November 15, 2012

Inspiration From My Life

Every now and then someone will say something or something will happen or a memory of something specific comes back to me and I can't help but think of how to use it in my books, because when I hear or remember those things from around my life it starts to form itself into my books' life, taking on a different setting that's appropriate to the eighteenth century.

A random old street in Venice, Italy.


Here's a piece that will go in one of the books following book 1:
      "So what are we looking for?" asked Alexandra.
      "A cat," answered HE. (I don't know who said it yet).
      "I beg your pardon, but did you say, 'cat'?" asked Martha.
       "You will find this male cat in Venice," said HE.
      "Venice?" asked Jane with disbelief.
     "Yes, he is basically brown," said HE.
     "Does he have a name?" asked Marty - Martha's nickname.
     "No-" started HE.
     "What part of Venice exactly?" Jane inquired.
      He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off.
      "And could you be more specific as to what kind of brown he is?" asked Alex - Alexandra's nickname.
       He sighed. "No, I will not. Now, do you want the rest of your instructions?"
     The girls exchanged glances of surprise, and Marty answered, "Sorry. Please go on." She smiled ruefully.
     "He will be drinking milk from a female cat with her kittens." The gave him an odd look, as he contintued, "The male cat will then go to his owner. So you must follow the cat from a distance. If he knows he's being followed he will not take you to Fabio."
      "Fabio?" SHE questioned. (I don't know which of the girls said this yet...)


You are probably thinking how odd - a male cat drinking milk from a female cat with her kittens. How ridiculous! And unreal!

Actually, it really happened. I grew up on a farm with cats, dogs, horses, cows, and pigs. We had one  adult cat named "Tigger," you know like from Winnie the Pooh.
I had gone out to the barn one day (I was probably around 10 or younger or older), and I saw him in the midst of baby kittens drinking milk from a female cat - the mother cat. It was the strangest sight I'd ever seen. I don't remember if my sister or mum saw it with me or not, but there you have it! That memory had come back to me about a year ago, screaming to go in my book somehow.


No this is not actually Tigger, but it's almost what he looked like. Our Tigger died of old age several years ago, but we've got pictures of him somewhere at home...


Here's another piece that will go somewhere in the series:
      "Alex! Will you get me some bullets?" yelled Jane.
      "Where are the bullets?" asked Alex.
     "I have no idea," said Jane.
     "NAME, where did you put the bullets when you cleaned the room?" asked Alex. (I don't know who she's talking to yet.)
      "In the ______," said HE. (I don't know where he put them yet either.)
       "Why are they in there, you psycho person," said Alex retrieving them. "We need them up front."


Okay, so originally this was a conversation between me, my sister and my brother, I don't remember what was being asked for, but it was something that did not exist in the 18th century and he had put them in some closet I think. Haha, I don't remember, but you get the idea!?!?!

So it's a work a progress, being adapted to the 18th century! ;)

November 11, 2012

When Did I Start Writing the Pirate Saga?

I started writing "The Remmington Pirates Saga" in autumn-winter of 2009. I KNOW it's been forming and transforming for YEARS! I'm almost embarrassed, but what can I say? I'm learning about being a writer and experimenting and discovering what I like.

And the saga was orginally going to be one book and one main character (well two actually with the hero and heroine) and then a month later it became a trilogy with three main characters (or six rather, because of the heroes and heroines).

But as the story started taking on a bigger and more interesting shape, I realized that three books was not enough. I have so many ideas and plots and plot twists. It get soo complicated and exciting! AAH!

Because I personally don't like to read giant fat books, over 500 or 600 pages. Who can hold that for hours?
Ok, that's not my reason for not liking giant fat books, my reason is: IT'S INTIMIDATING!

So my books will PROBABLY be between 300 and 500 pages. (My max and minimum.) ;)

November 10, 2012

What is My Genre?

Every writer has a genre, right?

I don't know. Wait! Yes, I do. And yes, every writer has a genre.



C.S. Lewis - fantasy, action adventure
J.R.R. Tolkien - fantasy, action adventure
Stephanie Meyer - fantasy, romance
Rick Riordan - fantasy, action adventure (romance? nah...)
Linda Lee Chaikin - historical fiction, romance, contemporary fiction, amish, drama
J.K. Rowling - fantasy (action adventure?)
Cathy Marie Hake - historical fiction, romance
Gilbert Morris - historical fiction, romance
Christopher Paulini - fantasy, action adventure
Ian Fleming - spy fiction, action adventure

You get the idea. I like action, adventure, fantasy, romance, fiction and historical.



Originally, my "Remmington Pirates Series" was going to strictly be a historical action, romance type of thing, but over the years - because I wanted to add more adventure to it, like Indiana Jones - I decided to touch on fantasy, but still be as close to historically accurate as possible.

And now I'm thinkin', why hold back? I still want to be close to historically accurate, but history is really people's re-creation of what they think it was like back then, granted if we're lucky, we've got evidence from journals and books and artifacts and what-not to help us "re-create" history. (This statement was based off of what my UK "Early Modern England" professor told us in our lecture/class at the beginning of the autumn semester of 2012.)



So I'm writing a fable or an allegory.
Fable means: "a story about supernatural, mythological, or legendary characters and events."
Fable (also) means: "a false or improbable account of something."
Fable synonyms: story, allegory, tale, legend, myth, parable

Allegory means: "a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual or moral meaning."
Allegory (also) means: "the symbolic expression of a deeper meaning through a story or scene action out by human, animal, or mythical characters."
Allegory (also) means: "allegories considered as a literary or artistic genre."
Allegory (also) means: "a symbolic representation of something."
Allegory synonyms: parable, fable, metaphor, symbol, story, tale



Now I wanted to know, what movies are allegories?
I googled and got a variety...(some of them happen to also be books made into movies):
Batman: The Dark Knight
X-Men
X2: X-Men United
Fight Club
Wizard of Oz
Spiderman
Iron Man 2
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2
The Matrix
District 9
The Tree of Life
The Planet of Apes
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Ghostbusters 2
Chronicles of Narnia movies
Captain America
Kill Bill: Vol 1
The Lord of the Rings
Air Force One
X-Men: First Class
Eragon
Elektra
Tron movies
Puss in Boots
Heartless
Safe House
Columbiana
John Carter
The Secret of NIMH
The Wedding Date
Man on a Ledge
Superman
Dracula
Frankenstein Monster
Jaws
Godzilla
Werewolf
Alien 3
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Gladiator
The Lion King
King Kong
THe Ninth Configuration
The Proposition
Total Recall
The Secret Gardan
The Hunger Games
The Christmas Carol
The Sixth Sense
Home Alone
Meet the Parents
The Number 23

(I have NOT seen all of these, only some...)

But honestly, I think every story has meaning behind it. Why else write it?



SO. My genre is action, adventure, fantasy, historical with romance of course. ;)