Hello Readers. I am so very appreciative of all those who have read my book–either through purchase or borrow. Thank you! Recently, many of you added A CRUEL LIGHT to your kindle library! I cheered when A CRUEL LIGHT reached Kindle’s top-sellers rankings on both Amazon’s US and Canada websites this month. Wow! It was an emotional moment that was definitely an author milestone.
(An aside, today, I just learned that my book has been chosen as the monthly read by Bloomingdale Library’s book club! Stay tuned for news about my upcoming author event to be held at this charming library! Hello, Bloomingdale!)
I am hoping that if you enjoyed my novel, you will add a rating or review for A CRUEL LIGHT either on Amazon or on Goodreads. I feel awkward requesting this… that you chose to read my book is awesome, considering there are millions of books available in the world. And you decided to read mine! Hopefully, my writing moved or entertained you. If it did, can you let others know? Thank you!
New writers often envision their characters; they know their eye or hair colour, if they are tall or short, if they are curvaceous or slender or plump. They may know who they love and who (if anyone) they hate. They should know how they speak and gesture, what they like to eat and drink, and their strengths and weaknesses.
Recently, I was thinking about my characters and their finances.
Money does so much more than determine what someone eats or where they live or what vacations they take; money is a gamechanger that can affect how we view the world and our role in it.
Take for example the concept of time. For those who live comfortably, and money is always available to travel or purchase large ticket items, time is vast—it stretches, unless health is in question.
“I will visit Paris in the spring,” they may say or “My next car will be a Bugatti” or “I will retire, live in Florida and golf.” The less money that is available to the character, the less the future comes into play, I think. Someone living paycheque to paycheque does not really think about next year; they are thinking about next week or next month. The person living rough on the streets who is barely surviving is thinking of his next meal, where he will sleep for that night, if he has water, if he will be dry for the next hour.
Money = time.
Personalities, histories, and mindsets come into play. How grateful is the character for where they are in the scheme of things? Are they resentful or appreciative? Do they live in the moment or do they only think of the future? How do they treat those with less or more money, employees or employers? Do they show sensitivity or awareness of others’ plights? Are they empathic or apathetic? Do they only live for profit and gain? Are they respectful to everyone who is kind or friendly or do they only show respect to those who can pay for it, improve that profit margin, so they can earn a new Cadillac?
When crafting characters, think about how they view wealth and poverty. How much do they need to be content and what are they willing to do? Who would they help? Who are they willing to hurt? Who would they keep from being hit by a train and who would they throw under the bus all in the name of greed?
Recently, I read a writing guideline which stated that love scenes have to work within the context of the story. And I was thinking that unless the story has a child protagonist and the narrative adheres to that voice, has only monk or nun characters, features Asexuality or the plotline is that the characters can’t stop or the world would end, then sex could most likely be a part of that story. We eat, we drink, we sleep, we eliminate waste, and yeah, we have sex. It is a part of the human experience—regardless of murders, what the other elves are doing, what is happening with the warlords, zombies, and the foreknowledge of global annihilation—we hug our children, love our friends, profess our loyalty, fight for what’s right, face our enemies, triumph or fail… and yet we still have sex. Sex happens, has happened, and will happen. Even when the clock is ticking down, even when you know you’re about to step into the ring. Yes, even then.
Now, how descriptive the sex is depends on many things—genre, intent, balance, writer style, reader expectations, and the characters themselves. (Sometimes, writers are just along for the ride, and they want to peek into those bedrooms, but their characters shut the door, and it really does feel like writing THAT scene should be more a brief tell than a, ahem, blow by blow show.)
I kept things very ‘behind the door’ for Annora and Mac, at least in their first book, A CRUEL LIGHT. I am currently working on what I’d describe as a Gothic Horror Women’s Western with Mystery elements, working title “The Secrets of Bloodroot Hollow”, and I just wrote a two pepper spice scene. It did not happen behind closed doors, no siree, and my characters were fine with my lustier descriptions of their actions. Frankly, I’m having some fun, and I think my readers will appreciate ALL the balances.
I will be writing a rom com in autumn. I know within that book the things that will be going bump in the night will have nothing to do with legendary creatures or murderers. And these two will be keeping me warm as the temperatures drop. I’m ready to bring it. To you.
Readers, each story has its own voice. I very much doubt I’ll be writing about forever virgins or a novel that is so action packed that there is no time to, ahem, grab a snack, but life is full of surprises. There is a reason that the blockbusters have included lip-smacking kisses. Most of us want to see a romance develop up on that screen, even for a minute, to see and feel that connection.
