I'm now well into the seventh in the Price series of novels. I really wanted to start something new, with new characters and a new environment, but there's something comforting about continuing with characters I created and know well. Although the locations are fictitious, they are based on places I have known.
Now I'm writing a mystery in which I will have to identify the town - or will I? Somehow, inventing a seaside town seems a little far-fetched when there are already so many. I'm still thinking about that. Inventing characters is less of a problem, since they need not be invented and real persons can be given new names. If someone recognized himself or herself in the person, that is only a coincidence. I had that problem writing the first part of my autobiography. It got so complicated that I never wrote a second part, but that may be because reflection on the more recent past hurts and I don't want to be reminded of quite a lot of it!
So writing fiction that really is fiction is a relief and a good way of moving on. On the other hand, maybe I should publish 'My Early Life', the title Winston Churchill uses for the first part of his autobiography, which is of course of historical value now. What a great title and how difficult it was to find a title for my book on me. With a first name like Faith it's really a question of whether to leave out the name altogether, since it has strong religious connotations and googles up countless links. So I went through a whole gammut of titles before choosing - wait a moment - I can't remember which one I chose - here it is: "A start in life". It turned out to be only one of several books with the same title, but I only found that out after I thought it was a good idea and as I never continued writing about myself, I never got round to changing it. I published the book on obooko. Here's the title page:
Since it's a good idea to have something on the title page I did a collection of me!
Not only did I have 24 little mes on the first page, but I used my 'proper' surname instead of the artist name I've used all my life, which is in fact a middle name given to all the children in my pedigree, which goes back to the 11 century in an unbroken line! Interesting to geneologists, of course, and I'm related to everyone - but aren't we all?
I later took the book off obooko and intended to publish it on Amazon for Kindle, but the first couple of books in the Price series had attracted no interest on Kindle, probably or possibly since I am completely unknown and unable to finance the necessary promotion I suspect is needed, So I eventually gave up Kindle and have published all the Price books in blogs, including the chapters as I write them in the current one that you can find HERE. If I am not going to earn any money from my fiction, at least the books will get an airing somewhere. I do earn a bit on schoolbook writing, but it would be nice if my Price books had a following. I'm now considering making a blog for the autobiographical episodes, but I'll have to read them again first!
When I'm not writing, I'm painting. I have about 5 unfinished floral canvases on the go and hop like a bee from one flower to another!
My poetry blog is rather at a standstill at the moment.
Now I'm writing a mystery in which I will have to identify the town - or will I? Somehow, inventing a seaside town seems a little far-fetched when there are already so many. I'm still thinking about that. Inventing characters is less of a problem, since they need not be invented and real persons can be given new names. If someone recognized himself or herself in the person, that is only a coincidence. I had that problem writing the first part of my autobiography. It got so complicated that I never wrote a second part, but that may be because reflection on the more recent past hurts and I don't want to be reminded of quite a lot of it!
So writing fiction that really is fiction is a relief and a good way of moving on. On the other hand, maybe I should publish 'My Early Life', the title Winston Churchill uses for the first part of his autobiography, which is of course of historical value now. What a great title and how difficult it was to find a title for my book on me. With a first name like Faith it's really a question of whether to leave out the name altogether, since it has strong religious connotations and googles up countless links. So I went through a whole gammut of titles before choosing - wait a moment - I can't remember which one I chose - here it is: "A start in life". It turned out to be only one of several books with the same title, but I only found that out after I thought it was a good idea and as I never continued writing about myself, I never got round to changing it. I published the book on obooko. Here's the title page:
Since it's a good idea to have something on the title page I did a collection of me!
Not only did I have 24 little mes on the first page, but I used my 'proper' surname instead of the artist name I've used all my life, which is in fact a middle name given to all the children in my pedigree, which goes back to the 11 century in an unbroken line! Interesting to geneologists, of course, and I'm related to everyone - but aren't we all?
I later took the book off obooko and intended to publish it on Amazon for Kindle, but the first couple of books in the Price series had attracted no interest on Kindle, probably or possibly since I am completely unknown and unable to finance the necessary promotion I suspect is needed, So I eventually gave up Kindle and have published all the Price books in blogs, including the chapters as I write them in the current one that you can find HERE. If I am not going to earn any money from my fiction, at least the books will get an airing somewhere. I do earn a bit on schoolbook writing, but it would be nice if my Price books had a following. I'm now considering making a blog for the autobiographical episodes, but I'll have to read them again first!
When I'm not writing, I'm painting. I have about 5 unfinished floral canvases on the go and hop like a bee from one flower to another!
My poetry blog is rather at a standstill at the moment.
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