Conflict casts a shadow on truth telling, giving rise to versions of the truth over time .
Plantation Shadows unravels the truth through competing perspectives or on point revelations captured for posterity to convince the reader on a particular point of view.
The crafting of characters influences how the reader receives fictional truths. The proven trustworthy character holds the stronger sway in truth. Often, the social standing of a character influences following the ‘esteemed’ character, which might, unfortunately, lead the reader down the rabbit hole to a multiplicity of mistruths.
Who should the reader trust, the doctor, gardener, or domestic staff? Truth is not devoid of emotional strains, and memory creates versions of the truth depending on who demands it, narrates it, and receives it.
Plantation Shadows unearths the inner and outer conflict spanning three generations in a family drowning in secrets. The women living in a patriarchal community on the canefields of Natal, South Africa, take the forefront in narrating the truths that unfold one perspective at a time. The only male perspective has no blood ties to the conflicted family he serves. Edgar is the all-knowing eyes and ears between the two plantation houses, embroiled in secrets withheld in the living years. What ancestral truths will the grave yield?
There was internal strife that I was privy to, but I kept my head down and my ears open… Part Three, Edgar, ‘Plantation Shadows’
In unraveling the truth in a land buckling under colonial domination and rising resistance, is the twisted patriarchal mindset genuflecting to colonial expectations by preventing women from being heard. It is not until the fourth generation breaks the cycle of control, by assuming the courage and conviction to address and accept the long-held secret of an imploding family, hope rises.
Creating fictional women as untainted characters in a controlled society is to deny their right to break with convention in choosing the path they desire. Plantation Shadows is a closely held sisterhood of hidden truths among grandmothers, mothers and daughters.
Truth is a double-edged sword—it names and shames but creates understanding and gradual acceptance. Are generations of secrecy ever allowed to rest in peace?
Read Plantation Shadows, to feel and understand the secret hearts of the aging Milly and her dead mother.
Secrets diminish with death – Part 3, Edgar, ‘Plantation Shadows’
Historical fiction either reveres, subverts, or shames the past through citing actual places, creating imagined characters and perhaps recreating a historical figure.
Historical fiction is the unequal blending of the real and the imaginary
Time is fluid in historical fiction, moving between the past and present depending on how the plot unfolds. Is it a character in the present time speaking, recalling a time past, or is the character narrating an experience having lived in a past era?
The cautionary reminder is in ensuring the imaginative aspect of the story is respectful of the truths of the time, while preserving the overarching fictional plot/characterisation and quality of the writing. Culture, values, and social issues researched lend an authentic historical flavour to the fiction crafted. Transporting the reader to a time past enhances the storytelling without rewriting a history textbook.
Find that sweet spot between what is fact and fiction to elevate the fiction on culture, values, and social mores.
Including actual historical figures is the writer’s choice in relation to whether they will be a speaking character in the fictional tale, or a few cursory references would suffice.
Research should not overpower fiction. History has been written and read many times over—add the imagined juice for an entertaining read that prompts speculation on whether the fictional aspects could have possibly occurred.
Memorable characters, a believable setting, an intriguing plot, and a dash of history is a good measure for a satisfying read.
Ultimately, knowing who the intended audience is for a particular work of fiction is just as important as the message it creates.
Honour the history researched to enhance the setting and add lustre to the fictional plot without repeating what has already been documented. Recreate rather than rewrite. The risk of overly recounting a history is losing the fiction to non-fiction. The decision ultimately rests with the author. Readers of fiction will be the primary audience.
In honouring the history, notions of sensitivity to time, place, and people should be observed. However, shaming a dark history is the fictional storyteller’s prerogative.
There are no clearly defined genre parameters when the power of the story is honoured in its ability to move and entertain which is paramount in fiction.
The truth that all historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, despite itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind. Carl Becker, American historian (1873-1945)
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. BishopDesmond Tutu.
History is the study of all the world’s crime.Voltaire, French writer, and philosopher (1694-1778)
Fiction is the truth inside the lie. Stephen King
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities: Truth isn’t. Mark Twain.
Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
The days of writing rigidly to a particular genre, crime fiction, detective fiction, sci-fi, horror, historical fiction, thriller fiction, and romance have slipped, crept, and rolled across the genre borders.
Romance has the potential to capture the coldest of hearts.
The basic elements of the genre remain. Mystery and suspense with a soft touch of romance add to the allure of the tale. Romance as a genre in its pure form has limitless power to create relationships that stretch and bend the imagination as far as it will go.
While romance engages the emotional side of the reader, it does not overwhelm the crime/detective/historical/sci-fi, which occupies the greater space of the genre.
The love story element in any story adds the desirous human connection.
Age is no deterrent to romance. It’s not restricted to young love such as that of Romeo and Juliet. Including older characters in the angst and joy of their romantic interludes creates an inclusive perception of love. It increases the appeal of the overarching genre at work.
The happily ever after isn’t always true. Fiction is a mirror of life. Testing the strength or commitment of a relationship between crime/detective fiction heightens its entertainment value. Romance, while not central to the story outside the romance genre, might add a satisfying element against the crime/detective fiction at work.
Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning ~Paulo Coelho
Wonderfully true — it is indeed our charismatic or struggling fictional characters who love, or are in love, that linger to remind us why love given and received should never be extracted from the soul.
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart ~Jane Austen.
Magical! The reader is drawn to the story regardless of the genre.
I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary ~ Margaret Atwood.
Brilliant! This stirs ideas on how this would unfold in a crime fiction tale!
