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Well it’s pretty late on May 7th – reflections day and my overwhelming reflection is that I’m tired.

26 posts in 30 days is a bit of a feat (even though I did it last year), and doing that on top of my daily photo and small stone challenge (not to mention all the work related stuff) – phew. Who says I take on too much?

It all started well; I was on leave for the first week so managed to get a full week’s posts scheduled for 9am (often they posted before I was even up!). I had also pretty much noted down what I wanted to write about for each letter. Having a theme this year (of my Work In Progress) I think made things a lot easier and also gave me the motivation to keep going.
But then I went back to work – sometimes I still managed to get a little ahead and schedule for the morning but a few times the posts ended up hastily written and posted just before midnight. One embarrassing day, despite pushing back the scheduled template it posted itself empty – whoops.

The first week with my posts written I managed to do my commenting duties commenting on 5+ blogs a day but this slipped too (sorry). I read some excellent blogs and most of us seemed to reciprocate and visit back. A few I returned to for repeat visits and I’ve ‘followed’ through Blogger/Wordpress/Twitter many to return to when my energy returns. I did give up on commenting on some (I hate captcha – can’t read it) and although I’m following some on Blogger I don’t have a Blogger blog and consequentially I don’t really see them. The WordPress bloggers fared better mainly because I can get an e-mail of their blog post (which I do see).

I definitely seemed to gain a few followers – thanks guys – hope you are happy with slightly less posting now and I also feel like I engaged more with the people who were already following me (whether it was via the blog, twitter or facebook).

I’d like to give a shout out to a couple of my real life besties who were also taking part - Stacey and Jay  (I always read their posts) and Catherine for commenting (although she wasn’t taking part this year wrote a fantastic A to Z of crafting last year).  Also I’d like to thank Emma Maree  for commenting on lots of my posts – she’s a lovely fellow writer I ‘met’ on Nicola Morgan’s blog just before the challenge started.

My funniest moment was meeting fellow AtoZer J.C.Martin – for some reason we both seemed to think that each other was in America even though we both live in the South of England. Her A to Z of Crime Fiction will be a useful reference source for my WIP (so thanks).

There was a plethora of subjects to enjoy – lots on Writing, Travel, Life in general, films, books, Buffy, Death. Something to suit everyone really. I’m not going to list all of the blogs I enjoyed but if you decide to check out any of my posts please do visit those who left me comments – they were all fantastic. You can also find the full list of participants here and those of us reflecting are linking up here. A big shout out to the organisers too – thanks for an exhilarating April.

Finally, I did learn more about my WIP – I have received some really useful feedback and it generally just got me thinking again. Now I just need to get some energy back and start writing it again. I’ll think about whether I’m going to take part in the challenge again next year though if I can get ahead in March I probably will.

Y is for You

(Post 25 on my WIP)

To be ‘successful’ writers need readers and I’m hoping that means you.

As readers I believe we are jointly responsible for creating the story, we filter it through our own personal lens and analyse the work through our own experience. A book will be read in a different way by everyone who reads it and in a different way again on repeat readings.

I think I have learnt an important lesson for me and I think that is that I would prefer to share my work when it is more complete – where I have at least a complete outline and a fuller understanding of my characters if not a full first draft. I find I can get easily confused if too many filters are used and find it hard to back track to the original view. That is not to say the views of others aren’t or won’t be important – I think I would just be able to be clearer about what can be re-filtered and what I want/need to stay raw.

What I’d like to know today though is all about you and your reading habits – feel free to tell me anything but I’m particularly interested in the following questions (feel free to answer as many or as few as you like):
Where do you like a story to start?
What traits do you look for in a main character?
What do you look for in an ending?
If a series is planned do you like cliffhangers or prefer each book to be rounded off?
Where do you read?
E or paper or both?
Binger or snacker? (i.e. Do you prefer to read books as quickly as possible, sometimes in one go or one chapter at a time, making the ‘flavour last’)
Do you read books more than once? Why? What happens in a repeat reading?
To you what makes a good book?

I look forward to reading all about you and eventually I’d really love to be able to give you my interpretation of Training Time for you to filter in your way.

X is for X-Rated

(Post 24 on my WIP)

Just read what could be considered a raunchy scene in Insurgent (full review on 1st May, when I’ve finished it and when we are allowed to release our reviews in celebration of the publication day of Veronica Roth’s follow up to Divergent).

Also one of my beta readers commented on how I’d introduced Jane, representing her as promiscuous, and whether that was appropriate in Young Adult fiction.

This got me thinking about audience and what is appropriate – about the ‘moral responsibility of authors’.

There has been debate about the violence in The Hunger Games and Tabitha Suzuma’s Forbidden which centres on a brother/sister incestuous relationship has massively divided opinion.

When I think about what I read when I was younger I think it helped me explore issues that I needed to understand in a non threatening way.

But as Serendipity Viv so eloquently writes – there are times when our threshold of acceptance change  – as we age, as we become parents or experience other life events.

