Category: Writing

Cozy Mystery, Writing

When Work is Huge Fun

carolyncordon

I spent almost all day yesterday, and into the night, working on various bits and pieces of my upcoming “Cozy Mystery” books. More words were added to the one I’ve written the most for, lots of work done on characterisations too, and more ideas for some of the titles already named.

This is so much fun, that even if I never ever actually get any of the ten plus books in the series planned, it’s still worth it. I can call it therapy, and revel in the amazing things my brain is doing, even with the damage my Chronic Illness (MS) may, or may not be doing to it.

I know more and more about the people in my stories, what they look like, what they fear, what their secret powers are, what their role is, and so on. As I learn more about my characters, more subplots pop up, for the various titles, and I’m working at putting relevant ‘bits and pieces’ in the correct story.

This is creative writing times twenty, putting together not one story, or one book, but a whole series of stories in books, and it feels like the best fun ever, as a writer. Creation of a town, its residents and writing about it in a new (to me as a writer) genre, and having fun doing it, what a life this is, wonderful!

I’ve found the thing I really feel I can go on doing for the rest of my life, and I’m loving it! My main character (Meredith Webster) is going to be my best friend, and my helper characters (Gert and Mister) and going to keep it all going! Murder in the small town of Talloola is going great, with Meredith there to find out Who Dunnit!

I created this town and these characters for the novel I’ve been writing (in bits and pieces) for a couple of years, but the Thriller genre wasn’t ‘thrilling’ me. But as soon as I changed it to the Cozy Mystery genre, Bang! It all started coming together beautifully well!

I’ve based my setting on one I know well, with the name and some details changed, to suit the story. Coming up with the various things, names, places, community details, these are the funnest thing, to change things at will, but always with an understanding of the real story, world building in small ways, creative fun for sure!

New Ideas, Writing

A Writerly Confession

carolyncordon

This is  little bit embarrassing, but I have a confession to make. I have been writing a book, a thriller in fact, for a long time. A very long time. I think about my main character sometimes, and especially when I’m at my weekly writing group, where I usually use the writing exercise prompt, to write some more of my novel.

I have many of these little snippets of my novel in (not much) progress, each snippet anywhere between 200 to 1000 words or more. If I gathered up all of the snippets, I might in fact have enough words to make a novel, in word count, anyway. But mere words do not a novel make. You need a coherent plot for that.

I have a kind of a coherent plot, I know what is happening, so some extent, and I have an idea of how it is all going to go. I have characters I love, and I have a snippet (or maybe more) of a love interest. I’ve written bits about the main character chatting to the love interest character, and I have little bits about other characters, including the bad guy.

This novel in progress is a thriller, did I mention that? Anyway, I have a bad guy, I have secondary bad characters, I have an interesting surprise person from the main character’s younger years, I have a wise older character, and a flamboyant and lovely transvestite.

So I have all of this stuff, but what I don’t have is the will to get on and get a thriller written – I have a plot idea, with the mayor being a bad person, doing terrible things, but I’m not feeling the passion for writing that story, because I know that a good thriller has many words, and I don’t feel like writing one story with all of the necessary words. I have ideas for dead bodies, though, and other interesting ideas (I think they’re interesting, anyway).

Now though, I’m thinking about and have done a tiny bit of looking into the idea of writing cozy mysteries, rather than thrillers. Cozy mystery sounds twee and sweet, doesn’t it? I have fond memories of reading many of Agatha Christie’s books and gee, I wonder if I could get into writing them?

It seems these kinds of books have become bigger these days, and while Ms Christie may have gotten away with a mere 40,000 to 60,000 words, publishers these days are looking for at least 65,000 to 90,000 words … So much for an easy little few months to write my mystery … Ah well, given that I already have a setting, and characters, as well as some ideas, and interest in the project, who knows.

From further investigation, it seems a Thriller Mystery could/should be in the 70,000 to 90,000 word range … So lots of words, but hey, I’m a writer, so I love words, yes? Yes, in moderation, that’s true. A further thought, as I sit here typing, bearing in mind that my m main character is a youngish, but not too young woman with a career, I could think about a genre cross Chick Lit/Mystery novel or series of novels.

The idea of having a series of books with my main character/setting I already know much about, is certainly appealing to me. I’ve been writing about this person and this place for I don’t know how long really, five to six years? maybe longer, not sure. It’s funny, I am using a different bag than usual today, and I found yet another snippet about young Meredith, and the town of Talloola, where all of my action takes place!

So, there’s my confession, I am going to abandon my book because of lack of interest. But my interest in the people in the book, and the town it’s set in are certainly still very strong, so that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on them. So don’t worry Meredith, there will still be much more action to happen for you! You and young Travis, who I’m very fond of too! And who wouldn’t be fond of a dark haired, blue eyed, very buff man, who knows how to keep his favourite lady happy!

 

Public Speaker, Writing

Who Am I? What Am I?

carolyncordon

If you ask me who I am, I probably won’t give you the same answer that I may have given you fifteen to twenty years ago, and I most likely will have to think about the answer I actually give you these days. Twenty years ago, I probably would have said, in answer to the question: I’m Jake’s mum.

And of course, whether naming myself that, in answer to the question of ‘Who are you?’ is an interesting thing to think further on. I am Carolyn. That is who I am. But I am also Jake’s mum, for sure, I am proud to be the mother of this fine young man I carried into this world.

