Chiller Thrillers for humans!

Chiller Thrillers to die for.

Intriguing plots, suspense, dreadful predicaments, breakneck pace, ‘out of this world’ events even... These are all elements of a good fiction thriller novel. Of course, you can also break thrillers down into lots of sub genres and start including spy/terrorist, swash-buckling adventure, horror, and supernatural. Maybe the key ingredient of thrillers is that they should have you breathlessly hanging onto your hollyhocks to see what will happen next. The stakes are high and layer after layer of ‘can it possibly get any worse?’ is superseded only by the hero/heroine’s attempts to come good, which conversely just gets him/her into further disasters... I just love these plots…

But wait there is more to it than this...

As a thriller writer I’m always fascinated by human behaviour in extremis. When the chips are down (forgive the cliché) all bets are off! Because, much more than the exciting plot lines, there must be a strong human interest that readers can relate to. And that, I believe, is what makes a thriller story so believable and engaging. It is the hero/heroine suffering and struggling and yet overcoming adversity – eventually - that makes readers empathise with them.

One of the main faults I had when I first started writing thrillers was that I did not understand the power of empathy. I focused on the multi-layered plot making it as full of chills and frights as I could. I made my main character a bit of a bitch and apart from overcoming the threat to her and her family I never made her particularly likeable. After this criticism of my story came from more than a few quarters, I looked afresh at other stories, comparing them to my own and realised they were right. Mostly main characters should be likeable even if they do some not so good things.

None of us know how we’d react if we were put in a life or death situation or were faced by a dreadful choice but we can’t help but wonder how we’d cope and that emotion – empathy - is the engine of all good fiction, not just thrillers. Of course it does mean that the heroine/hero characters must be likeable so we can root for them to succeed. Even superheroes and star trek characters have to have some human frailties for us to feel for them.

Thrillers may be fast paced, exciting reads but they still need to conform to basic story telling rules and the main characters need to connect with us, the readers.

Do you think empathetic charcters are key ingredients in good fiction? 

Lightbulb Moments on Dark Themes

Lightbulb Moments on Dark Themes

So where do the ideas come from?

It is a question I often get asked - as does every other writer. But for the writer of horror/supernatural stories the questioners are even more fascinated by how or why the ideas strike. The answer, of course is they come out of my imagination but they may have been sparked by something I have seen, heard or experienced. Or sometimes tiny nubs just appear from apparently nowhere… But I don’t believe they are apropos of nothing, they have just oozed up from my subconscious.

Perhaps I can give an example of how it worked for me with one project.

The original idea for my latest book “The Afterlife of Darkmares” came to me from apparently nothing?? I had been tossing around some occult-type ideas that might seem fairly believable when the thing suddenly presented itself. It was simply an image and I can still clearly remember the  ‘eureka’ feeling it gave me. The picture in my mind was of a 12 year old boy standing rigidly in a graveyard, hands by his sides, his glossy black hair - pageboy style -  gleaming in the sunlight.  His clothes were old fashioned – as if he’d stepped out of the pages of some 60’s magazine. He wore a buttoned up paisley shirt, a hand-knitted waistcoat and  smart black trousers.  There was something very off centre about him…

Where that image came from, I have no idea, but it must have arisen from something in my subconscious mind.. The scene was so vivid I used it as a jumping off point for my story. At that point I had no idea what my story would be about but I knew I had to use that scene somehow. The boy is called Grif and he is central to the story and the entire plot of the supernatural thriller “The Afterlife of Darkmares.”.  

I then used free writing to further explore and develop the idea.  As I did this and the plot began to identify itself I became more and more excited and enthused by my slowly ripening story. For me this is the best part of writing a book. The creating of the story!!.

So what is your favourite part of writing a story? Do you dream up ideas or characters first?

Blistering Bloglights and other news

First the bloglights tour: Ta Da! Fanfare drumroll!

And Today I have:

Teresa Ashby at “A Likely story”

Teresa is a prolific writer with many years’ experience and her blog is pretty popular too.  Her posts are full of warmth and humour, with a nice mix of interviews, personal observations, amusing anecdotes and lovely pics. Give her a read if you can…

Katie Mills at “Creepy query girl”

As you might guess from her blog title, Katie is a little querky and her blog is very upbeat and amusing. She is an American living in France so lots of travel stuff (she always seems to be dashing somewhere - a very busy lady) but still finds time to write! Katie participates in lots of challenges too so her blog posts are wide and varied. Well worth a visit.

