B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree I guess all authors wish they had written ‘that’ novel – the one that has made Oscar status Blockbuster movie legend. The novel that hits number one in the bestseller charts and stays there … and stays there… and stays there… Or do we? Yes, of course we all want to do well, the basic facts of paying off the mortgage or being able to afford to get the car fixed is a prime motive – but the reality is, out of the thousands upon thousands of books published worldwide every year very few of them reach the heady height of Literary Stardom. Do I wish I’d written Gone With The Wind, or Fifty Shades of Grey or Harry Potter? To be honest? No, not really. What I do wish is that I had possessed the knowledge and experience I have now twenty-plus years ago. My first novel, part one of the Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy was The Kingmaking. Writing it, I probably made all the mistakes an author is not meant to make: tell not show, too many adjectives and adverbs, point-of-view (head-hopping) changes… but were these issues that often get slammed in Amazon’s Comments sections nowadays…
Settings the Writer Cannot Afford to Visit
Brand Stoker never visited Transylvania. He based Castle Dracula on the ruined Abbey above Whitby. Of course, the geography helped: Yorkshire is more or less on the same latitude as Romania, it exhibits similar bleak and capricious weather. There are no Carpathian peaks near Whitby but the abbey is perched on a respectable cliff and if there are no wolf infested forests, at least there some dark woods with similar pines and beeches. The smells of the natural world, especially in the 1890s, may not have been that different from Eastern Europe. But imagine if Stoker had lived all his life in Queensland. He might have had to write some of the novel in an ice house to describe the physical sensations of almost freezing to death. To portray the Transylvanian forests and Carpathian Mountains, he might have had to visit the European Masters in Brisbane’s art gallery. His biggest problem would have been the sun. Because Queensland is closer to the equator, the natural light is intense and a huge leap of imagination would be required to describe the dour skies above Castle Dracula. On the plus side, Queensland would have possessed at least one source of inspiration for…
AEGIS RISING-S.S.SEGRAN
THANE-TRAVIS BOW
THE FEATHER CHASE-SHANNON L. BROWN
RED, WHITE & SCREWED-HOLLY BUSH
MEN OF THE CROSS-CHARLENE NEWCOMB
AEREDEN SERIES-KRISTEN TABER
LITTLE MISS HISTORY-BARBARA ANN MOJICA
CASTLES IN THE SAND-ANNIE DAYLON
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Most Discussed Posts
- Sharing a wonderful romance book with friends - and a yummy Peach Cobbler!
- Grab a cup of tea, homemade raisin bread and a Mystery perfect for Valentine's Day!
- Drift away to Montreal in the 1950's and enjoy a French delight!
- Spend the day with Lavender Fantasy!
- Yummy Spinach-Cheese Pockets - without all the trauma Mirra had to go through!
- Can you imagine anything better than a good mystery and sweet rolls?
- A Proper English Lunch and a Great Mystery!
- A Great Thriller and Apple Tarts - Oh My!
- IT’S YOUR BOOK LAUNCH…PARTY IF YOU WANT TO
- More Thoughts on the Newsletter Rage-
- Author Newsletter vs. Author Blog: Five Reasons I Prefer a Blog, and Six Reasons You Might Not
- Another Tasty Idea and a Great Book!
- It’s a Tough Market for Authors
- A Thriller & a Burger (Vegan) - Perfect!
- Author Janie Dempsey Watts- In Praise of indieBRAG!
- Author victoria Thurman - In Praise of indieBRAG!
- A Wonderful Book, A Lovely Playground and a Snack- what could be more Fun!
- Make a Cosmo, put up your feet and enjoy Been Searching for You!
- Helen Hollick visits with Dr. Daniel M. Walker
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