Writing 'About the Children'

'Where do you get the ideas for your books?' 'How do you start?' I've been asked these questions frequently, especially by my Creative Writing students, and they are tricky questions to answer. The starting points are so varied and so hard to pinpoint; not to mention that the starting point of the book in First Draught can often be moved further back in the editing process or even be eliminated altogether.

In About the Children, the first inspiration came to me in Paris, in a garden near the Seine, where I saw a young couple kissing on a bench. The girl was kneeling, straddling her partner, and it was only when they moved apart that I realised that they were both women. A little while later, a different girl walked past me, wearing jewelled tear-drop make-up. The two images combined and (after a period of thinking 'nice little scene, what are you going to do with it?') they became Sophie and Colleen, embracing in a suburban English park. In the first draught, the book opened before the shootings and there were two chapters of description leading up to the deaths. There was some nice descriptive writing in there but I'm pretty certain that, if it had stayed, I'd have lost 75% of my readers before the first shots were fired. I realised that I'd been using the first few chapters to write myself into the book, and that was fine. Some people plot meticulously, I go with the flow of the writing. Sometimes I hit the right starting point at the first shot, sometimes not.

Talking of shots, let's get back to About the Children. I found myself with an opening scene of two children shot in a suburban park. 'The two boys lay sprawled and broken, like fledglings that had fallen from the nest.' The moment I wrote those words I knew that they were right and they haven't changed, whatever else has.

And who was the Senior Investigating Officer looking down on them? His name came quite easily... Tyler... Kev Tyler, usually referred to by his surname and only ever called Kevin by his ex-wife and his mother. Everything I knew about Tyler could be summed up in two words: 'intelligence' and 'integrity'. I soon discovered other features: his ambition and single-mindedness; his love of good literature, which he kept concealed from his colleagues; his deeply hidden, basic insecurity. One thing I was certain of: Tyler's personal life was empty but he wasn't going to destroy all he had achieved by going off the rails.

Tyler's instinct to recall lines of poetry when he is under stress was great fun to write. What better excuse to read through lots of well-loved poetry books? However, I had to tread carefully, that sort of quirk can become irritating or farcical if over-used. In the end, I chose all long-dead poets. With the short quotes I was using I should have been okay but the last thing an Indie writer (or any writer) needs is to fall foul of copyright laws.

Detective Inspector Gill Martin, Tyler's temporary second-in-command, was harder to get to know than Tyler. Possibly she stood in his shadow, or maybe because she's a private person who didn't wish to be known. However, as soon as I got inside her head, she was very easy to write.

The rest of the team were fun to write, especially Detective Sergeant Kerry Buller, loud and opinionated and always one step ahead of everybody else with the gossip. Detective Sergeant Luke Warden was even easier to write. While Tyler was in the US (before the start of About the Children) he'd been seconded to another team and joined Scene of Crimes Officer Mia Trent to play a part in an investigation in a nearby town, which is told in The Terminal Velocity of Cats.

For several draughts of About the Children I had an insertion between every chapter, which told the story in the First Person Viewpoint of other characters. In many ways it worked: I certainly got to know my minor characters and their motivation very well; but it slowed down the pace, and possibly gave too much away. I removed all the central inserts but left the beginning and end ones as a very short prologue and epilogue, because I felt it was essential the disempowered children had a voice.

Titles are very important to me and I struggled for a long time with the title for this book. The story addresses the deepest fear any parent can have and I drew my fundamental, emotional inspiration from The Death of Children, Richard Burns' harrowing poem about the holocaust. In the end I heard Tom Paxton singing a song about divorce, with the chorus, 'No worries any more about the children.' I thought, 'Of course, that's the central theme of this book, it's About the Children.'
I absolutely love the cover, designed for the book by my colleague, Chris Hammacott of the Art of Communication. We'd already agreed that all my contemporary crime would have a yellow Crime Scene tape across them to set the brand. I gave Chris a very out-of-focus picture of a child walking away and said, 'Sort of like that, please.' She found a much better picture of a younger child and worked her magic with colour and style. It's such a joy to have covers that I can feel proud of and I love it when people stop and comment on them because they're so eye-catching.  

