WHEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? By Vijaya Schartz

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WHITE TIGER on amazon
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A book can take you wherever and whenever you like. We are bound to the present, and the reality of our existence, but when we read, we can escape and learn about a different time and place. Some of us like to revel in the past, others prefer their entertainment in the future. As a historical and science fiction author and fan, I love both… and to me, they are very similar.

Some readers dream about living in slower times, simpler times… when people worked with their hands, and took the time to plant trees, grow their own food, smell the flowers and bake their own bread. Sounds idyllic, right? As writers, however, we have the responsibility to research the period, discover the truth, and write the reality of those times. The people in those days died much younger. Swords didn’t kill as many as automatic guns, but there was also tyranny, social inequalities, enslavement, exploitation, revolutions, famines, pestilences, the din of battle, the smell of horse sweat and burning homes... vultures swooping over gory battlefields. You get the picture.

CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE MEDIEVAL CELTIC LEGENDS SERIES ON AMAZON

Other readers dream of future times, when we have resolved our petty differences, to explore the confines of space in shiny starships and establish colonies on faraway planets. It also sounds good... until we realize that space is a dangerous, inhospitable place, and we are not alone out there. Our prejudices now apply to other species we call aliens. Our world may have expanded, but the main conflicts remain the same. Competing for essential resources, survival vs. greed… sounds familiar? Except that the stakes are higher, since our weapons can destroy entire planets.

ANGEL FIERCE
AZURA CHRONICLES
ON AMAZON

BLACK DRAGON SET
ON A SPACE STATION
ON AMAZON

 

Whenever and wherever we are, there is good and evil, courage and cowardice, selflessness and greed… and whether it’s a human or an alien world, conflicts will arise. Which is good for us writers, because without conflict there is no story. I’m often told that my imagination knows no bounds, but to me, writing a story is only a matter of logic. I start from what I know from extensive research, then I put myself in my characters’ shoes, sandals, or combat boots. Who are these people? How do they live? What do they want? What do they fear? Who do they love? Then I live their lives in my head, like a 3D movie, and I write their struggles, hopes, defeats, victories, and rewards. 

I have been known to write action, adventure and romance, featuring fierce women, brave heroes, and cats. These are only a few of my latest releases. Find the full list on my website or on my author page at each retailer below:

amazon  -  B&N  -  Smashwords  -  Kobo  

Vijaya Schartz, author
 Strong heroines, brave heroes, romance with a kick
 www.vijayaschartz.com
  

Thoughts on a movie-Tricia McGill

Find all my books here on my BWL Author page

The other day I watched a movie called ‘Green Book’. I previously had no idea what this movie was about or what to expect from it. Being brought up in London in the 40s and onwards I was ignorant about racial prejudice and its effect on people. I should rephrase that. I knew about religious prejudice of course, as my mother had strong opinions about certain religions and I could never really understand this, and still do not. I had no idea how her opinions were formed or why. It was just something I never questioned. Ideally, we all want to live in a world where all races and colours get on with each other and find a way to live peaceably together, but it seems inevitable that this wish may never come to pass.

The movie is set in the 60s and concentrates on a journey taken by Don Shirley, a musical genius I have to admit I had never heard about. An extremely talented Jamaican-American, he was set on touring the Deep South in the pre-Civil Rights era. The Green Book in the title of the movie contained information on the places a black traveller could safely stay or dine while touring that part of the country. Thank goodness, times have changed. The sound track contains many tunes that were popular in that era, and added a great atmospheric background to the film. Details on the soundtrack can be found here:

 https://open.spotify.com/album/4VgBFfzmGO4xN6FwkuznGS

The driver/protector he hired was a nightclub bouncer called by all Tony Lip, and the differences between the two men is stark. They became unlikely friends by the end of the movie. Tony’s wife, Delores, was a delightful woman who loved her man despite his brash and often crude manner. For me one of the standout parts of the movie were the love letters Tony sent back to Delores, which Don coached him on how to write.

The main reason this story resonated with me is that in my latest release, Challenging Mountains, I dwell briefly on the struggle our Indigenous Australian people suffered in the early days when settlers took over the land they had nurtured and called their own for centuries. When Tim sets out to travel across the land from Sydney to the new settlement down south that would become Melbourne, Jo, a headstrong young woman intent on finding adventure, joins him. She brings along a companion who was taken from his family as a child and sees this journey as a chance to catch up with members of his lost tribe. But after years of living amongst white folk, he finds he has lost his true identity and belongs totally with neither the black or the white.

A short clip from the book:

The native lad sat alone, his back against a solid eucalyptus, so Tim went to his side. Along the way, the boy had barely spoken more than a few words. What words he did utter could not be criticised, for he sounded as if he too had shared in Jo’s lessons and was as well-spoken as some men Tim knew who had attended King’s School alongside him. “Tell me, Billy…” Tim said as he sat beside him. “Do you have a notion of where you might find members of your lost kinsfolk?”

Billy shook his dark head. His hair was as black as the night sky and as curly as a sheep fleece. “No sir, I was told my people came from down south.” He rubbed his chin as he shrugged. “A lot of my kind have been killed, so perhaps I may never find my close kin.”

“That’s sad.” Tim meant that sincerely. He could not comprehend a life without knowing his family, or where he came from.

Web Page

Life Without Cell Service

https://books2read.com/Rough-Business

I am crazy about my smartphone. It helps me run my life. Perhaps it actually runs my life and I just didn’t realize it. I sit today in rural Alberta with service that is at best spotty.

So, has my situation brought to light the control my mobile has over me? Has it perhaps been created by my mobile so I will think about how much I appreciate the connectivity when I get back to the semi- real world.

Hang on. That would mean that it is so advanced that it is controlling its control over me.

Now I’m craving three or four bars so I can search the possibility that I am hoodwinked into all of this to keep my mind from thing just that. Now I’m wondering if it has subtly coaxed me to use a word like hoodwinked so I am distracted on more than one level to maintain a firm grip on my typing fingers.

What do I make of that last sentence? Where am I?

Now, that’s what I call a smart phone.

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Listen to Your Characters by Victoria Chatham

AVAILABLE HERE

When talking to readers who do not write, the question of how an author creates characters is often raised. 

I am quite fortunate in that I don't often have problems visualizing them. I get the hair and eye colour, their body type even before I have named them; I write out a timeline for them and create their birthday. Using astrological signs is one way of determining their strengths and weaknesses which is often an indication of how the conflict in the story might develop. If they have siblings can also affect their character depending on where they come in the lineup. A firstborn, for instance, is often an A-type personality.

The one thing that often causes an 'oh, yeah', kind of look is when I say I listen to my characters and go where they take me. But, if you are the author, I'm asked, how that can be? Don't you just have them do this or that and move them around like pieces on a chessboard? Well, no. That would lead to creating a cast of cardboard characters, so I do not ignore what they tell me. All of my characters are very different. Emmaline in His Dark Enchantress and Juliana in His Ocean Vixen, are both pretty feisty, outside the box kind of gals. Olivia, in His Unexpected Muse, is quite the opposite. She has reasons for being quiet and shy and I found it much more of a challenge to tell her story. 

I love each of my leading ladies. They have made me laugh, given me headaches, surprised me in some of the things they have done but never, ever, bored me. I hope that comes across in my writing and that my readers enjoy my characters as much as I do.

Victoria Chatham

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