tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22611293594434715052024-03-14T02:52:43.082-07:00Cara Cooper's blogCARA COOOPER'S BLOG - THANK YOU FOR VISITINGCara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-55758756961452846652016-05-25T09:18:00.002-07:002016-05-25T09:18:28.215-07:00New serial in The People's Friend - A Croatian Adventure - starts todayI'm delighted to say my new serial, 'A Croatian Adventure', has started today in <a href="https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/">The People's Friend</a>. It is set in Vodnjan where we had a lovely holiday a couple of years ago and visited the harbour at Fazana and the amphitheatre and market in Pula. I found the country to be interesting and varied and although people say it can be like Italy, I found the whole flavour of Croatia somewhat different. A little less busy perhaps and the people less familiar to us, simply because we haven't met so many Croatians back in the UK, nor visited Croatia as much as we have Italy. I'd recommend Vodnjan as being a nice quiet place to stay and we were in a wonderful apartment just beneath the bells of the church. It was fabulous to open the kitchen window in the morning and have breakfast to the sound of church bells which I love. If you are adventurous, you can actually cycle into Pula. For us very unfit types mind you, it was a challenge as it's not exactly round the corner. One day, we cycled in, had lunch there, then bought fish in the market for dinner. This wasn't perhaps thought through very well, as we then had to cycle back in the heat of the day with a large raw fish in a steaming hot pannier. We worried all the way back about whether it would be fit to eat and cycled as fast as we could! It wasn't one of our best plans, but we ate the fish grilled with herbs. Not only was it delicious, but we lived to tell the tale!
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtzVuAqocmzQq_hr2Y7oMsjfLMaj-bt5TjCGCvv8Nb1gE4v5PEdKamfqKvZ_h8ZzaX3B2jXH5wwskU4Fl8c0Y_0xFU06OAeNCQhD4OgW6jnIx1c6heOXAT9DTygyNNWs_40r4fGH9XuI/s1600/A+Croatian+Adventure.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtzVuAqocmzQq_hr2Y7oMsjfLMaj-bt5TjCGCvv8Nb1gE4v5PEdKamfqKvZ_h8ZzaX3B2jXH5wwskU4Fl8c0Y_0xFU06OAeNCQhD4OgW6jnIx1c6heOXAT9DTygyNNWs_40r4fGH9XuI/s320/A+Croatian+Adventure.jpg" /></a>
Vodnjan has a rather extraordinary collection of mummified saints in its local church which is an extraordinary thing to see. Dressed up to the nines and looking as black and as if they are made of leather I had rather wanted to weave them into my story somehow. I didn't manage it unfortunately but maybe another time!
'A Croatian Adventure' is my first venture into writing a series as it follows the life of one of my characters, Mel, who first appeared as a children's nanny in my last <a href="https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/">People's Friend</a> serial. This time she has branched out to take a job with a Croatian businessman who has a vast array of lavender fields around his villa. But, there is something decidedly odd happening at the Villa Lavanda, with his Japanese wife Hiroko a virtual recluse, and one of the other staff at the Villa, Greg Brodie who is not all he appears to be. There is romance and mystery.
I can see from having written my second in a series of stories, what a challenge it must be to write a long running series. For a start, you have to be organised - not one of my strongest attributes. I imagine that if you have many serial episodes or novels tied together with the same characters and places, you'd be required to operate a fairly robust filing system. Remembering how old everyone is, how they are related to one another, what their particular experiences are in case you have to refer to them again in a later story would take some doing. I might have to get my act together and create a proper rolodex file as I'm thinking I might take one of the characters, Izzy and transport her off for a gap year to Malaysia and Borneo. There will of course be romance, adventure and crime - that much will be common to all of this series of adventures! Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-81722723991722928212016-04-29T03:47:00.001-07:002016-04-29T03:53:56.755-07:00Longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Margery Allingham Short Story Competition
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw0MMcTFjrdb1w-SnwObiSgAONX7U8JPY5UpFmpsO6MNl5Cbg8r_cqIOU8cFBG55T6f1_R05wv99soMaA3TKscKh90GK2E1LPQ7eUmPIjnJfhhdPTNdrWCm_FHfjx6iYCWgSjWwl8h6M/s1600/allingham-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw0MMcTFjrdb1w-SnwObiSgAONX7U8JPY5UpFmpsO6MNl5Cbg8r_cqIOU8cFBG55T6f1_R05wv99soMaA3TKscKh90GK2E1LPQ7eUmPIjnJfhhdPTNdrWCm_FHfjx6iYCWgSjWwl8h6M/s400/allingham-image.jpg" /></a>So, having for a long time avoided writing competitions like the plague, I thought I'd have a go. I wanted a new challenge and the Crime Writers' Association is a very reputable body. The Margery Allingham competition has an excellent brief which is to pen a mystery in 3,500 words. Simple, straightforward and wide enough to afford many possibilities. I had entered only a handful of other competitions. They're often designed to promote a particular product or place. One I entered promoted a magazine in Kent. It was a shorter length which can be more challenging, and had to feature a Kent landmark. Another asked for a story in 500 words about the Northern Lights. Narrow challenges like that are all very well but if you don't win the comp, are difficult to place elsewhere. So, with a nice 'loose' brief I decided to enter and... was delighted to receive the e-mail telling me I was one of 12 in the longlist. I was actually longlisted last year, but they didn't put it on their website so I didn't trumpet it to the world. <a href="http://thecwa.co.uk/debuts/short-story-competition/">This year they have and here is the link to it.</a>
Writing competitions are a mixed blessing. They are time consuming, most charge a small fee, and it's difficult to know exactly what they're looking for if they don't print much in the way of winning entries. The upside is that you can turn the germ of an idea that has been knocking around in your subconscious into something real even if it isn't something you could find a home for elsewhere. I'm sure I couldn't for example have placed my story in a women's magazine. I enjoyed writing it though and I now have a finished product. Even if it doesn't win, I am at present reworking it to form a chapter of the current novel I'm writing. I'd always envisaged that, as I was writing it, anyway. Being shortlisted has given me the confidence that it might just have legs and that it might possibly run as a longer work. I'd have my fingers crossed if it didn't stop me typing! Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-53900147820865975062014-12-10T05:21:00.001-08:002014-12-11T13:08:04.682-08:00Searching for Witches in the 16th century<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF88J_LwKphzJyykJXhCwXZLF8hklPPX0h9aU6WovRKebj4OV_C4VuMS6XJZD8X7CcOc1GmFMwsm7bVGw1thyx9rWPlbog2joaMa-H-FvhXUX2vShsTmM0vMSc7cL9X8qexxJpk3HgH4/s1600/witch+marks+round.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF88J_LwKphzJyykJXhCwXZLF8hklPPX0h9aU6WovRKebj4OV_C4VuMS6XJZD8X7CcOc1GmFMwsm7bVGw1thyx9rWPlbog2joaMa-H-FvhXUX2vShsTmM0vMSc7cL9X8qexxJpk3HgH4/s320/witch+marks+round.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WMTUYsiuRy7j0njtgx204PIL-MWQkj1o8GC0cMWVlKDZTGTirdUO7gZGnC9lhdPXaCluUYCuG2B8021oaJw321jYJpKr-Pd0GDZJO_E_5uwuMARkrtpAbnjs2VhZLVmTniA2L1N-CCk/s1600/witch+marks+fireplace.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WMTUYsiuRy7j0njtgx204PIL-MWQkj1o8GC0cMWVlKDZTGTirdUO7gZGnC9lhdPXaCluUYCuG2B8021oaJw321jYJpKr-Pd0GDZJO_E_5uwuMARkrtpAbnjs2VhZLVmTniA2L1N-CCk/s320/witch+marks+fireplace.JPG" /></a> As part of research for a historical novel, I had the fascinating experience recently of going on a guided tour around Knole House in Kent while it was closed for refurbishments. The reason for the tour was to see some marks allegedly made during the 1500s to ward off witches. The house was to be visited by King James, a paranoid monarch (which Monarchs weren't in those times!) who wrote a book on hunting down witches and was responsible for much of the escalation in the persecution of hundreds of men and women.
The day was freezing cold and the whole area, deserted and eerie, extremely atmospheric. The National trust which has preserved the building superbly (though part of it is still lived in by the Sackville family) have been checking electrics and had taken the floorboards up in a room which had been reserved for the King's visit. The mysterious marks like a complex W were placed on a floor board which would have been to the left side of the bed (left being known to be the more sinister direction than the right-hand). It is thought they were scored into the oak beams by the carpenter work in the bedroom that was to be the King's and they have remained hidden all this time. You can see the under floor board marks on the National Trust's website. There were other marks such as circular ones I photographed (see above) in the great hall downstairs carved into a fireplace. Fireplaces were generally reckoned to be weak points where witches could gain access to a dwelling. I also photographed these ones carved into a stone fireplace. The marks were thought to tangle the witches up in the circles and the W's preventing them working their way into the house. Other things that we take for granted today, such as the placing of bay trees either side of a front door were all designed to deter witches.
It is difficult for us to understand such paranoia but there was huge persecution of witches during this time, not least by the self appointed witch finder general, Matthew Hopkins in the next century in England. I will shortly visit East Anglia to trace some of his rather hideous footsteps. The BBC programme 'In our time' with Melvin Bragg has a fascinating programme downloadable from iplayer on how the Reformation affected people's views on witches and led to the old magick which was primarily folklore and herbalism being feared and reviled as the times grew ever more uncertain during the period before, during and after the Civil War. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y2b0"></a>
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Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-70937875688710670352012-10-26T09:22:00.000-07:002014-09-26T08:22:13.124-07:00Xanthos and Kalkan, TurkeyI have not posted for a while because I have been on holiday. As usual, I have found that being in a new place has inspired me with ideas for a new novella.
I visited Kalkan in Turkey which has its own feral cats which are protected by the government as are the dogs which wander over the town as if they own it.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jC-pShBL3Ei_NlidoYXC5UqcLsP4YQSC1spThOdel-hc1XY0pNJHRprQJro1_4vD8Es9mfqoXrHqbTJ5R2zFg2wH_GbN2OppVnjGXVJyx_6MFlglE0qPvDXoN8AGBLTYSBPhR7OcB9I/s1600/Turkey+Kalkan+cat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jC-pShBL3Ei_NlidoYXC5UqcLsP4YQSC1spThOdel-hc1XY0pNJHRprQJro1_4vD8Es9mfqoXrHqbTJ5R2zFg2wH_GbN2OppVnjGXVJyx_6MFlglE0qPvDXoN8AGBLTYSBPhR7OcB9I/s320/Turkey+Kalkan+cat.JPG" /></a></div>
The coastline here is sublime, crystal blue seas, rocky inlets and more history than you can easily take in in one visit. A particularly beautiful drive takes you along the shoreline from Kas to Kalkan, with Greek islands in the distance, and steep hills covered in pines. The Lycian area of Turkey was once a thriving area of trade and the port at Patara carried silks and spices far afield. Sadly, the ancient port has silted up and there is now marshland where the mouth of the river used to be. Patara still has a superb beach, protected as a turtle nesting site it is devoid of developments, with miles and miles of beautiful pristine sand. Going in late October there was a terrific swell in the sea and waves which made it difficult to swim but I understand most of the time it is calm. The most extraordinary place we visited was Xanthos. It reminded me of a visit I made to Pompeii many years ago before that site was fenced off. You can just wander into Xanthos any time, night or day and out of season you get a real sense of history. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The amphitheatre is almost totally intact with amazing acoustics. A relief on one of the pillars depicts winged female creatures carrying babies and it is assumed that these represent souls being carried off into heaven - I found that a lovely idea, the thought that we would at the end of our lives be akin to what we were at the beginning. Sadly the relief is a copy as we Brits pinched the original which is now in the British Museum.
