tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41943007699102679702024-03-08T22:51:47.865+00:00Philip Howells - storytellerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-29474582225219426602021-12-27T11:43:00.004+00:002021-12-27T11:43:58.625+00:00Wasted On The Young<p> I've decided to write a sequel to <i>Holm Oak Lodge</i> provisionally entitled <i>Wasted On The Young</i>. As I've indicated on the Amazon blurb and on my website as well as here on the blog, it wasn't a quick or easy decision. Although <i>Holm Oak Lodge</i> doesn't have thriller 'hooks', I intentionally left until the last line a conclusion that my readers might think or wonder about. I'll do my best not to reveal it now, although giving any information about the sequel will be difficult without giving you at least a clue as to the ending of <i>Holm Oak Lodge</i>.</p><p>So that's my challenge, but first I should tell you why I decided to write a sequel anyway. That's actually quite easy – I simply felt the story as it had developed to that point had 'legs', it had the potential to be developed further. The more difficult decision was whether to develop it as a sequel, to structure it as a completely new book or to withdraw <i>Holm Oak Lodge</i> as it stands and to continue writing the story and publish it as an single volume when it's reached its natural conclusion.</p><p>The first decision was easy – to discard the second option and not write a new book. I like the characters in <i>Holm Oak Lodge</i> and they'll be the important 'back story' for the new volume. Creating new characters for a new book was daft. So, a sequel or a rewrite?</p><p>A rewrite would effectively short-change all those readers who'd given me money or commitment by reading the present book; on the other hand, to enable the sequel to act as a standalone novel would mean repeating certain elements and characteristics of the characters who'd inhabit the new book. But that's a challenge for me not my reader, so that's what I've decided to do.</p><p>Finally, as not a few of my readers have kindly noted, most of my stories have rather sad endings, and if not sad, poignant at least. So, since I don't want to reveal any more of the detail I plan for the next volume, allow me to close this post with the news that I intend <i>Wasted On The Young</i> to end on an optimistic note.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-41977564910104248192021-12-02T08:46:00.005+00:002021-12-04T00:07:27.029+00:00Holm Oak Lodge<p>The title of this, my eighth novel, is the name of a hotel at which the story unravels. It starts as representatives of two families arrive at the hotel for quite separate meetings. I created this venue and a small cast to add to the challenge of writing a story that will start and end within a single 24-hour period. The circumstances are not unusual and, although the characters and their stories are imaginary, many readers will find themselves familiar with the situations. What I think readers will find engaging is the way the cast deal with those situations for, as everyone who's ever been there knows, there's never an easy solution. </p><p>All three Corran sisters, Saoirse, Naimh and Philomena, are present since they buried their mother, Maureen, the previous day. They've met to read her will but unfortunately, it can't be found. The family's solicitor recalls Maureen and her late husband, Tagdh, making identical wills. Like many couples in that situation, the wills left an equal share of the surviving spouse's estate to their daughters. Now, it appears that Maureen didn't make a new will after her husband died and she technically died intestate.</p><p>Only one of the three Lockyear children is present at the other meeting, Gerard the older son. His brother has appointed a young junior partner in a firm of solicitors in Oxford while his sister, who lives in Jamaica, is represented by a firm of London solicitors. Gwen Lockyear's will is also missing though Gerard quickly discovers why – his scheming younger brother has persuaded their mother to alter her will, effectively leaving Gerard and his sister nothing.</p><p>As the London solicitor remarks, money often brings out the worst in families and these two meetings are no exception. In the course of the day Gerard Lockyear and Saoirse Corran become aware of each other and when the meetings are eventually concluded, each with a degree of agreement and compromise, the two find themselves dining together. Neither of them sought nor expected romance to arise but it does and the remainder of the story revolves around Gerard and Saoirse as they decide how they'll allow their lives, separately or together, to evolve. Their decision brings the tale to a conclusion and the reader must decide whether it's the right choice for either or both of them.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-40389910882513405812020-12-13T22:24:00.010+00:002021-08-28T16:59:46.107+00:00Tales from Easbury Green <p> One of the first decisions I made about <i>Tales from Easbury Green</i> was that it was going to be a substantial novel. My two previous books had been quite short, each something less than 50,000 words and I felt I wanted to get my teeth into a project more like <i>Passing Unseen</i> or <i>A Distinctive Flourish</i>.