On a grey February afternoon, with what a former boss of mine used to call a “good old Halifax s**t storm” due to roll in overnight, I’m sitting here casting about for a blog topic. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been struggling with a sagging middle in my WIP, Deliverance, and decided to go back to the beginning and add more depth to the characters. So, let’s talk about characters – in particular, heroes who don’t start out as hero material.

Carl O’Neill(above, as I picture him – isn’t Henry Cavill fun to look at?) was the anti-hero in Shattered. Belligerent, violent and reckless, he threw his family into chaos. Carl isn’t a nice man at all, yet right from the start I sympathised with him. He has understandable reasons for his bad behaviour, and he has redeeming qualities: bravery and a quixotic sense of honour. He has terrible judgement in deciding where to place his loyalty, but once placed it isn’t easily swayed. I think that’s why I liked him enough to give him a book of his own.

One thing about starting with such a flawed character – there’s plenty of room for growth. The challenge is to make that growth believable, to stay true to Carl’s flaws and yet still give his heroine, Naomi, a reason not to write him off before he starts to come around. To start with, he’s sick and in her care, but I’ve just finished revamping Chapter 3 and he’s now well enough to start showing his true colours. When he does, how is she going to react?

Being a pantser, I’m not sure. Naomi is about to experience a crisis in her own life. How will Carl respond? He has no idea how to offer comfort to a woman, and he knows it. Naomi has good reasons to be distrustful, not to say frightened, of men. The only thing they have in common is that they’ve both experienced war. In the short time before Carl is well enough to go on his way, I’m going to have to build a connection that’s strong enough to make him want to stay, and her want him to stay – in spite of his flaws. Without making her seem weak or TSTL.

What do you think? Of course all romance heroes worth their salt are flawed, but have you enjoyed a story where a confirmed antihero gradually and believably becomes a hero?

2011 has been another year of change for me, but it’s ending on a high note.  I’m enjoying working at Sylvan Learning Centre – I like the fact that I’m doing a variety of jobs there, not only tutoring, and I like my co-workers.  On the writing front, the rough draft of Deliverance – Carl O’Neill’s story – is half-finished, and it seems that sales for Shattered are starting to nudge upward. I’m going into the new year feeling encouraged about writing and life in general.

My watchword for 2011 was gratitude, and the year certainly brought me a lot to be grateful for. All of my nearest and dearest have been well, I’ve been given so much support for my writing from so many quarters, and I produced another book, which is getting very gratifying feedback. Now I need a new word for 2012, and it’s going to be DISCIPLINE.

Let’s face it, writing is hard. There are days when it’s a joy, when the words flow so easily I can put a thousand or two on the page without even trying, but those days are rare compared to the ones when perspiration has to take the place of inspiration. Distractions are always present, and by nature I’m easily distracted, but 2011 was a year of growth for me as a writer and now I have to build on that.

This time last year, McShannon’s Heart had just been released.  A second novel is always a milestone.  It’s easy to feel that the first book was a fluke, that it doesn’t mean you’re really an author.  A year later, I’ve been through the self-publishing process with my third novel, learned about formatting and tax forms, what’s worth doing myself and what it makes sense to pay others to do, and, though I will never be a marketing whiz – it just isn’t in my nature – I’ve learned a lot about promotion, too. I feel like a different writer than I was this time last year, but Rule 1 of the writing life still applies – you have to put your butt in the chair and write!

I haven’t touched Deliverance over the holidays. I think I truly needed a break, but now it’s time to hunker down and get this baby written over the next month, so I can move on to editing. I also need to find a new exercise/diet routine, as my Curves attendance has gone out the window due to my topsy-turvy work schedule. For me exercise requires a set schedule, and that’s something I haven’t had for three years. Every time I think I’m settled, I change hours or jobs and find myself back at square one. I think I might try some kind of home exercise program, a video or something I can do more easily on my own time. As for diet, I know what I have to do – I am a carb addict and I have to get off them.  Again.

DISCIPLINE. Not my favourite word, but a very necessary one.

GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE!“

To you and yours, a merry Christmas and the best and brightest of New Years.

4 Stars for Shattered by Jennie Marsland

Title: Shattered
Author: Jennie Marsland
Genre: Historical Romance

Summary:

Liam Cochrane no longer belongs. He lost his youth and his brother on the battlefields of Europe. Now he’s home in Halifax, Nova Scotia, trying to dull his pain with liquor and the occasional willing woman. He’s become a stranger in the North End neighbourhood where he grew up.

