Lisa Dyer's Blog - Posts Tagged "since-you-ve-been-gone"
Meet My Main Character
I thought I'd repost this - which was part of a Blog Tour I did last year. Here's a chance for you to meet my Main Character - Hal Bartlett
What is the name of your character?
Meet Hal Bartlett, sometime resident of Dover, Kent, now living in rural Oxfordshire with a veterinarian practice, a very opinionated business partner and a lot of marital problems.
When and where is the story set?
Hal Bartlett is the main character in Since You've Been Gone which is set fifteen years in the past. The story begins in Oxfordshire as Hal wrestles with the increasing deterioration in his relationship with his wife, Julienne. It's the eve of Julienne's spoilt younger sister's high-end wedding and Hal knows he's out of his depth. After a bitter row, Hal takes the only option open to him...he returns to the home town and friends he abandoned years before and begins his journey to revisit his past and lay some old demons to rest.
What should we know about him?
Hal is a good man, a bit of a wimp but essentially a good bloke. His life is a bit messy, no neat edges.
He left his home town of Dover in the September of 1983 without ever realising how life expanding university would be.
Slowly, so slowly even he didn’t notice it happening, Hal shed his old life, old friends who never left the town into which they were born and, sadly, he shed his parents.
He didn't do any of this because he was denying his past...he did it because Hal is a man on the run, from his emotional past and in particular one person, Abigail Markham. She was 'the one'. The one that he loved first and last. The one that broke his heart. The one that cut him loose. His withdrawal from his old life and absorption into his new allowed him distance and an excuse never to go back and find out exactly what happened between them.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his?
Hal married out of his league and he knew it. His wife’s family have money, have never been on the type of rough council estate Hal grew up on let alone been in a council house and they glossed over Hal’s working class roots and remade him in their image and Hal, for a quiet life, goes along with it. He’s an adaptor but never comfortable in his new role and always guilty of what he’s done to his parents in order to keep the charmed life he now has. Hal needs to man up and get out but he’s loyal and steady and really he’s looking for an excuse.
Hal is also wrestling with his past and is too scared to confront it, to move on and wipe his emotional slate clean. Forces outside of his control, however, end up making the choice for him and he goes back...back to the home town he left as a teenager and back to the family and friends he's distanced himself from in order to heal his own heart. He's about to get a big wake up call and his life will never be the same again.
What is the personal goal of the character?
In the beginning Hal is drifting. He knows in his heart of heart he's in the wrong place and with the wrong person but he's also trying to be a 'good bloke'. . Like most people, circumstances drive him not the other way around and so he finds himself constantly fighting the tide to get upstream. What he really needs is a good old dose of 'closure'. To lay his past to rest so that he can move on with a new heart. He sort of understands this but is at a loss on how to act upon it without causing the hurt he some much desires to avoid. Hal wants to be at peace with himself.
Is there a working title for this novel, and when can we expect the book to be published?
Since You've Been Gone was published by Crooked Cat Publishing in December last year and is available on ebooks through the usual suppliers and as a paperback through Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and other bookshops on line.Since You've Been Gone
What is the name of your character?
Meet Hal Bartlett, sometime resident of Dover, Kent, now living in rural Oxfordshire with a veterinarian practice, a very opinionated business partner and a lot of marital problems.
When and where is the story set?
Hal Bartlett is the main character in Since You've Been Gone which is set fifteen years in the past. The story begins in Oxfordshire as Hal wrestles with the increasing deterioration in his relationship with his wife, Julienne. It's the eve of Julienne's spoilt younger sister's high-end wedding and Hal knows he's out of his depth. After a bitter row, Hal takes the only option open to him...he returns to the home town and friends he abandoned years before and begins his journey to revisit his past and lay some old demons to rest.
What should we know about him?
Hal is a good man, a bit of a wimp but essentially a good bloke. His life is a bit messy, no neat edges.
He left his home town of Dover in the September of 1983 without ever realising how life expanding university would be.
Slowly, so slowly even he didn’t notice it happening, Hal shed his old life, old friends who never left the town into which they were born and, sadly, he shed his parents.
He didn't do any of this because he was denying his past...he did it because Hal is a man on the run, from his emotional past and in particular one person, Abigail Markham. She was 'the one'. The one that he loved first and last. The one that broke his heart. The one that cut him loose. His withdrawal from his old life and absorption into his new allowed him distance and an excuse never to go back and find out exactly what happened between them.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his?