The gist of these well-known lines deepens the human connection in any genre.
Happy Reading. Happy Writing.
Please like, share, comment and hold on to a tender heart. We need it in both fiction and life.
Why does crime fascinate the reader or the viewer? From a gripping novel to a suspenseful film, both mediums are loaded with intrigue, blood, gore, missing persons, and dead bodies, and they certainly hold our attention for more.
Pushing boundaries is the adventurous inclination invited by human fascination, as is vying for the person we want to set free from crime.
Crime writing, like reading crime novels and viewing crime films, is an emotional investment for the adrenaline rush we crave. Words on a page must do the creative hard work that diegetic or non-diegetic music elicits to keep us on edge, before, during and after the crime has been committed.
Descriptive language, sharp, short sentences, sensory imagery and specific punctuation, create and elevate the mood that befits a crucial scene in a novel. The intrigue must be deep enough for the reader to push on, chapter after chapter, well into the night, or wee hours.
Crime fiction often draws inspiration from actual crime, which allows for greater reader appeal. Research is vital to achieving a realistic, entertaining selling point.
Attending a criminal court hearing is a valuable catalyst for storylines to kick off. Make a friend in your local police station and shadow the police person to walk in their shoes for a few days. What better way to get inside the aftermath of the crime?
Visit a prison, and if allowed, ask to interview a prisoner. Getting inside the minds of criminals fuels the creative urge for the realistic crafting of your MC.
Research profiles of victims of crime and seek a psychologist or psychiatrist to gain a greater depth of understanding of why the victim might have been targeted.
Visiting crime sites long after the investigation and conviction enrich the landscapes in a crime fiction story.
Live research is valuable for the unique imaginative triggers they invite. Equally, reading crime novels of note is vital to the crime writer.
Crime documentaries are accessible anytime if physically going to a prison or crime site is not an option.
Don’t go too far. Grab the daily newspaper, and a new crime of the day or week holds our attention as we seek more on the investigation.
Unending thirst for crime novels and films continues to expand, weaving through different genres and is an inroad to writing for aspiring creatives.
As creatives, news about a debut author from the land of one’s birth is received with great joy. The creative landscape is a connected, supportive space that celebrates newcomers to the publishing fold.
Meet Mel Goven, South African debut author of the crime novel, Unfinished, launched in July, 2022 on Amazon. Please join me in welcoming Mel Goven to the blog this month.
Get to know South African Author : Mel Goven
1.Biography : Mel Goven
Mel Goven
I hail from Johannesburg and have quite a demanding day job as a teacher in a primary school.
Unfinished is my first novel although I have written many short stories which have gained a place in short story competitions in local magazines and writing groups.
My short story, Scorned, a crime mystery, was placed 3rd in Woman and Home, in 2014. Love Knots, another short story, was shortlisted in the annual short story competition run by The Writer’s Group. One of my favourite short stories, Lucky, featured on a few writing blogs and had quite a successful run in 2016. All these stories can be read on my blog site.
I have also published newspaper feature articles and opinion pieces during my stint as editor for the local newspapers: The Randburg Sun,Fourways Review and the Northcliff Melville Times.
My features were around education challenges in South Africa. Some of which were: Preparing for Future Career Opportunities, Effective use of Technology in the Classroom, Private versus Public Schools.
Having always been drawn to the romance genre, I imagined I would write romance novels, which I haven’t completely taken off the table yet. However, I found my voice in thrilling crime mysteries.
I have two more novels in the pipeline and have realised that with each new world I create, I am finding myself as a writer. I don’t like conforming to a specific trope and while I admire the writing styles of my favourite authors, I don’t think I am in the same league and so choose to write my way.
I have been blessed with four incredible children of whom I am super proud. In formally starting my writing career at this stage in my life, I hope to inspire them that dreams come true at any age, no matter what challenges and obstacles arise.
2.When did your passion for writing emerge?
I love reading. I believe you must be an avid reader to be a good writer. When I was a child, I would beg my parents to take me to the library.
I visited many libraries in the area I grew up in: from the little mobile libraries that would go around the community on Tuesdays and Thursdays; to the community libraries that were finally built when the demand increased, and then to the Durban City Hall library when I was old enough to travel to the city on my own.
I started writing after I read Anne of Green Gables. I felt such a deep connection to the main character, Anne. Although she was a lifetime removed from my world in terms of the era, race, and circumstances, she felt what I felt; messed up like I did; was the odd duckling — just like me.Anyway, the community library did not have the sequel to Anne of Green Gables and so I decided to continue the story in my imagination. Eventually, I wrote it at the back of a Maths book (I did not like Maths very much). That was how I began writing.
Every time I finished reading a book, and if I felt that I wanted more from it, I would continue the story to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.
3. What inspired you to write your debut novel, Unfinished?
In 2012, I became fascinated by a story I heard from a patient in a doctor’s surgery. The patient had undergone a heart transplant a few months before and she had been excited to meet the family of her donor.
I found myself researching it and was surprised to find that some heart recipients experienced major personality changes which are sometimes connected to their donor. The idea of the heart, which we consider the seat and symbol of emotion, sparked a story and this epic drama unfolded.
Unfinished is set in Hout Bay, Cape Town, because the first human heart transplant occurred successfully at the nearby Groote Schuur Hospital. But, it is more than just a story about a heart transplant. It revivifies an unsolved murder committed almost 40-years before the story begins; those affected by that crime and how their lives have interwoven until a heart transplant finally exposes the truth. I wanted my characters to come to life on the page, and each one needed to have a voice, so I opted to write in each main character’s POV.
