Tags
Black Wolf Books, Cornwall, Historical romance, Newbook, O'Roarke's Destiny, Romance, Shehanne Moore, Smugglers, Wreckers
SHEY : Dearest Silv, may I say how very kind of you it is to ask me here today to my blog. I just can’t get over it. The great honour it is. To answer your question about Lizzie I wrote her out because she had no further use …
SHEY. Yes, Lizzie-alas–was adding nothing to the plot.
Nor did I need her after chapter one for the main reason I use a secondary character, that is to hold a mirror to a lead in some way, their personality, their actions, perhaps show them as I did with Dainty and Mitchell Killgower in The Writer and The Rake, in a better light and also I suppose not to make the whole thing too claustrophobic –as I also partly used Susan for in The Unraveling of Lady Fury, and give Fury a sort of confidant. Lizzie was not going to fulfil any of these things and letting her stay was going to change how I saw this book. So why have her? There’s also a one scene appearance by a few children, but while they are contributing to the story there, they’re what you might term decorative extras. Spear-carriers in theatrical terms.
Overall I don’t work with a huge cast of speaking characters but I do generally work with more throughout.
Shey. Indeed I think we got that. The world of Doom Bar Hall itself, despite being smack bang in smuggling and wrecking country, is a tight world. Destiny is a loner, probably a high functioning depressive who bashes through her daily routine and set of tasks with tunnel vision. She’s not one for friends—she’d never been what you might call popular, except with the men she drove to distraction years previously–and she confides in nobody, the family were larger than life that way locally. She’s a product of that family. So to have put in a single scene where she does would have been wrong for her as a character and unbalanced the book. Divers may swagger into that world full of confidence and control, underneath he’s a man on the edge, holding it together and no more. I won’t give away too much of the plot by saying why he’s at this stage when the book opens. He has a sidekick, Gil, to show there’s another side to him and to mirror some of this ‘disintegration’ but that’s it re Gil being there.
And because he could be trusted. A hard thing to come by, not just in this world but the world he inhabited. That dancing, dark and shady place of gnarled shadows and twisted paths, haunted by the need to keep one step ahead where nothing could ever be as it seemed. Not even himself.”
There’s reasons for Orwell–Destiny’s brother
face as long as a six fiddle cases, and twenty four rainy days,
and as for Lyon?
Shey. He has quite an appetite.
You knew everything but nothing of what he was really thinking. Hand him a farthing out the goodness of your heart and he’d still need to know where both came from. The farthing and the goodness. Probably your heart too.
Shey I think it’ s important when you are creating a world for a book and I try with each book to create a world, to think of the things that help show it. And for me in this book it wasn’t the wider smuggling picture which is actually central to the story, but the putting of this hero and heroine and what unfolds in this world between them, centre stage. I felt that could only happen with a small playing ensemble, so even the servants had to go. I think it’s sometimes something to consider in terms of cementing a setting, depending on what that setting is. This one was not the world of ball gowns and dance cards and it’s not a pretty one of smuggling either. And now before you open the voddie and do the Cossack dance… a book trailer.
Once he’d have died to possess her, now he just might…
Beautiful, headstrong young widow Destiny Rhodes was every Cornish man’s dream. Until Divers O’Roarke cursed her with ruin and walked out of Cornwall without a backwards glance. Now he’s not only back, he’s just won the only thing that hasn’t fallen down about her head—her ancestral home. The home, pride demands she throw herself in with, safe in the knowledge of one thing. Everything she touches withers to dust.
He’d cursed her with ruin.
Now she’d have him live with the spoils of her misfortune.
Though well versed in his dealings with smugglers and dead men, handsome rogue Divers O’Roarke is far from sure of his standing with Destiny Rhodes. He had no desire to win her, doesn’t want her in his house, but while he’s bent on the future, is there one when a passionate and deadly game of bluff ensues with the woman he once cursed? A game where no-one and nothing are what they seem. Him most of all.
And when everything she touches turns to dust, what will be his fate as passion erupts? Will laying past ghosts come at the highest price of all?
September 13th 2019 Black Wolf Books.
koolkosherkitchen said:
Sounds so exciting, dear Shey, and a glimpse into “the writer’s kitchen” makes it even better!
shehannemoore said:
Been copious amounts of hair torn in that kitchen over this book Dolly , But lovely to see so that’s okay and thank you xxxx
koolkosherkitchen said:
My pleasure, dear Shey, and good luck!
shehannemoore said:
Aw Dolly xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Nilzeitung said:
Thanks, friends!!!! nice week greetings XXL Back.
shehannemoore said:
The dudes and of course me wish you the best for the week too.
