Virtual Travel Writing Hazards

So I am still in the middle of my character-based edit, and I realised I needed to rewrite another of few location scenes.

When I started this project, only a few of the places had I seen in person.  Slowly but surely, I've been able to see many of them - but I still have quite a few which I have only seen via video, travel show or online.

In some ways, it's beyond wonderful that I can bring in so much realism to these places without having visited.  However, because my book has so much real history, real folklore, real mythological links to places I have the added pressure to getting things as close to accurate as possible. 

Once or twice I had to take creative license, but this book makes you want to learn more about the places and stories I discuss.  I know, assuming I get published (we'll save the self v. traditional publishing issue for another post), that there will be a notable percentage of readers who in their eagerness to learn more, will in essence be fact checking.

No pressure though. :-)

On the other hand - I have be exposed to so many wonderful places and things!  So I thought I would share some of the online sources and references I have found along the way to help me to beef up scenes or get another perspective:

Exploring Gop Cave and Gop Hill in Wales - the second largest prehistoric mound in Britain and the possible location of the Celtic Queen Boudicca's final battle against the Romans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yP7u8_xFLo&feature=related

I love it when Weston (he's the person who made the video) climbs the top of the cairn and opens his arms screaming "wooooo".  My husband did something very similar when he climbed his first cairn in Ireland.

I also wanted to revisit the Druid's Circle, located above Penmaenmawr Wales.  Thank goodness for the person Tim Prevett, the Shropshire Traveller, or else much of my virtual explorations would have been from a person (whom I will not name) who put up on YouTube video of himself smoking pot in the middle of the Stone Circle!  I have found decent video, but incredible photos from the Shropshire Traveller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzFJNcOj9K8
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=350

I hope I am not giving the impression that all of my sources are online.  This is far from the case.  My copy of A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany by Aubrey Burl has been indispensable when it comes to stone circles, let alone the dozens of books I have collected on everything from mythology to New England stone mysteries to traditional songs to neo-pagan books on Wicca, Celtic Reconstructionism and modern Druidry.

But for places I have to describe, I found that combining the written word with visual elements has given me the clearest understanding of places I have yet seen for myself.

OK - well I thought it would be fun to blog as I write - but it's pulling me too many directions.  So I'm going to go back to writing and blogging afterwards.

Please let me know if you want me to keep including links to relevant video of these amazing places to visit!

Square Pegs, Round Holes and Fantasy Need Not Apply

On Friday, literary agent Rachelle Gardner posted on her blog a revised list of the genres she is looking for right now.  She by no means works with every type of literature, most agents don't.  However, the only genre she does not publish and listed in big, fat bold letters was adult fantasy and sci-fi.

Here's the thing - I don't know where I fit when agents say they work with writers of thrillers or supernatural books, but not fantasy.  My book is a thriller- without equivocation - but with a bunch of Celtic deities running around creating havoc. Doesn't that make it as much supernatural thriller as it does contemporary or mythic fantasy? Where do I fit?  Am I a round or square peg?

And why do so many agents shy away from fantasy/sci-fi?  What's so wrong with it?

I can't write "high fantasy", but I love elements of it: the characters who are larger than life, the different mores from industrialised societies, the fomenting of cthonic forces coming to the surface of our world, etc. That's why, in addition to thrillers, I've stayed with urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, paranormal/supernatural, etc. for my personal reading as I have been on this writing journey.

I'm still really struggling with the differences between these genres - and any help/clarification is definitely appreciated!

Character Introductions, They Are a Changin'

So progress continues, although much more slowly.

I have a very large number of secondary characters, who are essential to the plot but aren't the main focus of the story.  Seriously, it's like a Harry Potter book, or Tolkien.  The problem is twofold - 1) I introduced many people in the same chapter and 2) who the heck can remember so many people? 

So after looking at a number of books, blogs and sites including Suite 101 , Storymind , Kate's Book Blog and The Quotable ,  I came up with a simple three step approach to it easier on the reader without losing what I need these characters to do:

1) I am staggering the introductions of characters throughout more chapters/scenes
2) I am creating a unique and significant memorable trait or statement by the person when they are introduced
3) Since the book is written in the 1st person from the perspective of the protagonist (Alastair), I am having him create a mnemonic device per person.  They are silly, odd and sometimes cheesy,but in line with something a man in his late 20's/early 30's, like Alastair, would come up with on the fly. It is also in line with his personality.

It feels right, but I still have to see how this plays out.