Tuesday, 6 June 2017
Seas of Snow by Kerensa Jennings
Release Date: 16th March 2017
Publisher: Unbound Digital
Publisher: Unbound Digital
Genres: Psychological / mystery /thriller /suspense
1950s England. Five-year-old Gracie Scott lives with her Mam and next
door to her best friend Billy. An only child, she has never known her
Da. When her Uncle Joe moves in, his physical abuse of Gracie’s mother
starts almost immediately. But when his attentions wander to Gracie, an
even more sinister pattern of behaviour begins.
As Gracie grows older, she finds solace and liberation in books, poetry and her enduring friendship with Billy. Together they escape into the poetic fairy-tale worlds of their imaginations.
But will fairy tales be enough to save Gracie from Uncle Joe’s psychopathic behaviour – and how far will it go?
As Gracie grows older, she finds solace and liberation in books, poetry and her enduring friendship with Billy. Together they escape into the poetic fairy-tale worlds of their imaginations.
But will fairy tales be enough to save Gracie from Uncle Joe’s psychopathic behaviour – and how far will it go?
I am very excited to have the wonderfully talented Kerensa Jennings on the blog with a fantastic guest post. I am currently reading Kerensa's book Seas of Snow so look out for my review here on the blog on 13th June! As you can see from the blurb above, this promises to be an amazing book!
Let's read what Kerensa Jennings has to say about writing!
GUEST POST
On writing…
I am often asked about
whether I have advice for aspiring writers. I'd say the best thing you can do
is read. Then read some more. Then carry on reading. Pay attention to the
world. Learn to notice things. Become finely tuned to the things people don't
say as well as the things they do.
Voraciously consume art in all its forms - the stuff you are naturally drawn to and the stuff that you feel might be boring or not quite your 'thing'. Hone your sixth sense for story and develop your Perception Superpower.
Say less and listen more. Be happy in your own company. Learn to appreciate silence and stillness.
Let your ideas flow into you and jot things down as and when they occur to you. Not everything you write has to be your masterpiece. Collect the things you notice and scribble them down and notice what makes them special.
Start to join the dots on themes and thoughts.
Live life mindfully, allowing quiet moments to become brain nourishment. Feed your soul with beauty and light. Enjoy the company of others and where you don't, extract what you can for a character in the future, or an emotion you can draw on as you write.
Bit by bit, your scribblings and your musings will start to percolate into something more substantial. I think writers are born to write... you can learn technique and you can get better - mostly by reading great writers and noticing what makes them great. But you either need to write, or you don't.
When you are writing, you are creating something where nothing was. Be proud. Be brave. Find your truth. Discover your voice. Let it happen.
A good technique for anyone stuck is to see what you have around you and use an object, a photograph, a view as a starting point. Start making stuff up.
Gracie and Billy (from SEAS OF SNOW) arrived fully formed in my head - and I realised I had seen them before. A delightful black and white 1950s photograph by the extraordinary American photographer W Eugene Smith - a little girl dressed in a smock holding hands with a little boy. Walking off into woodlands together, slightly silhouetted from the back; haloed in light but embarking into darkness. A whisper of evil lurking over them as the voyeuristic viewer sees their innocence clinging precariously between them, the picture of sweetness possibly soon to be tainted by who knew what horror... I even place the photograph itself into SEAS OF SNOW, as Gracie's Ma takes a picture of Gracie and Billy when they head out to play one day...
That's the kind of thing I would advise. All of that.
And did I mention... read!
Voraciously consume art in all its forms - the stuff you are naturally drawn to and the stuff that you feel might be boring or not quite your 'thing'. Hone your sixth sense for story and develop your Perception Superpower.
Say less and listen more. Be happy in your own company. Learn to appreciate silence and stillness.
Let your ideas flow into you and jot things down as and when they occur to you. Not everything you write has to be your masterpiece. Collect the things you notice and scribble them down and notice what makes them special.
Start to join the dots on themes and thoughts.
Live life mindfully, allowing quiet moments to become brain nourishment. Feed your soul with beauty and light. Enjoy the company of others and where you don't, extract what you can for a character in the future, or an emotion you can draw on as you write.
Bit by bit, your scribblings and your musings will start to percolate into something more substantial. I think writers are born to write... you can learn technique and you can get better - mostly by reading great writers and noticing what makes them great. But you either need to write, or you don't.
When you are writing, you are creating something where nothing was. Be proud. Be brave. Find your truth. Discover your voice. Let it happen.
A good technique for anyone stuck is to see what you have around you and use an object, a photograph, a view as a starting point. Start making stuff up.
