Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "twenty-first-century"
Sandscript at Present
There’s no time like the present, especially for authors. How long does the present last; a year, a week, a day, a second? Some novelists write in the present tense and this can work very well, but readers know the events have already happened.
My novel ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind' was set in the present; that was where I intended it to remain. I did not want to name a year; the characters lived in London and the 2005 bombings were still quite recent when I started writing, I did not want their story overshadowed by such a major event.
But first novels, especially long ones, take a while to write, be read by others and edited, the present was fast becoming the past. World events were turning out differently from what most of us could ever have imagined and technology was racing ahead. My characters had mobile phones, they took pictures with their phones, they Skyped and went on Facebook, a few of them had SatNav. But they did not have smart phones, tablets, I-pads Kindles etc. and the last thing I wanted them to be able to do was Google their location or look up information on the internet with their smart phone.
The novel became a trilogy. ‘Three Ages of Man’ begins before the first novel and runs parallel, ‘Lives of Anna Alsop’, published this week, opens the evening after the close of the first novel. The Brief Encounters Trilogy is set in the early years of the Twenty First Century and covers a period of nearly four years, that is all you need to know. But if you would like to know more about the three novels you can read about them here on Goodreads, or visit my website www.ccsidewriter.co.uk
My novel ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind' was set in the present; that was where I intended it to remain. I did not want to name a year; the characters lived in London and the 2005 bombings were still quite recent when I started writing, I did not want their story overshadowed by such a major event.
But first novels, especially long ones, take a while to write, be read by others and edited, the present was fast becoming the past. World events were turning out differently from what most of us could ever have imagined and technology was racing ahead. My characters had mobile phones, they took pictures with their phones, they Skyped and went on Facebook, a few of them had SatNav. But they did not have smart phones, tablets, I-pads Kindles etc. and the last thing I wanted them to be able to do was Google their location or look up information on the internet with their smart phone.
The novel became a trilogy. ‘Three Ages of Man’ begins before the first novel and runs parallel, ‘Lives of Anna Alsop’, published this week, opens the evening after the close of the first novel. The Brief Encounters Trilogy is set in the early years of the Twenty First Century and covers a period of nearly four years, that is all you need to know. But if you would like to know more about the three novels you can read about them here on Goodreads, or visit my website www.ccsidewriter.co.uk
Sandscript Into Infinity
Do you keep a diary or resolve to keep one every New Year? Many years ago I was given a five year diary which lasted at least a decade of good intentions and still has many blank pages, but it does record some major life events; if anyone can ever decipher the tiny writing crammed into the allotted space per day and year.
In more recent years I received a handsome note book blissfully free of dates. I vowed to keep a journal for the purpose of preserving the art of handwriting and recording family history. Released from the obligation of daily jotting I would devote several pages to important events and places and people visited. I haven’t yet recorded Christmas.
But I am onto the third gift journal. Each entry begins with a few neat sentences, but quickly deteriorates into a cramped scrawl, especially if I am lounging with my feet up on the sofa. I imagine the diarists of old would need to sit upright at their bureaus to be able to handle their quill and ink.
In the unlikely event of me becoming a famous author posthumously, will my family be tempted to burn these diaries and journals to protect my reputation? If they bother to look at them they will find no scandal (there is none to help in the fame stakes ), nor salacious details of non writing activities at home. But hopefully my jottings will be a unique personal account of everyday life in the early years of the Twenty First Century.
And which will last longer, the paper books or this Blog? When I needed to look up a previous blog about the River Thames I typed in ‘Janet Gogerty Sandscript River Thames’ and up it came, from over two years ago; will it be there forever? Will our Goodreads Blogs and book reviews float through the ether into eternity, or only until the internet is switched off?
Like radio waves beaming out into space will the billions of words on the internet still be out there somewhere when the electricity is switched off for good? Will our Facebook posts and e-mails be accessible to clever Alien archaeologists or future Earth scientists? If so then, Greetings from 2016 A.D.
In more recent years I received a handsome note book blissfully free of dates. I vowed to keep a journal for the purpose of preserving the art of handwriting and recording family history. Released from the obligation of daily jotting I would devote several pages to important events and places and people visited. I haven’t yet recorded Christmas.
But I am onto the third gift journal. Each entry begins with a few neat sentences, but quickly deteriorates into a cramped scrawl, especially if I am lounging with my feet up on the sofa. I imagine the diarists of old would need to sit upright at their bureaus to be able to handle their quill and ink.
