Author: James

Conflict, the Essence of a Thriller

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Conflict Rages in a Thriller

Conflict makes a thriller and there must be conflict of a major kind in the opening pages to hold the reader’s attention. In MUTINY, a major event occurs before Chapter Three – a strange turn of events that puzzles the protagonist and thrusts the plot forward. A few years ago, we took a visitor to a Star Wars movie. Before we sat down, there was a major battle raging. We were thrust into the drama and soon realised that we had come into the cinema at the end of the movie, rather than the beginning. We had chosen the wrong theatre! Some writers suggest starting a book at the highest point of tension. I prefer a more subtle beginning, but confronting readers with a major plot drama before they have read more than a few pages. In the second paragraph I create intrigue with:

{My heart is pounding and I finally dare to look, but nobody’s out of place in the crowd. Who’s following me? One minute I think it’s the man with his dog and next, the woman with her stroller.}

Then, at the end of Chapter Two:

[‘Body Found Hanging in London Museum.’

My heart races as I follow the news flash.]

Well, we’re off to a good start with lots of unanswered questions, but will I have answers by the end of MUTINY? Aha, only the readers will know!]

I Can’t Ski

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North Pole in Winter

Our family was invited to join friends for a two day stay at a warming hut, high up in the Rockies at Christmas. It was fun interacting with the day skiers who stopped in for hot chocolate and to warm up. At night, we played cards and in the middle of a game our daughter asked if we could go for a night ski. Our host agreed and we bundled up warm and set out.

The night was clear, moonlit, and the temperature hovered at minus 20 – super cold. I’m a poor skier and often fell into drifts of snow. By the time I struggled to get back on my feet I was laughing and freezing. It was a memorable night and one that found its way into MUTINY when the crew of Hammerhead surfaced at the North Pole. I couldn’t ski in the Rockies, but the experience was the perfect fodder for writing MUTINY:

Chapter 13:

[Truck grabbed the XO’s arm and yelled, “Look at the needle-points of ice in the air – it’s freezing in front of us. I’m heading onto the ice to have a closer look.”

“Amazing,” Squid answered.

Thruster came alongside. “I saw this once in the Rockies,” he said.

“I bet it wasn’t this cold?”

“Maybe not, but it was minus twenty degrees celsius.”

Squid teased, “How many degrees in my language?”

The WEPS Officer was quick. “Minus four fahrenheit.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, it might have been minus five, but the thermometer was stuck.”

Squid smiled. “That’s a good one, Thruster.”

Hawkeye joined his captain on the bridge. They shivered, spellbound by the glistening scene as powerful searchlights bounced off the ice. It was a spectacular winter wonderland.]

Here we have a submarine crew out on the North Pole in the middle of winter in sub-zero temperatures. Nothing can go wrong, or can it?

To Everything there is a Season

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“For everything there is a season” is a famous passage from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) noting that life is cyclical, with designated times for opposite experiences like birth and death, planting and harvesting, or weeping and laughing. It teaches that all moments—joyful or painful—have purpose and Divine timing, encouraging faith to embrace change. ‘Turn, Turn, turn’ captured this thought is the 1965 song by the Birds. MUTINY plays on it too and there is a sense of changing seasons as the plot moves from London to the Mediterranean and back to London again. The season was chosen by accident to git the mood and characters. I liked the way a season can add to the atmosphere of a plot and dial up or down the plot. The change of the seasons helps readers ‘turn, turn, turn’ the pages of MUTINY. Well, I hope so!

POV Part II

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Trafalgar Fountain, London

A famous New Zealand photographer was at a London club and took part in a competition to find the best photo of a famous fountain. He won because his picture was the only one taken from inside the fountain looking out. His perspective was unique. In writing a novel, readers also enjoy a unique perspective. I was intrigued by an article on underwater cables in a small newspaper article back in 2019 and this lead to an overseas trip, visits to underwater museums, etc. and MUTINY is the end product – not quite a lifetime’s work, but a fair chunk out of it. Yes, POV – a unique perspective. I can think of another example – a lecture being given about rising sea levels. The presenter mentioned that a local city had recorded sea levels against a gauge at one of the wharves as evidence of them rising over the last 100 years. Then at question time, a gentleman raised his hand and asked, “Perhaps the wharf was sinking?” The audience laughed, and they laughed at Dr. Michael Hanover when he delivered a keynote to shake up the banking industry in MUTINY. Hanover’s perspective was different and challenging, and the stuffy-suited bankers didn’t like it and who could blame them. Enjoy MUTINY as this keynote unfolds a plot that might sink the banking industry or raise the sea level of complaints against it.