Alice O’Neill has never belonged. Able to read notes, but not words, she dreams of teaching music – and of Liam, who has held her heart for years and never known. But Liam has shadowy ties in England that he’s revealed to no one, and in that fall of 1917, Halifax is on a collision course with fate. On December 6, a horrific accident of war will devastate the city’s North End. What will be left for Liam and Alice when their world is shattered?

Review

Although historical romance isn’t my usual reading stock, I was drawn to this novel when I read the sample because of its strong, vivid writing style and a glimpse of flawed characters that I hoped would find their strength and develop in the course of the story.

Well, I was not disappointed. Both protagonists, Liam and Alice, start out very weak and desperate – Liam crippled by his war experience, the death of his younger brother and his war injury, and Alice with her low self confidence made worse by her dysfunctional family and inability to read. But the novel follows the change in their characters, two perfect arcs of improvement, as the events propel them along until they manage to take charge of their lives. I must say that this in itself was immensely satisfying for me as a reader.

The setting felt very real and the secondary characters were also three-dimensional and believable. There was no black and white, no evil and perfect people, only people coping with personal tragedies each in their own way and coming into conflict with others.
The atmosphere of the time was palpable in the pages of this novel and to my joy I was transported back into time to this small town devastated by the effects of a war so distant and yet so near, a war taking away their sons and leaving behind widows and orphans. Everything, from the balls to the masses at the church to the hospitals and the beliefs of the society were consistent and created a world in which I happily lived for a few days.

Although it is mostly sweet romance, the novel does include a few sex scenes, well written and not overly explicit, but certainly not for children. They are not gratuitous; they work well in the story and advance the relationships between characters.

The novel has a good pace, neither too slow nor too fast. No big surprises awaited in its pages, everything went as I imagined it would, but that is not necessarily a bad thing: seeing the way the author handled situations and conflicts was for me the best thing about this novel.

A final note: I was surprised with the events in the final pages of the novel (the Halifax explosion) but was pleasantly surprised to find a historical comment at the end of the book explaining that these events are real and detailing what we know about them.
This is a well-researched and well-written book, and I highly recommend it to lovers of the genre and to everyone who likes a good, character-driven story.

This is the entrance to the Explosion Exhibit. Fellow RWAC member Julia Smith, a talented photographer as well as an author, snapped me surrounded by history. She took all the other photos here as well.

We had a lovely fruit wreath by Fruitful Expressions and gingerbread cookies from Sweet Smiles Pastry Cafe – which proved very popular with one guest in particular, who made off with an armful. One young guest told me that she liked eating gingerbread men, but didn’t like smelling them.

To each his own – I love the smell of gingerbread, and these were delicious.
The reading took place in the museum’s small craft gallery. Liam and Alice’s world felt very near as I talked about what life was like in wartime Halifax.

I chose to read the scene from Shattered where Liam and Alice dance for the first time, and Liam has his first encounter with Alice’s brother Carl. RWAC members Pat Thomas (my amazing editor) and Michelle Helliwell also came out in support. Here’s the whole crew after the reading. From left to right we have Tara, Michelle, Shawna, Me, Pat and Julia.

The image at the top is me signing copies by the museum gift shop.

I confess I’m an introvert. Even after years at the front of a classroom, speaking to an audience takes energy, but talking about the history behind Shattered and reading from the novel here, surrounded by graceful masts and sails and with the museum’s Explosion exhibit close by, was a joy. The Beatles said it best…there’s nothing like a little help from your friends.

Sara is new to the world of publishing, though not to writing. She has one published novel, two in the final stages of revisions and a stack of stories ready to work on. She’s also venturing out of her comfort zone of Romance to work on a new suspense novel, which she hopes to have done by December 1st. When she isn’t writing, Sara spends her time with her three children and her husband Justyn, hanging with friends, and just enjoying life. You can find her at her website, follow her blog, tweet her, or find her on Facebook. She loves to hear from her readers so send her an email at saratrimble@saratrimble.com. If anyone is participating in NaNo, feel free to buddy her at youngmomx3. Don’t forget to check out the new movie trailer for her debut paranormal romance, Heart Over Mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws0EXm5tsI8

What got you interested in writing?

The very first time I remember being excited to write was for Halloween in 4th grade. We had an assignment to write about a spooky event and I ended up writing a five page story when everyone else had only written two paragraphs. My teacher loved it. Apparently though, I’ve been wanting to be a writer since I was six. I have a 1st grade folder that my teacher created for us. In the section “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I put creative writer.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was little but I didn’t start trying to make a career of it until January of 2005.

