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Interview on the Layered Pages Blog

20/1/2014

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PictureStephanie Hopkins. Owner of Layered Pages.
Interview January 14, 2014
With Stephanie Hopkins



http://layeredpages.com/











Richard Bunning was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK in 1956 and has subsequently lived his life in Lincolnshire, Vaud in Switzerland, and the Manawatu in New Zealand. His main schooling was in Leicestershire and Worcestershire, followed by enjoying a degree in International Relations at the University of Keele in Staffordshire and agriculture studies at Cirencester in Gloucestershire.

Currently, having retired from fulltime farming he lives with his family in Switzerland. Writing as a self-published author is his main activity, whilst inconsistently helping to maintain the household. The share of domestic responsibility has recently been augmented by the need to walk the dog. This regularly imposed time in the countryside has greatly added to his time to daydream ideas.

So what in the years and places has inspired his writing? A diverse education certainly helps, but what really has driven this ambition has been a nosey interest in others’ fortunes. Innate character as well as experience has certainly added to the drive to write, in that it seems likely that whatever his upbringing he would have been more of a story teller, an observer, rather than a volunteer character in dynamic adventures. Of course, life often imposes stories rather than simply facilitating them, but Richard has no interest at present in looking inwards for drama.

One big effect on his writing has been the growing conviction that biology and circumstance decide everything. Richard believes that if there is any truly free will it is a rarity. Actually, the author isn’t at all sure that free will exists. This allows him to say, ‘I am a writer, because that is where life pushed me’.

Stephanie: Richard, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion. Please tell me a little about your book, Another Space in Time.

Richard: Another Space in Time is a speculation on the ‘possibility’ of second or multiple lives. In this science fiction adventure story, the main character is ‘reborn’ as an adult into an apparently parallel world. Rodwell, was murdered in his bed, to awake in my invented place. He is totally bewildered, doing all he can to rationalise away his experiences, only to finally be forced to recognise that he’s no longer on the Earth. Alienated, struggling to adapt to the fact that so much is familiar whilst so much isn’t and before he has made much progress, he finds himself hunted by both terrorists and police as ironically enough, a murderer. How does one go about surviving for long enough if an alien culture to find a way of proving one’s innocence?



Stephanie: Your premise is really interesting. What was your inspiration?

Richard: I was drawn to write this particular story by dissatisfaction with conventional religious beliefs in life beyond the grave. I have long had the desire to try and discover my own logic for sentient existence. Nature is cruel indeed if it has created our intelligence, our ability to so fear death’s annihilation, if there is nothing beyond this life. We have a scientifically illogical, highly overdeveloped, intelligence for the task of simply providing for the survival of our physical species, I suggest that there’s no satisfactory way in which Darwinian science can explain why biology has thrown up such an overwhelming superior species as ourselves. If death is the end, then what a waste, then what a blind alley evolution has chased. This all sounds like grand pontification; incredible pretentious; it is, however, the honest answer to your question. Of course, I make no pretence of forwarding any serious debate. The book is nothing more than mainstream Speculative Fiction. My goal is to entertain, not add yet more vague dialogue to the meaning of life. But wouldn’t it be nice if the evil really were eventually called to account, and if necessary piety to become one of a god’s chosen for second life wasn’t really as unattainable as most religions make it out to be. Do you know any pure spirits that would really pass through the ‘mediaevalist’ religious bars raised to any devilment, I certainly don’t?

Stephanie: Were there any challenges along the way while writing your story? 

Richard: I am challenged most by severe dyslexia, followed by, as are most aspiring authors’, self-doubt. I didn’t for long attempt to get through the cronyistic barriers of traditional publishing. I feel fortunate to live in the midst of a new dawn of true publishing democracy. We can now all have a voice, which is surely a good thing. Democracy is a good thing! The down side in this freedom is that the individual has to find the good amongst an ocean of indifferent material for themselves, as the imposition of ‘excellence’ is no longer imposed by the censorial gates of established publishers. We have lost the dictatorial and institutionally biased industry that so limited the choice of what was available to read. Democracy is always hard work. Organisations like BRAG help the reader through some of the hard search by finding high reading material in what is now such a huge industry. BRAG helps reduce the challenge I have in finding readers.

Stephanie: What interest you the most about writing Science Fiction?

Richard: I enjoy writing Science Fiction because it gives me such freedom to speculate, whilst keeping me constrained within those parameters that science is currently unable to prove as false. We cross the border into writing fantasy when we forgo the science that is accepted as wide truth at the time of writing. So then, I like the discipline of science fiction because it maintains a connection to the possible by imposing reference to current fact. Science does the same for many popular fiction genres.

Stephanie: How long did it take for you to write your story?

