The Writer's Guide to the Zodiac - Meet Giselle Green

In May this year, Giselle Green won the coveted Joan Hessayon Award, given by the Romantic Novelists' Association, here in the UK, for the best debut novel of the year from a newly published member. That book, Pandora's Box, is the thought provoking story of a mother and daughter coming to terms with the past, and the future. Comparisons have been made to Jodi Picoult, so you can understand why Giselle was a winner. Now she is looking forward to her second book coming out. Little Miracles will be available from Avon in February.

But before her sparkling fiction debut, Giselle self-published a writers' guide that might just give other authors a slightly different perspective on their characters.

Title Magic welcomes Giselle to talk about The Writer's Guide to the Zodiac.

Hello everyone and thanks Evonne for inviting me to talk about The Writer’s guide to the Zodiac – it’s a pleasure to be here.

First off, you may wonder why indeed a writer would NEED such a thing, since writing and astrology seem like very separate pursuits. Speaking as someone who has practiced astrology for 12 years now, and as an author, I can attest to the fact that they are indeed very similar. They are both about the same two things; (1)characters (2) what happens to them.

As writers we intuitively understand that what ‘happens’ to our characters arises very much from what their personalities are like. To put it another way, in fiction, people draw life-situations onto themselves that reflect a particular facet of their personality; greedy people may be tempted to over-indulge, timid people may be challenged to step up to the mark and become brave etc. So; life-challenges are set for our fictional characters, and by their ACTIONS (made as a result of decisions they make, realisations they come to) – their fate is sealed. In astrology, there is also this understanding that ‘Fate follows from character’, BUT – and here is the key bit – to quote one of my favourite bits of wisdom from American Astrologer Zipporah Dobbins, ‘we are not fated to EVENTS but to what events MEAN by happening’.

What’s all that about? It really boils down to our deepest soul-level motivations which we - or our fictional characters – may have very little inkling about at the outset. We all know about Scrooge, whose deepest desire was to earn as much as possible and give very little of it away. His mean actions and outlook activate the ghost of his former partner. The ghost reconnects him with (1) the love he once knew as a boy (2) the horrible end he will come to if he carries on being so mean. The message is that the FATE he is heading towards is only because he hasn’t learned yet to be loving to those around him. He learns the lesson, pronto and his awful fate is averted. What Scrooge needed to learn about was LOVE – but another character in a similar position might have an entirely different lesson to learn, and a different fate.

In ‘The Writer’s Guide to the Zodiac’ I set out to do two things. Firstly, I wanted to show how all the apparently random lists of ‘character traits’ ascribed to the 12 signs of the zodiac are not random at all. After you have understood the premise on which they stand, you should be able to work any Zodiac sign’s traits out for yourself. Secondly, I wanted to help writers who have trouble with characterisation. If you have a core idea in your head about what sun sign your hero/heroine is, it can be a great aid in knowing HOW they will react in any given circumstance.

This is because the 12 zodiac signs are based on the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Earthy signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) give you people who relate to the senses; these are people who are very much rooted in the ‘here and now’, the present.
Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) give you people who relate best to the mind, to thoughts; thoughts transcend time, and can relate to past, future or present.
Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) relate best to creativity, imagination, and projections and to the future and Water signs relate best to feelings and emotions. Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) is the element that clings onto and remembers the past.

We have twelve signs and not four, because each of the elements is sub-divided into three, which I explain further in the book. But already you can see how friction and tension might arise as a character entrenched in one particular element – say Air - might totally ‘not get’ a person who is coming from (say) a Water perspective. This would be your classic ‘I’m being reasonable and logical and you’re being over-emotional’ (Air perspective) scenario as opposed to ‘you’re being totally analytical and dry and unfeeling, how could you?’ (Water perspective).

