characters

Of Books, Tension, and The Mind on the Page…

Presently I am reading Anuradha Roy’s novel, An Atlas of Impossible Longing .

As with any good novel, interactions between the main characters are strained.

Tension abounds, but not in a melodramatic way.

The story moves with a nice speed for an opening.

I look forward each evening–a hallmark that I have found a jewel of a novel–to settling into bed,

Of Books, Tension, and The Mind on the Page… Read More »

Of Intimacy, Revelation and Redemption…

In my recent interview with Tabitha Vinson of Praise and Worship ICU (PWICU), we discussed human intimacy, an aspect that, for Tabitha, played heavily in my recent novel, The House.

That night, it struck me that as with The House, and all good works of fiction, intimacy plays an important role in not simply the emotional narrative of a story.

Intimacy heavily contributes to the establishment of the opening of a work of fiction.

Through presenting the protagonist in a series of intimate relationships, readers get to know the personality of the central character, flaws and all.

From this we gain entrance into their yearnings.

And yearnings always relate to desires and wants, ultimately inner conflicts that get ignited once the protagonist enters the quest to achieve her or his goal.

Of Intimacy, Revelation and Redemption… Read More »

Characters of “The House”

One of the questions asked me on this blog tour, by Yasmin Coleman of APOOO, was which actresses and actors might I see playing the roles of the various characters in my novel, The House.

I found this question interesting. I tend not to think of movie or television characters when creating those in my novels and stories. And yet I had great fun doing this exercise.

I’d love to here your thoughts on my choices.

Interested to see whom I picked?

Characters of “The House” Read More »

Of Writing, Integrity and The Company We Keep…

“When we set out to judge—ridicule pillory, condemn, sneer at or…impugn our characters–we fail at our objective. Instead of making our characters look bad we make ourselves suspect.”
—-Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

We are known by the company we keep. In the case of a writer, that company consists of our characters and our attitude towards them.

Simply put, what kind of person would choose to writer 60,000 words, or there about, centered on a person or persons our words demonstrate that we dislike, hold little or no respect for, or even loathe?

Would you as a reader trust anything this writer has to say?

Of Writing, Integrity and The Company We Keep… Read More »

Of Plot, Authenticity, and Knowing Who We Are…

“A story should generate it’s own actions and emotions organically…A story should be authentic…made of stuff that has never been appropriated from other forms of narrative art…other stories…movies or television. Or it has it should be sufficiently re-processed through the author’s unique sensibilities so the resulting work has its own authenticity.”

–Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

A story should have it’s own unique characters and plot.

Well if this be the case why are writers encouraged to read for more than the experience of learning writing technique?

Of Plot, Authenticity, and Knowing Who We Are… Read More »

Of Blogging, “Motherwit Four,” and Generosity…

Of the mother wit and wisdom in her writing Angelia Menchan says, “My mother was 30 years old before she decided to have children. I had these old women around me. My grandmother and then godmother lived to be 102. I was one of those old souls at a very young age. You know that story about the girl born with the veil over her face that would be me. And I just kind of tossed that over my shoulder. On August 9, 2010 I’m publishing an anthology of stories called, “Motherwit Four,” in honor of my mother.”

Author, Angelia Menchan, discusses “Ramblings,” “Schae’s Story,” “Is No Not Clear Enough for You?” and her recent novel, “Mrs. Black”.

She has also published an anthology, Women’s Writes, co-authored with Jennifer Coissiere, Darnetta Frazier, and Shaneika Ferguson.

Visit Angelia’s blogs, Angelia Vernon Menchan, Write or Die Woman, and Angel08.

Of Blogging, “Motherwit Four,” and Generosity… Read More »

African Bushmen, God, and Reality in Writing…

There is a Dream dreaming us.

–African Bushman

(The Mystic Vision–Daily Encounters with the Divine, Compiled by Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring)
How often do I create characters, work with them in uncovering their stories and personalities as I put write them on the page only to then meet a person who within seconds I recognize as one of my characters in a novel?

Very.

Of course these people have most often been around since long before I wrote or even conceived of the story to my novel, and its characters. I have not breathed them into life. And yet a connection exists between what we write and the life around us.

Let’s say for instance that the people I meet who remind me of characters I have created or who have emerged in my stories, have risen in some sense, from my novels.



What would that mean, that we as writers create characters whom we will then encounter in the physical form of human individuals through engagements and interactions and life?

And let’s say these people do not know, have no understanding or awareness that we are their creator.

African Bushmen, God, and Reality in Writing… Read More »