</p><div style="text-align: left;">At the same time, I also wanted to see if I could rise to the challenge of telling a story most of which would take place in a relatively small geographical area. That would remove the luxury of a range of far-flung locales. It would also mean creating characters that could fulfil a number of different roles in the story, just as the casts of television soap operas live through a much larger range of situations than real people in such a community would experience. Haven’t most people in Britain smiled at the number of wives, fiancées and girlfriends Ken Barlow has had during the 60 years Coronation Street has been broadcast?</div><p>Easbury Green is an imaginary village in West Sussex. In medieval days the area near where I’ve sited it was in one of two ‘hundreds’ West Easwrith and East Easwrith. In the way that names evolve over 500 years, that's led me to the fictitious name for my village and the title of my novel. </p><p>I’ve opened my story in the spring of 1415. That may lead students of Shakespeare or English history to think they have discovered a clue to my story but let me assure them, it’s partly a red herring and partly something that emerges only in the final chapter!</p><div style="text-align: left;">In fact, most of the story takes place in the latter half of the 20th century. I chose that period because within its confines many English villages like Easbury Green underwent far-reaching changes and it's the story of the people who lived through those times that I've told in my novel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, a word about my books that is particularly relevant to <i>Tales from Easbury Green</i>. A number of my kind readers have commented that my stories often involve a large cast of characters. Some have told me that if they come back to one of my stories after a pause in reading, they sometimes have difficulty recalling who particular characters are. To help overcome this difficulty I’ve started including a cast of characters at the end of my books. My hope is that I've not inadvertently revealed any plot details. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-48590388068153111772020-09-12T15:58:00.006+00:002021-01-26T08:35:09.466+00:00Not as easy as picking cotton after all.<p>The working title of my sixth novel was <i>Easier Than Picking Cotton. </i>It's part of a quotation from the sadly departed Glen Campbell. As an enthusiastic, if under-talented guitarist myself, Campbell was one of my heroes though that was far from the only reason I used his quote as a working title. My story revolves around the life and loves of Warwick James. He shares two characteristics with Glen Campbell, he was a gifted genius on the guitar and he was part of a musical phenomenon that influenced the quality and the business of popular music in the USA and the UK. That phenomenon was the loose, informal associations of gifted musicians who, we now know, actually produced much of the best-known popular music over two decades or more. Glen Campbell is now well-known as a member of 'The Wrecking Crew', musicians primarily based in the Los Angeles area, though at the time no-one outside the music business had ever heard the name. </p><p>In my story 'The Workmen' is a similar, though imaginary, collection of musicians who were called upon by recording studio bosses and record producers in Nashville when making records by the 'celebrities' of the moment. Invariably these 'names' usually had their own backing bands or groups who, due to lack of talent or experience, simply needed too long in the studio getting their music note-perfect. Time, in the studio, is money. Instead of patiently waiting for the 'new celebrities' to get their notes right, the producers called-in experienced musicians like 'The Workmen' (or The Wrecking Crew') who could walk into the studio, glance through the charts - the written arrangements - and play them. Not only were they invariably note-perfect but they could also play their instruments in the style of the band or group they were replacing.</p><p>Of course, some of the backing groups resented being reduced to miming to the work of the pros on television or having their photos taken with the 'celebrity star' but when they got paid for doing little – and recognising that the pop music 'machine' would soon discard them and their star – they kept quiet and made the best of it.</p><p>With this in mind, I realised the working title wasn't going to work - I needed a title more relevant to my story. I toyed with a number of alternatives before, in a blindingly obvious moment of revelation, <i>The Guitarist </i>jumped off the page. In fact, there was just one moment of doubt - when I ran the title through the Amazon search engine and discovered that the book would probably be surrounded on the Amazon page by countless guitar tutor books. The solution was to add – for only the second time – a subtitle and 'A novel' was added. </p><p>Time will tell if it worked!