Tag Archives: Sunday Scene

SUNDAY SCENE: PENNY HAMPSON ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM A PLETHORA OF PHANTOMS

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One of the perks of being a writer is being able to put one’s characters in dangerous situations and coming up with believable ways in which they can extricate themselves. A favourite example of mine occurs in my book, A Plethora of Phantoms, because it marks the point where my main character starts to become the man he wants to be.

Aristocrat Freddie Lanyon is not your typical hero; he’s reserved, doesn’t enjoy being the centre of attention, and is head over heels in love with Bath antique dealer Marcus. Sadly, Freddie thinks he’s blown his chance for love because he’s too timid about coming out. Marcus has gone missing, so, urged by Marcus’ distraught sister, Freddie stays the night with her in Marcus’ flat above the antique shop. Unfortunately, a quiet night’s sleep is not what Freddie gets.

Woken in the early hours by the sounds of a violent scuffle in the street outside, Freddie spies Marcus being assaulted by two thugs as they attempt to gain entry to the shop below. Freddie telephones the police for assistance and is instructed to remain where he is, but this is an instruction that Freddie chooses to ignore – it would be a pretty dull story if our hero did nothing at all.

Tiptoeing swiftly down to the first-floor kitchen and pausing only to pick up something heavy – a sharpening steel – Freddie carried on towards the ground floor entrance of the flat. The bolts slid back silently. The sound of muffled voices told him that the street door had been breached and the intruders were attempting to gain entry to the shop.

            “Hurry up!” A harsh voice ordered.

            There was a groan. Freddie knew it was Marcus. Anger rose in his chest.

            “Key in the bloody number or I’ll hammer you again and you wouldn’t want me to spoil that pretty face of yours, would you?”

            Another voice chipped in, “You’d have thought he’d had enough when we smashed his fingers. Must be something really special in that safe of yours, eh, Spender?”

            Freddie took a deep breath. Now was not the time to hesitate. He had to take them by surprise.

            Clutching the steel in one hand Freddie flung the door open and charged forward with a roar, but instead of aiming high he went low, landing a heavy blow across the legs of the assailant who had Marcus in a stranglehold. The guy screamed as his limbs buckled and he crumpled into a heap on the floor, freeing Marcus. Freddie leapt on to the thug’s back, determined to keep him immobile until the police arrived, and watched as Marcus slid to his knees making choking sounds. Bracing himself for an attack from the assailant’s accomplice, Freddie looked up to see this guy staring open-mouthed with terror, not at him, but at something behind him.

            The crook’s mouth opened and closed but there was no sound as he slowly backed away.

            If Freddie didn’t know better, he’d have sworn that this ugly customer had seen something awful, not just a bloke in pyjama bottoms wielding a steel.

I loved turning Freddie into an action hero. Seeing Marcus being threatened with violence galvanises him into doing something out of character to save the day, although he does have a little supernatural assistance – this is a ghost story, after all.

I had great fun with Freddie, especially in this scene where he changes from being a quiet man to action hero.

 

To discover more about my action-filled romance stories visit my website: https://pennyhampson.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: JENNIFER BOHNET ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM VILLA OF SECOND CHANCES

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Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they? But sometimes other people and life itself gets in the way of that happening.

The scene I am about to share with you is from ‘Villa of Second Chances’. In this book several of the characters find themselves at a crossroads where their lives can only move forward when they fully embrace their past. But those long ago secrets and mistakes all conspire to throw complicated shadows from the past into the present.

Freya and Marcus are re-marrying after realising their divorce a few years ago, was a mistake. In this scene, Freya is remembering their first wedding as she drives to have lunch with her mother Effie, in Antibes.

. . . The chosen day had been bathed in blue skies and April sunshine. Her dad had been alive then and had proudly walked her down the aisle of St. Petrox Church – the ancient church out on the Dartmouth headland. Clemmie and Angela had been her bridesmaids, and Marcus’s boyhood friend, Rufus, had been his best man. Marcus’s fellow officers had formed the traditional archway of swords for the two of them as she and her new husband took their first steps together as man and wife. The reception at the now defunct and much-missed iconic Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the Dart had been a wonderful, relaxed affair. . .

Gunfield Hotel (Jim Cozens Photographer)

The Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the River Dart did actually exist years ago and was, let’s say bohemian, in its dealings with guests. If you wanted formal perfection, you went to another hotel. The Gunfield Hotel was a fun place that did its own thing and plays an important part in my story as it unfolds.

