THE DRAWING LESSON

Magical light creates stunning visions in Alexander Wainwright’s landscapes. His most recent painting—The Hay Wagon, winner of the Turner Prize is a marvelous moonlit scene. An old fashioned wagon, bathed in an unearthly glow, dominates the scene. Yet at the pinnacle of his career he is about to lose his muse.

Not everyone appreciates his work. Rinaldo, a conceptual artist, mocks his bourgeoise love of beauty believing that Alexander’s success is proof that the universe is chaotic and absurd. Determined to undermine, humiliate and ultimately destroy his rival, he defaces Alex’s painting.

Alexander brushes off the attack, but soon he has a frightening vision of misshapen human-like creatures. These trolls start appearing in his art work and he is beset with questions. Who are these ugly beings? Has he lost both his light and his art. 

           The Trolls

The creatures lead Alex to journey from London to Venice, and from Toronto to New York as he seeks to understand their meaning. He meets many people each with a story to tell. Meanwhile, Rinaldo waits in New York City, intent on settling the score in The Drawing Lesson. READ ON…

THE FATE OF PRYDE

Alexander Wainwright, Britain’s finest landscape painter, enchants us with visions of the beyond—that which lies beyond the everyday world. He is, in fact, a true creative genius. Jonathan Pryde, wealthy patron of the arts,

     Jonathan Pryde

offers him a commission to create stained glass windows at his residence in Vence, in the south of France. Alex hesitates. He is a painter not a glass cutter. Jonathan flatters and entices him with promises of creative freedom and fame. Against his better judgment, Alex is lured into Pryde’s world.

He agrees to visit the residence in Vence where the stained glass is to be constructed. His patron’s home is a luxurious mediaeval castle. To his surprise, many elderly but forgotten writers and philosophers live there but insist that they are free to leave at any time. But, they never do. Visions of the beyond have ravaged their minds and they are under Pryde’s care. His patron’s great intelligence and aesthetic sensibilities impress Alex so much that he believes he has found a kindred spirit. Yet, underneath, he senses Jonathan is far more than he seems. As he wrestles with this question, his sense of possible betrayal deepens. A bunker at the foot of the garden protects Pryde’s secrets. Struggling with his own creative visions, Alex is faced with the question—How can the very best and very worst of humankind thrive in one man’s breast. READ ON…

NIGHT CROSSING

Against the tall windows, now blackened in the night, a golden egg rose up, shimmering with beautiful gems—diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, which sparkled like the purest sunlight. Turning slowly, this marvelous object throbbed with life as if it contained all the energy in the world. His lips parted and he spoke three words—the cosmic egg.

Awe struck, he stood motionless. The cosmic egg was the seed, heralding new creation. Everything necessary was at hand and contained within that egg. For eons, it had tantalized humankind with secret mystery of creation, life and death and the promise of immortality.

Every so often, Alex experienced a vision. Sometimes he wondered if he hadn’t really slipped into a dream-like state where anything could be imagined. It usually happened without any warning and certainly, it could never be commanded. Over the years, he had grown to cherish those dreamy, extraordinarily beautiful fantasies…

He took another deep breath and smiled. But what is it telling me? Why had it appeared now? He hoped it promised that his period of stultified creativity was at an end. He swore to keep the image close to his heart as a guide. READ ON…

The Drawing Lesson, The Fate of Pryde and Night Crossing are the three novels in The Trilogy of Remembrance and are available anywhere online, including right here on Amazon. Just click the coin for the check out.

      Purchase here

WRITING NOVELS–I LOVE LISTS!

Mary E. Martin ● August 10, 2020 ●

Characters in Novels Literature and poetry New Novels Works in Progress writing

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    This post is my own list to begin developing the next novel. If you haven’t read the first article Organic story-telling, you can catch it now by clicking the gold arrow to the left. When I started asking questions about writing novels, these are the thoughts I came up with. Getting ideas down […]

A Trial of One Conduct in Question creating characters creative process creativity Final Paradox making lists Mary E. Martin music musicians NIght Crossing organic point of view POV resources The Drawing Lesson The Fate of Pryde The Osgoode Trilogy The Trilogy of Remembrance The Wondrous Apothecary themes in fiction visual artists visual arts Writing writing novels writing tips

ORGANIC STORY-TELLING [How I write a novel]

Mary E. Martin ● July 19, 2020 ●

art Articles Artists Literature and poetry New Novels Works in Progress writing writing tips

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WRTING NOVELS I’ve decided to write a novel! But how do you do that? Frequent Advice To write a great story, writers are often told to write about what they know. Sometimes they are advised to write out, ahead of time, everything that is going to happen in the story. So, you have to know what’s going […]

A Trial of One Conduct in Question creating characters creative process creativity Final Paradox making lists Mary E. Martin music musicians NIght Crossing organic point of view POV resources The Drawing Lesson The Fate of Pryde The Osgoode Trilogy The Trilogy of Remembrance The Wondrous Apothecary themes in fiction visual artists visual arts Writing writing novels writing tips

Susan Shiney, Writer in Lille, France

Mary E. Martin ● August 14, 2020 ●

Articles Creativity free stories Guest Blogger writing writing tips

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Susan Shiney is living my fantasy–to live somewhere in Europe and write. She is in Lille, France. Had I been able, I would have lived in my favourite city Venice and written non-stop. Have a look. Her work is very interesting. Do you think that where the writer lives affects how or what he or […]

creating characters creative process creativity Europe France making lists music musicians organic Paris point of view POV resources short stories story-telling Susan Shiney themes in fiction Travel travel and writing visual artists visual arts Writing writing novels writing tips

AN ACT OF KINDNESS

Mary E. Martin ● June 2, 2020 ●

characters from The Osgoode Trilogy Characters in Novels free stories Literature and poetry the law The Osgoode Trilogy and Harry Jenkins

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In his law practice, Harry Jenkins frequently visited the elderly and infirm in their homes. Occasionally, he attended upon the wealthy in their mansions. Today, he was visiting Miss Alicia Markley and her friend of many years, Sarah Carmichael. Affluence and infirmity were married in one appointment.  The Rosedale Valley road was an isolated stretch […]

An Act of Kindness character development free short story Harry Jenkins home visits by lawyer law. lawyer legal practice The Osgoode Trilogy Toronto

Hitchcock’s Predecessors

Mary E. Martin ● March 8, 2020 ●

art Artists Characters in Novels Creativity film Movies writing

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WOW! I love it when I stumble upon something old when I thought I was looking for something new–especially when it comes to the movies. Then the old becomes new at least to me.  Film: Fun to wander around the web on a Sunday afternoon. Why not drop in to visit me on my website and […]

character development Chekhov creativity film Hitchcock Phillpotts stage plays. short stories The Osgoode Trilogy The Trilogy of Remembrance Writing

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