</p><p>As my regular readers will expect, this is only part of my story. In the course of making his career in music, Warwick meets and becomes an integral part of the musical life of Eva Cantrell. In my story, she's an Australian-born jazz pianist and singer and although Warwick's own love life (another strand of the novel) doesn't involve Eva, nevertheless her career becomes inextricably intertwined with his. Needless to add, although I refuse to confirm or deny any parallels, my admiration for a particular jazz lady is a complete coincidence. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-46335640094879320912020-09-12T15:27:00.002+00:002021-12-01T13:16:10.314+00:00What's in a title?<div style="text-align: left;">There's much more to getting one's novel to the reader than merely writing, editing and proof-reading the text. I learnt a number of lessons by publishing through Amazon Kindle - this post is prompted by just one - the title.</div><p>I originally called my first novel '<i>A Woman Wept</i>'. That title had the merit of being the last line of the book, it touched directly on an important, though not pivotal, moment in the story and, at just three words, was pretty snappy and memorable. Up close – and by that I mean from the viewpoint of the author who'd sweated over the story's structure, the grammar, the development and the editing – it seemed not a bad title. Then I stepped back, figuratively speaking, and tried to see the title from the viewpoint of a putative reader considering mine from a list of ten or more novels on an Amazon page. That gave me a completely different perspective. I found myself conjuring images of kitchen-sink dramas, of depressing if worthy tales of domestic, family tragedy, personal loss – and suddenly the title didn't seem nearly as suitable as I'd first thought. I don't know if it's true but I wouldn't be surprised if the big commercial publishing houses don't have whole departments devoted to inventing titles for their authors' works. That surmise seems to be born out by a quick look down the list of best-sellers, most of which have titles of the snappy variety. Then again some traditional authors get away with what would otherwise be unsaleable titles; take Peter Weiss, for example. His book <i>The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade </i>is highly considered by critical readers.</p><p>So, in the tradition of 'brainstorming sessions' so beloved by companies when I was working for one, I cleared my desk and my mind and tried decide what my story was about at its core and then work on a title that was relevant, snappy and saleable. I won't spoil the story if you haven't read it but at its heart is an unresolvable difference between a father and his stepson. Many people would think that merely accepting that the difference of opinion exists and allowing each party to live their lives without reference to each other would be a practical solution, but not only would that not make for an exciting story but we've all heard or know of people who can't be that sensible. Much of the story relates ways in which the protagonists exercise their disagreement and seek vengeance for the supposed hurt. Starting from that line of thought I eventually found a delightful quotation from Machiavelli, 'Never do an enemy a small injury'. That had a degree of sarcasm that appealed to me but as a title the clause didn't score high on the 'snap-ometer'. Yet I felt it was close and finally chose my title by reducing the quotation to '<i>A Small Injury</i>'.</p><p>But my publishing education still wasn't over. I designed the cover, added a subtitle for clarity and published to Amazon. Very quickly the company decided the book met their various criteria and my debut novel was published. Unfortunately, in my ignorance, I'd not run the title through Amazon's search engine. That would have shown clearly what I still had to discover when my novel went on sale. I searched on the title within the 'books' filter and was thrilled when my book appeared at the top of the first page. What was less thrilling was that among other books the Amazon search engine considered met by the search term, '<i>A Small Injury</i>', was a selection of books aimed at veterinary surgeons explaining ways to treat injuries to small animals! Oddly, I haven't yet received a message from a vet explaining that my book was probably the least helpful volume he'd read before operating on a small animal.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-15745994088720636042020-04-13T08:07:00.004+00:002020-12-13T17:48:36.761+00:00Who is Rufus T. Weeks?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Looking back on my career as a storyteller, I think <i>Who
is Rufus T. Weeks?</i> was the first of my novels to have almost no
conformity with Paul Gallico’s advice to only write about things one has
experienced. Although it has any number of twists and turns, the plot has one
significant and over-riding revelation. Keeping my reader guessing what this
is, is the principal challenge running through the story. Happily, my early
readers and critics confirmed that, irrespective of their personal backgrounds
or experience, none of them guessed the answer to the question I pose in the title.
