New Writing Initiative

As I sit here writing this blog, I am breaking my new writing initiative so not off to a great start!

"False Details" the novel that I have been working on recently has been finished to the first draft stage, it was a long process (6 years!) but it was fully worth it as I feel a massive sense of achievement and have accomplished something I had been dreaming about for a long time.

I know that "False Details" is only at stage 1 of the process, I have some people looking at it and editing it! I tried to edit it myself but I was not finding the mistakes as easy as someone else, the sentences made sense to me but to someone else a reader would not understand it!! 2nd Draft will obvious be an improvement due to these people so THANK YOU...

 

After a little rest period, I needed this so that I could clear my head more than anything else...I am eady to start writing again! I want to start writing again as my ideas are flowing out of my ears at the moment and if i don't do something about i will go insane or more tragically lose all the things I am thinking of! A notebook helps to the point of recording small ideas but when I go into free flow and can not control all the words as they ooze out of my brain so I came up with a little idea to capture some of them.

I will write every day for as long as feel is possible but the minimum aim EVERY day is 1000 words. 1000 words a day is nothing, I hear some of the writers say...I agree but I want this to be my minimum and to show this on Tuesday I wrote 5000 words all on one subject but on Monday I wrote 1200 on 3 totally unrelated things but I got my ideas down on paper and can come back to them and make them longer!!


Here is my inspiration at the moment for my short entries I am doing...I think of a word and then write the first things that my brain wants to that sounds like a good story...at the moment it is wonderful to write different genres, different settings, different peoples story. The only downfall is there are words everywhere and this is a massive problem as I want to write about a new word I think of so discipline is needed in abundance.

Here is a little something, I wrote so far this evening...minimal editing and it is an idea in working.

The sky darkened like the sight of the events that were about to unfold as layer by layer, the mystery is unearthed from its grave.

A small team standing around awaiting instruction and the signal to start their processes, the limited number of people from the university set in motion anticipation the find that others find insignificant.

As Stuart Bennett approaches his task for the next few hours, he took the time to look around the beautifully cared for allotments that had been produced. The years of hard work arranging and planting beds was evident throughout, the perfect resting place if there ever was one.

The recently painted wrought iron fencing blended perfectly with the runner beans and pea shoots that adorn the structure and have now reached their summit.

Beginning with the crude removal methods, Stuart can not watch this part and takes a walk. The hired digger crunches its way through the top layers ripping away the root system of the old oak tree that once stood not 50 years from the plot.

Once the top layers have been taken away the hardware shovels are grabbed and the human digging starts.

When the first evidence of the grave has been reached, the crude stops and the intricate methods starts until the prize has been found.

Stuart mans up the trowel with one hand carefully placing the other tools in their cloth carry case on the graves edge in close proximity. Starting from the centre of the gaping hole he carefully drags the soil to the edges indenting into the pile covering the bones.

All the precision is suddenly undone as the mound collapses leaving the soil to rush into a newly created hole, the grains form around the skeleton that lies beneath. Stuart glances down unable to stop the flow to see two dark eye sockets looking back at him. The clean white bones standing out against the heavy black dirt.

Stuart can now see that the burial has been planned with a casket encasing the skeleton. The excavation can now begin with the painful process of brushing away the detritus.

The Reckoning - Jane Casey

Synopsis:
To the public, he's a hero: a killer who targets convicted paedophiles. Two men are dead already - tortured to death. Even the police don't regard the cases as a priority. Most feel that two dead paedophiles is a step in the right direction. But to DC Maeve Kerrigan, no one should be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Young and inexperienced, Kerrigan wants to believe that murder is murder no matter what the sins of the victim. Only, as the killer's violence begins to escalate, she is forced to confront exactly how far she's prepared to go to ensure justice is served.

Review:
Written in the perspective of the Detectives Maeve Kerrigan and DI Derwent and this makes it gripping, realistic and very readable. The suspense and details within the book makes the pages turn quicker, the story flow through effortlessly and with characters being realistic and easy to get along with, I very suddenly demolished the book.
Even though the main crime is the murder of the paedophiles, there are more details about kidnap, murder, and rape detailed from the previous crimes of the dead.
All the loose ends are tied up along with the on-off relationship with Rob who is the other voice in the book even though he only appears at the end in terms of his point of view.

Criticism:
Most of the book in Maeves point of view and voice, she is not present for all the chapters so maybe one of the characters could have taken over...very minor.

Marc's A-Z of Crime Fiction

Eyewitness:

An eyewitness is a critical part of a criminal investigation so getting one leads to them becoming very well looked after. No matter what the crime that has been committed, this individual(s) are crucial to the case that is built up by the Police and later the CPS.
Eyewitness are crucial and sometimes the things that people see are processed by the brain differently with different people and I have heard of cases where by the victim or eyewitness has had a really good look at the offenders and over the course of the questioning process they have remembered more details and the details begin to deviate.

The biggest case of Eyewitness Misidentification that has caused enormous consequences was JEAN CHARLES DE MENEZES.

In 2005, an eyewitness stated that they saw a male running from police, jump over a turnstile in the train station, and was wearing a bulky jacket to cover they believe a device. This was a time of major threat from the Bomb Threats in London and a high security tension across the world.

Mr Menezes DID run but only to catch the train, he WAS wearing a denim jacket and he WALKED through the barrier after collecting a newspaper.

Mr Menezes was shot and killed. Eyewitnesses are not always reliable and unfortunately this is the consequences similar to arresting and imprisonment of offenders.

Here is a website that I found whilst thinking about this topic of eyewitness misidentification:
http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/Eyewitness-Misidentification.php

EVIDENCE

Key piece of making a crime comes true!
Evidence is the key component to proving something to be truthfully.

Evidence comes in many forms:

Physical evidence: Found at a crime scene - Weapon, mode of transport, entry/exit method through smashed windows or doors, even down to the hairs, fibres. Anything basically that can be classified as physical objects. Collected from the scene in an evidence bag and processed at the labs.



Trace Evidence: Anything that you need equipment to see - Blood traces that require Luminol to identify them, Fingerprints that need dusting or ninhydrin for using on paper.



Biological: Body fluids - sweat, tears, urine, DNA, saliva.



Statements: As with eyewitnesses, peoples account on the events that unfolded.

EXIT MUSIC - Ian Rankin

I am a huge admirer of Ian Rankin and of the Rebus Series that Rankin has created. I discovered Rankin by accident (as I believe most of us do with many of our now favourite authors!) I entered The Works and they had their 3 for £5 offer on and was looking for some new books, I picked up 'Tooth and Nail' within this deal and was totally engrossed.



Synopsis:
It's late autumn in Edinburgh and late autumn in the career of Detective Inspector Rebus. As he tries to tie up some loose ends before retirement, a murder case intrudes. A dissident Russian poet has been found dead in what looks like a mugging gone wrong. By apparent coincidence, a delegation of Russian businessmen is in town - and everyone is determined that the case should be closed quickly and clinically.

Review:
This book was allegedly the last of the Rebus series as he goes of on retirement, well I didn't think that this was the end when reading it! There were a few loose ends in terms of Rebus and with so many cult bands coming back from the dead, I knew that this rocker was not gone yet!
Lots of politics, Russian mobsters and the business underworld which leads Rebus to his 'friend' Big Ger Cafferty, one last showdown with the old foe?
Twists all over the places, guessing to the last chapters and the good old Rebus style policing, getting in trouble for doing things his way!