A Writer's Melting Pot by Victoria Chatham

 AVAILABLE HERE

Beginning a new book is always an exciting project for me. There are places to research, houses to build, characters to create and plots to devise, all or some of which may eventually find their way onto my pages. 

I start with my characters, getting to know them as I build their backstories, their life histories with all their strengths and weaknesses, failures and successes. Whether I am writing historical or contemporary Western romance, my character questionnaire follows the same pattern. The characters have to reflect their era, so I'm careful about naming them, and if I'm writing a Regency romance, then I have to make sure my characters' titles are correct.

Next, I work on my settings, the stage on which my characters perform. My Regencies have a mix of city and rural settings because the peerage split their time between London, for when Parliament was in session, and their country estates when it adjourned. The busiest time, known as the Season, was between Easter and when the House adjourned in July. By then, most people were keen to get out of town because of the smell.

Country estates are lovely to create, and many of my imaginary ones come from illustrations in books like Country Houses From the Air or The English Country House and the very useful Georgian and Regency Houses Explained. I have floor plans for country houses and smaller but no less impressive townhouses. From there, I can create my settings with a measure of accuracy and viability. What might be included on any of these estates as far as farms and crops are concerned, are all gleaned from internet searches for letters and records of the big houses, some of them going back hundreds of years, and depend on what part of the country (being England, Scotland, or Wales) the estate is. Building styles change somewhat from county to county depending on what materials are available or how wealthy the lord of the manor might be.

Weather, with all the light and shade that comes with it, plays a part in my settings, too. For information

on a particular year, I start with a visit to https://premium.weatherweb.net/weather-in-history, and to pin-point a timeline for where my characters are, I consult https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1818&country=9. The weather can affect so many aspects of my character’s mood. If it’s warm and sunny, then likely she is too. If it’s raining, all sorts of events can transpire from that. Think Marianne Dashwood getting soaked in the rain in Sense and Sensibility. Rain heralded my hero’s arrival in Folkestone in my book His Dark Enchantress. It fit his mood and the seriousness of the situation in which his wife, my heroine, had been abducted.

Plants and flowers play a part, too, and for this, I use a Reader’s Digest book of English flora, plus Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. It pays to know what plants grow in which part of the country because someone will surely call you out if have a daffodil growing where it never would or a lark singing in central London as this is a bird that likes open countryside.

How I dress my characters also comes into play, and for this, I use an Illustrated Encyclopedia of Costume, Fashion in Jane Austen’s London and just because, The History of Underclothes. When I go home to the UK for a visit, I'll go to museums. One of my favourites is the Costume Museum in Bath. YouTube can be particularly useful, especially clips like Undressing Mr. Darcy. I guess I’m a bit of a nerd because I do enjoy research, and if I come across a particularly interesting snippet, it makes my day. Whether I can use it or not in a book becomes another matter altogether.

I'm fortunate to live in Alberta, Canada. Touring the Rockies, visiting small towns and their museums, and going to rodeos have all helped with my Western settings. It's said a picture is worth a thousand words, and I have many photographs of mountains and rivers, open prairie and dusty badlands. I've interviewed cowboys and stock contractors and once spent a day on a working ranch where the owner was quite shocked to hear that I had never seen a moose. "There was one down in the muskeg this morning," he said. So off we went in a well-worn pick-up truck to find the moose. After driving around for an hour, there was no sign of said moose, so we looked at some of his stock and went back to the ranch house for coffee.

Most authors are people watchers, but in addition to watching, I like talking to them, too. You never know what might come up in conversation. Someone might throw away a line that you know you just have to fit into your dialogue somewhere, as in Legacy of Love, where one cowboy asks, "Are you being straight with me?" and the answer is "straighter than a yard of pump water." Writing is a joy and a challenge, sometimes a frustration, but never, ever, boring as all the elements that make a story come together in the melting pot of this author's mind. Oh, and the new book? Look out for Loving Georgia Caldwell coming this fall.

