Character Creation

I've done quite a bit of genealogical research and I've found that the people I've found practically cry out to be 'characters' in stories. Sometimes just their names are interesting, take for instance Mag Scurr in The Dress Lodger by Sherri Holman. She was a real person fictionalized.

One thing I've found interesting is signatures. I have many documents with signatures and I find getting a good book on handwriting analysis can give me great ideas for characters. One of my ancestors had a signature that told me he was generous with money. His bride's signature, on the other hand, revealed she was tight with a buck. What great tension!

I'm going to pick up this topic in future posts. See ya all later.

Snow Day

Hey, there's lots of snow in Eastern Canada. I went out before it began and shopped. Tonight I going to work on some of my stories. They come together well with good critiques. I was thinking today of when I worked as a gardener in BC. Out there, this will be the last month of winter and my work would start soon. Well, I'll be back in a couple of days.

Blizzard

Hey folks, we got through the blizzard. I didn't go outside at all that day, I did genealogical research. I found more on the Dobson line in Westmoreland. Isn't genealogy exciting. I'm finding that the new year is beginning the right way, I'm feeling overall more hopeful than ever and I think good things are going to happen. My publisher MuseItUp has won a whole bunch of awards so I know I'm in with a great bunch. I can hardly wait until my story 'The Mountain City Bronzes' comes out in November of this year.

Hi All

Hi everyone, this is my first blog. I'm a writer with MuseItUp Publishing. My first title will be coming out in November 2011. I know that's a while away but I'm hoping to let people know me through my blog.

My big hobby is genealogy. I'm descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an ancient king of Donegal, Ireland. He began the clans of McLaughlin, O'Neil and Doherty and maybe others I don't know of. I have also found ancestors in Belfast and Limerick. It's because I like puzzles that I like finding about the past and it makes me more interested in history, especially Victorian England. It all helps me in my writing because history lends itself to fiction.

Well, that is my introduction. I hope to see you all later.