Jeannie van Rompaey's Blog
December 5, 2023
How I wrote FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON (#1NEW BEGINNINGS)
Blog: FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON (#1 New Beginnings)
My latest novel, planned as the first in a series, is set on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria, where I am lucky enough to have lived for twenty odd years. When I find myself returning from a visit to London and catch my first glimpse of the island from the air, there is always a lump in my throat and a tremor in my stomach, an emotional response. I may well have had a rewarding trip to London but I’m home. It's a good feeling.
If you wonder why I haven’t written much about Gran Canaria in previous novels, it’s because this novel has taken me at least ten years to write. At first, it was a long, unruly novel and my editor was rightly critical of it. She did give me advice about how to cut it and focus on certain sections in different ways, but my attempted rewrites didn’t work for me. I put it aside for several years and wrote other things. I did extract some of the characters and use them in short stories. A good exercise. One of them, Betrayal, was published locally in The Canary News, thanks to editor, Edward Timon. The rather ironic friendship between two older women, Ellen and Queenie, is given another airing in FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON.
Without consciously copying the structure of Bernadine Evaristo’s GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, a book a really admire, I now realise I must have been influenced by it when I came up with a different structure for FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON. Once I decided to give each friendship its own space to develop, I knew I could start to write this novel again.
At first, I thought the new version of the book might be a series of short stories based on different friendships and it certainly started off that way. But then one friendship, the one between Kat and Gina, became more important than the others and I had to give the characters more time and space for their relationship to develop and change.
The idea of characters becoming subsidiary characters in stories that focused on other friendships, was the intention from the beginning of this rewrite. It seemed to me that it was inevitable that on a small island you would come across the same people in the expat community again. Even the ladies of Las Palmas may meet a few people connected with Timeshare touts in the South. Or even a drag queen! When living abroad, expats tend to mix with people of their own nationality, many of them unlike anyone they would have met if they had stayed in their own country. These differences are something that interest me as a writer. Difference creates tension that, I hope, will keep you reading.
Bringing some of the characters together again at the end, seemed to me the best way to end a novel that, at times, might seem to be going off at tangents. Gina’s art exhibition serves this unifying purpose, but is also a celebration of her creativity. It's an indication that she has banished the depression and nightmares of the past, at least temporarily, and is looking forward with considerable optimism to the future.
The novel has created a bit of a buzz here on the island. Potential readers, who live on Gran Canaria, probably think they’ll be able to recognise certain likenesses between my characters and certain residents. I can assure you that no characters are drawn from a particular person. Authors are observers and, just as magpies like to collect shiny objects, so writers collect personality traits and actual life stories to help create their characters and give the semblance of reality to what happens. The characters and the events in this novel, as in my other fiction writing, come from the snippets of memory I’ve assimilated from years of being a people watcher, aided and abetted by an often too vivid imagination.
I hope that whether you live or holiday on Gran Canaria or not, you will find the premise of the novel interesting as it examines the nature of friendship and relationships, the power of creativity and the joys and restrictions of island life. I like to think it makes some serious points, but my main intention is to write a good story, that has its sad and amusing moments. Enjoy!
When you’ve read the novel, please spend a few moments to write an honest review on Goodreads, Amazon and anywhere else you can think of, to help potential readers decide whether to buy it or not.
My latest novel, planned as the first in a series, is set on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria, where I am lucky enough to have lived for twenty odd years. When I find myself returning from a visit to London and catch my first glimpse of the island from the air, there is always a lump in my throat and a tremor in my stomach, an emotional response. I may well have had a rewarding trip to London but I’m home. It's a good feeling.
If you wonder why I haven’t written much about Gran Canaria in previous novels, it’s because this novel has taken me at least ten years to write. At first, it was a long, unruly novel and my editor was rightly critical of it. She did give me advice about how to cut it and focus on certain sections in different ways, but my attempted rewrites didn’t work for me. I put it aside for several years and wrote other things. I did extract some of the characters and use them in short stories. A good exercise. One of them, Betrayal, was published locally in The Canary News, thanks to editor, Edward Timon. The rather ironic friendship between two older women, Ellen and Queenie, is given another airing in FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON.
Without consciously copying the structure of Bernadine Evaristo’s GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, a book a really admire, I now realise I must have been influenced by it when I came up with a different structure for FOUR HOURS FROM LONDON. Once I decided to give each friendship its own space to develop, I knew I could start to write this novel again.
At first, I thought the new version of the book might be a series of short stories based on different friendships and it certainly started off that way. But then one friendship, the one between Kat and Gina, became more important than the others and I had to give the characters more time and space for their relationship to develop and change.
The idea of characters becoming subsidiary characters in stories that focused on other friendships, was the intention from the beginning of this rewrite. It seemed to me that it was inevitable that on a small island you would come across the same people in the expat community again. Even the ladies of Las Palmas may meet a few people connected with Timeshare touts in the South. Or even a drag queen! When living abroad, expats tend to mix with people of their own nationality, many of them unlike anyone they would have met if they had stayed in their own country. These differences are something that interest me as a writer. Difference creates tension that, I hope, will keep you reading.
Bringing some of the characters together again at the end, seemed to me the best way to end a novel that, at times, might seem to be going off at tangents. Gina’s art exhibition serves this unifying purpose, but is also a celebration of her creativity. It's an indication that she has banished the depression and nightmares of the past, at least temporarily, and is looking forward with considerable optimism to the future.
