Nowhere you would know

 Setting - we have all read those reviews that say that the setting is almost a character in the book, but sometimes using real places is problematical. If you are writing fantasy, the place doesn't exist, if you are writing crime, residents might not take kindly to the idea of a succession of serial killers in their midst, or you might need to alter the geography a bit for reasons of plot - put a house where no house exists, or something bigger - a beach, an office block. That's where authors start messing with the landscape. It has a  posh title - world building.  Completely necessary in the case of fantasy writers. The rest of us - well, it's useful. 

The sea and the shoreline will be in the WIP
but not quite where it is now. 

It's in my mind because I'm doing that in the WIP. The geography is very loosely based on where I live, but there were lots of features I wanted that I have to add - and it's fun. It also occurred to me how many of my friends  and fellow authors do the same thing.  A setting that is real, but invented, if that makes sense. 

I've read reviews that have taken a very hard line with writers who interfere with real geography - I remember one, a long time ago, pointing out that a particular stretch of highway did not have a shopping centre alongside it. I think that, sadly, the book only got one star as a result. Although most readers are a little more forgiving - suspension of disbelief - anything that pulls a reader out of the story is a bad thing, which is why authors take refuge in "I made it up."  

And as I said. It is fun. It can also involve a lot of displacement activity - like the afternoon I spent drawing plans of the location of a house and garden that does not exist. And you know about authors and displacement activity ...

It's all in the background

 If you read romance - or crime for that matter - your main focus is, of course, on the story and the development of the characters. But what about the other things that add to the enjoyment of a book - what you might call texture?  I've been making a list from some of the romance books I have read recently.

Gardens seem to be a perennial favourite (See what I did there?) Often derelict, or with history.

Houses/buildings - inherited, falling down, haunted 

Animals - dogs and cats are the top players, but really anything with four legs will probably work, preferably cute and fluffy. 

Landscape - not location, which is a bigger thing, but those touches that tell you about the surroundings - the bleakness of the moor, the slickness of the New York apartment.

Food - we all need to eat and books that heavily involve the preparation and consumption of  delectable eats are a thing. A restaurant or bakery, or coffee shop or even just baked goods of some sort. Afternoon tea - a favourite of mine. 

Costume - knowing what a character is wearing can tell you a lot about the personality - the aging hippie, the buttoned up business man. 

Weather - I recently came across the term pathetic fallacy - which I haven't heard since studying poetry in Uni. It's attributing emotions to inanimate things - sadness and rain, sunshine and happiness. 

Family and friends - sometime found family. A source of support, or aggravation. More of this in a later post. 

Events - the village show, the opening of a museum, an ominous anniversary. 

All these - and you can probably add a lot more - pull the book together. They also tend to be the kind of things that need a bit of research. And you know all about authors and research ....

But that is completely another story. 

Memorable days!

 
Of course you know that today is Valentine's Day. The most romantic day of the year - or so the card shops and florists would have us believe. It's a day of red hearts and red roses. Also jewelry, sexy underwear, sweets and chocolates, cuddly toys, donuts, even a pork pie! Basically anything really that can have a heart fixed on it, be produced in red, or in a heart shape.  It is of course predictable that the cynics amongst us will mutter about consumerism but everyone else is just getting on with enjoying it, although it can, of course, be a sad occasion if you don't have anyone to celebrate with, for whatever reason.  

It's not the only 'romantic' date that happens in January and February though - the cold wet grey months of the year. This year is leap year - traditionally a time when women can propose. For those of us in Wales there was St Dwynwen's Day, the Welsh Valentine - rapidly catching up - Marks and Spencer was offering St Dwynwen's Day roses this  year.  Then in January there's the Eve of St Agnes - traditionally a time when girls might dream of their lovers, and the subject of  poem by Keats  and several Pre-Raphaelite paintings, telling the story of lovers Madeleine and Porphryro. If you are into the significant dates of the pagan year, at the beginning of February Imbolc is the start of the gradual unfolding of spring, the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. And St Brigid's Day, now a Bank Holiday in Ireland, celebrates the goddess of home and spring.

It is gradually getting lighter in the mornings and evenings, even if the weather may not be anything special. It's a time for hope, that spring and summer are not that far away.

Happy Valentine's Day. 

Stop press

Just an up date to say that my multi award winning debut romantic suspense NEVER COMING HOME as been re-issued with a new title and a new cover. It's still the same story. 

IF YOU ALREADY OWN IT, PLEASE DON'T BUY IT AGAIN! 

I hate to disappoint readers. 

If you haven't read it you can get it now on Kindle Unlimited. 

How it was.

How it is now.

Dual time lines

 Books with dual time lines - a thread set in the present - or near present - and one set in the past, are popular with readers. Two stories that  link together, where the past has consequences in the present. Juggling two narratives  can be complicated, but very satisfying to achieve. And as I said. readers like them. There is one issue though  that always comes up when a group of authors who write this kind of book get together - how to make the connection.  

The classic is the discovery of an old diary. Or a cache of letters.  A photo album might work, and possibly a portrait or a painting - but that is more likely to be used in a time slip or time travel when the protagonist ends up physically in another time.

The problem with classic is that it can feel like cliche. And no author likes to feel that they are offering their audience cliches. A lot of discussion goes into trying to think up something new, but it is hard, maybe impossible.

And really, does it matter? 

Readers are happy to find books that offer their favourite tropes.   Enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience and so on.  It is a positive choice. So if you read dual time line are the letters or the diary simply part of the 'trope' of the genre? Are they even part of what makes the style attractive to a reader? Are writers worrying too much about feeling cliched?

I'm currently debating the question because the book I am working on, while not strictly a dual time line does have an element of the past influencing the present and I have to make the connection. I have found a way, I'm not saying any more, because spoilers but it still depends on a paper record - not that far away from the letters and the diary.   But I really can't think of a way around that.