Happy World Book Day!!

My son off to school as YouTuber DanTDM who has also written a book...

I did my bit and bought some books for him at the Book Fair after school.   Jamie (like his mum) loves a good book.  I worry he watches too much YouTube and plays too much Fortnite, but I can honestly say that he does like his books.  And this helps him with his school work.

Hallie Rubenhold - The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London. By drawing upon a wealth of formerly unseen archival material and adding a full historical context to the victims' lives ‘The Five’ promises to change the narrative of these murders forever. Hallie Rubenhold is a social historian who has worked as a curator for the National Portrait Gallery and as a university lecturer. Her books include ‘Lady Worsley's Whim’, dramatized by the BBC as The Scandalous Lady W. 

Social Historian, Hallie Rubenhold, gave a very interesting talk.  She tells the stories of the five women (Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane) who were killed in 1888 by Jack The Ripper.  The only thing they have in common is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Newspapers have always reported that he killed prostitutes, but Hallie has investigated their lives and finds out that this was not necessarily the case.  The only sex worker amongst them (Mary Jane Kelly) had been a high class prostitute in the West End.  

However, all the women could be referred to as having; 'stepped off the path of virtue', with regards to the Victorian social class system.  There was no well paid women's work.  If women were homeless, not living in the matrimonial home, alcoholic or living in a rescue home, they were seen as 'fallen women' and therefore sexually corrupt.  The only place for sexual knowledge was within marriage.  Anything else was outside of 'respectable society'.  Any fall from grace for a woman was seen as deeply sinful.  The murders were used to highlight to Victorian society that this is what happens when you are not respectable!  It was almost felt they got what they deserved.

I was amazed to learn that four of the victims died in their 40's.  One was 25.  Most were married or had been married and had children.

When the audience were asked for questions, someone did ask who she though Jack really was.  However, Hallie stated she didn't care who he was.  She went onto say that we almost certainly will never know for sure, but she believes he wasn't a toff, as it would have been difficult to attack these women without standing out.   She states that in the book she was careful not to glorify Jack, but to honour his victims by talking about them as human, as opposed to just prostitutes as has the case been previously.  

Hallie stated that she researched many items in her quest to humanise the victims of Jack the Ripper, such as the reports of the inquests held, and newspaper reports, but she was careful to double check all facts as some sources contradicted others.  She said she felt like a detective looking for clues.   She was able to find information on the items these women left behind.  They show who the victims were and the (sad) shadow outline of their existence.  

If you look closely at the book in the photograph, you will see that the cover is actually smaller than the book itself.  This encourages you to look beneath the cover, where all the names of the victims are written on the book itself. 

What's next for Hallie?  An historical true crime story from a female perspective.  Looking at the impact of crime and how it affects people. 

See her website at: https://www.hallierubenhold.com/ 

Week Two Homework

Can't say I have done the homework as requested but I have spent the week photocopying pages from books I have recently read to analyse how those writers have written their novels.  I am starting to do more than just read a book now.  I am analysing how it has been written and how the story has been told.

This also led me to start reading two novels this week and not finish them.  Two reasons for this.  I didn't think they were teaching me anything and I had my own novel to write!!

The week was very busy with the boiler breaking, parent consultation at school, and having to travel to meetings for work, but I did manage to have a day off on Friday and was able to use it productively.  

Have had a number of comments regarding my painful thumb which have included recommendations for lighter pens, exercises to do, and changing my grip.  The best idea has been to use the voice recorder on my mobile or voice recognition software. 

FB Post from Stephen Booth (2)

My first writing course of 2019 is going well, with a great group of writers. 

I've never seen anyone so enthralled in the details of POV and Show Don't Tell (or was I imagining that?). 

The group are now calling themselves 'Writers on Fire' as a tribute to our venue, Retford Fire Station.

Novel Writing with Stephen Booth - Week Two

Yvonne brought a bag of all her Stephen Booth books to Sarah Ward last night - hence the cheering - so Stephen was nice enough to sign them all for her today.

Prior to the start of the morning, we discussed struggling to find the time to write this week. However, Stephen began by emphasising the 2 writing rules: 1.WRITE  2. EDIT

He told us how he doesn’t always write in chronological order.  He writes as the ideas come.

SB led us through Point of view.  This has always confused me.   I enjoy writing in the first person.  SB said this would be difficult to sustain for a whole novel, so it’s got me thinking…

After POV the next decision is whether to write in the past or present tense.

SB talked about the use of Senses and Show Don’t Tell.  Showing encourages readers to interpret details for themselves.  The reader then plays an active part, which keeps them reading.      

Homework was to analyse what we have written so far and see if our characters are describing what they actually know.  Check to see if our voice has intruded?   Also, try writing a scene in both past and present tense, or different POV's.  Sometimes writing is like Method Acting - you must become that person.  

At the end of the morning, I asked if people would be interested in setting up a FB page, so we agreed on the title Writers On Fire.

Sarah Ward at Lindum Books

The evening was advertised as; An evening with Sarah Ward and her detective DC Connie Childs, and her fabulous series set in Derbyshire.  There are four books in the series and the most recent is 'The Shrouded' which Lindum Books believes will appeal to Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffith fans.

This was certainly us, but we investigated Sarah before we made our final decision.  I borrowed her first novel - In Bitter Chill - from the library and loved it.  We found that Sarah has a blog - Crimepieces https://crimepieces.com/ - where she reviews crime fiction from around the world.  She stated (in her talk) that this is how she started out - as a reader, as opposed to a writer.  Her earliest memories are of The Secret 7, Nancy Drew, and then Agatha Christie, who she sees as the 'master of plotting'.

Sarah started her talk saying her books were based in Derbyshire and The Peak District, as were Stephen Booth's - Cue cheer from the back row!  She stated that she has tried to incorporate the Derbyshire countryside into her novels.  However, her third novel; 'A Patient Fury' has Horncastle (Lincolnshire) as one of its settings.

She told us how she was living in Athens with her husband; teaching, but with a lot of time to herself, when she told herself it was 'now or never'.   Her first novel - In Bitter Chill (as I said, very good) - was based on something that happened to her and her own memories of the 1970's.   

Sarah stated that she is interested in the impact of a crime on people, and has tried to write strong female characters.  She deliberately made her Detective (Connie) a lower rank so there was somewhere for her to go, and because the higher they get in the force, the less they actually get involved in.  'People like the underdog'. Connie has a terrible love life as she 'follows her heart'. 

Sarah mentioned Ruth Rendell;who highlights the weirdness of 'ordinary people'.  No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, or the secrets that exist within communities.  She is aware of her readers constantly looking for clues and then need to keep them guessing.  

Sarah's fourth novel -The Shrouded Path - is based on The Monsal Trail in Derbyshire, which in some places follows the tracks of the old railways and railway tunnels.  'A great place to find a body'.  Sarah asked about what people remembered from when it was a working railway in the 1950's.  The story is based on someone seeing 6 schoolgirls go into a tunnel, but only 5 come out.... 

Week One Homework

On the drive back from Retford I had so many ideas.  Unfortunately, I didn't get chance to write them down as I was driving, so lost them.  The same thing happened after I went for a nap after getting back.

I then had a crisis of confidence as I could not decide which tense to write in.  This meant I ended up doing lots of 'research', which basically means I read a lot....

Also suffered with all my note taking and writing on Saturday.  My hand / thumb is very painful, not to mention my neck!

However, Wednesday night I managed to write 320 words (handwritten) and Thursday it was nearer 1100 words.

Posted on FB for help with regards to my painful thumb....