What I Have Learned From Actors by Victoria Chatham

 

 

 AVAILABLE HERE

As a writer, I have learned my craft from many sources. Books, workshops, sessions at conferences, other authors, and reading as much as I can from a range of genres and not only my genre of choice, Regency romance. One avenue that is often overlooked is watching movies.

I have to say I am an avid movie buff but, much as I now read differently, I also watch movies differently. I listen more to the dialogue, and I watch the actors' faces more, jotting down notes about their expressions. It is so easy so write that he/she grinned, winked, frowned, or twitched a smile. But what does somebody’s face actually look like while they are grinning, winking, frowning, or twitching a smile? What does that even mean?

Watching any good actor is a learning experience from the way they move to the timing and delivery of their lines. Think of the great dames: Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Emma Thompson. Another of my favourite UK actors is Maggie Steed. In the US, anything with Katherine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger - especially her seduction scene in the movie Appaloosa, Sandra Bullock, and Anne Hathaway is worth watching.  

As far as the male line-up goes, and I don't mind dating myself here, I hark back to the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Laurence Olivier. Denzel Washington, Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins are also up there, and the list could go on. I’m sure many will disagree with my choices and have their own favourites whether they are writers or not.

Old movies are available from many sources, and it was only recently that I was able to watch Casablanca and The Black Falcon all the way through without any interruption. I also like foreign movies such as the Deepa Mehta Elemental trilogy, Earth, Fire, and Water which looked at controversial issues and social reform in India.

 

I recently watched a 1980’s era movie, Withnail and I. Much like the American classic Easy Rider, it moved into something of a cult status. I had heard of it, but never watched it and wasn’t sure the story of two seemingly continually drunk, hapless, helpless out-of-work actors in London in 1969 was something I particularly wanted to watch, but I’m glad I did. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, and loosely based on Robinson’s own story, Withnail and I runs the gamut of emotions of friendship, love, sexuality, humour, letting go and loss. It is a tragi-comedy reminiscent of some of the works of Shakespeare. One of the final scenes shows the I character (never named in the movie) walking away from Withnail, played by Richard E Grant. The look on his face is a tour de force of despair, even to his flesh seeming to melt from his face. The monologue at the end, filmed at the wolf enclosure at the London Zoo, is one of the best ever.

The elements of great movies can be found in great books, and in many cases vice versa. Portraying the actors’ facial expressions in words to improve my own writing is an ongoing exercise, and one I shall continue to work at. 

 

Victoria Chatham

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Images from internet sources.

Choosing a setting by Dean L. Hovey

I recently visited Tuzigoot National Monument, in northern Arizona. It's a small US Park Service property compared to Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, and is off the beaten path. It contains ruins left by the Sinagua Indians in the 1100-1400 A.D. period, and has a treasure trove of artifacts being restored by a team of archaeologists. 

After waiting in line to speak with a ranger, I approached and asked, "Where would you hide a murder victim?" I could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't fielded that question before. After an awkward silence, I explained that I was a mystery writer looking for a future book setting.  His face brightened once he realized I wasn't a serial killer. He pulled out a map of the property and started marking it up.

"This dead end trail is a mile and a half long. We only get a handful of hikers a month who hike that trail in the winter. When the summer temperatures approach 100 degrees, hardly anyone goes back there."

I nodded and looked at a picture of the resident wildlife. "So, you might realize there was a dead body out there because the vultures would be attracted."

He was getting into it and jumped right in. "There'd be vultures, but the ravens and coyotes would probably be there first. Maybe the resident mountain lion or the bobcats might be drawn to it too."

I looked at the map and nodded. "Is that trail accessible by horse?"

"Horses aren't allowed on our trails." Then he hesitated. "But we close the entry gate at 4:45 and there aren't any residential rangers on site once we lock the visitor center. There's a trail along the river that's accessible by horseback from either the north or south and it links up with the trails inside the park."