Jan Morrison

Jan has a crazy (in a nice way!) profile. I find her posts entertaining and witty and she gives me a fascinating insight into her life in Canada. Her blog is full of top tips as well as personal anecdotes and the progress of her WIP.  And some beautiful photographs too! Take a look!

 Jennat “Scribbles from Jen”

Jenn posts frequently and she has been a successful blogger for quite some time. Her observations on the writing life are insightful and helpful. She has many lovely pictures on her site and some rather funny cartoons.  Another blogger well worth a read…

That’s it for bloglights this week, folks.

Other news from me...

The main thing is – plea alert …

Can you please, please vote for me in the fascinating blog award, if you think I deserve it… Voting is now open so I would appreciate if you could visit the site and cast a vote.

Thanks so much.

So that's it for today, folks. Thanks for your time in reading this.

Do you think blog links like this are worthwhile? Do you visit the links?

Scary Dolls and Creepy Trolls

Creepy Toys

I was reading the ’Save the cat’ books by Blake Snyder the other day (and a brilliant read it is too!)

But what surprised me - and stuck in my peanut brain – was that there was much mention of the film Toy Story and how the script was written. It was held up as a good example of how to write a riveting screenplay that raises the stakes steadily until the crescendo of the action stuns the readers and makes them gasp with relief as all is resolved. And this is a children’s story…

But what, you may ask, has that got to do with thriller writing? Well, I think it is a thriller in lot’s of ways. It moves fairly fast and is full of incident and drama that makes you relate to the toys and really feel for these inanimate objects. The action rises as Woody and Buzz get deeper and deeper into trouble…

But more to the point for me is that I also felt a thrill of a chill when looking at some of the broken toys and for some reason they made me think of horror stories. They seem almost more lifelike than the other toys but unlike the other toys they were also slightly scary. I know of more than one child who thought the doll was plain frightening.

Which brings me to my point really - that even mundane harmless things can be made to feel scary! I I am put in mind of the number of people who are scared of clowns… They are meant to be fun characters that make us laugh but for some people they are just plain terrifying.

Dolls are symbolic of babies and are meant to be looked after by young children so when they are mutilated and/or broken they seem to change into something else entirely.  So when I am searching to put a frightening element into my stories I try to look for something mundane and imbue it with a sense of something different or even something evil. It horrifies us all the more.  The more harmless an object seems the more awful it is when it turns out to be not harmless at all…

Do you use normal everyday things and turn them into something else?

Murdering Mama's

Murderous Mothers

I have always been fascinated, yet at the same time repelled, by some of the classic narratives about mothers who kill their children. As a mother myself, and possibly because of my child protection background, I have long been interested in exactly why some mothers can murder their own offspring and why writers would want to write about it.

Writers who have used this theme litter the history of narratives and whilst child murder – indeed any murder - is unacceptable to society there is something so shocking about the phenomena that it has always had shock value and therefore been of interest to writers.  In classic literature there is the tale of Medea who murdered her children to exact revenge on their father. In modern literature there is the story of Beloved by Toni Morrison and countless stories which involve some measure of Fabricated Induced Illness (F I I). This can include mothers who smother their babies so making the death seem like natural causes e.g. cot death. These women are generally emotionally unstable or suffering mental illness but their concern for their children is very believable. These women appal people but maternal instinct is sometimes no match for deadened emotions or thwarted personal ambition.

But why are mothers who kill their children, seen as so much more repulsive than fathers who kill? The evolution of mankind has always required a mother or mother substitute and without that connection to a nurturing person during the defenceless time of infancy, the human race would not have survived. Jung says that the mother archetype is an inbuilt ability to recognise and form a certain relationship – that of mothering. The issue of trust and dependency therefore becomes an important one and I believe this is the reason why we are so repelled by women who go against the archetype and kill the very people they are supposed to be protecting.

I believe this theme makes for some of the most compelling drama and story telling I have come across. Modern day writers have used F.I.I. in their plots and there are many books and films depicting this condition although it is still a hotly debated topic.  Crime writer Patricia Cornwell uses it in her book ‘The Body Farm’ The murdered victim is an 11-year-old girl and the suspect is a serial killer but it turns out that she was killed by her own mother. The screenwriter M Night Shyamalan also uses a similar scenario in the 1999 film ‘The Sixth Sense’. Even ‘The X files’, ER and Law and Order have all featured episodes around women who kill their children (FII). These stories reflect today’s society where the awareness of mothers killing their children is both growing and yet controversial.

