Wednesday, February 1, 2023

What We Are Writing by Rhys Bowen

 RHYS BOWEN: Writing is usually a solitary business. We sit at our computers and think and muse and eventually we write. When it's a linear story that normally goes well. Our sleuth finds a body, he or she does some detecting and at the end of the book he solves it. Simple, right?

However in recent years I have set myself rather more of a challenge. I have written several books in more than one time period. I have jumped back and forward between times, telling several characters' stories. The story in the past has to be just as real and compelling as the one in the present. And they have to mirror each other, if possible, and tie in neatly together.

So I've just started my next stand-alone novel. It's going to be set in WWII (are we surprised) and in 1968. The story is about a missing child, taken from a public garden in 1968 and perhaps linked to several small girls who vanished during the chaos of WWII. And my protagonist is somehow linked to both stories. I can't say more about that because I want the reading to be full of AHA moments.

But at the center of the story is one of the abandoned villages on the coast of England. When the D Day invasion was planned sites were needed for troops to practice invasion drills. And so people were turned out of their homes at short notice so that the army could practice landings and the shelling of targets. The village of Tyneham in Dorset was evacuated for that purpose. The inhabitants were promised they could return after the war but that never happened. 


So I have modeled my village on Tyneham. It can now be visited by the public on weekends. Here is how the book opens (at the moment. I may move chapters around)



There had been no advance warning, apart from an army vehicle that had appeared one blustery afternoon three weeks earlier. This in itself was strange as there was no proper road to the village, only a lane that got rather muddy after rain. And it didn’t go anywhere, apart from down to the tiny harbour where there were currently no fishing boats, the war having made fishing too dangerous in these waters. The jeep had driven down the one street, past the church, the schoolhouse, the pub and the row of cottages, to where the village ended in the overgrown track, steps down to the harbor and the English Channel beyond. An officer, wearing a smart peaked army cap, had got out, looked around, and was heard by Mary Dobson, getting in her washing before it rained , to say,” It will have to do. Luckily there’s nothing of historic value here.”

 She never bothered to pass along this statement or the inhabitants might have been better prepared when the post office van came sloshing through puddles to deposit the post at the village post office cum village shop..
     Mrs. Jenkins, the post mistress/shop owner had looked at the pile of letters bearing no stamp. “More rubbish from the government,” she had said to Fred Hammond, the driver. “I wonder what it will be this time?”
     “Probably cutting our sugar ration again,” he said. “Or the meat ration. But I bet that don’t affect you so much out here with your chickens and pigs.” 
     “We do all right, I suppose,” she said, “Although the rats keep getting at our eggs, bloody nuisances.”          “He don’t have to worry too much, do he?” The post office driver nodded up the street. “Him at the big house. Don’t he still have cows?”
     “No, they’re long gone,” she said. “Government took them. Now he don’t have that much more than we do. A couple of pigs and chickens. But a fine lot of fruit and veggies and I must say he’s good enough to share with us.”
     “Well, he should, seeing as you’re his tenants, right? You pay him every month to live here, don’t you?” 
     “We do, I suppose.” Mrs Jenkins smoothed down her apron. “Now I better get that lazy bones Ned to take these around.” 
    
 It turned out that the letters were not about the sugar ration. Instead they said: To the inhabitants of Tydeham. This is to inform you that His Majesty’s armed forces have need of your village to further the war effort. It has been requisitioned for invasion drills, starting October 8th, 1943. You have two weeks to remove your belongings and vacate the village.

So that's how the book starts. But there are several main characters whose lives intersect and several intervowen plots. I'm not sure why I always set myself this type of book but it's what I enjoy reading. But trying to come up with motive and back story for so many characters is challenging. This is a good reason to have daughters, folks. Yesterday Clare and I went to for a walk and talked through one important aspect of plot. And came up with the absolutely perfect, apt solution for one story line. Yeah. Although it won't come up for many pages it was blocking the flow of creativity, knowing I'd need to know something in the future. And now I do. Thank you, Clare. I'm so happy to have a brilliant fellow writer now.  Our next book together comes out on March 14.  ALL THAT IS HIDDEN. And we just got a fabulous Kirkus review that said "Bowen and Broyles never disappoint."  (We're thinking of having buttons made with that saying!)

So, dear readers, do you like books that feature multiple story lines and take you between time periods?