This is important because the story that unfolds is essentially the journey
followed by my hero, Markus Jenkyns, as he tries to discover the answer himself. To keep my reader as committed to the story I must keep him or her as puzzled as my hero.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Because this story has its
genesis elsewhere than my experience, makes it more difficult to explain how it
came to be written without revealing the plot. Having said that, like many of my generation, the imagery
of Jesse Owens, the black American athlete who demolished Adolf Hitler’s wish
that the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin would demonstrate the supremacy of his
vaunted Aryan race is most vivid. The less well-known racial bigotry Owens
faced when he returned to the USA sadly detracts from his achievements on the
track in Berlin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If they wish, creative
storytellers can choose which of any <i>bêtes-noirs</i> they choose to cast as the ‘baddies’
in their stories. In <i>Rufus T. Weeks</i> my sights fell upon the American
National Security Agency and the Roman Catholic Church although I stress that
my novel is not a hobby-horse for any opinions, rather that both organisations
seem inept at managing the responsibility that their strength and power gives
them. They are by no means alone though it would be equally fair to note that
it’s unlikely that Médicins Sans Frontières or Cancer Research are likely to
appear in this role in future stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, on a related topic,
I do find that as I develop characters, especially strong ones, I sometimes
find myself thinking of people I’ve known who share some of my characters’
admirable qualities or traits. In <i>I’ll be the brightest star...</i>, I found
myself very drawn to the character of Alejandra who voices that line declaring
her undying love for my hero. In this novel, as I was describing Quentin
Salisbury, the ‘Old Africa Hand’ who plays a significant part in the
unravelling of the puzzle, I often thought of a man who’s been a constant and
loyal friend for some 60 years. Although my friend shares few of the specific experiences I credit to Quentin Salisbury, he does have the now-unfashionable sense
of doing what is right regardless of personal risk. Not for nothing was he
appointed to an honour he richly deserves and is one reason that I dedicate the novel to Lloyd Paxton, MBE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-1730729008249403972020-04-13T06:06:00.002+00:002020-12-13T17:44:52.311+00:00A Small Injury<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">My first attempt to write a
novel was transparently inspired by my qualification as a GA (General Aviation)
pilot. Unfortunately, even after a serious re-write the work continued to feel
like a flying manual rather than a thriller and it was only after several more
heavy edits that the storytelling emerged from the flying background. All the
while, in the real world Al Qaeda terrorists managed to take control of three
or four American commercial flights and crash them into the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon. The knee-jerk reaction by the authorities, who were at least
complicit in that they failed to prevent the initial hijacking from occurring,
changed General Aviation overnight. It’s interesting to note that there has
never been a detailed explanation of how the hijackers managed to get their
weapons on board the aircraft and the likelihood remains that other terrorists
were involved among the ground crews at the various airports who were never
traced and brought to trial. Moreover, the terrorist pilots were not hobby
pilots but had been trained at commercial pilot schools, mainly in the USA.
That was where the terrorist pilots learned to fly multi-engined, commercial
jet aircraft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Despite this, the GA
fraternity around the world was an easy target for the authorities desperate
to be seen to be taking instant action, no matter how irrelevant. Regulations
were changed immediately severely restricting the hobby enjoyed by GA pilots.
For instance, infractions of rules like accidental entry into controlled
airspace that for years had earned a strong letter of warning from the aviation
authorities to the owner of the plane became </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">overnight </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">an instant and
substantial fine. In some places, the authorities were even more extreme – like
Chicago. For many years very small aircraft had flown in and out of Meigs
Field, a short, private and convenient runway near Chicago’s waterfront.