Victoria Chatham

  AT BOOKS WE LOVE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A "touch" of humor

A reader (who I'll call Larry) texted me early this morning to say he'd paused while reading the "Peril in Paradise" ending because he was laughing so hard. Deeply into a draft of "Whistling Fireman", an upcoming October release, I tried to recall any humor I'd inserted into the "Peril in Paradise" ending. The mystery was quickly solved when he sent me a screenshot of the page where Doug Fletcher and his former boss were discussing the state of Fletcher's kitchen cupboard. In the book's opening, Fletchers had purchased a new house but were dispatched to Hawaii before unpacking the boxes. In their absence, Jill Fletcher's best friend, Mandy, had unpacked for them, arranging things in the "proper" manner, as taught during Mandy's debutante training.

Doug was taken aback by the alphabetization of their spice collection. The reader accompanied his text with a picture of their spice collection. His wife had also alphabetized their spice cupboard. Larry contended that his wife was not a debutante, but more likely suffered from OCD.

I LOVE receiving that kind of feedback. Knowing that some quirky line sparked someone's laughter is heartwarming. 

One of the hallmarks of the Doug Fletcher series is the banter between Doug and Jill. They argue, kid, and cajole each other. They suffer through embarrassing moments with their families. I try to make the characters "human", with the real strengths and faults we all have. The Fletcher reviews often comment on the humor and how real the characters feel. One reader said he'd like to invite Jill and Doug over for a beer and conversation. Another wished her family was as nice as the Fletcher and Rickowski families are. A third reader approached me, expressing concern about the future of Jill and Doug's relationship after an uncertain moment between them at the end of "Washed Away." Luckily, they were back in the following book, kidding each other about Texas barbecue and a flirtatious waiter.

The Fletcher books aren't humorous cozies. There are dark moments with detailed discussions of death scenes and bodies. That said, I like using intimate moments, family interactions, and humor to soften the darker parts of the books. As a reader, I hope that approach appeals to you. As I said in an earlier post, I'm just recording what Jill and Doug say to me.

Hovey, Dean - BWL Publishing Inc. (bookswelove.net)

I interview my character, Norah. How could she find a connection to the German Commandant? by Diane Scott Lewis

 

To purchase Outcast Artist in Bretagne, click HERE

It is fun to dig deeper into your characters. An interview to let them speak for themselves is always intriguing to write. Here they can talk directly, and answer uncomfortable questions if need be.

Interviewer. "I'm sitting here with Miss Norah Cooper in the small village of Saint Guenole in Brittany. Miss Cooper, you were trapped in France after the Germans invaded, visiting your cousin for personal reasons, and now you just want to go home to England. You're an artist and decided to draw the Major, the man in charge of the occupation. Why was that?"

"He offered me a great amount of money, and I needed to pay my way." Norah brushes a hand through her strawberry-blonde hair in quick strokes. "My cousin's husband threatened to demand I leave. I was eating their food. But I really had no place to go at the time."

"You didn't find this idea with the Major repulsive?"

"Yes, at first. But the Major surprised me." Norah smiles, looking a little embarrassed. "He was very kind, and then I learned a secret about him that really changed my mind."

"And what was that?"

"He hates Hitler's policies. Plus he brought more food to the village after I asked him to." Norah sighs. "He wanted the war to end and live a peaceful life."

"Then an attraction grew between you two?"

"Slowly." Norah gazes around. "When we got to know each other better. I never thought I'd find anyone who cared about me as much as he does. He felt the same after an arranged marriage. His wife died two years ago. And I had my...unfortunate experience."

"Weren't you afraid of being ostracized? Shunned by your family?"

"I am ostracized. The villagers, my cousins. My family in England doesn't yet know. It is very difficult. I went to live in the gardener's abandoned cottage." Norah leans close. "The Major, August, he told me a terrible weapon was on its way. And he planned to disable it so it wouldn't be used against my country."

"I see. Very commendable. Then you fell in love with him?"

Norah smiles again, though it's a little sad. "We fell in love. As crazy as that sounds. I discovered the man he really is, inside. We have a passionate relationship. But I knew it would be perilous."

"Do you have plans for a future?"