Richard: Another Space in Time and its sequel took 4 years from inception to publishing. The progression of the two books overlapped.

Stephanie: What advice would you give to someone who wants to write Science Fiction?

Richard: Believe in yourself and write for yourself first. That audience of one is all you really have. When you get to the last words for the first time, then you can start to listen to others. Whatever you do though, keep the story yours. Science fiction allows one to wander anywhere in any past, present or projected timeline, whilst hopefully tying the story to a strand of plausibility. Everything that science hasn’t proved to be wrong is permissible, which isn’t much of a constraint when so little has been proved to be definitively right. Writing good Science Fiction is no easier than writing good anything else, whatever certain branches of literati may claim. Above all, right what you want to write. That way you are more than likely going to produce something worthwhile. Worries about what genre the book should be marketed in come later. Sadly, readers do tend to stick to favourite genres. However, marketing worries really should be an afterthought. As it happens, cheap and free e books are helping breakdown readers’ resistance to experimenting with books outside their familiar fare. So go for it. Just write your story.

Stephanie: Is this your first published book? 

Richard: My first published books were very different. I built up my writing confidence with first publishing reinterpretations of the language of neoclassical plays. Recently, I have had the self-belief to confine myself to my own material. These earlier books are not ‘academically rigorous’ but rather designed for good general reading and adaptation to modern theatre.

Stephanie: What writing project are you currently working on? 

Richard: I am currently inventing a world in which spiders are in overwhelming control, just as we are on Earth. I also spend a lot of time writing short and micro stories.

Stephanie: How did you discover indieBRAG?

Richard: I discovered BRAG through my search for good independent authors and as a result of my passion for supporting the self-publishing cause. Both strands of enquiry led me to BRAG and other similar ‘standards protectors’ in our reinvented industry.

Stephanie: Where can readers buy your book?

Richard: Readers can purchase my books from Amazon and Smashwords, as well as from many other web active sites.

Thank you, Richard.

Author Links: http://richardbunningbooksandreviews.weebly.com

http://www.amazon.com/Another-Space-Time-Richard-Bunning-ebook/dp/B004VNQD9Y

 

A message from BRAG:

We are delighted that Stephanie has chosen to interview Richard Bunning, who is the author of, Another Time in Space, one of our medallion honorees atwww.bragmedallion.com . To be awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion TM, a book must receive unanimous approval by a group of our readers. It is a daunting hurdle and it serves to reaffirm that a book such as, Another Time in Space, merits the investment of a reader’s time and money.





Stephanie Hopkins is a respected book reviewer at Layered Pages. She conducts author interviews and helps promote the B.R.A.G. Medallion. She has reviewed books for the Historical Novel Society, is Co-Admin of English Historical Fiction Authors Group on Facebook, and is an avid reader of Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Non-Fiction and History. She currently has several writing projects under way. When she is not pursuing her love of a good read, chatting with authors and fellow readers (which is pretty much 24/7). Stephanie also enjoys creating mix media art on canvas. She is also into health, fitness and loves the outdoors. These days she has no idea what rest is!


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Style and the Rules of Grammar by Jaq D Hawkins

10/1/2014

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Picture
There’s an old saying, which varies in the exact wording: “You have to know the rules of grammar down cold to break them to good effect.”

In these days of the Internet and digital publishing, we’ve all seen an abundance of examples of people getting basic grammatical rules wrong and many of us have wondered about the quality of basic education in schools. The use of “your” where “you’re” is appropriate is a wide-spread error that grammar nazis like myself would like to see eradicated. Incorrect usage of there/their/they’re is another popular blunder along with to/too.

But what if a writer’s grammar is normally perfect and variations are instituted for the purpose of style?

First of all, let me state categorically that ‘style’ is NOT an excuse for poor grammar. The writer who chooses to use a variance for effect will only be effective if they are very much aware of the proper rules that an English teacher would insist on if the piece of writing were handed in as an assignment. To be properly effective, a variation has to be couched within otherwise pristine prose to differentiate ‘style’ from sloppy grammar. 

Charles Dickens comes to mind as someone who used punctuation in particular in a unique way to define his own style. If one reads a variety of works from the renowned author, there can be no doubt as to his knowledge of proper use of all the elements of good English. However, there are times when he will go off on a tangent of ‘style’, which is done so well that it comes across as his unique ‘voice’.

I read The Cricket on the Hearth last Christmas and was particularly struck by the punctuation anomalies that would never have passed unmarked under the red pen of the average English teacher. In some of his books, Mr. Dickens uses an excess of commas, particularly in dialogue, to get across the feel of a character’s speech pattern. The Pickwick Papers is one good example, but there are others. Often a specific character will bring out this sort of run-on speech to the exclusion of other characters in a story. It’s effective, and it’s done well.