43 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the beginning to your new story . . . I especially enjoy these stories, Rhys, and am always excited by the news that you are working on another one.
    I do find the multiple story lines and time periods particularly compelling and like seeing how the characters’ stories play out over time . . . .

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  2. Yes! And you are a master at them, Rhys. I tried writing that kind of book a couple of years ago. It's hard. I didn't succeed at weaving the two timelines together and finally split them into two books. Do you loan out Clare? I can't wait for the new Molly!

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    1. That might be a new business venture for me. Loaning out daughter! (Rhys)

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    2. Edith, your books are wonderful. Please do not worry about the dual timelines. Diana

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    3. Thank you, Diana! It was a challenge I set myself as a writer, but I was squeezing it in between work I had contracts for, and I just couldn't give it the time and work it needed. One of these years!

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  3. I do enjoy multiple story lines, although I've never stopped to think about what makes them work. I liked so much your explanation: ". . . they have to mirror each other, if possible, and tie in neatly together." But actually, I like every kind of story when it's well-told. I'm looking forward to this new book, already wondering about where the villagers went and how they were able to evacuate on such short notice. Wow.

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    1. It was a real tragedy! No help to relocate or find new places to live. Most were tenant farmers. The landowners did not ever recover their land.

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    2. My troubles pale in comparison to what so many millions went through just a few years before I was born. It is a heartbreaking but fascinating time to read about.

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  4. Yikes, getting notice to vacate your village in a few weeks must have been jarring for the Tydeham residents. Yes, I enjoy reading books with multiple timelines & the interwoven connections between them.

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    1. They were promised compensation they never got ( Rhys)

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    2. Grace and Rhys, this reminded me of an episode from Midsomer Murders. There was an abandoned war time facility and this elderly lady kept on leaving men's clothes and food for her brother who died in the war.

      Diana

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    3. The residents were not surprised. Rumors of what was to happen in their village had been common knowledge. This was not a benevolent nanny government that prevails today, No one really thought they would be compensated! Great Britain’s government was essentially broke!

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  5. I love multiple story lines but only when they're done well. And, Rhys, you do them to perfection! Can't wait for the next book!

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  6. Rhys, I really love your stand alone WWII novels with or without a dual time-line. Your writing shows such empathy for the people who lived through it.

    Your next Molly story is eagerly awaited here! How amazing to have such a fabulous writing partner in Clare. She is the perfect sounding board for ideas when you need to work out a plotting problem. I don't think that Edith is the only writer who would like to borrow her.

    I especially love your Royal Spyness series for the humor that underlies your narrator, Georgie's view of everything. Your other books are much more serious than this series. I think that you have a gift for writing humor. Clare shares your gift for storytelling. Does she write humor, too?

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    1. Clare: I do love writing humor! Her Royal spyness humor would be hard for me to write because it is so based on the quirks of the English upper class that Rhys knows from experience and I only know through my parents. But I do enjoy making scenes funny in a Molly book. And you are welcome to any assistance I could give you any time:)

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    2. Thank you, Judy!

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    3. Clare, do you create funny puns too? Diana

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  7. Can't wait for this one Rhys! Agree with Judy, you're so lucky to have Clare along on this writing journey!

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  8. What a fascinating idea--and how difficult for the villagers to suddenly be totally uprooted! I was a history major, so I am very happy to read books that go back and forth between past and present.

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  9. I enjoy multiple story lines, especially if WWII is one of them. I imagine that 1968 is a fun time to write about given the various liberation and rights movements evolving during that time. I wonder if they'll play into that part of this book. Having a plotting and writing partner sounds terrific -- and is clearly working well, Rhys. Long may it continue!

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    1. The early days of the hippie movement will come into the story

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    2. Early days? Not in 1968. Early days were 1960. At least in California.

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    3. It took a bit longer in London. I was there

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  10. I am currently reading Royal Flush - just started and about 100 pages in so far. Looking forward to your new book Rhys. I love anything and everything British!

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  11. I love compelling stories and multiple timelines invariably up the tension for me--a mystery in the 'present' which cannot be solved/understood without solving/understanding some past mystery. Our previous discussions of backstory offer a snippet of what an author can do with multiple timelines--weaving the past of a character(s) into the present story in a compelling way.

    And say hello to Clare--eagerly awaiting the new Molly!

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  12. Such a great concept for a book -- the background of the real village! I've been so enjoying the Royal Spyness books, and now I'm thrilled to know I have the Molly series to explore.