Hal married out of his league and he knew it. His wife’s family have money, have never been on the type of rough council estate Hal grew up on let alone been in a council house and they glossed over Hal’s working class roots and remade him in their image and Hal, for a quiet life, goes along with it. He’s an adaptor but never comfortable in his new role and always guilty of what he’s done to his parents in order to keep the charmed life he now has. Hal needs to man up and get out but he’s loyal and steady and really he’s looking for an excuse.
Hal is also wrestling with his past and is too scared to confront it, to move on and wipe his emotional slate clean. Forces outside of his control, however, end up making the choice for him and he goes back...back to the home town he left as a teenager and back to the family and friends he's distanced himself from in order to heal his own heart. He's about to get a big wake up call and his life will never be the same again.
What is the personal goal of the character?
In the beginning Hal is drifting. He knows in his heart of heart he's in the wrong place and with the wrong person but he's also trying to be a 'good bloke'. . Like most people, circumstances drive him not the other way around and so he finds himself constantly fighting the tide to get upstream. What he really needs is a good old dose of 'closure'. To lay his past to rest so that he can move on with a new heart. He sort of understands this but is at a loss on how to act upon it without causing the hurt he some much desires to avoid. Hal wants to be at peace with himself.
Is there a working title for this novel, and when can we expect the book to be published?
Since You've Been Gone was published by Crooked Cat Publishing in December last year and is available on ebooks through the usual suppliers and as a paperback through Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and other bookshops on line.Since You've Been Gone
Dude Lit
We all know what Chick-Lit is, right? Chick-lit is usually light, romantic, boy meets girl; the written words equivalent of a rom-com. The cover tells you exactly what you are going to get when you open the page – girls who shop, have a great circle of friends but always has that one true best friend, can sink wine like water and have a crush on the boy next door.
Invariably, like the three act structure, there is Act 1 when the plot is set up, little bombs are primed to go off and foreshadowing is announced and the love interest is introduced. Act 2 is the fun and games, the nights out with the girls, the shoe shopping, the witty banter that is exchanged between the two would-be lovers until the mid-act turning point when it may all go south; a misunderstanding, a rival for affections, a row. Then the downward slope to the break into Act 3 when it all gets a little darker, maybe it’s all going terribly wrong but then, the eureka moment and ta-da, the protag knows what to do and the two would be lovers are reconciled and go off on a haze of pink fluff into a bright new future.
They are fun to read and the main character is always likeable in the same way as the object of her affection is always the best of men, even if she doesn’t know it at the time.
So, what about those who, maybe, you know, what a little less chick and a bit more dude or have just got over Chick-Lit as a genre.
More to the point, what about men who want to read light fiction (it’s not all Andy McNab you know!).
Well, they can have a dose of Lad-Lit.
To be honest, Lad-Lit sounds a little bit too blokey for me; am I likely to find much talk of cheeky Nandos and some bant with the Archbishop of Banterbury?
Turning to Wiki for a bit of help I find this description:
Lad lit typically concerns itself with the trials and tribulations of urban twenty and thirty something men, faced with changing heterosexual mores and the pursuit of a desired lifestyle. The stories revolve around issues like male identity crisis and masculine insecurity in relationships as a result of the social pressures and the expectations of how they should behave in work, love and life, men’s fear and final embrace of marriage. In other words, the final maturation into manhood.
And it’s history:
"Lad lit" is a term of the 1990s that was originated in Britain, where it was developed for marketing purposes. Several publishers, encouraged by the increasing sales of glossy magazines (Maxim, Esquire, GQ, FHM), believed that such fiction would open up a new readership. Thus, lad lit is not its own phenomenon, but rather part of a larger cultural and socioeconomic movement.
This new publishing category ostensibly sought to redefine masculinity. The protagonist of these books is the young man on the make, mindlessly pursuing booze, babes and football. His ineptitude, drunken-ness and compulsive materialism were part of his charm. The figure was created in contrast with the New Man of the feminist era and, beneath the crass surface, the lads are attractive, funny, bright, observant, inventive, charming and excruciatingly honest. They are characters who seem to deserve more from life and romance than they are getting.
Nick Hornsby, apparently, is the man for this type of genre, which is seen as a backlash against the phenomenon of chick-lit. Interestingly though, the Oxford Reference website states that in answer to the question, which came first, the chick or the lad, the answer is, the lad.
Hmm…so much for the 1990s, what about today. Is Lad-Lit still relevant or have we moved on?
I think so. Welcome to the world of Dude-Lit.
So, dude lit then, what is it? Who writes it? Do I want to read it?
