The welcoming Blackwell’s Bookshop has recently hosted an entertaining panel dedicated to Fantasy and Horror. The guests’ authors were Bradley Beaulieu (A veil of spears), Anna Spark-Smith (The Court of broken knives), and Catriona Ward (Rawblood).
The blue and white sign of the shop looms before my eyes as I walk down High Street Holborn. The University of Arts of London towers over the trafficked lanes, on the other side of the road. A smiling lady with golden frame glasses asks me if I’m there for the event. I think the question is quite banal, but I then realise that, on the counter to the left of the main door, a sign reads ‘Shop closed for evening event’. She encourages me to take a seat in the small cafeteria at the end of the books displaying area; the conversation is starting in a few minutes. I only have the time to sit down, take out my indispensable notepad, and silence my mobile. The authors are already sitting on the stylish cream coloured sofa in front of the audience. Bradley Beaulieu leads the group; a slender, salt-and-pepper hair man with a thin goatee and two lively penetrating green eyes. Catriona Ward follows closely; her thick blonde hair shine and wave. She smiles and observes the people who came out to listen to them. Anna Smith-Spark, a tall woman with neatly combed black hair and two dark eyes betraying her excitement, closes the group. Her long green dress billows step after step; her unbuttoned dark cardigan wraps her small shoulders and harmonically follows the waving movement of her body. Everybody’s eyes stare stupefied at her unusual glossy boots with spikes. The writers start the evening by reading a chapter of their works. The hall fell totally silent; people’s attention focuses the battle scene Anna Smith Spark chooses to read, on the thrilling situation of the cave ghost Catriona decides to share, on the internal dilemma Bradley Beaulieu ideates for his main character. An enthusiastic applause warms the novelists’ spirit as they terminate their reading. “I think the writing process is the most interesting phase of our work,” Beaulieu says, kicking off the conversation, “but what kind of difficulties did we go through before getting started?” “The book that a writer creates represents what you really are,” Ward answers. “It comes out from a hidden side of your mind spontaneously. The beginning is scaring, but, once you started, writing becomes essential.” “The idea pops in your mind unexpectedly,” Smith Spark confirms. “While you’re writing, you find yourself immersed in a world you created. It’s, indeed, part of your subconscious. You’ve always had in you.” The authors agree; Beaulieu says writing becomes easier and easier after you get used to it. It goes on smoothly and straightforwardly. “Sometimes it may be difficult to have the right impulse,” Ward says. “When the impulse arrives, you think you sorted your troubles out, but, instead, you’ve just created new problems.” “Using multiple points of view allowed me to focus on different perspectives and consider different ideas,” Beaulieu claims. “It also helps to figure out whether your work is working out or not.” “It’s a feeling,” Smith Spark interjects. “I have to feel comfortable. If I don’t, it drives me crazy.” Ward nods; the authors are on the same wavelength. Comfortability and can-do attitude are vital to the creative process. “To write something from a different perspective is also very challenging,” Ward says. “It allows you to point at the characters’ internal contradictions.” “All the characters have particularities,” Beaulieu agrees. “My main character has a singular external personality, but when you read about her life and what she got through, you understand why she does and thinks certain things.” “That’s very important, but characters aren’t only mere protagonists of a story,” Smith Spark says. “The reader has to be able to read between the lines. The characters we create also reflect our perception of the reality and our values. We have to get over the simplicity of the story and appreciate their moral deepness.” “We care about the characters and we sometimes end up feeling the same emotion they feel during the story,” Beaulieu confirms. “Sometimes it’s very difficult to have to get rid of them.” The time is unfortunately over. The conversation has quickly come to an end. I get up and head to the exit with my mind full of thoughts. These events are always inspirational. They help they who, like me, are interested in writing, but they also give a clear image of what the life of an author is. It’s not only sit in front of a computer and put down a few words which make a sort of sense. It’s a more intense a deeper sensation which involves every moment and feeling of your life.
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