4. Who are your favourite authors?
I have so many. I have great respect for the classics, so Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, L.M. Alcott, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, L.M. Montgomery.
Contemporary authors: I would say, Khaled Hosseini, Kazuo Ishiguro and Eleanor Catton. But there are so many others. I have never restricted my reading to specific genres. I read all, except perhaps horror. Although I did spend a few sleepless nights reading Stephen King’s, The Dream Catcher.
I suppose I could say I have favourite books rather than authors. At present I am enjoying Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Lacuna. And, A Madness of Sunshine, by New Zealand author, Nalini Singh, and The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah.
Oh, dear! There are so many more books I still have on my to-be-read list. My guilty pleasure is that I also enjoy a Harlequin romance novel now and again.
5. What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?
Write about what you experience. Write that story you wished could have had a different ending. Write about your dreams. Whatever takes seed in your imagination, write about it.
Grab your copy of Unfinished at these Amazon Book Links
I extend my gratitude to Mel Goven for sharing her author journey and wonderful advice to aspiring authors. Unfinished has certainly grabbed my attention!
Pen, a fictional story and aspects of the scribe’s life, spills onto the page between fiction and reality. Angst and joy collide in the unfurling of the emotive content of the story. The emotional hooks in a story invite readers to open their own wounds and happiness for a well-penned story.
In my novels and short story collections, dogs feature as necessary in human lives. A lifelong love of dogs finds their way into the lives of significant characters I create.
In the Sequel set Across Time and Space, and Vindication Across Time the wonderful Ted is the adored pet of human rights lawyer, Michael Morissey, and aspiring writer Meryl Moorecroft. Michael advises and befriends schoolteacher Marcia Ntuli, caught in workplace professional racism. Ted is the first to understand the growing romantic involvement between Michael and Marcia. His sensitivity to Marcia makes him even more adorable.
Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. ~Albert Camus
Two hours later they emerged from Michael’s bedroom, laughing at Ted’s quizzical peaked ears and worried frown.
In Souls of Her Daughters, Patience, a social worker has two dogs, Ajax, and Sprite. She adopted them while her sister Grace was overseas at a medical conference. Patience witnesses her sister’s battle with her past demons and hoped Ajax and Sprite might offer her healing and joy. We may read this novel as a stand-alone novel or as a trilogy.
They were abandoned in an old building on the south side of town. I could not take one and leave the other. They are high maintenance in the love department but adorable to come home to.
Life’s Seasons, a short-story collection, includes a valiant dog as title story – Toby. This story was first published in the short-story collection, The Rain, where Toby, a brave dog, living on his owner’s family farm is confronted by a treacherous storm. Instinct guides Toby when the safety of his beloved human family is threatened. Toby’s heroic, selfless act unwinds minute-by-minute to melt hearts.
He gripped the harness between his teeth, prostrating to give the children a lift, to allow them to be pulled up with ease.
The Bardo Trilogy has Woza and Khaya, the loyal companions to the mysterious doyenne Tempest, on her mission to offer safety to women and children who are victims of crime.
Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Living in isolation was difficult, but her parrot, Caramba, a keen white watcher of the skies and her two Rottweilers, Khaya and Woza, filled her lonely hours.
The act of including dogs in each of these novels and short stories is a subconscious inclusion drawn from experience.
Pets are companions who combat loneliness, fulfil a caring need, aid healing from grief and bring joy during life’s challenging times. Both fiction and reality meld to create balance to live in unison with the universe.
Now there’s nothing like one’s writing companion puppy snuggled at one’s feet as words and new worlds rise and fall on the page.
The world is teeming with the here and now, current stories in the making with the mounting flux of national and international events and situations that drown the past as voices evaporate into the mists of time. The danger is in relegating these voices to forgotten histories when they have much to teach this time on human kindness and compassion, to obliterate the self-centred I, me and my way of thinking and behaving.
Fiction writers have the skills at their finger-tips to animate these voices through fictional recreations, Many such esteemed writers, as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elif Shafak, et al, have done so to great effect over time.
Ignorant of history, we find it easy to accept our isolation from one another. We are more able to recognize differences than shared experiences and perspectives. History proclaims our common humanity. – Author: Linda Simon
South Africa’s apartheid history has a multitude of women’s voices, women of colour – some of whom have gone unnoticed under the radar of time.
Souls of Her Daughters arrived to highlight the role that women of colour made to the contribution in dismantling apartheid’s constructed barriers of race, sex, culture and ethnicity.
InSouls of her Daughters, two mothers, Varuna and Elsie, the mothers of Grace and Patience unite as one family when their husbands are brutally killed during the darkest times in the land’s racist history. Their daughters, Grace and Patience, become the stoic women they reveal themselves to be while fighting their own demons on sexism and abuse. Kindness and compassion pave the way forward as the personal histories of Varuna and Elsie in demonstrating their resilience under the scrutiny and accusations of racist stereotypes.
From humble beginnings both Grace and Patience emerge as women of courage, serving humanity in an international arena. Before they achieved this level of confidence they found a space where they were valued, belonged, to reach out to those struggling a similar or worse fate.
These four forgotten voices were deep, and the reach expansive that it opened the way for two more novels to follow, Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come. These novels that followed, Souls of Her Daughters takes the reader on a journey from South Africa to Australia, Ireland and India. The novels showcase the kindness and compassion of two sisters born from different mothers into a segregated South African society with the potential to overcome the debilitating challenges of their birth country’s political history.
