A Walk on the Not So Wild Side: Bodnant Garden

When we first moved to Wales we lived just around the corner from the beautiful Bodnant Garden, and would visit practically every weekend. I loved it because of the extensive woodland walks, the stunning view of Snowdonia, and the beautiful rhododendrons, which reminded me of Exbury Gardens in the New Forest (Hampshire) near to where I grew up - and the inspiration for the area when my books are set. So last weekend, when the sun was out, we decided to go back and see if anything had changed.

The house at Bodnant

Bodnant Garden was created when the estate was bought in 1874 by Henry Davis Pochin. At that time it consisted of Victorian shrubberies and a sloping lawn, and the house, built in 1792, was typically Georgian. Henry enlarged and altered the house, and created what was to become the famous laburnum arch.

The laburnum wasn't out,
so this photo is from a previous visit!

But it was his grandson, Henry McLaren (the second Lord Aberconway), who would go on to develop the garden over the next fifty years, including designing the series of Italian style terraces overlooking the mountains.

Below is a photo of the Lily Terrace, named for the water lilies which bloom from June to September. It was designed around two existing cedar trees, which had been planted in 1875.

The Lily Terrace and Snowdonia
(taken from the Croquet Terrace above)

Below the Lily Terrace is the Canal Terrace, with an open air stage at one end and The Pin Mill at the other.

A glimpse of the 'stage' from the Lily Terrace above

The Pin Mill and the 'canal'

The Pin Mill was originally built as a garden house in about 1730 at Woodchester in Gloucestershire. Later it was used as a factory for making pins and then as a tannery. By 1938 it was in a very dilapidated state. Lord Aberconwy bought it and had it transferred to Bodnant.

The Pin Mill

The interior

From the Canal Terrace we took the path descending through the Rockery to the River Hiraethlyn, which is bordered on each side by the Dell. The conifers here are massive (over 100 feet) and were planted in 1876.

The Old Mill 

Since our previous visit, the garden has now been extended beyond the waterfall and Mill Pond to include Far End and the Skater's Pond, with this cute little island in the middle. (That's going in a book!)

Skater's Pond

Tadpoles!

Finally, on the way back up the hill towards the house, we passed 'The Poem', overlooking the Dell and built by Henry Pochin as the family mausoleum.

The Poem

Sources & Links:

Bodnant Garden (National Trust)
Bodnant Estate Website


Related Posts:

A Walk on the Wild Side & the Lonely Knight
Walking the Walls of Conwy


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I Need a Hero

This week I'm talking about the kind of hero I love to write.  

When I first began writing, my heroes were always tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed and had a good sense of humour - mainly because I was married to a man who is tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed and has a good sense of humour - and I still am! But I soon realised it's not such a great idea to try and shoehorn one's husband into every story - he won't always fit. Besides, I would hate to think any of my heroes could be taken out of the environment of their own book and carelessly plonked into another with only a change of name and hair colour. I've worked hard to ensure they all have their own very different flaws, quirks and problems, which is why I love them - and why the basic idea for my stories has to come before I create them (see My Writing Process).

Not me, or my husband, or my house
(which is lucky, as they seem to have a serious case of woodworm)

For example, in my current work-in-progress I wanted to give both hero and heroine a whole heap of trouble relating to their respective (and very eccentric) families. The hero's way of dealing with this is to studiously ignore the fact he even has a problem, whereas the heroine is planning on being a little more proactive - maybe too proactive. And, because I'm evil, obviously all their best efforts to avoid a crisis are about to go horribly wrong. It sounds simple, doesn't it? Characters creating themselves and the story writes itself? The reality is not quite as easy as that.

So what kind of heroes do I like writing best?

I'm very fond of the stranger-comes-to-town-and-is-he-all-he-seems hero (pretty much like any western you've ever watched). Why? Well, think about when you meet someone for the first time, and they tell you their name, and maybe a bit about their job or their family. What if it's all a pack of lies? Or, worse, they're pretending to be someone else entirely?

