{"id":158,"date":"2014-07-01T16:08:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T16:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cranswick.org.uk\/judith\/?p=158"},"modified":"2015-02-06T09:23:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:23:05","slug":"the-writing-process-blog-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/?p=158","title":{"rendered":"The Writing Process Blog Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d like to thank fellow crime writer Henry Jay Forman for inviting me to take part in a blog tour where we writers share the process of how we write our books by answering four questions. Henry is a biochemist and toxicologist and it will come as no surprise to discover that his novel, “Poisonous Science” revolves around the world of academic toxicology. Find out about Henry’s writing process on his blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My Writing Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What are you working on?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Blood<\/a>I\u2019m busy working through a second draft of the latest Fiona Mason Mystery ready to send out to a couple of my Beta Readers at the end of the month. Up until recently, the working title of this novel, which is set in Belgium, was \u2018Blood, Lace, Chocolate and Chips\u2019 but I\u2019ve decided that it was too long for an Ebook when the cover is reduced to a thumbnail so it\u2019s now it\u2019s called \u2018Blood and Chocolate.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is by far the most complicated novel I\u2019ve written so far. One of Fiona\u2019s passengers is fatally injured in the pandemonium that breaks out after the assassination of a British MP speaking at a rally outside the European Parliament Building in Brussels. His autopsy reveals that he was murdered. Two different murders with two different sets of suspects, but are they linked?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found myself having to delve into all sorts of areas I know very little about, Trade Unions, various Anti-Austerity Organisations, the Secret Services, Government Working Parties to name but a few, and I\u2019ve had to do a great deal of research. I\u2019m just hoping my readers will find it credible. I shall be on tenterhooks waiting to find out what my Beta Readers think.<\/p>\n

How does your work differ from others of its genre?<\/h3>\n

I write two very different types of crime novel. So far, I have published three standalone psychological suspense novels and \u2018Blood in Chocolate\u2019 will be my third Fiona Mason Mystery.<\/p>\n

I would say that one of the differences with my psychological suspense novels is that they tend to be about very ordinary everyday people. There are exceptions to every rule and I have to admit you are not likely to meet my psychopath watcher from \u2018Watcher in the Shadows\u2019 living in street near you. At least, I sincerely hope not!<\/p>\n

My Fiona Mason Mysteries feature a tour manager for a coach company and each novel is set in a different European country. Unlike many such series cosy mystery novels, mine are more whodunits and justify the cosy adjective not because they are laugh-out-loud humorous but because they contain no bad language or violence. As a reader, you are much more likely to come across the dead body than witness a bloody murder actually taking place. Although lighter than my psychological suspense novels, they are not short of suspense. Much of this related to the presence of the enigmatic M16 Intelligence Chief, Peter Montgomery-Jones who appeared in the first novel \u2018Blood in the Bulb Fields.\u2019 He was only intended to have a small part in the novel, but not only did he demanded a bigger role in the story but also insisted on coming back in all the subsequent mysteries so they now each have to have a terrorism\/espionage angle! It makes plotting that much harder. I should never have let him take over, but, for all his faults, I\u2019m fascinated by him and it would seem that my readers are too.<\/p>\n

Foreign places seem to figure quite prominently in all my latest novels. Apart from the Mysteries where each country takes a very prominent role, \u2018A Death too Far\u2019 also has a faraway location \u2013 an Eco lodge in the Amazon and the exotic Galapagos Islands.<\/p>\n

Why do you write what you do?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The answer to that is very simple. I write what I read. I won\u2019t say that I only read crime, that would be far from true (I have read every Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fford novel published and eagerly await any new books they publish plus I read my friends\u2019 novels regardless of genre) but crime novels do seem to dominate my choice.<\/p>\n

When I started writing, I was reading a great deal of Nicci French, Minette Walters, Val McDermid and Barbara Vine. I loved the edginess of their novels, with a protagonist who feels their life is spinning out of control, taken over by events can\u2019t explain, and the realization that, if they don\u2019t sort it all out, they will end up dead. What interests me is to capture the fear, the unease and the feeling of what\u2019s going go wrong next.<\/p>\n

