R. L. Stedman

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Book Review – Local Books: Forbidden Love

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Forbidden Love: A Book Review of The Larnachs

I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts based on the local literary scene.

writer's notebook
Notebook – Image from Pixabay

Side note: I live in Dunedin, a UNESCO city of literature, where we’re blessed with an extraordinary amount of books, novels, authors and artists.

You can find out more about the scene through Beverly Marshall’s literary tours

The Larnachs by Owen Marshall

The Larnachs

The Larnachs, by Owen Marshall.

Here’s my review from Goodreads:

The Larnachs is a beautifully told tale of a forbidden love affair. This story is based on the true story of Constance Larnach and her step-son, Dougie Larnach, and her husband, William Larnach, a self-made millionaire, politician, and dreamer. Larnach’s now mostly known for his eponymous Castle, but in the days of the disastrous affair, he was a member of parliament and a well-known figure in Dunedin.

The story moves between Dougie and Constance’s point of view, and as the narrative moves inevitably to its terrible ending, the reader can’t help feel sympathy for the star-crossed lovers. I particularly enjoyed this book as its set really close to me, so I know the locations well.

Marshall’s done a lovely job of interweaving local lore with historical fact, but The Larnachs never slips into drily-told history.

I thoroughly recommend this book, partly because of the historical context, but also because it poses a central question: what to do when you fall in love with someone totally off-limits? Can love really conquer all?

Local Setting

Larnach’s Castle still stands today. Want to see the castle Larnach built?

Love Stranger Things? Here’s some books you’ll love

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Did you binge-watch Stranger Things 1 &2? Were you bereft when the series ended?

Don’t be sad! Instead – Read a Book 🙂

If you enjoyed Stranger Things – here’s 5 books to try.

All these stories have things similar to the TV series: they’ve got kids as protagonists, they’re set in a twisted version of the real world, and there are hidden entrances to and from a hidden, unseen dimension. And they all have a noir, gothic vibe.

The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern

This wonderful story is about two adversaries, doomed to fight a deathly battle. Their battleground? A circus. But not your average circus: no – this is The Night Circus, a place of mystery, illusion and magic.

The Night Circus

The Ogre Downstairs – Diana Wynne Jones

Casper and Johnny call their new stepfather ‘the ogre.’ Until he gives them a chemistry set. And things begin to change… Like, they discover flying … The Ogre Downstairs is suitable for ages 9+ and it’s a great read-aloud story.

The Ogre Downstairs

Carrie – Stephen King

Definitely not suitable for bed-time reading, this is Stephen King’s first published novel. Carrie is a girl with strange abilities, a religious zealot mother and a dysfunctional high-school. Unlike Stranger Things, Carrie doesn’t contain portals – but there’s definitely a darkness to this story. I would bet it was an influence on Stranger Things.

 

Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling

Everyone knows about this book! The reason I’ve put it in this list? It’s because the film-makers actually talked about the importance of having a ‘Voldemort’ figure in the sequel. I’m sure they unconsciously (or consciously) drew themes from the Potter world. There’s no magic in Stranger Things, but there’s kids and portals and the powers of darkness, so there are definite similarities.

 

The Call of Cthulhu – H. P. Lovecraft

True disclosure: I’ve not read Cthulhu. But it is so important to the horror genre, and especially to D&D players, I had to add it. Besides, the Duffer brothers referenced it also, when talking about how they developed their antagonist.

Cthulhu was published in 1928, and documents the “Great Old Ones,” mysterious creatures that kind of look like people with octopus heads. The Cthulhu once ruled Earth, and by the end of the story they may again… Lovecraft’s influence on fantasy horror is huge, and the concept of the Cthulhu has been used over and over again, in a variety of literature.

Cthulhu

 

Love Books? Try a Literary Tour in Dunedin, a City of Literature

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Literary Tours

Love travel and books? Here’s a chance to combine your passions – take a Literary Tour!

Let me introduce Beverly Martens. Beverly is a communications expert who moved to Dunedin several years ago. A lover of books and writing, last year Beverly decided to set up a small business, taking visitors to Dunedin on tours of our vibrant literary scene.

Beverly’s story is an interesting insight into the varied places writing can take you, and her tours offer visitors a chance to explore a city famed for its literary history – away from the normal tourist trails.

Beverley Marten of Dunedin Walking Tours
Beverly Martens

I’ve asked Beverly to tell her story in her own words. Here it is below:

Literary Walking Tours, Dunedin

Hi, I’m Beverly Martens, owner/guide of Literary Walking Tours in Dunedin. 

I was looking for fulfilling part-time work, but as I ‘d been focussed on writing these past few years, my previous business contacts had gone stale, and I was over qualified for many of the part-time jobs available.