It makes for challenging drama but also reflects some of the darker corners of our society.

So, could you use controversial issues like this in your writing?

Monday Bloglights and Exciting News

News, Views and Reviews and Bloglights Spotlights too!

I was so surprised and delighted this morning to recieve a nomination in my email for this blog award! Yay!

I quote some of the wording of the email below:

"An article you wrote in 2012 titled ABC of Thriller Writing... has earned your blog a nomination for a Fascination Award: 2012's Most Fascinating Creative Writing Teacher blog.

The comments posted in response to your post prove that your content not only inspires your audience, but it also creates discussion around your posts, both of which are requirements for the nomination of a Fascination award."

Now isn't that just great?? It is indeed, an honour to be nominated. It's certainly boosted my monday mroning! What a lovely surprise. Whoooooo....

So everyone please go vote for me on or after 23rd  JULY!

On to other stuff...

I have had a pretty busy week socialising as I’ve had visitors  to stay with us ( actually my mum) so we’ve been out and about quite a bit and, of course eating and drinking out rather more than usual! Well, that’s my excuse, anyway for not sticking to the diet!

However,  I have managed to increase promo stuff for my book “The Afterlife of Darkmares” . It is available on Amazon – both as a paperback and kindle e- book.  The Afterlife of Darkmares  Do buy!!! I am a bit desperate for one or two reviews too so if anyone has read it, do let me know what you think. All comments very welcome – whether good or bad… 

Anyway it’s back to normal routine next week… sigh… I will miss the wine and cream cake though!

So here goes for this week's Bloglight Spotlight tour:

Ta ta ta ta da da Da! ( fanfare!!)

In the Bloglights this week are:

Firstly author Stephen Tremp

Stephen’s blog is full of fascinating other-worldly items. He is an accomplished writer of scifi thrillers and I love visiting his blogs as he makes me think about our world and the way we live. He is also quite witty and often makes me smile. He is (in his words) ‘One of a kind’ of thriller writer.

Next is em-musing ( Leigh Caron)

Leigh says her blog is ‘one woman’s slant on life and writing’ and it is certainly full of humour and wit. Em-musing is a very different blog written in a poetic way. I love her style – she says it like it is but her posts are never long and boring. Leigh writes with great style and in my opinion she is well worth a visit.

Thirdly Carolyn Arnold

Carolyn is another mystery, thriller, suspense writer who has several published books to her name. Her blog focuses mainly on the business and mechanics of writing and she contributes to other blogs too. I enjoy reading Carolyn’s blog as it is interesting, insightful and informative.

Lastly E.D. Of (Not) just another writer E. D.

E.D is a ‘wanna be’ author who writes great opinion-style posts. Again they are short and to the point, mostly about writing, but I love her straightforward approach. Her blog is well set out and easy to navigate and very easy to read.

So there we have it – four more great blogs for you to try out.  ENJOY!!!

Have you ever received an unexpected nice surprise in monday morning email?

Supernatural or Superbelievable

 Making the Supernatural Natural.

Today I am re-posting a blog article I wrote some time ago! I enjoyed writing this one and thought it deserved another outing...

Turning the supernatural into the superbelievable? That, as I see it, is the challenge to all paranormal thriller writers.

Making supernatural elements fit into a thriller story so seamlessly that the reader accepts them without question, is not easy.

After all the vast majority of readers who enjoy this kind of fiction are perfectly reasonable sane individuals who do not necessarily believe in ghosts, spirits and things that go ‘whooo’ in the night. But just like sci-fi readers, they want to wonder and ponder the unanswerable questions. Just for the time it takes to engage with the story readers will willingly believe if we give them a good reason to.

That’s not to say that once the book is read the reader will believe any of it but just for that book the reader suspends disbelief. This, of course must happen with all stories but it is so much more difficult when dealing with the paranormal.

Of course making the world the characters inhabit detailed and colourful and having the characters themselves rich in human traits and emotions (even if they are spirits or whatever) helps. If the people in the story believe in the other-worldly elements and do so right from the beginning as a matter of course, then the reader will too. Events follow in a normal and accepted way and lo! - the supernatural becomes the natural for that story.