Fiction has a valuable role to play in the recreated telling of stories that did not make it into the history pages of its respective time, yet these stories carry the potential to educate the here and now for a future built on kindness and compassion. These human qualities dissolve the quagmire of the human condition.
Please like and share your thoughts and ideas on the recreated fictionalised histories you would like to read.
A story crafted from bone to flesh takes many months, or years of vested time where emotional attachment is difficult to relinquish.
There comes a time in every delightful story where the writer cedes the pen (for a while before the editing clean-up).
Knowing where to start is as important as knowing when to stop.
Writing sequels, trilogies and series is a long-term relationship between the writer and manuscript. Characters become real when they consume sleeping and waking thoughts. A character wanting a bigger space on the pages of a story holds the writer to ransom.
Endings must be free of padding or info-dumping that feed the writer’s attachment to the tale, people or place, serving no express purpose to the story. Readers will thank the writer for avoiding the stuffing.
The original plan for the story veers off when a character wanting to be acknowledged calls out the loudest. Such a character is allowed a voice that directs the action on a different path. This is a natural part of the process, but rogue characters must be reeled in and put under a microscope to assess their primary role—is the character essential to the plot, does the character add an exciting plot twist or are they unnecessary?
A benevolent muse is the one to thank for all that arrive to prod the writer. If the voice/story/scene are ignored, they find a way into somebody else’s story. Lady Muse is a perpetual huntress.
Heed the call we must!
Writing is joyful, hard work. It takes committed diligence to keep going until the story is over. It will only ever be over when the writer is convinced it is time to stop. Soliciting advice from a trusted other, The Reader, is a good way to ensure that it is indeed the right point to type in ‘The End’.
Well-written stories will entertain audiences long after the writer’s time has passed.
When it feels right to end it — do it! If it is deemed not right later down the editing track — change it or add in a few subtle changes. To ignore that gnawing feeling that something is not right, but not worth the trouble to rectify it, is a mistake that comes back to haunt the writer.
Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, educator, linguist.
Structure in a story is important, but the creative does not adhere to structure alone at the sacrifice of something unique that has the potential to hold the reader’s attention.
Should the ending resolve all issues?
Are all life’s issues resolved?
Fiction entertains but should mirror life to connect with readers on the universality of our fundamental humanity.
Walking in the shoes of the reader is a good way to access whether a story crafted over a length of time, the writer’s blood on the page, has value for the reader.
A story begins with action or change, and everything follows on from there, and it may end with change, the character’s growth or downfall, but ultimately it must guarantee reader satisfaction. If not, then a sequel or epilogue might do the trick, or leave it open to interpretation, but keep the element of surprise.
Tie up loose ends without deliberating over them
Would you write the ending first? This might be a sure-fire way to lead the scenes throughout the process of the first draft.
Please share the endings of some of your favourite books in the comment box below.
Mother’s Day this year has a different ring to the freedom of yesteryear.
The nation waited to hear if we would be allowed to visit our mothers on this special day of the year. Something we took for granted… our mothers would always be there to listen, comfort, cook an amazing meal, take care of grandchildren, advise on matters of the heart, and chastise bad behaviour.
Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child ~ Gautama Buddha
The hype leading to Mother’s Day has been a buzz from infancy. 2020 has been still but some retail stores have opened for a dash purchase of a gift and a card to celebrate our mothers to tell them we love them. We fervently add that we want our mothers to be safe and well during this global health crisis. Some among us ache to see our mothers, some have passed on, and others are in social isolation — it has been two months of just telephone conversations and if possible, FaceTime, Zoom and Skype chats. The aching emptiness of the missed mama/nana hug is still not a possibility. A joyous expression of love is now a cause for global anxiety as we fear the unknown, the lethal. The comforting hug now a possible cause of harm.
Mothers occupy a universal, sacred place in our hearts. A mother’s unconditional love goes with her children from the cradle to the grave. Cultures revere mothers with a divinity deserving of profound respect and care. This value should undoubtedly be universal. The hearth of family and home is a mother.
Paradise lies at the feet of your mother~ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
In paying tribute to all mothers today I also refer to the fictional mothers in, Souls of Her Daughters, and two follow-up novels in the trilogy (each reads as a stand-alone novel too) Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come.
Mothers Varuna and Elsie present as the yin-yang of motherhood. Mama Varuna is Grace’s bold and strong mother who has weathered hardship with loss and societal criticism. Patience’s mother, Mama Elsie is a mild-mannered mother who faces racism and hardship in apartheid South Africa. Both mothers raise their daughters as one family united in their cultural difference and struggles. The highs and lows of the lives of mothers and daughters captured in the daily lives of Grace and Patience are what makes Mother’s Day a constant expression of love.
To all mothers, and future mothers, you are the pillars of family and society and should be celebrated daily.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.’ ~ Proverbs 31:26
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Stay safe and well as restrictions ease in New South Wales and around the world.
If stories were never told — history would not exist — change would not occur.
So much that is fictional is drawn from reality.
The horrors that have occurred historically and afresh each day (as the daily news never fails to report) become the fictional realities writers create in imagined worlds. The fiction writer’s world is in tune with current and past societal occurrences. The subconscious mind sifts and imprints that which has emotive associations. From this collaboration of mind and emotions, the writer begins with a particular premise — then something magical happens — the pen takes on a life of its own.
Plotter or panster merge when that magic happens. Hey, presto! Fiction and reality commingle!