However, with Dunedin now an official UNESCO City of Literature, I saw a unique opportunity to merge my new literary life with  my previous marketing and pr skills and start this new small business.

Also,  I’d had recent experience running a monthly Wine Club,  so I knew how to host people and give them a great time!

– Why did you decide to base your tour here in Dunedin? Did you look at similar tours that are done elsewhere?

My tours would have no context if Dunedin wasn’t a UNESCO City of Literature (only one of twenty world-wide). Once we got that designation it kind of all made sense.

And yes, I researched walking tours in other cities, including Paris and Dublin etc, but I doubt I’m ever going to dress up in period costume and start spouting Shakespeare.  What I offer is in-depth knowledge about Dunedin’s writing scene from both a historical and current perspective.

Old-Fashioned Romance

– Where do you go on your tour? What do people like to see?

I offer two separate walks:  one through the historic part of the University of Otago campus, and a shorter (1½ hour walk) around the centre of Dunedin that showcases both some historic buildings and the key figures that have shaped  Dunedin as a place where writers live thrive.

Guests enjoy both the historic buildings and the anecdotes I tell.

– What is it about the writers you feature on your tour that people love hearing about?

The human-ness of our key NZ literary figures. Being a full-time writer has never been an easy choice for anyone, and those choices have consequences (mostly good) that still resonate in the city today.

– What do people most say they enjoy?

‘Dunedinites’  love being a tourist in their own city; discovering out-of-the-way places that they didn’t even know existed!

Overseas visitors are charmed by our historical buildings, and how I weave through the continuing influence of some of the province’s founders into the opportunities (such as writing fellowships and writing competitions) available to writers living here now. Also, some of the  quirky projects Dunedin has are interesting. For example, our ‘mini libraries’ Lilliput Libraries, poems on the back of our parking meter tickets, and so on.

– Where can people find you?

My website is  www.literarytours.nz  or you can email me at: info@literarytours.nz

The Perils and Pitfalls of Writing a Trilogy

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Writing a Trilogy? Here’s What to Do (And What Not To Do)

SoulNecklace Stories (Box Set)

I’ve just published the final book in The SoulNecklace Stories.

This feels like a momentous occasion; it certainly has felt like a lot of work! This series has been nearly eight years in the making, with a fair number of fits and starts along the way.

So this blog post is like a message to my former self – as well as to anyone embarking on a trilogy. Here’s the things I wish I’d done, plus the (few) things I did do that worked well.

Top learnings:

Do

  • Write them! Series are great! They are actually a heck of a lot easier than writing stand-alone novels, because you don’t have to reinvent another world or another set of characters. Writing A Memory of Fire, the last book in my SoulNecklace Stories, felt a little like slipping on a comfy pair of slippers. Once I’d settled on the plot, I could just go.
  • Build your world-rules carefully. When writing fantasy, or indeed any fiction, you create a fictional world. This world has rules: things that are allowed, or not allowed.  Readers are (generally) content to go with these rules, but they do become upset when they spot an inconsistency.

Typically, a writer will have rules that are based around location or appearance (you can’t have a black-haired character suddenly becoming blonde without a reason) but in fantasy the rules are way more extensive and can include magic, technology, religion, geography: in fact, any part of life. This makes writing fantasy fun, but full of pitfalls.

As a writer, it can be hard to remember all your rules, especially once you’re 300,000 words in!

  • Draw maps and pictures. This helps to navigate around castles, houses, villages, countries, whatever. Once I figured this trick out I could get a feeling for distance (how long would it take to travel 40 leagues – and how long is a league anyway?)
  • Plan a little bit, but not too much. I found it helpful to have an idea of the stories ultimate destination (and no, not going to give that spoiler away), but by not being too settled on what would happen too early, interesting characters emerged. Like the Kamaye, the Wayhouses, TeSin and Ma Evans. They all spontaneously arose from my subconscious. I’d not planned for them at all, but weaving their stories into the main narrative added a lot to the overall depth.
  • Write faster! I really wish I’d just knuckled down and put the words on the page. Instead, I became distracted by other projects. This was partly fear – what if the conclusion was awful, what if no-one liked it. So, all in all, it took nearly 8 years to complete the series, but if I’d gotten over my fear issues I could have finished it a lot sooner.

