Tag Archives: Sister Scribes

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: OCTOBER

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Jane

The most incredible thing about Joe Heap’s When The Music Stops is the way it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary. In one way it’s a version of David Nicholls’ One Day, but set over a longer period (the protagonists meet in childhood) and in the world of jazz music; the parts of the book that happen in the present day are very surreal indeed.

The clever structure gives the book rhythm. It’s very much tied to the music, so rhythm seems like the right word. It makes for very long chapters (sections, really) but that’s fine, because I didn’t want to put it down. At first you wonder what’s happening in the present day but then it begins to make sense and you expect each section to have a certain chain of events. You even know what will happen in the end. But that’s comforting when the boundaries of your imagination are being stretched in other ways.

The love story running through the book is compelling too and each decade incredibly well researched so you feel each period, rather than words being wasted describing it. Ella and Robert meet as children in pre-war Glasgow and have so many near misses you wonder if they will ever get together. I would have enjoyed it on its own, and have appreciated the quality of the writing, but adding the extra dimension makes this a standout book.

Kitty

Anne O’Brien – The Queen’s Rival

I have long been fascinated with the Neville sisters and Cicely in particular so I was excited to read this book. Anne O’Brien is reliably one of my favourite writers of historical fiction and took the brave decision to write the story of Cecily through letters sent largely to family members but also to some of the major players in the turbulent story of her life, Margaret of Anjou for example, who literally held the life of Cecily’s family in her hands. This form must have been so hard to write but I really enjoyed it. It reinforced how hard life must have been without the immediacy of contact we are so used to nowadays. Writing letters to children and a husband that may or may not be alive or dead, knowing that your words could be the ones that help carry them to the scaffold. It reinforced the dangers and uncertainties of the times and all through the mouthpiece of a woman underrated for the role she and her family had to play in the development of Plantagenet England. Very well done.

Kirsten

What with publicity for Book One, final proofs of Book Two and starting to bash out the first draft of Book Three (and a fab new idea – I hope! –  for Book Four) I haven’t had much time to read this month. But one book I have finished and really enjoyed is People Like Us by Louise Fein. This is the coming of age story  – I’ve learned this month that this this can be called a Bildungsroman  – of Hetty who is brought up in a Nazi household in Leipzig in the years building up to the second war and who falls in love with a Jewish boy. It’s beautifully written and is – by turns – fascinating, poignant and heart-breaking with, I think, a lesson for the times we find ourselves in today. Highly recommended.

Interestingly, I’ve just been sent an ARC of a love story set in lockdown. It’s the first story I’ll have read with Covid-19 as a backdrop and I’m not sure how I feel about reading it. Having had quite a difficult year personally, the jury is out on whether it just too soon to read a story set in the time of Covid. I’ll keep you posted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES: SUSANNA BAVIN ON CREATING A SENSE OF TIME

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In my previous article for Frost, I celebrated two novels, A Mother’s Secret and The Italian House, which are notable for their wonderful sense of place. In these stories, the authors, respectively Jan Baynham and Teresa Crane, created their settings so evocatively that they produced books of the type that make readers say, ‘It made me feel I was there.’

This time, I’m writing about novels that have a particular depth and interest thanks to the attention paid to the historical detail. Part of the authors’ skill in this is the way each of them has woven the details into the narrative with a deft touch. Their historical details are never popped in just for the sake of it, but always to enrich the story.

The first book is A Borrowed Past by Juliette Lawson, a clever and increasingly intriguing family mystery set in the Victorian era. A strong narrative is combined with  believable dialogue and a lively mixture of characters, not all of whom are what they seem. Add to this the many tiny details of life at the time and the result is an engrossing read.

Of one historical aspect of the book, Juliette says: “ Class distinctions were strong. Well-off families paid pew rents to reserve their seats in church (you can still see the brass name-card holders) and ran the Local Board to keep the village well-ordered. Children in poorer families were sent into service at a young age or they became mini-entrepreneurs, doing little jobs around the village for a few coins: blowing the bellows for the church organ, delivering meat for the butcher, carrying pails of sea water to the bath houses for visitors to bathe in, or baiting hooks on fishing trips.”