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  13. Yes, to enjoying multiple timelines. Just like a crossword or jigsaw puzzle, it requires the reader to suss out where the author is going, and how the time periods and characters intersect.

    It must be like writing and constructing two (or more) completely different books. I am usually in awe, if the device is skillfully handled.

    As always, looking forward to a juicy new read from you, Rhys, either a solo effort or in tandem with Clare.

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  14. Rhys, I like all your books! And I like your standalones with more than one timeline. It’s interesting to see how you make connections between the two timelines.

    DebRo

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  15. Rhys, Love all of your books! I could read anything written by you.

    My first love is the Constable Evans series and I took to Lady Georgie right away. Love the puns and the names! Started reading Molly from Ireland to America series late and now I love the books.

    And I would like to KNOW Why Mary Dobson never passed on the information to the village? Did someone break her heart or was something going on in her life that she forgot to share the information? We will find out when we read your novel, right? When I think of 1968, I think of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy dying in 1968. This was all in America,

    Sounds like your 1968 took place in England, right? Prince Charles was about to have his investiture in Wales in 1969, right? Cannot believe he is King Charles III now!

    Thinking about your question. For me, multiple timelines is easier to follow IF it is NOT back and forth. One of my favorite novels is about an enquiry agent /psychologist who was a nurse at a casualty station during the first world war. The first part starts in 1929. The middle part takes us back to 1910-1918. Then back to 1929.

    Dual timelines COULD work for me though three or more timelines is quite a challenge for me..

    Wow! This is a long comment from me!

    Diana

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  16. I enjoy multiple time periods if they are linked and are done well. I've read some that were just a gimmick, and that annoyed me.

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    1. Thank you, Mark! You said exactly what I was trying to say. Diana

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  17. Generally I'm not keen on dual time frames, because it usually means the young and adventurous and idealistic protagonists of the earlier period are now very old, or dead. Yes yes, I know that will happen to them (us) eventually, but I don't like to see it spelled out in the book.

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    1. Although, I think your current project would work well for me, Rhys. 1944ish to 1968. :^)

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  18. Oh yes! I love multiple timelines. It means more compelling plots and characters to enjoy. I don't think I've heard of requisitioning an entire village to practice maneuvers. And those poor folks were left with nothing.

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  19. Rhys, you know I love multiple timelines, both reading and writing them. The backstory of the abandoned village is fascinating--can't wait to learn more. And I'm very excited for the new Molly from you and Clare!

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  20. I do like dual time lines when they are done well with threads connecting them. I do not like them when I feel
    like it would be just as well to read every other chapter through to the end and then go back and read the others beginning to end.

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  21. Agree! I’m reading a book like that now, only it has three timelines, so you have to read every third chapter.

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  22. As ever, Rhys, just reading a short excerpt makes me impatient to devour the whole book! The situation of the village residents really highlights what a different culture it was during wartime - politically, economically and socially. I suspect that's what makes fiction set during WWII endlessly fascinating.

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  23. I agree -- such a great choice of situation and setting. I've often been fascinated by the gold rush town of Jerome AZ that was abandoned when the mines failed and now is a tourist haven. I like dual times and then the wonderful aha moment when what's past in some way intersects with what's present. Rhys you have the skill to pull it off every time.

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  24. I adore multiple timelines, and you are the queen of them! They always work. ANd this Tyneham story is new to me--so tragic and touching..and patriotic, too, in a way. Cannot wait to read this!

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  25. I have a friend who complains when she reads a book with dual timelines. I don't understand that. I love dual timelines, seeing how the past connects with the present. And, I love learning about pieces of history I have no clue about. I'm stunned that the village of Tyneham was ripped out from under its residents. Yes, it was for a good cause, but displacement and loss of any income to the landlord must have been quite a shock and challenge. I'm so intrigued.

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  26. I think this new book sounds very intriguing, Rhys, and I look forward to reading it. I also so much enjoyed your description of working on storylines with Clare. You are both so lucky to have this experience of being able to share ideas about your writing and solve problems together.

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  27. Oh Rhys, do have those buttons made up! You and Clare could hand them out at conventions, on Halloween, in the market. :)

    Humor aside, the photo of Tyneham is desperately sad, and learning the story behind it makes it so much worse.

    I'm definitely a fan of books that alternate time periods, as I believe they have the ability to go deeper into a story. I'm also a fan of historical fiction, especially WWII, so this is definitely my cup of tea.

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