For this reason, mindful writing is imperative. It helps guide your book to a niche or a wider audience with a message melded to the entertainment a good book affords.
Every good story has a lesson to teach, an angst or joy to share
Where does the act of creative mindfulness emanate from?
The soul of the writer, his or her angst and joy sensitize the writer to the struggles people undergo — be it a socio-economic matter such as Charles Dickens’ novels that exposed England’s elitism, and Jane Austen’s portraits of gender and social class. These are two writers selected from a host of others of the day.
Today fictional writers create worlds around ‘me too,’ racism and power struggles. Power struggles and injustice are timeless from Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis based on the 1925 novel by Thea von Harbouto, Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four and my current reading of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins referred to as a ‘high-octane’ story, are a few in the countless number of books that connect readers through discomfit to what it means to struggle and survive.
Political thrillers expose mismanagement, and immorality while entertaining readers with suspense, the drama of high stakes, etc.
If fiction mirrors reality it becomes a record for posterity like all good books. A ‘good book’ depends on which end of the moral spectrum both reader and writer share. If a book angers and soothes, keeps the reader on the edge of their seat by creating desired expectations for the protagonist — it’s a great story penned.
Fiction should make us uncomfortable enough to question where we went wrong, and how can we rectify it
Nothing is political in writing if it showcases reality. The word ‘political’ from my apartheid history conjures thoughts of being labelled as being on the wrong side of the law. Yet a political thriller exposes heinous human behaviour in organizations that we trust to uphold justice.
Fiction is reality dressed up as the world on the pages of a good book, one that dares expose the foibles of troubled societies
Discomfit, guilt and thought
Let’s continue to create fictional realities by rocking the boat of complacency in assuring that the history of the past and history in the making generate discomfort — discomfit elicits thought and one can only hope that positive action will follow to change catastrophes that are within the human scope and rectify atrocious human behaviour.
My stories cut to the bone on forgotten voices who deserve to be heard.
Here’s to more fictional stories for all our better tomorrows.
Happy Australian long weekend. Happy pleasurable reading hours.
Today I turn the spotlight on South African Author Vash Karuppa whose debut novel DESTINY FOR LOVE ARRANGED is a favourite among readers in South Africa and abroad. Her novel captures the cultural significance of life, and the command and necessity of love in a voice that connects the reader to place and culture and the understanding that the heart is not entirely self-directed.
Synopsis: Destiny for Love Arranged:
Destiny for Love Arranged is a contemporary, gripping and angsty, second chance Indian romance that reveals the love of family and friendship bonds during trying times. All protagonists are of South African Indian origin.
The story revolves around Aariyan Ranjan, a highly successful CEO of a Hotel Empire and Varini Iyengar, an Oncologist, both are forced into a temporary marriage of convenience to help them resolve personal dilemmas.
Not because it had anything to do with his heart he thought stoically…, but because it suited his purposes…
While Aariyan is determined to treat their marriage as he would any other business deal, love rarely listens to logic, and what follows is anything but business. On the other hand, Varini soon finds herself gravitating toward and rejoicing in the love she thought lost forever with a hidden hope that their marriage of convenience will end in a union of everlasting love. The story is embedded with cultural anecdotes familiar to any family of Indian origin. It takes their family, friends and a life-threatening situation to show them the love they lost is worth fighting for.
In short, this is a story about family, friendship, and starting over, as Aariyan and Varini embark on a journey toward a second chance at love. You will get to share in their moments as they discover that vulnerability can be their strength and the most perplexing problems can be overcome with the support and resourcefulness of a loving family and faithful friends. This is Book 1 of a trilogy.
About the Author
Vash is a South African author of Indian origin who has been a bookaholic from about the age of five. Her addiction for books grows exponentially daily, so after spending years concentrating on her role as a corporate executive and a short stint as an entrepreneur, she decided to unleash her number one desire i.e. a passion for writing. Whilst books of most genres interest her, it was romance that captured her soul. Her writing portrays the lives and drama of ordinary people who readers can easily relate to. The crux of her stories celebrates the power of true love coupled with the timeless bonds that exist between family and friends while capturing the true essence of diverse cultures.
Vash Karuppa is a member of the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa (ROSA)
What inspired you to write Destiny for Love Arranged?
For many years I have read articles around the call for diverse romance novels that incorporate multi-cultural aspects into a traditional romance plot. In addition, I’m a hopeless romantic myself and always had a plot in my head around a story that integrates family and friendship bonds (which I have been blessed to have throughout my life) together with a typical romance story.
When I eventually decided to put pen to paper, it all just naturally came together, giving birth to Destiny for Love Arranged. Finally, I am aware there aren’t many novels written which share intricacies of the South Indian culture and I was determined to write about it. Looking at the feedback received thus far from readers, it was well-received.
Have you always wanted to be a writer? How long did it take you to write your novel?
Being a passionate romantic and voracious bookaholic, reading was a drug to which I had an instant addiction, one that only grew with time. While books in all genres interest me, it was romance that I was drawn to. From as early as my pre-teen years, I loved the ‘happily ever after (HEA)’ syndrome hence my love with any book in the romance genre, and later as a teenager with a dream of writing my own HEA story.
Writing a novel has always been part of my bucket list, so, after spending years concentrating on my role as a corporate executive, I eventually unleashed my number one desire and passion for writing with Destiny for Love Arranged
I didn’t really plan on publishing my work though, because I started writing for my own fulfilment. However, when a few of my friends read the script, they encouraged me to consider publication and so it happened….
