Worderella Interviews James M Turner
Dear Reader,
I'd like to introduce you to James M Turner, my guest from across the pond today at Worderella Writes.
Turner is an author, composer, musician and screenwriter. Having had a successful career as a highly paid professional musician, he now works in the film industry. His first television series screenplay 'The Taker' is currently in development and will hopefully move into production later in 2010.
About 'Beyond the Comfort Zone'
According to James, his newly released work Beyond the Comfort Zone is a memoir of a short period in the life of James M Turner. Having enjoyed a career as a professional musician for the rich and famous, in 2002 he moved to south east Asia where he eventually came into contact with the child trafficking trade.
Together with an acquaintance and the help of a US organization they attempt to gain the confidence of the traffickers and bring them to justice – saving the cargo in the process.
There is a little bit in there about James' hedonistic days of travelling the world as a high paid musician, but this is really just a foil to throw into stark contrast the subsequent adventure in Asia.
It's a tale that follows two young men trying to do the right thing and in the process nearly losing themselves as they spiral downwards into a shadowy world where human lives, at least their lives, are worth nothing. There is danger, intrigue, high emotion and a fragile love story woven together in what one reviewer called ' an exceptional journey ...the making of a Hollywood blockbuster, in short a Shantaram for South East Asia.'
I'm very pleased to have James here to interview. So let's get on with the questions!
How do you transform your passion into focused research?
Well, in the case of Beyond the Comfort Zone as it was a memoir there was very little research to be done, it was more a 'method' writing piece. I did a little historical research in the areas where I thought that people needed contextual help to understand the jeopardy, but again I was already fairly well read in that subject and it really was minimal internet verification.
However, when I was writing 'The Taker' my main research consisted of putting myself in the environment. I had a rough plot arc, stepping stones as I like to call them, but I wanted to feel the atmosphere.
This consisted of me sitting in downtown L.A. and soaking up the sights and sounds, making notes as I went. Also, as there is a technology component to the story, I researched cutting edge technology and then imagined how I could push it a bit farther.
Probably the longest gestation period in the development process in 'The Taker' was with the characters. I think I had between ten to twenty thousand words of back-story before they even set foot on page one of the script. That made for a fairly quick writing process as I had a very good idea how these people would react in certain situations.
How do you translate your research into an entertaining narrative?
As Beyond the Comfort Zone is a true story, the entertaining narrative really took care of itself. These were real people, very complex individuals. I had a location which was exotic (Thailand). Then the story itself was as dramatic as any fictional thriller.
I tried to make the writing as concise as I could which meant that if I didn't feel that something was moving the story along or there was some part that needed to be told in a more succinct manner – then out it would go.
One of the things that people have picked up on is the 'page-turner' aspect of Beyond the Comfort Zone most people tell me they have read it in 24-36 hrs. I think that is something that my cut throat editing approach has enhanced. If it isn't contributing to moving the story forward, then it has to go.
How do you sneak an underlying message into your entertaining narrative?
Well, there's an old quote from Don Maclean who wrote the song 'American Pie'. When they asked him what the lyrics and the song meant to him he replied 'It means I don't have to work again!' But, to be serious, I'm not sure sneak is the right word. I have however been amazed at how people take away all sorts of 'hidden' meanings and sub-plots from Beyond the Comfort Zone. Actually I'm quite happy for them to do that and very glad that the book lives on with people for quite some time after they have read it.
For 'The Taker' however hidden meanings are very much an integral part of the plot structure. I had a rough idea of interconnections between events and people, but just wrote the story down without expanding too much on any of those. Then, when the story was complete, I went back to those moments I had identified and dropped in little nuggets that at the time don't attract too much attention. By the end when the revelations appear there is a clear though (hopefully) surprising link.
However, as I said before, I am constantly surprised by the conclusions drawn by others as to what is sub-text and hidden meaning. Of course I'll take credit for that...even when it wasn't deliberate.
Thanks for joining us today! For more information about James, visit his website James M Turner.com and read reviews on Amazon (UK).
All the best,
Belinda
Worderella’s How to Make a Character Map
Dear Reader,
After giving you a taste of Haunting Miss Trentwood, I thought it would be nice if I showed you one of the many ways I keep track of who I'm writing about, how they relate to one another, etc.