In the unlikely event of me becoming a famous author posthumously, will my family be tempted to burn these diaries and journals to protect my reputation? If they bother to look at them they will find no scandal (there is none to help in the fame stakes ), nor salacious details of non writing activities at home. But hopefully my jottings will be a unique personal account of everyday life in the early years of the Twenty First Century.
And which will last longer, the paper books or this Blog? When I needed to look up a previous blog about the River Thames I typed in ‘Janet Gogerty Sandscript River Thames’ and up it came, from over two years ago; will it be there forever? Will our Goodreads Blogs and book reviews float through the ether into eternity, or only until the internet is switched off?
Like radio waves beaming out into space will the billions of words on the internet still be out there somewhere when the electricity is switched off for good? Will our Facebook posts and e-mails be accessible to clever Alien archaeologists or future Earth scientists? If so then, Greetings from 2016 A.D.
Sandscript in Triplicate
Sandscript in Triplicate
Why are we fascinated with the number three? Does it stem from the idea of the Holy Trinity, is it because we live in three dimensions? This morning I caught snippets of Stephen Hawking’s Reith Lecture on BBC Radio Four. The one thing Hawking and I have in common is that I have not read any of his books and I’m pretty sure he has not read any of mine; if he has, he has not left a review on Amazon or Goodreads. His topic was black holes and whilst I do not claim to understand all he says, a mere sentence can give us a humble inkling of the unknowable universe. I hope I paraphrase correctly...
'Perhaps our universe is a mere three dimensional layer of a universe of eleven dimensions.'
Photographers snapping scenery or still life know the magic number is three; from sailing boats on the waves to vases on a table, three always looks more aesthetic than two. Readers and writers like trilogies.
In a few weeks time nearly all my family’s ages will be in multiples of three, from three years old to ninety. Which prompted me to realise my other family… I mean the first novel in my Brief Encounters Trilogy, is now three years old. To celebrate, this winter you can buy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ for US$1.41 or 99pence on Amazon.uk
In the early years of the Twenty First Century, widow Susan Dexter has more to worry about than the recession. For thirty years she has kept a secret; she is not sure if her daughter is human. New events lead her to other people who need to find the truth.
How do ordinary people cope with the extraordinary? In the vast unknowable universe what happened to Susan Dexter in her back garden could happen to any of us.
“Since Peter died Emma came round more often, though it was rare for both of us to have a weekday off. That day we were looking forward to enjoying the late September sunshine in my garden and she had news to tell me. Emma was arranging the loungers as I made the coffee.
Suddenly she cried out ‘What’s that in the sky Mum?’
I stepped out, followed her stunned gaze up to the clear sky and froze; I had always dreaded they would come back. Above us was a huge shimmering shape, elegant and beautiful.”
Is Brief Encounters a trilogy or a triangle? The second book runs parallel to the first, the third follows the first…. But new readers only need to know it is a family saga of three generations and three families set over three years early in the Twenty First Century. A thriller of music, medicine and mystery entwined with tales of unrequited love, love lost and found and love crossing impossible boundaries. But most of all this is a story of ordinary folk keeping secret the inexplicable events that have changed their lives.
http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Encounter...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-Encount...
Why are we fascinated with the number three? Does it stem from the idea of the Holy Trinity, is it because we live in three dimensions? This morning I caught snippets of Stephen Hawking’s Reith Lecture on BBC Radio Four. The one thing Hawking and I have in common is that I have not read any of his books and I’m pretty sure he has not read any of mine; if he has, he has not left a review on Amazon or Goodreads. His topic was black holes and whilst I do not claim to understand all he says, a mere sentence can give us a humble inkling of the unknowable universe. I hope I paraphrase correctly...
'Perhaps our universe is a mere three dimensional layer of a universe of eleven dimensions.'
Photographers snapping scenery or still life know the magic number is three; from sailing boats on the waves to vases on a table, three always looks more aesthetic than two. Readers and writers like trilogies.
In a few weeks time nearly all my family’s ages will be in multiples of three, from three years old to ninety. Which prompted me to realise my other family… I mean the first novel in my Brief Encounters Trilogy, is now three years old. To celebrate, this winter you can buy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ for US$1.41 or 99pence on Amazon.uk
In the early years of the Twenty First Century, widow Susan Dexter has more to worry about than the recession. For thirty years she has kept a secret; she is not sure if her daughter is human. New events lead her to other people who need to find the truth.