Overnight, the mayor of the city, with no sanction or right, ordered mechanical
excavators to destroy the runway in an act of deplorable illegality that many
would say could only be imagined let alone tolerated in a totalitarian state. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The effect for me as a
storyteller was that key parts of my tale that involved private flying became
legally impossible to imagine. The only solution
was for me to clearly set the story in a historical context before 9/11 had
occurred. This solution seemed acceptable to my readers, not least because the detail
of the flying involved was technically accurate and germane to the plausibility
of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Publication also gave me my
first experience of titling a book, of writing a blurb for the back cover and
the Amazon website, and of designing a cover image that would convey an
accurate impression of the book and encourage people to buy it. Initially, I’d
intended to call the story <i>And a Woman Wept. </i>This is the last line of
the novel and refers to an important but incidental part of the story. I
realised that it also gave the impression that the novel was more likely to
fall into the ‘chick-lit’ genre rather than a mainstream thriller with an
important element of adult family breakdown. I searched around and discovered a
quotation from the scheming Italian, Machiavelli, <i>Never Do Your Enemies A
Small Injury.</i> I liked the allusion to severe hurt – an important element in
the story – but thought that just part of the
quotation, <i>A Small Injury, </i>supported by the inclusion of the complete
quote near the title page, would form an accurate yet intriguing title.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">What I’d failed to understand
was the way that Amazon’s filtering algorithm works. Even with the care I’d
given to the title, when a user of the Amazon website searches for the novel by
its title, the website returns, (as well as my novel), a range of books dealing
with recommended ways to treat small, injured animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, I made a firm
decision not to leave the conclusion of this story open-ended or in any way
available for the development of a sequel. Of course, sequels and series of
books built around a constant theme or character are big business. Just think
of the James Bond, Father Brown, Jason Bourne, Hercule Poirot or Jack Reacher
franchises for example. Several of my helpful critics asked why I’d not
structured this, my first story, so that such development could have been
possible. The fact is there were two reasons. First I enjoyed telling the story
for itself, not as if I was constructing a product. Second, the conclusion to <i>A
Small Injury </i>embodies a crucial personal sacrifice which would have been
lost had I structured the tale so as to produce a sequel. Even after four more
novels, I remain of the same general mind though it is true that my more recent
novels have included some characters and aspects that could be developed as a
sort of franchise if I wished to do so in future. However, the fact remains
that I enjoy writing stories rather than developing a literary soap opera.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-84132542317437915692019-08-28T10:32:00.003+00:002020-12-13T17:36:46.265+00:00Short Stories 1In assembling this first collection of short stories I've chosen to adopt the device used by my short story hero, Paul Gallico, the pre-emptive essay. I first came across the structure in Gallico's collection entitled <i>Confessions of a Storyteller.</i> In that volume Gallico explains the circumstances under which each story was written and describes the appropriate background. The book is now out of print and the essays which precede each story are particularly helpful in explaining the historical significance.<br />
<br />
In my own case, the essays are sometimes included after the story where I want to avoid revealing elements of the actual story in the essay. More than that, at least two of the stories were written originally for my grandchildren and the essays seek to explain and expand the learning element I've tried to include in the story.<br />
<br />
As I've indicated in my website, I'm a great admirer of the short story format, not least because it adds to the art of simple storytelling the additional challenge of limited time or space depending on whether the original story is for broadcast or print. The extreme example of this challenge is, I suppose, poetry in which the writer must use words that not only meet the criteria of the poem but also embrace the widest and most specific meanings required by the poetry. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-66243431914001631702019-08-28T09:04:00.002+00:002020-12-13T17:34:53.268+00:00'I'll Be The Brightest Star...'<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This story demanded the
fitting of the story of my father's family dating from the early decades of
the 19th century into an account of
life in rural Camarthenshire and the coal, iron and steel industries of the
Welsh ‘valleys’. That ought to have been easy but I had a problem from the start - my father's early story was littered </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">with inaccurate official dates and</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> areas in which I lacked any records at all. Clearly the simplest solution was to abandon the project as history and write it as a novel.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Like my previous novels, this
story existed under a number of titles before it was eventually published as </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ll
be the brightest star...</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> An earlier title, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">There’ll Be Grass Growing In The Streets (of
Dowlais)</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, was an important, accurate and relevant quotation given to me by
