This past weekend was special for me as I attended an online interview hosted by Bloody Scotland between Stephen King and Linwood Barclay. As you all know by now, I am a huge King fan – his ability to immerse his readers into a story immediately is such a skill. You become invested in his characters and their plight.
This interview is one of many I have watched with Mr. King, and in all of them it is his sense of humour that makes them such a delight. Obviously, his words of writing wisdom are also gratefully received too. In this interview, Stephen did mention a slight revision to his latest work, Billy Summers, as the book was originally set in 2020 and we all know what happened then! So he backtracked a year to avoid difficulties in the protagonist’s journey.
I read half the novel over the weekend! It is really good and not the ‘horror’ that many believe is all Stephen can write. It is a character study of an assassin and his last ‘job’ and the unexpected events he finds himself coping with.
In other news my publicist, Creative Edge Publicity, has been spreading the word about me and my novels. I have been highlighted in these places, if you care to take a look.
Thank you all for continuing to follow me. I have a favour to ask.
Which character from my books would you like me to interview. I have already interviewed Evan from Life in Slake Patch and Lenni from Creature Hunt on Planet Toaria. So who is next?
Last week, I was rather popular with two podcast interviews. The first with A Hot Take on Thursday with Jenna Greene and Miranda Oh and then another with Alive After Reading with Tim Niederriter You can find the links here:
Apologies for the barking dogs halfway through! An interesting chat covering writing inspirations, genre writing, incorporating personal interests into your writing and more.
I just finished My Ghosts by Mary Swan and loved the adeptly written internal dialogue of the characters.
Review: I enjoyed the inner character perspective of this narrative, it was written well with an excellent sense of place and time.
What are you reading? Can you share your last book review?
Movies I have recently watched include:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8079248/ Yesterday – not only is the music superb obviously, it’s The Beatles after all, but the fact it was a new idea/plot.
Although, this celebration was yesterday, any day is ‘read a book day’ – won’t you agree? I thought it would be fun to see what kind of reader you are. My reading habits are eclectic across many genres (I write that way too), so I think the closest is extrovert reader for me.
Please put your answer in the comments.
I have booked my ticket for a virtual interview hosted by Bloody Scotland – Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival of Stephen King, as you all know he is my ultimate writing hero. I am so excited for this event, not just because it’s Stephen but also because I am in the midst of writing a crime trilogy.
We have looked at how book covers change from country to country, but how many titles have changed? Do you know?
I have altered a couple of my own titles as the story evolved and a better title came to mind. Initially, when I was writing my YA novella, Creature Hunt on Planet Toaria, the main character, a robotic protector was my focus. The working title was Bubble the Grubble as the initial story concept was for a younger audience. As the narrative formed it was obvious that the story would appeal to an older readership. So I changed the title to reflect that.
The other title, I changed was The Commodore’s Gift. Initially, this story was a writing exercise prompt on a writing retreat, using a random title. I was assigned ‘The Toymaker’ and wrote about Marcus, an exceptional toy-maker, and his capture by the Commodore. The completed story was 7900 words. Although, Marcus is still part of the completed novel, his role is significantly reduced.
Did you know the former titles for these famous novels?
First Impressions Became Pride and Prejudice. All’s Well That Ends Well Became War and Peace. The Un-Dead Became Dracula. The High-Bouncing Lover Became The Great Gatsby.Tomorrow Is Another Day Became Gone with the Wind. The Last Man in EuropeBecame 1984. The Return of the ShadowBecame The Fellowship of the Ring. Strangers from Within Became Lord of the Flies. Second Coming Became ’Salem’s Lot.
Can you add to this list?
I attended an in-person event on Friday, the first since the pandemic began with members of my writing group. It was a local fun day for culture and sport. The main focus was to present the winner’s of our annual children’s writing contest with a book, which included their stories. As you can imagine it was a fun watching these young writers see their writing in a published book. We also promoted the monthly children’s writing workshop, so they can continue writing and improving their skills. Currently, the event is held virtually, so it is not limited to who can attend. Details are on the calendar. https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/ The workshops are held the second Thursday of every month. 6.30 pm MST
My current read is My Ghosts by Mary Swan, the book I found in a small bookstore while traveling. I am enjoying the author’s style and get a real sense of the main protagonist and her plight. It is of particular interest to me as I too emigrated. Getting to know the customs, language and manner of another country is a remarkable journey for anyone. The novel character’s are from Scotland and travel to Toronto, Canada, while I was from England and came to Edmonton, Canada. You might think that there could be no language differences, but you would be wrong. For example, in England the front of a car is a bonnet but in Canada a hood, or the rear is a boot but here a trunk. I know a sidewalk as a pavement and a wrench as a spanner. This last item puzzled my Canadian work colleagues, when I first asked for one, but when I described it, I was informed the item was indeed a wrench not a spanner.
Languages are a combination of settlers and native inhabitants own language, which is assimilated into common use over generations. Accents are closely related to specific areas, where the majority of inhabitants are from a common location that influences dialect development. This can be from invasions, an influx of settlers or workers to the area and in modern times the use of slang has become incorporated. Another influence is class, where an upper class person will speak differently from a lower class person. It is the influence of their peers that affects their accent.
While writing a story, a writer has to be conscious of the dialect of an area they are writing about or indeed the origins of the character. I find no problem in writing English dialects and accents as I have known them for most of my life. However, as I write my Canadian detective series, I am conscious of word usage and slang. I have to check with my author friends as to the names of certain things. Once example is I use dado rail in a paragraph, but no-one knew what it was until I described it. Then it was clear the word I needed to use was chair rail.
Some author’s have a ‘key’ at the back of their fiction books, most commonly found in fantasy stories. However, I am sure that most readers can understand the ‘new’ words due their context within a sentence or paragraph and the repeated use. Obviously, we are used to a glossary in a non-fiction book, whil ewe study a subject.
Have you read a book with noticeable language differences to your own?
Did you find it easy to read or puzzling?
Was there a glossary at the back of the book? Did it hinder your reading or help?