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Xanthos itself (the name means yellow and may refer to crocuses which were in flower when we visited and which provide very fine saffron) has had a troubled history. Regularly raided and sacked there are sad accounts of the men of Xanthos fighting but losing to a Persian invasion. In desperation, gathering together their women, and children they put every one to the torch rather than having them captured and then fought till the last man died. So much drama has inspired me and I shall definitely set a novel in the area and have blogged further about my trip over on <a href="http://thepocketeers.blogspot.com">thepocketeers.blogspot.com</a>.
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-81875838596289196362012-11-19T09:20:00.002-08:002014-09-26T08:21:46.732-07:00What to expect at the Festival of Romance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have just returned from this wonderful event and thought it might be worth recording what went on for others thinking of going next year. Bedford was much more interesting and picturesque than I'd imagined with the Park Inn hotel looking out over the River Ouse. We happily breakfasted watching rowing boats collide with each other! I had a stand at the Romance Fair where people sold books. This was in the historic Corn Exchange. That for me was the best bit because I was sharing with such wonderful authors. There was <a href="http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/">Gilli Allan with her books 'Torn' and 'Life Class'</a>. She writes romance which is out of the ordinary. Then there was <a href="http://www.carolinebellfoster.com/">Caroline Bell Foster </a>with her Carribean set books such as 'Saffron's Choice'. Also, poet <a href="http://oscarsparrow.wordpress.com/">Oscar Sparrow </a>and <a href="http://www.emmacalin.com/Welcome.html">Emma Calin </a>who writes hot police romances. We were a wonderfully mixed bunch - thank you for your company!
In addition, we did readings at a local coffee bar and in the shopping centre and there were costumed characters from historical novels both in Bedford and at the historical afternoon tea. It was a fabulous opportunity to network, great fun and I hope it will become an annual fixture as it has grown so much since last year. Many thanks and congratulations to Kate Allan, Festival Director for achieving so much.Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-61779000342416771202012-11-15T04:42:00.002-08:002014-09-26T08:21:46.716-07:00Dressing for the Festival of Romance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, so I know it is INCREDIBLY shallow to be focussing on dresses and shoes for the Festival which begins tomorrow. But of course, I'm doing just that! I blame my unconscious after all, I woke up this morning and while I was asleep had constructed an entire outfit in my head. That was truly the first thing that entered that very empty area of my anatomy. Sad but true. Blue, I have to let you know is the colour scheme for my day time wear on Saturday. There are some fabulous electric blues around at present especially in H&M and I am working them big time folks! Then for the awards dinner (most exciting, I have been shortlisted although my money's on one of my fellow shortlisters to win the award - it would be telling to say who though) I have a most gorgeous monsoon dress in cream. I can finally get into this after many years of having it so tight around my ample butt that I looked like a pair of shrink wrapped Granny Smiths. Not a good look. On more important matters, my flyers STILL haven't arrived but I do have oodles of business cards thank heaven. I also have biscuits shortly being delivered which have dinky little toppers which are pieces of rice paper with the cover of my book The Sanctuary embossed on them. They too have not quite arrived yet but I'm sure they will (crossed fingers and toes) shortly. Until then, quite frankly I am a nervous wreck, just hoping it's all going to be okay.
Whatever, I'm sure we and the readers who join us will have loads of fun. So, come to sunny Bedford this weekend and chat about writing romance! Hope to see you there.Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-26973039445493088092012-11-03T03:35:00.002-07:002014-09-26T08:21:46.700-07:00Yay! I've been shortlisted for Festival of Romance Award...Yes folks, 'The Sanctuary' has been shortlisted in the Best Short Romance category and I can't wait to go to the awards ceremony. I am in very good company as other excellent writers and friends such as Liz Harris (The Road Back AND Evie Undercover), Phillipa Ashley (Miranda's Mount), and Talli Roland (Build A Man) are also nominees. There is to be a glittering awards ceremony - HOORAY, any excuse to buy a new dress and shoes!!!! This will be held at the Festival of Romance Gala Dinner on Friday 16 November. If you haven't already booked for the weekend, do take a look at <a href="http://festivalofromance.co.uk/#">the website here </a>where you can get details of all the fantast events such as a Romance Readathon and a Meet the Authors for coffee and cake where I will be present (I'm never far from a piece of cake!) I hope to see some of you there! Do let me know if you're coming, it should be a fabulous weekend.Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-84895045424040627592014-02-24T09:02:00.001-08:002014-09-26T08:20:41.726-07:00Cuba - an adventureOne of the things I always do when I travel is to have in mind how I can turn my visit into a book, a magazine serial or a short story. Cuba where I visited this January is a fascinating place and I've already written the first chapter of a mystery. The country is one of excesses, not the sort of excesses we have in the Western world, for ours are all about having too much. Too much pollution, too much to spend our money on, too much consumerism. Cuba's excesses are quite different. Here is a quick photo trip so you can see what I mean. They are about excessively beautiful beaches (this one at Varadero, just 2 hours drive from Havana)
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Of wildlife in its many forms, this frog somehow managed to get up to our second floor balcony in order to bask on our damp washing!
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Of people who still use horses and carts for travel and transporting goods on a daily basis
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Of the most fabulous hills over which you can ride for hours and hours along sugar cane plantations and acres of hills where you won't spot another person - we rode from 9am until 4pm from our Casa Particular in Trinidad. There was no health and safety check, no helmets or complicated instructions. Just a horse, with a pommel on the saddle to hang on to. The only question our cowboy Miguel (and he was a cowboy with a Stetson and the most wonderful kind manner, helping me on and off) asked, was 'do you have a bottle of water,' and that was it, we were off
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But it wasn't all hard slog up those hills for our horses, or our backs and bottoms, as we broke the ride with a swim in a mountain stream under a waterfall
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Cuba is also a country which has very few goods, hardly any shops and real deprivation, not least this sad little dog who desperately needed a home
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I'm pleased to say, other dogs who live in Havana, in the big city had been taken in by a rescue home which feeds the lucky dogs and treats them for mange etc as well as sterilising them to avoid producing more dogs like you see in the country who live as strays and desperately need to be looked after. All the rescue dogs have labels on them identifying the district where they live. They are clean and flea free and belong to everyone and no one. Unlike this enormous rodent who was kept as a pet. I have no idea what it is, but it had extraordinary coarse fur and was very gentle. Fortunately we didn't see its teeth or we'd probably have been scared off!!
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Havana is an amazing city, perched on a magnificent Bay looking towards the US which still has embargoes which cause much of the lack of goods in Cuba. There aren't even plastic bags when you go shopping and there is very little to buy. This photograph courtesy of a friend (thanks Colin!) shows the scene after a train derailment at Matanzas. Even sugar cane is scarce in Cuba which is absurd as they produce tons of it every year. It is however sent off to China to be processed and bought back in but there is still a huge shortage and a shortage of cash with which to buy it. Cuba is a communist country and shortages are something the people live with, being grateful for anything they can get. So, when a load of sugar was spilt on the track after the derailment word went out and immediately people came to sweep it up.
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If you go to Cuba please take extra money with you and tip generously. For many people on a peppercorn wage, tips are a lifeline. I gave the lady who manned the loos at Cuba airport, my last 10 CUC note and I hope it made her day. Many people earn less than $15 dollars a month and CUC's which are the currency which foreigners use are particularly useful to the people.
Everything is in such short supply that you often see people carrying cardboard boxes to utilise in fixing, for example, the roofs of the little bici taxis, or as here, newspaper used to make paperchains. Nothing is wasted and there is very little rubbish - we could certainly learn a lesson from them in that respect.
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Finally we stayed in Havana, a beautiful city with amazing contrasts, buildings like this, which are virtually derelict, where you can see the sky through the roof. Amazingly though, people still live in them. You have to see Cuba to even begin to understand its many contrasts and anachronisms. Here, you might think is a country of many poor people but they seem blissfully happy. They are very close to their families, both geographically and emotionally, not having a huge amount of 'things' means I believe that they invest more time in the important stuff.
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There are also, the amazing vintage fifties Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets which we rode along the Malecon. The Malecon is the sea wall where young and old in Havana meet, flirt, chew the fat, kiss and cuddle, go walkabout and enjoy the pleasant Caribbean breeze freshening the city.
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But the best thing about Cuba is its wonderful people who are endlessly friendly, good natured, welcoming, happy and kind. So, Cuba is a country of excesses, but not the sort of excesses we know. It can be frustrating, particularly if you have booked a ferry or coach and the thing just doesn't turn up and all you get is a shrug of the shoulders when you ask when on earth it is due to arrive. Nevertheless it is a fascinating, vibrant and friendly place. Do go and see it if you can, preferably before it becomes commercial, like the rest of the world.....
And look out for the book, once I've written it, that is!
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-79845376510520741912014-02-02T13:28:00.000-08:002014-09-26T08:20:01.845-07:00Writing a serial for Woman's Weekly<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqNBtD64Y7W6p41Rzcrndn8eWcjUhpBbF9JPTVSe3OB5rOgkY1Gwf_BoviJYVZicY8SJ2VdUIUTi_xyRppQXLImvspRvz2wpIATCVlUueKz_QZ1J5Lo9q0N__uB6_Uh8UWt-BHur6kNk/s1600/Finders+Keepers.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqNBtD64Y7W6p41Rzcrndn8eWcjUhpBbF9JPTVSe3OB5rOgkY1Gwf_BoviJYVZicY8SJ2VdUIUTi_xyRppQXLImvspRvz2wpIATCVlUueKz_QZ1J5Lo9q0N__uB6_Uh8UWt-BHur6kNk/s320/Finders+Keepers.jpg" /></a>My first serial for Woman's Weekly, 'Finders Keepers' is in this week's copy of the magazine. (It's a 3-parter) I've tried short stories with them in the past without success so was really pleased to have this one accepted. I am a bit obsessed at the moment with romantic suspense and have been devouring the novels of Josephine Tey (a blog post about her might follow when I have time, she wrote two of the most interesting crime novels I've come across).