The other book I’ve chosen is the utterly wonderful The Gunpowder Girl (which was originally published as Cherrybrook Rose and A Bouquet of Thorns) by Tania Crosse. This book could just as easily have appeared in my previous blog about stories with a strong sense of place, but it also has its position here, thanks to the author’s characteristic attention to research. Tania Crosse has created an absorbing story laced with powerful themes, a relatable heroine and a gripping plot.

Tania says: “The rugged, savage beauty of Dartmoor is inspirational enough in itself, but its secret history has provided the basis for so many of my novels. In the case of The Gunpowder Girl, the discovery of the ruins of the 19th century Cherrybrook Gunpowder Mills drove me to write a story to illustrate what it would have been like for a beautiful, intelligent young woman to live at this remote, unforgiving location. The other element in the book, still very much in evidence and currently still in use, are the forbidding buildings of Dartmoor Prison. In Victorian times, life there could be hell, not just for the inmates – some of whom were guilty of what today would be considered relatively minor offences – but also for the prison warders and their families who were forced to live in the isolated and exposed prison settlement of Princetown.”

Both of these books drew me into their world. The stories are page-turners in which the characters face secrets and tragedy and both Juliette and Tania have have sprinkled historical details into their narratives in such a way as to make their books come alive.

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: JEN GILROY ON FINDING YOUR WRITING VOICE

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Since Susanna Bavin introduced Canadian romance author Jen Gilroy to us at a Romantic Novelists’ Association conference she has been an honorary Sister Scribe and it’s an absolute delight to welcome her to Frost.

One of the questions I’m often asked when giving talks about writing relates to ‘voice’ and, specifically, how to find it.

For some writers, voice is instinctive. If you’re one of those fortunate people, this post likely isn’t for you!

However, for many others (me included) finding your ‘voice’ isn’t so straightforward.

First off, what is ‘voice?’

For me, it’s what makes one author’s fiction distinctive from that of another. At a superficial level, it relates to word choice, syntax and the mechanics of constructing a story.

Going deeper, though, voice reflects each author’s personal experience—the constellation of factors that make them who they are—as distinctive as their fingerprint.

A tip to identify voice?

Choose books by three favourite authors, set them side-by-side and consider the first few pages. Even if they write in the same genre, it’s likely that in only those early pages you’ll identify major differences in how the writer tells the story and makes you feel.

Those differences are rooted in voice and some authors have such distinctive voices that fans can often identify their work in only a short paragraph—without knowing the book’s title or author.

However, even if you know what ‘voice’ is and can identify it in other writers, how do you find yours?

For me, finding my voice was part of my writing apprenticeship and (as with many other parts of learning the craft) necessitated trial and error.

In the beginning, I sampled genres a bit like food at a tapas bar. From literary fiction through to young adult, historical and more, I tried writing in a number of different areas.

Yet, and like delicious tapas morsels, only one or two genres resonated enough for me to think I’d truly found my own ‘author voice.’

What does ‘voice’ feel like?

I liken my ‘voice’ to wearing my favourite pair of cosy slippers as I snuggle under a blanket by the fire on a cold winter night.

That ‘voice’ is drawn from the innermost part of myself and means I delve into emotions only I feel to express them on the page.

At first, that self-reflection was scary. With career in corporate and technical writing, I was so used to adopting a ‘corporate voice’ that I’d lost my own, and I’d also lost touch with the emotions that are the foundation of fiction.

Yet, with practice and patience—and by reading and writing widely—I dug deep enough to get to that comfortable state of knowing when I was writing in my voice—and when I figured that out, the genres were obvious.

Long before I became a writer, romance and women’s fiction were the genres I read for hope, comfort, escape and more. Not surprisingly, those were also the books that fit my voice and when I started to write from the foundation of who I truly am, the words flowed.

Although finding my voice was one of the most difficult parts of my writing journey, it was also the most rewarding. And, perhaps most importantly, writing with the warmth and intuition that comes from the core of who I am is the most honest gift I can give.

 

Jen Gilroy writes romance and uplifting women’s fiction with happy, hopeful endings. She’s a wife and mum who calls England and Canada home and her latest release, A Wish in Irish Falls, is out now on Kindle (free with Kindle Unlimited).

Connect with Jen via her website: www.jengilroy.com

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES: CASS GRAFTON ON HER LOVE FOR DAPHNE DU MAURIER’S CORNWALL

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I’ve been reflecting lately on which books stand out most to me, from childhood through to the present day, and a pattern has emerged: my all-time favourite reads at any particular time of my life had a strong sense of place.

