Learn how to write dialogue with the author of A Clean Canvas and enter the #comp to WIN a signed copy! .@ElizabethEMundy .@rararesources #crime #mystery #fiction

HOW TO WRITE DIALOGUE

 by

Elizabeth Mundy

My top tip for dialogue to avoid characters directly answering each other. Everyone has their own agenda for what they want to get out of the conversation and their speech will reflect that. It also makes for a lot of conflict - it’s pretty annoying when you ask a question and don’t get a straight answer.

Here’s an example of it in my dialogue in A CLEAN CANVAS. Lena Szarka is my heroine, a Hungarian cleaner who turns detective. Pietro is the gallery owner – later that night his most valuable painting will be stolen and suspicion will turn to Lena.

…

Lena began to dust a hedgehog crafted from rusty nails. ‘“Tormented Illusions” is a victory!’ declared Pietro, standing behind her. ‘It is our best exhibition for years.’

It took a moment for Lena to realise Pietro wasn’t speaking to her. Instead he was orating to an imaginary crowd, likely practising for the reception this evening.

‘Today you will sell this animal, maybe?’ she suggested, hopefully.

‘Putting together an exhibition is like painting a masterpiece,’ Pietro continued, full of rapture. ‘Each painting is a brush stroke. They must all be different, but each must work with its neighbour to create a beautiful whole, a “Tormented Illusion”.’

Lena wished that she could clean the tetanus-trap hedgehog in peace. She had been delighted when she’d landed this client for her new agency, Lena’s Cleaners, but the combination of the delicate and dangerous sculptures, the terrifying price tags and Pietro’s constant orating was starting to make her wish she’d upped her rates.

‘This will be the exhibition that will see A Study in Purple find its place in the heart of a discerning buyer,’ said Pietro, gesturing to the fiercely priced painting that dominated the right-hand wall. ‘And we are lucky enough to have the immensely talented artist, Trudy Weincamp, here this evening to tell you how she came to paint this delight. This whole exhibition has been built around her work of genius.’ Pietro paused, and looked to the painting. ‘Her larger pieces dominate a room in the MOMA,’ he continued. ‘But we have A Study in Purple right here in Islington. Her work is iconic. How often can you buy an icon for £84,000?’

Lena still couldn’t believe something that didn’t have three bedrooms and an acre of land could cost that kind of money.

My Lena Szarka mystery series always throws up some special problems for dialogue. Lena doesn’t speak great English and feels very self-conscious about this, especially as she’s cleaning well-educated, rich people’s homes.

I wanted to reflect her speech patterns as a non-native speaker, but was keen for the dialogue to still be easy to understand and flow. And I never wanted her to sound stupid – she’s not.

So I went on a research trip to Hungary and listened to how the Hungarians spoke. Hungarian has fewer propositions so I used this as a tool when Lena spoke. I also decided to make her never contract her words – she will always say ‘did not’ rather than ‘didn’t’. This makes her speech sound awkward, but is still understandable and literate. Occasionally I include a Hungarian word for colour, but make sure that the meaning is clear from the context – I don’t’ want to limit my readership to Hungarians!

Here’s an example from the first book in the series, IN STRANGERS’ HOUSES. In this scene, Lena is cleaning with her fellow Hungarian Timea as they practice their English. Timea’s English is much worse than Lena’s, but she goes missing before this can get too annoying!

‘This man is cheating,’ said Lena.

Timea looked up from the petals she was sweeping. ‘Why you think he is cheat?’ she said.

‘Flowers mean guilty conscience,’ said Lena.

Timea bent down to the flower petals and gave them a deep sniff. ‘These are lovely. Beautiful roses.’

‘Roses are for funerals. Like chrysanthemums.’

‘Not in this country,’ said Timea. ‘But I like more daisies. Daisies remind me of fields back home. I miss the fields.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Maybe these are not guilt flowers, maybe they are love flowers?’

‘Képtelenség,’ humphed Lena. ‘Nonsense. There are empty Calvin Klein underwear boxes in the bin. I fished them out for recycling. Purple. Men do not buy new purple underwear for themselves to impress their wives.’

