Unusual research

 I'm an academic at heart. Which is why I gravitate to taking courses when I want to research something- or maybe just for fun. Alright, yes, I am a nerd. 

This term I am doing a course from the Cardiff University Lifelong Learning programme - evening classes to you and me. It is Neo Paganism, taught by one of my favourite tutors - folklore expert Dr Juliette Wood. She gave an entertaining talk last week as part of the University's regular monthly public zoom lecture series - not part of this course - on vampires. The history from classical times was traced all the way to modern depictions on film and in books. All the famous screen portrayals were mentioned - Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Tom Cruise, Robert Pattinson. Questions and discussion at the end went on for nearly half an hour including  whether it was possible for a vampire to be vegetarian. And as vampires are fictitious, why not?  I won't be writing any vampires in the near future - although I have been asked - and I have friends who write them. I have to say Christopher Lee is 'my' Dracula. I still remember the BBC's late night double bills of Hammer Horror on a Saturday evening. I was living in Uxbridge at the time and as many of the outdoor scenes were filmed in nearby Black Park a lot of location spotting went on. 

 But I digress. The ten weeks on Neo Paganism will cover a variety of topics. No vampires, but witches, druids, popular fiction, art, the Tarot cards ... I'm very interested in them, as they are playing a part in the book I hope eventually will emerge. The object of the course, as I understand it, is to trace how these occult topics have become a part of current popular culture. 

I'm looking forward to it and I'll keep you posted on what I learn. 

Wales romance day.

 Extra special post for 25th January. 

Forget St Valentine - today is St Dwynwen's Day! 

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

Using all the senses.

 Writers are reminded frequently to use all the senses, so that the reader gets a rounded experience. But applying it to viewing art is a new idea, 

Last week I made my first foray into the wide world of this year - all the way to Birmingham with a friend - to a small but fascinating exhibition at the Barber Institute. It was Pre-Raphaelite paintings, for which Birmingham is well known, but this time the exhibits had been curated with attention to what the pictures might smell like. I told  you it was a new idea. On a sunny morning we explored the university campus, where the Institute is located, with special attention to coffee shops and places to eat, and then the exhibition.

Not only had an effort been made to select paintings that suggested scent - flowers and incense in particular - but three fragrance had been created to accompany the exhibition - two for The Blind Girl, by Millais - two beggar girls, sitting in a field, with a rainbow overhead - and one for A Saint of the Eastern Church, by Simeon Solomon - a young acolyte holding a flower sprig and an incense burner. The theory behind the display was the Victorian interest in scent and smell - in particular the idea that miasma or bad air was responsible for such diseases as Cholera. It was pointed out that Victorian Britain was probably a much smellier place than it is now.  

Did the idea work? Not sure. I can't say that the scents for the Millais did much for me - no real suggestion of rain washed meadows, and the second one, meant to be the smell of the girl's shawl, would have been better depicted, for me, by the odour of wet wool!   I got more from the incense of the second canvas. 

I will say it was worth the visit. I got to see two paintings by Waterhouse  - my favourite Pre Raph - that I had not seen before. The theory of the exhibition was interesting and not something I had encountered previously. It was a reminder to look at paintings in more detail - to examine the setting and potential scents of flowers and other depictions in the painting, and also a reminder that authors should use the five senses when writing.

All in all an excellent day out.  

Titles - things aren't what they used to be?

 Have you noticed - or is it just me, that book titles are not quite so poetic, literary, romantic - in the fullest sense of the word, as they used to be? I'm thinking of some of Mary Stewart's -  Nine Coaches Waiting, This Rough Magic both from plays, Jane Aitkin Hodge's Watch the Wall my Darling - from a poem, a number of Agatha Christies from Shakespeare - By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Taken at the Flood . Shakespeare and the Bible are very popular in the past, but would we use them now? They sound fabulous, and to me enticing - but do they tell us what the book is about, except in a general way?

In the days of key words and algorithms it seems genre titles have become blunter. As the saying goes - the book's contents  is what it says on the tin.  The title tells the reader the protagonist - Daughter, Mother, Sister, Girl. The location - library, bookshop, bakery - often with the name of a (made up) place which  tells you whether it is English country village or small town America. A time - usually Christmas or summer. It can be a quote, but not from a poem but from a character in the book -   a threat or a promise to tell, of retribution, in the 'I know X about you' vein.. 'Murder' and 'death' are popular in crime. If you are writing Regency a duke is obligatory, made up, of course are there are not enough real ones to go round. One word titles - or two word with the addition of 'The' are striking.

 You see what I mean? Have a look. and a think, next time you are in the book aisle of the supermarket.  It doesn't apply universally - but I think it is noticeable - and it certainly gives the reader a clear idea of what they might be reading, and if they will like it. 

Also - do we read plays, poems, Shakespeare, the Bible as much as we did - are we less likely to recognise a classic quote? 

A simple title has it's virtues. 

Well, what about it 2025?

 New year - a time for the start of wonderful things? 

At this time of year I actually feel drawn to the idea of being a bear - an excuse to eat a lot, and sleep, also a lot. Despite the passing of the solstice it is still dark ... and cold. Humans are expected to greet the new year with gusto - resolutions, life plans, new leaves  to be turned over - all that stuff. When the new year comes in, my mind always turns to the Gate of the Year poem by Minnie Louise Haskins which talks about walking into the unknown. It was used in the King's Christmas broadcast in 1939, the first Christmas of the Second World War, and created quite a stir. My grandmother had a text - I think published by a newspaper - in a frame. My mother would recite it to herself when she had to go out in the dark of the blackout to go to work and when she got married asked my grandmother if she could have it. I grew up with it and read it at her funeral - didn't really read it as I also knew it by heart. It was also apparently read at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. All this is very sombre - but a new year is a step into the unknown. 

What is on the horizon? A few things I know will be different - neither the Romantic Novelists' nor the Crime Writers' Association  are having conferences this year, but other events are springing up, taking their place.  I don't currently have a book in production - although I hope that will change by the end of the year. I am having a lot of work done on the the house to keep it and me from falling over, which is exciting and nerve racking, as these things are. Also expensive! 

So - no resolutions as experience has shown that you never know what is before you. Hopes and plans, yes. 

If you have made resolutions I wish you every success. if not, then we will muddle through together and enjoy the months as they pass. 

Happy New Year. 

Happy New Year

 

Wishing all my readers the very best for 2025.