People often ask where ideas come from. The one for 'Finders Keepers' was simple speculation. I can't remember how many times I have wondered what on earth I would do if I found a quantity of money in a suitcase, on a train, buried in a wood...... Of course you'd give it up, wouldn't you??? But, given extraordinary circumstances, people do extraordinary things. One way of generating interesting fiction is to put perfectly ordinary people in outlandish situations and test them which is what I did with my heroine Erica McAdam. First of all though, you have to show the reader your character living in their normal life, not for long though, the reader wants to get to the nitty gritty of the problems that face them, as soon as possible. Sometimes I look at a serial, particularly a 3-parter like a three act play. Firstly you need to establish who the main players are and make the reader FEEL for them. That is essential early on. I therefore made my main character a hard working woman on her own and I gave her a daughter who is in trouble through unexpected circumstances. We feel for people who experience misfortune and we like people who are loved or highly regarded by others. Then, in the first episode, I establish a problem, a deep problem for my characters to get out of. That sets everything up for act two, or, in a 3-part serial, episode two.
Act two sees our characters fighting for their lives. No, not necessarily literally are they facing murder, or hanging off a cliff edge, but, they must fear destruction of something very important to them. Their way of life, their liberty, their capacity to care for those they love. So now, you see, showing the reader your main characters in their 'element' the person they are, in episode one has been useful. My heroine is not a rich woman in monetary terms, so she has nothing to lose in terms of wealth. But she does have her freedom and the job she loves as an environmental researcher at stake. She also has her role as a mother which defines her as much as her career. She is an honest woman who is faced with potentially being driven to do something dishonest. In episode two therefore, you need to dig your characters deeper into the problems which face them. Maybe let them make some bad mistakes. And, ideally, you need to add another major element to carry that episode forwards. In other words, you need to put even more pressure on your characters. I won't reveal what the second element is as part two of 'Finders Keepers' isn't out yet. However, as a clue, I would say the arrival of another important character can always act as a catalyst which helps to keep the momentum going.
By act 3, or rather episode three, I like to create a black moment. A moment when everything looks as if it is lost. Where all that testing appears to have found your heroine or hero wanting, where they question the previous decisions they have taken. Haven't we all thought at times that we've blown it, that the worst is going to happen, that we can never get out of a complete mess we've made of things. But, we survive. Things change. WE CHANGE. Those changes are fascinating for readers to experience with characters for whom they have some sympathy. The resolving of that black moment, how people get out of life's problems and triumph is so important in giving a reader a satisfying result from reading a serial. After all, they have invested a huge amount of time in you. They've spent money on buying the magazine with episode 1 and hopefully have waiting to buy the magazines with episode 2 and 3 in it.
So, if you're writing a serial, make the characters sympathetic people we care for, give them a past and give them important elements in their life that they would find it painful to lose. Put them through hell, then get them out of that awful mess. Hopefully then you will come up with a story an editor will have faith in and readers will enjoy. Job done!
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-38279950492315904722014-05-21T23:40:00.001-07:002014-09-26T08:18:12.168-07:00Recipe for writing a serial<b>Hi - I am in the process of writing another serial aimed at Women's Weekly. It's been tough conjuring up the essence of what it was which got the last one accepted. As I plan my next one, I thought I'd share the thought processes which worked last time and at the end of this posting I've shown how I applied my thoughts to come up with the serial that WW accepted. For a pantster rather than a plotter, any sort of planning is difficult. However, I have tried to get myself in the mode which I did last time in order to try and wave that magic wand, and apply the same principles to this latest attempt. So, here goes.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPHtoYzlCGSjUbqcIYj2YsE6cnAYNDfaufw31P7Gspq6grsSRjKLr6gd5_8ldRw2g-FZneGEIQ8G_tc9phPeUm4bIQRQVZQN6T7ji-371Jy3lyPid6MzRDMNcLVwm6vuoaMs7WO1Xk8Q/s1600/Russel+Crowe.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPHtoYzlCGSjUbqcIYj2YsE6cnAYNDfaufw31P7Gspq6grsSRjKLr6gd5_8ldRw2g-FZneGEIQ8G_tc9phPeUm4bIQRQVZQN6T7ji-371Jy3lyPid6MzRDMNcLVwm6vuoaMs7WO1Xk8Q/s640/Russel+Crowe.png" /></a>
<i>Hero(s)and heroines</i>
I am going to have two possible love interests in this serial and both must contain some or all of the elements which make a hero. I've just watched Gladiator and think Russell Crowe's character Maximus is totally a hero whereas Commodus is an archetypal villain. Don't we love to hate villains! Note to self - there was no villain in my last serial, perhaps one this time would be good. So my hero(s) and my heroine will have some of the following characteristics:
People like/respect them. Maximus is shown after an epic battle which has knocked the stuffing out of him, congratulating his troops, spending time with them. Beforehand he was doing the same - he thinks of others before himself. He is loyal to the failing emperor who tells us that Maximus is the son he should have had, he has more virtues than his own flawed flesh and blood. Maximus is modest, he doesn't want the glory of ruling Rome, he just wants to go back to his wife and family. Here is another hero trait, he honours his own, he is faithful and constant. We are shown him repeatedly kissing the little clay models of his family - show don't tell is personified here. Maximus is an expert (this is a fascinating characteristic in a main character) in warfare and fighting, you know with experts that there is certainty. We are fascinated by them, entranced by the abilities they have to understand the world. We are drawn to them. This quality is true even if they are expert criminals, many taless have been told about expert criminals and while they would not make true solid gold heroes, they are compelling. A wounded hero is a sort of gold star hero because we feel sorry for him. Maximus is wounded internally/psychologically by the evil Commodus's actions and of course externally - who could forget the final fight scene where Commodus has stuck a knife in Maximus before they even enter the gladiatorial arena. Here is another trait which makes us care for a leading character - someone who through no fault of their own experiences misfortune. In fact, Maximus has done everything possible to attract good fortune and still, he is beaten down by life. We want him to succeed, he's challenged constantly by life - here is a universal truth with which we can all identify. Finally a main character has to have a goal, clearly defined, and if that goal has a time limit, that ratchets up the suspense element of a story. With Maximus his goal initially is to go home. Then, once his wife and child have been murdered, it is to go home having avenged their killings. Goals can and do change along the way, in Gladiator, his home eventually is Elysium or heaven as that is where his family is and we even see an image of him being welcomed by them.
So in summary my hero(s) and my heroine will have at least some of these traits:
Be liked/respected by others
Be modest
Be faithful and constant
Be brave (Jennifer Lawrence as Catniss is the personification of the brave heroine - she does NOT let things happen to her, she makes them happen. She's also an expert with her hunting skills)
Be an expert
Be wounded internally/psychologically and possibly externally ie. bearing the visible memory of a wounding in the form of a scar or limp possibly (I love Jake Gyllenhaal as the hero of the film Prisoners - his twitch, blinking too hard, displays so much inner turmoil!)
Have a clear goal, ideally time limited (eg. with the lovely Jake, it is to save the kidnapped girls before the crazy kidnapper murders them)
In my serial Finders Keepers, the heroine, Erica is a scientist (there's her expert trait) whose daughter loves and depends upon her (ie. liked and respected by others). She finds a pile of banknotes buried and is tormented by whether to turn them in to the police or use them to help her daughter who is in hospital about to give birth and is in dire financial trouble. Erica takes matters into her own hands (so she is brave) and she acts to help her daughter who at one point says 'you always make things right' (faithful and constant). She has a broken marriage behind her (wounded internally) so she sort of ticks most of those boxes. Her goal is clear - to help her daughter. The hero, Logan Kershaw is very wounded as a soldier invalided out of the army. He doesn't have many friends, but this is okay, he still ticks the hero box as it's not because he's not likeable but because he is withdrawn. Part of his character arc, his changing character throughout the serial is that he gathers friends and a family to him in that he is eventually welcomed into Erica's family and one of the last scenes is of him with her daughter and grandchild. The fact that he befriends Erica and she takes to him is evidence of his ability to fulfil the first of the character traits above - to be liked/respected. He is modest about his bravery in the army and we know he's an expert from his past career. His goal is clear - he wants to stop Erica doing the wrong thing with the money and to catch the bad people who secreted it, before they catch her to get it back.
Well, sorry this has been such a long post, but it has really helped me to get my head around what I need to plan in my new serial. If it contributes to anyone else's writing, so much the better! These are not all my ideas, I've rarely had an original idea in my life, but I am indebted to the two books <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Save-Cat-Only-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009">Save the Cat by Blake Snyder</a> and <a href="http://www.storymastery.com/">Michael Hauge's</a> 'Writing Screenplays that Sell' - they're the guys with the analytical brains, and the big ideas!
Woman's Weekly are still running their fiction courses which I can recommend, just Google them.
Happy writing all!!!
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Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-13520949733468378512014-05-28T04:36:00.001-07:002014-09-26T08:17:31.015-07:00PART TWO of my Recipe For Writing a SerialDifferent writers approach the beginning of their work in different ways. I know very few who write to a perfect formula. A good place to start is: what would you do if....?
My Woman's Weekly serial, Finders Keepers had centred around a question I'd asked myself a million times. What would I do if.... I found a stash of money, buried. Now, knowing me, I'd be so terrified of the consequences of keeping it, I would give it in just to avoid all the anxiety of benefitting from ill gotten gains. But I wondered what if, a previously upstanding member of the community, my scientist heroine Erica had a very pressing need for some cash at just the time she discovered some buried money.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMCAZkeLIqgcrpdKkXT96A8_zOaAGW2TK0qyTTtPJxLFxKBKLVZk7p3dXjem8eLP__Vcr51gQOp-whM6tuEmouWI5MFkmcQEym0ZrMM4a6edP-4dFzxKdjdXqAe8BcV1H7_DPIMJjwxQ/s1600/Writers+Forum+serial+article.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMCAZkeLIqgcrpdKkXT96A8_zOaAGW2TK0qyTTtPJxLFxKBKLVZk7p3dXjem8eLP__Vcr51gQOp-whM6tuEmouWI5MFkmcQEym0ZrMM4a6edP-4dFzxKdjdXqAe8BcV1H7_DPIMJjwxQ/s400/Writers+Forum+serial+article.JPG" /></a>
I then worked this through with my heroine, in exactly the way I think I would myself if the same situation arose in real life. My heroine's daughter had been dumped by her husband who had been managing his business badly and not paying their mortgage. That was a good start, but I wanted to heap more pain on my heroine, I wanted to give her motivation to do something totally out of character - that was, to be dishonest. I made her daughter very pregnant (ie near to her time) then I gave her pre-eclampsia so she was rushed into hospital in a terrible state and couldn't do anything about the impending threat to her house. My heroine mother is a total giver, she loves her daughter to bits and always wants to make the world right for her. Given this sort of scenario, I justified her position in eventually stealing the money. But, I had just read Therese Raquin. Zola's fabulous study of guilt is a tale in which two people who commit a crime are practically driven insane by their joint guilt. They are also torn apart by it when their original plan in committing the crime was to allow them to spend their lives together. I was able to play out a little bit of the heavy consequences of guilt in my serial.
