Wednesday 31 October 2012

NEW BEGINNINGS


Writing for a new genre is not easy, but it is a wonderful opportunity to try something completely different. The new books look great. They really stand out from the rest. When I saw them at my local Tesco I wanted to buy all four, and I am sure a lot of other people will feel the same.

But now I have to think of a new set of characters to go with the new plots. Criminals and psychotic killers, detectives and stalkers, moments of high tension and heart-stopping danger - this is not something I was writing about in a pocket novel a year ago. Judging by the books already published, it seems Maggie is open to most ideas, but she also stresses that a thriller must be thrilling and a cime novel should include a serious crime, preferably with a dead body. Romance will still be there, but it is no longer the heart of the plot.

So how am I going to start writing a thriller or a crime novel? I'm not one of those people who have a eureka moment - a sudden blinding flash of inspiration. For me it always starts fairly slowly. A small idea I hope will blossom into something bigger. A thought that sits around in my head for a few days and either disappears or grows into something I can work on.

Cara found the bones of a plot in Turkey. A woman, possibly all alone, in a foreign country. She is on a deserted mountain road with a storm raging overhead, the narrow road slippery with rain and mud. Then what? Please write this one, Cara, I can't wait to read it.

The story I have just sent Maggie starts with a girl driving down a dark lane at night. Suddenly she hits something. Thinking it might be an animal, she has to stop the car and get out - but it wasn't an animal she hit. The new story I am working on begins with a body floating in a swimming pool and a sociopathic killer. So far so good. I hope I can finish it, because endings are just as important as beginnings.

5 comments:

  1. It's all very interesting now with the new Easy Read novellas - those sound like great plots!

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  2. The covers are great, aren't they! Rosemary's right - the plots sound good. Can't wait to read the finished products.

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  3. Good luck with the new plots, Cara! They do sound fascinating!

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  4. Makes me want to have a go - but too much to do this year.

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  5. Fay, your 'blurb' about travelling down a dark lane and the girl hitting something made a shiver run down my spine! I often travel down just such a lane when returning from visits to my mother on cold, winter evenings so that really resonated with me. I do hope Maggie likes it and we see it on the shelves soon. By the way, I saw the Easy Reads in my local Morrisons and they were being given top billing, right on the counter where people queued to pay. I'm sure, with that sort of exposure they'll do very well. I'm off now to go and continue mine..... Good luck Fay and thanks for a great post.

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