my father. However, it seemed to me that while it captured the sense </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">of poverty amidst inhuman conditions in South Wales, it omitted the positive eventual outcome. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Since research is an important part of any creative storytelling, the preparation for this novel
included a steep learning curve for me. One starts off any genealogical
research with the assumption that official sources, especially those of
relatively recent vintage are accurate. I was quickly disabused of this
assumption by a most helpful archivist at Llanelli library. Nowadays c</span>ensus returns are completed by each householder. This was not always so; in the early 20th and 19th centuries census-takers called at each house, obtained the information verbally and completed the forms themselves. Since most census-takers were English-speakers, none of the spelling of names or addresses on Welsh census forms can be regarded as completely accurate. Equally, people giving the information often had a long-held reluctance to provide accurate information, notwithstanding the legal penalties for not doing so. For example, <span style="font-size: 12pt;">I thought I’d
stumbled across a rare error or conflict in the census return for 1901 which
appeared to record my father – a six-month-old infant – living with his
mother at an address in Tredegar while she was also recorded as resident with
her husband and their three sons – including my father (again) – at an address in
Dowlais, two valleys to the west. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">To exacerbate the situation, being speaking only Welsh was still regarded by some people – including some Welsh people – as an indication of a person’s poor general intelligence. T</span>he Blue Books, published in 1847, exacerbated this belief. They were the result of a UK government commission, ostensibly an examination of the educational standards in Wales. The result, drawn up by three English-speaking Church of England ministers, was extremely critical of morals and social trends as well as educational standards in the principality. For many years, census forms used in Wales included a column which required the language/s spoken by each person on the form, to be recorded as Welsh, English or Dual. A combination of the long-term effects of the Blue Books and a general feeling emanating from central government that people speaking only Welsh were somehow inferior, led <span style="font-size: 12pt;">many people who did speak only Welsh reporting themselves to the census clerks as
bilingual. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Originally I hoped that readers would complete the book wondering which parts or characters in my story were real people and which inventions. Ultimately I decided to reveal those answers but I do wonder from time to time how many readers might guess which characters were real and which were my imagination. </span><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-69767660744124807532019-08-28T06:59:00.001+00:002020-12-13T17:22:51.516+00:00Passing Unseen<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Passing Unseen</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> is a melange of several stories. Taken as a whole
they represent an element referenced in the quotation from Robert Pirsig’s
seminal book, <i>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, </i>part of which
is the title of the book. Several of the stories are based on actual events;
the crash of a US bomber in 1944 and the rescue of the crew by groups of the
French Resistance; the part they played working at a Resistance Field Operating
Hospital as it was driven higher into the alps by the German Mountain troops; the PoW camp operated by the Resistance at which collaborators and others who’d committed treason were held; the remarkable dash by units of the US 7<sup>th</sup>
Army who relieved Grenoble seven days after landing in Provence when the plan
was for them to arrive 90 days after the invasion; and the US and British teams
parachuted into the Vercors stronghold to help organise the French Resistance –
all these elements were true. I added fictional but accurate stories about the
attacks by the Resistance on the railways, the torture of civilians by the
Germans and their home-grown French Gestapo, the Milice, and the bravery of individual
civilians and churchmen. The primary challenge was to pull all these elements
together into a timeline understandable to the casual reader and not just the
committed academic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’d already told the story of
the rescued US bomber crew by the French Resistance in an interactive
multimedia programme I made for the Museum of Alpe d’Huez which stands today in the locality where
the action took place. During the years I had a home in the mountains </span>I met many former members of the Resistance including the doctor who led the hospital and a resistant who'd privately published a book about the incident. Through him, I was put in touch with the surviving members of the crew who told me a somewhat different though no less exciting version of the tale. They also told me of two other American groups that were operating clandestinely in the area. I translated the book and also discovered an earlier account of the narrative that had been published in the American edition of Readers Digest. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It wasn't all plain sailing. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">I was frustrated by the intransigence of the official
French archivists who did nothing to help my research and indeed on occasion
blatantly lied about facts I knew to be true. For example, the official French history is that the Germans were driven out of France at the end of WW2 by French
forces – that’s the French forces who capitulated in 1940 –</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and that no other allied forces were involved. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The challenge I had was to slot all the elements into a logical timeline so that