Thinking of my next one, I'm going to try and throw out a few of the what would you do if....? scenarios to see if anything sparks. This part of the creative process I find incredibly difficult. It's alchemy isn't it? It's creating something out of nothing. So, here goes.
What would you do if the one person who had ruined your life by their deception or evil disappeared - and then came back? Maybe they falsely accused your mother or father and as a result your parent, the one person who cared for you was imprisoned or ruined. Hmmm, okay, not a bad start. But it needs ratchetting up. So, what if you were very lowly in life and the person who had done you wrong was very high up the pecking order, pretty much untouchable in fact? Recent cases in the press about rich and famous people who have done bad things to powerless people resonate here. How would you bring them down and get your revenge?
Now THIS is looking more like a story. The reason that is the case is that the idea now contains a solid element of conflict and conflict as any author knows is the lifeblood of stories from Romeo and Juliet, to Atonement, to Cinderella, to Sleeping Beauty. Haven't they just made a film about Maleficent the evil fairy, you see, those conflicts run and run. That idea also ticks the odd box from my earlier Recipe post which concentrated on character rather than plot. In this plot idea, the main character is someone who has suffered misfortune through no fault of their own. We already feel sorry for them and we want them to triumph so, already our story has a journey and what are stories, if they are not journeys from a beginning, through conflict to a satisfactory resolution or end?
Finally, as ratchetting up helps one build a story, lets tighten the plot a bit by saying that the revenge has to be had within a given timeframe. Maybe our rich/powerful/influential baddie is leaving the country (or the planet if this is a sci fi story) and going away somewhere else where they might be untouchable. Maybe they are ill and dying and our hero/heroine needs to elicit revenge before the baddie dies. Maybe our baddie who is rich and powerful is about to become even more rich and powerful by taking over a company, or becoming Prime Minister/President or .... whatever. Now we have a clear goal (see my earlier Recipe post) and we have a tight time frame so we have built tension into the plot.
At last a story is beginning to emerge. I now have an idea of my characters and my plot. I know how the story is going to end. The revenge will be had - it is the three episodes in the middle I haven't worked out, but at least some of the ingredients for my recipe are now obvious and I even have a setting (I fancy ancient Britain as it is an unusual setting and I have done a bit of research). I also have a more specific setting because it is near where I live - the River Thames which has fascinated me for years. The river has been settled since prehistoric times and I recently went mudlarking on the Thames, where history is all around. You can literally pick it up, hold it in your hands and take a piece home. Finally, finally, my serial is taking shape..... It's got a long way yet but I may shortly put pen to paper.
Finally, many thanks to my wonderful daughter for taking the snap of me that appears in this article in the latest Writers' Forum. I'm there with fellow serial writers <a href="http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/">Jennie Bohnet </a>and <a href="http://wendyswritingnow.blogspot.co.uk/">Wendy Clarke </a>with more tips about the craft of writing serials, and a plug from me for the Woman's Weekly fiction workshops which if you can get there are great fun. Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-71752249438767584802014-09-24T23:49:00.001-07:002014-09-25T22:45:09.531-07:00Accent Press - new anthologies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBY-my6rm9_O3RHaVGeEy-tpt1-RhAsyJl99QtdL5xTaftOwqR5rh6H-GdRkQTtxATH_CJBttQXOSdirf7FZSLOxQ7mIWmL32xMYdTLRSnP6C8M678iWe_qEpEavvk8zgdxUw77Bsn2Y/s1600/30383_Scaredy_Cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBY-my6rm9_O3RHaVGeEy-tpt1-RhAsyJl99QtdL5xTaftOwqR5rh6H-GdRkQTtxATH_CJBttQXOSdirf7FZSLOxQ7mIWmL32xMYdTLRSnP6C8M678iWe_qEpEavvk8zgdxUw77Bsn2Y/s320/30383_Scaredy_Cat.jpg" /></a>
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I feel very guilty at having not blogged in so long. Mainly though this is due to spending time writing, the result being short stories in two new anthologies by Accent Press. The latest anthology from Accent, 'Shiver', is due out early October. It is a collection of terrific, spine chilling Halloween stories. I love Halloween and remember one particularly brilliant party when I was around nine years old. There was the usual apple bobbing, cakes shaped like little ghosts and jellies set with plastic spiders inside. But the best bit was the storytelling. We were at the house of a girl called Camilla Bains (Camilla, if you're out there somewhere do get in touch). Her mum had sat us all in a circle in the dark while she told us the spookiest of stories. The best bit was that she passed around props. So, as she told of the tapping of the dead man's finger at the window we passed between us in the pitch dark, a cold sausage. I remember the clammy digit being thrown up in the air only to land on the head of another terrified kid who probably has nightmares to this day. The dead man's heart was a sopping peeled and squishy peach. At that age, I was both scared out of my wits and enthralled at the story, which is the sort of reaction we all hope to get from the best horror stories. They should be like a car crash - awful but compelling. My story in the Shiver collection, 'Your Number's Up', is a tale of be-careful-what-you-wish for when the unappealing and mean minded Kevin buys a lottery ticket, a series of (as Lemony Snicket would say) unfortunate events ignites his normally dull life in ways he could never have expected.
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Crime-brilliant-collection-Accent-ebook/dp/B00LETFJPM"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Crime-brilliant-collection-Accent-ebook/dp/B00LETFJPM"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZhq48z7F3xNkOHNTcj0vLxzk5D44xryHzzQ0jW4utodu6sfJbg6CqfxvmCUtgcZQll-eHpFDsrNc8vsBN7EicJg6-I_nU0-1DXj7Z6ecMm-ikHMCE01NfQ_3t9j2qlysVvkxZrLOqyc/s1600/A+case+of+Crime.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZhq48z7F3xNkOHNTcj0vLxzk5D44xryHzzQ0jW4utodu6sfJbg6CqfxvmCUtgcZQll-eHpFDsrNc8vsBN7EicJg6-I_nU0-1DXj7Z6ecMm-ikHMCE01NfQ_3t9j2qlysVvkxZrLOqyc/s320/A+case+of+Crime.jpg" /></a></a></a>
Finally, my move into crime has been sealed with <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Crime-brilliant-collection-Accent-ebook/dp/B00LETFJPM">Accent's '<b>A Case of Crime</b>'</a> which is a collection of short stories of murder and mayhem. 'Goodbye My Darling' is my offering where a woman who thinks she's found the perfect mate learns to her cost that perfection can be hard to find in a marriage partner.
I do hope people enjoy these, I'm now going to have a go at a Christmas story which may or may not be dark, dark, dark....... Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-51023128808404537362014-05-07T00:47:00.001-07:002014-05-07T00:47:05.891-07:00My Writing Process #2Many thanks to <a href="http://christinahollis.blogspot.co.uk/">Christina Hollis</a> for kindly asking me on her blog to take part in the blog hop about 'My Writing Process'. Christina is a very busy and successful author who writes wonderful romance for Harlequin and also tweets @ChristinaBooks. Thanks for this opportunity Christina.
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So, here goes. <b>What am I working on?</b> A number of things at the moment which I hope will make good summer reads (hence the gratuitous pic of a beach in Varadero Cuba where I will shortly be setting a crime story). I like to work on two or three things at once so that if I get into problems with one thing, I can go on to another. I do that in my reading too, I suppose I have a butterfly mind. At present one of my works in progress is a romantic suspense set in New England (very different from Cuba, that's one of the joys of writing, being able to jet away at a moment's notice, in your imagination of course).
<b>How does my work differ from others in the genre?</b> I have chosen a hero who is a search and rescue officer working up in the mountains but who has also been to war zones and disasters such as collapsed buildings. He is everything I would want a hero to be, sensitive, courageous, sometimes bull-headed but always with the right motives. I've fallen for him so I hope my readers will too. The heroine is a total opposite. Office based, a city girl with a very cerebral career. It's always productive putting opposites together and seeing them a) attract and b) deal with all the differences being, well.... different, can lead to.
<b>Why do I write what I do?</b> Total and utter escapism. I'd love to go New England but despite many trips to the West Coast, I've never been there.... yet. That's one of the glorious things about writing. You have the ability to visit places you've never been and also the ability to go back and revisit places you love. I often write about places I've been to on holiday such as Italy (the Lemon Grove) and Croatia where I am setting a current serial for People's Friend which will be titled 'The Lavender Field'.
<b>How does my writing process work?</b> I'm afraid I'm a messy writer and my desk is testament to that. I leap in, fearlessly, with all the bravado of a total fool. I have an idea, a beginning and an end, I know what my protagonists' conflicts are but not how they will overcome them. Then, starts the magic. As the story unfolds, there come revelations, things I never thought would happen. Then, inevitably come the plot tangles which you get when you don't plan. I have tried planning and it just doesn't work for me. I have to get the first draft down and then undo the knots. In the end I get there though, but blood, sweat, tears and coffee are all involved.
It's been great fun chatting about my writing process and reading about others' different ways of writing. I'm now handing the baton on to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thousand-One-Nights-Library/dp/1908262087">Kitti Bernetti</a> who writes for Xcite and will blog next week.
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-20766409828193869042014-05-04T10:48:00.003-07:002014-05-05T01:47:04.012-07:00My Main Character Blog HopI have been tagged by Kate Blackadder (thank you Kate!) to write about my main character. <a href="http://katewritesandreads.blogspot.co.uk/">Here is Kate's take on this challenge</a>, and<a href="http://rachael-thomas.blogspot.co.uk/"> Rachel Thomas's</a>.
<i><b>What is the name of your main character is she real or fictitious?</b></i> My main character is a real character whose story I am fictionalising and giving a different twist to. I don't want to give away too much (mainly because I've only written one chapter) and it's taking time to develop but this will be a mystery involving Elizabeth Pepys, wife of the famous diarist.
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<i><b>When and where is the story set?</b></i> It's set in London in the mid 1600's which has been great fun researching (and has involved eating a lot of pies!)
<i><b>What should we know about her?</b></i> Elizabeth was a fantastic character because we actually know a lot about her and her marital relations with her husband Samuelfrom the diary he kept for ten years. We know that she was educated and kept her own in a male dominated household and was not cowed by her very successful husband who thank goodness, loved her very much even though on occasions they fought like cat and dog.
<i><b>What is the main conflict, what messes up her life?</b></i> Elizabeth and Samuel desperately wanted children, but, possibly due to their health problems they never had any. This may be one of the reasons Samuel had a roving eye and one of Elizabeth's main tasks was to maintain her position as the woman he really loved. Samuel had a roving eye which was constantly aware of beautiful women at the court of Charles II where he was very highly regarded and was able often to glimpse the King's mistress's such as the beautiful Barbara Villiers.
<i><b>What is Elizabeth's goal?</b></i> I think Elizabeth wanted to be a good wife, a good sister to her feckless brother Balty and a good mistress to the servants in the household who she tried hard to educate and treat well, although she could be ruthless in demanding their removal particularly if Samuel became too keen on them, as he did with some of the girl servants who he would dally with when he got them to brush his hair at bed time.