The hardest part of completing the story was not knowing how to stop. I had so much more to tell but owing to publishing rules on limited word count and reader expectation of the length of books I had to cut out a lot from the original script.
What’s your typical writing day like?
Owing to a “day job”, I tend to confine my writing to nights for at least 2 hours a day in the week and whatever time I can hijack on the weekend.
My best writing is done in a quiet space in my little apartment directly next to a window where I can have the warmth of the sun and sounds of chirping birds to keep me company while writing.
Who is your greatest source of inspiration?
My 92-year-old maternal grandfather has undoubtedly been the inspiration behind my love for writing. He taught me how to read and then introduced me to the word of writing through the books he wrote and is still writing might I add.
What are your future writing plans?
Books 2 and 3 of the Keshavam Industries trilogy is almost complete and will be released between December 2019 and February 2020.
I have a new series planned for the rest of 2020.
Destiny for Love Arranged is on Amazon for your reading pleasure.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Its loveliness increases; it will never
pass into nothingness … ~John Keats
Poet or novelist, one, the other or both — one grows into the other almost instinctively to develop the ideal creative state.
Writing improves with consistency and ongoing learning of the essentials of the craft. The art of writing expands the imagination and bulks the creative muscle by triggering the desire to know more, to research, to read, to push boundaries, and feel joy — a perpetual quest of the writer.
Voracious reading of all forms and more particularly poetry, the fine art of saying much with an economy of words, is a skill worth learning to enhance prose writing skills. Poetry as a literary form is laden with layered sensory imagery, conveying pain and joy, the state of the human condition and a celebration of nature which when emulated in prose fiction, is the lyricism in narration or the cadence ofpoetic storytelling.
Souls Collection (Trilogy)
‘And above all, poetry is compacted metaphor or simile’ ~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
The habit of reading poetry grows the writer’s ability to choose appropriate/effective language or specific words that says it all with brevity. We live in an era where attention span is brief, access is quick, and impatience governs desires.
Saying it all in four lines:
Hear it, See it, Feel it, Believe it…
Spring Song
Hark, I hear a robin calling!
List, the wind is from the south!
And the orchard-bloom is falling
Sweet as kisses on the mouth
~Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little bursts remain to sustain…
Invictus
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
~ William Ernest Henley
There is an intensely intimate, mindful experience apparent in poetry, a purity that makes it more personal where prose is more social, and when married with a sensitivity to both forms, the reader benefits from the writer’s authenticity.
As a teacher, evidence points to incremental learning leading to lifelong knowledge. Piecemeal understanding is committed to memory in meaningful short bursts of information whereas lengthy mindless memorisation disappears after the moment of recall.
Poetry speaks in the rhythm and profundity of its brief lines, a boon in holding the attention of the reader.
Poetry read before sitting down to write prose or read as the last activity before sleep, sharpens the ability to borrow from the poetic form and style for precise, well-formed ideas that touch with the depth and clarity that poetry engenders.
If writing in a particular genre or establishing an emotion in a prose scene, turn to poetry that’s appropriate in that instant and feel the passion and power of the words and those left unsaid, then a deepening of thought processes emerge to heighten the imagination. Reading poetry written in any period has the inspirational ability to enhance overall writing.
Crafting poems for creative leisure or publication is beneficial as self-directed editing of what works and what requires reworking. Poetry cannot hide intention and purpose, it’s stark, it’s true, a visual and emotive painting through words. This skill shapes brilliance in prose writing.
Poetry and prose are close cousins of the writing family. Read as many novels as you would poems, or more to capture that sweet spot of simple, short, stunning sentences, one after the other, until a story is born.
How many poetry books are there on your bookshelf? The internet is a valuable source, but there’s much to be said on having a book in your hand as you read, delight in, make note of, absorb and contemplate.
For aspiring writers: Write a poem today on any topic, let it tumble freely onto the page, then try your hand at prose. Watch the magic unfold. An open mind is necessary to attain this joy, and brilliance in prose writing.
Happy Reading. Happy Writing.
Share your thoughts on the benefit of poetry in prose writing.
Most fiction and particularly thriller fiction feeds off suspense created by secrets, fear, challenges, and the element of surprise. Lies, deception and the battle for truth keep readers on the edge of their reading seats. Compelling characters extract emotional responses. Do we love or hate a character?
Beginnings
Beginning a chapter with suspense is good when it cranks up what happened in the preceding chapter. Here’s an opening from Across Time and Space:
Meryl awoke for the second time that night aware that she was alone in this vast villa beside the olive grove. She saw a faint strip of light under her door. With a tight knot in her stomach, she tip-toed to the window and peered out — all she saw was the same inky blackness.
Endings
Ending a chapter on a cliff hanger creates the suspense desired to make the reader turn the page. This can lead from dialogue or stylistic narration. Here’s a closing line from Across Time and Space:
Sirens blared, shattering the earlier deafening quiet that had unnerved Meryl – police vehicles approached from the main road which led to the house.
Red and blue flashing lights appeared in the haze of diminishing light.
Across time and Space, three significant men in her life converged… two looking on… the third, a mystery.
Secrets
In Souls of Her Daughters, Dr Grace Sharvin harbours what she considers a shameful secret. Who is Boetie Arendse and how does he know Grace?
At midnight while Felicity and Patience slept, she slipped out into the storm. Dressed in a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt, she held her face up to the lashing wind and rain. She yelled with as much force as she could muster, ‘out, out you demons! I want to feel whole again!’