‘Perhaps wife buys them for him as present,’ said Timea. ‘Because she was pleased with flowers.’

Lena laughed. ‘I wish everyone was as sweet as you,’ she said, ruffling her friend’s hair. ‘You should live on the flying palace – where children come from apples, and flowers are not just from men who cannot keep their fasz in their trousers.’

For me, dialogue is my very favourite part of writing. I think it’s because I was lucky enough to have a mother who taught an MA in screen writing and so I’ve been brought up on it. When writing for the screen you don’t have the luxury of long descriptive passages or flowery metaphors – everything needs to be done through dialogue.

Introducing…

A Clean Canvas

by

Elizabeth Mundy

 Crime always leaves a stain…

Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner, dusts off her detective skills when a masterpiece is stolen from a gallery she cleans with her cousin Sarika.  When Sarika goes missing too, accusations start to fly.

Convinced her cousin is innocent, Lena sweeps her way through the secrets of the London art scene. But with the evidence against Sarika mounting and the police on her trail, Lena needs to track down the missing painting if she is to clear her cousin. 

Embroiling herself in the sketchy world of thwarted talents, unpaid debts and elegant fraudsters, Lena finds that there’s more to this gallery than meets the eye.

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About the author, Elizabeth Mundy.

Elizabeth Mundy’s grandmother was a Hungarian immigrant to America who raised five children on a chicken farm in Indiana. 

An English Literature graduate from Edinburgh University, Elizabeth is a marketing director for an investment firm and lives in London with her messy husband and two young children. 

A Clean Canvas is the second book in the Lena Szarka mystery series about a Hungarian cleaner who turns detective.

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*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for the fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Make your dialogue SHINE by Angela Rigley .@angierigley .@rararesources #timetravel #giveaway #prize

HOW TO WRITE GOOD DIALOGUE

by

Angela Rigley 

I find dialogue easier to write than narrative and I prefer to read it. When I come across pages of description or narrative in a book, I flick through, only taking in an occasional word or two to ensure I have not missed an action.

Even though research suggests the reader does not see the word ‘said’, I do, and purse my lips at lines of ‘he said’ and ‘she said’. In children’s books it is important to show the child who is speaking, but adults should be able to tell by the writing as shown in this example from my Victorian dual timeline novel ‘The Peacock Bottle’. Amelia has just met a local boy, Garnet, and her maid, Jenny, is showing her disapproval of him.

 “Scoundrel?” Amelia turned to Garnet. “You didn’t tell me you were a scoundrel.”

“Nor am I, dear lady. I’m no more a scoundrel than Jenny here.”

“So why did she say such a horrible thing?”

“Because, Miss Amelia,” butted in the maid, “he was once caught in possession of a stolen donkey.”

“A donkey? Why on heaven’s earth would you steal a donkey?”

“I didn’t steal it, Miss, I only borrowed it. The owner happened to notice its absence before I had chance to return it.”

“So why weren’t you sent to prison or, even worse, to that Australia place?”

“Because the owner happened to be my pa.” Jenny stood, hands on hips. “And he has a soft spot for Garnet. He wouldn’t have kicked up such a fuss if he’d known it were him who pinched it.”

“Borrowed it,” corrected Garnet.

“Well, anyway, Pa dropped all charges, and said he could have access to the wretched animal whenever he wanted.”

Even though I do not use ‘said’ it is obvious who is speaking.

In another scene from the book we can see how using ellipses can indicate hesitation. 

Ensconced in the drawing room, Daisy grinned as her mother’s mouth opened and closed as if eager to ask a certain question, but with qualms about doing so. She began, “Clara, my dear, are you…? I mean, is…?”

“You mean, where’s Wilfred?” Aunt Clara finished for her.

“Well, I did wonder. You did not mention him in your letter.”

“He… I… How can I put this? We need time apart. For him to come to his senses. I figured that if I left him on his own for a while he would realise what he was missing.”

I also use dialogue to convey facts, as in this extract when Amelia and her maid Jenny are walking though Cockermouth:

A statue stood in the middle of the road, and they stopped to examine it.