The Fiona Mason Mysteries came about because my then agent told me it would be a great deal easier to sell my novels if I had a series character. Psychological suspense novels are by definition standalone books. I don\u2019t know enough about police procedure (even though it features prominently in my research) to feel comfortable writing police procedurals which left me with the idea of the Mystery novel. I decided to make my protagonist a tour manager which would have the advantage of a limited number of people (the coach passengers) in a fairly enclosed environment (the holiday tour), a driver with whom she could mull over the case and the series would have the added advantage that each novel could be set in a different country. And, best of all, it\u2019s an excuse for lots of holidays because each one would have to thoroughly researched.<\/p>\n

How does your writing process work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I am not a plotter. I tried it once and was bored silly by the end of the first chapter. I love the journey. At some point I may think about where I\u2019m going to end up, I might even decide who my killer might turn out to be fairly near the start or I might do a Minette Walters and wait until the penultimate chapter before making a decision as to which suspect to choose.<\/p>\n

With my psychological suspense novels, I begin with an incident. In the case of \u2018All in the Mind\u2019 it was a mugging in an underpass and in \u2018Watcher in the Shadows\u2019 I had the idea of a young girl walking home late at night being watched by someone from an attic window. As I write, the character begins to develop and from their reactions, the plot begins to unfold, so the two things – plot and character \u2013 run together.<\/p>\n

I obviously have to adopt a different approach with the Mystery Novels. For a start, I have three recurring characters in each novel \u2013 my tour manager, Fiona Mason; Peter Montgomery-Jones, my Intelligence Chief and Winston, Fiona\u2019s West Indian Driver. Then I need a country. Lots of choice. As I\u2019ve already said, what better excuse for a holiday can there be? I like to visit the country and get the feel of the place before I decide on a plot, but it has to be linked to the plot. In \u2018Blood in the Bulb Fields\u2019 set in Holland, it was the Amsterdam diamond industry. This led to the idea of smuggling and, researching my subject, I discovered that most smuggled diamonds are conflict or blood diamonds. This activity is financed by, and finances, terrorist organisations which is where Peter Montgomery-Jones came in. \u2018Blood in the Wine\u2019 is set in the Rhine Valley, one of the world\u2019s great wine producing areas, but I needed a reason to include Peter in the story. How could I introduce a terrorism element? I read about incidents involving terrorists at Frankfurt Airport and then discovered an American Airbase in nearby Wiesbaden.<\/p>\n

My enjoy-the\u2013journey method obviously involves a great deal of rewriting. I run through several drafts \u2013 one for plot, one for character, one for pace etc. I try to aim for a book a year, but sometimes life gets in the way!<\/p>\n

Find out what I\u2019m currently up to on Facebook. I\u2019d love you to like my Judith Cranswick \u2013 Crime Writer Author page and please do message me. I\u2019d love to hear from you. If you are reading this post on one of my fellow writers\u2019 blog sites, you can also contact me and read more about each of my novels on the Novels tab above.<\/p>\n

Next Stops on the Blog Tour\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The two writers I\u2019ve invited to carry on this writing process blog tour are fellow British Crime writers.<\/p>\n

\"Caron<\/a><\/p>\n

Caron Allan<\/strong> is an Indie writer of murder mysteries as well as cozy and paranormal mysteries, and also flash fiction and life pieces. Two novels are currently available in eBook or paperback, Criss Cross and Cross Check. Caron lives in Derby, England with her husband and two grown-up children, and a varying number of cats. Caron Allan can be found on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n

She will be posting her writing process blog <\/a>on 30th June 2014.<\/p>\n

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\"Jayne-Marie_cr<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s one of life’s great coincidences that Jayne-Marie<\/strong> and I both spent our primary school days in Lowestoft although many years apart.<\/p>\n

A Suffolk girl, but now living in Hertfordshire, Jayne-Marie writes duel timeline crime fiction. Her first novel was published in 2011, ‘Beneath The Daisies’, followed by two further Inspector Allen mysteries, ‘Distant Shadows’ in 2012, and ‘The Dancer’s Ghost’ in 2013. The inspector came out of nowhere, says Jayne-Marie, and refused to go away. By book two he was a solid and leading character in the mini-series. Set in a fictional Suffolk town, the inspector is faced with seemingly unfathomable mysteries.\u00a0\u00a0You will find Jayne-Marie\u2019s writing process blog<\/a> at on 30th June 2014.<\/p>\n

I hope you are enjoying this blog tour. Don\u2019t forget to check out Henry Jay Forman\u2019s blog and the links to earlier blogs. It\u2019s a great opportunity to discover new writers from a variety of genres.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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