My response to her post was (and when I say children I really mean teens):

Wow, what a brave post. I really don’t think anybody really wants to see incest, violence and other unsavoury things in YA or other fiction – I’m guessing (hoping) they were just demanding its right to be there and sadly it exists in the ‘real world’. I think you are perfectly within your rights not to read a book if you don’t want to.
I won a set of Tabitha Suzuma’s books and read Forbidden first (the only one I have read so far). Why did I pick that one? Because the reviews were outstanding, as is the book. It makes you understand how these things could happen and it broke my heart just a little.
I am speaking as a person who is not a mother but I recognise that the protective feelings that come with that are not made up, I have seen some quite unsappy friends change quite dramatically. I think you are right that parents need to be more aware of what their children are reading (and watching) and not police it or stop it but to be prepared to discuss the difficult issues that arise. I think literature is an amazing way to learn and I think we do children a disservice if we protect them too much leaving them naive and a bit vulnerable possibly. Neither do I believe we should shove it in their faces before they are ready. My copy of Forbidden does say ‘Not for younger readers’ on the back.
I think the reasons I have drawn to paranormal/fantasy are similar – it’s not real – it’s escapism. I don’t think I could read a Forbiddenesque book everyday and stay happy but sometimes we need to understand the dark side too – it’s just way too scary otherwise.
If you do decide to read it I look forward to your review.
Thanks for this very thought provoking post.

As I already mentioned in my Q is for Questions Answered post – Nicola Morgan says (in the comments on this post here) ‘NOTHING is too dark for YA! (Though it does have to be handled properly.)’

Do you agree that there is nothing too dark for YA?
For those who are parents – do you think you’d stop your younger self reading the books you did when a teenager?

W is for Weapons

(Post 23 on my WIP)

With Friday came ‘Weapons Training and History of Weapons’. Professor Rachel Harris, a leggy woman with waist length blonde hair and Sergeant Derek Adams, just the right amount of buff with short cropped hair, looked like a couple from the pages of a celebrity gossip magazine, Jane thought.

Here’s my vision of Derek and Rachel.

Now guns and weapons in general are not my sort of thing at all but I can see this needing to be an area that I need to research a lot more. I even wonder if, because I write a scene about gun training, whether it would be beneficial to try this myself – I have no idea even how I would go about arranging something like this, and being very anti-violence I’m not sure how it would make me feel.

‘I have fired an AK42, Gunman 12 and an Utiger’s.

Now here is where I wish I made better notes to myself as I write because some of the guns mentioned above, by one of my characters, are made up. I can do this if I’m setting my book in the future ;o). When Googling I found AK42 was real (I’d remembered that too), pretty sure I made up Gunman 12 and I can’t find Utiger’s so I guess I made that up too but I’ve no idea how. Randomly when I Google ‘Utiger’s gun’ it takes me to an Amazon review by Utiger of a spray gun!! If anybody actually knows Gunman 12 or Utiger’s are real please let me know because my brain has clearly forgotten.

How good at you at keeping track of how/where your ideas originate? (I will be using the notes feature in Scrivener to sort this out in future – if I remember that is).

Writers make up things all the time – do you think it’s enough to have seen lots of TV programmes/films or read other books that discuss a topic or should you talk to someone who has had an experience or even (obviously within legal, ethical, moral limits etc) experience something yourself? Clearly I can’t see myself eating a raw steak or taking drugs or doing anything illegal or violent so how do we write about these things? Personally I try and use writing at times to make sense of the world around me, particularly with things I don’t understand. But, when you publish a book how forgiving are readers? If I describe a gun scene where something happens that would never happen in real life is that going to be accepted within my story or could it make a reader put the book down? Clearly we can’t always stick to what we know but where does the responsibility to make something as accurate as possible end?

And on that note what is the strangest/most extreme thing you have done in the name of writing research?

V is for Victor versus Victor

(Post 22 on my WIP)

No this isn’t a ‘Catching Fire’ reference for fellow Hunger Games Fans.

Victor Faber is the field survival teacher and medic at the time police academy. Because of Jane’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder she has to meet Victor regularly for check ups so they have a good relationship; Victor sees beyond her condition and recognises her potential.

Now when I was searching online for actors/actresses/people who look like how I imagine my characters, or who I think could play them personality wise, I chose James McAvoy to play Victor and posted this to Pinterest.

Then came the reVelation, the controVersy that has left me a bit discombobulated (really love this word but not necessarily the feeling). A number of my beta readers had pictured Victor as being middle aged or older and there was the feeling from them that perhaps he should be. Now I’ve read back through and I actually don’t really give any indication of age at all; Will Eisner suggests a ‘doctor prototype’  is often ‘drawn from both social experience and what the reader thinks a doctor ought to look like.’  Also I suppose Victor acts as a sort of Mentor to Jane throughout this book. Perhaps the stereotype of doctors and mentors are that they are older and wiser (my friends and I are still relatively young). But, to me, although Victor has an old soul, and a love of pudding, I still see him as not that much older than Dylan and Jamie. I think to be the academy doctor he would need to be relatively young and fit (btw I’m not saying that older people can’t be fit).

