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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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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If time-travel is your bag then check out this fabulous #YA novel, plus on WWBB, the author's main character is interviewed, and WIN a prize! So much to check out! #books #kidslit #timetravel @tyrannopaulus @rararesources

The Lights of Time

Engella Rhys is alone, adrift and on the run. Pursued by a secret agency, known only as the Hunters, she must stay ahead to stay alive.

As she travels through space-time using dangerously experimental technology, she only has one wish: to be reunited with her lost parents. After a close shave with a Hunter on the streets of New Shanghai, Engella escapes to find herself on a deserted beach. When she meets a kind stranger, who offers her food and shelter, Engella feels safe and protected for the first time in years.

But who is this woman? And why did their paths cross at the most convenient of times?

Engella soon discovers their lives are intertwined in more ways than she could ever imagine.

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Character Interview

with 

Engella Rhys

from the book

The Lights of Time

(The Chronicles of Engella Rhys Book 1)

Who is the protagonist from The Lights of Time?

Introducing Engella Rhys, the protagonist from The Lights of Time. Engella was born in London UK in the mid-21^st century and is seventeen years old. She is the daughter of Dr Evan Rhys and Dr May Nakamura, but they were separated during a Hunter attack many years ago. Engella has lived alone ever since. She is on the run, shifting through space-time every few days, weeks or months. She has been searching for her parents ever since.

Engella was a happy child and felt safe and secure, until the day her parents took her away from home; after the Hunters’ first attack. The family moved around a lot, shifting from place to place and time period to time period. It was not all bad – she remembers one day in particular: visiting the beach with her parents, making sandcastles and eating ice cream. One of her favourite memories is watching holo-movies with her Papa. But all Engella has ever known is running from the Hunters, until one day she receives a message, which she believes is from her father. She was living on the streets of New Shanghai at the time and was trying to find out more about the message when the Hunters attack again.

What are her likes/dislikes?

Engella loves shifting to a mountaintop where she watches the sunrise or sunset. She feels at peace and can forget about her life on the run from the Hunters. She also loves to eat desserts. She doesn't get to eat them often, but can’t resist a piece of apple pie covered in custard. Her favourite pass times include playing retro computer games and wearing retro clothes from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. She often uses holo-technology to try out different garments from these historical periods.

Engella can’t stand nosiness; she gets irritated when asked a lot of questions by strangers, like when she meets Eddie Reyes. Engella only hates one thing – the Hunters. She doesn’t understand why they were after her family and wishes she could live a normal life.

What is Engella’s primary goal in life?

Engella’s main goal is to find out what happened to her parents. She won’t stop until she finds them.

How does she see herself?

Engella probably doesn’t see herself like others see her. Her years on the run have affected her greatly, knocking her confidence. She just wants to live a normal life and settle down somewhere quiet. But Engella doesn’t yet realise how strong she really is. 

But how do others see her?

The other main characters see Engella as a strong and confident leader. With time, Engella starts to see how others see her and she grows in strength and confidence as a result.

Sounds brilliant! Thank you, Paul, for sharing.

Paul Ian Cross is a multi-award-winning children’s author and scientist from London, UK.  

Paul works in clinical research (developing new medicines), and he’s also involved in science communication; presenting science to non-scientists. He enjoys his science career, but he also has a real passion for writing stories! He likes introducing children to the wonders of science, especially reluctant readers. By introducing science creatively, he aims to spark their interest; allowing them to gain confidence in their reading. As a previous reluctant reader himself, he understands how hard it can be. But it’s all about making reading fun and interesting!

Paul’s nephew Hayden influenced his decision to become a writer. He loved seeing Hayden’s reaction when his sister Michelle first read one of Paul’s stories to him! In his spare time, Paul likes to visit new and exciting places. One of his favourite places is Scotland, especially the Isle of Skye.

Paul’s debut picture book, Praxx and the Ringing Robot, won second prize in the ‘Picture Books 5 and Younger’ category at the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards 2017. The book trailer also won first place in the ‘book trailer’ category at the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards later that year.

Paul’s second book, Planet Scrabbage and the Vegerons, won an honourable mention in both the ‘Picture Books 6 and Over’ and ‘Health’ categories at the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards 2018.

And that brings us to now... Paul is currently working on several new books. Paul’s debut upper middle-grade novel will be published in 2018. The Lights of Time is the first novel in a brand-new series: The Chronicles of Engella Rhys.

Paul hopes you enjoy reading his stories as much as he enjoyed writing them!

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GIVEAWAY TIME!

Win a Kindle HD Fire 7” and a signed copy of The Lights of Time (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 I reserve 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 I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Giveaway Alert!!! Win a signed copies of The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye .@SarahMarieGraye #heartfelt #stories .@rararesources #sucide #tearjerking

Today, I’m taking part in the first anniversary blog blitz for The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye. I asked Sarah Marie to share the most heart-rending scene from her novel and she chose the scene where Abbie finds out she’s pregnant.

