Choice of POV's (points of view)

As I was sat at the computer today, hard at work on book 3 of the Benjamin Knight series, I was reminded of a comment from a review some moths ago about the number of points of view in my novels.  The reviewer felt that I had too many, and it made if difficult for them to follow the story.  I was reminded of this because I was writing the 4th scene in chapter six, which relates to a different character from scenes 1-3.

For those who haven't read my books (please do, they're quite good apparently and very cheap on the kindle), my chapters don't follow the most common format in fiction.  I blame this on the fact that I watch a lot of TV.

What my nan would have called an 'idiot box'.

Bear with me here, and let me explain.

If I take the first book, it is split into 10 chapters, and then each chapter is split into a number of scenes, separated by roman numerals.  The first scene may be about Ben's story arc, the second perhaps Matthew's or Catrina's, and the third about the villain of the story.  Then back to Ben, then the villain again, and so on.  These aren't the same scene from a different persons point of view, but distinct parts of the story that all connect together.

Now, back to TV.

When I watch a television programme (and I really do watch a lot), I don't expect the 'main character' to be in every scene, and so many shows these days have a large cast of 'main characters' who all have interconnected stories (think Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead).  I don't have a problem following them, as they all tie together in some way.

Take Haven.  Last night, I watched the season finale (very good, with a cliff hanger as you would expect.  I hope they make a series 5).  Thinking about it, there were scenes from at least 4 different points of view.  There were the two 'main' characters scenes, scenes with the villain and his henchmen, scenes with the two newspaper men, scenes with the new girl and her magic book etc.  They all told different parts of the story that came together as a whole.

That's kind of what I am trying to do with my novels.  I'm trying to tell a big story that effects a lot of people, and I want the reader to really get a feel for how big the whole thing is.  If I wanted to describe it from the points of view of one or two characters, I could, but I worry something would be lost in the detail.  Good guy goes from A to B, some conflict on the way, gets there anyway and beats the bad guy, the end.  In my story, I have a lot going on, and I want the reader to appreciate that it has huge consequences for a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

As an added bonus, it also allows me to give a lot of 'screen time' (page time?) to the villain.  I really enjoy writing the villains scenes, not just because he is so fun to write, but because it gives me a chance to show that he wasn't just born bad.

A lot of fantasy stories have a villain who is bad just because.  He might just be 'The Dark One', or he lives in the part of the world where the sun never rises, or maybe he's the subject of an ancient prophecy, etc.  All fairly standard fantasy villain types.

I'm evil because I'm evil....

Writing scenes from the villain in my book has allowed me to explore where he comes from and why he does the things he does.  He was born, like everyone else.  He had a tough childhood, but eventually he overcame it.  He made choices, lots of choices, and often for what he thought were the right reasons, but still he ended up where he did.

Isn't that just life?

One of the things that you learn as you get older is that there is less and less right and wrong, and a lot more shades of grey (certainly more than fifty....).  It's a bit like the question we might put to our children - Is it right to steal a loaf of bread if you're starving?

Simple, right?

"No," my daughter would say, "stealing is wrong."  There you go.  Easy.  Next step, world peace.

"But you're starving," I say.  "You don't have any money, and if you don't eat, you'll die."

"Then yes, it is okay to take the bread," she might reply.

So I follow up with, "But if you steal the bread, the baker doesn't get any money to buy more flour, so he starves instead."  (I can be a complete and total b*****d at times)

"Oh," she says, "so you don't steal, but you have to steal, but stealing is wrong, but then you'll die, but the baker will die, so......what if you just take half the loaf?"

And that's about the time that I send her to bed for answering back.



You don't get to be smarter than me until you no longer poo in your pants!

Then there's the 'heroes', the ones the reader is rooting for and wants to win and all that.  If I take time to think about the heroes of my story, I have an unscrupulous trader who would sell his mother if it would turn him a profit, a man who killed his brother in a fit of rage and who fled before he could be tried and convicted, a grieving mother who is mentally unhinged, and a complete fish out of water who is always making a mess of things.  These are my 'good guys'.

This is part of what I have been calling 'The Batman Effect'.  Sounds cool, right?

It has Batman in the name, so it has to be cool.

This is referring to the rise of the anti-hero in modern books/films/comics.  The kind of guy who just gets the job done, because the ends justify the means.  The man you think, 'yeah, that'd be me, kicking ass and taking names'.  If only life were that easy.

This brings me back to the question of choices.  Again, a lot of fantasy novels have a 'hero', all flowing blonde locks and a noble steed, born of royal blood and bestowed with a magic sword blah blah blah.  He's good because he is, and that's what the reader expects of him.  He might be off to slay the evil dragon, but he can stop and rescue the fair maiden because there's no consequence to his being late, because he always wins, no matter what.

Perhaps if you're my daughter's age, that's great and that's what we want our children to believe the world is really like.  At some point, however, they do learn the truth.

In the really real world, some of the time, it's the bad guys who win.

