HOW WRITERS BUILD WORLDS - CREATING FICTIONAL COMMUNITIES

Characters cannot float in space. They need a world to walk in, to talk in, and to live their lives joyously

I start with the characters:

• I ask them what type of community they live in.

• I find places with those ingredients and use the pieces.

• I add family, friends, and enemies.

• I provide jobs on the main street; homes on side streets.

• I surround the place with roads, beaches, parks, or businesses.

• I daw a map of the village or town.

For Caleb's Cove, I looked to Nova Scotia's south shore islands, ocean-side markets, and beaches. I sprinkled in hurricanes, boats, history, and ghosts. (The Caleb Cove Mysteries - 4 books)

Writers can be inspired by characters or an event, but as the story evolves the characters need a place to live. The setting is a character in its own right and often dictates the direction in the story. Some writers set books in real places. In a large city, this works. However, using a smaller, limited population creates privacy issues and limits events. The solution is to create a fictional community to showcase the story.

Inspiration # 1 - Tancook Island, Nova Scotia, Canada 

Three real locations provided inspiration, visuals, and ambiance for Caleb's Cove. (Book 2 Came Home to a Killing )

However, all people and story events are products of my writer's imagination and other than the awesome ocean setting, bear no connection to any real person in the three background communities.

Tancook Island started it all. I've had a fascination with Tancook for decades. My sister-in-law's mother worked on Little Tancook and I loved her stories and the name. At eight I thought it a great setting for a mystery and wrote (longhand in a Hilary Scribbler) The Mystery on Tancook Island.

Accidentally, or at the bidding of  my unconscious, my first published novel was set on an island off Nova Scotia. Additional details and ideas for Caleb's Cove came from Tancook and two other Nova Scotia locations. And now there are four books in total in the series.

“Sweeping his gaze from left to right Greg checked the altered sandy strip, the docks and the rocky protrusions. The waves still arched and crested against the land, splashing through gaps in the boardwalk and sucking back to display the damage. In the harbor beyond, white caps revealed the sea’s continued turmoil. The rhythmic roar and whoosh were primal. He’d wait for calmer seas before launching the dory even if she was designed for rough waters. And you? What are you waiting for?”

Came Home Dead 

Book 3 - Came Home Too Late 

Book 4 - Came Home from the Grave

February The Shortest Month of the Year by Rosemary Morris

For more information on Rosemary's books please click the cover above.

February the Shortest Month of the Year

“February brings the snow.
“Makes our feet and fingers glow.”

3rd and 4th lines of a nursery rhyme. Anonymous.

Hertfordshire. S. East England. 2019
Extracts from My Garden Diary
6th February. First thing in the morning a baby blue sky and sunshine followed by banks of cloud rimmed with gold. Later the sky darkened, and baby snowflakes fluttered to the ground. I wish I was as tolerant in every condition of my life as the trees and plants.
8th February. Patchy snow on the raised beds. Light frost changing the hue of the grass from bright green to silvery green. My nose glowed red when I ventured outside.
* * *
Miscellaneous.
The origin of February’s name is either from the ancient Italian God, Februus or februa purification festivals observed in Rome.
Aquarius is the sign of the zodiac for those born between the 1st and 18th. People born between the 19th and 28th/29th are influenced by Pisces. Violets, primroses, and irises are the month’s birth flowers. The birthstone is amethyst, symbol of piety, humility, sincerity and spirituality.
The Roman Catholic church dedicates February to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
2nd February.
This the day on which it is thought Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord in the temple.
Shrove Tuesday. Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday is on the first Tuesday before Lent. During the two previous days, known as shrove tide, Christians confess/ed their sins. On this day pancakes are made with eggs, which symbolise creation, flour, the staff of life, salt considered wholesome and milk for purity. This day was one of revelry and pancakes are still served in many homes.
Ash Wednesday the Beginning of Lent
Ash Wednesday lasts for forty days which represent the days Jesus spent in the wilderness. At church the priest or minister might mark Christian’s foreheads with the sign of the Cross, with ashes from palms burnt in the previous year after Palm Sunday. This is a sign of mourning and repentance. It also represents the cross Jesus sacrificed his life on. As a child during Lent I was encouraged to renounce sweets, which made chocolate Easter eggs very welcome.
14th February - St Valentine’s Day
There are several saints called Valentine but the martyrdom of two falls on this day. In times past it was believed birds mate on this day and sweethearts were chosen. The custom of sending anonymous cards developed from that belief.

