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Boo!

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What scares you?

It may well scare your readers too. We’ve discussed dread and being scared before.

I’ve returned to fear, as I’m about to begin writing my sixth Cornish Detective novel Kissing & Killing which will hinge on fear and insecurity. My protagonist Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kettle is a laid-back farmer’s son with a team of detectives who are better trained at violent confrontations than him. One is a judo black belt, another officer is as big as a wardrobe and a Cornish wrestler, while Neil’s deputy is of the Indian Rajput clan and is trained in their scimitar-based martial art of pari-khanda, using dummy swords and shields for lessons. Neil has police force martial arts training, but up to now has preferred to out-talk suspects, rather than overpower them.

He had no choice at the end of Book 5 The Dead Need Nobody, where he was stabbed with a sword, fighting for his and a hostage’s life. He beat his assailant to death, using an extendable baton. Owing to blood loss he was placed in a medically-induced coma to protect his brain. He comes out of it facing an official enquiry into the death of the murderer who attacked him.

Neil seems to be OK, but he’s soon aware that his personality has changed. He’s more combative, relishing violence. He becomes afraid of himself.

The people who wake up from comas with different personalities

He’s also feeling insecure, from falling in love for only the second time in his life, with a woman who may be concealing a criminal past from him.

I’ve known people afraid of the dark, crowds, dogs, cats, snakes, spiders, fish and toadstools. For my part, I’m irrationally intimidated by bears (none of those in Cornwall) and dislike petty officials with too much power—and they’re everywhere!

Some fears are rational. I don’t like great heights or depths, as falling or getting trapped can kill me! I know a man who explores abandoned Cornish mines, going underground without special equipment and not telling anyone where he’s going, which is crazy.

Writing frightening scenes is tricky. I’ve read several crime novels this year which failed to scare me at all, even though awful violence occurred. The main characters weren’t emotionally affected, which left things feeling flat as if the author was relying on his readers having moral outrage.

What scares you?

What scares your characters?

What to do if Your Computer Is Overheating(A common fear of writers!)

Creativity, Writing

Feeling Insignificant? Read this….

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I came upon this quote in the excellent Writers’ Services newsletter: 

‘It does no harm to repeat as often as you can “Without me the literary industry would not exist: the publishers, the agents, the sub-agents, the sub-sub agents, the accountants, the libel lawyers, the departments of literature, the professors, the theses, the books of criticism, the reviewers, the book pages – all this vast and proliferating edifice is because of this small, patronised, put-down and underpaid person.”‘

Doris Lessing

Image result for doris lessing

So, don’t undervalue yourself. Doubt should not make an end of you. It’s only proof that you want to write the best story possible.

Writers are often quiet and self-effacing people, but to succeed these days we have to sell ourselves. There’s no escaping that. It takes effort and self-belief (and probably a website, a blog and social media ‘friends’ and followers). 

At the core of it all is the writing. If you believe in that, then maybe people of influence will too, those who feed off your talent to keep publishing running.

Rachel Carson put it well:

Image result for rachel carson

If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in, the chances are very high that you will interest other people as well.

Image result for girl reading book painting

Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, Library, Search Engine

Search Engines

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As writers, we spend a lot of time looking for information, so a responsive and accurate search engine is essential.

So far, only one search engine has entered the language as a transitive verb….Google. It proves its dominance, in the same way as hoover is the common term for using a vacuum cleaner.

I’ve become increasingly dissatisfied with Google, mainly for its inaccuracy. Asking a question of Google reminds me of the way that politicians never answer the question posed by the interviewer—they always answer a different question. Google is annoying too, for the way it prioritises stuff for sale. Its personalised search function is more of a hindrance than a help.

As this Wikipedia article notes:

Several concerns have been brought up regarding the feature. It decreases the likelihood of finding new information, since it biases search results towards what the user has already found. It also introduces some privacy problems, since a user may not be aware that their search results are personalized for them, and it affects the search results of other people who use the same computer (unless they are logged in as a different user)

I don’t want to see the same results regurgitated from a month ago.