If you're reading to escape the real world, perhaps you want a nice, clean, black and white world where everything works out perfectly in the end.  I've read many stories like that, and they make you feel good, but they also leave me feeling a little empty at the same time.  A huge war ravages the land, but it's ok because the prince and princess get married and the evil dragon is slain.  So what about the tens of thousands of people dead or left homeless and starving????  They don't get to live happily ever after.

Now, I'm not saying that the good guys fail in my story.  They totally rock and defeat the bad guy and everything.  It's just that, throughout the story, as in life, they make choices.  And those choices have consequences.  There might be a victory, but at the same time, I want them to think about the cost, and I want the reader to think about it too.

I really wanted the characters in my novels to feel alive, to do things because that's what that character would do.  I want them to make good decisions and bad decisions, and usually for all the right reasons.  And I want them to deal with the consequences of those decisions and come through the other end, changed, both for good and for ill.

Will I succeed?  I hope so.  At the end of the day, it's the reader who makes that final judgement.  I do have a bit of a cop out, writing a series of books as opposed to a single story.  I can always just tell you that I am going to resolve that in a later book.  Chances are, I was, but I might  also have forgotten and I'm actually really grateful that you reminded me.

Anyway, that sort on rambled on for a bit.  I did have a point somewhere, but I seem to have misplaced it.  If you got this far, good for you!  Give yourself a cookie or something.  And leave a comment, please.  I really like the feedback, especially if you've read either of my books.  Go on, be honest. 

How am I doing?

Help with New Light

This post is part thank you and part research for me for some of the closing scenes of New Light (SPOILERS ahead - beware!).  First, the thank you!

As readers of this blog will know, I have been struggling to tie New Light together with the previous novels and make sure the timeline is consistent and that everyone gets satisfactory closure of their story arcs.  As you may or may not know, New Light is the 3rd book in The Chronicle of Benjamin Knight, and ends the story of Alexander's war, but it isn't the final book in the series.  Books 4, 5 and 6 are already sketched out in my head, and I will get to them at some point in the future (hopefully near future!).

Yesterday, my good friend Thomas Manning agreed to let me send him the detail of what happens to each of the characters in New Light, and hash out the details and story arcs to make sure everyone gets the ending that they deserve.  Let me just say, he was excellent!  As any writer knows, it's important to have someone to bounce ideas off, someone who won't hold back and tell you that a story or plot point is wrong or needs work.  Tom was that person for me yesterday, and I can't thank him enough.  Hopefully, now, all of the kinks have been worked out and what you will read in a few months time will be all the better for the conversation that we had.

Also, if it isn't, you now have someone else to blame!  (Only joking....)

Tom is a writer of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and now apparently a romance novel I discovered yesterday!  His first book, Energize - From the logs of Daniel Quinn, is available here, and I have previously reviewed this great read and awarded it 4 stars.  The second story is well on the way and should be with us early in the new year!

Now, the research bit (and the SPOILERS).

As part of the conversation yesterday, I came to realise that Ben needs to use some more of the technology in the laboratory, and we decided that one of the things he would use is the ATV mentioned at the beginning of book 1.  I won't go into specifics, but after comparing images of military vehicles on google to the picture of the ATV in my head, I have worked out that the ATV in question is the German-Dutch made Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV).

This vehicle can carry 3 crew as well as 8 passengers into very hostile environments.  It is shielded to withstand ballistics fire, IED's and even a tactical nuclear explosion at medium distances!  Here's hoping Alexander hasn't gotten his hands on any nukes.  (He hasn't, don't worry).

As well as the cool survivability options, it also has a top speed of 105km/h and a maximum road range of 1000km on one tank of fuel, so with some extra fuel in the back, it could get all the way to....SPOILER!!!!

The version in the laboratory isn't fitted with the 44mm grenade launcher or 12.7mm machine gun, but that doesn't mean it can't do plenty of damage on its own.  I wonder who'll get to drive it?

Failed marketing strategy

So, it's just over 2 weeks since I posted out my unusual and hopefully eye catching marketing press packs, and so far I have hade absolutely no feedback or contact from any of the firms I posted them to.

Zero

Nil

The scientist in me assures me that a failed experiment is as important as a successful one, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!  On a slightly better note, I now have the cover of New Light to share with the world, check it out below.

It's the first cover to feature one of my characters, Ben in this case, but he looks enough like the description in book 1 that I was happy to put a face to him.  The shadows still give the reader the chance to put their own details to his face.

I am back to writing more of New Light today, still behind schedule but hoping to have the first draft completed early next year!

New push for exposure

Ok, done something a little off the wall yesterday to try and get exposure for my books.  I've already sent off copy after copy of press releases in the last year, just like a lot of other people I bet, and had absolutely no feedback or contact following any of them.  I expect they all just get filed in the big round filing cabinet on the floor.

So, I decided to try something a little different.  I've made up a false document, several actually, and posted them in a manila folder to various local and national papers, radio, book review magazines,  sci-fi magazines, and some of my favourite authors.  The document and fake newspaper clippings ask the reader to look into a mystery, involving a cover up, conspiracy, murder, and all the bits that make a mystery fun.  The articles and documents involve new characters and characters from my first 2 books, as well as, wait for it, ME!

