Writing Room: Reworking Writing Prompt
Tuesday 15th September 2015: Reworking.
Today’s prompt:
Today, take a story you’re working on (maybe one you’ve been struggling with?) Rewrite a scene where a secondary character becomes the main focus rather than your current hero or heroine. If you’re not working on anything at the moment, pick a favourite novel and rework a scene from there (Harry Potter from Ron’s point of view? Mark’s point of view in Bridget Jones.)
by 
Author Interview: Ben Fergusson
Ben Fergusson
Hi Ben. Thank you for joining us. Can you tell us a little about your book, The Spring of Kasper Meier and how the idea originated?
The Spring of Kasper Meier is a novel about a black-market trader, Kasper Meier, who is just about surviving in the ruins of post-war Berlin. He is blackmailed by a young rubble woman, Eva Hirsch, and the novel follows the twists and turns of that blackmail, but also the uncomfortable friendship that develops from it.
The idea came from two places mainly. I’d already had the idea of a Kasper-like character for a Chandler-esque novel some years earlier that didn’t quite work out. Then I moved to Berlin about 6 years ago, and while living there became very inspired by the city and its history. The two things came together and I had the idea of this first scene with Kasper and Eva. It all grew from there.
If you could travel anywhere in history, where would you go and why?
I suppose Ancient Rome in its heyday. I never quite got over going to the Forum when I was a kid; the everyday life of the city seemed so tangible.
Are you a planner and do you edit as you go?
I do plan, but I do have to write to make sense of where the novel is going. This means that I write a lot that gets not used. I will often write myself into a cul-de-sac plot-wise, discover what’s wrong and then have to go back 50 pages and start again. I would love to be able to plan it all in an Excel sheet and then write it all out in one go, but that just doesn’t seem to work for me.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I have a day job, so I don’t really have the luxury to have rituals. I just squeeze in the writing around it in any way I can.
by Book Haul: September (So Far…)
I do love buying books. I love it even more when friends give me books and that is what one friend did recently (I was a very happy girl.) I like the look of all these novels and I wanted to share these books with you.
The Last Honeytrap by Louise Lee (Headline, 4th June 2015)
The first one is The Last Honeytrap by Louise Lee. I really love the look of this book. This looks great – a good, old-fashioned romantic comedy and I am really looking forward to reading this.
Scot ‘Scat’ Delaney is a world famous jazz singer. He has ample opportunity to stray and his girlfriend, Alice, needs to know she can trust him. Introducing Florence Love, Private Investigator. Florence has just ten days to entrap an A-Lister. Whilst sticking to her cardinal rule: One kiss, with tongues, five seconds – case closed. A master of body language, evolutionary science and nifty disguises, her approach is unconventional, her success rate excellent. But targets are rarely as beautiful as Scat. Never fall for the target. That is very bad form indeed.
View at The Book Depository.
I Followed The Rules by Joanna Bolouri (Quercus, July 2015.)
The book cover for this one is so lovely. The plot for this book looks great and it sounds as though it will be a great read. I am looking forward to reading this.
Rule 1: Never ask him on a first date. Rule 2: Laugh admiringly at all his jokes. Rule 3: Always leave him wanting more.
. . . wtf?!
Have you heard of The Rules of Engagement? It’s a book that promises to teach you to find the man of your dreams in ten easy steps. Unsurprisingly, I don’t own a copy. What is it, 1892? But I’m a journalist, and I’ve promised to follow it to the letter and write about the results. Never-mind that my friends think I’m insane, I’m stalking men all over town and can’t keep my mouth shut at the best of times.
My name is Cat Buchanan. I’m thirty-six years old and live with my daughter in Glasgow. I’ve been single for six years, but that’s about to change. After all, I’m on a deadline. I Followed the Rules and this is what happened.
View at The Book Depository.
by Quick Spotlight: Shiraz Notebook from Paperblanks
Drawing inspiration from one of the most glittering periods in artistic history, The Shiraz collection from Paperblanks is a glimpse into the elegance of the 16th century Ottoman Empire.
The original cover artwork from which this dish hails was commissioned by one of the Princes of Shiraz, decorated with rows of golden lockets and overlaid with filigree. This royal Persian design provides the ideal place to house your history.
If you’ve been visiting my blog for a while then you will know my obsession with notebooks. I am a writer, I need notebooks. You never know when you’re going to need one…. right?
I’ve been sent this lovely Shiraz notebook from Paperblanks and this made me very excited. I’ve always been a fan of these notebooks. The particular one I’ve been sent is A6 in size and is lined.
The cover is stunning and what I love about these notebooks in particular is that the covers are also very good quality. I also like the fact that there is also a black elastic band to hold the book together which means it’s not got damaged whilst I’ve been using it. I tend to carry the kitchen sink around with me and so notebooks can get damaged in my bag.
by Blog Tour: Sewing The Shadows Together by Alison Baillie
I am very happy to be welcoming Alison Bailee to Novel Kicks today and her blog tour for her debut novel, Sewing The Shadows Together. Thank you so much for joining me, Alison. Can you tell us a little about your writing day?
I don’t write as regularly as I should. I tend to write in bursts – and at the moment I’m not really writing because I’m concentrating on getting Sewing the Shadows Together launched.
Do you have any rituals when writing?
Not really – I’ve got more rituals about avoiding writing. I’m really bad about getting started – I have to sharpen numerous metaphorical pencils and get myself into the right writing mood before I can begin. But once I’ve started I get so immersed in my other world that I lose contact with the real world and can’t stop..
Your book is called Sewing the Shadows Together. Can you tell us a little about it and how the idea originated?
Tom and Sarah have both been scarred by the murder of Shona more than thirty years ago. They meet up again and their lives are thrown into turmoil when the supposed killer is proved innocent. The people around them fall under suspicion, and they uncover dark family secrets before the truth finally comes to light. The idea has been in my head for more than thirty years, since I was teaching in Edinburgh secondary schools. There were several high-profile murders at that time, and even after the cases were closed I couldn’t stop thinking about the people left behind. How do you ever get over something like that?
What’s your writing process like – do you plan much and edit as you go?
My novel was in my mind for a long time so I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen before I started – even though I hadn’t written anything down. However, the story did take on a life of its own as I wrote and then I always went back and rewrote the earlier chapters if anything was changed.
by Book Club