Classic Historical Fiction by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess

Regency Novels. False Pretences. Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week Books One to Six, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child, Thursday’s Child, and Friday’s Child. (The novels in the series are not dependent on each other, although events in previous novels are sometimes referred to and characters reappear.) Saturday’s Child will be published in July 2020.

Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

https;//bwlpublishing.net/authors/rosemary-morris-rosemary-historical-uk/

The Destruction of Port Royal by Katherine Pym

Buy Here

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Port Royal, Jamaica 1690

First, a little history of the town…

Port Royal (changed in 1660 from Point Cagway) was a village in Jamaica, taken by the English in 1655.  The town had a natural deep harbor perfect for ships, but there was little to defend it. Houses dotted the landscape up the hills and down to the water, some with stilts in the sand, their houses standing in the tidal swells.

A couple forts were built, but that was not enough to keep the Spanish at bay, so the inhabitants contacted the Brethren of the Coast, a pirate union of sorts, and invited them to settle there. Port Royal boomed. Soon 6,500 souls resided there. Ships in the harbor and a lively town with men known for their swashbuckling, rough ways were a deterrent for anyone thinking to come ashore and cause havoc.

Port Royal After quake

Before long Port Royal became a haven for pirates with brothels and lawlessness. Merchants bought and sold what the pirates dragged ashore, but this wild life had its comeuppance, with a final, deadly end.  

June 7, 1692 life in Port Royal changed forever. Just before noon a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit Jamaica, its epicenter in the hills above the town. The ground suffered liquidation, sinking buildings, animals, trees and streets. Geysers erupted. When the town collapsed, a large tsunami crashed onto the island, taking a ship with it. 40 feet high on the wall of water the ship throttled inland to rest on a ruined building. Unearthed corpses floated amongst the debris. Landslides prevailed. Except for the ship perched on an old building, what remained of Port Royal sank into the sea. 

Over 5000 died. Looting and violence took over. Of those who survived the initial destruction, many later succumbed to their injuries or illness.

Port Royal Before the quake

Port Royal After the quake

As a species, people are enduring. They usually rebuild after a catastrophe, and many tried to rebuild Port Royal, but one disaster after another struck, hurricanes, fire, more earthquakes. What remains today is insignificant compared to the late 17^th century.

Today, you can swim over the sunken city, and see rooftops not far below. In the past years, archaeological digs have explored the remains. Interesting finds have surfaced. “In 1969, Edwin Link discovered the most famous artifact: a pocket watch dated 1686, stopped at exactly 11:43 (a.m.).”

~*~*~*~

Many thanks to:

Wikicommons public domain.

‘Port Royal, Jamaica, Sunken Pirate City at Port Royal, Nature took her revenge on the "Wickedest City in the World."’ https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sunken-pirate-stronghold-at-port-royal

History Channel:

“Earthquake destroys Jamaican pirate haven”

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquake-destroys-jamaican-pirate-haven

‘The History of Port Royal, Jamaica”

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-port-royal-2136379Bottom of Form

o    

Up to my ____ in Edits! by Diane Bator

Introducing my New Release:  Dead Without Shame

Once more, Gilda considers leaving the karate school to work for her friend Happy (no one has ever called him Harvey). When three men rob Happy Harvey’s Hangover Hut killing the woman at the front counter, Gilda is stunned to think that could have been her. Was this a mere robbery, or does someone have a vendetta against Happy, including his good friend Gary del Garda? The evidence keeps piling up while both her mother and another karate instructor come to town bearing secrets that may cost Gilda the life she loves in Sandstone Cove.

You can find it at:  https://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

I'm up to my ___ in edits! I was blessed to be able to go to Mississippi and Louisiana with my honey to visit two of my sons and one of their girlfriends. Visiting New Orleans and Biloxi was a great way to spend the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately, it was not conducive to editing.

I was supposed to be working on finishing and editing my newest release Dead Without Shame. I had the book printed, I had 18 hours in the car... Just not the drive to get it done!

Some writers dread edits. I have to admit that I actually like the editing phase of the whole writing process. I like reading my stories and being able to make changes and tighten things up before I submit the book to my publisher. The opportunity to bring flat characters to life and color the settings to make them more real, is something I enjoy doing, especially in a little coffee shop or on the beach at my honey's cottage.