<i><b>What is the book's title?</b></i> Oh, I wish I knew, I often struggle with titles. But one will come to me, when I least expect it......
Now, I'm passing the challenge on to the wonderful Rosie Dean, <a href="http://www.rosie-dean.com/?q=blog">here's a link to her blog.</a> Rosie writes lovely and very funny romances and has just published 'Vicki's Work of Heart', which tells the tale of Vicki stranded at the altar and left with a pile of debts by her fiance. Her first book, 'Millie's Game Plan', is the story of Millie and her long journey to find Mr Right, here's the blurb. 'Does your life lack fun and love? Does work consume your time? Does your mother try to fix you up with her priest's middle-aged nephew? Millie's does – so she takes a grip on her own future and draws up a plan to find Mr Right.'Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-62753815863500040852014-02-18T09:31:00.003-08:002014-02-18T09:38:15.849-08:00THE OYSTER CATCHERToday on my blog I have the wonderful Jo Thomas (a fellow <a href="http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/10488/The-Oyster-Catcher.html">Accent Press </a>author) talking all about her book, The Oyster Catcher which has received rave reviews. Jo, do tell us about yourself and how you came to write your lovely book.
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My name is Jo Thomas and I live in the Vale of Glamorgan with my husband, who’s a writer and producer, our three children, three cats, and our black lab Murray.
I write light-hearted romances about food, family, friendships, and love.
Why did you start writing?
I had my children in quick succession and when I started writing I had 3 children under the age of 3. Writing was my ‘me time’. I could go to that place in my head and make it as lovely and special as I wanted it to be while around me there were toys to be tidied, piles of washing, and play dates to organise. In fact, more often than not, I’d drop the eldest at school, the next one in nursery, and then the baby would fall asleep in the car and I’d stop wherever I was, park up, pull out my laptop, and start writing. I got some very funny looks from passers-by though.
Why romance?
I love romance. I suppose it all started with Little Women and then Gone with the Wind and then I started reading authors like Christina Jones, Katie Fforde, Carole Matthews, Wendy Holden, and I felt like I’d come home. These were the worlds I wanted to live in. At the end of a busy day running the children around to rugby, guitar lessons, drama lessons, swimming, I go to bed, pick up the book on top of my pile by my bed, and that’s me time too. Nothing bad happens in those worlds.
And then I realised that I wanted to tell these stories. I love the autumn and the winter. I love dusk when people start to put on their lights but haven’t shut their curtains yet and you get a peek into another world, and then I find I’m beginning to make up stories about the people who live there. It’s all in my head. It’s a happy place. I do believe that every story should have a happy ending, even if there’s been tears along the way.
Where do ideas come from?
I always want to change jobs or set up a new business. I’d like to set up restaurants or become a pig farmer or buy an oyster farm. So by writing about these things I’m actually living out all my ambitions.
I love cooking. I love feeding people. Sunday lunch is one of my favourite times of the week. My brother is a chef and I’m always picking his brains for ideas. One of my favourite times of the year is Christmas morning when he and I hole up in the kitchen, listening to Radio 2 with a Buck’s Fizz on the go, and cook Christmas dinner together. Actually I love it because he has to be the commis and I’m Chef!
My son loves cooking too and that’s becoming a really lovely and special thing to do together. I think that families and food and love go hand in hand.
I love the memories that food can bring back. The taste of something can take you right back to a special place, a special moment. Like bangers on Bonfire Night, or peppery mussels in a bikers lay-by in Brittany. Maine lobster on my honeymoon and toasted marshmallows on a Saturday night with the kids, watching X Factor.
Whenever we go on holiday, where most people would get out the travel guides, I get out the cookery books to see what kind of food we’re going to be eating. I’ve even been known to pack cookery books in my case.
But I’m a cook, just a simple cook. For me the pleasure is about sharing the food I’ve cooked, the wobbly three-tiered chocolate birthday cake, or the homemade pizzas on a Saturday night in front of the telly. Food is my way of saying, ‘I love you’.
What about research trips?
My stories have come out of places I’ve been and food I’ve eaten. But then once the idea is there, I usually find there’s more research to be done and this is when you really have to push yourself out or your comfort zone. But it’s good to feel the fear, like my heroines must.
I have been a waitress at a hells angels’ bikers convention, serving cooked breakfasts all day and night. I have taken part in the olive harvest in southern Italy, picking and harvesting the olives, going with the tractor to the local press and watching them being turned into wonderful deep-green olive oil. I have been oyster farming … in the middle of November!
The Oyster Catcher
What’s it about?
It’s about a jilted bride who hides away on an oyster farm in rural Connemara, despite being terrified of water and her wild and unpredictable new boss. Cutting herself off from everything she knows, she learns about oyster farming and the art of shucking oyster shells. She finally learns to come out of her own shell but along the way she has to battle oyster pirates, pearl princesses, and loan sharks before eventually finding love amongst the oyster beds of Galway Bay.
Where did the idea come from?
My husband was offered a job on the west coast of Ireland, in Galway, to work on an Irish-language soap opera there. We went over to see the place to decide if we would go as a family. From the moment we arrived it poured with rain. I’ve never known rain like it, and that’s after living in Wales. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. I decided that it wasn’t going to work, until that night when we went to a restaurant; a wonderful place called O’Grady’s. It’s an end cottage in a row of terraced cottages, painted light blue. You walk in and the fire is going, the candles are lit, and you look out over sea. And there I ate pacific oysters. I looked out of the cottage window and thought, OK, I get it. If this is what Galway has to offer, I’m in. And from then on I had some of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had, from wild foraged food, saffron sorbet , and the oysters, just wonderful. I thought, ‘this is sexy’. But it’s such a precarious business. And an idea began to form.
How did you research it?
Well, I started by eating a lot of oysters and going to O’Grady’s a lot. Then I discovered an oyster seller in one of the local farmers’ markets where you could buy half a dozen oysters, and he’d shuck them and serve them to you with a glass of white wine. It was a Friday lunchtime treat. I then went on a seafood cookery course at the Galway Seafood Centre. But it still wasn’t enough. I needed to get my feet wet, literally. By this time I was living back in Wales. So one dark, cold weekend in November I went with my good friend Katie Fforde to meet an oyster farmer friend of mine in Scotland. We dressed in wet weather gear from head to foot. As soon as we arrived we got stuck straight in and were wading into the water to see the bags of oysters that were being loaded onto the tractor trailer. Within minutes the water had come above the top of our wellies and was trickling down our socks. Then we retired to the pub for lunch. Absolutely soaked. There was steam rising from us as the barmaid stoked the fire for us to sit beside. Our feet didn’t thaw out at all. That afternoon, it lashed down. I’m realising the connection. Perhaps good clean rain helps the oysters. We worked in the shed, by the light of bare bulbs and to the sound of Radio 2 on an old radio, and helped grade and wash the oysters, ready to go to market. We caught crabs, listened for clunkers, and learnt to sniff for dead ‘uns. By the end of the day we were cold, wet, and very tired. We ordered large gins back at the hotel, handed the chef a large box of freshly picked oysters, and headed for our baths.
That evening, we sat by a huge roaring fire in a deep red restaurant room with my friend the oyster farmer, and drank champagne and ate the oysters we had picked from the sea ourselves. Never has anything tasted quite so good. It was perfection.
The Location. Why there?
The book is set in Connemara; I just loved its wild, rocky landscape. We spent a lot of time with friends out there who had the most amazing parties, where the children would enjoy the freedom of the outdoors and guests would turn up, music would happen, and everyone joined it. They were wonderful nights, even in the rain!
The characters, who are they?
The book is about people who hide their feelings away so they won’t get hurt. But if you hide away you won’t find love either.
Fiona Clutterbuck was abandoned by her own mother as a 15-year-old and has never really had the chance to realise who she is or what she’s capable of. In Ireland she’s a fish out of water. So when she’s finds herself having to battle loan sharks, pearl princesses, and oyster pirates she has to learn pretty quickly, to come out of her shell. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re capable of until we’re put in that situation. Sometimes it’s sink or swim.
Sean Thornton, Fiona’s boss, is grumpy and guarded but his saving grace is his passion about his oysters. He only comes alive when talking about the thing he loves. There’s Sean’s girlfriend, oyster broker Nancy, and the effervescent Margaret trying to turn her dying village back into something special again, along with a colourful cast of locals.
And then of course there’s Sean’s dog, Grace, a Great Dane. She’s based on a dog I met in Galway who used to ride his owner’s windsurf. So cool.
I once read that a champion shell shucker said ‘In order to open an oyster you first have to understand what’s keeping it closed.’ And that’s how the story started.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2UIwHWP18kNZYXmjCXp34wEIOaW-2e9IDSQlV1NVIIVWJL_s3Y-sGSPJ4RADk9zUH2q-5XyoqrJS6wycv03_59qtSD_SzNb793AQlt8PHlTk1GkragB8r_zsBBZ_TmC9Rr5dU8sJAJA/s1600/Jo+Thomas.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2UIwHWP18kNZYXmjCXp34wEIOaW-2e9IDSQlV1NVIIVWJL_s3Y-sGSPJ4RADk9zUH2q-5XyoqrJS6wycv03_59qtSD_SzNb793AQlt8PHlTk1GkragB8r_zsBBZ_TmC9Rr5dU8sJAJA/s320/Jo+Thomas.png" /></a>
Here's a picture of Jo who is attracting wide attention in the press and soaring up the Amazon ratings:
You can buy the Oyster Catcher from Amazon by clicking this link: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Oyster-Catcher-full-length-romance-ebook/dp/B00GS3VDQS">Amazon</a>
Or from <a href="http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/10488/The-Oyster-Catcher.html">Accent Press by clicking this link</a>.
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-16760092409243849962014-01-07T00:23:00.000-08:002014-01-07T00:30:52.302-08:00My Writing Process - blog tourHi - <a href="http://www.janejackson.net/">Jane Jackson</a> has very kindly invited me to take part in the My Writing Process blog tour. You can read more about her award winning historical fiction on <a href="http://www.janejackson.net/janesblog/">Jane's blog</a> or by clicking on this link to <a href="http://www.janejackson.net/">her website</a>
Everyone involved in the My Writing Process blog tour is answering the following questions, so here goes.....
<b>What am I working on?</b>
I have a butterfly mind, so tend to work on a number of things at once. I find that way, if I get bogged down in one, I can turn to the other. The first thing I am working on is a serial for Woman's Weekly. I recently became fascinated by the fact that we all have secrets and hide some aspects of ourselves from even our nearest and dearest. An idea began to form about a successful man in the public eye who hides something very dangerous from everyone even his wife. What happens when the oh so perfect 'front' he has created starts to unravel is the basis for my story. I am also planning a historical which gives me an excuse to read lots of books and pretend I am working. I really enjoy the process of writing serials and thinking of a cliffhanger for the end of each week. My next one, 'Finders Keepers', I have coming out on February 4th in My Weekly. I am also working on a sequel to 'The Lemon Grove' <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7POLYjKkd_rdO6MsQXpB6vV2YdbPW8aGT3f_0fiQtmSiP9RpE_Ik_PHHgnnfHrf3YCGMHikZdaxnoX9NPL3CqrFwUcu4NwM58KT7Ji0aAhFUxqP4xFFPnj9B7VKVjbp-FetyH2E6bnpU/s1600/Lemon+Grove+photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7POLYjKkd_rdO6MsQXpB6vV2YdbPW8aGT3f_0fiQtmSiP9RpE_Ik_PHHgnnfHrf3YCGMHikZdaxnoX9NPL3CqrFwUcu4NwM58KT7Ji0aAhFUxqP4xFFPnj9B7VKVjbp-FetyH2E6bnpU/s320/Lemon+Grove+photo+1.jpg" /></a>
<b>How does my work differ from others of its genre?
