Tag: writing

On resurrecting the dead

The Guardian reported this morning that there is to be a new Hercule Poirot novel, written by Sophie Hannah. Poirot is a Belgian detective created by Dame Agatha Christie who featured in thirty-three novels and more than fifty short stories. The character died in the novel Curtain which was published in 1975.

When Curtain was published The New York Times ran a full-page obituary in Poirot’s honour, and he remains the only fictional character to get such treatment.

Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown. Mr. Poirot achieved fame as a private investigator after he retired as a member of the Belgian police force in 1904. His career, as chronicled in the novels of Dame Agatha Christie, was one of the most illustrious in fiction.

— You can read the full obituary here

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
Source – Wikipedia

Reviving deceased characters is nothing new. Continue reading “On resurrecting the dead” →

Some more Dan Brown…the last time…I promise

I don’t hate Dan Brown. I honestly don’t. I own four of his books, after all (okay, five, but I got the last one for free, so it doesn’t count). I have contributed, at least in part, to his current wealth. I didn’t like Inferno, I’ve said so, and I was happy to let the matter lie, even after I coincidentally discovered a factual error.

But yesterday I typed “Dan Brown Inferno” into Quora.com, to see if people were discussing the novel, just out of curiosity, you know? There I came across one question which exposed a plot hole…make that the plot hole, a plot hole so big that I didn’t even spot it because the entire novel was inside it.

(At this point it would again be pertinent to issue a spoiler alert, but does it make any difference?) Continue reading “Some more Dan Brown…the last time…I promise” →

KokkieH Reviews Inferno by Dan Brown

About a month ago I mentioned that I had won a copy of Dan Brown’s Inferno, which was a good thing as, after The Lost Symbol I wasn’t planning on buying one of his novels again. Turns out my instincts were right as Mr Brown’s latest offering was not much of an improvement on its predecessor.

I have to admit that wasn’t my first impression. In fact, I quite enjoyed the first two thirds of the novel.

(At this point it would be pertinent to insert a spoiler warning. I am going to reveal significantly more than the jacket blurb, but I’ll try not to ruin the big stuff just in case you really want to read it.) Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Inferno by Dan Brown” →

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On why I blog

This blog has been pretty much hit-and-miss since I first started it on Blogger a year ago and it wasn’t until a month ago that I really began to make a point of posting something every day. Even when I went away for the past long-weekend I didn’t miss a beat thanks to pre-scheduled posts.

Then yesterday came and went and I didn’t post anything without even a twinge of guilt. I can make the excuse that we were hosting my mom’s friends for her birthday, or that I had a lot to do, what with going for a tetanus shot (my dad’s scotty wanted to see what my ear tastes like), taking my wife’s car to the shop and taking an old television set to the pawn shop (they didn’t want it), and simply didn’t have time. But that would be a lie. Continue reading “On why I blog” →

The Crucible (NOT the play about the Salem witch trials)

Here’s another piece I did in my creative writing course last year. We had to write a conversation where one character was explaining something to another character without it turning into a boring monologue. I decided to show off and combine it with what we learned about plots the previous week.

The Crucible

“Right, so, every story at some point needs a crucible.”

“Hang on. What’s a crucible? I thought this was a writing class, not religion.”

“Crucible, not crucifix. Technically, it’s a clay container in which you mix chemicals and then heat them up so they’ll react with each other –“

“Now you’re talking about chemistry. Do you really know about writing?”

“Keep your pants on! In writing, a crucible is a situation in which two characters are in conflict –“

“So, not a clay pot?”

“…No.”

“Okay.”

“May I continue now?”

“Sure.”

“As I was saying, two characters are in conflict, but it’s a situation they can’t escape, like, being stuck in an elevator, say.”

“Oh! Just like the chemicals in the clay pot. I see. It’s one of them metaphor-thingies.”

“Yes. One of them metaphor-thingies. Anyway, then you add something to make the situation worse.”

“Like the building being on fire?”

“Exactly. So, they have to get out of the stuck elevator before the building burns down with them in it, but they have to sort out their crap first, otherwise they can’t work together to get out, see?”

“Erm.”

“Yes?”

“Why’s the building on fire?”

“Why’s the..? Forget it! I give up!”

“Hey, wait! Where are you going? Come back!”