I love pen and paper, and could probably buy out any office supply store in the blink of an eye (that is, if I had unlimited funds, which, thankfully, I do not).
That said, I'm sure it wouldn't surprise you to hear that I adore Post-it notes. The image in this post shows how I visualize the love triangle(s) from Haunting Miss Trentwood. I would make the image bigger but then it might spoil some of the plot twists!
You see, dear Reader, this is a sort of map for me. I use this to remind me where tensions occur between characters. I'm color code so I know which character is part of which plot or subplot, and then I draw arrows with visuals to tell me the generics about the relationships.
I was thrilled to read Deanna Raybourn's blog when she said she does something similar: a collage of images that help inspire her current work-in-progress. I love learning other types of writing exercises that don't—shock!—require you to write. I need to make things because I am a Maker. I need to use my hands while I'm figuring something out, even something as cerebral as a plot twist. And then after I've made the thing, I want to share how I did it. Like this.
How to make a Character Map
- Have a crummy day at work.
- Have an awesome conversation on Facebook.
- Grab a tabloid-sized sheet of paper, multiple colors of small sticky notes, a pen, and a pencil.
- Write the names of the main characters on different colors of the sticky notes. Try to group the characters based on their primary plot lines.
- Play around with the configuration of the character sticky notes on the page until you can get them to fit, and represent the relationships.
- Draw arrows from one sticky note to the other to show direct connections.
- Use dotted lines to show indirect connections.
- Use a pencil because you might make a mistake and try to draw one arrow over another.
- To keep the character map legible, try to arrange the stick notes so you won't have to cross arrows.
- Have fun with it! I drew a funny angry face to show antagonists, hearts to show love interests, and broken hearts to show tragedy.
- Put the character map somewhere you can glance at when you need inspiration.
I had so much fun with this, I might do it for the relationships I have in my life, and use it as a sort of art piece in my apartment. Or as a way for me to remember who is who at work. Learning the organizational scheme of a new workplace is always so stressful...
All the best,
Belinda
Worderella Reveals a Snippet
Dear Reader,
I am ashamed to admit it has been, according to 750words.com, five days since I last wrote a word for Haunting Miss Trentwood. Thank goodness for blogfests! I almost forgot I agreed to be a part of the Rainy Day blogfest, held by The Writer's Hole.
Below is my submission, a first-draft snippet of Chapter 24 from my work-in-progress, Haunting Miss Trentwood. To give you an idea of the story, it is set in 1887 England, and the tagline is "Father knows best... even after death." Enjoy!
By the time they reached Wayland's Smithy, it had begun to rain. It was the kind of loud rain which spoke of the end of winter and the coming of spring. Mary had been forced to jog that last one hundred yards to the black opening of the Saxon tomb. She had slid on the slick rock floor covered with decaying leaves. Trentwood's tight grasp on her arm righted her. She jerked away from his unnatural touch.
Mary huddled beneath the sheltering rocks of the sarsen stones that made the ceiling, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. I haven't anything left to vomit. "Tell me what happened back there."
Trentwood stood in the shadows beside her. She could feel his white eyes watching her, and fought the wave of nausea that shuddered through her body. Those white eyes had, for a brief moment, looked at her through Hartwell's eyes. Certainly she hadn't imagined that? Trentwood had, for a time, stepped into Hartwell's body so he could land a devastating punch to Sedgwick's jaw. One couldn't imagine that. Just as one couldn't imagine one's father haunting one.
I'm not mad. Please, tell me I'm not mad.
Outside, the rain plummeted to the ground more furiously than Mary had ever seen. It was as if the sky vomited on her behalf. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead into the moss that clung to the vertical stone walls. She sighed as the cool rock soothed the pounding at her temples.
"What would you like to know?"
She wasn't sure where to begin. "How did you do it?"
Trentwood shrugged. "One minute I was watching you thrash about in bed, and I heard you scream that terrifying scream of yours, and the next minute, I was in your dream. I haven't the slightest clue how it happened."
Mary blinked. Wait, what? Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. "I was talking about when you possessed Mr. Hartwell, Father."