POV

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Headmaster at Assembly

I was sitting on stage along with my teaching colleagues looking over the large assembly of students and parents. It was our annual prize giving and the MC – our Headmaster – took the stage to speak. From my position, I saw the back of the Headmaster’s head and could imagine his perspective or point of view. I raised my camera and took a quick photo to record the moment and it was a different perspective on the gathering. This is exactly what POV does. POV stands for “point of view” and refers to the perspective from which a story or scene is written. A first person POV adds immediate connection – which I favour. However, a variety of POV can bring diverse elements/variety into a novel too. When I was writing the keynote scene in MUTINY I used two POV’s. One POV is from Dr. Michael Hanover, the keynote speaker. The other is from Sir Christopher Jenson – the MI6 agent sitting at a table of bankers listening to Hanover’s presentation. We pick up the dialogue as Hanover expands on Big Brother (see my earlier post) and you will note the technique to pivot to several first-person responses:

[“We’re here today as economic prisoners who not dare question or attempt to escape the comforts of our social slavery. While we wallow in our consumption and entertainment, dictators far craftier and more evil than us are ascending to the highest levels of control.” Michael pauses again and picks up murmurs from the room.

“Can this be true?”

“Why is he talking about slavery; hasn’t it been abolished?”

“Who are these evil dictators?”

“Our bank is secure, isn’t it?”

“Hanover sure knows how to stir an audience.”

“He’s a powerful presenter, but I don’t agree with everything he says.”

“I think he’s hiding something.”

“God help us if this is real.”

“Listen, he’s going to speak again.”]

PS: I make another reference to this school in MUTINY, but that will be another post 🙂

Freedom

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The more social controls we put upon people, the greater the cry for freedom, but what does freedom really look like? Freedom is a recurring theme in MUTINY and reference is made, in Chapter 25, to Big Brother from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four:

Nineteen Eighty Four

[Michael clears his throat. “In his 1949 novel – NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR – George Orwell feared a Big Brother who would control us all, even our thoughts. I’m afraid we have arrived at the gates to this Orwellian world and are mesmerized by distractions that disguise what is really happening to us. The very foundations of society are crumbling.”]

A parallel to 1984 is the life of the protagonist, Sir Christopher Jenson. He seems to have lost his career mojo and, when an investigation goes awry, he is more than willing to change. And, so are a few other characters and I think this ‘freedom’ theme helps create several layers in MUTINY.

Orwell’s predictions are rapidly finding fulfilment in society today, aided by many geo-political conflicts. Yet, in the midst of these, MUTINY is able to finish on a positive note – one that leaves Sir Christopher with a sense of hope and love. Was it planned that way or did it just ‘happen.’ Perhaps the readers will find the answer.

Location, Location, Location

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Yes, dear readers, it’s all about location – exotic locations, cold locations, exclusive locations and old locations. MUTINY throws them all together, from London to Frankfurt, Gibraltar to Croatia, Seattle to Bremerton, and the frozen darkness of the North Pole to the Mediterranean. I hope these contrasting locations keep readers interest levels peaking, just as they helped stimulate my writing. Do I have a preference? Not really. I’m not a fan of London or Gibraltar but enjoyed my stays in Croatia, and I have never been to the North Pole – although I have spent some time outside in minus 20 degree temperature. That puts Croatia high on my list of locations, notably the cities of Trieste, Split and Dubrovnik. The difficulty with multiple locations was calculating the times and distances for travel, in order to keep continuity.

Dark Clouds Gathering or a Downpour?

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A Storm or Downpour

Formula-based thrillers start with a body and unwind to the culprit, often with more bodies thrown in. I general, I am against generalisations, but there needs to be some alarming event in the opening chapter of a thriller – dark clouds or, at least, a downpour. It’s more traumatic to be confronting a soaked victim (with a knife or bullet wound) at your front door than looking out the window and exclaiming, “Oh, it’s pouring outside.” As one writer advised, “Think of the high point of action and start your novel there.” That will get the reader’s attention. However, I prefer a mix – a gathering storm PLUS a dramatic event. When writing MUTINY I did not originally intend to have anyone murdered in the first chapter, but…(you will need to find out for yourself – free kindle offer finishes in three days). Meanwhile, stay indoors and enjoy the dark clouds gathering on the opening pages of MUTINY – they may well be followed by a downpour!

Updated ‘About the Author’

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It took some searching to find a toy submarine that fitted the plot for MUTINY. Those readers who have finished the book will understand the relevance of this toy to the story.

My wife was masterful at working out what her Christmas presents were, just from feeling them from under the tree. It was fun to build this into MUTINY and helped bring a warm moment to the plot. My aim was to finish MUTINY with hope and friendship and the toy helped. It also opened the possibility for a sequence, but I’m not yet sure if this will happen. It depends upon reader feedback as well as fresh inspiration for a sequel.