Writers, let the lovers do what lovers do. How wide that door should open depends on so much. My suggestion is to see what the exclusion of THAT scene does to the story. Listen to your instinct as a writer, and follow your character’s lead. They may know a little more than you do.
Lovers, just ignore us. Pretend we’re not here. Just do that thing again. Yeah, that one.
A CRUEL LIGHT will have its official fourth month birthday Aug 4th (sixteen weeks), and I’ve been thinking of all that has happened since March 2022:
My debut novel went live and is available in bookshops, department stores and online in hardcover. It is also available in E-pub and audio formats. It has been purchased by libraries (both academic and public) around the globe. (Thank you, Readers!)
I was interviewed by the Kitchener Citizen and The Ekphrastic Review
My book was enjoyed by authors Melodie Campbell, Karen Eisenbrey, Carol Goodman, Jessica Hamilton, Susanna Kearsley, and Leanne Kale Sparks
My book was favourably reviewed by KIRKUS, RED CARPET CRASH and GUMSHOE REVIEWS
I had two author events at our local library about GOTHIC FICTION and SUSPENSE READS (I will be having more!)
The Kitchener Citizen published another one of my Christmas stories (I hope to self-publish my stories as a kind of story advent next year!)
I wrote two articles that were on the CRIMEREADS website
My book was liked and recommended by BOOKTUBERS
My cover (designed by Nicole Lecht) was 100% liked by NetGalley members who chose to vote
My book has over 200 ratings on Hoopla, and I’m Nearing 500 ratings on Goodreads
I’ve been contacted by readers who loved my novel
I attended book signings
I’ve reached out to readers using social media and my website
I wrote the second book of the Annora Garde Mysteries: A BRUTAL ECLIPSE, and I look forward to writing the third, A SCORNED SHADOW
I attended a book club event at The Book Wardrobe
A book club in Dallas chose my novel to be the launch book for the club
My novel can be rented as a textbook
A CRUEL LIGHT was fed to a program which claims it has a ‘vividness score’ similar to the LIFE OF PI, A GAME OF THRONES & WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS
I joined the Crime Writers of Canada and A CRUEL LIGHT is now catalogued in their “COOL CANADIAN CRIME”
I am knee-deep into writing my THIRD book, a standalone horror novel: BLOODROOT HOLLOW while still working a second job
I have more books on the back burner including a rom-com
I will be attending my first BOOKFEST event as an AUTHOR, Sept 9th, 2023
I can’t imagine what I’ll be celebrating come April 2024.
Often, new writers concentrate on plot or setting and have a tendency to move their protagonists between scenes as if they were chess pieces. But today’s readers are savvy, and they expect the cast of characters to have depth, flaws, and emotional nuances.
When we look at those around us, we realize the true vastness of personality types—especially when you people-watch and carefully listen to what is being said to and around you compared to their follow-through actions and reactions. People can ask you how you are feeling or doing, for example, without truly caring or wanting to hear an answer. They can lie, manipulate, gaslight, use passive aggression, backpedal, cut you off at the pass, avoid, excuse rudeness, shame, ridicule, lash out, downplay, compartmentalize, exclude, and be complete and total asshats.
All these traits and weaknesses can add a great deal to character. I’ll save the topic of morally grey main characters for another day, ditto for unreliable characters.
This post is more about utilizing differences in perception and adding diversity to your fictional world. For example, we now realize that someone with a sensory processing disorder, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, or who is on the spectrum, may view a simple happy exchange differently. Expressing joy could be seen as being overly-emotional, and tears of happiness viewed as melodramatic or a form of attention seeking, while conversely those who are emotionally-open and secure in their self-expression may view a more reserved person as being cold, unfeeling, detached, a snob, or perhaps even sociopathic.
As authors, we need to understand these differences in views and use them in our stories to create both bonding and tension between our characters. Things like culture, past traumas, age, points of reference, home lives, and personal support systems will and should come into play. Question yourself about your characters’ histories prior to your stories’ beginnings. What have they been through and who hurt them so badly that they have no problem whatsoever hurting someone else?
In dialogue, we too often strive to mirror what is being said with the expected gesture, but we all know what a shrill laugh or hand tremor or nervous glance can do to dialogue. Many do not mean what they say and slyly disguise the truth. Many also speak the truth and do so passionately, helpless to do anything other than obey their moral compass, regardless of risk or consequence. Some withhold the truth and feel like each moment of pretense has taken yet another chunk out of their souls, like their guts are being torn apart from the inside out.
