they played reasonably minor roles in my book and I portrayed them as likeable and kind – hopefully in a way that anyone who knew them would find acceptable. The fictitious characters were created using an amalgamation of the traits and the experiences of many of the different people who I researched.

What did you learn when writing the book? In writing how much research do you do?

I’ve learned an enormous amount of history since I’ve been writing and my book “The Great War – 100 Stories of 100 Words Honouring Those Who Lived and Died 100 Years Ago’ is an example of that. In 2014, I was approached by members of a project which had been set up to commemorate the centenary of World War One and I was asked to write a play about three soldiers going off to war in 1914 – one soldier from each of the three twin towns, Basildon; Meaux, France and Heiligenhaus, Germany. For that, I had to do an enormous amount of research and once the play was written, I decided to write several drabbles – stories of 100 words – to continue with the theme of ‘one hundred’, and I intended to print them out in the form of posters. However, I found I had so many ideas fizzing in my brain, although I only needed three or four drabbles, I kept writing. After I got to about fifty, I wondered if I’d be able to write one hundred to keep up with the ‘one hundred’ theme, but I must admit, I didn’t believe I’d manage so many different stories. However, the ideas kept coming and eventually, I achieved my target. Having written one hundred stories of one hundred words, I decided that instead of printing out a few as I’d previously planned, I’d publish them as a book. 
I’m currently researching London and Sydney at the time of the first convict fleet arriving in New South Wales which was 1788. The 18th century is fascinating and a real eye-opener!

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

Considering how much time I spend writing now, and how much time I think about it, people might be surprised to know I had no interest in writing until about eighteen years ago. Certainly, when I was at school, I didn’t like writing stories or essays. I remember being frustrated at how dreadful my stories were and it would never have occurred to me that I’d ever spend much of my waking time thinking about writing or indeed doing it – much less have any books published!

[image error]Dawn very funny and intriguing book

Do you set yourself a daily word count?  

No, although I write every day, I don’t impose any word count targets. I’m lucky to be in a position where can I write for pleasure and I sometimes wonder whether it might take the pleasure away if I forced myself to work rather than to write until I feel like stopping. But even when I’m not writing, I’m often mulling over in my head the next part of the story and planning it in detail. And if I think of a particularly useful phrase or word, I’ll jot it down for when I’m next back at my keyboard.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I understand it’s a good idea to have a pseudonym if you write in different genres so people identify your name with one particular type of genre but it’s too late for me now! So far, I’ve had sci-fi, speculative fiction, horror, romance, humour, YA and historical fiction published – all under the same name! Although I often wonder if I had adopted a pseudonym, how confusing it would be to have a different name for each different genre! I think the only time I’d definitely use a pseudonym would be if I ever tried erotica but that’s rather unlikely…

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

I have a rough idea about each character before I start writing but I usually find that he or she is rather two dimensional. As I progress, they acquire more characteristics and a back story and they begin to grow – hopefully into what readers feel is a realistic and believable person. As to their names, it depends on what sort of story I’m writing. I’m very particular about names and I spend a long time trying to select what I think are the right names for the characters although I acknowledge it’s quite subjective and whether readers will agree with my choices will depend on their tastes in names. But I try to choose names that would have been in use during the era in which my story is set or is what I consider appropriate to the future or to a world I may have created.

What was your hardest scene to write?

The scenes I find hardest to write are love scenes! So far, I haven’t written anything too steamy but I find it difficult to describe a kiss without making it sound the same as every other kiss! Done badly, a love scene can sound awful, so I agonise over them!

Dawn’s blog is https://dawnknox.com

You can also find Dawn on:
Facebook as @DawnKnoxWriter https://www.facebook.com/DawnKnoxWriter/
Twitter as @SunriseCalls https://twitter.com/SunriseCalls
Instagram as @SunriseCalls https://www.instagram.com/sunrisecalls
Amazon Author Page http://mybook.to/DawnKnox

Thank you so much for this chat, Dawn.

Hugs from Dawn

Okay, so that wasn’t a good idea.

I must admit that my change of blog title didn’t sit well with me, but I was thinking outside of the box. Normally, I’m comfortable with that as I’m a bit of an outsider. But for the sake of marketing I thought my new title was a fun one, and maybe it would attract more attention and readers.

Silly me

Writer’s Insecurities

It’s so easy to allow doubt to creep in when you’ve never been a confident person.

“Words are, of course the most powerful drug used by Mankind.”

Rudyard Kipling. Speech, 14th February 1923

Writing has encouraged me out of my comfort zone and to be relaxed around other people. I’ve learnt to take chances, and to stand centre stage. Gill James of Bridge House Publishing had, until the virus put a stop to it, run two book launches a year in London. At the venue she encourages her writers to read excerpts of their stories aloud.