Understanding the motivations and driving forces behind each of the elements shows us more than how our characters will react with each other. It indicates the kinds of ACTIONS they are likely to take in response to external stimuli ( which appears as ‘Fate’). A fiery type in a car prang might get out and have an argument with the other driver. An airy type will take down the other’s details (information). An earthy type will assess the damage and take whatever practical steps are needed whilst a watery type might burst into tears.
Before you think, ‘That’s sounds like stereotyping’, let me add that in real life, we are all mixtures of all these traits, that’s a given. And in your astrological chart, you won’t just have your Sun in Aries, you’ll have your Moon somewhere too and ‘your’ Mars, Venus etc. will all be in certain signs.

The value of a really in-depth look at the Sun sign of your characters is that it can give you a really solid core, or springboard, from which to hang all their other traits or quirks. When you think of a character like Inspector Morse – an airy sign if there ever was one, with his love of intellectual pursuits like crosswords etc, there was also his extreme squeamishness ( he couldn’t bear to look at a dead body) – which we could put down to a ‘lack of earth’ in his chart, maybe. He was a romantic, and an intellectual but he never managed to accrue much in terms of worldly goods, or have a long-term physical relationship because he wasn’t anchored enough in ‘earth’. Just speculation of course! But you see how you can use different mixtures of the elements to make your characters consistent? If we accept that a character like Morse has a ‘lack of earth’ in his chart – we can’t then go and make him ‘good with banking investments’ – because this wouldn’t be consistent.

To go back to one of my original reasons for writing the book – character traits are not random, they have an innate ‘energy’ or purpose to them. They ‘come from’ somewhere. If you understand where that is, the chances are your characters will feel more real and congruent and believable – which is what we’re all aiming for in our writing. Hope this helps, and – Evonne – thanks once again for asking me!

Definitely a different way of looking at the writing process. And who can resist a book with twelve pairs of shoes on the cover?

If you'd like to own a copy of the Writer's Guide, which Giselle self published, you can order it direct from her, and she will sign it for you

Contact her via her website at www.gisellegreen.com

I know I certainly want one. Thanks to Giselle for being with us, and good luck with Little Miracles in February 2009.

PS Over the last two weeks, Title Magic has met all the finalists in American Title V. Scroll back to see any interviews you may have missed. And don't forget that voting begins on 10 November.

A Different Kind of Contest

Lee and Anitra posted earlier this week with two fabulous pieces on contests. I recently attended the award ceremony for a slightly different kind of competition, here in the UK. Not quite the sort of contest as those described by Lee and Anitra, but a very big event for new writers of romantic fiction over here. The Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Award brings together all those writers who have been through the RNA critique scheme that year and who have subsequently made it into publication.

The award takes place as part of the RNA Summer Party – a bit of a misnomer this year, as it was raining – I settled for a sensible pair of black trousers rather than the frothy frock I’d been hoping to wear. The venue was the beautiful library of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Doesn’t sound like a romantic location, but it is – a working library with a gallery, balconies and deep window embrasures, full of books – they do tend to be about mining and other engineer type subjects, as you might expect, but you can’t have everything. The approach, up a wide sweeping staircase, is pretty spectacular too. In fact the whole building is rather splendid, overlooking St James’s Park.

The party is a gathering for gossip, sipping champagne and making contacts – much exchanging of business cards and networking. And canapés. I chickened out of something gooey, served in a spoon with what looked like spinach, but all the others were delicious, even if I didn’t know what I was eating half the time. I particularly liked the mini sausages, served with mashed potato as a dip. Bangers and Mash, in miniature.

The serious part of the evening is the judging and presentation. This year there were five newly published writers: - Beth Elliot with The Wild Card, Monica Fairview with An Improper Suitor and Elizabeth Hanbury with The Paradise Will, all published by Robert Hale Ltd, plus Giselle Green with Pandora's Box - published by Avon (HarperCollins) and Jane Lovering with Reversing Over Liberace - published by Samhain.

