Clemency, The Saint Chronicles Part 1 Book Trailer Released!

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Clemency, Trailer

Its here! The long awaited trailer to Clemency, the first in the Saint Chronicles Series has arrived! Check it out here!

Unique Voices

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characters, Clemency, details, development, draft, plot, reader, story, writing

You may remember that I said in a prior post that I spent time walking around with my Molskine book taking notes before I finally sat down to write Clemency. Much of that time was spent responding to the characters as they followed me around and spoke their minds. But you might be interested to know that a significant amount of time was spent NOT writing at all, but rather, LISTENING. In my view, an author is only a small shard of glass in the kaleidoscope of his or her world. That is to say, I constantly keep in mind that I bring a very limited view to the world because, as much as I may try and tell myself otherwise, I myself have a very limited life experience.

I am a pilot, but I have never scaled Mount Everest. I am a SCUBA diver, but I have never cycled the Tour de France. There are many things that I have never done which produce life perspectives from others that they share and that I, as an author, can draw upon to deepen my characters. While I must admit that I had created all the characters before getting to this step, I knew that, written by me they would all SOUND like me. So I set out to listen to other people and draw from their personalities those things which would give each of my characters their own voice. After all, they each had to have their own unique voice to be able to contribute to the story in their own way.  Isn’t this actually research?  Absolutely!  But I wouldn’t call it research of the traditional kind.  It would take countless sources and sound bites from people who are perfect strangers.  Although I would never directly interact with most of what I was exposed to, it took all those voices to be able to puzzle together that single voice for that unique character that wasn’t me.

In the end, as power as the pen may be, perhaps my ears are my greatest tool for creating the voices of my characters.  Oddly, their words come from the mouths of strangers every day.

The Reviews are in!

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Clemency, five stars, review

Last week, Stephen Spencer agreed to review Clemency on his blog. The verdict? Five stars! Check out what he has to say about the book at his website, and make sure you check out his books as well – I know you’ll enjoy them!

http://www.pauldmallory.com/watch-this-space/clemency-charles-g-turner-iii/

The Devil

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characters, Clemency, details, discovery, journey, reader, the devil

The Devil. He’s inextricably woven into the details isn’t he? But you can’t have to many of them. They represent links in a chain that threads its way throughout your story from the first word to the last period, no matter how long the story is.  They become the logs across the river. You precariously jump from one to the next as you scramble toward your destiny in a story, and if there aren’t enough of them, you fall!

Why?

Because as you read you formulate a picture in your head.  It’s the movie that comes from every single book. It’s the free cost of admission that as a reader you have come to love. The only difference is, the big screen goes with you wherever you and your book are, and the popcorn shows up occasionally from the microwave.  But what if there aren’t enough details? What if the story ends up being two talking heads facing each other chatting away? At that point it doesn’t really matter what the subject matter is. It’s basically a documentary or an essay on a subject inside a dust jacket. Its boring.

History and Mystery

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Bermuda Triangle, bog people, Clemency, discovery, Egypt, fact, mystery, Rongorongo, solve, Tarim Mummies, truth, Voynich manuscript

I love all things history related. From medieval Europe to Ancient Egypt to the mysteries of the south pacific, I’m intrigued by it all. I especially love unsolved mysteries, particularly of the ancient world. I love stuff like the Tarim Mummies, the Rongorongo, the bog people, or the Voynich manuscript. Even the Bermuda Triangle would qualify. Why? Because I am intrigued by a certain type of mystery – one where we are presented with either facts that serve to tighten the puzzle, or no facts at all.

Ship wrecks. Hanstholm, Denmark. Photo by Fanny Schertzer.

The Exploration and Discovery of the Shipwreck Clemency

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circumstance, Clemency, discovery, exploration, research, ship, truth

The research for developing the back story of Charles Turner’s shipwreck Clemency is described for the reader in chapter seven of the book.  Here, our lead characters and the reader are openly exposed to the facts surrounding the demise of the ship, and the conditions under which the operation is about to take place.  I haven’t hidden anything.  Why?  Because I believe that there is a difference between research and discovery; between fact and circumstance.  One can spend all the time they want researching what a Liberty ship looks like, and make all the plans they wish for dissecting it.  But to be in its presence is a completely different matter.

The Creation and Composition of Clemency

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characters, Clemency, draft, fiction, truth, writing

Hello and welcome to the official blog of my book, Clemency: The Saint Chronicles Part 1! Here I will discuss a wide and varying array of topics relating to my book, as well as answer any questions you may have. It is my hope that through this blog, more readers will come to experience the engaging story of Clemency, and be enticed to share their thoughts, feelings, issues and own stories.

To be brief, Clemency is an intriguing and suspenseful tale of betrayal, revenge, murder and greed. Abandoned at the wreckage of a seventy year old ship, three men fight to survive on the open waters, coming to terms with their individual shortcomings and faults, as well as their humanity. Stephen King is notably credited with the phrase: “fiction is the truth inside the lie.” The “truth” is what compelled me to write my book. The very center of the story is true. I should know because I was there – I took part in the story. At least the true story.