Check out this great review of About the Children

Check out this great review of my latest Police Procedural, About the Children, by Lizzie Hayes, the founder and editor-in-chief of Mystery People, the ezine that everybody who loves reading and writing crime fiction should subscribe to.

http://www.mysterypeople.co.uk/

http://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/

About The Children

by Carol Westron

The discovery of two boys shot dead, both under the age of twelve in a quiet suburban park

is a gruelling find. Assigned to the case is Superintendent Tyler head of Saltern's Serious

Crimes Team, and with his regular second-in-command on sick leave his new DI is Gill

Martin. There are however five victims, three dead; a woman and the two children, and two

wounded, a man and a young woman. As the SOCO team proceed to sift the evidence it be-

comes a possibility that there were three children present at the time of the attack, and if so

where is the third child?

Whilst his team try to establish the train of events, such as who was shot first, Tyler, Gill

Martin and his Sergeant Kerry Buller visit the parents. Jasmin and Ian Quantrull confirm that

their youngest child Charlie had gone to the park with his two brothers.

As Tyler and his team investigate the lives of the five victims, trying to establish a motive, the questions abound . Were these random killings? Who were the intended victims? But the overriding urgency is ‘Where is Charlie’

As complicated as is his job, so to is Tyler. Having recently returned from a course in the USA on children who commit violent acts Tyler reluctantly begins to look at the two boys . An avid reader Tyler has a habit of finding passages from books leaping into his mind as he goes about his job. Something that helps him make sense of the ugliness he so regularly encounters, but which he keeps locked away from his colleagues. It will be interesting to learn more of Tyler. And also of Gill Martin.

Complex and compelling this is a fascinating mystery and even as the layers of the lives of both victims and family members are stripped away, as the investigation progresses you will still be eagerly turning the pages to know the identity of the killer. A marvelous second book, I look forward to the next. Most highly recommended.

------

Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

About the Children is published by Pentangle Press, April 2014.

ISBN: 978-1-4952-32107-7

www.carolwestron.com

It's Too Tricky On My Own. Why Adam needs a very special dog.

This is very different from my usual writing blogs, not to mention a great deal longer. However those of you who know me personally will know it is a subject very close to my heart. My thanks to R.J. Scott for inviting me to take part in her regular April Autism blog hop and apologies for late delivery, my Internet connection went down until an hour ago.
 


