WHAT MAKES A GOOD BOOK GOOD? by Gill Stewart

For the last year or so I’ve been keeping a record of all the books I’ve read, and even of those I’ve started and not finished. I’ve been trying to understand what it is that makes a book a GOOD book – to me – so I’ve chosen the last three books to which I gave the full five stars, and I've tried to discover what qualities they have that set them above the hundred or so others with three or four stars (less than three stars and I don’t carry on).

These books are quite diverse. They are:

·         ‘Falling’ by Julie Cohen, a recently published women’s contemporary fiction novel;

·         ‘The Year Of Living Danishly’ by Helen Russell, an autobiography/political commentary; and

·         ‘Faking It’ by Jennifer Crusie, a classic romantic comedy.

I’ve tried to identify the things that make them such all-round successes for me, and have come up with the following. These qualities are in addition to having attractive characters that the reader is rooting for – I take that as a given!

 Immersive - as a reader you are completely in these books. It's not just the story that carries you forward but the setting and the little details about the main and secondary characters. This is a world you can believe in.

Off-beat – to a greater or lesser extent all the characters are out of the ordinary, which makes them particularly interesting, but the key thing is that they are not caricatured. It’s very easy to caricature eccentricity, but for me that doesn’t make a good read.

Accessible style – the style of writing is not literary, not trying for long words and (even worse) long sentences/paragraphs. It is easy reading. In both the Jennifer Crusie and Helen Russell books, humour is also very much to the fore, which helps.

Page-turners – all are books that make you want to read on, that you regret every time you have to put them down. They are not the heart-in-your-mouth or blood-and-guts type of page-turners, however, as those don’t appeal to me. I don’t like too much tension and I definitely don’t want tragedy. These three were the perfect balance of interest, action and resolution. And there was the added bonus, with the Russell book, that I felt I was learning something new, too!

What qualities do other people feel are essential to a ‘good’ book?

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME ...... LINDA MITCHELMORE

"So," my friend, Jan - who's read just about everything I've ever had published - said, "who's this Mel who upset you so much?" "I don't know what you mean!" I said, coming over all defensive. "Hmm," she said. "It's just that whenever you write the bad sister/office bitch/friend from hell you call her 'Mel'. That's all I'm saying." And do you know what? - she's right. I do. There was a Mel in my life who was all those things Jan mentioned and I haven't been able to let her go. I know it's not healthy but at least I get a bit of (unhealthy?) revenge when I'm writing her into a short story. I've got a cousin - male - who is also very loyal and reads most of my short stories and novels. He's not averse to voicing his thoughts either. "Paul?" he said once. "Who was he in your life? His name crops up a lot." "Does it?" I said. "Yep. And he always gets the girl." Not the Paul I know because I rather stupidly let him go (okay, gave him the old heave-ho) and perhaps I ought not to have done and then I would have been Paul's girl But no one needs to know that and my cousin will have to go on guessing! After having written about 1000 names into short stories and novels it's not that easy to come up with a new one, even though I have a Baby Names book on my desk. Didiane? Photina? Boaz? Milburn? I think not. Girls' names like Daphne and Dulcie, Polly and Elsie, are making a comeback but they're not names I liked the first time around so I won't be using those. And Roger - my husband's name. I'm reluctant to use that because people always quip ' ... over and out' and that's all I see in my mind's eye when I've tried to write him in. And using his name as a verb has a whole different meaning so I won't be doing that either. There are, of course, many books with one name titles. Jane Austen's 'Emma' is perhaps the most famous of all.

The present day novelist, Bernardine Kennedy, writing as Marie Maxwell, has also used one name titles with great success - Maggie. Gracie. Ruby.

I've been thinking of doing the same - I just can't find the right name, that's all. Oh. I almost forgot. 'Sylvia'. Jan also noticed that my evil mothers-in-law/horrid stepmothers/snobby women of a certain age are always called 'Sylvia'. Hmm,I'm probably fortunate that the 'Sylvia' my character is based on is long dead! My apologies to all the lovely Mels and Sylvias in the world - it's not you, honest. So, writing this has got me wondering .... is there a name you use over and over and if so why? Or is there a name you would never use at all?

Romantic Reads 2017

❤️❤️With Valentine's Day fast approaching, romance is in the air as we share our beloved romantic reads, with Linda and Neil also revealing some perfect dreamy locations to snuggle up. We'd love ❤️ to hear what you'll be reading (or re-reading) this Valentine's Day too...