"He has to complete his sabotage. I got involved with forging documents to help escaping Jews. We kept secrets. But our love is strong." Norah presses her fingers to her cheeks. "We speak of escaping to Switzerland. But there are so many obstacles. Threats of arrest. Even a firing squad. I still hope we can have our happy ending. Or maybe I'm being naïve."

Interviewer. "I hope you can find a happy ending in the midst of war. Thank you for explaining your situation to me."


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

Holiday reading...by Sheila Claydon

Find my books here

I will be on holiday in Singapore when this is published and although it is a family visit, which I know will include more card and board games than I actually want but, as a good grandmother, I will play, my mind has already turned to holiday reading.

Some of the books I've most enjoyed I've discovered on holiday, not because I've chosen and taken them with me but because I've found them on the pre-loved shelf in a hotel or on a cruise ship, visited a secondhand bookshop in a newly discovered town or village, or, on one occasion, bought in a sale in a National Trust stately home. 

When I'm at home my book choices are mostly governed by conversations with friends, titles I've read about, what is on the suggestion table at the library or a book giftedly by someone. On holiday it is different. I go with the flow, open to anything that looks interesting, and over the years this has introduced me to authors I'd never heard of whose books have given me immense pleasure.  Whether such a laissez-faire attitude will be possible in Singapore I don't know, but I hope so. 

Often the books I write are set in places where I've been on vacation because my other holiday activity is taking in the atmosphere, the scenery and the people, learning about the culture and enjoying the food. So much so that the tagline on my website is a ticket to romance!

While nearly every one of my novels is linked to somewhere I have visited, the two that offer the reader the best means of holiday escape are Cabin Fever and Reluctant Date. I visited and enjoyed the places featured in the books so much that I just had to write about them. 

Cabin Fever takes the reader from London to New Zealand and then on a cruise to Australia and back again, while Reluctant Date is set on the North West coast of the UK and an idyllic Florida key, with a trip to the Swanee River thrown in. Sometimes I take these, and others, down from the shelf in my study and re-read them to remind myself of past times and why I had to write the story. I hope that while I am in Singapore I will be equally inspired...and maybe I'll find another of those serendipitous books as well.

Help! My Characters Lied. by Helen Henderson

Fire and Amulet
Helen Henderson
Click the title for purchase information

As a writer who tends to be more plotter than pantser, the relationship with my characters usually develops in a certain way. We meet and the characters tell me a little of their background and hopefully their goals. The one thing they don't always tell me up front is their name. But that is the subject of an earlier post. Then after some preliminary plotting, the characters are comfortable enough to trust me and they take over the telling their story and I am related to the position of scribe.

However, even after I pried their names out of them, the characters of Fire and Amulet fought me every inch of the story. 

When Fire and Amulet was released, I thought the fighting was over. The first sections of the sequel's journey were set in my mind and I had a cast of characters so the plotting part was done and it was time to become an explorer, following the trail that had been laid until the path ends. At that point the characters were supposed to take over and all I had to do was follow as they blazed a trail through the twisted jungle.

Then Brial and Karst said, "Stop the wagons. We are important too. Tell our story." I agreed and started the 2024 release, Fire and Redemption.

As to the title of this post? While Karst's background and his kin were uncovered in the first book, Brial's extended clan was not. But they need to appear in the new work ... and so the fight begins again. 

Several characters in the first book are Brial's kin (a fact they failed to mention earlier.) Now they need to be meshed into the rest of the clan. Blending the positions on the family tree and relationships between the village and trader branches means a battle between what had already been said and the unsaid. 

Even after the family tree is charted, there still needs to be calculations to make sure the ages work. A grandmother at twenty does not fit the culture. And a seventy-five-year-old mage would not be as spry and active as the story requires.

The information the characters told me in Fire and Amulet and what I recorded in the series bible is not necessarily true. Surprise, surprise, my characters lied. I'm off to check out the past and see how old Betrys, Keyne, and Feldt really are. Then its drawing Brial's family tree.

To purchase Fire and Amulet

~Until next month, stay safe and read.   Helen

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky who have adopted her as one the pack. Find out more about her and her novels on her BWL author page.