Again, Trentwood shrugged. "I'm as new to this being dead folderol as you are in watching it."
Wiping beads of sweat from her brow, Mary whispered, "You will limit such... jaunts... in the future, I hope?"
"Indeed," he said with a short laugh. "It pains me to do it as much as it seems to pain you to watch it. Do you know how difficult it is to be dead, hopping around from one mind or body to the next, not knowing how you got there, or how you'll get out?" He stepped closer, and she could smell his death-stench.
"No, I don't. I never thought it was a skill I would need to learn."
He grunted. "Inherited your mother's morbid sense of humor, I see."
"Given the circumstances, I think I'm glad of it."
Suddenly seeming sheepish, Trentwood took yet another step closer. "Mary, we must talk about your dream. We must talk about your mother's death."
Definitely make sure you check out the other submissions. Thanks for reading!
All the best,
Belinda
Worderella Joins a Blogfest
Dear Reader,
In case you didn't know, today is my birthday, and two years ago I put my writing aside to get a masters degree.
Now that I've graduated, I feel a bit like Mr. van Winkle after his twenty-year slumber.
Two years ago, Smashwords was a fledgling idea I didn't trust. ISBNs were only sold in groups of ten. Good luck getting distribution, because no one would distribute a self-published work… oh wait, we have Amazon CreateSpace now?
Two years ago, Twitter was for nerds. Well, it still kind of is for nerds, but now it's for super cool super social nerds, like me. Blogs were starting to become passé for those who couldn't maintain steam. But us writers, I'm happy to find, are chugging along with these cool things called blogfests.
What is a blogfest?
I asked this very question not three days ago. I'd never heard of one, and I couldn't find any examples. Lo and behold, following my usual six-degrees-of-Twitter, I joined a bloghop for romance writers. From there, I learned about a blogfest that I could join.
The idea is to have a bunch of bloggers write toward a particular theme on a particular day. The blogger hosting the blogfest links to the other blogs and vice versa, and everyone hops around reading the submissions.
It's like an online writer's group, or something. It sounds awesome.
This blogfest I've joined will be on August 25. The theme is "rainy day."
Since Haunting Miss Trentwood is set in England, I need a rain scene. I've already had one, but it's been a couple days in the time line, so I think we're due for another. I'm excited.
Are you in the middle of a project? Are you feeling stuck? Maybe you need to throw your characters in the middle of a rainstorm. You should join the blogfest!
All the best,
Belinda
Worderella Re-releases an Old Book
Dear Reader,
You might wonder why I'm publishing a second edition of my first book while in the middle of writing my second book. You wouldn't be alone in wondering this. My mother has asked why I bother in looking to the past when I'm also planning for the future.
It's a good question, and one I thought I'd answer here at Worderella Writes. You see, Catching the Rose was my learning book. When I say that I mean this was the book I wrote in which I learned how to:
- write a novel.
- edit a novel.
- ensure my book was the only one with that particular title.
- look for a reputable vanity/subsidy publisher.
- deal with a vanity publisher.
- make a cover sketch so my cover designer would know what I'm looking for.
- twiddle my thumbs while I waited for the proof to arrive.
- scream with excitement as I held my book in my hands.
- gain local buzz for writing a 384 page novel as a high school student.
- set up a professional writing website.
- set up a professional writing blog.
- compare my cover to other covers in the genre.
- recognize my back cover copy was sadly lacking.
- recognize my marketing plan sucked, because I didn't have one.
- accept compliments and criticisms with the same smile.
- swallow my pride.
I learned a great many more things, but there's no need to list them all. The point is, I love Catching the Rose, and a great number of my readers do as well. Almost seven years later, I'm still hearing about how a friend of a friend of a friend of my mother picked up my book, and liked it so much that they asked my mother when my next one was coming out.
If you've ever had this happen to you, you know the quiet joy that spreads within your chest, blossoms in your heart, and makes your eyes shine.
So I'm releasing a second edition of this book, giving it a real chance this time because it deserves it. I know so much more now about the book industry, though I have a lot more to learn. I know how to do page layout and cover design; I did both for this second edition. I removed a number of my glaring rookie mistakes, such as
- spelling out accents ("Why how dayah you, Mistah Williams, foah speakin' to me in such a mannah!")
