Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Forget plot, perspective and dialogue!

A new blogpost up from me on the open college of the arts blogsite!

A level three student of mine, Jo Wells, made a simple, but valid comment in her reflective commentary recently. She had included a well-realised and imaginative scene in her assignment work, and wrote that this… came out of an exercise where a person becomes invisible… I never forget the benefit of exercises and free-write. Most exercises can be arranged to include some aspect of what is currently being written.

go to

http://www.weareoca.com/creative_writing/forget-plot-perspective-and-dialogue/

to read the rest of the post.

Friday, 10 January 2014

How to Write a Thriller

skylightrain is a great blogsite for writers and readers of contemporary fiction alike. Judy Darley writes widely, and reviews widely too; last month she posted a review of In the Moors on her blogsite, and this month, I'm guest-blogging for her.

How to write a thriller

Posted on January 10, 2014

Nina Milton, author of In the Moors and writing tutor with the Open College of the Arts, explains what it takes to breathe life into a thriller.

There are many strange truths about writing crime and thriller fiction, and one of them is…

To read the entire blog post, go to http://www.skylightrain.com/category/writing-genres/

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Ronald Hutton

Nina Milton has created a unique fictional world in her Shaman Mystery Series, featuring Sabbie Dare as a young shaman. With Beneath the Tor she passed the ultimate test of a writer, that of causing me to put off useful jobs which I really should have been doing, in order to see what happens next. She has become a mistress of plot-weaving, and above all, she pulls off the trick of setting the totally fantastic amid the totally everyday and making the two fit together with pace and excitement. Ronald Hutton (Ronald Hutton is professor of history at Bristol University and an authority on the history of pagan beliefs. He’s the author many books including of’The Triumph of the Moon’, ‘Shamans’ and ‘Pagan Britain’)

What do Pagan Readers think of the Shaman Mysteries?

In The Moors is the latest offering from Nina Milton, author and OBOD member, introducing the seemingly-unlikely detective Sabbie Dare. Sabbie, like all the best heroes of the crime thriller genre, is impulsive, courageous, a bit odd, and less than lucky in love. Sabbie is a shamanic counsellor, and when not tending to her chickens or chasing bargains at car boot sales, spend her days helping her clients. It is one such encounter that plunges Sabbie into a dark world of murder and horror past and present.For me, this holds its head up with the best of its genre and so comes highly recommended – and for those of you, like me, who are already hooked, the next Sabbie Dare novel is already in the pipeline. Can’t wait!

Review in Touchstone (magazine of OBOD-Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids)

A real page-turner, In the Moors cost me several hours of sleep because it was so un-put-downable! An engaging heroine, a landscape at once so real and so menacing, and an intriguing mystery had me enthralled into the wee hours! Mara Freeman

(Mara Freeman is a respected teacher of Western esoteric tradition and the author of ‘Kindling the Celtic Spirit’ & ‘Grail Alchemy’’)

I could not put down Unraveled Visions by Nina Milton. I congratulate her on a real page turner. I loved the sinister Fergus Quigg’s story of the Blarney Stone; I’ll look forward now, to reports that American Tourists will attempt to sanitize it with wetwipes before leaning in for a kiss, which could be amusing to the locals! I held on to my belief in Fergus’ innocence until the last; no man who writes in a notebook with pen could possibly be all bad, could he? But as the concluding tensions burst, and the final secrets were revealed, Unraveled Visions kept me up long past my bedtime (as promised by Mara Freeman), especially when Sabbie’s shamanic experiences with snakes became the great finishing twist. Nina Milton makes the unbelievable credible and persuasive. Ana Adnan

(Ana Adnan is a Wiccan High Priestess and a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids)

ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW FOR IN THE MOORS

Another great review online for In the Moors, the first Shaman Mystery by Nina Milton.

Sabbie Dare, the zany, feisty heroine of Nina Milton’s In The Moors, is a city girl of mixed race and lost parentage; as a child she went into the care system and by the time she was twelve was a little fighting machine.

When we meet her, she’s 28 and clear about her path in life; she’s an eco-friendly pagan living in Somerset where she works as a therapeutic shaman. Her clients come to her for last-resort help, and such is Cliff Houghton...

If you'd like to read all the review, just click the link below.

http://www.skylightrain.com/book-review-in-the-moors-by-nina-milton/

Sky Light Rain is a great blogsite for readers and writers alike, with writing tips, reviews and general literary based chat and information. I'm making it one of my must-visit sites.

Creative Writing with the OPEN COLLEGE of the ARTS

I've worked happily with the OCA for several years, tutoring, assessing, workshoping and writing course materials.
They offer the very best courses in Creative Writing and have a dedicated commitment to art at all levels. Each course is self-contained and adds to a writer's understanding of their subject, but can also build into a BA hons in Creative Writing.
I teach the following OCA courses:

WRITING SKILLS

WRITING SHORT FICTION

WRITING FOR CHILDREN

LIFE WRITING

ADVANCED WRITING at Level 3

Go to: http://www.oca-uk.com/
freephone 0800 7312116

THE KITCHEN TABLE WRITERS

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