One piece of advice I would offer any writer, no matter what level, is to edit, edit, edit. We all miss things. The little typos your eyes don't see after sitting at the computer for hours on end. The kink in your story's flow of having things happen before they logically should. After days, months, or even years of writing, we no longer read what we actually see in print but what we think should be there. 

I write in longhand then transcribe to the computer. In spite of that, I always edit on paper before I make any changes in my computer. Why go to all the trouble? I find reading words on paper easier than on a screen. Maybe it's just the way I see. Maybe it's just that I like being able to make marks, squiggles and notes all over the paper. Whatever the reason, it works for me.

What do I watch for when I edit? 

• repetitive words. 
• using characters' names to the point that the flow becomes stilted. 
• lack of description
• too much description that takes away from the story
• characters being too wordy
• especially in a series, not filling in readers on important character information that appeared in earlier novels
• typos
• missing words/double words
• double periods or missing periods
• overusing he/she/it

As with any other writer who can't stop the flow of words, I'm off to the next new project. Since the book is already written, that means... More Edits!

And a chance to begin a whole new project.

Have an amazing day!

Diane Bator

Find me at:  https://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

January Blues

Well, here it is, Christmas and New Years are over, The decorations are put away and nothing to look forward to until Spring. No wonder the animals hibernate - besides the cold weather that is. Not that we've had much of that so far. December was an above average temperature month for the most part. We had a few extremely cold days. Not that December is an unusually cold month here in Ohio anyway, but 50s and 60s? Definitely not the norm.
And January started off pretty much the same way. You might say it was a roller coaster month. If you didn't like the weather one day, wait until tomorrow.
But weather aside, there's always a let down of sorts after Christmas. All that planning for a month and then bam, like that it's over and done. All the pretty lights are gone, living rooms go back to being their blah spaces.
Okay, some people might not agree. They like the uncluttered clean look. For me, it's almost depressing. I love the lights and decorations. So much so, I leave them up until January 7th. The day after the Feast of the Epiphany, or Feast of the Three Kings, Magi, or whatever term you want to use. My mom always waited, too. So it's become a tradition for me. Not many people I know do it any more, and I guess that's okay for them.  Many can't wait to put Christmas away.
But, it's away and now we settle in for the long winter days, waiting for warmer weather - at least here in Ohio. January had five Fridays, this year. And February has an extra day, being a Leap Year. Why would they add the extra day in February? Even with only 28 days, it feels like the longest month of the year already and they go and throw in an extra day. Why not add it in June, July or August. Heck even September would be better than February.
I know, it all has something to do with the earth orbiting the sun and it's all very scientific and I don't even pretend to understand it. "February 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years and is called a leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure because the Earth doesn't orbit the Sun in precisely 365 days."
I still don't understand why they couldn't have added it to spring or summer. But who am I?
 I guess I'll just have to deal with it and wait an extra day for the warmer weather. Yes, I love the warm weather. I'm a Spring/Fall kind of girl. I'm not big on hot weather either. Anything with high humidity I can live without. I'm fine up to mid 80s as long as there's no humidity. After that, I take to the inside and air conditioning.
I'm good with temps in the 30s in winter, I can even handle the snow - provided we're not snowbound. A couple inches is fine as long as I don't have to drive in it. Although, around here they keep the streets pretty well cleared. Below that, I prefer not to go out.
It's no wonder people get depressed this time of year. Cloudy skies are the norm. Bad enough it doesn't get light until almost 8 AM and dark by 5 PM, add in the clouds, and it really gets you down. I feel bad for the people who have to work, going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark.
I was fortunate when I worked, I started at 8 and came home around 3:30. Still a little daylight left.
Okay, this blog turned out to be depressing and I didn't plan it that way. I'm really in a pretty good mood. And every day gets us closer to the bright sunshine and warm weather. Only 28 days, can that possibly be true? Of course there's still a lot of cold weather after March 20th - that's my youngest daughter's birthday, by the way.

Geriatric Rebels, one of my favorite books - although I love them all and they're all my favorites for one reason or another. I love the characters.

Forced to stay in a nursing home while undergoing therapy, seventy-two year old, Mike Powell refuses to get out of bed, won't cooperate with the nurses, and won’t take his medicine. At least not until he meets Elsa. The tiny, spunky little Elsa sparks new life into him.