Surprise
In Chosen Lives, the reality of characters past traumas is revealed in the Mission’s personal testimony sessions as the reason for their chosen career paths. Audra’s arrogant disposition takes a turn when she reveals her identity after a terrifying ordeal with her boyfriend.
My name was Sophia, I am Audra because that is what Ramón called me during our year together, he said I reminded him of Audrey Hepburn, in the movies Romina watched, but he liked to call me Audra. I run the Audra House Foundation in Florida for abused teenage girls.
Suspense
The shooting of Andre Malakov unfolds through a series of court hearings in Vindication Across Time and unexpected relationships appear, to confound the reader, the witnesses and the legal team. Here is a line pre-empting Ana’s testimony in Vindication Across Time
What Ana was about to reveal left all, including Gildo Mondo, in a state of confused disbelief.
Minutes, hours or days…
Timing must be strategic to drip feed the reader before the heavens come crashing down on unexpected realisations. The pressure of time for the desired outcome cranks up the adrenalin on hope or despair depending on the situations that arise. Better yet is toying with the reader leaving them believing they think they saw a situation coming but could not be sure. Add in the puzzles, give some carefully chosen clues, but not enough to take away from the story being a page-turner.
First-Person
First-person narration creates riveting suspense and equally, authorial narration creates suspense by, for instance, keeping the villain elusive. This draws the reader towards the villain/protagonist in search of who he or she might be and what they might be pursuing. These lines are from the story, Wandering the Earth, in the short story collection, Life’s Seasons.
I feel impending dread in knowing I will be forty in six months.
My life has been strange and wonderful. I cannot say for how much longer, I will withstand being witness to the atrocities of the world. It leaves my days in anxious anticipation of what next and how much more…
I have not been at rest for a long time.
Dramatic irony
Make the reader feel empowered, the dramatic irony borrowed from Shakespeare is a great technique to keep the protagonist ignorant, but the reader informed. How can we forget that ‘honest Iago’ was not that at all, or ‘the glib and oily art,’ of Goneril and Reagan, King Lear’s conniving daughters were signs of their clawing, callous natures? Show the reader a truth or two while the protagonist is blissfully ignorant. Cruel but necessary to crank up the heat.
Challenges
Add in a few challenges, give the protagonist a few dilemmas that will invite consideration, or a veering away from held values and morals, to do the right thing for the greater good. Throw in a new character, one who might have information on the villain or perhaps have witnessed a crime.
Fear
Fear heats up things, something unnatural, bizarre, or psychic confirms that reason alone cannot halt nor control the situation — that creeping to the edge of the reading seat with that pounding heart feeling. Grab it at the right point in the story for maximum effect. Exploit the senses, sight, smell, hearing and touch. The sudden arrival of a heavy gust of wind that pushes a door open — that cold air swishing over you as if somebody was hurrying past you — you look up and there’s no one but you in the room!
When readers are vested in the life/lives of the characters they are more likely to spread the word that a book ‘must be read’ because…
A reader wants to be moved, not by tears alone. They want to be afraid, they want to hope, they want to understand pain, and all the while supporting favourite characters from the side, or throwing mental daggers at those they loathe.
What fictional book have you read lately that has ‘moved’ you and left you with an unforgettable memory?
Writing has been well documented as having therapeutic value. Do you keep a personal diary, or a journal to record moments that are significant to you? Would you write a memoir or autobiography? Have you tried poetry writing?
Fiction is an avenue that has therapeutic benefit when writing about angst through fiction or poetry. This has value in reaching readers who might face a similar situation. Receiving a reader’s comment on connecting with a character or situation makes writing move from the realm of fictional entertainment to enhancing life, creating a sense of belonging through the power of story/words that whisper, ‘there are people who go through this, you are not alone, it’s not you…’
Human difficulties like our joys are universal and part of our shared humanity regardless of demography or any divisive label. We learn from each other, we share with each other — altruism is part of our human ‘feel good’ makeup. We feel good or secure in knowing that challenges are not unique. This is where fiction like a memoir/autobiography/biography and poetry has the ability to say, ‘I see you, I hear you, I feel your situation.’
‘In our angst and joy we are one under the sky of humanity’
Oftentimes something heard, something seen, or read triggers the imagination to create a story/poem — these seeds have their origin in human experience. Everything in life has imaginative storytelling potential. Historical fiction is a genre whereby much from history or literature is reimagined to suit a particular context adding timelessness to a story.
Poems and stories, when turned inward, create… growth… healing… self-awareness
Shakespeare’s The Tempest reimagined by Margaret Atwood in her novel, Hag-Seed is an example. Prospero becomes Felix a theatre director in a present-day context — he is grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter and has been backstabbed by an aspirational colleague. His vulnerability is an evocative point of connection with the reader. Professional or workplace strife present timeless human dilemmas, but when tastefully explored as a novel’s premise or ideas, it has the potential to speak to many isolated, lonely individuals — there is no shame in being vulnerable. Shame sits on the shoulders of those who abuse vulnerability. The most endearing people, in reality, are those who have experienced hardship, financially, in grief or loss, abuse or ill-health — having walked in the shoes of many with struggles, wires empathy — as human experience should be if we hope to coexist in peace and harmony.
Fiction can remind us why it is essential to be true to who we are in our expressions of self and in our interactions with each other.
In Souls of Her Daughters, Dr Grace Sharvin who heads a busy medical ER has unimaginable frailties but her strength is in her capacity to reach out to others while fighting her own demons.