Though I’m nervous about standing in front of an audience to read, I always push myself to do it. I never want to regret not having a go. It’s too easy to stand back my life and allow self-doubt to overtake your life.

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Yesterday just as I was getting ready for bed, I checked my Ipad and discovered a review for my single collection, Days Pass Like A Shadow by the reviewer on the webpage, The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer. Their five page review left me speechless as they commented on all thirteen stories in my collection.

This morning I printed up the review so that I had prove that it is real and not just my imagination.

Why is it we are always so ready to believe in the negative comments than positive ones?

I suspected I’m not the only one who suffers from endless self-doubt. There’s a name for it, Impostor Syndrome.

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One doubt’s one’s accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud. You incorrectly attribute your success to luck rather than believing you have gain your achievement through hard work, dedication and determination or even talent. I think my impostor Syndrome maybe left over from my school days. No matter how hard I worked I could never get good results.

When I found the review on Twitter last night I sat on my office floor, read it and wept. My husband read it to me as we lay in bed. I kept getting him to repeat parts of it so I could fully absorb the review. This morning when I woke I thought I had dreamt it.

Maybe self-doubt is a good thing to have as it will kept me grounded and on my toes. A quick Google throws up some interesting quotes from well-known writers who all still suffer from self- doubt. Stephen King writes about it in his book On Writing. Neil Gaiman is another well-known author as to is Margaret Atwood. She says “You are not alone. Don’t permit yourself to be ambushed. Keats wasn’t killed by a bad review. Get back on the horse that threw you.”

Whether it is the fear of failure, bad reviews, or not feeling quite good enough, we must remember all writers go through the same rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s what keeps us writing.

“The only demand I make of my reader is that he devote his whole life to reading my works.”

James Joyce, novelist

Be kind to yourself, when self-doubt comes knock. Remember, we’re all in the same boat.

Have a great weekend. Chat soon,

The Writing Slut xx

Writers are Two People

“In a writer there must always be two people –

The Writer & The Critic “

Leo Tolstoy

It’s so easy to criticise other writers work, but what about our own.

I understand how hard it is to distance yourself from your own work, to pass a critical eye over it. As I have said before it is much easier if you go back to your last project after having had a cooling off period. I often find if I’ve suffered a rejection on a story/ MS, and I’ve set it aside to finish working on something else, when I return to it, the problems within the piece seem to leap out at me.

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If we were to be honest with ourselves we all enjoy writing reviews on other people’s work. We can see the faults with the piece much clearer. Of course, we have removed our writer’s hat and become just a reader. We are more focused on the unfolding story rather than its construction. When reviewing other people’s works we are more objective about it. It is tough to know what to cut from our own work and what to leave in after you have spent hours coming up with the perfect sentence or chapter.

I do find reading my work aloud, or having my husband read it to me highlights the problems and whether the piece flows nicely.

” I think people like my books because they like the way the words sound.”

Robert B Parker : American mystery crime writer

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At the moment, I’m back editing my vampire novel. Distance has given me a fresh eye. I’m having to reduce its word count as its too long for my publisher. So I’m have to have a strong stomach and cut hard and fast. Once I’ve reduced the word count I can start tightening and rewriting the main plot.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing what my publisher thinks of the novel, ‘Seeking the Dark’. The novel has gone through many changes since I first wrote it. I’ve even changed its title, opening chapters, and ending numerous times. Years ago after I received positive reviews, but also rejections I decided as vampire novels was no longer in vogue, to write something else. A few months ago my Australian publisher became interested in it after reading the synopsis and opening chapters.

I’m still working on my next D&J novel. The plot line is coming together nicely. Ideas are flowing too. It’s the starting point I’m having problems with. I’m trying to work out how best to open the novel as I’m playing around with three timelines. I’ve created some individual scenes which have give me a taster of how this new novel will work.

In general, with my writing, I’m feeling a bit lost and outside my comfort zone since my crime novel has found its home. After years of working towards my goal, I’ve suddenly lost my safety net. I had learnt how to deal with rejection, and understood it was par for the course, but I’ve found a gaping hole has opened up in my life. Sitting at a keyboard writing alone has been my saviour, I could hide from the world, and dream my dreams with no expectations, telling myself when it happens it would be something spectacular.

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A year ago, my submissions suddenly took off. I was happily getting short stories published in anthologies. There’s a kind of cosiness being between the covers with fellow writers. We were all equal.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased my novel Stone Angels has found a home. I hold the paperback in my hand and can’t quite believe it’s real after all these years. My problem is coming to terms with the promoting side of the business. Having to come out of my writing dungeon and reveal myself to the world.

When you’ve spent many years writing to be published, you don’t really think about the promoting side of the business. I’ve heard it quoted many times. The writing is the easiest part and the cheapest too. There’s always someone out to make money from the writer’s dreams. You can spend a small fortune on every aspect of your writing career, and still not have a bestseller.