The award is sponsored by Dr David Hessayon, in memory of his late wife Joan, who was a romance writer and longstanding member of the RNA. Dr Hessayon is the writer of the ‘Gardening Expert’ books. There are over 49 million copies of his works in print and 1999 he received a Guinness World Record Award as ‘Britain’s best-selling living author of the 1990s’. During his usual warm and witty speech he confided that he will shortly be celebrating 50 years of publication. His generosity, as well as providing a prize for all the finalists and the main award of £1,000, also extends to buying everyone a glass of champagne to toast the winner, a gesture always very well received. This year was no exception and everyone toasted Giselle Green, with enthusiasm.

Giselle has been trying for publication for nine years, so her message was definitely never to give up hope. Pandora’s Box was described as a brave book, which tackles the story of a mother and her fifteen year old daughter who has been diagnosed with a debilitating and fatal illness. An old diary unearths memories and the ending has a surprising twist. And the descriptions of Cornwall are, apparently, superb. Giselle is also the author of A Writer's Guide to the Zodiac - on using star signs to help build and understand characters, which sounds like something a Title Magician ought to check out!

It was an excellent party. I’m already looking forward to next year. That one really will be special, as our own Helen will be one of the line-up in contention for the award, following the publication of The Magic Knot, by Dorchester in February 2009.

Ivory Towers

I'm not thinking of the kind that you get in fairy tales, but the kind inhabited by writers when they're practicing their craft. (Or, alternatively, sitting staring into space, wondering where they lost the plot and why their hero and heroine have stopped talking to them.)

It's a cliche that writers don't usually get out much - considering that several that I know write in their pyjamas at odd hours of the night, covered in coffee stains and crumbs, perhaps that's no bad thing.

The alone-ness of the act of writing often means that belonging to writers' organisations and critique groups takes on a special importance.

Today I decided I'd talk a little about an organization I've belonged to for a number of years – the Romantic Novelists' Association. (Helen is a member too.)

While there are many writers' circles, reading groups and creative writing courses in the UK, the majority of professional organisations over here will only accept published authors into their membership. The RNA is an exception to this - they not only welcome unpublished as well as published writers, but also run an annual contest for new writers who have made it into publication. As a ‘New Writer’ you are expected to submit a manuscript every year for a professional critique from a published author – a service that has helped polish many manuscripts that have subsequently made it into print.

Membership of the RNA gives you the chance to attend meetings and conferences – those are the chance to learn things. Then there are the parties -- with that all important opportunity to network, drink wine, gossip, admire everyone’s posh frocks, and generally have one heck of a time – when writers do get out of their ivory tower, there’s usually no stopping them –

At the beginning of next month there will be a big social occasion for the RNA which has a serious purpose at its heart – the award for the UK Romantic Novel of the Year. The long list for this major award, chosen by a panel of readers, features 20 books across a wide range of genres – chick lit, regional family sagas, historical novels – they are all very different, but they are all guaranteed to be an excellent read. If you want to take a look at the long list then check out the new link to the RNA which I’m adding to Title Magic’s list – at least I hope I am. If I can’t get it to work then I shall be screaming for super tec help from Mel – or Trish, or Mai. I know one of them will come galloping to the rescue.

Anyway, away from my techno deficiencies and back to the award. In the next few days the long list will be reduced to around six books by another round of reader recommendations. Then it’s down to a panel of judges to make the final choice.

The contest has a special significance for me this year as a fellow Welsh author and inspirational friend Catrin Collier is on the long list for her book One Last Summer. It’s a poignant and carefully researched novel that draws on her own family background to weave a fragile love story into an account of a woman trying to hold her home and family together. The story begins in Prussia, in the turmoil of World War Two, but has its conclusion in the present day. I really hope that Catrin makes it onto the short list and has a chance at the prize.

I’m hoping to be in London for the lunch when the winner is announced – definitely an occasion for the posh frock - some of the biggest names of romantic fiction on this side of the Atlantic will be there – if I make it then you’ll hear all about it – that’s a promise.