WTF

Don’t

  • Don’t bother too much with the marketing until you’ve finished the series. I really wish I’d figured this out earlier. No point on worrying about Facebook ads or Goodreads giveaways until the series is completed. On a plus side, once a series is completed suddenly readers are very happy, because they can binge-read.
  • Don’t overpromise.  I found that I needed breaks from my imaginary worlds to retain the joy of the process, and this meant I had slow periods. Plus, because writing a series just takes so darn long, life gets in the way. This is part of the writing challenge, but it’s hard to explain to an impatient publisher or reader.
  • Don’t be daunted by the amount of work. Writing a novel is a huge amount of work. Writing a trilogy … oh man! It’s way more! You have to be totally committed before starting, because this world and these characters will be part of your life for a couple of years. It’s a big deal, taking on a two-year project, and not being certain of the outcome. All the time, through your head, a little voice murmurs: What if it’s no good. What if no-one likes it? What if no-one buys it? What if, what if…

And Finally

The most important lesson to anyone embarking on series: ditch the fear. Just do it anyway. You’ll be glad you did.

And, as a bonus, the third book might be so much fun to write that you might be tempted to write another book, or even just a novella, in the same universe.

A Long, Long Life

But that’s another story…

 

You can find The SoulNecklace Stories online or, in hard copy as individual titles on this website, or at your local library.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About My Books

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Six Things You Didn’t Know About The SoulNecklace Stories

I’ve been asked these questions about The SoulNecklace Stories:

  • Why do you have Christmas in your worlds?
  • Pockets weren’t invented until the 1700s. Why do your character’s clothes have pockets?
  • How come you don’t have guns but you have fireworks?

 

Great questions! Here’s why:

1. The books of the SoulNecklace Stories (A Necklace of Souls, A Skillful Warrior and A Memory of Fire) are set in a parallel world to ours. The world has similarities, but also a great many differences.  For example, in the world of The SoulNecklace Stories, much of the technology we have, like cars and guns, were never invented. Coal-fired steam boilers are present, and so is hot water. Fashion, though, is similar to that of the 1800s, and hence long skirts, jerkins and … pockets.

2. The events in these stories take place at roughly the same date and time as the present day in our world.

3. In The SoulNecklace Stories some characters have the ability to move between worlds. N’tombe, an enchantress, is one such person. N’tombe actually comes from The Central African Republic (CAR) in our world, where they do have guns. (Actually, she refers to them briefly in A Skillful Warrior.)

4. When writing a fantasy, it’s important to have rules that contain the world-building. Here are my rules for the history of The SoulNecklace Story world:

• Rule One: Worlds split off from other worlds when something significant happens. That is: an event with two possible outcomes occurs – AND each outcome will create a significantly altered future. The separation is called ‘a divergence’. (This rule was created long before the Divergent series!)

• Rule Two: Things in place prior to the divergence event are unchanged. It’s only the future that is altered.

• Rule Three: The reason for the divergence in The SoulNecklace Stories was a comet striking Earth. The comet carried a passenger (or perhaps, the comet is the passenger). This happened on or about AD 75.

5. So, the history of The SoulNecklace Stories is the same as our world up until about AD 75. This means that in The SoulNecklace Stories the Roman Empire existed and, because Jesus was born before the comet strike, Christianity arose (and so did Christ’s Mass, or Christmas). But the Renaissance never happened and in The SoulNecklace Stories, the Chinese Empire is the dominant power. And so we have fireworks, used for celebrations and religious festivals, but not guns.

6. This means that, as you read The SoulNecklace Stories, you may find things that are the same as our world, but you’ll also find things that are different.

SoulNecklace Stories (Box Set)

I hope this clarifies the point for readers who noted apparent errors in fashion, holidays and religious festivals. Well spotted, but No.

So You Want to Be A Writer? Here’s What You Need to Do

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Keep Calm and Carry On
From PinkPot Design

So You Want to Be a Writer?

I began writing when I was about 6. I wasn’t particularly good, and my teachers seemed underwhelmed by my talent. But I loved writing, so I persevered. I entered competitions, wrote little short stories. Got nowhere. Then I stopped.

I trained to be a physical therapist – who needs to be a writer, anyway? – and began travelling the world. Much more exciting than getting rejection after rejection.

It was only when I became ill that I thought: what do I most want to do in the world. And the answer was: I want to write. So, the best writing advice I’ve ever had is the advice I told myself: if you really want to be a writer, then you have to write.

Which is what I did.

Keep Writing

About thirteen years ago I began a novella. I liked it, but no-one else did, so I got a lot of rejections. I kept writing. I wrote a couple of short stories, began another novel. Again: rejections. I did a couple of night school courses on writing. Crickets!

I volunteered to work on a trade magazine. I kept writing, and studied for a Certificate of Creative writing. And then, finally, a short story of mine was accepted! I was so excited!

Fast forward ten years: Now, I write pretty much every day. This includes blogging, journaling, creative first drafts, this interview. The words add up.

want to be a writer

Embrace the Fear

I’ve written six books. I’ve won three awards and have been shortlisted for a few more. I’ve had emails from folk all around the world who tell me my words have touched them.

Despite all this, I still feel as though I’m not very good. But I keep writing.

So, the best advice to any writer is: keep writing.

Keep Writing