That's right, I'm trying to break down the 4th wall here and engage these people in my writing at the same time.

Here are a few examples of the bits and pieces in the manila folder posted this morning...



There's also a letter from a concerned wife, a memo with some very revealing information about Excelsior Technologies (the fictional corporation in my books), as well as a heavily redacted document with clues littered through it as to what really happened.

There is also a CD with copies of both novels, just in case any of the people I have sent this to actually want to read them.

 

Will it work?  No idea.  Does it look amateurish?  Just a bit.  I only hope that it will make people pause before adding it to the ever increasing pile on the floor.

 

So, what do you think?  Interesting idea or completely insane?

Review of Thor-The Dark World

Here in the UK, we are lucky enough to have the new Thor movie open a week or so before the US (something that almost never happens), and I was lucky enough to see it on the 30th October with my family.

I am very happy to say that it was fantastic.  It followed up nicely from the Avengers, being sure to continue from the first Thor too, making a very personal story about the Asgardians and Thor and Loki in particular.

Beware, minor SPOILERS ahead.

Events start off with a piece of history, and then introduces us to various worlds of the nine realms.  We then follow Jane Foster as she tracks down some strange readings in London (played by the always wonderful Natalie Portman as before).  There's a lot of humour and fun in this part of the movie, especially with the character of Erik Selvig.  Shortly though, things begin to go wrong and Thor travels in to save the day, taking Jane Foster back to Asgard with him.

Once there, events slowly taken a turn, with the resurgence of a great evil and a spectacular action sequence as Asgard is attacked.  Events conspire that force Thor and Loki to work together, fighting against Malekith.  This is followed by the awesome set piece finale set in Greenwich in London and then some interesting revelations before the closing credits.

Oh, and just so you know, this movie has two post credit sequences, one after the stylised credits that nicely sets up Guardians of the Galaxy, and a second scene at the very end of the credits.

Overall, an absolutely great movie.  It wasn't as exciting or action packed as the Avengers, but then it was never supposed to be.  If a threat is so great that it needs all of the current roster of heroes to deal with it, it wouldn't work in a standalone movie.

I give it 9/10

Now I have to wait for Captain America - The Winter Soldier!

A new addition to our family!

Just a short post to introduce everyone to Logan!  He is a Toyger (which is a breed of cat for those of you not in the know) and he is absolutely delightful.  We have been waiting for him for what seems like forever (he is now 3 months old and couldn't come to us until he had had all of his vaccinations), but we picked him up this morning.

Check out his breeder Queenanne Cats for pictures of him when he was even smaller as well as the other Toygers and Bengals that she has!

Now, his first pictures!

STEVE! - My review of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2

There are many perks to having children, but one of them is getting to see movies that you wouldn't normally see.  Of course, it's not always a perk (The Smurfs anyone??), but on the whole, kids movies seem to be getting better.  Earlier this year, I thoroughly enjoyed Despicable Me 2, and today my 8 year old daughter and I went to see Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2.

Sequels they may both be, but they managed to take what was great about the first film and expand upon it whilst at the same time taking it in a new direction.  If you haven't seen the first film, you should.  Really, it's great, and you can pick it up on DVD for around £5 or so.  It tells the story of Flint Lockwood, a bumbling inventor who makes such amazing things as spray on shoes (that you can't take off), Hair Unbalder, and a monkey thought translator (whose only word throughout the first film is 'Steve!', his name).  His latest invention is able to turn water into food, and as well as making him famous, it almost destroys the world.

I won't say anymore.  If you've seen it, you know what happens, and if you don't, you really should.

The second film picks up at the end of the first, where he has just disabled his invention, and another inventor (Flint's childhood idol) comes in to help with the clean-up.  Suffice to say, he has his own agenda, and ultimately it's up to Flint and his friends to save the day.  This time around, the food has mutated into food based animals, some of my favourites being the cheese spider (a giant beef burger that spins webs made of cheese) and the tacodile (a large crocodile like animal made of tacos with red chillies for legs).  There is also one of the cutest little creatures seen on film in a while, Berry the talking strawberry, with big soppy eyes and little stumpy legs.  My daughter immediately announced that she would like one, so if they come out as toys for Christmas, I'm sure they'll clean up.

At the end of the day, bad guys get beaten, the good guys are all friends again, new friends are made and there's a lot about not judging something by what it looks like.  There are also some great lines, some for the children ('There's a leek in the boat' - a walking leek on the deck, a recurring gag that's somehow funny every time), and ones for the grownups ('She wants you to put your hands on her buns').  Everyone in the cinema was laughing all the way through, not just me!

One point to note, my daughter and I went to see this film in 3D, purely for the time it was on (2D was at 1030 or 1750, both inconvenient for us).  It added little, if anything to the film, and relied on unnecessary gimmicks such as fishing rods coming out of the screen at you.  Unless you're a huge fan of 3D, I would recommend seeing it in 2D and saving yourself a few pounds.

Overall, a great movie, and a worthy sequel.  8/10