From Enid Blyton’s boarding school stories, through my teenage passion for the Brontës’ wild Yorkshire moorlands, it’s clear I was hooked on places from an early age. Onward I went into Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire, Harry Potter’s Hogwarts and Tolkien’s Middle Earth, always captivated by a good setting.

Alongside my fellow Sister Scribes friends, Kitty Wilson and Jane Cable, I have a deeply-rooted love of Cornwall, and whilst writing a recent novel, I thought back to when this fascination with the county began and realised it stemmed from my interest in a writer and her Cornwall-based stories: Daphne du Maurier.

It was the 1990s, and every autumn, my husband and I would spend a week on the south-east Cornish coast—days of kicking our way through crisp golden leaves, inhaling the smell of wood smoke from cottage chimneys, and watching the gulls wheel across steel-grey skies as waves lashed the rocky shoreline.

One of our favourite walks was the Hall Walk, which has stunning views across the charming town of Fowey and out towards Gribbin Head as you meander towards Pont Creek, onwards to Pont Pill and then back along the other side of the creek to Polruan.

During these holidays, I discovered Daphne du Maurier’s strong connection to the area, where she lived for many years, but at the time I had only read her most famous novel, Rebecca. I became fascinated with her life, devoured her biography and began to read her other works, beginning with the first full-length novel, The Loving Spirit.

Daphne often walked the Hall Walk from her then home at Ferryside, adjacent to the Bodinnick Ferry where it docked after crossing the river from Fowey. It was on this walk, at Pont Creek, that she came across a derelict schooner, the Jane Slade. Although the ship was rotting, the figurehead remained intact, and she became spellbound by the ship, not only often climbing aboard and imagining its past adventures, but also going on to make local enquiries into the vessel and the local family who had built her.

She absorbed the history of the boat-building Slades, sought out the family tombstone in the churchyard at Lanteglos, up above Polruan (the church where Jane Slade had been married and where Daphne herself went on to marry), and was also given access to some family letters.

Bewitched by all she was discovering and inspired by her surroundings, Daphne realised she had enough material for a novel, a book she wanted to write ‘in which atmosphere and a sense of place would dominate’.

The Loving Spirit (the title came from a poem by Emily Brontë) was published in 1931— with the Slade family becoming the Coombes and Polruan renamed as Plyn—and is still in print today.

The figurehead from the Jane Slade was given to Daphne, and it was mounted on a beam below her bedroom window at Ferryside, where it still hangs.

My love affair with Cornwall is as strong as ever, and I’m looking forward to when I can visit again, walking those beloved paths, taking in the breath-taking views and inhaling the atmosphere of the place my heart calls home.

 

Sources: Daphne du Maurier – Margaret Forster (1993), Vanishing Cornwall – Daphne du Maurier (1967)

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: SEPTEMBER

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Kirsten

The first book I read this month, was the winner of the 2020 Joan Hessayon award, The Rebel Heiress And The Knight by Melissa Oliver (published by Mills and Boon). The award was open to any writer whose debut novel had been through the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme was published this year and I am immensely proud and honoured that Another Us was also a contender. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the Rebel Heiress And The Knight. It is set in the reign of King John – a period of history I really love – and is just a rollocking good read with twists and turns aplenty. It is also a proper romance – the chemistry and tension between the main two characters is fabulous and I loved the fact that Hugh is kind and honourable from the start. A marvellous debut and a worthy winner of the Joan Hessayon award.

Another book I have enjoyed this month is If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin (published by Mantle). This is a real page turner and exquisitely written and explores themes of obsession, heartbreak and unrequited love. I was expecting our protagonist, Constance, to be simply bonkers – and can’t love make us all thus?! – but she is also variously vulnerable, lovely and hilarious. This book really stayed with me and I highly recommend it.

And, finally, I am rather late to the party with Hamnet, written by Maggie O’Farrell (published by Tinder Press)  – but, just, WOW! Staggering beautiful and heartbreakingly poignant, this exploration of love and loss deserves every accolade and award …

Jane

I do love a dual timeline novel, and since writing one myself am even more in awe of writers who make them work. Clare Marchant’s stunning debut, The Secrets of Saffron Hall, is one such book. The level of research the author has undertaken shines almost as much as her gorgeous prose, and put together they make the book a thoroughly satisfying read.

