Connection—Editting 1-90—Themes I haz them

[erastes]

ah ha! Although I wrote in my post yesterday that I'd been carrying the laptop around the house looking for a decent signal, I hadn't actually done it with every room, so today I did and found that the back bedroom and the hall has a really strong signal!  This makes sense, actually, because on that side of the house there's 2 storey terrace houses (young people with internet) and on THIS side of the house, it's waste ground and bungalows (old people with no internet)

I feel stupid. So at least I know that i can pop into there every half hour or so, check my mail and do the research i need to do.

What, please tell me, dear Erastes, is a "bullet-ridden Austrian"?  I'm sure it's a vastly different thing to a bullet-riddled one. Please hand in your writer's badge on the way out. Also—after Rudolph said he was definitely going to Prague and not to Dresden – WHY did they end up going to Dresden? Were you hoping no one would  notice?

I was thinking last night about my full sized novels and suddenly realised that there is one over-arching theme to every single one of them. Water.

*Standish-the fountain is a symbol of their relationship. There's also Venice where everything goes Pete Tong.
*Transgressions. David and Jonathan lives by a river, both together and separately. Their first sexual contact is by the river.
*Mere Mortals – set on a broad/lake

novellas
*Tributary- the name's river related and the main character observes crayfish.
*Frost Fair – the River Thames freezing over

I think it's because I'm an Estuary Baby (another word for Essex Girl) and can't bear to be very far from water. I'm planning a lighthouse story too!

Comments

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

hmm... I was born near one of the Great Lakes and find that same sort of thing, except in Gent's Gent. Also a double water-sign.

Well, hey, if one must have a recurring symbol, at least it's a deep one, right?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! :D

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I have a hands theme, I've noticed. Darren almost loses circulation to his hands and is traumatized by it. John does terrible damage to his wrists trying to free his hands when he's tied up. Jasper has his fingers broken when he's in the pillory and they still ache during the story. Chris sees his hands go up in flames on the steering yoke of his plane while he's fighting to get Ben back. It's a bit worrying how often it repeats, in fact, particularly as I now know it's there and I'm actively trying not to do it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

yes - and they make me squirm! I have a real (although mild) phobia about damaged hands and particularly fingers. There's a heavy metal album cover with someone holding a razor blade in a fist and it makes me scream! I remember reading the bits in your books with hands and really getting goosepimples!

I also seem to have father issues--or rather my characters always do. Rafe, David, Ambrose, Fleury (who was searching for a father figure), Michael (whose father was a sulphurand brimstone preacher, Gideon, whose father was a failure, la la la. Oh and of course the characters in "I Knew Him" - SO MANY FATHER PROBLEMS IN THAT!!!! lol

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about that! I think it is a result of me thinking "what's the worst thing I can do to traumatize this character, so that he can show he's strong enough to get up again afterwards and carry on regardless?"

Fictional fathers are always difficult. I think they've almost got to be either bad or absent, otherwise the story can end up being about them rather than about your character.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

and didn't they chop off the prisoner's fingers before they set light to them???

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I'd actually forgotten about that one. That was just a case of being practical though - the pirates didn't want the prisoners climbing out, so they made sure they couldn't.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Omg...mine have water too. didn't think of that. SC = sea. GR = lake. Also quite a lot of 'windowage' lOL