Writing – Page 10 – Natalie K. Martin

A smack in the face

June 16, 2014June 14, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been making progress with Heart Shaped Bruise, and I got round to writing my first chapter featuring domestic violence. It’s a tricky, tricky thing. Whether we like to think about it or not, domestic abuse is something that does happen, and it can be deadly. In the UK alone, more than 2 women a week die at the hands of their current or ex partners. That’s a mental figure, and the number of women who don’t is a lot, lot more, and that’s just the ones who report it.

And, of course, it happens the other way around too. Last week, I saw numerous posts and shares on Facebook of a hidden camera video by ManKind, highlighting how domestic abuse against men is not taken seriously. In the video, passers by intervened while the woman was being attacked, but laughed when the roles were reversed. And, of course, when the video of Solange Knowles attacking Jay-Z in a lift came out, he became the butt of many a joke.

I’m writing about a woman being abused, but that doesn’t mean it’s exclusively a problem faced by women. I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen a guy being abused in the street by a woman, albeit on a Friday or Saturday night after, presumably, alcohol was involved.

The internet has been blowing up recently with the #yesallwomen and #yesallmen chatter, and it’s almost become a war about which sex is the most wronged, most harassed, most abused, most prejudicd. Why? It’s not something that should become the centre of a battle of the sexes. It’s abuse, and it shouldn’t happen to anyone. Ever.

Writing about it has been tough, and I’ve only written about the first instance where it was relatively “mild”. I know it’s going to get a lot, lot worse before it gets better for Cassie. It’s a subject that’s really, really close to my heart and like I said in a previous post, I really want to do it justice.

So, any feedback would be hugely appreciated – good or bad. I don’t want to make a caricature about such an important issue. If any of you have time, the chapter is posted here.

Thanks guys, and have a good week!

Writing

Attraction

June 10, 2014June 9, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

Following yesterday’s post, I thought Id share a teaser. I ❤ Smith.

Writing

Breaking through the wall

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

This week, I’ve been mostly getting on with Heart Shaped Bruise. I’ve eaten it, I’ve drunk it, I’ve slept it. I’ve written the opening chapters and then, after some good feedback, re-written it. 16k words – not too shabby so far. And, I’m really, REALLY enjoying it. But, I can feel something coming….I don’t know about anyone else, but I sometimes hit a wall where I just think – what is this? Am I writing complete and utter balls? I’ve had that about Heart Shaped Bruise before, and Together Apart. Maybe it’s perfectly normal to do so, but now, I’ve put it up on Wattpad and my nails are being bitten down in anticipation.

Heart Shaped Bruise is definitely more New Adult that Together Apart was. It’s sexier, it’s sharper. And Wattpad is a great, or not, place to get feedback on something, especially if it’s New Adult. But therein lies my problem. What if its complete poo? What then? I feel like I’m about to start a new job, wondering if anyone will like me.

Sigh.

Will this ever go away, I wonder? Like, if I write five books, and they’re well received (I’m not talking about global runaway sellers here), will I stop worrying about whether it’s all faff?

Answers on a postcard….

Writing

Meet my main character – Blog Hop

June 7, 2014June 9, 2014by NatalieLeave a Comment

Facebook is ace for making new connections. This week, I ‘met’ the lovely Laurie, who told me about a blog tour – of course I hopped on board! Be sure to check out her site Looking on the Sunnyside where you can find information about her and her book ‘The Misadventures of Me and My Uterus’ – the cover is super cute too. You can also check out her answers to the Blog Hop questions here.

So, as the title suggests, we’re writing about our main characters. Since I’m currently in something of a writing frenzy with my new book, I’ll be talking about that one. Here are my answers:

What’s the name of your main character? Are they a historical figure, or fictional? My main character’s name is Cassie Barton-Cole. When we meet her, she’s just married her husband, Oliver. Prior to that, she was Cassie Abbott, and she’s totally fictional. This is how I see her in my head.

When and where is the story set? It’s set in the here and now, 2014 and is predominantly in south London, Clapham, to be exact. Other destinations that feature are Koh Tao in Thailand, and Westport in County Mayo, Ireland. Both beautiful places.

Clapham

Koh Tao…beautiful

Westport….equally as beautiful!

What do we need to know about her?

Cassie is a tough cookie, but she hasn’t had it easy. Raised by a single mum, she was left to fend for herself at 15 when her mum moved to a commune in Spain. As a result, some might say she likes to cling to people and things, and some, her mum in particular, would say she has abandonment issues.

What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

Two boy shaped things: Oliver and Smith. Smith ‘messes up’ her life by returning from travelling on the day of her wedding. No huge drama in itself, except to his mind, they weren’t quite finished when he left. As for Oliver, he starts out as the perfect, ideal man, but soon turns out to be violent and manipulative. The conflict is in Cassie – between the badboy she shouldn’t love, and the nice guy she should. And, just because I can’t help a good visual, here’s what they look like to me….

Oliver … aka Charlie Hunnam

Smith … aka Stephen James

What is their personal goal?

All Cassie wants is stability and a normal life, which for her is a house, husband and 2.5 kids. Given her past, it’s not entirely surprising, but chasing it becomes her undoing.

Is there a working title and where can we read more about it?

Yep. The title is Heart Shaped Bruise, and early chapters are up on Wattpad. You can check them out here.

When can we expect the book to be published?

Early 2015 … not long to go!

Writing

Casting Call!

June 2, 2014June 1, 2014by Natalie2 Comments

Things are well underway with Heart Shaped Bruise (working title) – book number two. It’s been an interesting journey so far. It actually started out as a story with just one main character and I’d clocked up 50k words on it…until I had a brainwave which went something along the lines of ‘Oh, I know! Why don’t I scrap it all and start again!’ Only to then revert back to the original plan. Sigh. I don’t make things easy for myself now, do I? I have to say though, I’m loving this new version and I love this photo, which sums it up so far:

As usual, it means lots of research, some of which is huge amounts of fun and some of which is horrifically humbling, inspiring and scary. And, I need some help. If you or anyone you know has ever been a victim and/or perpetrator of domestic violence, then please get in touch.

Pretty heavy huh? Well, yes. That’s because I like to write about real things, issues that affect people everyday, and I want to do them justice by portraying them well. So any help would be hugely, massively, enormously appreciated! It goes without saying that any info given would be strictly confidential and changed in a way to make it non-obvious as to identities and such in the book.

Thanks guys, and have an awesome week!