Gracie and Billy (from SEAS OF SNOW) arrived fully formed in my head - and I realised I had seen them before. A delightful black and white 1950s photograph by the extraordinary American photographer W Eugene Smith - a little girl dressed in a smock holding hands with a little boy. Walking off into woodlands together, slightly silhouetted from the back; haloed in light but embarking into darkness. A whisper of evil lurking over them as the voyeuristic viewer sees their innocence clinging precariously between them, the picture of sweetness possibly soon to be tainted by who knew what horror... I even place the photograph itself into SEAS OF SNOW, as Gracie's Ma takes a picture of Gracie and Billy when they head out to play one day...
That's the kind of thing I would advise. All of that.
And did I mention... read!
Reading – and my reading life
– has hugely influenced my psychological thriller SEAS OF SNOW. It’s the tale
of a young girl who escapes the torment of her life through poetry. Gracie
Scott becomes fascinated by the work of Rainer Maria Rilke and delights in his
words for guidance and succour.
The book dances through time,
backwards and forwards between the literary reveries and physical abuses of the
young girl; and the old woman of today, frail and isolated in a nursing home.
Billie Harper, Gracie's childhood friend, is the only solid presence in her
life, and seemingly the only constant.
Diaries and poetry books bind
the story and the characters.
Set both today and around the
time of the second world war in North Tyneside, Seas of Snow is a bleak
psychological thriller which traces the motives and actions of Gracie's uncle.
Joe appears unexpectedly in Gracie's life when she's just five years old. And
changes everything.
SEAS OF SNOW is a story of
trust and betrayal, of the worst kind.
Certain objects act as a
touchstone between the memories of Gracie’s childhood life and the stark
realities of the old woman’s existence.
A crucifix, a locket, a
perfume bottle, a piece of embroidery, a curl of hair and the cinnamon scent of
books weave the times and places of the story together.
And so does poetry…
Rainer Maria Rilke was
an Austro-Bohemian poet who penned some of the most beautiful, lyric poetry
ever written. An extract from one of his Letters To A Young Poet becomes
the talisman for Gracie’s life in SEAS OF SNOW.
I first came across his work
while studying Modern Languages (French and German) at Oxford University. I
found it a revelation and have turned to in in times of need for solace and
escape ever since. I’m reproducing the English translation for Gracie’s
talisman here, which are almost as exquisite as the German language originals.
“How should we be able to forget those ancient myths
That
are at the beginning of all peoples . . .
The
myths about dragons
That
at the last moment turn into princesses . . .
Perhaps
all the dragons of our lives are princesses
Who
are only wanting to see us
Once
beautiful and brave.
Perhaps
everything terrible is in its deepest being
Something
helpless, that wants help from us . . .
So
you must not be frightened
If a
sadness rises up before you
Larger
than any you have ever seen . . .
If a
restiveness like light and cloud shadows
Passes
over your hands and over all you do
You
must think that something is happening with you,
That
life has not forgotten you.
That
it holds you in its hand.
It
will not let you fall.”
Listen
to Gracie's talisman by Rilke – this is an extract from a soundtrack to the old TV series
Beauty and the Beast, a moving, quiet piece read by Ron Perlman who played the
Beast in the story. And you can listen here to a lovely meditative introduction
to the Letters… well worth making time to tune in if you would like to be
lulled into relaxation… But it’s also one of the most provocative pieces on
writing – so something I think all aspiring writers might like to explore.
This is
real brain nourishment – and something to aspire to:
“Find out
the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into
the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to
die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most
silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer.
And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a
strong, simple "I must", then build your life in accordance with this
necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour,
must become a sign and witness to this impulse.”
I write
every single day, always have done. It’s a compulsion. Whether a short piece of
prose, or poetry, or tiny apercu. I would have to say to Rilke ‘I must’. And
despite the challenging demands of a highly pressurised day job, I follow my
heart every day and write a little, just a little, every single day.
And I
read!
ABOUT KERENSA JENNINGS
Kerensa Jennings is a storyteller,
strategist, writer, producer and professor.
Kerensa’s TV work took her all over the world, covering everything from geo-politics to palaeontology, and her time as Programme Editor of Breakfast with Frost coincided with the life-changing events of 9/11.
The knowledge and experience she gained in psychology by qualifying and practising as an Executive Coach has only deepened her fascination with exploring the interplay between nature and nurture and with investigating whether evil is born or made – the question at the heart of Seas of Snow.
As a scholar at Oxford, her lifelong passion for poetry took flight. Kerensa lives in West London and over the last few years has developed a career in digital enterprise.
Kerensa’s TV work took her all over the world, covering everything from geo-politics to palaeontology, and her time as Programme Editor of Breakfast with Frost coincided with the life-changing events of 9/11.
The knowledge and experience she gained in psychology by qualifying and practising as an Executive Coach has only deepened her fascination with exploring the interplay between nature and nurture and with investigating whether evil is born or made – the question at the heart of Seas of Snow.
As a scholar at Oxford, her lifelong passion for poetry took flight. Kerensa lives in West London and over the last few years has developed a career in digital enterprise.
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