Rae – As soon as it was decided we would share our favourite romantic reads, I knew I would chose Jojo Moyes runaway bestseller, Me Before You. In many ways Me Before You tears up the romantic fiction rulebook. For starters Will Traynor makes an unconventional hero, being a cynical quadriplegic, paralysed from the chest down, struggling to come to terms with his new life following a horrific motorcycling accident. Whilst bright, witty, Lou Clark, coasting directionless through life, is nothing like the driven, polished, stick thin women Will’s known in the past. Without creating a spoiler, the very plotline doesn’t follow a traditional romantic read. And yet… it’s a gloriously uplifting, punch-in-the-gut kind of novel, reminding us that love really knows no barriers.

Victoria - A romance novel that stayed with me for a long time is Redeeming

Love by Francine Rivers. Set during the Californian gold rush of 1850, it tells the story of Angel who was sold into prostitution as a child and survives by growing to hate men. She meets the religious Michael Hosea, who falls instantly in love with her. He believes it is a sign from God that his destiny is to marry and rescue her from her tragic existence. Slowly and steadily, through love, kindness and his dogged determination, he does. Redeeming Love is categorized as a Christian book, however, don't let this put you off if you are a non-believer or of a different faith. This is a powerful story, where the heroine struggles to feel worthy of being rescued, yet the hero refuses to give up. I loved the writing style of the author and the love, patience and loyalty Michael shows her. Some have found the circumstances of their marriage unpalatable, but I had no concerns and nor have the thousands of other readers who have devoured this award winning book in the past. I love it because I fell a little in love with Michael too, as when life gets tough we all need a hero who will catch us when we fall.

Linda - my fave romantic read is The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.

Ignore the snipey reviews if you look this book up on Google/Amazon/wherever. It's like with many great romantic books (I'm thinking Gone with the Wind here) and there are those who read it who consider themselves too literary or something for such a novel, or that, perhaps, pure romance is too lightweight. But if you want to be transported to a different place, a different time, a set of emotions you thought you'd long buried then this is the book for you. It tells the story of Francesca Johnson, a married but lonely housewife, and Robert Kinkaid, a National Geographic photographer who comes to the area to

create a photographic essay on the iconic covered bridges of Madison County. They fall in love, helped along by the fact that Robert Kincaid has a romantic soul and a way with words to tell Francesca so. It's a very short book - more a novella at just over 170 pages - and is a mix of forbidden romance, mysterious beauty, and poignant sadness. The film is good but the book is better, and I'm left wondering how many little girls were named Madison because their mother had read this book??

And my most romantic location?

A beach in the moonlight. Preferably, this will be a soft sandy beach which still holds its warmth from the day, and the air will be balmy. What I love is the beam of light that powers towards you when you stand on a beach (the love of your life holding your hand, of course) as the moon rises - it has a unique sort of energy that stirs the soul. But if I can't have a warm underfoot, sandy, beach then I'll settle for any beach at midnight... winter beaches with a rough sea are good if the romantic couple are wrapped up warm.

Jennie - I don’t read many historical novels these

days but one I’ve read and re-read is KATHERINE by Anya Seton so many times I’ve lost count. Published over 60 years ago it has never lost its appeal and these days is regarded as an all-time classic.

Katherine Swynford, the naive orphan of a poor knight, arrives at the court of Edward III when she is just fifteen and it’s not long before she comes to the notice of the married John of Gaunt who is the love of her life.

Anya Seton was renowned for the amount of research she did for her books and what I love about Katherine is the fact that it is based on historical fact and the love between these two people was real. As the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt her children were the direct ancestors of the Tudors and theStuarts. If you like historical fiction I urge you to read it and lose yourself for several hours in the medieval world of power, pleasure and passion Katherine found herself living in.

Gill - When choosing my favourite romantic read, I was going to go with one of my two all-time favourites: Jane Austin or Georgette Heyer. But then I realised that my go-to romance writer at the moment is Jennifer Crusie, someone a lot more recent and a little less known. Author of American romantic comedies, her plots, dialogues, characters and humour are all spot on. It’s hard to pick which is my favourite but I’ll go for Fast Women, possibly because it was the first Crusie book I read and I was so delighted to discover this new writer. My only complaint is that she hasn’t had any new books published since 2010. Come on Jennifer!