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

Don’t try to be just like everyone else. If you have an idea for a story, don’t abandon it just because it’s different than what your favorite authors create.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Unfortunately, I have and currently am. I’m still at that stage that I’ve yet to figure out how to beat this horrible scenario.

To you, what are the most important elements of good writing?

Great, believable characters. I think without strong, diverse characters, the book won’t do much.

Tell us about your latest book.

Right now, I’m deviating from romance to try my hand at suspense/thriller/mystery. Gemma Davis, FBI, is called to the end of the world, Bayou Point, by her ex-fiance, when an arm is found inside the stomach of an alligator. DNA results show that the limb belonged to a young girl who’d gone missing four years prior. Claude worries at the find, as there are still sixteen other girls, approximately the same age and type, still missing.

Gemma agrees to visit and gets in over her head when she discovers a sinister secret about the town, and it’s occupants, that could end up getting her killed. Nothing and no one is as it seems. The deeper she digs, the worse the outcome gets for the missing girls. Who is taking them, and why? How is that they’ve never been seen or heard from since their disappearance? And how were these intelligent, careful girls, all kidnapped without one single witness.

Gemma has to probe carefully to answer these questions and solve the case. And she has to watch her back in the process.

What comes first for you, the plot or the characters?

To me, plot comes first. I like to develop my plot and then the scenario tends to cause the characters to evolve into who they’ll be.

What books or authors have most influenced your writing?

Lindsay McKenna, Caridad Pineiro and Patricia Cornwell really influenced the type of writing I wanted to do. I enjoy each of these wonderful women’s books and would love to be as successful as they are.

Are you working on anything at the present you’d like to share with us?

I started writing my new book In the Bayou for NaNoWriMo, which is when an author tries to write a 50,000 word book in one month. I knew I wouldn’t be that successful, though I’d have loved to, but I did get a lot done on it and think it will be a great book when I’m finished with it.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love to spend time with my three children, go fishing, hunting or to the river with my husband, and spend time with friends. I try to enjoy each day of my life. Everyone I know tells me I live the life of a typical country song and I can’t say I’d change one bit of it.

The watch above, stopped at the time of the Explosion, is part of the collection of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic here in Halifax. No matter how often I’ve seen it, the museum’s Explosion exhibit still makes me shiver. A nightgown stained with soot, a young boy’s schoolbag,a child’s drawing of a ship – the personal items bring a poignant sense of connection. For me, the fascination of history is that human nature always has been and always will be the same. Only the circumstances change.

The item at the museum that really gives me chills is a little china souvenir cup, about the size of a demitasse, that was found in the rubble of a home, one of the only things left intact. It has ‘Remember Me’ written on it. And so we do.

Next Sunday, December 4, from 2 to 4 pm, I’m going to be signing copies of Shattered down at the museum. If you’re in Halifax, drop by, walk through the Explosion exhibit and visit the Titanic exhibit as well. Both are well worth a visit. See you there!

There’s a beautiful novel, The Divine Ryans by Wayne Johnston, that conveys the fascination of hockey in a wonderfully poetic way, while telling a poignant tale of a young boy’s coming of age. Like Draper Doyle Ryan in the novel, I hated being sent to bed after the first period, and I remember when I was first allowed to stay up to watch a whole game on TV. When the Soviet Union played Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, we watched in school, sitting on the edges of our seats. The teachers knew we weren’t going to get any work done anyway.

Back then I watched the Saturday night games with my father; now I watch with my hubby. Though DH considers the Toronto Maple Leafs his team (loyalty really can be taken too far), we’ve followed the career of Nova Scotia’s own Sidney Crosby with interest since he stepped onto the ice with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Crosby seems to one of those players who has a date with destiny. At twenty-four, he’s captured every honour hockey has to offer, including the Stanley Cup and Olympic gold, and he’s done so with as much class as athletic brilliance. So, last winter when he took a hit on the ice and ended up with a career-threatening concussion, I wondered if perhaps all that glory had come to him so soon for a reason. I imagine he wondered, too.

Last night, after almost a year of recovery, Sidney returned, with little advance notice. Networks scrambled to televise the game. The greatest player in hockey today didn’t disappoint. Five minutes into the first period he scored a highlight-reel goal. With millions reading his lips, he roared “f**k yeah!” while the crowd went ballistic. If the lights in the arena had gone out, no one would have noticed for the joy and relief lighting up his face.

Way to go, Sidney. It’s been a long year, but you’re back. Enjoy it. We will.