Scroll down for the giveaway!!

 The Second Cup

by

Sarah Marie Graye

Abbie had known there was something awry with her body the way only a pregnant person can. And it wasn’t just the swollen ankles, swollen abdomen and swollen breasts.

The tiredness and the backache that she’d put down to too many long days and too many late nights had reached the heights where they could no longer be ignored as symptoms of something bigger.

The pregnancy test was a mere formality: a wand to wave magician-like at Ebbs in a “look what we’ve made” kind of way. Except that she didn’t want to wave anything at Ebbs, except maybe a hand to shoo him away.

She had a little person growing inside of her and it was half Ebbs and she didn’t know if she wanted it. And until she knew, she wasn’t going to be able to tell him.

The secrets and the waiting and the decisions. They all became nothing when the pain came. It didn’t just rip her in two: she’d felt hung, drawn and quartered, her mind flitting back to history lessons at school, to the horrors of the centuries gone by where people who betrayed the crown were subject to a slow and humiliating torturous death.

Abbie felt like she was suffering a similar agonising fate, but all she could think of was the little person inside of her, that they were probably dying in her place.

Ebbs rushed her to A&E, knowing something was terribly wrong, but having no idea of the cause. At that point Ebbs simply cared about Abbie – and she realised she could have told him. But it’s too late for confessions, so she must speak in whispers with the hospital staff.

A positive pregnancy test confirms what she tells them in hushed tones. An ultrasound scan confirms the worst. Nothing in her uterus.

An explosion in her right fallopian tube. The worst type of ectopic pregnancy. A medical emergency. Abbie rushed into theatre, crying for herself, for her dead baby, for anything to make the pain go away. She cried out – the sounds began to form the name “Paul” – and she quietens herself with her fist in case Ebbs is near.

Later, after a straightforward laparoscopy, she was moved to the recovery ward, her ruptured fallopian tube removed. Her baby removed.

The part of her and Ebbs that she didn’t know if she wanted she now so desperately craved. She knew it was the hormones pulsating round her body, but that knowledge didn’t stop her womb from aching for the life that never was.

Later still, she was at home with Ebbs, the two of them coming to terms with the pregnancy neither of them supposedly knew about. He thinks it is easier that way: that they never got to know the idea of having a baby before it was taken away.  

She agreed, nodding, trying to hide the waves of grief for the baby she’d known about for three weeks. And along with that grief, she needed to come to terms with a diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease causing damage to her fallopian tubes. The reason her baby didn’t make it to her womb.

The potential damage it may have caused to her other fallopian tube. The problems she may face conceiving safely in the future.

She comforts herself with “at least” – the motto she has come to live her life by – that at least they didn’t have a Band-Aid baby. So Abbie knew she needed to be grateful alongside her grieving. To not be trapped by a baby like her mother was.

And then later still, none of it matters. Shortness of breath, followed by feeling faint, followed by yet more pain. Another hurried journey to A&E. Another visit to theatre. A nasty infection. Another tube removed.

Just isolated ovaries swimming around inside her, with no connection to her womb. No way to make babies – Band-Aid or not.

And then later still, Abbie and Ebbs are no longer together. The doctor checked Abbie’s scars and told her she had healed well. She looked down at her abdomen and agreed. Physically she had healed very well.

The little cream lines near her belly button sat in the natural folds of her skin and could easily be mistaken for chicken pox scars. Yes. Physically she had healed very well.

And then later still, came an extra glass of wine to ease the pain, to keep her company, an attempt to fill the hole. And then later still came Dominic. But the hole was too big for him to fill too.

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 The Second Cup

Would your life unravel if someone you knew committed suicide? Theirs did.

Faye knows her heart still belongs to her first love, Jack. She also knows he might have moved on, but when she decides to track him down, nothing prepares her for the news that he's taken his own life.

Faye is left wondering how to move forward - and whether or not Jack's best friend Ethan will let her down again. And the news of Jack's death ripples through the lives of her friends too.

Abbie finds herself questioning her marriage, and wondering if she was right to leave her first love behind. Poor Olivia is juggling her job and her boyfriend and trying to deal with a death of her own. And Jack's death has hit Beth the hardest, even though she never knew him.

Is Beth about to take her own life too?

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Giveaway – Win 3 x Signed copies of The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye

(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 I reserve 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 I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Sarah Marie Graye was born in Manchester in 1975, to English Catholic parents. To the outside world Sarah Marie’s childhood followed a relatively typical Manchester upbringing, until aged nine, when she was diagnosed with depression.

It’s a diagnosis that has stayed with Sarah Marie over three decades, and something she believes has coloured every life decision, including the one to write a novel.

Sarah Marie wrote The Second Cup as part of an MA Creative Writing practice as research degree at London South Bank University – where she was the vice-chancellor’s scholarship holder.

Sarah Marie was diagnosed with ADHD in November 2017 and published an extended edition of The Second Cup in February 2018 that included character interviews so she could diagnose one of her characters with the same condition.

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