But I’m Carolyn Cordon, writer and poet, as well as President of Adelaide Plains Poets writing group, Editor of the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle newsletter, and a former dog breeder, breeding dogs with the Kennel name of Holkschter Kennels. I’m a former Public Servant, a onetime (failed) dog food promoter, and a couple of other smaller jobs, including the Mallala and Dublin Towns Coordinator, a role I enjoyed, but one I suffered many sleepless nights because of.

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The writer and poet jobs, have been with me off and on for the most years, and they are pretty well always happening every day. Writers and poets don’t really turn off after work in the afternoon, because our workplace is inside our heads, thinking, whether we’re doing it consciously or not. And my role as the Editor of the Crossroad Chronicle is one that happens on the weekend too, sometimes, if a community event of note is on, for instance.

Writers and poets, as well as editors, are always looking for the next big thing to write about, hoping to put together something of interest to their audience, through a story of whatever kind is relevant to their role. And I am another thing as well, I am a blogger, with a few different blogs, of differing subject matter. So – gardening, dogs, writing, child abuse, multiple sclerosis & stoicism, these are all things I blog about, so I am open to anything relating to them all, all of the time, because, well you never know what might happen in this brain of mine, when  things are in there swilling around!

I have a main character from my unfinished novel, Meredith, and even though I am probably never going to complete that novel, I still see things and think, yes, that’s something Meredith would think, or do, or have happen to her. Meredith is with me, whether I want her there or not. I brought her to life, and I’m not going to abandon her, even though she probably would like me to get her story moving along some more …

All of the things that happen to me, may happen to Meredith, or some other person in that novel or in my next poetry collection, or they may come up in the next issue of the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle, or one of my blogs. I am who I am, a wearer of many hats, and doing of many things. Life is full of things, good and bad, and I can use them all in various ways, in my life.

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And of course, I am a Public Speaker, looking for more work in that role, so I am looking for interesting, informative, amusing things to speak about too. Life truly is a basket of things, isn’t it. Thinking, writing, speaking, being, they all blend together in great ways for anyone and everyone who are interested and are paying attention!

Anyway, the question of Who I Am, is tied up to the question of What I Am, always. Do you have many roles too? And how do you respond to the question?

poetry, Uncategorized, Writing, writing exercise

Pollock, a Poetic Form

carolyncordon

This poetic form is one I hadn’t ever heard of before this year. A blogger I know, Paul, has written about the ‘Pollock’, which is a poem based on, in fact consisting of, a quote by the famous American artist, Jackson Pollock. There are rules and things, and rather than describe them I offer this link to Paul’s Poetry Playground, where the original blog post is, describing this form of poetry.

It’s well worth exploring Paul’s great blog, he has many interesting poetry related posts there, with all kinds of poetry related things for you to enjoy!

I read the blog post earlier this year, read Paul’s own ‘Pollock’ poem, but didn’t think any further about it. Then I saw another poet’s attempt at this odd style, and it piqued my interest, so I have now had a go at it myself.

I decided to find a different quote, and so called on Google to assist, as I often do. I don’t know how I feel about the poem I created, in response to this challenge, and though I haven’t read my poem aloud (yet), I suspect it will work better as a performance piece, than it may as a written poem.

Here it is, for you to read, have a look – I’d love to know what you think about it!

 

It’s Just a Pollock

Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.

A technique, a statement, just arriving …

A just statement, a means of arriving.

A statement arriving, a means of technique.

Arriving at a statement, just.

Technique means, a statement arriving.

A just means, arriving …

A just means of arriving at a statement.

Statement, technique, just …

A statement just is …

At, just means a statement is arriving.

Just means.

Just.

‘Arriving at’, means just is – a statement!

New Ideas, Story Ideas, Uncategorized, Writing

Themes in a Writing Life

carolyncordon

I have been ‘a writer’ for perhaps twenty years. Over my time as a writer, I have written about a variety of different things. I tend to write about what my mind is connecting with, at the time, and I think about many things.

An early theme was Sexual Abuse, which resulted in both a poetry collection, and a blog. Another theme has been Dogs, and that has so far resulted in three books with at least one more book in the same series to be published perhaps next year. Since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010, I have published a book about it, and again, have a blog regarding that theme.

My current theme, one I have also begun a new blog about, is living a Stoic life. I began thinking about stoicism around two years ago, and I based much of my early thought around a book I received for my birthday last year (or it may have been a Christmas present). It is the book “How to be a Stoic” by Massimo Pigliucci, a well written book and very informative.

I am enjoying looking at my life, and considering it in regards to Stoicism. I wrote a blog post on my Stoic blog this morning, which shows this, I would love you to go there and read it, it tells a bit about me and how I live my life!

Being a writer means you have to have things to write about, and living a life made up of many different things means the range of your writing can be a diverse one. And exploring different genre means you have more options and avenues for your words. I am a writer, as I have said, and I write different things.

I am currently working on an adult novel, I have an idea for a Young Adult novella, I am a poet, I am a blogger, and I’ve written short stories too. I also have a memoir, which was the book mentioned previously, about multiple sclerosis. I am also the editor of a newsletter for the people living in the town closest to where I live, Mallala. This newsletter comes out monthly, and I enjoy putting it together, with my own writing, and the articles sent to me for it.

My life is one of writing, and also of working with and for my various communities. It is a good, simple, and Stoic life, and I love it!