I am very excited that my new Radwinter book, my genealogical mystery ,is finished and now available – but already my mind is beginning to whirr into gear for the next story. My latest book Saltpans is the latest in the series of books about Thomas Radwinter, but I hope it’s also readable as a stand-alone book. As well as doing genealogical research, which involves looking at the lives and times of ancestors Thomas takes on other work. He is commissioned to try and identify a young woman found washed up on a beach with no idea or memory of who she is. He also gets himself into a bit of a pickle, as he would describe it, trying to protect the ex-wife of an unpleasant man he is reluctantly working for.
My next book will not be about Thomas but about a reporter on a provincial newspaper who dreams of becoming a Fleet Street journalist; it’s set in the 1950’s so I will have to do some different research for that! Goodness knows when that might see the light of a publishing day, I hope by early 2019 and then I have plans for Radwinter VII which might be titled ‘Skating on thin ice’ and will be a much darker story…
Whatever I write – even non-fiction, there are certain aspects which are always included, basically characters, location (in time as well as in place)plot/narrative – and also an engaging beginning with a big hook, a strong running middle, and a conclusive and satisfactory end (not necessarily a happy ending, but a satisfactory ending.)
This can be broken down further, and this becomes a sort of check list for me, certain pivotal aspects which have history and will lead somewhere.
In brief:
- Events/actions
- Reason/motive/purpose
- Trigger/prompt
- Extras/bits and pieces
- Complication/obstacles
- Climax
- Solution/resolution
I know some people love lists and their life and their writing is almost built on lists, but lists don’t really work for me; lists or the sake of lists just aren’t my thing. However, looking at what I’ve written above, this is a good way of making sure everything hangs together, and I hope, will produce a ‘good read’!
Here is a link to Saltpans, my latest book:
Lois Elsden 