I normally enjoy the historical strand of a story more, so wasn’t remotely surprised when I became more and more lost in Eleanor’s world at the cusp of the dissolution of the monasteries. That I read it on holiday while visiting ruined abbeys was undoubtedly a factor, but Tudor life in rural Norfolk was so richly drawn I just loved falling into it. I felt the chill winds sweeping across the fens, saw the saffron swaying gently in the dawn.

It took me longer to relate to twentieth century Amber although in the end I was rooting for her happy ending. The fact hers isn’t a traditional boy-meets-girl love story was brave for a debut and I loved it. Credit must also go to Aria for not dumbing this book down, as sadly seems to be so fashionable in romance publishing at the moment.

Kitty

Cornwall: Misfits, Curiosities and Legends
A Collection of Short Stories and other scribbles

This anthology combines all sorts of storytelling in the one book, with the spirit of Cornwall infusing each piece. It moves from moor to coast, from past to future and covers a multitude of genres including historical, fantasy, romance, magic realism and sci fi. Additionally, there is poetry and a script alongside the short stories and with such a wide variety of styles, I defy any reader not to be able to find a piece that resonates with them. Cornish history and mythology are bought to life, illustrated and built upon and I greatly enjoyed reading this anthology from a group of writers whose love of Cornwall shines through their work.

 

SISTER SCRIBES: KITTY WILSON ON A TIME TO WRITE

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I thought I’d write about what I do to help me get my word count done, particularly when it’s being tricky, as it is today!

Writers all give different advice, some feel that writing when you’re in the mood is best otherwise you can lose the joy, the spark of creativity. I am in the opposing school. For me, strict deadlines and real life mean that writing has to be a discipline as well as a pleasure and I am a great believer in writing every day or every day I am able.

Being a bit of a control freak, I do not allow myself a weekend if I haven’t hit my weekly wordcount during the week. It isn’t always easy but I swear by self-discipline and using timers. I find that on those days the words aren’t coming it is important for me to sit at my laptop and stare at that blank page. To make sure I don’t find an excuse not to write I set a timer – only for ten minutes – and I do not move, go online or look at my phone in that time. I usually have something pop into my mind before the ten minutes is up, just to quell the boredom if nothing else. It may not solve the current plot niggle or stay in the final manuscript but it gets me started and more often than not leads somewhere useful.

Even on the days I know what I want to write I have a butterfly mind and constantly seek distraction so again I use a timer at the start with spurts of ten minutes and a little reward after each – a quick check of social media, a scroll through my news app, a cup of tea etc. I usually find I can turn the timer off after a couple of blasts of ten because by that point I’m so involved in the story the words fly out and hours fly by.

This works for me most days but sometimes I get to a sticky bit and I truly can’t think. In which case I sit in water. I know this sounds weird. But I am the clumsiest person in the world. I cannot trust myself to take my phone or laptop in the bath, or the paddling pool on sunny days (yes, I work in a paddling pool!) but I can just about trust myself with a notepad and pen. Then I am truly free from distractions, there’s only so long I can swirl water about dreamily before my mind focuses and inspiration follows. I always end up with a couple of pages of notes for my next scene/ chapter and they are often far more developed and thought out than when I am just in front of the computer.

So, in a nutshell, I use timers on a daily basis and sit in water when I’m stuck. But I want to add that I truly believe in the power of the mind as a sort of super computer and in being kind to yourself. So, if you are really struggling, I think it’s okay to feed your mind the details of what you need resolved, take yourself off and do something different for a bit and somehow, magically, I’ve found the answer always pops up. I just really hope today that my mind hurries up!

 

SISTER SCRIBES: KIRSTEN HESKETH ON WHAT NOBODY TELLS YOU ABOUT BEING PUBLISHED

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I chose life as a writer because I love to write. Right? But I think I also chose it – or it chose me – because I can embrace my inner technophobe, my inner introvert and, frankly, my inner slob (my, I have a lot of ‘inners’!) I can sit in front of my ancient computer – using only the most basic of Word functions of course – wearing tattered old jeans and a dogeared sweatshirt and with a legitimate excuse to avoid talking to anyone for hours – days – on end!

Bliss.

