It's Oh So Quiet...Shh... Shh...

Well things have gone a little quiet in the Dunsinane world. I went back to university in September and there was I thinking it would be like the last time I was at uni that I would have hours to write and the book would be finished by the end of first year. Ha ha ha. No, I'm actually doing a proper degree this time instead of the Mickey Mouse one I did the last time and the last 7 months have been a whirlwind of studying, working, lectures, more studying... This is the first day that I have not had a lecture to attend, or work to go to or some level of studying to do.... But summer is rapidly upon me and although I will be working my ass off to save some money, I will have the luxury of evenings and I can start to work on the book again. So I'm still not 100% sure of how to link the theme of the book, the bad guys and the conclusion, despite it floating around my subconscious all this time. I have, however, decided to cut out one massive character from the book. Their story is not important and may be revisited if a second storyline is required in the future. But I need to focus now... I need to look at the videos I took in the summer last year and remember what it was like standing at the top of Dunsinane with the wind howling and the rain running along the valley....

Trip To Dunsinnan

As I am shortly moving away from the area to becoming a "mature" student, I thought I should really take a research trip to Dunsinnan Hill whilst I was here.

So yesterday, I packed my trusty bag and tramped up the hill (ooo, I HATE hillwalking) - it was a reasonably nice day but there were squally showers kicking around in the base of the valley and it was WAY windy up top. So I took tons of notes, pics and videos and found some interesting features to incorporate and a potential new location for one of the characters.

So I think I have more or less mapped out the plot twists and I would like to think I now have the bones of a reasonably good tale! I just need to knuckle down and flesh out the story and the characters!

Progress, 30 Seconds to Mars and Casting Clare

Wow, for the first time in weeks I have actually achieved something. I have been spending a huge amount of time opening up word and just staring at the computer - not so much a case of writer's block but writer's-no-bloody-idea-what-where-or-how. So last week, I took off to the place I grew up which is the most inspiring, beautiful island and let my brain do a bit of wandering. So I came back with a refreshed attitude and a possible new angle to one of the suporting characters. Even better, not knowing where to start next, I was walking back from a pilates class and a the song "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars was playing on my mp3 and from that, the epilogue to the whole thing poppped into my head which I've managed to flesh out in about an hour this evening! Inspiration finally struck! Thanks Jared Leto! And I've struggled up till now with someone who I think I can imagine as Clare. Clare is reluctant character, naturally attractive, an arrogant City type, but as the base she is a perfectly capable country girl at heart. And lo and behold, whilst typing out the epilogue, The Walking Dead was playing in the background and Lauren Cohan who plays Maggie seemed to encapsulate this. So anyway, all in all its been a good night in the Dunsinnan world! Only twenty odd more chapters to go but we're getting there!

Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

I'm supposed to be at my day job. However, as my day job allows me to work outside a lot, and it's sunny and my notice is in for the end of August, i'm allowing my work ethic to fail. Instead i'm sitting in my car, with a cold drink, doing research from a great book I found on Macbeth.  Well, that's a lie too. The book is there, but the will isn't... Goddamn that sun!

Someone turn me over when this side is crispy....

Quiet Thursday Afternoon...

So, I've realised a few things this week. 

First I mis-named my blog.  And in a big "whole point of the goddamthing" way.  It annoys me when people refer to Dunsinnan as Dunsinane but for some, unbeknownst to me reason, I called the blog Dunsinane.  That was stoopid.  But that's what it is now and to change it will probably defy the Gods of Writing or something and my writing will vanish into space, then I'll fall down, crack my head open and the idea will be forgotten.

The second thing is, that I love cinema.  I don't know if it is the glut of amaing films that are being released just now but I seem to have spent the last week or so watching DVD's or going to the cinema and being completely confused/inspired by everything I see.  Although I have already laid out who are my current muses for the character of Finn, the geek in me is always looking at actors and thinking "who would they be if I cast the book".  Terribly dangerous as I could end up writing the book with another character in my head, but its fun game to play.

The last thing is that I no longer have a horse to ride round Dunsinnan - as will likely become clear, I live nearby to Dunsinnan and have always ridden here.  The idea has always floated around in my head over the years whilst hacking round the lanes and tracks near the hill.  And now, due to impending mature studentness, I have sold my horse and for the first time in ten years I am not riding in the area.

Is it a weird twist of fate that by no longer having this, I now have time to write the book.  Evil gods of writing....

Casting Finn...Tom Hiddleston, Josh Hutcherson, Richard Armitage

So Finn...  Finn is the centre of my story.  He is based on the King of Scotland, Macbeth who Shakespeare wrote such a wonderful fairytale about.  The real Macbeth was a much nobler creature altogether and is the hero for Dunsinane.

Whislt I've jotting things down on bits of paper regarding the book, a lot of thought is going into what or who Finn is.  Clare is a supporting character at the moment but this is Finn's story.  I want to avoid him being what we would consider a "Shakespearean" character.

When I first envisaged Finn, the actor Richard Armitage was what I imagined.  Tall, tortured, handsome but I thought he had an air of Richard E. Grant in Warlock about him - the one story I hope not to emulate despite its time travel theme. 

 And in recent times, I have been struck by Tom Hiddleston in Thor and the Avengers but as he could be Richard E. Grant's little brother this has struck out too. However, I would like to keep Tom at the back of my mind when I write Finn - his skill at accents, and his charisma are traits I would like Finn to have.

My weird thought is the actor Josh Hutcherson who is currently starring in The Hunger Games as I write this. Finn was born over a 1000 years ago - so he would be physically smaller. He would also be younger than we would expect a hero to be in our age - late teens, early twenties. And Josh can play both the fun side and the pain.

So keeping these three in my mind is where I start with Finn...  Who knows where he ends up?

Marking The Way....

Hi, i'm Evie and i'm a blog virgin. There. Done. I've come out! This blog is to help me mark the milestones and allow me to open my brain at times about the book I am writing. My book has been festering in the back of my mind for several years now and I finally have begun to write it. As anyone who knows me knows, I am constantly thinking and already I have several books, backs of work pads and random papers with ideas on them which will inevitably get scrunched, lost, eaten. So this blog will serve as a online NotePad... Letting me scribble at will and mutter through my crazy ideas.