For me the furthest I will go into using the supernatural is to introduce elements of ‘what if’ into a story. What if someone’s soul/spirit does not die with them but carries on in someone else’s body? What if a spirit wilfully inhabits someone else’s body and makes them do things they would never normally do? What if someone has the power to read certain people’s minds? What if this power is hereditary and a child is unaware they have it? What if someone believes that if they preserve a person’s body after death they will gain power over life and death and eventually become immortal themselves? What if a person really does have a double and the double/doppelganger bends the person’s will to make them murder their own child?

I know, I know. All of these have been done before but not by me and my imagination. I had fun with these stories and will continue to use similar scenarios in my writing. But apart from the paranormal additions my plots have conflict, suspense and follow normal storytelling rules and my imagination, with the help of my muse, adds width, depth and a sprinkling of magic – at least I hope it does…

Happy Writing!

So what do you think? Do you have a favourite genre? Do you read paranormal thrillers?

Explosions All Over the place!

Explosive novels  

I have often wondered what an ‘explosive story’ actually means when I have read it in a book review.  It may just be a term to catch a reader’s attention; it may mean it actually does have explosions in it!  Or it could simply mean a story is sensational.

But I have come to the conclusion that most mean it to imply that something startling or shocking happens in a story. It could also suggest some kind of expose (especially if it is a ‘true-life’ type story. Whatever the true meaning the term does have an ear catching ring to it and for those looking for a roller coaster thriller-type read, it meets the criteria for that kind of story.  

However, I have sometimes found that it is disappointingly naïve to rely on these kinds of descriptions as the promise is not always delivered on.   But there again if it gets people to look at your story perhaps it is worth talking it up…

For me an ‘explosive story’ is one where the unexpected happens in a startlingly abrupt way. Sometimes, it is just such an action which turns a mundane story into an electrifying one. In other words a shocking, surprising development can make your story ‘explode into life’ and carry an impetus which will keep a reader gripped to the very end. Now that is a satisfyingly ‘explosive novel’!

Do you use the unexpected to make your story explosive?

A Flipping Good Day

Today is a good day because I am back in beautiful Lanzarote - AND today I have my PC back and it's all mended. I have been struggling with it for a while but I have now had a new motherboard??? And it works fine so it's full steam ahead for all my writing and blogging etc.

Today is also a good day because my latest novel  The Afterlife of Darkmares is now out in paperback form on amazon.co.uk as well as on kindle. Yay!!

And to cap it off today is also 'bloglights' day. Yay again! ( I'm getting rather good at cheering...)
For the uniniated this is a new feature I am trying out where I highlight a few other good blogs I have visited which I think are worth a visit.

So here goes:

First up is Bea Sempere (aka Denise Baer). Her blog Skipping Stone Memories is a favourite of mine. She posts some thought provoking observations on life and writing and she has some fabulous quirky pics too.

Next is Annalisa Crawford. Some great posts and she often has guest interviews too. She is also a member of the Insecure Writers Group (IWSG) and I belive all are invited to join.

Another interesting blog is Maria Zannini who writes paranormal historicals and mythological - type stories. Her blog is often full of contests and give aways. She can be found at lots of places on the web but her blog is well worth a visit.

Last ( but not least) is Frances Garrood whose blog aften brings a smile to my face. I just love that her posts are relatively short and so easy to read. She has an amusing outloook on life and her comments are to the point and often quite funny. Just the thing for a moody monday morning...

So there we have it - just a few of the blogs I enjoy. Do visit if you can.

Do you think this kind of promotion is worthwhile?

Empathy

EMPATHY

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.
Meryl Streep

One of the main faults I had when I first started writing thrillers was that I did not understand the power of empathy. Oh, I knew what empathy was – after all I had spent many years of my previous life as a nurse! But in writing terms I never quite understood it’s power to connect with readers.

With my first efforts, I focused on multi-layered plot making it as full of chills and frights as I could. I made my main character a bit of a bitch and apart from overcoming the threat to her and her family I never made her particularly likeable. After this criticism of my story came from more than a few quarters, I looked afresh at other stories, comparing them to my own and realised they were right. Mostly main characters should be likeable even if they do some not so good things.

None of us know how we’d react if we were put in a life or death situation or were faced by a dreadful choice but we can’t help but wonder how we’d cope and that emotion – empathy - is the engine of all good fiction, not just thrillers. Of course it does mean that the heroine/hero characters must be likeable so we can root for them to succeed. Even superheroes and star trek characters have to have some human frailties for us to feel for them.

Thrillers may be fast paced, exciting reads but they still need to conform to basic story telling rules and the main characters need to connect with us, the readers.

Do you give your characters human faults that readers can relate to.