A simple but effective description by blogger Brie Clemintine:
“Lately I’ve read books who main character is a man who goes through a self-discovering journey that make(s) me feel like I’m reading a “Chickless” Chick-Lit story, or, as I’ve come to think of it: Dude Lit”
The blogger on Giant Squid Books goes onto say:
“In many ways, dude lit seems to me to have many elements of chick lit, but told from the POV of a male narrator. It is said that if chick lit were a movie genre, it would surely be romantic comedy, and I think a lot of the same thing can be said about dude lit.”
If Lad-Lit was on the back of some kind of rebellion against Bridget Jones and her diary, or the dawn of New Main, then perhaps DL has rolled in on the crest of button down check shirts, nice leather brogues, beards and craft beers.
I don’t know, when did hipster arrive on the scene because Brie was writing about dudes in 2012 and I've found references to it from 2010.
Well, having had a fish around on the web I’ve found some links to book recommendations in the Dude-Lit range so I’m going in.
One thing that has definitely struck me is this; I always floundered when trying to describe Since You’ve Been Gone. To me, a male protagonist wasn’t symbolic of traditional chick lit yet, I didn’t feel it feel into the Lad-Lit realm either. However, now, I think I’m very happy to describe it as Dude-Lit, which doesn’t mean that it is the sole preserve of men (as Chick-Lit wasn’t and never should be considered the sole preserve of women). Getting Amazon to rethink my browse categories however, is another matter!
Invariably, like the three act structure, there is Act 1 when the plot is set up, little bombs are primed to go off and foreshadowing is announced and the love interest is introduced. Act 2 is the fun and games, the nights out with the girls, the shoe shopping, the witty banter that is exchanged between the two would-be lovers until the mid-act turning point when it may all go south; a misunderstanding, a rival for affections, a row. Then the downward slope to the break into Act 3 when it all gets a little darker, maybe it’s all going terribly wrong but then, the eureka moment and ta-da, the protag knows what to do and the two would be lovers are reconciled and go off on a haze of pink fluff into a bright new future.
They are fun to read and the main character is always likeable in the same way as the object of her affection is always the best of men, even if she doesn’t know it at the time.
So, what about those who, maybe, you know, what a little less chick and a bit more dude or have just got over Chick-Lit as a genre.
More to the point, what about men who want to read light fiction (it’s not all Andy McNab you know!).
Well, they can have a dose of Lad-Lit.
To be honest, Lad-Lit sounds a little bit too blokey for me; am I likely to find much talk of cheeky Nandos and some bant with the Archbishop of Banterbury?
Turning to Wiki for a bit of help I find this description:
Lad lit typically concerns itself with the trials and tribulations of urban twenty and thirty something men, faced with changing heterosexual mores and the pursuit of a desired lifestyle. The stories revolve around issues like male identity crisis and masculine insecurity in relationships as a result of the social pressures and the expectations of how they should behave in work, love and life, men’s fear and final embrace of marriage. In other words, the final maturation into manhood.
And it’s history:
"Lad lit" is a term of the 1990s that was originated in Britain, where it was developed for marketing purposes. Several publishers, encouraged by the increasing sales of glossy magazines (Maxim, Esquire, GQ, FHM), believed that such fiction would open up a new readership. Thus, lad lit is not its own phenomenon, but rather part of a larger cultural and socioeconomic movement.
This new publishing category ostensibly sought to redefine masculinity. The protagonist of these books is the young man on the make, mindlessly pursuing booze, babes and football. His ineptitude, drunken-ness and compulsive materialism were part of his charm. The figure was created in contrast with the New Man of the feminist era and, beneath the crass surface, the lads are attractive, funny, bright, observant, inventive, charming and excruciatingly honest. They are characters who seem to deserve more from life and romance than they are getting.
Nick Hornsby, apparently, is the man for this type of genre, which is seen as a backlash against the phenomenon of chick-lit. Interestingly though, the Oxford Reference website states that in answer to the question, which came first, the chick or the lad, the answer is, the lad.
Hmm…so much for the 1990s, what about today. Is Lad-Lit still relevant or have we moved on?
I think so. Welcome to the world of Dude-Lit.
So, dude lit then, what is it? Who writes it? Do I want to read it?