“Earl Mayo,” read Amelia. “I wonder who he was.”

“Someone to do with India. Apparently he was assassinated so they stuck that up for him.”

Short and concise. I did not want to turn it into a history lesson.

In normal speech we would say ‘Oh,’ ‘Um’ etc all the time, but such words used overmuch slow down the action, as does ‘Hello’ every time characters meet.

If a character has a lot to say I intersperse the speech with action, even if it is only ‘Daisy crossed the room’, or ‘Amelia took a sip of her drink’. Too little white space can spoil concentration.

As long as each character is given a different way of speaking the reader will identify with them and enjoy what they have to say.

One of the reviews for The Peacock Bottle said ‘The author did an excellent job differentiating the different timelines and the characters' voices, so much so that I did a double take back to the cover to ensure it wasn't penned by different authors.’

Praise indeed. 

The Peacock Bottle

by

Angela Rigley

In this Victorian dual timeline novel, Amelia Wise feels a jolt when she finds a blue perfume bottle in the overgrown garden of the house she has inherited. 

Several events in her life mirrors those from the past and, with the help of her newfound cousin, Olivia, the bottle's secret is uncovered.

Purchase Links:

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peacock-Bottle-Angela-Rigley-ebook/dp/B073NT79W2

US - https://www.amazon.com/Peacock-Bottle-Angela-Rigley-ebook/dp/B073NT79W2

Author Bio – Married to Don, I have 5 children and 9 grandchildren, I live in Derbyshire, England, and enjoy researching my family tree (having found ancestors as far back as 1465), reading, gardening, playing Scrabble, meals out and family gatherings. I am the treasurer of my writing club, Eastwood Writers’ Group, and I also write and record Thoughts for the Day for Radio Nottingham. At church I sing in the choir and am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, a reader, a flower arranger and a member of the fundraising team for Cafod, my favourite charity. I have written hymns, although I cannot read music.

Social Media Links –

https://www.instagram.com/angelarigleyauthor/

https://www.facebook.com/angierigley/

https://twitter.com/angierigley

www.nunkynoo.yolasite.com

https://wordpress.com/view/authoryantics.wordpress.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-rigley-b0322741/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/angelarigley/pins/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14367596.Angela_Rigley

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*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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WWBB loves a 'how-to' guest post from authors, and here Catherine Fearns discusses sequel writing... and also her amazing new book! You've gotta see this one (and win a prize!!!!)! #crime #mystery #authorgiveaway @metalmamawrites @rararesources

How To… Write A Sequel

BY

Catherine Fearns

When I was writing my first novel, Reprobation, I envisaged it as a self-contained entity. I didn’t think I’d even get a publishing deal, never mind the opportunity to write more books! But at some point, I began to imagine the characters’ journeys continuing past the end of the story. I realised that the adventure was just beginning, and I was not ready to let go of the world I had created. Consuming Fire came knocking on the door before I’d even finished writing Reprobation.

Writing a sequel is a wonderful opportunity, but it comes with a whole new set of constraints, dilemmas and technical challenges that the author doesn’t have to face with a stand-alone. This is what I have learned so far about that tricky second book:

Crime fiction is made for sequels

Crime fiction lends itself to sequels and series more than most other literary genres. In fact, I can’t even think of that many stand-alone detective thrillers or police procedurals. Detectives work case by case; an investigation follows a process, a formula, which can be repeated ad infinitum. And since the character of the detective tends to take second place to that of the plot, there’s not enough scope within one book to develop him or her fully.

…. but do it for the right reasons

Sequels are notoriously weaker than their predecessors. Think about all the disappointing Hollywood movie franchises. Don’t do it to cash in (ha, not much chance of that for an indie author!), or because you think it will be easy to churn something similar out (it won’t, it will be harder). Do it because you have a story that needs to be told.

Identify your USP, and work it

What was special about your last book? Reprobation was a crime thriller with a slight supernatural twist. the reader can take the police’s practical explanation for the crimes, or he/she can wonder whether there might have been other forces at work. I wanted to develop this idea of the unknowable, of the hidden world beyond our own, and I wanted to watch DI Darren Swift’s gradual journey towards an acceptance of the occult.