Zoolon said:
The best of everything for you book ~ George
shehannemoore said:
Lord George, thank you so much xxxxxx
Adele Marie said:
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
Shey’s new book. It’s going to be a cracker folks.
shehannemoore said:
Adele xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx coming right over.
Adele Marie said:
Hey dudes don’t worry lions will not come and eat you. xxx
shehannemoore said:
Bt they did so we et them
Love The dudes.
Kate Furnivall said:
Good advice, Shey. To focus on those characters who have something major to contribute, not to dissipate the power of the story across too many participants. Can’t wait to get my mitts on this one. xx
shehannemoore said:
Kate xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx And my fingers are just about worn tapping in anticipation for yours, got the cupboard loaded with nice coffee and all. I do think too many cooks can spoil the broth. Poor Lizzie could have made the servant cull. But at that point, thinking ahead, even though I had no idea what to, the little voice whispered, ‘Nah, she’s going to get in the way of this airless world of these two people going down in flames…slugging it out of course but… ‘ In fact useless lump Orwell was next inline for going. But there’s reasons I am glad I kept him. Ones I never saw at the time. xxxxx
PaulAndruss said:
This is a really interesting article; to whit how many characters does one need to make a novel work?
As you rightly say for a novel that drills deep into the corrosive relationship between two people, then you need two. The rest are simply walk on parts and of course walk on parts are destractions to be used for comedic effect or to act as Pinocchio’s Jiminy Cricket reflecting the protagonists inner soul. However where your characters speak directly to the reader and where you want to build the tension in the same way as lightning storm, destractions are totally unnecessary.
I always admire the way you bring something new to each of your novels- from what I have read on your thoughts on this one I am thinking you are mining the theme of classical tragedy, whereby an early almost throw away act determines the protagonists whole future fate.
Knowing you, I suspect another twist (NO DON’T TELL ME) but it will be brilliant to observe how the twists and turns of the plot avert the tragedienne’s ultimate fate to produce an sublime aria (or perhaps that should be duetto) of tenderness and reconciliation to furnish, in the face of all expectations, the desired lieto fine (happy ending).
Loved the Advert. It really packs a punch. There are so many great lines in it. “In a land of smugglers and secrets what price love” Finally the icing on the cake Mozart’s iconic Requiem deemed by many to be written for his own impending death. I loves me a bit of Mo. The Lacrimosa (meaning consigned to tears of woe) is a brilliant choice of music.
As Mr. Punchinello often said, usually while hitting Judy over the head with a whopping big stick, “THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT!” Pxxx
shehannemoore said:
Ah Paul, we did talk behind the scenes yesterday re secondaries and I did say this book has the least characters of all my books, so I guess it was worth reflecting why . And yep as you know I do try to create a fresh world for each book. I don’t think what world I am mining to start with… as the smuggler theme took hold, after Divers threw everything near the start of chapter three, I just thought, I have aye wanted to write a smuggler book and obviously the kind I love that are out there are ones like Jamaica Inn which always gave me a sense of this tight world, of rugged isolation in it which in turn makes a situation so much more dangerous. SO I am sitting dolling out imaginary medals to myself…lol, for a giggle— at what you say re classical tragedy, going oh yes, I planned that all along.. Aye right. But then stepping back having abandoned the frothy comedic idea I did want to think grand and dark. I wasn’t going to make a trailer. I thought. Where would I start with this book? But one thing I did know was that if I did it had to be the Mozart. I actually have two other versions of the same, one with Valkyries and one with Khatachurian’s Masquerade because there were times when I thought is the Mozart too sullen and intense and maybe it’s a mistake. But for the story it’s right. So I stuck with it. SO thank you. And for your kind comment x
PaulAndruss said:
Just Listened to the Waltz from Masquerade on you-tube. Magnificent. It is more Holiywood and gave me the feel of Hitchcock’s Jamacia Inn- So while it was a great back up choice (especially with your comments above) I think the profound melancholia of the Lacrymosa really hits the nail on the head in setting up expectations for a new book of intense and violent claustrophobic passions (At least that is my expectation- Can’t wait to read it by the way) against this isolated and rugged (and dare I say feral?) backdrop of 18th century Cornwall.
One of the many elements I like about your work is that you have an incredibly strong instinct about delivering the backdrop the book needs. You look at the country house of Writer and the Rake and immediately think Jane Austin.
No, Austin’s books were comedies of manners but even in them you get the sense of locked in repression, penuary and financial fear of the future. All of which you brilliantly pick out in The Writer n The Rake, leaving the aspirational 18th century country house of modern light romantic novels exposed as a crumbling place of outward wealth but where the owner cannot afford the upkeep or even to eat properly. The atomsphere drives the plot brilliantly.
Anyway I am droning on so I won’t start on why London works as a brilliant backdrop for Splendor and all the nods and references I got from that.