I thanked him and walked a trail parallel to the dead end trail he'd indicated. As far as I could tell, there was no reason to use the other trail at all. The view wasn't great, just overlooking a marshy pond, and there were bushes and cacti that wanted to snag your clothing or scratch you. The signage warned there were rattlesnakes off the trail. (Having studied reptiles in college, I was reasonable certain that the rattlesnakes probably ignored the signs and crossed the trail when the rangers who erect the signs weren't looking.)

The ranger flagged me down when I returned to the visitor center. He went behind the counter and typed a password into his computer. "What's your name? Where can I find your books?"

After pulling up Stolen Past, the first Doug Fletcher mystery (published by BWL), he smiled as he read the blurb. "This is SO cool! I'll tell the superintendent and the other rangers. We'll probably each buy a different Fletcher mystery and pass them around."

I told him to look for a 2022 book set in Tuzigoot. He gave me permission to cite him as a resource in the acknowledgements, then added, "You might want to set a book at Montezuma's Castle National Monument. The ruins are only accessible by ladder. Visitors aren't allowed in them. BUT, if someone snuck in the park after hours and dropped a body into one of the pueblos..."

I thanked him, and added Montezuma's Castle to my list. It's now under consideration with Everglades National Park, Cypress National Preserve, Saguaro National Forest, Donner Camp National Historic Site, Little Bighorn Historic Battlefield, Big Bend National Park, and more.  There's a mystery to be solved in each of them. Now all I have to do is find the time to visit the locations and write the books!

Writing from the Wrong Side, a Heroine who fights for the British by Diane Scott Lewis

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

Tarred and feathered, tortured, hangings? That was often the fate of the Loyalists in America.

As an American, I should be fully behind the Patriots in the fight for freedom during the American Revolution. But writing about the establishment of New Brunswick in the Canadian Historical Brides series, I read numerous research on the Loyalists who fled the U.S. after being persecuted for backing King George III. Many settled in New Brunswick, forming a new colony.

That's stirred my interest in the Loyalists and their plight while still in the States.

I thought people would be offended by my telling this side of the story. To my surprise, they weren't. Even my Book Club loved the book. Especially the enigmatic Welshman, who takes Rowena on as a spy. Sexy guy!

Loyalists believed the country could never survive on its own, without the Mother Country. They thought the Patriots a ragtag group of trouble makers. In turn, the Patriots, anxious to be free of the tether of British laws, and taxes, considered the Loyalists traitors. Spies infiltrated both sides to see who was loyal to who. Plus, to gain troop movements to pass on to various commanders.

Also called Tories, the Loyalists consisted of one third of the thirteen original colonies. Their numbers were spread out in the colonies and came from differing classes, farmer to merchant. The Patriots ordered them to join the war to fight the British, or their properties would be subject to confiscation or burning. If Loyalists were captured in battle they were treated as traitors and often killed.

1774 British print of a Boston commissioner
being tarred and feathered.

My heroine's father is tarred and feathered in the novel's first scene. A true, particularly violent act occurred in 1775, in Georgia. Loyalist Thomas Brown was confronted on his property by the Sons of Liberty. Brown was beaten with a rifle, which fractured his skull. Strapped to a tree, stripped naked, hot pitch was poured over him, then he was set alight. Two of his toes were charred to stubs. Then the Patriots rolled him in feathers and scalped him.

Many fled north to Canada, especially after the war. Others were tortured or hanged. Out of desperation, some joined the Patriot side so they could remain in their homes.

                                        Loyalists refugees traveling to Canada by Howard Pyle

My heroine, Rowena, is a staunch Loyalist, along with her family. But as the war wears on, she wonders if she is on the right side. Do the Patriots have good reason to want independence?

"Rowena is a star. Bless Derec Pritchard who loves Rowena for who she is. Their chemistry is fabulous. Readers will love to read this alternative view of American history." InD'tale Magazine  

Find out more about me and my writing on my website: Dianescottlewis

Diane Parkinson (Diane Scott Lewis) is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Napoleonic Historical Society. She’s had several historical novels published. Her most recent is the Revolutionary War novel, Her Vanquished Land. 

Her upcoming novel Ghost Point, the 1950s Potomac oyster wars, love and betrayal, will be released in September.

Diane lives with her husband and one naughty dachshund in Western Pennsylvania.