I always thought I would have a book launch, do a tour of local bookshops and appear on the local radio. Of course, in the time I’ve been writing things have changed. Now it’s all done over the internet, and through blog tours.

I can’t really put into words my feelings apart from there’s a huge void in my life now as though it was the climb to the top which was the dream, but not the view once you reached there. I do feel as though another mountain has appeared, but this one has left me feeling at a loss as I don’t know or understand how to tackle it.

I had hoped my writing would pay for itself and I could reward my husband for his encouragement after all these years. We don’t have the money to spend on promoting my books on BookBub etc, and in this day and age with world’s crisis and growing unemployment we have to watch every penny. So we will have to wait to see what happens next.

Until we meet again, keep on writing.

Best wishes always, from the writing slut. XX

Ladies of Horror

When I first started writing, I wasn’t sure what sort of writer I was going to become. I knew romance wasn’t my thing. It is easy to say, think about the sort of book you enjoy reading, or maybe the sort of films you enjoy watching. The trouble with me is I enjoy a wide range of books and films, but what is it about them that sparks my imagination and keeps me hooked. It is a mystery.

A mystery can come in all shapes and forms. A person can be mysterious. A house can have an air of mystery about it. Something unresolved. In my novel Stone Angels, James Ravencroft is a man of mystery. His paintings have a darker hidden meaning that others don’t see. In my novella, The Funeral Birds my main characters Dave and Joan have several mysteries to solve as they try to find out why Ms Sinclair doesn’t want to report what she can see from her garden in the ruined churchyard. In my collection of short stories, Days Pass Like A Shadow, each of the thirteen tales contain their own mystery. From the Streets of Kabul to the plains of Africa. From the war-torn streets of London in the 1940’s to the moorlands of North Yorkshire in Anglo-Saxon Britain. You will find many wonderful characters to take you on other journeys too.

What I have found is I enjoy telling tales that have a twist to them. These tend to take you to the darker side of life. So when I was asked to submit a story to the next collection of horror stories written by women. It was easy to select one of my stories.

I never saw myself as a writer of horror, more supernatural suspense. I want to take my readers to the edge of their seat without pushing them over. If my writing taps into their own darkest fears and imaginings then I have done good job.

On the 20th July a collection of horror stories, Graveyard Smash is launched by Kandisha Press

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Are you looking for something different to read?

‪Answer me this, is fame the perfect cover for murder? ‬

The artist James Ravencroft think so. He needs to find the next perfect model. They don’t just pose for him, they become his still life- his Stone Angels. ‬
‪When Art becomes Murder

Dream Planning.

Keep a notepad beside your bed.

Before going to sleep last night, I started thinking about my new writing project. I had been reading up about the English Civil War and studying the awful witch-hunts that were happening around the same time. During this time hundreds of women, and men too, were tried for witchcraft. The most common methods of execution for them were hanging , drowning or burning. Burning was often favoured, especially in Europe as it was considered the most painful way of dying. In the American Colonies witches were hung, while in Britain, we went for ducking and hanging.

[image error]An engraved illustration of a cucking chair also known as a ducking chair at a village well from a Victorian book dated 1883 that is no longer in copyright

Ducking or Cucking stool, which was a form of chair really, was a technical device used as part of the wider method of law enforcement through social humiliation. The stool was used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds (people accused of being troublesome and angry and who habitually chastised, argued and quarrelled with their neighbours) and dishonest tradesmen in England, Scotland, and elsewhere.

For days now I have been twisting the plot for my WIP around in my head trying to work out the best place to start this tale. Although the Funeral Birds was told from the first person’s point of view I feel that the WIP may have to be told from the 1st and 3rd person’s point of view. By doing this I can widen the story area.

[image error]The old road to the airfield



[image error]Building hidden among the trees

Have a great weekend. We’ll chat again soon.

My friend Ana and I try to walk every day around our village. The area of Essex in which I live is steeped in history, both modern and ancient. On Wednesday, we walked to the old airfield.

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The RAF Rivenhall airfield was built in 1943 and used during the European Theatre of World War 2: Air Offensive Europe July 1942- May 1945. It was controlled by the U.S Army Air Forces. Most of the airfield has gone now as half of it has been turned into a quarry though some of the buildings remain.

Mother Nature has been quick to take back what she can as lots of young trees have reclaimed what was once open spaces. After spending our time exploring and photographing the remaining buildings my mind started racing with ideas for the second timeline in my WIP.

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When I went to bed I made a few notes of questions I needed answered. In the morning ideas tumbled from me and I hastily scribbled them down. I now had the opening scene for my book.

Once I can start mapping out the points of the plot line I shall be much happier. This week has flown by but I’ve managed to sell a few books. Okay, so it was my husband. He took some of my business cards I had created into work. I’ve designed a promotional sheet too, as his work colleagues wanted to know more about my writing and books.