Although we can learn to write, I think the creation of stories as Integrated coherent pieces where each element drives the others forward is very much and instinctive gift. And need I say one you excel at. Pxx
shehannemoore said:
My God Paul, you are way too kind. Shortening of breath here reading this. I felt about Masquerade what you do. I thought yes for back up but I need this kind of melancholy –tiptoeing melancholy at times.. but there. And yes Destiny may be a high functioning depressive, underneath she’s as feral as the landscape. The old Destiny was chalk full of life and passion. I just throw things at books that way when it comes to backgrounds and overall story landscape, hoping it will all fit together. I used to think when I first started out, I can’t change my voice you know. Now I see I can’t change the book landscape either.
nananoyz said:
This was so interesting and informative. Thanks for letting us in on your creative process.
shehannemoore said:
My lovely Leslie my creative process is an utter shambles. This did not start out in smuggler world at all. It was a light frothy comedy over a house… But then , just as The Viking and The Courtesan was never meant to be about Vikings….something happened… I guess once something does and characters throw books and start coming out with things I never meant them to say I then have to start thinking about worlds. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
nananoyz said:
😊 Your creative shambles are inspiring.
shehannemoore said:
Leslie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I feel better about it now xxxxxxxxxxxx
cath said:
This sounds enticing, Shey. Lovely extracts, and some really useful advice about how to use secondary characters.
shehannemoore said:
Cath xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Truly. I actually years back for my own amusement wrote sweeping epics with a big cast of mains all interweaving and that is prob my preference but nowadays the fad is for two protagonists.. so… But I do think if that is what you are working with then secondaries, given they really shouldn’t be driving the story and the action should come from your leads, should be fulfilling a specific purpose. I know that’s hard. Sometimes I’ve come across a really well written bit in a book re a secondary where they suddenly have a life of their own and here’s a whole chapter devoted to them, but I also feel that has disjointed the book. I certainly found with this book that the focus was on the leads and where they were in their lives and why and for that to work, for them as I said in another comment, to basically go down in flames, I needed a clear stage. xxxx
catcavendish said:
Love ‘face as long as six fiddle cases and twenty four rainy days’ – brilliant expression! This is going to be a great book. Can’t wait for it to drop onto my Kindle next week – and looking forward to welcoming you on my blog too, Shey 🙂
shehannemoore said:
Aw Cat!! Thank you so much. I hope you like it … This is where I get all worried now. Looking forward to coming to your blog xxxxxx
Resa said:
How exciting. The trailer gave me shivers! Well, well done Shey!
Okay, I’ve begun reading in earnest. I’m on my chapter(s) with coffee in the morn!
Let the Gown ….erm Story begin!
shehannemoore said:
wel.. I have err.. done the final versions on three bits I was not happy with re madame smart tongue but have kind of left the rest as per the trailer… xxx
Resa said:
Does she still have all of the gowns??
shehannemoore said:
Yes she does… the scenes with the gowns are ones I left. In fact I just left everything as it is dialogue and scene wise, there were just a few bits I thought this would be stronger if the movement was different. sounds daft but there it is. I thought in the early scene where she kind of twigs and she gets one up on him, it would be better if he was still sitting on the floor and she was the one who was standing. I am afraid I think theatrically. When I direct things the cast gets used to me coming in an hour before curtain up and going…okay so and so and so and so, here’s what I am thinking… and then having to redo a scene. It was just the few scenes I never felt entirely happy with. x
dgkaye said:
Congrats on your upcoming my Lovely. Loveeeee the trailer! ❤ xx
shehannemoore said:
OOOH.. thank you Sistah. Truly. I nearly never made one. I didn’t know how to boil the book down. But then the voice whispered. so xxx
dgkaye said:
Honestly, you did a fab job! What platform did you use for the trailer? ❤
shehannemoore said:
Hugs Sistah. I just use Windows Movie Maker and fiddle about bascioally xxxxxxx
Pam Lazos said:
Totally agree, Lady Shey. If the characters are not moving the story forward in some way then you don’t need them. And I LOVE the book trailer. Congrats on the next installment in the Black Wolf EMPIRE! xoxox
shehannemoore said:
AW Pam, you are a darling. Truly. TRULY I have messaged you back on facebook. And glad you agree re characters. I have never worked with so few xxxxx
Pam Lazos said:
Will check it. 😍😘xoxoxoo
Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life. said:
Great promotion Shey and I am sure that the cast of your latest novel has been carefully auditioned and is perfect for the role. and the trailer is wonderful.. a man, a woman and a curse… move over Poldark..hugs xxxx
shehannemoore said:
Lol… Yes. I thought let’s go a bit darker here .. Seriously thank you Sally. And they were carefully auditioned. In fact one of them was very lucky to make the final cut but as it turned out they had their uses. Thank you re the trailer . I honestly struggled to boil it down initially and storyboard it in terms of this story. Then I worried it was maybe too dark, so it is nice to know people seem to like it. Means a lot xxxxxxxxx
Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life. said:
♥
robbiesinspiration said:
The Dudes have done a great joy with interviewing you Shey. Your support characters sound interesting even if they had to be disposed of somehow at some point.