…. but change things up too

At the same time, nobody needs to read two books in a row about windswept Merseyside beaches, abandoned churches and grumpy nuns. I certainly didn’t want to write Reprobation again! Consuming Fire picks up Reprobation’s characters and themes but has a complete change of mood; from a cold gothic winter to a fiery Scouse summer. It also brings in a brand new villain and a new literary technique.

It's not just your book anymore

It’s heart-warming and hard to believe, but I actually have some loyal readers now, who are looking forward to my next book! And they will certainly have expectations. I’m terrified of disappointing them, and I do need to keep them in mind and understand what it is they liked about Reprobation.

…but you have to follow your own path

People love the characters of Helen and Mikko. I do too! But they had a lot of time to shine in Reprobation, and writing a Helen-and-Mikko follow-up love story is not what I’m about. They need a rest. It’s too easy otherwise. Darren Swift is my detective, and he is on a character arc. He needs times and pages to develop, for the reader to fall in love with him. Helen features prominently in Consuming Fire too, as she and Darren begin to form an unusual investigative team. But don’t worry, Mikko will make a big comeback in the third book!

You know what you’re doing. Or do you? Keep that beginner’s mind.

You’re a published author now, so that means you’re an expert, right? You don’t need any more help or advice, right? Wrong! You know nothing, Jon Snow. Especially about writing sequels. Keep learning, always. Keep asking questions, worship your beta readers, your editors, your experts. And check your facts. Re-read the first book over and over, because sequels risk being riddled with continuity errors, and readers SPOT these things.

... but don’t be afraid to experiment

People bought and liked your first book, so you must be doing something right. Debut authors can be understandably tentative with their style and plot, so now that you’ve established yourself, it’s time to spread your wings a little. Consuming Fire uses the technique of a ‘book within a book’ – a seventeenth century found text which I had enormous fun writing and interspersing with the main narrative. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that first time round. And I hope people love it.

The book needs to work as a standalone too

Marketing is easier now; you’ve got a bigger social media following than you had before; you might even have an agent or publisher where you didn’t first time round. So your second book will reach a wider audience. But the problem is – some of them didn’t read your first book. They won’t know what the hell is going on! You need to view your sequel as a new story within the scope of a larger story. You need to re-introduce some facts and character traits, to situate the new reader and jog the existing reader’s memory.

...but don’t put in spoilers

The huge challenge is to make the sequel work as a standalone without being tedious or clumsy, and crucially, without putting in spoilers. Some people might read your new book and think, ‘wow, this is great, I’ll go back and read the first one!’ But not if you tell them whodunnit!

So that’s what I’ve learned about sequels. I’m currently writing book three, trying to catch up with my characters who have now taken on lives of their own. I can’t keep up with them…

INTRODUCING…

Consuming Fire

What Has Been Seen Cannot Be Unseen…

Liverpool is in the grip of an intense heatwave, and strange things are happening.

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A woman dies in an apparent case of Spontaneous Human Combustion; a truck explodes on the dock road; the charred corpses of pets litter the city; forest fires ravage the pinewoods…and there are birds everywhere, silent flocks drawing in ominously.

Detective Inspector Darren Swift thinks there are connections, and his investigation delves into the worlds of football, nightclubs and organised crime. But is he imagining things?

Dr. Helen Hope doesn’t think so. And she believes the key lies in a mysterious seventeenth-century occult book which has gone missing from Liverpool Library.

In the blistering sequel to Reprobation, DI Swift is forced to confront some inconvenient ghosts from his past, as a terrifying shadow lies over his city’s reality…

 

Catherine Fearns is from Liverpool, UK. In previous incarnations, she was a financial analyst, a cocktail pianist and a breastfeeding counsellor, but nowadays she likes to write. Her first novel, Reprobation, was published by Crooked Cat Books in October 2018 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller in several categories. The follow-up, Consuming Fire, is currently on pre-order and will be available in early 2019.