I usually forget to use Bing, but sometimes turn to DuckDuckGo:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/duckduckgo-vs-google-search-engine/

An article in Fast Company mentions DuckDuckGo and four other search engines:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90388493/these-5-great-alternative-search-engines-do-what-google-cant?

Which search engine do you rely on?

Creativity, Dreams, Health

How Do You Sleep?

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I came across a couple of articles about sleep which made me contemplate how my sleep patterns have changed with age.

We’ve discussed sleep before:

https://paulpens.cloudaccess.host/creativity-in-sleep/

I used to regularly sleep for eight hours a night. If I managed an extra hour, I felt fantastic and achieving ten hours turbocharged me! These days, at the age of 65, it’s more like six to seven hours of good quality sleep. I don’t feel deprived, but if I do feel drowsy during the day I’ll nap for an hour, sitting up in my chair, which invigorates me. It doesn’t often happen, perhaps four times a year.

Drowsiness can be a clue to health problems and disrupted nocturnal rest. My long-term partner suffered from sleep apnoea, which she was wholly unaware of, but when she stopped breathing, I woke instantly. She lacked energy during the day, frequently dropping off to sleep in the evening while watching television.

https://www.healthline.com/health/daytime-sleepiness/signs-to-see-a-dr#1

Image result for cat nodding off sleep gif

There are a couple of drowsiness tests mentioned in this article:

https://curiosity.com/topics/measure-your-drowsiness-with-the-epworth-sleepiness-scale-curiosity

(I scored 3 in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale)

I think that because I’m so regular in my habits, it helps me to sleep. I’ve done jobs that were the enemy of sleep, such as getting up at 4.00 a.m. to be at the milk depot an hour later, to load an electric milk float and deliver 450 pints. Finishing work by 10.00 a.m., I needed to find ways to wind down before going home to sleep a few hours, waking to greet my partner at six o’clock. I was always in bed by 10.00 p.m. Milkmen soon start to look like the Walking Dead!

This job mimicked the old way of sleeping in two sessions:

https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-used-to-sleep-in-two-shifts-maybe-we-should-again

Nowadays, I work from eight o’clock to 1.00 a.m., retiring to bed to read for an hour, before turning the lights out. Fortunately, I’ve never been bothered by sleeplessness—proof of having a clear conscience?—or, no conscience at all!

Those plagued with insomnia become obsessed with sleep, which probably worsens their plight. A new device tracks a person’s sleep, which an insomniac might view as helpful. To me, it’s proof of how obsessed some people are with measuring everything in the 21st-century:

https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/08/12/the-respio-integrates-an-in-depth-sleep-tracker-right-into-your-bed/

Image result for respio sleep tracker

If you’re constantly monitoring yourself day and night, when do you ever relax and just enjoy being alive?

How do you sleep?

Femme Fatale, Writing

Femme Fatales

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In a previous thread, we discussed Bitch Characters in fiction:

https://paulpens.cloudaccess.host/bitch-characters/

But, a femme fatale isn’t necessarily bitchy, she’s more of a predatory vamp who prowls through the lives of those she captivates, getting what she wants from them and leaving them wrecked. She’s a fatal woman to know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale

My favourite femme fatale from literature is Cora from James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice.

A contemporary example of a femme fatale is Amy Dunne, from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.

Image result for Amy Dunne, from Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.

I’m about to start writing Kissing & Killing, my sixth Cornish Detective novel. The protagonist was grieving for his dead wife in the first four stories, but his life was turned around by the unexpected reappearance of a witness from Book 1. They’ve been corresponding since she returned to her homeland in Wyoming. He’s uncertain why she’s come back to Cornwall, but they’re mutually attracted and become lovers.

She’s less innocent than she seems, and may have an ulterior motive for getting involved with a copper. As a rebellious young woman, she acted as a getaway driver for a bank heist, in which people died. The gang was never caught. There’s no statute of limitations on murder.

My naïve country detective slowly realises how much he’s been played by a femme fatale. Does he turn her in? She’s only the second woman he’s ever loved.

Who are your favourite femme fatales from literature and films?

Have you written one?