the reader could understand the way that disparate groups acting in different
places and on different schemes all melded into a cohesive force working
against the Germans. Frankly, it didn't work and always tended to revert to a diary format unsuited to a novel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ironically, I found the ultimate solution was to discard the notion of a linear timeline entirely and to treat the whole as we might have treated a complex multimedia AV
programme in the past. </span>I realised that the events were living examples of the phenomenon Robert Pirsig describes, specifically the transient interactions we each have with others every day. It was clear that to make the book capture the essence of Pirsig's random 'selection' it could not be a linear, time-lined history and so I told the story through the lives of key characters and, very occasionally, the groups in which they were operating. </div>
<br />
By this time many of the real-life characters and many more of their descendants were aware of the book and I came under pressure, mostly helpful but very occasionally critical, intent on ensuring that I didn't misrepresent the characters in which they were interested. I'd already added other related but imaginary strands and decided to fictionalise the entire story. I hid the real characters in composite players with different names and back-stories and placed the key events in imaginary locations.<br />
<br />
Because the genesis of the story had been the French account, I initially allowed my tale to end at the same point, the final meeting of the bomber crew with their French rescuers. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I was tempted to wrap up the loose ends with an 'aftermath' chapter but this time the device felt like a genuine cop-out. I decided to continue the story, much now fictional, following the lives of the main characters over the next 20 years.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Authors are probably unwise if they allow themselves 'favourites' among their work but because I believe the structure emphasises the key element of Pirsig's concept and yet even though it's not a linear story the reader is encouraged to read it linearly and not randomly. I am especially pleased with the outcome. I may also have worked the 'aftermath' device out of my writing habit. If so, all the better.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-14989396070295407562019-08-28T00:49:00.001+00:002020-12-13T17:14:21.540+00:00A Distinctive Flourish<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The writing of my second and
third novels overlapped, though this was not intended at the outset. As you'll read in my post about <i>Passing Unseen</i>, that was the second story I decided to write. As it turned out, the complexity of that story demanded several changes after the first version had been completed. Since I'd already embarked on my third story, <i>A Distinctive Flourish,</i> I decided to continue with that tale and return to <i>Passing Unseen</i> later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Several
elements that emerged in <i>A Distinctive Flourish</i> occurred to me at
very different times. Each was noted in my computer, then forgotten. Thus the genesis
of <i>A Distinctive Flourish </i>was the loose structure of a novel written, abandoned the re-written several years later. This is how it happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The 'trigger' for the writing of the story wasn't specially unique and has been employed by any number of
writers, namely the accidental switching of property. Because this isn’t a
unique device, it may one of the reasons I didn’t pursue the story immediately but simply
filed it away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Later, thanks to my career in the civil aviation business I
became aware of the procedure generally followed when a passenger dies in
mid-flight. This item too was noted and saved away on my computer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Later still I found myself saddled with a
substantial bad debt by a ruthless and dishonest client and went through the
ghastly process of trying to save my own business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, a shortly after recalling that occurrence, I surprised myself when writing a sequence in which a photographer is searching
through darkened studio which someone has tried to burn down when he stumbles
across a dead body. As he bends over the body to confirm that the body is dead, the ‘body’ grasps him around the neck in a final effort before it expires and releases him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Once I started to write the
story – to which I initially gave the working title of <i>Flash, Bang, Wallop </i>– I
found the initial structure flowed quite naturally and I was able to weave
geographical, historical and political elements I’d become aware of during my
aviation career into the initial structure. When I reviewed the initial draft of the story I realised that the conclusion was a point at which the hero would have to choose between two rather
obvious options, either of which would be satisfactory but not entirely
fulfilling to me as a storyteller.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was the advice of one of my trusted and much-valued
critics that prompted me to consider an entirely different conclusion to </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Flash,
Bang, Wallop.</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> This modification adds a new and unexpected dramatic element
leading you, my reader, to an entirely different ending to which I give a final
