Updated: Jul 26, 2022
Just back from a week at Loyalist College in Belleville where I spent a week at Rosemary Aubert’s annual summer writing workshop. Rosemary talked about the craft of writing, and her 12 students shared their writing experiences and excerpts.
For me, it was a great transition from the book marketing I’ve been doing in recent weeks to some serious writing over the summer.
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Check the entire review out here.
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
Canadian crime fiction author Mel Bradshaw is my guest
A native Torontonian, Mel has never felt confined by genre in his crime novels. Each of his books focuses on violent death and its attendant problems, to which he adds well-drawn characters, romance, thoughtful themes and period details. In short, everything that’s needed for a good read.
His first three novels, Death in the Age of Steam, Quarrel With the Foe and Victim Impact, were set in three different time periods. In his fourth, Fire on the Runway, published by Dundurn this spring, he returns to the 1920s, and the milieu and characters of Quarrel With the Foe.
How important is research to a mystery writer? It’s fiction, so can’t you just make it all up? People read historical fiction to learn something about earlier times. Some writers say they
Do you base your principal characters on real people you know or have read about? My main characters have multiple sources, not all of which I’m aware of. The only single source character in the Shenstone series is the University of Toronto chemistry professor who does forensic analysis for the police. The character I have called Dalton Linacre is based in appearance and opinions on the real-life Joslyn Rogers. There was no need to create a composite character: the historical Rogers was a one-man crime lab and simply couldn’t be improved upon.
Many people can imagine writing a short story. But a novel is such a big project, tens of thousands of words. Where and how do you begin? With a plot outline? I begin with a lot of reading and journal entries on what I read. Not just facts, but the plot and character ideas sparked by them. When I think I have enough for a novel, I try to get down a first draft as quickly as possible. The second draft will be slow and painstaking, and may end up very different from the first draft. I think I would find a plot outline confining. Ideas come while I write: I’d either have to stifle them or keep changing the outline.
How do you deal with criticism of your writing? Are you open enough – and tough enough – to benefit from editors’ and readers’ suggestions? Writers are more often ignored than criticized, so I appreciate anyone who takes the trouble to make suggestions. You do have to toughen up a bit and realize that it’s your skill that’s being dissected, not your soul. And you can choose which readers to listen to closely. The publisher’s editors are a different matter. They have to be listened to. I try to accommodate them where I can and push back in the few instances where I feel I must.
Is there a single piece of advice you’d give someone who wants to write crime fiction? Read the kind of book you want to write. Don’t be afraid of being influenced. Your individuality isn’t that fragile.
What actor would you like to play Paul Shenstone in a movie adaptation of the book, and why? I didn’t conceive of Paul with a particular actor in mind. But how about Joseph Gordon-Leavitt? He’s the right age, has demonstrated his crime movie chops in the films Looper, Brick and Premium Rush. And, without being too pretty, he’s handsome enough to interest women.
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You can purchase Fire on the Runway at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com,
Victim Impact at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com,
Quarrel With the Foe at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com,
and Death in the Age of Steam at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.
Visit Mel on his website.Â
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
Author Rosemary Aubert is my guest today on Moving Target. Her new romantic thriller Terminal Grill explores a woman’s fall into the sensuous trap of a man so handsome, mysterious and witty that he’s just too good to be true.
Rosemary is the author of the acclaimed Ellis Portal mystery series. She is also a published poet,
Q. Tell us what inspired you to write Terminal Grill, Rosemary.
What inspired me to write Terminal Grill was my many years’ experience in the dark underworld of the Toronto poetry scene. I knew from personal experience that there were a million stories out there, and I wanted to tell one of them. I set it in the past because, for me, it was all the more mysterious back then….
Terminal Grill required the kind of research I like to do best: personal involvement with the world in which the book is set. I’ve been to more poetry readings than I could ever count—and I’ve given them, too. As for seedy bars and questionable diners, there have been a few of them as the years rolled by.
Q. Who is your favourite character in Terminal Grill and why?
Matthew is my favourite character. He remains an enigma—even though he’s my character.
Q. What was the most difficult scene for you to write and why?
I don’t know why, considering that I’m an old romance writer, but I find sex scenes really difficult to do!
Q. What other book on the market is similar to Terminal Grill?
I can’t say what other book is similar to Terminal Grill. It isn’t like any other of my books—which makes it special for me.
Q. Tell us the story behind your book cover.
The book cover, which was provided by Quattro Books, the publisher, is perfect, I think. It’s any grill in Toronto. I don’t know where it is, but I’ve been there—and so have you.
Q. Tell us about your writing schedule.
My writing schedule varies according to other demands on my time, ranging from university teaching to cooking supper. The most important thing is that when I am working on a book, I have to work on it every day, though I take weekends off. And I like to work on my book when all my other work is done. So I can relax and let myself go.
Q. Which movie star would you like to play Matthew in a film adaptation of Terminal Grill, and why?
Somebody dark and mysterious would have to play Matthew and somebody sort of innocent would have to play Marie. I don’t know the actors very well, so I think the reader will have to imagine them herself.
Q. Will there be a sequel to Terminal Grill?
I don’t think there will be a sequel. This is really a one-shot deal for me.
Q. As a writer, what scares you most?
What scares me the most is the possibility that my book won’t be as good as I hope it will be.
Q. As an author, what is your greatest reward?
My greatest reward is when a fan—a stranger—tells me he or she love my books. That is the very best.
Q. What’s the best writing advice you’ve received?
The best advice I ever got was the simplest: Keep going.
Q. What’s your next writing project?
I’m working on a new novel that will remain a secret for the time being, as well as a book of short stories and more poetry.
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You can purchase Terminal Grill in paperback on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and at Quattro Books.