Catherine writes for music website Pure Grain Audio, and her music journalism has also appeared in Broken Amp and Noisey. Her short fiction and non-fiction pieces have been published in Here Comes Everyone, Toasted Cheese, Offshoots & Metal Music Studies. She holds a degree in History from Oxford University, a Masters from the London School of Economics, and is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association.

When Catherine is not writing, she plays guitar in a heavy metal band, mainly to annoy her four children.

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Giveaway to Win a signed copy of Consuming Fire, Consuming Fire stationery, and a cuddly peacock! (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Sue Barnard discusses what makes authors want to write new stories on existing characters.#giveaway #author #guestpost #alternate #history #romeoandjuliet .@AuthorSusanB .@rararesources

NEW LIFE FOR OLD CHARACTERS

a guest post by

Sue Barnard

Sebastian Faulks, Charlie Higson and Anthony Horowitz have all done it for James Bond. Alexandra Ripley did it for Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Jill Paton Walsh did it for Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. There have been numerous attempts to solve Charles Dickens’ unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood.  Even Thomas the Tank Engine has been given a new lease of life, by the son of his original creator. 

So what is it that makes authors want to write new stories centred on existing characters?

In one respect, I think, it’s because once the original author has died, there can be a great sense of regret that there will be no more from the same pen. So if the authors’ stories and characters are popular, why not give their fans more to enjoy, in the form of sequels, prequels, or simply more adventures?

You don’t need to be a famous, or even a published author to take advantage of this very useful literary device. Using a well-loved character (or set of characters) as the basis for a new story can be an excellent way of dealing with an attack of writer’s block. Think of a favourite character from a book, a play, or even a poem. Imagine what it might be like to meet that character face to face. What would you say to them? How do you think they would respond? Try writing a short dialogue between the two of you, and see where it leads. You may well find that it gives you a springboard to a whole new story. No writing is ever wasted, even if it doesn’t end up in the final version.

Or think about how the character behaves in the original work. If his or her behaviour is unusual, what might have happened in the past to affect their actions in the present? Let your imagination run riot – prequels make fascinating stories!  My current WIP is a companion story to my second novel, Nice Girls Don’t, and explores the background to one of the characters who barely steps out of the shadows in the original story.

Or you can even give the original story an alternative ending – as I did with my debut novel The Ghostly Father. It is a sort of part-prequel, part-sequel to the original Romeo & Juliet tale, and explores what might have happened to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers if events had taken a different course. In the play, a sequence of misfortunes leads to a maddeningly preventable double-suicide. But what if just one of those unfortunate events had not occurred? What difference could this have made to the eventual outcome?

Read the book and find out…

Introducing...

The Ghostly Father

by

Sue Barnard

Was this what really happened to Romeo and Juliet?

Think you know the world’s most famous love story?  Think again. 

What if the story of Romeo and Juliet really happened – but not quite in the way we’ve all been told?

Kindle (universal link) | Paperback 

This part-prequel, part-sequel to the original tale, told from the point of view of the Friar, tells how an ancient Italian manuscript reveals secrets and lies which have remained hidden for hundreds of years, and casts new doubts on the official story of Shakespeare’s famous star-crossed lovers.

If you love the Romeo and Juliet story but are disappointed with the way it ended, this is the book for you.

~

Sue Barnard is a British novelist, editor and award-winning poet.  She was born in North Wales some time during the last millennium, but has spent most of her life in and around Manchester.  After graduating from Durham University she had a variety of office jobs before becoming a full-time parent.  If she had her way, the phrase “Non-Working Mother” would be banned from the English language.

Her mind is so warped that she has appeared on BBC TV’s Only Connect quiz show, and she has also compiled questions for BBC Radio 4's fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz. This once caused one of her sons to describe her as "professionally weird." The label has stuck.

Sue speaks French like a Belgian, German like a schoolgirl, and Italian and Portuguese like an Englishwoman abroad.  She is also very interested in family history.  Her own background is far stranger than any work of fiction; she would write a book about it if she thought anybody would believe her.

Sue now lives in Cheshire, UK, with her extremely patient husband and a large collection of unfinished scribblings. 

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Giveaway to Win a signed copy of The Ghostly Father (UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days, then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, except the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for the fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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