STRANGE -- IF NOT SPOOKY
A few days ago I had a long chat with a fellow author, and we got to talking about the creative process. She asked me how I had created the character of Martha Morgan and the complex narrative of the 8-novel Angel Mountain Saga. She was somewhat taken aback when I explained that I had not needed to "create" either the heroine or the story, because they had been given to me. She was even more gobsmacked when I told her about the circumstances.
This is what happened. In 1999 my wife and I flew to Gran Canaria on holiday, and en route I was struck down by aerotoxic syndrome. I felt sick before we landed, but then I experienced classic flu-like symptoms. I went straight to bed when we arrived at the apartment, and spent the night wide awake, feeling very ill indeed. One hears about "a fevered imagination" and now I know what it means. Anyway, a story came into my head - of a feisty woman called Martha Morgan. It was "narrated" -- I can still recall the female voice. Dates, places, characters, and a storyline covering the greater part of her life from 1796 to 1855. Individual episodes came into my head, and I even "heard" key conversations.
In the morning, not having slept a wink, I felt better, but the story was fixed firmly inside my head. I told my wife about this strange experience, and she said “Well then, you’d better start writing!” So I did..... and I knew that the story had to be told in Martha's own words, with immediacy, through diary entries.
Twenty-one years later, I still do not know what to make of that episode. l think that the story was “given” to me, and that in order to keep faith I had -- in the beginning -- to try and put into words the emotions and experiences of a pregnant, suicidal 18-year-old female who lived more than 200 years ago.
The narrative extended, eventually, across eight novels; and I can honestly say that the only one of those that involved the "invention"of characters and narrative was "Guardian Angel". The reasons for that will be obvious to the loyal readers of the Saga.
Have I kept faith with Mistress Martha, or with whoever made the gift? That's for others to judge......
This is what happened. In 1999 my wife and I flew to Gran Canaria on holiday, and en route I was struck down by aerotoxic syndrome. I felt sick before we landed, but then I experienced classic flu-like symptoms. I went straight to bed when we arrived at the apartment, and spent the night wide awake, feeling very ill indeed. One hears about "a fevered imagination" and now I know what it means. Anyway, a story came into my head - of a feisty woman called Martha Morgan. It was "narrated" -- I can still recall the female voice. Dates, places, characters, and a storyline covering the greater part of her life from 1796 to 1855. Individual episodes came into my head, and I even "heard" key conversations.
In the morning, not having slept a wink, I felt better, but the story was fixed firmly inside my head. I told my wife about this strange experience, and she said “Well then, you’d better start writing!” So I did..... and I knew that the story had to be told in Martha's own words, with immediacy, through diary entries.
Twenty-one years later, I still do not know what to make of that episode. l think that the story was “given” to me, and that in order to keep faith I had -- in the beginning -- to try and put into words the emotions and experiences of a pregnant, suicidal 18-year-old female who lived more than 200 years ago.
The narrative extended, eventually, across eight novels; and I can honestly say that the only one of those that involved the "invention"of characters and narrative was "Guardian Angel". The reasons for that will be obvious to the loyal readers of the Saga.
Have I kept faith with Mistress Martha, or with whoever made the gift? That's for others to judge......
No comments:
Post a Comment