Search the Community

Wow it's been a long time since I've been here. I'll try to post something more regularly but if you know me at all you'll know my memory is awful. Nudges always appreciated. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to give you a bit of a peep behind the scenes of Aria Graice. It actually all started with one of those silly, click bait things that crop up on Facebook. It was about the children of celebrities. I started thinking about it and this name popped into my head. Aria Graice. I started making up all kinds of little stories about Aria - who he was, where he lived, what kind of life he had. It percolated around in my head but wasn't really going anywhere. I have to mention that in a complete, if rather freaky, coincidence, I have recently discovered there is an LGBT author called Aria Graice. I had no idea before I named my character, and I honestly don't believe I'd heard of them before Aria came to me. Once named, of course, Aria would accept no other. Then I saw a painting that is actually fan art depicting Yuri and Yurio from Yuri on ice. The artist is Sakimi Chan who is am.az.ing. Here is their facebook page, you should support them https://www.facebook.com/sakimichanart/ . They do amazing work. Anyway, as soon as I laid eyes on him I knew he was my Aria. That's when I started to write the story and wouldn't you know, the little shit cloned himself and suddenly I had twins. This was never going to be a twincest story, and it isn't. In fact there's not much sex in it at all. It's more of an adventure with a lot of angst, some surprising twists and some typically Nephy torture and torment for kicks. I've tried to bring things up to date a little but at the same time wrote in some real life stuff given Drew comes from my home town. I've tried my hand at overshadowing and tried my best to avoid any Chekov's guns (probably wrong spellings) no doubt my readers will pull me up if I fail. The notice everything. So Aria was born and duplicated, hence Amara was born, then wouldn't you know a whole load of stuff shifted to Amara and Aria shocked me by becoming something other than he was at the beginning. The story took some strange twists and turns. Characters entered I hadn't intended, characters I'd planned faded into the background and Drew surprised me by being a lot deeper that I'd thought. So there you are. The story was born. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

I've been away on a writing course this week and would like to share some of the exercises we did. Much of it was concerned with character development. Here's one of the first ones we did: Close your eyes. See a character walking towards you. At first, they are indistinct, then as they come closer, you start to pick out some features. What are they wearing? What do they look like? As they come closer still, notice their face and hair, the texture of their skin. Closer still, what do they smell like? Would this character shake hands with you, or hug? Would they say good morning, or acknowledge you at all? I chose to use a minor character in the story I'm currently developing for this one and here is what I wrote: Arthur’s out walking his terrier, Susie as he always does at the same time each morning. He’s wearing his rough clothes: his dog walking clothes as Helen, his wife puts it. An old pair of jeans, with mud splashes around the ankles, well worn walking boots and a practical waterproof jacket with pockets for essentials such as poo bags. His thin grey hair, which is in need of a trim, stirs in the breeze. His cheeks are ruddy, with broken veins from a lifetime of working outdoors in all weathers. His jacket exudes a smell of stale smoke; he’s not allowed to smoke at home as Helen thinks it’s bad for his health. Another pocket conceals a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Now he’s out of sight of the house, he turns his back against the wind, lights up and takes his first long drag of the day. The cigarette - partially smoked the previous evening and picked out before he got home - is held firmly curled within his calloused palm, easy to hide if he meets a friend of Helen’s. Susie sits at his feet, content to wait patiently. She won’t give away his habits. His secret is safe with her.