So, what do I do?
Do I put more clues in about his age as I see it?
Do I bow to beta reader opinion and make him older?
Do I leave it as it is, without the clues and just writing who I perceive Victor to be and accept that readers will see him how they want to letting some see him as older, some as younger?
Do you think as writers we always have to spell out the age, look etc etc of characters or is it OK to be ambiguous? I said that I’d failed by not making my intentions clear but is this always essential – surely readers are allowed their own interpretations.
What if I’m ambiguous and then do something that reveals his age as I see it later (not necessarily intentionally) – will that throw readers off, make them angry at me or will they accept it?
Would I be happy if a film was made about casting choices if I left it ambiguous? (Rhetorical question unless you happen to be a mind reader ;o))

I repeat again, I’m discombobulated about this and not 100% sure how to move forward (as a side note I experienced discombobulation in relation to my PhD this week too so not really sure who or where I am).

The perils/opportunities of sharing an incomplete first draft. Any advice gratefully received.

U is for Uniform

(Post 21 on my WIP)

The uniforms consisted of:
Badged shirt and smart pressed trousers on a hanger for formal occasions including passing out at the end of the year.
Trousers and plain black shirt for most sessions and field shadowing.
Black joggers and grey T-shirt for fitness and combat classes.
10 pairs of black socks
Black trainers and black shoes.
Black pyjamas.
An empty holster.
Jane thought sadly that the only way they could express their individuality would be through bras and pants and they would be completely covered up. They even had guidance on how to wear their hair and make-up. That is there was to be no make-up and hair below the shoulders was to be tied up.
What she was currently wearing was not regulation.

I really wish I could draw better – please don’t snigger too loudly I only had 40 minutes or so to draw this tonight. This is how I imagine Jane could look if she reaches passing out. Badged shirt, hand raised – vowing to uphold her duties as a Time Cop but sneaking in her non-regulation red kitten heels. Jane is really not one to follow rules!

T is for Timeline

(Post 20 on my WIP)

Now I wonder if you’re thinking ‘Hey, this girl’s writing a novel about time travel, surely her T post will be on Time Travel.’ Under normal circumstances you’d be right but I did that last year – so see 2011’s T is for Time Travel post here.

I am writing about something time related though – creating a Timeline. As a pantser who didn’t really do all that much planning I, and my beta readers, have already noticed some issues with the timeline in the draft so I have decided I really need to get this all much much clearer. To me this seems like a huge complicated time-twisting task so I keep putting it off. I did buy a big roll of white paper to try and do this (I may still use it) but this week I found something new that might help. I’ve not had time to do anything except set up an account but still want to share this with you.

http://www.timetoast.com/

TimeToast allows you to make timelines that you can keep private or publish and share. You can view them either in timeline or text view.

I’ve just found a link to a number of Harry Potter timelines (one for each book) and will show the series one below so you get an idea of what I’m aiming for.

Personally I think this is going to be very helpful (even for linearly plotted books) and because I’ll literally be jumping through time in the plot I think this electronic version might be easier to manage than a huge big bit of paper. I hope I don’t open up a time vortex though when I start moving my characters back through time so that there is more than one of them (*holds head and ponders why she ever though time travel was a good idea).

Who else has tried using timelines?

Do you find them helpful?

What format do they normally take?

S is for Skye Rain

(Post 19 on my WIP)

Jane and I didn’t know each other before the academy, we met on the first day. I think we’re both here for similar reasons though. The right ones involving justice and not power, some people here are most definitely more concerned with making themselves look good. Jane is a great girl, a fantastic friend and she’s already saved my life.

Skye Rain is the petite girl that becomes Jane’s best friend in the academy. I wonder whether I am just imagining Rainbow Brite in human form when I describe Skye with her rainbow hair and sunny personality (Skye describes her parents as hippies which is why she has the name she does but I don’t think that my Skye would quite wear this get up though!).

The idea of rainbows is very appealing to me at the moment – something to look forward to on miserable days. I spotted one just this week in fact.

 
So who remembers Rainbow Brite?

R is for Rebecca Trainer

(Post 18 on my WIP)

Mums are great, aren’t they? And Jane’s is no different. After her father passed away it was just Jane and her Mum for a couple of years until Rebecca met and married Benjamin Trainer. Jamie’s Mum had died when he was very little and he is very grateful for Rebecca’s influence, and cooking!

Rebecca doesn’t play a huge role in this book but she will be more prominent in subsequent books. Mums know just when they are needed!

I’d love to see Emma Chambers in a more ‘straight role’ – no Teletubby bridesmaids at Rebecca’s wedding.

Just spent the afternoon/evening with my Mum (which is why my blog post released empty earlier – sorry about that). We visited my Dad in hospital (he’s fine), buying a new iPad case, tidying my spare room and then I cooked her tea and we watched ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’ with a great mother/daughter pairing in Kathy Bates/Kate Hudson. It’s a beautiful film but have tissues handy. Ended the night with a hug.

Who’s is your favourite fictional (Book, Film or TV) Mum and why?