The novel has created a bit of a buzz here on the island. Potential readers, who live on Gran Canaria, probably think they’ll be able to recognise certain likenesses between my characters and certain residents. I can assure you that no characters are drawn from a particular person. Authors are observers and, just as magpies like to collect shiny objects, so writers collect personality traits and actual life stories to help create their characters and give the semblance of reality to what happens. The characters and the events in this novel, as in my other fiction writing, come from the snippets of memory I’ve assimilated from years of being a people watcher, aided and abetted by an often too vivid imagination.
I hope that whether you live or holiday on Gran Canaria or not, you will find the premise of the novel interesting as it examines the nature of friendship and relationships, the power of creativity and the joys and restrictions of island life. I like to think it makes some serious points, but my main intention is to write a good story, that has its sad and amusing moments. Enjoy!
When you’ve read the novel, please spend a few moments to write an honest review on Goodreads, Amazon and anywhere else you can think of, to help potential readers decide whether to buy it or not.
September 16, 2019
My latest novel SUNSHINE SKYWAY
My latest novel, SUNSHINE SKYWAY, is a dark psychological thriller set in sunny Florida. The history of disasters associated with the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge and the new brilliantly designed cable-stayed bridge over Tampa Bay accentuates the irony of the setting.
As you approach the ramp leading up to the fifteen-mile-long bridge known as Sunshine Skyway, it looks as if it ends in the sky. It was this view of Sunshine Skyway that inspired this novel and its title.
I’ve often written that I don’t want to be a brand, to fit into some cosy niche to help my books sell, but, in this case, I did set out to write a thriller. I think it does have some elements of that genre but it has turned out to be, like most of my novels, more concerned with the characters and how they respond to the circumstances in their lives.
One of the challenges I gave myself was to have a nineteen-year-old young woman as a protagonist, Roz. As much of the novel is told from her perspective, I had to get inside her mind. What a challenge for a woman many times her age! I hope I’ve succeeded. Roz is intelligent but not streetwise. She acts impulsively and blanks out her mind to things she doesn’t want to face. I enjoyed the task of being Roz and feeling what she was feeling or refusing to feel. I hope you do too.
SUNSHINE SKYWAY
https://jeannievanrompaey.com/
As you approach the ramp leading up to the fifteen-mile-long bridge known as Sunshine Skyway, it looks as if it ends in the sky. It was this view of Sunshine Skyway that inspired this novel and its title.
I’ve often written that I don’t want to be a brand, to fit into some cosy niche to help my books sell, but, in this case, I did set out to write a thriller. I think it does have some elements of that genre but it has turned out to be, like most of my novels, more concerned with the characters and how they respond to the circumstances in their lives.
One of the challenges I gave myself was to have a nineteen-year-old young woman as a protagonist, Roz. As much of the novel is told from her perspective, I had to get inside her mind. What a challenge for a woman many times her age! I hope I’ve succeeded. Roz is intelligent but not streetwise. She acts impulsively and blanks out her mind to things she doesn’t want to face. I enjoyed the task of being Roz and feeling what she was feeling or refusing to feel. I hope you do too.
SUNSHINE SKYWAY
https://jeannievanrompaey.com/
April 12, 2016
The OASIS Series, Book 1 Ascension
MY SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA the OASIS Series book 1, now called ASCENSION is available from 12th April, in paperback and as a download. Even if you are not a sci/fi reader you can enjoy this tale of likable but flawed characters. Read how little Mercury is transformed from mutant humanoid to complete human being and moves from a compound on contaminated Earth to Oasis, a seemingly Utopian man made satellite. Find out how his new life on Oasis lives up to his expectations and how it lets him down.
If you are a sci-fi fan you will find this novel a little different. What will happen when the mutant humanoids decide they want a share of the world created by the privileged completes? .
http://jeannievanrompaey.com/
If you are a sci-fi fan you will find this novel a little different. What will happen when the mutant humanoids decide they want a share of the world created by the privileged completes? .
http://jeannievanrompaey.com/
March 31, 2016
The Oasis Series: Ascension and Evolution and Renaissance
What started as a short story became a novel previously called OASIS and has now become a trilogy, The Oasis Series. The first two books of the series will be published on 12th April, 2016.
Book 1 Ascension and Book 2 Evolution. See details on my book page.
Book 3, not yet published will be entitled Renaissance.
I like to think the titles reflect the optimism of the characters and plot. Yes, it's a dystopia, but then no world is perfect.
Jeannie van RompaeyJeannie van Rompaey
Book 1 Ascension and Book 2 Evolution. See details on my book page.
Book 3, not yet published will be entitled Renaissance.
I like to think the titles reflect the optimism of the characters and plot. Yes, it's a dystopia, but then no world is perfect.
Jeannie van RompaeyJeannie van Rompaey
January 7, 2014
Three-headed becomes OASIS
A year ago I wrote on this blog about a short story I had written called Three-Headed about mutant humanoids living in windowless compounds on a polluted Earth. That short story has now become a novel and has just been published. Why not be one of the first to read it?
Follow the adventures of the mutant humanoids who live on Earth and completes, the survovors who escaped to live on satellites in the sky.
Follow the adventures of the mutant humanoids who live on Earth and completes, the survovors who escaped to live on satellites in the sky.
January 11, 2013
Current writing
A few months ago, I wrote a short story called Three-Headed. You can find it on Amazon and Smashwords. That short story - with a few necessary changes - has become the first two chapters of a novel I am writing. I have now written fifteen chapters and am steaming towards the finish line. It's a dystopia, but is character-based and although set in a very different imaginary world deals with some of the same themes as my other work.