As I work on my third novel (Holy Cow! THIRD novel!), I’m becoming more and more aware of those subtleties. People disappoint us. They can love their cat and yet treat their fellow humans like paper cups—fully disposable and not worthy of a second thought. They can eat at five star restaurants while their employees visit food banks, taking home expired peanut butter and tuna. They can tell others to be patient—that things take time, to just sit tight and ride out the hail storm—as they take a week vacation at a tropical spa where they need not wait for a damned thing as the working poor serve them another margarita like they are royalty.
The disconnect between the have-nots and the haves, the deceptive and the truthful, the users and the victims, the selfish and the charitable, those who are willfully cruel and those who are determinedly kind is growing in real life. Do not be afraid to showcase the widening chasms between the heroes and the soulless skin-walkers in your fiction—regardless of genre.
Truth: some ‘real’ people are just horrific, secondary characters in your day-to-day-put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other life, and some fully-fleshed fictional character are far more real and have more heart than that grinning elitist zombie who sold you a car, gave you a pink slip, tried to keep you ‘in your place’, or walked right past you as you slipped on an icy sidewalk.
Take those observations, and use them to booster your work. They say authors bleed onto the page? I say, be an organ donor! Give the page your eyes and ears, give it dimension and a pulse, give it your freaking all. And for the love of Mike, keep it as real as the fake people you encounter.
Writers can easily fall into the mindset of ‘get ‘er done.’ We travel from task to task, checking off to do lists. We come up with a story idea, fact check and research, write and rewrite, write and revise, write and edit. While new stories are crafted, we are marketing and promoting the novels that have been published. There are book events to arrange, books to sign, readers to meet, and questions to answer. Many of us also work other jobs and have families.
It’s easy to forget that all work and no play sucks the life out of us– and out of our writing. It’s called burnout.
We need to take a day to regroup. Often, these rest periods become ‘thinking’ periods for me. I find myself becoming more aware of the world, of conversations and people. More often than naught, works-in-progress tag along in those quieter moments.
Recently, I’ve visited a butterfly sanctuary, toured of a former mill (being developed into affordable housing), and enjoyed walks along the river (which will soon be near impossible as the path will be closed from mid-June to October). I’m looking forward to a day at the beach with my family, library visits– as a READER, and walking the new nature trail close to our home.
Sometime, Friends, we must go rogue, go totally FERRIS BUELLER, just for a day or two. Playtime feeds both our souls and muses. Don’t ignore selfcare.
A Cruel Light is available in EPub, hardcover and audio formats.
As A Cruel Light finds its readers, and the second Annora Garde novel–A Brutal Eclipse— is being considered by my publisher, Crooked Lane Books, a Penguin Random House imprint, I am working on a standalone horror-mystery-spice novel, writing my heart out every day.
( Cover concept / mockup )
Writing may be hard work, but it is also fun. In my Annora Garde mysteries, I get to slip into the shoes of a pretty cool art conservator who likes to travel, has three degrees, and enjoys her independence.
In Bloodroot Hollow, My main character is a twenty-four year old woman who was abandoned at only five in an off-the-grid mobile home. Oriana has lived a hard life and recently escaped domestic abuse. Desperate, needing time to plan her next steps, and willing to confront her past, she returns home. The land she owns is part of a century-old agreement between her great great grandfather and Harmony, a former logging town that isn’t as idyllic as it pretends to be. Though the town is now thriving, it’s history is stained with odd disappearances, and old legends. As Oriana establishes a temporary home for herself, she begins to see and hear things. Something sinister waits in the woods that surround her trailer, something ravenous, something that has been kept a secret for over a century.
(Cover concept/mockup)
Oriana’s voice is bolder. She was bounced between foster homes, and her favourite family owned a funeral home. She’s finding herself, exploring her sexuality, and enjoying her freedom, but she’s also struggling with issues around trust, and she has a lot of baggage.
I’ll be outlining the next Annora Garde mystery, A Scorned Shadow, in a week or two. The story is set on an isolated (fictional) island located near Cape Breton. This time, Annora will be restoring the slashed portrait of Blythe Rudaville–a famous silent film star–by using her ‘death’ mask. As Annora restores the painting, a drama documentary on the actress’s life and death is being filmed in her former mansion, now a museum and available for private rentals.