Over lunch Effie turns to Freya and ask the question . . . 

‘So, what’s happening with Verity?’

Freya stiffened. ‘I’ve sent her the invite, as you wanted me to, but haven’t heard anything. To be honest, I’m hoping that it’s too short notice for her to come. She’s probably spending the summer on some Greek island or the latest “in” place she’s discovered.’

‘She’s family,’ Effie said. ‘Hyacinth would be turning in her grave if she knew her daughter was persona non grata at your wedding.’

Freya sighed. ‘She’s not exactly persona non grata, but even you have to admit Verity can be difficult. . .

. . . ’If she does accept, she’ll expect to stay with you and the others at the Villa Sésame. Is there room?’

Freya hesitated before shaking her head. She knew Effie would be cross when she told her the truth, that she was deliberately not mentioning the villa arrangement to Verity because there was no way she wanted her cousin spoiling the run-up to the wedding for the others. . .

. . .  ‘Clemmie is definitely coming?’ Effie asked as she picked up her cutlery.

‘Yes, and Angela.’ Freya had her fingers firmly crossed as she answered. No way did she want Clemmie backing out because of Verity’s presence, if indeed, her cousin decided to show up.

‘I’m really looking forward to having time to catch up with them properly – especially Angela, after all she’s been through with the accident and Paul’s death. Clemmie says the last time she saw her she was still a shadow of her former self. Only to be expected, I suppose, and it will take time. I’m hoping the invitation to Villa Sésame has given her something to look forward to.’ . . .

 

Find out more about Jennifer on her Facebook page:  https://bit.ly/3qglPh4

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: VIVIEN BROWN ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM FIVE UNFORGIVABLE THINGS

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When I started to write my second novel, Five Unforgivable Things, I wanted to follow all the ups and downs of a family, from its beginnings when Kate and Dan first meet in the seventies right up to the present day, exploring the pivotal decisions and mistakes the couple make along the way and what impact they have on their children as they grow up.

Each of the now adult offspring is introduced in a way that reveals something important about their lives, and the ‘introduction’ scene I most enjoyed writing is the one featuring Natalie, the first of the siblings to appear on the page.

Natalie is entering a wedding dress shop alone. In the window she has spotted what could be the perfect dress for her Christmas wedding to childhood sweetheart Phil but, with no family or friends with her, how will she know if it’s the right one, with no-one ‘to oooh and aaah and spin her around in all directions and take sneaky photos on their phones?’

I well remember accompanying my own daughter to a bridal shop a few years ago, with her sister, the prospective chief bridesmaid, also in tow. That sea of long white dresses billowing on a seemingly never-ending rail right across one side of the room, and all the sparkling tiaras, floaty veils, beaded bags and very posh shoes – unforgettable! In the novel I describe the shop Natalie enters as ‘an oasis of beauty and calm. There was a deep cream carpet and floor-to-ceiling mirrors without so much as a smudge on their shiny gilt-edged glass. The sweet scent of jasmine drifted in the air…’

But it can be a bit daunting when the assistant hands out glasses of fizz and starts measuring and fussing. Ivory or white? Lace or satin? Shape? Style? How long a train? For Natalie, not only is she making these choices alone but the choices themselves are a lot more restricted. There are hints that something is different here as Natalie enters and a look of surprise flits across the shop assistant’s face before being ‘swallowed up in what was clearly a well-practised customer-friendly smile.’ It’s a look Natalie is used to, one ‘that told her she was not quite who, or what, had been expected to come rolling in.’

‘Sorry about the carpet,’ says Natalie, as her wheels leave a trail of dirt and leaves behind them. And so we learn that Natalie is in a wheelchair, and that the beautiful traditional dresses that sweep the floor as they flow along behind a walking bride will never be quite right for ‘someone like her’.

This is a very short scene but it gives the reader a peep into Natalie’s mindset as she ponders her sisters’ absence, realises that the last thing she really wants on her big day is to be the centre of attention, and that the dream dress in the window is never going to work for her.

Yet, I did not want the reader to pity her. Natalie is in many ways the happiest of the siblings, and the only one to have found true love with a man who adores her just as she is. Still, how she came to be disabled will form an important element as the story unravels, and is at the heart of the mistakes and tragedies that have rocked Kate and Dan’s marriage and family life and are so hard to forgive.

 

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