surprise twist in the last line. This major amendment appeared while <i>Passing Unseen </i>was still developing so <i>Flash, Bang, Wallop</i>, now renamed <i>A Distinctive Flourish, </i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">became my second published novel.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>By the time I started writing this story I'd discovered how enjoyable writing could be for the author - moving the location of the action from place to place around the globe is one of those pleasures. The 20 years I spent in the airline business gave me invaluable background and if I've managed to capture the vivid emotion of sunset at Tippecanoe battlefield, or the rundown Sheraton hotel in Indianapolis where I witnessed my first shootout between police and a fugitive, or how some photographic models behave in private, it's because these things actually happened to me.<br />
<br />
If this story added anything to my education as a writer it was the importance of getting details right. For example, the largest Haliburton camera case packed full with US $100 bills couldn't be lifted by a man, let alone be mistaken for a couple of cameras and some lenses.<br />
<br />
The element which I used in my debut novel and originally included in my second and third novels was the 'aftermath' wrap-up. It felt to me like the 'happy ending' scene that used to occupy the last 30 seconds of each episode of <i>Kojak</i> or <i>The Waltons</i> - the antithesis of Shane riding off into the sunset and not spending the rest of his life with the family whose lives he saved. On reflection, I'm glad I dropped it.<br />
<br />
Finally, some readers of my first novel questioned whether it was economically wise not to finish the novel with the potential of a follow-up novel or even a series. To be honest it wasn't something that actually crossed my mind. In any case, I find stories which reach a definitive conclusion and even leave the reader imagining what might have happened next, more satisfying to read than a series that in the worst cases end with a clear 'hook' to the next book.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-50330290117285365712019-08-27T23:59:00.001+00:002020-12-13T17:06:24.359+00:00The storyteller's taleIf you've come to this blog via my author web-page, I thought it would be interesting to jot down a few thoughts and recollections about the whole business of writing and how I came to write these stories at all.<br />
<br />
It seems obvious to me that politicians have an innate arrogance because, in a democracy, they implicitly think they know better than I do how to run my life. Creative writers have a similar arrogance because they are convinced they've got a story to tell that other people will want to read and indeed, pay to read. It's easy to dismiss that self-worth when thinking about great, established writers like Shakespeare, but how about Philip Howells aged 17 who thought that people might be interested in his reflections on the annual cycle of the meadow opposite his house? Not quite as many<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if supportFields]><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:
12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-CA'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1</span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
lang=EN-CA style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-CA'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why do people choose to become authors? Even the term provokes
controversy for the differences between that and writer or storyteller serve to
illustrate the subtle range of definitions that can be applied to creative
scribblers. One of my inspirations was an American journalist and storyteller,
Paul Gallico. Perhaps influenced by his own career path, one of his early
opinions was that writers should write about their own experiences. It’s not
surprising that Gallico should have held that view, after all, he was a keen
sportsman for much of his early life and in his quest for personal experience,
sparred with Jack Dempsey so he could describe how it felt to be knocked out by
a champion boxer. As a seventeen-year-old with only a fairly mundane upbringing
to draw upon, I found Gallico’s view frustrating. Although I can’t recall
actually developing the thought, I should have realised that other writers I
admired, for example, Tolkien, Bradbury and Asimov obviously couldn’t have
experienced the subjects about which they’d written so compellingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Anyway, as my salary-earning
career in civil aviation led me into writing promotional pieces for my
employer, my creative storytelling rather lapsed until, 19 years after joining
the airline I started my own creative business, using the medium of audio-visual
to tell my clients’ commercial stories. Although, like many similar
undertakings, AV was a co-operative, team business, I always reserved for
myself the task of script-writing. That led eventually but directly to creative
storytelling in my later life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">My first writing output
covered a wide range of subjects; many of my earliest efforts complied with
Gallico’s opinion and were developed from my own experiences. Only rarely did I
lapse into complete imagination. For example, my first novel sprang directly from
my fulfilment of a long-held desire, to learn to fly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194300769910267970.post-45212881419051823452018-10-18T11:32:00.003+00:002020-06-19T08:41:56.654+00:00Welcome - and an explanationHello and welcome to my author blog.<br />
<br />
This was intended principally as a means for readers to ask questions and make comments about my work. <div><br /></div><div>The I realised that the ideas for my stories came from everything I've experienced so I broadened it out. I thought it interest anyone who was interested to understand how I'd come to write each volume.<br />
<br />
Comments are still welcome - anything as long as it's legal and decent though if you think my writing deserves nothing but rudeness, well I guess I can take it!.<br />
<br />
I look forward to hearing from you.<br />
<br />
Philip</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0