</b> I am trying to inject a lot of action into my serial as well as a large dollup of emotion/romance. I love romantic suspense myself and films in that genre and imagine my scenes as scenes from films.
<b>Why do I write what I do?</b>
I think crime and romance together are an extremely high octane potent mix so many of my contemporary books involve both. Having a lot at stake gives a writer the ability to appeal to readers' emotions and generally speaking we read books and watch films in order to 'feel' something.
<b>How does my writing process work?</b>
Haphazardly I'm afraid. I am getting better at planning because I know that is the way to avoid a 'soggy middle' but I do find it hard being disciplined and envy writers who are.
Thanks for reading about My Writing Process!
The Tour continues on January 20th with: <a href="http://www.kittibernetti.moonfruit.com/">Kitti Bernetti</a> who writes in the popular <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thousand-Nights-Secret-Library-ebook/dp/B007YUYXMA">Secret Library</a> range
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-90460694312037925042013-11-08T09:03:00.001-08:002013-11-08T09:03:47.035-08:00Ryan Gosling - a source yet again of inspiration....So, I am launching on yet another serial for People's Friend. This time it will be set in Croatia with its super countryside and fascinating medieval towns and will involve a crime (as always) and lots of romance. It is a sequel to The Lemon Grove and its working title is The Lavender Field. When I sit down to do a story, one of the first things I think of is what do my characters look like. I then like to download some photos and amazingly, the same 'hero' type figure comes up again and again, and that is the lovely Ryan Gosling (gratuitous photo included here so others can have a bit of a drool too, I don't like beards on men but for Ryan I shall make an exception) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxufHhDux_A9vUpFgVzNcUW0EeVGWVBHqISfgK8BGWnx0x_1EH39r5fQN4xSJuwSr73GqbY8Zu2JcBI2hqmR-gfP29NPZ_-lq_g60dVT0FozqGtFhgE4dP_zW-fByauEXpKTWewdrWlc/s1600/ryan-gosling-beard-normal1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxufHhDux_A9vUpFgVzNcUW0EeVGWVBHqISfgK8BGWnx0x_1EH39r5fQN4xSJuwSr73GqbY8Zu2JcBI2hqmR-gfP29NPZ_-lq_g60dVT0FozqGtFhgE4dP_zW-fByauEXpKTWewdrWlc/s320/ryan-gosling-beard-normal1.jpg" /></a>. He plays some fantastic characters in his films and from the little I read about him he seems like a nice guy. So, he or rather someone in his image will be one of my next characters.
I have had a busy time lately, going to the launch of a friend, Alison Morton's book, Perfiditas which is the second in her series about Roma Nova, an alternative world based on ancient Rome but operating in the 21st century. This photo is of Alison talking about her characters. It is I am sure a rollicking good read and Alison REALLY knows her stuff about the Romans, the Latin language etc. She's also a lovely lady with some super friends who I chatted to at the launch. I can't wait to read Inceptio and Perfiditas. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilweCDFZaRx2WTZ6gdNgtLRm_WDX7gNcin8KWSw_-YDfk066RUlCETXi_rRYtGV8DO3SoO-iwpDl3X05ZQA60zD3J4eVhzi2gvQyRikFoRfCBlhNhZn3JI5Ts77w6BifpH5Wm_p1WXycE/s1600/Alison.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilweCDFZaRx2WTZ6gdNgtLRm_WDX7gNcin8KWSw_-YDfk066RUlCETXi_rRYtGV8DO3SoO-iwpDl3X05ZQA60zD3J4eVhzi2gvQyRikFoRfCBlhNhZn3JI5Ts77w6BifpH5Wm_p1WXycE/s320/Alison.JPG" /></a>
Well, that is a little update. I have also just submitted a 3 part serial to Woman's Weekly and am awaiting the verdict on whether they do or don't wish to buy it. Needless to say I am checking my e-mails every two minutes and it is driving me potty. If they do, I'll be jumping up and down in the street!! Just to air what it is about, it's crime and romance again (that heady mix). To sum it up in a sentence or two I would say, 'what would you do if you found a buried stash of money, ill-gotten gains, dirty money? Would you turn it in to the Police? But what if your daughter was facing disaster and the only thing to save her would be some of that 'lost' money? Erica McAdam has to make a decision that will change her life forever.....' I do hope they accept it because I loved writing it! I shall report back...... Goodbye for now.
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-61368004826787290422013-10-25T23:40:00.001-07:002013-10-25T23:54:03.715-07:00Fabulous resource for writers and readers of historical fictionHow often have you walked through a city, London for example and wished you could travel back in time to see it in, say, the Elizabethan period or during the time of Dickens, maybe to see the streets where Sherlock Holmes solved his cases? Well now, due to the expertise and sheer hard graft of a group of students at Pudding Lane Productions, you can <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/25/off-the-map">and you can see it here</a>. I had hoped to upload the video from YouTube but unlike these brilliant students, my grasp of all things technical is so puny, I couldn't manage it. Do go and look though, it is brilliant. They have produced this amazing fly-through of 17th century London. <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/25/off-the-map"></a> This has deservedly won First Prize in the Off the Map challenge, using historical data from the British Library so it is startlingly accurate. The group's blog <a href="http://puddinglanedmuga.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-level-has-been-submitted-as-of-today.html#comment-form">(click here)</a> gives fascinating insight into the detail they strove for - haunches of meat hung up at the butchers, bunches of wood as carried for kindling, the accurate representation of one of London's famous bridges. It is this attention to detail as well as their creativity that has created such an atmospheric experience. This is invaluable for both writers and readers of historical fiction, so that while we are reading maybe Samuel Pepys wonderful diaries, we can look at this wonderful visual representation and feel we are there. How long will it be I wonder before e-books have such 'fly-through' screens so that you can watch as you read to enhance the experience of reading a historical novel (I'm sure someone somewhere is already doing that!) Well done <a href="http://www.crytek.com/">Crytek</a> for making the award. And, from a novel writer who loves this period of history, thank you SO MUCH Pudding Lane Productions and all you talented students, for transporting me back to the past, almost as good as a time machine! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2HggBGYmifbyVo1FF-T74gC5AXdlWrMMQ6FN8buulD98wFUz3w0fRQjOaG_00JfBh9cvIj-Z-OrEIzu1PwdbF_zVav1kiUmR3GulapvClRnnzo5ZbI7wtCl0JmXQt3tLxSCC1MYqtns/s1600/Blog_OffTheMap_Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pGUcfNz5Nyg/UmtjvOKwzMI/AAAA<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPY-hr-8-M0"></a>AAAAAlE/b-mwTllxhc8/s320/Blog_OffTheMap_Final.jpg" /></a>Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-5770097647239078832013-09-10T09:51:00.000-07:002013-09-10T09:51:59.835-07:00Analysing 'What Remains' BBC dramaAs I am writing a crime novel at present I find I am fascinated by well written crime and how writers create a gripping plot and characters. Myself, I'm not one for lots of action, give me a good story though and I'm hooked. I have found <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039ftc5">'What Remains' gripping for a number of reasons </a>which I believe can apply to novels just as to TV drama. The last episode of this great whodunit airs this Sunday, and the DVD will be available soon. The plot is very simple. A young woman's long dead mummified body has been found in the attic of an old house which is split up into flats. Many of the inhabitants have been tangled up in her life but no one cared enough to even worry where she had gone to when she disappeared. The reason I'd recommend it to crime writers is as follows.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIHulpm-QtL5cziRNiik6wQPu1666F35vH7xwl99qBujYtNWHRrk_EKWyyV-hg9bXAJ2fq2yFp7lpUukWEq1qj7t1Nn4eJk_OsklS_kRcQRqVW24DVtyXqGdFBQnPPVWVHtAJcPqdB8Y/s1600/David+Threlfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIHulpm-QtL5cziRNiik6wQPu1666F35vH7xwl99qBujYtNWHRrk_EKWyyV-hg9bXAJ2fq2yFp7lpUukWEq1qj7t1Nn4eJk_OsklS_kRcQRqVW24DVtyXqGdFBQnPPVWVHtAJcPqdB8Y/s200/David+Threlfall.jpg" /></a>
First and foremost the Detective brilliantly underplayed by David Threlfall. We immediately sympathise with Detective Len Harper for a number of reasons that are a lesson in 'layering' your characters and making them interesting. Firstly, we feel sorry for him because he is just about to retire from the job he loves and leaving his workmates who respect and admire him. He's obviously good at his job and it is compelling to have characters who are good at what they do, whatever they do, even if they are contract killers (remember the James Fox character in the 'Day of the Jackal'). DI Harper loves his job so much that even after his last day, he's back at the scene of the crime, not having told the inhabitants of the house that he actually has no right any longer to be there. The reason? He's the only person who cares a jot about the girl who died. Another tick in the box for him as a fascinating character. He's a champion of the weak and oppressed. He's the sort of person we'd like to be if only we had the time, if only we didn't have other commitments etc etc. He is the person we want a hero to be and we are convinced right from the beginning that with his skills and determination he will give that lonely dead girl justice. Poor Detective Harper lives on his own having lost his wife only a year before. We really want him to have friends because he's a good guy and one of the most touching scenes was where he arranges for his neighbour to come round for a drink and the other guy just forgets and never turns up. This is perfect show don't tell stuff. DI Harper doesn't mope around feeling sorry for himself or knock on the neighbour's door making a nuisance of himself, but he does consume a fair quantity of whiskey and we know that being snubbed in this way is rough. We therefore cheer inwardly when he unexpectedly scores with a nice woman at the archery class he goes to and we know there is at least one night when DI Harper didn't sleep in a cold lonely bed! Other examples of layering of his character is the way he deals with the hideous young teenager who has been into the dead girls flat and scrawled mean graffiti on her wall. The cocky kid is grabbed in an arm lock by DI Harper and told in no uncertain terms what a little **** (insert 4 letter word of your choice here) he is. You've been waiting for 3 episodes for someone to do that to the little turd.
A hugely compelling factor to this story is that you know Detective Harper only has a limited amount of time to catch his killer. Sooner or later people will discover he's no longer a bona fide member of the Force and he'll either have to find his killer or stop asking questions. A time constraint is an extremely useful device for any story because it ups the tension no end. You only have to think of countless wonderful movies such as 'Limitless' with the superb Bradley Cooper to know how giving a clearly defined mission in a story a time limit puts the reader or viewer on the edge of their seat thinking, will he make it, won't he?