shehannemoore said:
Robbie, nice to see you, knowing you must be busy yourself right now. Some of these support characters were lucky to make the cut actually. I’ve just never worked with so few and I am even talking walk on parts. The dudes well behaved. I think… AHHHHHH what is that biting me x
Annika Perry said:
Wow! Shey, the books sounds fantastic and the trailer is terrific! Well done! I wish you and your latest book lots of success. Your post delves deeply into the matter of secondary characters … we are loath to ‘kill’ off ones written in draft but they definitely have to be there for a purpose. Not always easy though.
shehannemoore said:
Annika…and you’re too kind too. I wasn’t going to make a trailer for this book. To be truthful I thought…where do I start? But I always give myself a telling off at this stage, reminding myself that I once wrote for Girls’ comics. So thank you, thank you, seriously. Secondaries? I’ve never worked with so few and even in the draft that was all there was. I think I generally keep mine in straitjackets. There is a suggestion of a ghost in this story and to begin with she was driving the plot and when I stepped back and thought about that, she as good as got binned too… I mean she got downgraded to suggestion status. But I do think they have to be there for a purpose because they are not story drivers.
bereavedandbeingasingleparent said:
It’s going to be an absolute blast. Can’t wait.
shehannemoore said:
Oh God, you’re kind. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jeanleesworld said:
Love this post, Lovely Lady Shey! There’s definitely something to be said for the cast size of a story. If you put a character there and give that character a name, that person better have a purpose. If the person’s just there, then it’s a headache to remember to make that person move around while the actual story is going on. Pointless!
And that tight, intimate cast sounds Poe-esque, Fall of the House of Usher….I’m so excited for you, Shey! And I’m sure Silv and the gang are happy for you, too, lest the moss monster and friends decide to come for a fall visit….
shehannemoore said:
Dr Jean, we ir bein made to be happy. Bt w r sad.
The dudes
PS we will eat thit monster when it comes.
jeanleesworld said:
I think Biff’s guinea pig Sulu would love to help!
shehannemoore said:
We will git hm a frk ‘nd knif.
Love
the dudes.
shehannemoore said:
Jean, thrilled you like this post. I have never worked with such a tight cast. Small casts yeah but never as small as this. But a large cast wasn’t going to work here. And lol…yes I have drawn on the idea of this doomed house, that’s basically crumbling, this family who are too, what’s left of them. I do like writing dark romances too and I hope it has its lighter moments that come mainly from the type of people the leads are, but primarily to work this story out the way it panned, it required this tight, isolated, claustrophobic setting. I totally agree with you re cast sizes. I don’t see the point of chucking in characters for the hell of it. Secondaries are not there as story drivers, they do need to earn their corn xxxxxxxxxxxx
jeanleesworld said:
Yes, exactly so! That’s a little like my WIP: family being summoned per a dying matriarch’s request. They’re all in an isolated mansion, and it’s winter. There’s not going to be an influx of characters here, and that should be okay 🙂
shehannemoore said:
It will be. I do not see any point in creating that setting then filling it up unless of course you want this influx to make it like the then there were none scenario. If that is not your scenario then you don’t. And you don’t worry about it either. I think it all depends on what your scenario is and the light you are trying to shine on your leads. If I boil this book right down, it’s not about smugglers or wreckers, or Cornwall, or even the past as such, it’s about two people standing on the edge and yes, it’s about why but more importantly it’s about how the way they the deal with that and the way they knock off each other because of that–what they are bringing to the table– brings them together. In order for that happen the setting has to be claustrophobic. SO you stick with what you feel is right.
bernard25 said:
Bonjour Mon AMIE shehanne
Comment trouver le bonheur
Surtout
Ne le cherche pas le bonheur dans tes souvenirs
Cela te ferait beaucoup plus de mal
Tu retrouverais les bons ainsi que les mauvais
Si tu veux trouver le bonheur
Cherche le dans le présent
C’est seulement là qu’ il t’attend et là tu éviteras ceux qui peuvent te faire du mal
Alors vit ton bonheur dans ce présent
Belle semaine à toi , tes proches tes amies
Pour toi une partie de mon bonheur
Bisous Bernard
shehannemoore said:
Biscous xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MANY biscous