The notorious starlet had supposedly poisoned twelve guests at a dinner party. A hundred years later, the case is still being argued as to whether she truly did it. The island is reportedly cursed– tales of love triangles, revenge, and mass murders have tainted the island’s reputation since the eighteenth century. When a filmed reenactment becomes far too real, Annora and Mac survive the event… but will they survive the island?
AND Next Sat, June 3rd from 10-11:30 a.m., I’ll be attending my first book club event as an author at The Book Wardrobe in Streetsville, Ontario. The ticket to this event is the purchase A Cruel Light from the lovely shop on Queen St. I am looking forward to answering questions, discussing themes, giving readers the inside scoop, signing books and having my picture taken with all those who attend! It’s sure to be a fun.
I’m busy, feeling driven, and I have no word of a lie, ten books in my head that are demanding to be written.
Hopefully, I’ll have more news for you in the coming weeks.
I love discovering where my book is available. I knew that one day, it was possible that A CRUEL LIGHT could be translated. I imagined German. I have no idea why German, except that having lived in Kitchener, (once named Berlin) I have gone to Oktoberfest celebrations and enjoyed German culture.
I hadn’t realized that countries around the world would carry my book. I’ve found that it is available to purchase everywhere from South America to Romania. It’s in shops in Quebec, and it’s in shops in Ireland.
My audiobook, available in Australia
It just blows my mind! In my wildest dreams, I had not expected my debut novel to be available in Italy, Romania or Denmark.
My main character, Annora Garde, is well traveled, a freelance art conservator who has worked in museums around the world. It does seem fitting that her story is globe trotting too. And it brings me indescribable joy to know that a shopper in London, England and a shopper in London, Ontario can walk into a bookstore and find my book on a shelf. It gives me the same feeling knowing my book is available in digital formats in Hong Kong and Africa.
It can be overwhelming at times– the vastness of my potential readership, the distance my words may have traveled. The emotions are just as immense, ocean wide and deep.
Thank you, readers, far and wide. I am thrilled my book is in your neighbourhood.
As a reader, I pictured authors as living either 1) in a poet’s turret or 2) in a nice house with an office that featured floor to ceiling bookcases and perhaps an old underwood typewriter on a shelf, just for aesthetics.
Well, I am sure those abodes do exist.
But this author lives in a small, rented two bedroom apartment that was built in the late sixties/early seventies; three people live here, and there is only one bathroom. The unit still uses fuses, and there is a psychedelic yellow plastic intercom system on the living room wall that doesn’t work. (Shh. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I play with it and say things like, “Houston, we have a problem.”)
Anyhoo, we rented the unit “as is.”
I do not have a ‘room of my own’ to write. I do not have an office. I have a dinette area that I make work. I have good neighbours, and my street is close to both a nature reserve and farmland. I sometimes hear roosters crow, and geese fly by overhead to land at a nearby pond.
I like my home. I like my small town. But I do not like renovations.
A few weeks ago, a bubble of paint appeared over the shower stall, and I thought nothing much of it. Just thought I needed to paint. I’d assumed it was a cement ceiling. WRONG. I touched the thing, and water and debris fell into the tub.
Long story short, we are getting a whole new bathroom. Yay AND boo. This was the landlord’s choice– not mine. (I’ll explain in a minute.)
I only wanted the pipes and ceiling fixed, regardless of our old tub, ugly floor, and vintage tiles. The thing is they were also concerned the drain will soon fail on MY tub and cause damage to the unit below mine. It had to be done.
We’ve been without an in-unit shower or bath for three days. The contractor’s vehicle was having issues and so there was a delay to the tub surround being installed.
So, while I try to work on book two, and market book one, workers are coming through my unit. They demoed my washroom. Saws buzzed, and many a curse word was spewed when the toilet shut-off valve wouldn’t cooperate.
Verity is not minding taking showers in an empty third floor unit, as it reminds her of camp and needing to go to the ‘shower house.’ Frankie, our rescue cat, is a bag of nerves, and she’s yowling at night because everything is still displaced.
(Our rooms look a bit hoarder-ish, with boxes of washroom supplies piled in corners and boot trays moved from the hall to the living room. No. I won’t share photos of the odd clutter.)
I still work a part time job too, and I’m back to getting up at 3:00 a.m. (Impossible to nap right now.)
I do love writing. And I’m sure one day I will laugh about my book launch as the ceiling LITERALLY caved in on me.
CYNDI MACMILLAN 