There, I had thought I would cover all the characters in one (slightly too long) blog post but in fact there are so many layers to the one main character that I've gone on much longer than I thought I would. The episodes are still available on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/">BBC I-player </a>and the last one is this Sunday. I shall be watching again, just to garner all the elements I can of what makes good drama!Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-11665956486274215552013-09-01T00:34:00.002-07:002013-09-01T01:11:25.869-07:00The Way, Way Back - Analysis using Michael Hauge's 'Writing Screenplays that Sell'I'm addicted at present to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Screenplays-That-Michael-Hauge/dp/1408151464">Michael Hauge's excellent book on writing screenplays</a> because there's a lot which can be applied to story writing generally. As I am halfway through my first mainstream novel attempt, analysing what makes a story successful has become a bit of an addiction with me. Last night we went to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727388/fullcredits">'The Way, Way Back'</a> starring <a href="http://www.stevecarell.net/">Steve Carrell</a> (this time uncharacteristically in a bit of a bad boy role) and <a href="http://www.tonicollette.org/">Toni Collette.</a> So I thought I'd see how this new film about a fraught family holiday to the seaside shaped up against Hauge's writing tips. Please beware, for anyone who hasn't yet seen the film, there are spoilers here!
1. <b>The primary goal of any filmmaker is to elicit emotion in the audience</b>. Box certainly ticked here, it's a movie about families, first love, the pain of adolescence, need I say more!
2. <b>Hollywood movies (and it's the same with popular novels)are about characters pursuing visible goals with clearly defined finish lines</b>. Top marks here as the main character Duncan (a painfully shy teenager) has the clear visible goal of surviving a family holiday even though his mother's new boyfriend the overbearing and judgemental Trent (his nemesis) is on board and clearly out to establish his power over the family.
3. <b>There are five compelling elements that will increase the commercial potential of your story these are: to win; to stop; to escape; to deliver and/or to retrieve</b>. The Way, Way Back does tick quite a few of these in that Duncan wants to win his mum's love and loyalty, he wants to stop her relationship with Trent, he wants to escape from a grim family holiday and possibly to retrieve his parents' ruined relationship.
4. <b>Character arc</b>. There are a number of clear character arcs here. Duncan gains the confidence to say what he wants and be heard. His mother, Pam, decides not to be treated like a doormat - during the middle of the film she says she is prepared to put up with Trent's infidelity because she is scared of losing him but by the end she visibly goes to sit by her son, thus siding with him and risking Trent's disapproval. The character Owen, played by Sam Rockwell who is a wisecracking dude, opens up to Duncan and shows his serious side in order to help Duncan overcome his problems. Susanna and Peter, the next door neighbours kids although smaller players in the drama both change. Susanna who has risked staying with a bitchy bunch of friends, breaks away and establishes her own self and Peter her brother who is somewhat under his mother's thumb runs away to join Duncan on his adventure at the water park and is given confidence by Owen, the manager there who is mentor to both the boys.
5. <b>Theme</b> - the theme of the story is encapsulated in the title. It's about not being pushed around. The Way, Way Back I understand is the name for the back seat of a Buick which is where poor old Duncan sits on his own, pushed back there by the overbearing Trent. The beginning scene of the book has him sitting there looking forlorn and being picked on by Trent who viciously asks him to rate himself on a scale of one to ten. When Duncan modestly says he might be a six, Trent rates him a three and taunts him to do better. The last scene of the film still has Duncan in the back but by then he has won his mother's loyalty and she goes to sit in back with him thus demonstrating that he has achieved the visible goal of trumping Trent and showing him up for what he truly is - a bully.
6. <b>The three essential methods for creating immediate empathy with your hero are: 1) sympathy</b> - a victim of undeserved misfortune. Duncan is definitely this in that his mother has chosen someone who is deeply unsympathetic to his needs. <b>2) Jeopardy - in danger of losing something of great value to the hero</b> - Duncan right from the start is in danger of losing his mother's loyalty. <b>3) Likeability</b> - possessing one or more of the following qualities, kind, good hearted and generous, well-liked and funny. This one's more difficult. We do feel sorry for Duncan but he's awkward, no one seems to like him much, he's oppressed - however, because he is so young, we give him a chance. Many teenage boys are introverted and uncomfortable, the hope is that they will overcome their ugly duckling status and turn into adult swans. Overall I think Duncan's better qualities come out in him as the story develops. Right from the start, you are willing for him to turn out to be a nice guy which, of course, by the end he is. Part of the reason for the viewer to stay with the story is to watch this capacity in him to be liked and loved unfold. The key scene in us realising this goal has been reached is when the beautiful next door neighbour Susanna kisses him. If someone that lovely can want him, we know he must be a good guy.
7. Ground rules for creating primary characters are that there should be a hero (the main character whose motivation drives the plot and with whom we most closely empathise) - we have that in spades with Duncan, a nemesis (the character who most stands in the way of the hero achieving their outer goal). Trent is a clear nemesis, if we look at Duncan's visible goal which is to survive a family holiday with his pride in tact, Trent is the one who is most likely to scupper that. Then we have a character who should be the Reflection (the character who most supports the hero's outer motivation). This is clearly Owen, the manager of the water park. He is the one to whom Duncan runs to find some relief from his awful home life and it is Owen who shows the boy that he can face danger and come out on top. The key scene here is where Owen sends Duncan in to tackle a group of kids who are breakdancing in the water park and gathering a crowd and who have to be stopped. Duncan is petrified, and when the group challenge him to show them his moves he rises to the challenge. They accept him and he gains visibly in confidence. The other key scene is when a trio of kids get stuck in one of the water rides. Instead of doing the sensible thing, Owen, who is a risk-taker and bucks authority decides to clear the blockage by sending another, heavier kid zooming down the water slide to flush them out like peas popping out of a pea shooter. Clearly this is a pretty dangerous thing to do (and Owen gets told off for it by his sensible employee, Caitlin. Nevertheless his high risk strategy does the job thus demonstrating to Duncan that being brave, even if it also might be foolhardy can win the day. Seeing this helps Duncan to take risks and 'out' the philandering Trent in front of everyone at a party. Clearly a high risk strategy which has fallout but in the end, works.
We enjoyed the film and I have found that analysing it against <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Screenplays-That-Michael-Hauge/dp/1408151464">Michael Hauge's great book, 'Writing Screenplays that Sell'</a> has been really useful in helping me develop my own story. Now, enough of this procrastinating, back to writing my own novel......
Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-58836625059066989122013-08-27T08:34:00.002-07:002013-08-27T08:42:53.417-07:00Creating atmosphere/setting the scene in your writingI was struck today sitting in a new coffee and cake shop at how important it is to create atmosphere. Obviously we try to do this in our writing, but it is done every day in various ways that we hardly notice. Yet there is a kind of magic conjured up when atmosphere is created. If we can inject a little of that magic into our stories, they will come alive. This picture I hope demonstrates what I mean.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDYQ906jpo7fBP6_Y0vFiY_Ns5_sqHEqFo0Q6ISZLyPmu5iFR8ilPI5mcC5qKBfZhrSzYc4Zy5pN5S0KXJlbhyphenhyphen77Q2t6LRGaFfrCpCGdl3dEeE8JLQAC-d5-kkKG1Fk8veGD40S3VNgc/s1600/Dolce+dolce.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDYQ906jpo7fBP6_Y0vFiY_Ns5_sqHEqFo0Q6ISZLyPmu5iFR8ilPI5mcC5qKBfZhrSzYc4Zy5pN5S0KXJlbhyphenhyphen77Q2t6LRGaFfrCpCGdl3dEeE8JLQAC-d5-kkKG1Fk8veGD40S3VNgc/s400/Dolce+dolce.JPG" /></a>This new coffee shop, <i>Dolce Dolce </i>is in Purley where the only other coffee shop I frequent is Costa. <i>Dolce Dolce </i>used to be a pizza parlour but it has been TRANSFORMED in a simple but magical way. As they are primarily a wedding business creating cakes and other goodies for special events, the creation of a light, airy, romantic feel is important in letting people know what the business is all about. Firstly everything has been painted white and there are wispy folds of light curtaining at the window. What isn't white has been painted gold so that what might have been dull, dark wood is burnished. Cleverly, the owner, Antoinette, has scattered lovely old pieces of furniture, coffee tables, and chaises longues throughout and covered them in pastel and ivory fabrics. A long counter full of cup cakes and apricot and almond tarts have made it look like a French patisserie and mirrors reflect all the goodies back at you. When you see a sign like this garlanded in its own little frame with golden curlicues you know you're not in Costa! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBagWMVhO_yhOuRmOZTjobCs6rZFfQCadcRQSh9FLlo1HVyAior9c7ipA_9UJ9kIPNEvwS5VEWlO8M11-jTqI_ATLE2GhkXdtzunVWtLFtx4_0obpgjggx_RZcD9z_pUadpEuRxdCoYkg/s1600/Dolce.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBagWMVhO_yhOuRmOZTjobCs6rZFfQCadcRQSh9FLlo1HVyAior9c7ipA_9UJ9kIPNEvwS5VEWlO8M11-jTqI_ATLE2GhkXdtzunVWtLFtx4_0obpgjggx_RZcD9z_pUadpEuRxdCoYkg/s320/Dolce.JPG" /></a>
The cups and saucers which instead of being a uniform colour or shape are a variety of wonderful mix and match pieces of old Aynsley and other ware is presented with gold pastry forks and eating out of a cornucopia of different tea sets is unusual and fun. Finally, 4 chandeliers complete the picture and pictures are what I'm talking about. For when we set the scene in our books and short stories, it only takes a few sentences to sum up where your characters are. But these sentences have to be well chosen and create atmosphere. I critique a lot of manuscripts and I often find one scene blurs into another because the author hasn't given places an identity. A few well chosen sentences to paint a picture are all that is needed to breathe life into a story. Dolce Dolce is like a film set and all the better for it. The next time you are sitting somewhere which has a strong atmosphere, jot down notes and analyse what visuals and scents make it come alive and I guarantee this can be used to push your writing up another notch. Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-47013607080157260932013-08-21T04:18:00.001-07:002013-08-21T04:18:28.887-07:00Chatting with the Romaniacs.....Hi