- allowing widows and orphans to mess up the visual harmony of the typographical page.
- adverbs run rampant.
I didn't catch everything, but like I said, I'm still learning. Catching the Rose is my baby. I spent six years writing it during the developmental stage of life. I poured in all of my teenage confusion and angst, edited out the worst of it, and made an entertaining and engaging read for women of all ages. And a few men, too.
Even as I was re-doing the page layout last night, I caught myself reading passages and chuckling at the characters, or wondering what was going to happen next. Isn't that odd? I mean, I wrote the book. Shouldn't I know what's going to happen?
I do, because I did write the book. But for me, it's always been about the journey. I'm that jerk who reads the end of the book before I read the entire thing, because I don't want to read it if I won't like the ending. That doesn't mean I only like happy endings, because I don't. I like well-written endings. And a well-written bittersweet ending is clutch.
So I'm re-releasing Catching the Rose because:
- It was, and still is, my learning book.
- As per #1, I'm learning how to truly self-publish so when I self-publish Haunting Miss Trentwood, I'll have worked out the kinks.
- I love this book.
- I love the characters, and I love their issues.
- My readers ask me, years after reading the book, what happened to Veronica and Brad.
- While formatting the pages, I got lost in my own story.
- I am a writer, and I must write.
- I am a storyteller, and I must tell this story.
So what do you think? Am I being dumb? Am I being greedy? Or something else entirely?
Worderella Wonders Does Bad Mood = Bad Writing?
Dear Reader,
Well. I've been in something of a mood lately, which probably isn't the best time to release a YouTube video inviting people to join me on this journey of self-publishing. Ah me. Oh well. It's out there now, for people to judge, and so I say, "Have at thee!"
Without really knowing what that means.
I've been pondering my bad mood lately, trying to decipher my frowns and snarls as I stomp around the house, and the following comment by Libba Bray, author of A Great and Terrible Beauty, came to mind...
I'm one of those people who has to write. If I don't write, I feel itchy and depressed and cranky. So everybody's glad when I write and stop complaining already.
And so I must admit something that rather embarrasses me: I haven't written a word for Haunting Miss Trentwood in over a week.
I know not to do this. I know my pattern. The longer I don't write, the moodier and… well… bitchier I tend to become. I don't know why I do this. I know I ought to be writing, but I wanted to get my micropress set up, and really ramp up my involvement in the writing community. In the meantime, I've let my writing slip, and therefore my optimism and overall good mood.
But now I'm afraid that I've lost my steam. I've felt guilty about neglecting 750words.com because I know the system will say it hasn't seen me in a while, and it would be right. I'm most afraid that because I haven't been writing (creatively), and my mood has suffered for it, that said bad mood will seep into my writing and make it worse for the wear.
I don't want to be a bad writer.
I gotta get through this. Cue David Beddingfield, if you please.
I need to stop whining, get my hands a-writing, and blast out this shitty first draft.
On writing exhausted
This is my first time venturing into the corporate world full-time, and let me tell you, it is a different sort of exhaustion than I was expecting. In order to fulfill my duties in my position at a large corporation I had to work a ten hour day yesterday and will do so again today. Add commuting time and I'm working two twelve hour days in a row.
Wait, I thought I wasn't supposed to do that anymore now that I've left school? So far the only difference between school and work is that I have to make sure I shower everyday.
I'm not entirely serious about that.
Or am I?
Anyway, I've been determined to keep up with my writing, even with these long days. Living at home has been amazing, if only for that reason. I come home, exhausted, and rather than having to worry about what I'm going to eat for dinner, oh hey, Mom made spaghetti, sweet. I'll eat, do the dishes, and then log into http://750words.com to get my quota in for the day.
It's like NaNoWriMo, but without the stress. I just have to make sure I write 750 words. And that's a far more manageable number than the 1,266 you need to do every day to win NaNoWriMo.
When you're exhausted at the end of the day, what do you do to accomplish your writing quota? If you don't have a quota, how do you make sure you keep writing even when it's difficult?
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