How do ordinary people cope with the extraordinary? In the vast unknowable universe what happened to Susan Dexter in her back garden could happen to any of us.
“Since Peter died Emma came round more often, though it was rare for both of us to have a weekday off. That day we were looking forward to enjoying the late September sunshine in my garden and she had news to tell me. Emma was arranging the loungers as I made the coffee.
Suddenly she cried out ‘What’s that in the sky Mum?’
I stepped out, followed her stunned gaze up to the clear sky and froze; I had always dreaded they would come back. Above us was a huge shimmering shape, elegant and beautiful.”
Is Brief Encounters a trilogy or a triangle? The second book runs parallel to the first, the third follows the first…. But new readers only need to know it is a family saga of three generations and three families set over three years early in the Twenty First Century. A thriller of music, medicine and mystery entwined with tales of unrequited love, love lost and found and love crossing impossible boundaries. But most of all this is a story of ordinary folk keeping secret the inexplicable events that have changed their lives.
http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Encounter...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-Encount...
Sandscript in Short
How long is a short story, how short is flash fiction. How many words must you pen to claim you have written a novel? A story should be as long as it takes to tell a good tale. A couple of years ago I was short listed for the Magic Oxygen 6-word story contest, I didn’t win the £100 pound prize; but how ironic it would have been to win so much for so few words. I enjoyed the challenge and tried to think how six words could encompass the whole universe. My entry was ‘I am starting again said God.’
But most of us want to read and write about every day life, the smaller pictures of human life, not the unknowable frightening vastness of the universe. Indie Authors can write however many words they like, with no publisher to insist on condensing or stretching the word count. Still there is plenty of scope for debate. Flash fiction can be as short as six words and perhaps as long as 1,000 words; whatever the length it should still tell a story or bring a surprise at the end.
Short stories are fun to write and handy for reading in your coffee break. Competitions are popular, especially with the chance to have your story featured in an anthology, but vary widely in minimum and maximum word count.
Until this year I had only written short stories and long novels, but two stories were evolving; a consensus of opinion from other writers was that a novella was between 20,000 and 30,000 words and without planning my novellas evolved to around 27,000.
‘Someone For The Weekend’ finds Selina Harris’ son bringing a very strange guest for the weekend.
‘Durlswood’ is set on a pleasant summer solstice weekend at a country estate; strange events bring two very different young people together, the other main character is a beautiful horse.
The two novellas are featured in ‘Someone Somewhere’ and this new collection is rounded off with four short stories and two chapters of flash fiction. Enjoy topical stories about ordinary people, who often find themselves in strange situations.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Someone-Some...
Read more about Someone Somewhere and my other collections at my website.
https://www.ccsidewriter.co.uk/chapte...
But most of us want to read and write about every day life, the smaller pictures of human life, not the unknowable frightening vastness of the universe. Indie Authors can write however many words they like, with no publisher to insist on condensing or stretching the word count. Still there is plenty of scope for debate. Flash fiction can be as short as six words and perhaps as long as 1,000 words; whatever the length it should still tell a story or bring a surprise at the end.
Short stories are fun to write and handy for reading in your coffee break. Competitions are popular, especially with the chance to have your story featured in an anthology, but vary widely in minimum and maximum word count.
Until this year I had only written short stories and long novels, but two stories were evolving; a consensus of opinion from other writers was that a novella was between 20,000 and 30,000 words and without planning my novellas evolved to around 27,000.
‘Someone For The Weekend’ finds Selina Harris’ son bringing a very strange guest for the weekend.
‘Durlswood’ is set on a pleasant summer solstice weekend at a country estate; strange events bring two very different young people together, the other main character is a beautiful horse.
The two novellas are featured in ‘Someone Somewhere’ and this new collection is rounded off with four short stories and two chapters of flash fiction. Enjoy topical stories about ordinary people, who often find themselves in strange situations.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Someone-Some...
Read more about Someone Somewhere and my other collections at my website.
https://www.ccsidewriter.co.uk/chapte...
Sandscript
I like to write first drafts with pen and paper; at home, in busy cafes, in the garden, at our beach hut... even sitting in a sea front car park waiting for the rain to stop I get my note book out. We
...more
- Janet Gogerty's profile
- 19 followers