I have been lucky enough to be invited on the lovely <a href="http://theromaniacgroup.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/tuesday-chit-chat-with-cara-cooper/#comment-4609">Romaniacs blog for their Tuesday chit-chat</a>. Talking about writing and how to get published is one of my favourite things. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-CUfM_ppaaDdamHo7Q49XK7l6Q-amJT6pER3k39QLrGmLYC4eqAfJklGTe0Jinw0xwfTpRyFBkWavjQBo_q4P0eTiuFnekNRSUt2xMFjC5m_AaGSbRZdL65MKyPouxq8cyX7eTlQsX8/s1600/The_Romaniacs_Heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-CUfM_ppaaDdamHo7Q49XK7l6Q-amJT6pER3k39QLrGmLYC4eqAfJklGTe0Jinw0xwfTpRyFBkWavjQBo_q4P0eTiuFnekNRSUt2xMFjC5m_AaGSbRZdL65MKyPouxq8cyX7eTlQsX8/s320/The_Romaniacs_Heart.jpg" /></a>It was lovely chatting with these super ladies who are members of the Romantic Novelists Association and like myself have benefitted from the Association's New Writers Scheme. The NWS offers an invaluable critique service to new writers from an established author. As well as tea and cyber cake (which is a good thing as I've had too much of the real thing lately) we talked about writing my 8-part serial, The Lemon Grove which is still running in The People's Friend magazine. Do pop over to their <a href="http://theromaniacgroup.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/tuesday-chit-chat-with-cara-cooper/#comment-4609">blog</a> and take a look, and feel free to comment, like I say, I love to chat about writing!Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-75237576119639428102013-08-04T04:07:00.001-07:002013-08-04T04:07:15.605-07:00People's Friend serial 'The Lemon Grove'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YmMo68fnazKik7K62Gt6xaZCzezPY8WTH17RNRM8hyphenhyphenfBolwf7V-H_1g2CN6UBjoOHfvEervlT5bcOnfR-oQ7x1HL06uB_bCYX2t0lhIJD3qDABoLJLWYTcA4YZ8X-QZzUf0fV-X1MaY/s1600/Lemon+Grove+photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YmMo68fnazKik7K62Gt6xaZCzezPY8WTH17RNRM8hyphenhyphenfBolwf7V-H_1g2CN6UBjoOHfvEervlT5bcOnfR-oQ7x1HL06uB_bCYX2t0lhIJD3qDABoLJLWYTcA4YZ8X-QZzUf0fV-X1MaY/s320/Lemon+Grove+photo+1.jpg" /></a></div>Phew, at long, long last, my serial 'The Lemon Grove' is appearing in The People's Friend. This has been a long and protracted birth but it is wonderful finally to see all those ideas come together on the printed page. What is huge fun is seeing how the artist has interpreted my characters. <a href="http://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/friend-blog/2013/06/talking-pictures.aspx">This link to the People's Friend blog</a> gives an idea of how artists approach a story. They've entitled the blog post 'Talking Pictures', highly appropriate as they can so often bring a story alive. When I write, I sometimes base looks on people I know, and as the illustrations continue (Week 3 of the 8 part serial is out this week) my hero is looking more and more like the Italian friend I thought of while I was writing my hero Antonio. I didn't get to speak to the illustrator, it was the editor who made the decisions about the artwork. I'm really pleased with the work done and hope the artist enjoyed painting the characters as much as I enjoyed writing them. I am now working on ideas to pitch a further serial taking one of the minor characters, Mel <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdudLdU1wXhePoOEiHF2vSThipf2hyphenhyphenEe0MKI_oQLHE4qRY7QdPwgQtOaHQ3wkeuyNzhICgSQRHBpEjcN4umdNqZ02obkOdT9Hyun6UU3jXYuFWqCWIF_GmH_f8iimnWIg6ZfcW3UztHF8/s1600/Mel+the+Lemon+Grove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdudLdU1wXhePoOEiHF2vSThipf2hyphenhyphenEe0MKI_oQLHE4qRY7QdPwgQtOaHQ3wkeuyNzhICgSQRHBpEjcN4umdNqZ02obkOdT9Hyun6UU3jXYuFWqCWIF_GmH_f8iimnWIg6ZfcW3UztHF8/s320/Mel+the+Lemon+Grove.jpg" /></a></div>and giving her a story of her own. There'll be some adventure, lots of romance and some crime.... it takes a lot of plot to fill 8 episodes with cliffhangers at the end of each. So far I have a beginning and an end, it's just the middle I have to work on! I hope anyone else who's tried for a serial has had positive results. Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-27676198914048470112013-05-01T22:59:00.001-07:002013-05-01T22:59:49.169-07:00Writing a Magazine Serial Part 4This week I have decided to tackle pace and story arc in relation to writing a serial for women's magazines. Obviously, the story and the characters dictate both. However, for a serial to be compelling enough for readers to invest in it for a number of weeks, you need significant 'hooks' to keep the reader coming back. I can hear other writers thinking, <i>dopey woman, we always need hooks,</i><i> so what's different with a serial?</i> This is true but of course with a novel or novella, the writer very much dictates exactly where the hooks go in and how major they are. The author largely orchestrates the ebb and flow of their tale. They might start with a very slow burn and work up to a crescendo. Or they might crash into the story with a scene at the start which smacks the reader between the eyes. It is true, when writing a novel, that one's editor may point out that a certain part of the book has gone a bit slack (it's not only in your pie baking that you can get a soggy middle) and they might ask you to up the action at certain points. However, when you craft a novel (as opposed to a serial), the ups and downs largely happen when you dictate them because the novel stands up very much as a whole. Also, when the reader reads it, they are the ones who decide how much they take in at any one sitting and whether they roll over and switch off the light after one chapter or whether they read into the small hours because your book is so compelling they can't put it down.
It is somewhat different with a weekly serial because even if the reader wanted to read the next three instalments they can't! Doing an 8 part serial, the length was around 5000+ words for each instalment. That is more than enough for each instalment to stand alone almost like a short story does. However, it also has to carry forward the central plotline whether that is a romance or a crime, a mystery or whatever. My over-arching plotline was a romance. That element of the plot was simple in that it began in instalment one and it ended in instalment 8. Along the way though there were many other plotlines which sometimes began and ended in one instalment but by and large would start in one instalment, carry over two or three (not necessarily consecutive instalments) and be wound up at whatever point seemed right. The thing is, if you're winding up plotlines say in instalment three or four you also MUST introduce new ones which can run over a few more issues of the magazine to keep the momentum going. As a fly-by-the-seat of your pants writer, who hates to plan, that was a tall order for me. However, without the necessity of doing a synopsis because that's what the editors demand, I think I could have come very unstuck. I had a major wobbly around instalment 6 where a number of side plots involving minor characters had come and gone. I simply could not think of another smallish plotline which was interesting enough to make readers buy the magazine the following week, but which was simple enough that I could easily resolve it by the end of instalment 8. Luckily, one of the older characters came to my rescue. She had been very much in the background, a character who had an identity only because other characters talked about her. It was time for Nana to step centre stage and I put her in a plot which involved her being unable to recover from a serious illness because of a wrong she had done many years before. Introducing this gave me an opportunity for readers to see her dilemma and wonder how she would resolve her guilt and make everything okay. That plot I used to keep readers 'on the boil' until the last two instalments when the major two plots of the serial - the romance and a crime - came together and the ends were all neatly tied up.
One of the key things in a magazine serial is the cliffhanger ending for each instalment. There were occasions when I fought with this. But once into the mode of writing serials I found that the cliffhanger ending would become obvious as I started to write, in other words as I started to structure the instalment I could 'spot' opportunities for the cliffhanger. The most important thing is that this doesn't have to be over dramatic. It doesn't have to be someone mangled in a car accident, or a revelation about a secret baby etc. A cliffhanger ending only needs to be enough to make someone curious enough to buy next week's magazine. So, although I did have some dramatic ones, I also had some more low key ones eg where a character had made a discovery and was scared stiff of telling someone else knowing the impact it would have upon them. It's worth, when considering writing a serial to study ongoing ones in magazines and making a note of the sort of cliffhangers they choose to give you an idea of how other writers handle this very important aspect of serial writing.
One of the best examples of this being done skillfully apart from in magazines is, to my mind, in a soap opera or a series such as Downton Abbey. With Downton, the inheritance was a major plotline which ran all the way through. Other plotlines such as romances between various characters, the imprisonment of characters, births, deaths and marriages came and went. Some plotlines taking up just one episode, others running for two or three or more. It would be a useful exercise, if one was setting out to write a serial to take perhaps the first series of Downton and make a note of the plotlines, what they were, when they started, and how long they lasted. You could do a lot worse than look at that to see how a serial could be plotted with enough action to keep people interested but without so much it became confusing. Add interesting characters and voila, you'd have the skeleton to give you an idea of how the pattern of a compelling serial is arrived at. That ends my series of posts on writing serials. I hope you've enjoyed it and will find it useful in writing your own.Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261129359443471505.post-90870598977779703642013-04-24T07:38:00.004-07:002013-04-24T07:53:29.164-07:00Writing a Magazine Serial Part 3I guess there as many different types of serial as there are types of story. For me though, the opportunity to imagine living in a part of the world I love for the months it takes to write a serial was a considerable attraction. I have a sort of holiday disease which I catch every time I go on holiday which consists of imagining vividly what it would be like to chuck in my life in chilly old England (much as I love it here) and go and live abroad.
In the cold light of day, I know that wherever you live there are problems, bills to be paid, cleaning to be done, whatever. But in my imagination, that magic place 'abroad' is always sunny, always exciting and full of possibilities. I think that is why Italy as a setting appealed so much, and if it appeals to me, it was likely it would appeal to readers. <a href="http://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/friend-blog">People's Friend now have a lovely blog </a> of their own and recently, one of the editors there was talking about how curious it is to work on a magazine where you are always some weeks if not months in advance. So in the sunny, warm days of autumn, they might be choosing articles and reading stories about snow and Christmas. Whilst in the endless winter we have just had I hope it has been as much fun for them as it has been for me to work on something set in the bright, light warmth of an Italian spring.
Setting a serial which is around 45,000 words in somewhere far away, gave me as a writer endless opportunities to indulge myself. Above all it gives you a chance to appeal to the senses of your readers. You can take them for country walks on the cliffs where the smell of wild oregano being crushed beneath footsteps is invigorating. You can take them to a seaside destination where people mess about in boats with all the dramatic possibilities that affords for cliffhangers - characters can fall overboard or get lost in isolated rocky coves. There is endless opportunity for romance in a holiday setting - it is inspirational even when deciding what your characters will wear. I had the English girls in my story befriending a lady who runs a dress shop in Sorrento. They pondered over pretty flip flops with jewels and flowers on the thongs and linen outfits just like you do on holiday. I had fun dressing my characters in flowery, lacy, ice cream shades to my heart's content. Then of course there is the food. Oh the opportunities to enjoy all the things which for me are happy memories of Italian holidays gone by. I had my characters making pasta and zabaglione, tasting liquers and Baci chocolates with yummy toasted hazlenut centres. Then there were the granitas and sorbets and the coffee..... Heaven!
The thing about setting for a magazine serial is of course that it can be anywhere. If I went on my holidays to Norway to see the Northern Lights, to an edgy built up city, to Egypt to see the pyramids, or on a cruise ship to see a whole continent that simply doesn't matter. As long as I was writing about people the reader cares about in situations they which are intriguing I would hopefully stand a chance of being able to run with my idea and seeing it go into print.Cara Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15972751301677687055noreply@blogger.com7