But now the paperback of Another Us has been published and everything has changed. Suddenly I am being invited to appear on more panels and podcasts than you can shake a stick at. Well, at least three! The local WI want me to do a virtual talk, other debuts are inviting me to be interviewed alongside them and my friend’s friend’s book-group would love me to pay them a visit. Which is all lovely, really it is, and I am genuinely very honoured and flattered. But it requires me doing three things that don’t come easily to me – looking presentable, being sociable to order and mastering this brave new world of technology.

Reader, it has not been without its challenges. All this Zooming and the We-Meeting and the House-Party-ing. It’s all very confusing. The first panel I took part in, I hadn’t really thought through the set-up at all, and my face was barely poking above the bottom of the screen.  My lighting was also very gloomy, and I looked exactly like I felt – a startled little mole peering into the headlights. The next time, of course, I overcompensated – I bathed the room in bright light and stuck my laptop on a pile of jigsaw boxes, thus giving the poor viewer a birds eye view of my lockdown roots surrounded by a ring of the red hair dye – still there after I coloured it for the Ebook launch. Worst of all, I hadn’t realised when you’re on Zoom, people can still see you when you’re not talking. I wish I’d known this one in advance. That way, I might not have picked my nose, slurped my tea, checked my text messages and – at one point – vacated my seat entirely whilst I let the cat out and simultaneously  hollered to my husband to bring me a glass of wine ‘because I bloody need it’. Happy days!

Then there was the time that my arm got the shakes from holding my phone in front of me for what felt like hours while I chatted gaily; the bemused viewer probably wondering why I wasn’t seeking urgent medical help instead of wittering on about the inspiration behind Another Us; (yes, I know now you can purchase little tripod things designed for just such occasions.) The time my son and his friends were milling around in the hallway prior to a night out, demonstrating their extensive knowledge of very rude words. The time …

I finally sussed it all out. I got my roots done. I worked out the most flattering camera angles and lighting options. I learned to sit still with a sensible expression on my face. I bribed and blackmailed my family …

Now, of course, no one wants to interview me. The little hubbub of excitement around Another Us’ launch is over and my lovely editor is reminding me, ever so gently, that the edits on Book Two are due …

Happy days!

SISTER SCRIBES: SUSANNA BAVIN ON A SPOT OF ARMCHAIR TRAVEL

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I look for various things in a book – well-rounded characters and a gripping plot are the two obvious ones. I’m sure many other readers require the same of their reading. But there is another feature that I don’t regard as an essential, although when I come across it in a story, it is, for me, quite simply the cherry on the cake – and that is a strong sense of place. There are some writers who possess the ability to create the setting of their story in a vivid way that makes the reader experience the place where the story is happening to a degree that transcends the story itself.

One book that achieves this beautifully is Jan Baynham’s debut novel, the Not The Booker Prize long-listed Her Mother’s Secret: the Summer of ’69. This is a dual-time story, which shows what happened to a talented young artist one summer back in the ’60s and then, years later, how her daughter follows in her footsteps to try to uncover the truth of what took place that during fateful summer. It is an engrossing, well-paced story, with characters to care about – a love story with dark and unexpected undercurrents. But for me, there was an additional character in the book – and that was the Greek setting itself. This wonderful book gave me a sense of the Greek landscape that I last experienced years ago when I read My Family and Other Animals for the first time. Through her mesmerising descriptions, Jan Baynham expertly transports her readers to the idyllic, sun-drenched island with its turquoise waters, spectacular views, sparkling sunshine and the warm breeze shifting through the leaves of the olive trees. In these uncertain days, if a holiday abroad doesn’t feel like the right thing for you, then, by bringing the landscape alive in this book, Jan Baynham has provided the next best thing.

Another book that for me falls into this special category is The Italian House by Teresa Crane, which was published in 1995. It is the story of a downtrodden young wife, who, shortly after the First World War, unexpectedly inherits her grandmother’s villa in Italy. A quirk of Italian law requires her to take possession in person, so she travels alone to Tuscany, where she falls in love with the place and with another man. But the Villa Castellini is a place of secrets, and strange events in the present form a link to disturbing family secrets from the past.

With its descriptions of the Tuscan hills beneath the clearest of skies, the river twisting and foaming through the village in the valley, and the track winding up the steep mountain to the villa, the sense of place in this novel is so strong and assured that the book ought to have a warning blazoned across the cover: this book will make you want to sell everything you possess and move to Tuscany. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.