Category Archives: Riduna

June 23, 2011 · 1:27 pm

Which Setting? – An Inspiration to Write

Choosing the right setting for your novel is vital but how do we do it?

Familiar or Imaginary

If we choose a familar location it has loads of advantages:

  • You can imagine each scene and the descriptions flow effortlessly as you write
  • Your audience loves to read about places they know
  • Promotion is more straight forward because  your initial drive can focus on reaching out to people with links with that location

If we choose a local setting there are added advantages:

  • You are more likely to have success with local papers if it is local interest
  • You are more likely to be interviewed on local radio
  • Local bookshops will feel more parochial and will be happy to promote your work in their ever popular local interest section
  • Talks in libraries and to various local groups will be popular
  • It is easier for a new author to begin making a name locally

If you choose a holiday location:

  • You may have a fresh audience for some years to come
  • People often buy books to read on holiday
  • People often buy books to remind themselves of a memorable holiday
  • The setting is usually beautiful, inspiring, exciting……
  • It is a setting which lifts readers beyond their everyday lives

If you choose an imaginary setting then:

  • You can let your imagination truly take over
  • You are not restricted to accurate detail as long as it is plausible
  • You are aiming for a wide audience
  • The scenes you evoke stand for themselves and do not need association to be successful

Your setting may have been your original inspiration, as Alderney was mine. As I stood on the Butes wondering what life might have been like in Victorian times I knew I just had to carry out some research. Alderney is unique as a setting for a novel. Many have been written on Guernsey and Jersey but, as far as I know, ‘Riduna’ is the first novel inspired by the beautiful island of Alderney.

My current writing was inspired looking out over a field one day. Very different!

Was it a location which inspired you to write?

Leave a comment

Filed under Marketing your novel, Planning a novel, Riduna, Writing, Writing a novel

Tagged as , , , ,

May 19, 2011 · 3:56 pm

Why do Writers Blog? or To Blog or not to Blog?

Some people have asked me why I write a blog when I could be concentrating on my current novel and as usual I cannot generalise but can only give my personal points of view. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter:

  1. Promotion The obvious reason, initially, was to promote my debut novel ‘Riduna’ by writing a variety of topics which might interest a target reader, such as pertinent places, people and events. A fun way to link up with like minded people.
  2. Writing Background Information to my novel Secondly it gave me an opportunity to write about my research for ‘Riduna’ giving more background information to my readers not available on my website.
  3. Advertise News of Events It freed my from the constraints of my website which I had no control over, so that between my diary blog and my theme blog I could advertise events etc without continually contacting my Webmaster.  (as he hides in his capsule – Do not Disturb! – I’m busy with more technical stuff – Only Joking Peter if you’re reading this!)
  4. Writing about writing I didn’t want my blog to be just a writer’s blog about writing – excellent though some of the ones I’ve read are –  on why, how and what I write – but I did want to explore the way in which I write and describe, not only how my writing has developed over the last few years, ever honing my skills, but also share my mistakes and frustrations along the way. Writing is like teaching. It is a continuous learning curve and the time you think you’ve got it almost perfect is probably the time to give up.
  5. Topical Posts A blog is an ideal opportunity for a novel writer like myself, to write about a variety topics, in fact whatever’s on my mind at the time. These are my ‘one off’ blogs when I share personal thoughts and experiences.
  6. It is a platform to reach an audience sometimes the unexpected. You never know who is reading your posts.  My highest number of readers on a day is 65. That’s great because the graphs show a steady increase month by month. A few respond, not always by leaving a comment but usually by sharing a tweet on twitter or writing on facebook.
  7.  Social Media Networking I’m excited to follow in the footsteps of some famous authors in discovering the way that Twitter, Facebook and blogs all link up and each seem to generate a different type of audience. My understanding of how it all works has been a little slow off the mark but I’m on a journey and it’s an exciting one.
  8. Two way communication I was talking to a Journalist of a national newspaper and it was interesting to think that his readers are on the whole faceless and voiceless. Almost the moment I have published my blog I can be reached by readers from all over the world. One moment I have made a lady in Canada feel homesick for the island of her birth and on another I’m reached by a lady in Australia whose literature teacher at school was similar to mine. 

So why do I blog? Because I enjoy doing it!

Next post in this theme ‘Is a Blog Writer a Real Writer?’ comments on a postcard please and sent asap

2 Comments

Filed under Blogs, Marketing your novel, Riduna, Writing

Tagged as ,

April 18, 2011 · 2:51 pm

Choosing a Setting –Real or Imaginary

I chose the title ‘Riduna’ for my debut novel because I felt that the name summed up the magical image of the island of Alderney, which I held in my imagination. So much has been written of the Second World War and the tragic circumstances in which the island became a German concentration camp once the islanders had been evacuated. Certainly, anyone who has an interest in Alderney cannot help but read the amazing stories of how the islanders were dispersed at the beginning of WW2, and how many finally returned and painstakingly rebuilt their homes and their lives.

The story of ‘Riduna’ began in the late nineteenth century and, as many of you know who have been reading my blog, was inspired by the life of my great grandmother who was born on Alderney in 1865. An early blog tells of the real story of Harriet Hopkins, which is as fascinating as the work of my imagination.

I chose the name ‘Riduna’ to distance my novel from the more recent tragic period in Alderney’s history of WWII. Riduna, allegedly the Roman name for Alderney (as Aurigny is the French name; the local dialect up to WWII) spoke to me of a more romantic era, with military presence in bright red uniforms, catching the eyes of the local island girls. It told of a time of innocence (and not so innocent!) when the island was relatively protected from the outside world. (The island still is to a certain extent, although a friend and islander once said that I gaze on them with rose tinted spectacles!)

It is as I have continued to write, moving on to the First World War and beyond, that I have found it increasingly difficult to continue to use the name ‘Riduna’ and have, more than once, wanted to change the name back to Alderney. And yet, using a less well known name has its advantages, in that it allows more of a free reign for my creative juices to flow!

Leave a comment

Filed under Alderney, History of Alderney, Planning a novel, Riduna, Writing a novel

Tagged as , ,