Fellow Eternal Press author Gianna Bruno has invited me – along with erotic and historical romance author Alice Gaines – to a pre-Thanksgiving chat.
This’ll be at 1-3pm EST (6-8pm UK time) tonight – Saturday 19th at the Coffee Time Romance Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karendevinkaren/
Occasionally I get asked about my thought process for writing fiction based on myth, and in particular how I go about fleshing out the bare bones of stories and characters.
Anyone who knows me will know how much I love the wild moors and mountains of north Wales, and the ancient, gentle legends that abound in the region – it seems that every hill, river or town has a host of Celtic stories attached to it.
I’m toying with rewriting one of may favourite Welsh myths – the story of King Math of Gwynedd and his footholder, the beautiful Geowin.
In the story, Math is tricked into leaving Geowin unprotected, where she is ‘taken’ (to be tactful) by his nephews. Math finds out, and makes Geowin his wife to maintain her honour, while banishing the nephews.
So, among the questions the writer needs to ask…
What did the characters look like?
What does a footholder do? (I don’t subscribe to the view that the king needed a virgin to hold his foot otherwise he would die. I prefer something more straightforward, like hiring a nursemaid to look after an old wound that needs continual treatment.)
Was Geowin an unfortunate victim of circumstances who became queen by luck? Or was she a manipulative young woman who seduced two impressionable young men and was prepared to see them banished in her drive to be queen?
The story of Math is a particularly complicated one, with sub-plots and war and magic. Most of the places mentioned in the story are easily identifiable, and I know some of them very well.
I may or may not ever decide to turn this into a novel. If I do, one of the fun bits will be filling in the blanks left by the ancient storytellers!
Up and coming British thriller writer Neil Evans has kindly put ‘The Doe and the Dragon’s’ blurb on his blog.
I’ve had the opportunity to read a portion of Neil’s current draft novel. At the moment he’s unpublished, but if the quality of what I’ve read is maintained throughout, that won’t be the case for long.
‘Black Death’ is a horror film I wasn’t aware of until I found a cheap copy in my exchange shop. It stars Sean Bean, who plays a role not dissimilar to that of Boromir in ‘Lord of the Rings’.
The story is set in England at the time of the Black Death, and uses the plague to good horror effect, with corpses that get the viewer into the mood immediately.
Bean’s character and the hero – a young monk – have to make a journey across England to look for a sorcerer whose capture they believe would halt the disease. The plot is simple but effective (the sort that makes you ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?”) and the horror elements are emphasised throughout, but sewn into the story seamlessly without being forced.
I thought the special effects were particularly effective. That is, there aren’t (m)any, and the lack of flashy graphics give the film a realistic look, rather than the almost ‘cartoony’ feel of films where special effects play an important role.
There were some elements that didn’t quite work for me. As a historian I thought some of the sets more continental and perhaps more dated than I’d expect from medieval England – although in fairness that did add to he atmosphere. My main concern though was in the exposition at the end. Although dramatically done, I do know if I’d tried explaining the plot in a novel my critiquers would give me a good kicking!
But overall it’s a fun, well crafted film and deserves to be more widely known. 8/10
I’ve had an email from eTreasures Publishing updating me on ‘The Well’s’ progress.
Release has been delayed by work on ETP’s theme novellas, but the manuscript went for second editing in late August, so things are moving!
Despite writing the occasional slasher, I’ve never particularly been a fan of films with a lot of gore. I saw the first Saw film when I bought a very cheap second hand copy, and almost had to dare myself to sit down and watch it.
I was very pleasantly surprised. The film did have gore, yes, but the overall plot – of a dying madman forcing tests on people to see how badly they want to live – stands up very well.
I’ve managed to get hold of the rest of the series – seven in all, I think - and watched the lot over the last year or so. Toward the middle the films seemed to become more interested in gore than plot which disappointed, but they do contain enough continuity from the earlier films to retain interest. Each film is a stand alone, but also refers back cleverly to those that came before it.
The final film was back in the spirit of the earlier films, with characters and plot playing a more important role. The film also brings things full circle and while the resolution is a little complicated, it’s good to have the loose ends from previous films in the series tied up.
In all, this is an entertaining series of films. They’re not perfect, but as well as being violent they made me think a bit about human nature. I think it’s best to watch them all quite close together so as to keep a grasp of the complicated strands that run through the series.
It’s difficult to give a mark out of ten because some in the series are so much better than others. However, I’m pleased to have watched the lot and there is certainly more to like than to dislike.
I was talking to someone a few days ago, and it got mentioned that I do writing. As usual I was asked what I write, and as usual I said I usually do Celtic-based fantasy/horror. I added that I’ve also had a short GLBT erotic piece published (‘The Shoot’, published by Eternal Press).
He was more interested in this than in all my horror/fantasy books put together!
While I’m as proud of Shoot as I am of any of my books, it is frustrating that people don’t seem as interested in my longer horror works, which I enjoy writing more and which I think of as ‘my’ genre.
I’ve often read that erotica is ‘the’ genre to write in. Maybe I’ll have to think about doing some more!