Seventy year old, Elsa -left in the home while her son takes a family vacation - joins forces with Mike, setting the home on its heels, and later discovers deception and fraud. Can they find happiness together?

Who says life begins at 40? Life is wonderful at any age, as long you're willing to live it. Elsa Logan and Mike Powell prove it. And I want to be just like them when I grow up! One of Roseanne Dowell's best, and my personal favorite!
Elsa Logan bears a striking resemblance to a romance writer I know who shall be nameless but whose initials are R. D. ~ Romantic Suspense Author, Gail Roughton

BWL Publishing Inc. New Releases for February 2020

 

To Purchase Yvonne Rediger's Books visit her BWL Author Page
https://bookswelove.net/rediger-yvonne/

Alicia  Highmere is heading home, back to Musgrave Landing after a call from her mother’s care home. Accompanied by her bodyguard, Bryce Graham, Alicia won’t know until she gets there that Olivia Frost-Highmere is manipulating events regarding the estranged family members to suit her agenda.

Part of the reason the family has fallen out is due to the disappearance of Allister Highmere, some twenty years ago. Alicia’s father vanished without a trace upsetting the family company and leaving the seat of CEO vacant. Uncle Hugo had his eye on the power seat and accused Olivia of murder, to get it, but is it murder if there’s no body?

When a corpse is discovered in the family cemetery, where there shouldn’t be one, the cold case regarding Allister Highmere is reopened. Alicia has no idea who in the family or the Highmere estate staff is involved, but she will find out.

Coming up in February 2020

Struggling with a tricky assignment on a wild Scottish island, 

Australian journalist Jasmine's almost literal lifeline is the sexy ferry deckhand.

 But is he more than he seems?

https://bookswelove/net/authors/brown-priscilla-romance

 Recently I spent an enjoyable afternoon in a large local garden which is not often open to the public. It's on undulating land, semi-rural on the edge of town, with numerous mature trees, both Australian natives and others including Californian redwoods. Swathes of grassy areas are bordered with various flowers and shrubs; there's a vegetable and herb plot, and a 'secret' walled garden. Several benches invite relaxing and enjoying the ambience. Paths meander throughout; following one towards the boundary, I came to a coppice which thinned out to reveal a shady seat with an expansive view down over farmland to distant hills.

Sitting on the seat was a woman writing on a tablet. Maybe she was writing a novel, or a description of the garden, or a letter... Silence except for a light breeze through the trees; a faint scent of eucalypts; the sheer peace of the landscape shimmering in the heat. Since this grandstand seat was taken, I continued my exploration of the garden while musing on how such a setting for me would be a haven for creativity to blossom.

 

While not a gardener by inclination, I do like my own small low-maintenance garden to look attractive with its flowering trees, roses and pot plants. I find inspiration in the colours, the textures, the shapes, the delicate rose fragrance, and, too, the tiny honeyeaters feasting on the nectar in the bottlebrush and grevillea blooms (Australian native shrubs).

In my contemporary romance novels, several main characters have interesting gardens, and I enjoy researching these in person, from books, magazines, travel brochures and the Internet; as I write, I picture them in my head. I have been lucky with some personal research, combining this with my love of travel. However, a visit to the Grenadine islands, not planned for research as I did not have a West Indian location in my story bank, resulted eventually in Where The Heart Is, and Cameron's island garden. In this story, his and Cristina's garden in country Victoria (Australia) couldn't be more different. His,  'a tangle of jungle geraniums, buttercup bush and oleanders...a confusion of trees tousled with dazzling climbing plants' contrasts with hers, 'a teeming beauty of flowers with their faces to the sun, their zigzags of colours cascading and blending...honeysuckle on the fence smells so sweet and the air is full of bees'. (I am so envious of her garden!)

In Dancing the Reel, the above-mentioned deckhand tends a garden warmed by the North Atlantic Drift which enables palm trees to grow. My visit to a Scottish island inspired the inclusion of such a garden into the story, though on my trip no sexy deckhand/gardener appeared so I had to invent him (and gave him more background that these occupations).

And now, I must pay attention to my garden, specifically to dig up weeds which seem to pop up overnight. After admiring the result of my effort, I will spend time outside working on the next chapter in my current work in progress.

Enjoy your reading.

https://bwlpublishing.ca

https://priscillabrownauthor.com