Occasionally a grammatical rule can become inconvenient to a writer’s narrative. Again, this is most often in dialogue. Occasionally amateur reviewers on the Internet will take it upon themselves to try to ‘correct’ a writer’s grammatical ‘mistakes’ in their reviews of a published work, thereby clearly demonstrating why their own work always sounds like the high school essay that will get the teacher’s full approval, but no sales. It is most often in dialogue that these young would-be editors miss the point. Characters do not always speak in perfect grammar. The Star Wars character, Yoda, for example, would not be properly alien if he spoke in perfect English. His creator gave him a specific style of speaking that has become well-known as a defining aspect of that character.

To take an example of variation for the sake of style from m y own writing, one rule I’ve broken quite intentionally within my Goblin series books is a simple, but inconvenient punctuation standard. When writing dialogue that contains a proper name, a comma is normally placed before the name: “But what shall we do, Haghuf?” Technically, the comma in this instance is not supposed to indicate a pause in speech. Technically it is just a basic rule of punctuation in the English language. In practice, the mind instigates a pause where a comma is seen. With the comma placed properly, it sounds like the conversation is taking place in a very civilised fashion over a cup of tea. In actuality, the line occurs in a situation of immediate crisis and the urgency is expressed by the failure of the speaker to allow even that minuscule pause as his words spill forth: “But what shall we do Haghuf? I came to seek your wisdom.”

As this line is delivered, the humans are attacking and defences are being put into place to protect the goblins from vehement genocide. Walls of the caverns are being moved; the ‘diggers’ (mole-like goblins with massive claws) are filling in passageways and digging new ones. There is no cup of tea, no calm conversation. There is a hurried plea for advice.

When writing about aliens or fantasy creatures, some anomalies are required to set them apart from ordinary people. Otherwise a story comes out sounding like a story about people you’ll meet at the supermarket rather than something that is different from familiar everyday society. The key word there is ‘different’. Yoda is ‘different’ from the humans in the Star Wars universe who speak in perfect grammatical sentences.Han Solo, also from Star Wars, could easily have got away with more slang and imperfect speech actually, as his role was one of a smuggler and ne’er-do-well.

This brings me to the subject of writing in dialect. Dialect will not have perfect rules of grammar and spelling. However, the writer must be careful to make the intended words understandable. Less is more when writing dialect. Again, a good example comes from Charles Dickens in his novel, Oliver Twist. When we meet the denizens of the underworld that include Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, and Fagin, who runs a gang of child pick-pockets, we cannot expect their speech to be perfect. Again, Dickens does it well. Fagin is obviously more educated than many of the boys who serve his needs and this is reflected in varying speech patterns.

I was pleased to see an effective use of these variations depicted in one of the modern sequels that have been written about the character, the Artful Dodger. Charlton Daines, in his novel Jack Dawkins, demonstrates extremely well how the differences in speech that mark a citizen of London in one class or another are immediately apparent to the listener. He also exhibits the opportunities that can be generated through learning to vary one’s speech patterns when dealing with one group or another within the world of Dickensian London. The patois or ‘cant’ used to fit in with the lower classes is a far cry from the perfect sentence structure and pronunciation that allows the character to move amongst the richer classes without suspicion of the thief’s true nature.

One more example I will cite is a simple variation in spelling of some words from one country to another. The reader may have noted that I use English spelling rather than American, as I live in England. It has been said on forums that this slight variation often results in the text on screen being read with an accent, as many American users of the Internet have learned to recognise the indicators of English-English as opposed to American-English, although Canadians and Australians tend to lean towards English spelling as well.

The rejected stacks from the slush piles of major publishers are filled with, let’s be honest, about ninety-five percent manuscripts from people who could benefit from memorising The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. The other five percent are manuscripts where the author has mastered all the grammatical rules contained within that well-respected tome of good English. The prose is perfect, but the story lacks something. Often this is the real element of style; the ability to step outside of the rules on occasion to break the rules to good effect.

While not every prominent author from the Classics shelf could be accused of shattering the conventions of exacting punctuation for the sake of style, when someone mentions great literature, the first name to come to mind is most often Dickens. His characters are bigger than life and leave a lasting impression. His narrative reflects their unique grammar in many of his stories and novels, giving Dickens a distinctive ‘voice’ that has gained him an exceptional place in the history of great literature.

If a writer chooses to break some of the rules, first they must know those rules well. A good writer breaks them selectively, perhaps consistently and most importantly, only to achieve a desired effect. This is, perhaps, the most important rule of style.

SEE MY REVIEW OF JAC D: HAWKINS BOOK "THE WAKE OF THE DRAGON"- Reviews (3-8)

This article was first seen published in :-
http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com





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