One of the joys of writing is that, as the author, you get to choose the story, its style, indeed everything that you want to put in it. So I thought you might like a few words on what I include and why.
My personal preference is for books which make me think. No, I don’t mean great philosophical tomes, but stories which give my brain a bit of a stir. The Norwegian Philosopher, Arne Ness commented, “The best aspect of a book is not the thoughts it contains, but the thoughts it unleashes” and it is this ‘unleashing’ that I am endeavouring to get in my stories. I want them to be ones which linger in the mind and give the reader something to chew on.
To this end I try and map out the plot before starting; its nice to have a reasonable idea of where the story is going. That said, it never goes exactly where I think it will; incidents get added and taken out, names get changed, even characters may get removed or added. Where possible, I like to tie the different parts of the story together by, for example, introducing an incident later on that links back to something at the start, and I just love building a story to a climax. So most of my stories end up being what is often described as ‘slow burn’ - ones which start off with a relatively normal situation and which gradually get more bizarre as the story moves on.
One method of increasing this tension is to tell the tale in the first person - in just the way that you or I might tell each other something - as this mode is more personal, the reader being drawn into the story as though they are a part of the group that is hearing it. This in turn means that the narrator, the teller of the tale, will not know every last detail. So no, I don't include these in my stories, nor every last ‘backstory’, or ludicrous insights into the characters and their motivations. My narrator doesn’t know these; he or she might be able to hazard a guess, but that is all. And likewise my narrator’s memory might be a bit hazy, especially if the story they are telling happened a few years previously.
Although few of us would regard ourselves as philosophers, none-the-less in our own ways we all philosophise. Is truth based entirely on fact, or is it also based on what we believe? And with belief, we start straying into the realms of religion. And what a narrator can do, is muse on various philosophical and religious concepts. What constitutes evil, what is truth, what is belief, do we actually wish to live for ever, what happens when we die, etc.? All of these are age-old questions, but are still intellectually stimulating to discuss. So yes, I believe in including some of this. Inevitably philosophy and religion overlap. Although as a society we are a lot more secular these days, none-the-less our society has a Christian history and, as Christianity absorbed the concepts of good and evil from the previous pagan religions, inevitably Christian history together with Biblical stories and ideas are going to find their way into modern tales - we can’t just start with a completely clean slate after 2,000 + years of Christianity! So inevitably elements of religion also get included.
As I am sure you have noticed authors can have great fun with the names in their stories, the names of characters, of places, etc. All names are chosen, so you can guess that the vast majority will have been chosen for a reason. Whereas most in my stories will have English roots, just for fun I also include some with French or Norwegian heritage, as both the French and the Vikings have played a significant part in our history and hence in our language.
The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne famously said, “I quote others only in order to better express myself,” and I am not going to disagree with him, and so happily include a quotation if I think it will add to the atmosphere of the story and / or is necessary to substantiate a point made in it. Those who know their Bible will I hope, enjoy spotting the Biblical quotations. And, just to tease the brain, I also include a few ancient Greek references for exactly the same reasons.
Who doesn’t like a good dragon, or armies of auks going on the rampage? However, I prefer a less ‘in your face’ type of fantasy, the type where you are not quite sure. Because the greatest fear is fear of the unknown, a good ghost story is one in which you think there is a ghost, as opposed to one in which you know there is a ghost. It is all to do with that little extra layer of mystery. So I try not to spell out too much in my stories and leave you, the reader, to fill in the gaps.
Well, that’s all the general hints I’m giving you. Specific background information, along with hints and tips on any specific story can be found can be found on the individual page for that story. Although linked under the heading of “The Red Grouse Tales”, all the stories are ‘stand alone’ and can be read in any order. Each has its own page, located via the main drop-down box, where a synopsis can be found, along with a bit of background information and a sample chapter. There are also some reviews. However, I suggest that if you are wishing to read reviews, you go to Goodreads or Amazon and read what is there first hand (easy access to Amazon can be had by accessing “The Tales” page of this site and then clicking on the cover image).
Happy reading!