Life’s lessons come from the adversarial people met, and they become the basis upon which writers craft their villains. A little bit of this and a little bit of that blended in a cauldron and hey presto! The (im)perfect villain is born! The good people we meet shape perspectives on why adversarial individuals have no place in a shared world.
Timeless heart-warming and gut-wrenching stories on life’s challenges and celebrations.
Literature is a luxury, Fiction is a necessity — GK Chesterton
and
Albert Camus said, Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.
Who can argue with such pearls of truth now?
Life, literature, news of the day, and history portray human experiences that provide inroads to new fictional stories and evocative poetry that connect rather than divide by exposing, celebrating, loving, grieving and understanding what it really means to be human. We all, whether real or fictional are indeed not alone in adversity.
Which novels and poems would you recommend to readers on overcoming adversity? Have you read A Spark of Hope?
I look back on Sunday with a glad and grateful heart. To see so many positive, supportive readers, friends, and family at the book launch of ‘Across Timeand Space’ makes the process of writing a blessing – a joy!
What a wonderful afternoon of sharing ideas and experiences, reading and making new friends. To gather with people who are appreciative of the craft of writing is what cradles a writer through the quiet periods of solitude when the creative muse is the only other presence. Authentic voices that speak in the language of the mind and soul make readers want more as they eagerly anticipate further stories.
To see aspiring young writers wanting to know more about the craft is invigorating.
My message has been and always will be – We all have a story to tell. Let your voice be heard, and do not let fear inhibit you.
This reader’s view sums up the connection to characters and events:
‘To be able to recognise human effort and spirit and hear voices that echo the wisdom that long creates our sense of self is the essence of the novel, ‘Across Time and Space’. The sentimental and poignant voices of the characters are authentic in their quest for recognition of self and existence, with both protagonists striving for justice both literally and metaphorically. The courage of conviction and desire for liberation may come at a cost, but dismantling the shackles of human limitation is far more rewarding. ‘Across Time and Space’ proves that the difference between impossibility and improbability is our fear – abolishing fear and harking into our soul will set us free. I truly believe from a reader’s perspective, that’s what the psychological journey of Marcia and Meryl is all about. ~ (Khadija Taiba – reader perspective at the book launch of ‘Across Time and Space.’
Across Time and Space straddles the positivity of coexistence in society regardless of difference, a message that is palpable today. Decisions, choices, danger, and love connect to our essential state of being. Bullying and professional injustice, crime, and deception are knitted into the fabric of life where challenges serve to create the best version of those who struggle. The endurance of the human spirit shines as the brightest star on the darkest night in this tale of possibilities now and into the future.
I hope you will pick up a copy of ‘Across Time and Space’ and share your connections.
Which characters and situations resonate with you?
Stories that make us ‘experience’ a moment within a scene comes from the creation of suspense when characters or events invite expectation from the reader, stimulating the desire to read on. Often several revised versions of a suspenseful moment might be necessary to achieve the desired effect to make the moment memorable for the reader, creating unease or anticipation. Feeling, seeing, perceiving and dreading imminent danger could be achieved through highly charged descriptive language and use of sensory imagery, which, when effectively done leads the reader to walk in the skin of the protagonist, seeing, feeling and breathing through the character’s eyes.
A voice recording of the suspenseful scene allows the writer to assess whether the desired effect – the light and shade have been achieved. This might lead to a reconsideration of how to enliven suspense in a scene. The first draft of such a scene most often requires several tweaks before the effect is achieved. The joy in crafting your stories is that you are in control, as the writer, to entertain the reader.
Listening to haunting or suspenseful music helps to centre the imagination in the creation of tension, suspense and anticipation.
Try your hand at writing a brief scene that builds suspense.
***
Here is an example of a suspenseful moment:
‘The wind howled down the craggy cliff dotted with rocks like crooked fingers in erect, forbidding stance. Within minutes dark clouds drew a veil over sunlight — day turned to night as she cowered under the overhang of a swaying rock. Flapping batwings in frenzied flight sent a cold shudder coursing through her.’ (MN)
Here is a snappier version of the moment- which example do you prefer?
‘The wind chilled the marrow of her being, her refuge beneath a dangling rock threatened — dark clouds curtained daylight as mounting flapping bat wings made their deafening panicked flight.’
What would you add, take away or recreate in such a moment where the protagonist is challenged, losing his or her grip on the situation?
Pop your visualisations/ideas of this moment in the comment box. I would love to read your versions of this moment or your own ideas. (MN)
***
This excerpt from an overview of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ has chilled many a reader at the thought of what lurked between the pages of this riveting book:
The town knew darkness…and the awful, heavy silence of terrifying images grotesquely dancing in and out of the shadows…
But no one living in Salem’s Lot dared talk about the high, sweet, evil laughter of …
***
Here are two brief excerpts from my novel, ‘Across Time and Space’
1). She knocked at the door.
It opened with the force of a heavy gust of wind. Meryl jumped away gasping. Framed in the light of the candelabra, Ana looked chalky-pale against her black head of hair left hanging about her shoulders…
2)….she awoke for the second time that night aware that she was not alone in this vast house beside the olive grove. …the silhouettes of two figures bending over loomed on the wall…
Try writing a suspenseful moment, use a piece of haunting music to beckon your muse forth!
Why does crime fascinate the reader or the viewer? From a gripping novel to a suspenseful film, both mediums are loaded with intrigue, blood, gore, missing persons, and dead bodies, and they certainly hold our attention for more. 
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