R.E. Palmer's Blog, page 3

Putting a face to your characters: Shelley

Of all the characters in SKY, it's Shelley that usually comes out on top when readers comment on the story. And I have to admit, she's my favourite character  too. I like her pragmatic approach to life - and without giving away too much to those who haven't read the book yet - it's how she survived and bounced back from an early horrific episode in her life.

As soon as I came up with the character of Shelley, I wanted her to be a bit of a Goth. She's 22 in the story, lives in Sydney, and she needed to be a bit different, or in other words - stick out like a sore thumb and feel a little uneasy amongst her work colleagues.
I like to have a clear picture about what my characters look like - and the first person that came to mind for Shelley, is actress Pauley Perrette - better known as Abby Sciuto from TV's NCIS. The character she plays in that series also shares many of Shelley's traits.

Shelley doesn't make friends easily, and instinctively distrusts people - and we find out why about half way through the book!

She's very headstrong and doesn't put up with any b/s from anyone - no matter who they are :0) Pauley Perrette (Shelley) What do you think? Anyone else who you imagined as Shelley? Feel free to comment below.

Also see Carly, Tomas, Selene and Fudge

Visualising your characters: Carly

I don't know about other writers, but I 'see' everything in my head as I'm writing. It's not a movie - a book isn't a movie and shouldn't be written as if it was. But I find it helps with developing a scene, positioning characters in that scene, and also for descriptions etc.

But what about the characters? I also find I need to have an idea of what they look like to bring them to life.  The first character in SKY I put a face to, was Carly The story doesn't start too well for Carly. In fact, when we first meet her, she's in a terrible state. 

One evening I turned on the TV and came across An American Haunting (2005). It's an okay sort of movie, but the unfortunate victim of the evil spirit was played superbly by English actor, Rachel Hurd-Wood and there she was: Carly!

Carly is a little older than the character in the movie - but I found this photo and thought this is Carly - living and breathing.

Although Carly appears quite helpless, early in SKY, she's really quite a tough character and plays a major role in helping Tomas (our hero) to win through in the end.

What do you think? Who did you have in mind when you read my story?
Rachel Hurd-Wood (Carly) Also see Shelley and Fudge

Do We Speak The Same Language?

I read a really interesting comment by a reviewer on Amazon.com about SKY. Generally, I got the impression they liked the book, with a few reservations, but it ends with

"a worthy read and a great way to learn foreign vocabulary."

I must admit. my initial reaction was confusion - it's written in English? But of course, it's absolutely true. I'm English, speak and write in English (I'm ashamed to say it's the only language I can speak.). In the US, they speak English - but not quite. Whilst I tried to avoid certain words such as pavement (sidewalk) / tap (faucet), and I made the decision to use US English spelling (I really couldn't be asked to produce two editions), the way people speak is still different.

Those of you who've read SKY will know part of the story is set in Australia. When writing dialogue for the Aussie characters, I spoke the words out loud with the accent to try and get it as realistic as possible. I guess it helped that I've always enjoyed Australian movies (Muriel's Wedding is one of my favourties), and so have an idea of how people in Aus speak, I also have a sister-in-law who has lived in Adelaide for over 20 years and has developed the accent herself.

Perhaps it's because we see so many US movies and TV (love the Big Bang Theory!), we get used to how our American cousins speak. But because it's not reciprocated, I guess people in the US just aren't used to hearing how us Brits (foreigners!) speak.

So if you want to 'learn foreign vocabulary' - you can get your copy of SKY here :0)

The Proof Copy Is Here!

Wow - after almost two years in the making, the proof of the paperback arrived today! It's odd to see it as a real book for the first time. I can hardly believe I wrote it :0) There's a couple of minor corrections that need to be made - but otherwise I'm really pleased with how it looks.

Sophie did a great job with the cover and I'll be asking her to do the sequel in a few months.

So as soon as the amendments have been made, I anticipate it being ready by early January 2013.

Interview by Summer Lane (writing Belle)

I've just done my first interview with Summer Lane. She asked some interesting questions, and I hope I gave some interesting answers :0) 

It's part of her 'Indie Monday' feature - you can read it on her blog at Writing Belle .

SKY is published today!

Well it's finally here! SKY is published for the Kindle today. I first put pen to paper - well fingers to keyboard - almost two years ago, and now the day is here. The paperback will be out in 4 weeks(ish), but if you can't wait until then (yeh right!) You can download it for your Kindle HERE