Jennifer (not Jennifer Crusie) - When Rae asked me for a few sentences on my favourite romantic reads, my mind went blank. With a question like that it always does: I can’t think of the last book I read, or indeed any of the books I’ve read in the past year. I vaguely remember taking a Jeffrey Archer book on my honeymoon in case there was a dull moment, but I don’t think that’s the kind of answer she was looking for. 

I’m going to go back to an old favourite — or rather, a series of old favourites, a very, very slow-burn romance. When, in Dorothy L Sayers’ detective novel, Strong Poison, Lord Peter Wimsey sees

Harriet Vane standing in the dock on trial for her life, it’s love at first sight for him. But the relationship is deliciously complicated by Harriet’s independence, her unconventional lifestyle and her natural dislike of being obliged to him for saving her life. 

She loves him. (Of course she does.) But it isn’t as easy as that — and so the author doesn’t need to tie up the romance alongside the end of the case. And yes — Peter and Harriet finally achieve their happy ever after, several books down the line.

Neil - Romantic reads are slightly out of my league, however I do find some of the locations that I visit have an air of romance surrounding them. Eilean Donan Castle is your iconic poster castle for romantic Scotland, it ticks all the boxes - loch, hills, the illusion of being remote.  But its not just the image when visiting this castle, there is an atmosphere around the castle and it was at night that it truly showed it self. When I returned to take some night shots of the castle all lit up, I did not expect to hear the sound of bagpipes floating over the still night air as a wedding took place. It was then I understood why so many people found this place romantic.

I am lucky to live in a country that is romanticised, with stunning castles and beautiful vistas round most corners.

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Hope everyone enjoys a little romance this Valentine's Day ❤️❤️❤️

HOW DOES TV INFLUENCE YOUR LIFE?

Recently I was asked if I’d like to contribute to a feature for one of the writing magazines about TV and how it affected my writing. Unfortunately it didn’t work out but it got me thinking about how big an impact television has had on everybody’s lives over the last half century.

When the children were growing up, for several years we were that unusual family who, horrors of horrors, didn’t have a television. But we did of course give in eventually. It took a long time though, for me to shake off the guilty feelings about watching daytime TV instilled in me by my grandmother. Along with most of the population we did get hooked into a routine of watching TV every evening for a few years. And then we came to France where for a few years TV simply didn’t exist in our world. It does now though - can’t believe the size of the television we now have, mainly for watching dvds on!

Living in France I barely watch TV for entertainment these days - the language is still something of a problem for me and French TV has a certain reputation. Anyone who has ever watched French TV will know that it lags a long way behind what is on offer just the other side of the Channel. Although to be fair, these days shows like Downton Abbey and The Collection are being shown here  - dubbed in French, which is just a step too far for me! And ‘Friends’ seems to be on a continual repeat loop on some channel or other. Somehow it misses the mark completely with the language dubbed. The French too, love all the American police series - the more violent the better.

Entertainment programmes on the three terrestrial channels here start at nine o’clock in the evening. The hours six thirty to nine are filled with news programmes. And there is no watershed in French producers lives. Violent programmes are just as likely as the latest edition of Oui Oui (Noddy to you and me) to be advertised at ten o’clock on a Sunday morning - in between the cartoons designed to keep the little darlings occupied while Mum and Dad have a lie in.

These days I watch the BBC news via my computer and watch UK entertainment / documentary programmes via iPlayer. I write contemporary women’s fiction for an English language based readership, so watching TV programs like this enables me to keep up to date with all the social and cultural activities going on across the channel. 

One of the questions the feature was going to look at was: Are there any ways in which watching TV/dvds has improved your writing? Not sure about directly improving but Youtube has lots of writing related videos and I’ve watched a number of them and I’ve invariably come away with a new tip or a writing exercise to try. The Ted interviews are particularly good for motivation.

And finally for all of you who have ever wondered about what happens to old TV and computer screens a fun picture!

The Best Laid Plans.....

