Chapter 30 – Discoveries and Chapter 31 – Evidence

Recently I went to a packed workshop held at ‘The Munich Readery’ run by Rita Banerjee who teaches at the Ludwig Maximilian University.

The title of the workshop was Character Development and playing with persona and we looked at the different types of characters you have in a novel, specifically ‘flat’ characters who don’t develop (e.g. Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice) and ‘dynamic’ characters (e.g. Elizabeth Bennet or Mr Darcy in the same novel) who do.

Rita then introduced us to a simple but powerful character development tool. By answering a set of very wide-ranging questions about the character (e.g. attitude to authority, dream life, fridge contents etc) you develop a clear mental picture of him or her before you even start writing.

I found the tool very helpful and applied it to the new character, Morpheus Herman, that I introduced in Chapter 29 – The Inquisitor. Morpheus is a ‘bad’ character, but I was dissatisfied with my first version. He was just a cardboard cut out baddie and I didn’t find him very convincing. By answering all these questions about Morpheus for myself, I was able to establish a back story for him that partially explains the way he is now and makes his actions more plausible. You can see the result in Chapter 31- Hidden Treasures below.

For the first time in this blog, I’m putting up two chapters at the same time. I hope you enjoy them.

The story so far ... Celia Thomas, a Munich based art restorer is working on a project to rescue some 16^th century paintings in Croatia. While in Zagreb she glimpses somebody she believes to be her journalist brother Ned, who was apparently killed in Bosnia in 1995. As she starts to investigate his disappearance she stirs up a lot of trouble for herself and those around her.

Celia is back in Croatia to supervise the removal of the paintings to Munich for restoration. Meanwhile her husband Franz is examining two sources of information that might reveal something about what happened to Ned.

Chapter 30 – Discoveries and Chapter 31 - Evidence can be found on the right under 'Good Stuff'

Chapter 29 - The Inquisitor

Portrait of the Cardinal Inquisitor
Don Fernando Nino de Guevara
El Greco

It's difficult for a contemporary westerner to imagine the terror a character like Don Fernando on the left here wielded in the 16th century. For us, figures in the church (well, the Church of England at any rate) are seen as mostly benign and slightly ridiculous.
 Don Fernando was not that sort of churchman at all as you can read here if you are interested.
This portrait was the inspiration for the new character that makes his appearance in Chapter 29.

The story so far...
Celia is  preparing for the paintings to be moved from Istria to her studio at the Department for Conservation in Munich. Franz meanwhile has far bigger problems to deal with. Could he be going to jail?

Chapter 29 – The Inquisitor can be found on the right under 'Good stuff'.

A snake in the grass

Grass snake

The other day I was walking my dog in the woods near where we live when she nearly trod on a snake about as long as my arm (honest! See picture). Bianca - bless her heart - isn't the brightest thing on four legs and doesn't always notice everything that's going on around her, so she didn't see the snake as it shot off into the bushes, but I nearly jumped out of my skin. 

Bianca

Anyway, this set me thinking and I've decided I need someone to add a surprise element to the story, so a new character is going to appear in Chapter 29. I may have to cheat a little bit and back-fit references into earlier chapters to make the character more plausible, but it's my book so I can do what I want.
The question is, should this character be male or female? Hmm!

Chapter 28 audio file available now!

Lido, Venice - photo KR

 Don't feel like reading yourself? No problem, just listen to me reading to you Chapter 28 - 'Jesus and the dinosaurs' by clicking here and downloading an mp3 file. 
Just what you need to while away those boring hours on the beach!

Chapter 28 - Jesus and the dinosaurs

 I'm reading a great book at the moment,'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt and I'm feeling smug because she does exactly what I said was a key element in writing a best seller, she finds a relatively obscure field (in her case, furniture restoration - in '50 Shades of Gray' it was sado-masochism. Funnily enough I find myself far more entertained by the former) and the reader learns something about the topic in the course of being told a story.
In that spirit I hope you enjoy this chapter where you can learn something about how to rescue 15th century paintings. In case you ever need to do so.

The story so far ... while Franz rescues Nicoleta from being trafficked into prostitution in Italy, Celia is back doing what she does best, rescuing works of art. And once again, there are some surprises in store for her...

Chapter 28 – Jesus and the dinosaurs can be found on the right under 'Good stuff'.

Chapter 27 - The smuggler

A serious chapter about a serious problem. If anybody wants to read more about the horror of human trafficking I recommend they read 'The Whistleblower' by Kathryn Bolkovac which describes in detail how the traffickers work and - worse still - how western institutions not only turn a blind eye but are also sometimes active participants in this crime.

The story so far ...
The Colonel apologises to Celia for the attack on her in Venice and promises that it was not at all his intention. He explains the background to his smuggling activities in the mid nineties and justifies its necessity. He then tells Celia that he has insisted to her boss, Dr Lenz, that she be reinstated in her job and points out that her brother Ned does not seem to want to be found, even if he is still alive. Would it not make sense for her to come back to the chapel and continue her work on restoring the paintings? What will Celia decide to do?

Chapter 27 – The smuggler can be found on the right under 'Good Stuff'.

Chapter 26 - Apologies

Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, Munich

So, after a long period of silence, here is chapter 26 and I hope that the next chapters won't take so long. I realise now that I've been working on this project for 18 months already - and I foolishly imagined it was going to be ready by September last year. Never mind.
This chapter takes place in Munich in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten which (and they're not paying me for this) I can honestly say does a very good job at afternoon tea. Much better than the Hotel Kempinski in Hamburg, though neither of them compare with Fortnum & Mason in London. But as a nice place to sit and watch expensive people going about their expensive business (without having to spend too much money yourself) I can recommend tea in the lobby of the Vier Jahreszeiten.

The story so far ...
After receiving complaints from Colonal Kaiec, Celia's boss Dr Lenz suspends her from the restoration project in Istria while the department considers whether or not she should be fired. This, combined with the attack on her in Venice, the burglary at her flat and the feeling that maybe her missing brother Ned wants to stay missing, depresses Celia and she starts to regret her attempts to track him down. To her considerable surprise, she is sent a bunch of flowers by Colonal Kaiec with a request to meet him. But what can he possibly have to say to her?

Chapter 26 - Apologies ... can be found under 'Good Stuff' on the right.