Adam will soon be eleven but he's never been anywhere without an adult to look after him: not even to the shops or the local park with his thirteen-year-old brother. He cannot play in the garden without somebody within sight. He's too anxious to go anywhere alone and, even when he's with an adult, when he gets scared he can run into danger, blinded by panic.
Adam has autism. He was diagnosed when he was three. It's as if he went into the 'terrible twos', got lost in a maze of dark tunnels and couldn't find his way out. At that time his fear was uncontrollable and he would try to run away wherever he was; hide and not respond to his name while people searched for him. He'd kick, hit and bite when people who loved him tried to restrain him to keep him safe. It could take half an hour to get him in the car to drive his brother to school. He had no speech and seemed unaware of the people around him, climbing over them as if they were furniture.
Adam was born in the late summer, which meant he had to enter school when he was four years and one month old. There was no way he was ready and, because of his non-compliance, the Local Authority wanted to send him to a school that was not, in our opinion, in any way right for him. We took the Local Authority to Tribunal to fight for Adi's right to one-to-one support in a mainstream school. It was an expensive, harrowing experience, which we won. The problem was that we'd won the War but we lost the Peace. The class teacher's attitude was so negative and the one-to-one supplied was so inadequate that we knew he wouldn't be safe and he certainly wasn't happy. My daughter and I both taught in local Further Education Colleges, so we decided to cut our hours and educate Adam at home. We were lucky to have the help of a wonderful Occupational Therapist who specialises in Sensory Integration but, at that early point in her career, was willing to be part of Adam's Home Education Team. Apart from that, if something we needed wasn't available we created it for ourselves. We set up Primetime, the Home Education group whose whole ethos was based on disabled and mainstream children mixing and playing and learning respect for each other.
We have a mix-and-match approach to Adam's education; working on instinct a lot of the time.
It hasn't been easy. In fact most of the time it has been a long, hard grind, especially for Adam's mum, who for several years survived on two to three hours sleep every night, because Adam woke and prowled the house. The gluten and dairy free diet he's on has made a lot of difference to Adam's well-being, but it complicates life and it costs a lot.
But it is all worth it.
At ten-years-old, Adam is lively, talkative and funny, and one of the most loving little boys in the world. He is starting to read, his maths is pretty good and he loves drawing. He goes out to various Home Education clubs where he meets friends and is learning to play, but always with his mum close at hand. He doesn't bite or kick and tries very hard not to hit, although sometimes 'my hand does it before my head can say no.' He frequently tells the people in his life how much he loves them and melts our hearts by asking for help and explaining, 'It's too tricky on my own.' One problem that's current is that Adam gets lonely and scared at night and creeps into his mum's bed. He's still a young and very innocent child but, in the near future, this has to be sorted out.
Adam loves animals. He adores the family cat, Tails, and helps look after the two naughty rabbits, Bobby and Endy. He was desolate when his dog, Rolo, died of cancer a year ago, and still speaks of him often, taking comfort in the thought that Rolo's back doesn't hurt him any more and he's in Heaven 'dancing with Michael Jackson.'
Adam's life is much better than anyone ever expected, but he needs something else, he needs a friend who is there all the time to play with and keep him company in the garden, and who, in time, can help him achieve the independence of going out alone. He needs a very special dog with special training to help fill the gaps in Adam's life. In the summer Adam will get his very special Golden Retriever, fully trained to help with his needs and allowed to go with him anywhere that a Guide Dog would go: shops, restaurants; cinema; bowling; the beach; all the many places where Adam finds it 'too tricky on his own.'
So what will this dog do?
He'll keep Adam company, lying beside his bed, at night, and help him to stay in his own room. He'll be out in the garden with him when he's on the swing or playing, which will give Adam more independence and a playmate who's devoted to him.
When out and about the dog's lead will be attached to Adam's wrist and if he runs in panic the dog will circle him, anchoring him down, until the adult with Adam can intervene.
The dog will be trained to sense Adam's mood and, when he senses that Adam is getting agitated he'll gently paw him to distract him before Adam has a 'meltdown.'
He'll be a companion and a friend, who never withdraws his love and is always there ready for a game and up for a trip to the park or beach.
He'll give Adam the confidence to face new experiences without being overwhelmed by anxiety and the dog will have his own passport for travelling abroad... Jet set dog!
In time he may be able to accompany Adam to the park or shops without a carer. That will be the ultimate in independence.
This perfect dog will even be trained not to chase the cat or rabbits.
Service Dogs Europe train the autism dogs and puppies to an amazing standard. Check out their Facebook Page to see some of the cutest pictures in the world. But there's one problem, Adam's Golden Retriever friend, companion and guardian will cost £4,000. So we are fund-raising in every way we can, car boot sales, soft toy stalls, e bay sales, an e-published short story anthology and a sponsored dog walk.
Adam wants to play his part and has illustrated a story I wrote for him, in his own unique style. Those who know about autism, and those of you who are authors, will know what an amazing achievement that collaboration was. Adam's improved version has more trains in it than the original,  but he understood the need for the Dream Train and Adi to go through the darkness alone, although it cost him an effort to draw it. One of my favourite moments was when I asked him if he knew how to draw dragons and he said, 'Of course, Grandma. Coming right up,' and drew Chinese Dragons. Genius!
Adi and the Dream Train is available to buy from Amazon but the way we'd prefer everybody to buy, to maximise the profits for Adam's dog, would be for anybody who'd like to support us to go to http://www.mycharity.ie/event/jo_halsalls_event/
If you pay £10 or more and would like a copy of Adam's book, contact me on carolwestron@gmail.com and send me your address and I'll send one out to you.
All profits from the book will go to Adam's Yellow Dog Fund. Thank you for your support.

Thank you for staying with me through the longest ever blog. As you'll have guessed, my competition is animal related. I'd like you to send a brief account of how an animal has influenced your own life or that of somebody close to you. I'll ask Adam and his his mum and brother to help me choose the winner, who will receive a £6 ($10) Amazon gift voucher.