A simple but effective description by blogger Brie Clemintine:
“Lately I’ve read books who main character is a man who goes through a self-discovering journey that make(s) me feel like I’m reading a “Chickless” Chick-Lit story, or, as I’ve come to think of it: Dude Lit”
The blogger on Giant Squid Books goes onto say:
“In many ways, dude lit seems to me to have many elements of chick lit, but told from the POV of a male narrator. It is said that if chick lit were a movie genre, it would surely be romantic comedy, and I think a lot of the same thing can be said about dude lit.”
If Lad-Lit was on the back of some kind of rebellion against Bridget Jones and her diary, or the dawn of New Main, then perhaps DL has rolled in on the crest of button down check shirts, nice leather brogues, beards and craft beers.
I don’t know, when did hipster arrive on the scene because Brie was writing about dudes in 2012 and I've found references to it from 2010.
Well, having had a fish around on the web I’ve found some links to book recommendations in the Dude-Lit range so I’m going in.
One thing that has definitely struck me is this; I always floundered when trying to describe Since You’ve Been Gone. To me, a male protagonist wasn’t symbolic of traditional chick lit yet, I didn’t feel it feel into the Lad-Lit realm either. However, now, I think I’m very happy to describe it as Dude-Lit, which doesn’t mean that it is the sole preserve of men (as Chick-Lit wasn’t and never should be considered the sole preserve of women). Getting Amazon to rethink my browse categories however, is another matter!
Meet Abigail Markham
Let me introduce you to another character from Since You've Been Gone.
What is the name of your character?
Abigail Markham is a Dover girl through and through. Born and raised in the Tower Hamlets, she still lives in a tiny terraced house within a stone’s throw of her childhood home.
What should we know about her?
Abigail is a fighter. She is also complex. She didn’t have the best start to her life and her prospects were patchy to say the least but she has a good heart and is a strong woman. She married young and bore her first child in her late teens. The marriage produced one more child before it fell apart. She works in the local hairdressers and life is tough but she has her friends and her sister and they keep her going even though money is short.
What is the main conflict?
The main conflict for Abigail is reconciling herself with her past decisions. She has a secret and she has had to live with the consequences of the path she chose. Some would say she did it for the best of reasons and others might think that maybe she was crying out for attention but, the deed was done and she got on with it. There is a part of her that is angry, even though the decision was hers and hers alone, she feels let down. Only Abigail can reconcile herself to her decision and, although she doesn’t tacitly blame Hal, she feels anger towards him. Once she looks at herself and her own part in how her life turned out, she will be much more at peace.
What is the personal goal of the character?
Finding peace with her past. She is happy that Hal never came home because she doesn’t have to expose herself to having to tell the truth but she also suffers from an acute, unspoken sense of abandonment by him. It’s kind of given her a bit of a martyr complex – ‘look at me, look what I did without your help’. Once it all comes out, then she can move forward but she has to be prepared for it all to come out.
Is there a working title for this novel, and when can we expect the book to be published?
Since You've Been Gone was published by Crooked Cat Publishing in December 2013 and is available exclusively through Amazon across all markets and Kindle Unlimited.
What is the name of your character?
Abigail Markham is a Dover girl through and through. Born and raised in the Tower Hamlets, she still lives in a tiny terraced house within a stone’s throw of her childhood home.
What should we know about her?
Abigail is a fighter. She is also complex. She didn’t have the best start to her life and her prospects were patchy to say the least but she has a good heart and is a strong woman. She married young and bore her first child in her late teens. The marriage produced one more child before it fell apart. She works in the local hairdressers and life is tough but she has her friends and her sister and they keep her going even though money is short.
What is the main conflict?
The main conflict for Abigail is reconciling herself with her past decisions. She has a secret and she has had to live with the consequences of the path she chose. Some would say she did it for the best of reasons and others might think that maybe she was crying out for attention but, the deed was done and she got on with it. There is a part of her that is angry, even though the decision was hers and hers alone, she feels let down. Only Abigail can reconcile herself to her decision and, although she doesn’t tacitly blame Hal, she feels anger towards him. Once she looks at herself and her own part in how her life turned out, she will be much more at peace.
What is the personal goal of the character?
Finding peace with her past. She is happy that Hal never came home because she doesn’t have to expose herself to having to tell the truth but she also suffers from an acute, unspoken sense of abandonment by him. It’s kind of given her a bit of a martyr complex – ‘look at me, look what I did without your help’. Once it all comes out, then she can move forward but she has to be prepared for it all to come out.
Is there a working title for this novel, and when can we expect the book to be published?
Since You've Been Gone was published by Crooked Cat Publishing in December 2013 and is available exclusively through Amazon across all markets and Kindle Unlimited.
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