A last minute decision for New Year was made, we would head up to the West Coast in a caravan !!
To be fair Christmas had been unusually mild and the weather looked fairly promising to hold. Audrey has spent previous New Years at the caravan and promised me fantastic lighting, looking over her old photos I had to agree.
So as the bags were being packed I was mentally preparing a plan of action of where I was going to visit and when.
The drive up was pleasant enough until half way when the scenery comes in to its own, at that point the heavens opened and stayed open. This put a dampener on my spirits as I had planned to stop on the way up. No point grumbling I continued to the site and arrived in the gloaming at three o'clock.
Tomorrow is another day they say, woke up to an over cast morning with biting winds and sporadic showers not ideal and not in my plan. But the kids needed to let off steam having been cooped up for 4 hours the previous day so we wrapped up and headed to the beach.


 

Boardwalk to Clachtoll Beach

The kids had a ball running from the waves, luckily the tide was on the way out as the waves were still impressive.
For me however the day was too overcast, dark and dull. Also the sporadic showers of rain/sleet made it nearly impossible. The last day of 2016  had been a photographic let down for me.

Hopefully 2017 would be bring better weather.

Woke to strong winds and more sleet however by lunchtime it had cleared, so I took the opportunity and away I went camera in hand.
I headed for Loch Assynt to capture the trees and Ardvreck Castle.
The skies still weren't great but the sun was beginning to shine and it lifted my hopes of  being able to take some good photos.
As I round the corner my hopes of taking the shot I wanted of Ardvreck Castle were dashed, the heavy rains had caused the loch to rise cutting the Castle off on an island.



Ardvreck Castle

Quick rethink, repositioning and all was not lost. I was beginning to wonder if it was worth coming all the way up for a few days when you couldn't guarantee the weather. I remember then that the uncertainty of the weather and lighting conditions sometimes gave way  to beautiful photographs. So I continued on...
And embraced the inclement weather.



Loch Assynt Trees

On returning to the caravan I complained to Audrey about the weather and that I would struggle on regardless, her reply quite rightly was "to be fair its the middle of winter, the weather hasn't been that bad" she is always the optimist to my pessimist.
 I managed to get out the following day as well, taking full advantage of the drier weather. The overcast clouds and darkening skies gave a real sense foreboding and highlighted the remoteness of this area. When a storm comes in all you can do is batten down the hatches and huddle round the fire.

So now when plans don't go to plan I realise that it's not the end of the world and things have a way of working themselves out.



Clashnessie Beach

Cottage at Clashnessie

Adventures in Stationery Porn

From this...

My name is Jennifer and I’m addicted to stationery.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not belittling addiction to things that can damage your health (though I suppose there is such a thing as a poison pen). But it struck me, as I was hanging around outside an upmarket stationery shop the other day, that the art of a writer is not necessarily to write about what they feel, but to amplify their own, rather trivial experiences to create drama, passion and emotion. (There’s a book by Linda Edelstein, Writer’s Guide to Character Traits, which shows you exactly how a relatively harmless trait becomes a harmful one).

I’ve always liked a nice notebook. These days they’re come on a long way from the bright red-backed exercise books you bought in WH Smith or Woollies. These days you can buy arty ones, ones with pretty patterns, with slogans, with matching pens and pencils, files and folders. Sometimes, if I have a plot in mind, I buy a notebook TO MATCH THE PLOT! You can even get them personalised. And I always welcome a notebook as a gift.

...to this.

At the last count I had — ahem — well over forty of the things. That includes the old ones, which I keep. I have a new notebook for each novel or series of novels. I have notebooks with nothing but an opening sentence, waiting for the rest of the book. I have notebooks of my travel journals, some of them years old (and mind-bogglingly innocent when I read them back).

On a recent trip to America I realised I had inexplicably forgotten to bring a notebook with me. When I came back I had eight — a pack of three plain ones, which did for an emergency, and two other multipacks too nice to leave behind (and you can’t get them in the UK, so…).

I justify my stationery problem by referring to Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones, in which her opening advice to aspiring writers — written, admittedly, when most people worked longhand — is to find the right pen and paper. That’s a licence to buy good stationery. If only it were a justification to claim it back against tax. I will use all the ones I have; but by then I will have more.

Outside that stationery shop my addiction reached a new low — or should that be a new high? On impulse, I went in and asked to try the pens. I ended up buying a beautiful pen set so that I can write longhand in my lovely notebooks with something that feels good. It was half price. And it came with a free leather pouch worth (sorry, priced at) £17.50, so that makes it okay. 


Doesn’t it?