I also find anti-heroes fun to write, but not necessarily more popular with readers. If obnoxious, he has to have some redeeming qualities or he'll come across as a complete arse - or, in romance terms, an 'alpha-hole'. In Why Do Fools Fall in Love I had two possible heroes (going on the principle of why have one when you can have two): the wise-cracking Luke and the tortured-by-his-horrible-childhood Ross. (Spoiler alert). Guess which one my readers liked best? Luke. And why was that? Because Ross had one (and, as it turned out in the story, almost fatal) flaw: he treated women horribly, including the heroine. And by the time he'd realised his mistake it was too late. So he'll have to put in a lot of work if he wants to find his HEA.

If I have a hero-with-a-tragic-past, like Greg in Breathless, he's got to have a very good reason for the whole brooding mysteriously thing, unless he wants the heroine to mistake his hidden depths for basic sulking. In Greg's case he felt responsible for the death of his sister. Bryn in Nemesis has a similar background but, as his personality is more proactive, he feels he has far more important things to do than stakeout a graveyard and look moody - like solve his cousin's murder.

As most of my books do have a murder to solve, I've had heroes who've been police detectives or investigative journalists. It's easier that way; the police are very picky about who they let walk all over their crime scenes. I also like using characters who are celebrities: Luke in Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Zac in Breathless and the heroes of my Proposal series, because they come with their own (usually self-inflicted) set of problems.

I don't describe a hero's physical appearance much beyond hair and eye colour. This is deliberate. I know what the character looks like inside my head, but I want the reader to do some of the work too. Too much detail from me will read like a 'most wanted' poster. And, by basing a character on a real person - a hot actor, for example - I'd be assuming that because I find a certain type of man attractive, my reader would too. Surely it's better to let them cast their own hero?

The other danger to casting a famous actor as the hero of a novel is that (assuming I've never met him in real life) I'd be reusing the character he is most famous for playing rather than the man himself - a bit like fan fiction. I'd rather be original! And I do my best to ensure my heroes are too.

Related Posts:

I Need a Heroine
How I Create Characters
Characters: What's in a Name

Perfectly Imperfect (Why rockstars make the best romantic heroes)


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Photo copyright: Fotolia

Writing: Getting to Grips with Wattpad

 What is Wattpad?

Wattpad is a free social media app for writers and readers. Writers of all abilities, from newbies to professional authors, can post stories one chapter at a time. Founded in 2006, Wattpad has more than 40 million users worldwide - and the majority are readers.

Most stories are read on a mobile phone; 50% of stories are written on a mobile phone. The most popular genres are YA, New Adult, sci-fi and romance. Wattpad is popular with teenagers, but 35% of users are aged between 18 and 30. Most users live in the USA, Canada and the UK, and it's the number one app in the Philippines.

It's not just for fan fiction either. Many established authors use Wattpad, including Margaret Atwood, Colleen Hoover and Meg Cabot.

But Is Wattpad For You?

If you are new to writing, I would suggest joining with a couple of friends. Wattpad is a great way to share and comment on each other's stories. You can add photos, videos and create a cast list of actors who you would love to play the part of your characters. My seventeen-year-old self would have loved Wattpad!

If you are a published author it can be an excellent way to connect with new readers - but it won't necessarily lead to book sales. As Wattpad is free to use, you are effectively giving away your work for free too. Consider posting the first book in a series, or a novella, or short samples of novels - the first two or three chapters. Check this is OK with your publisher first though. If you are with KDP Select, for example, you are limited to not publishing more than 10% of your book on any other website, including your own.

When I first joined Wattpad, I posted two 10,000 word short stories, originally published in an anthology, to which I still owned the rights. One of these was chosen by Wattpad to be one of their Featured Reads. You don't have to wait for your story to be chosen for this promotion, you can apply here. The only rule is that you have to agree for that story to stay on Wattpad for 6 months. The advantage of having your story featured is that you'll gain more readers and followers. 

If you are unpublished and serious about your writing, do be careful exactly what you post. Some competitions and publishers have a rule that they won't accept a story if it has already been published elsewhere - and that will include Wattpad. 

Tips

As with any social media account, put a bit of effort into setting up your profile. Use a unique picture for your avatar, either a photo of yourself or a picture that in some way represents you. And don't forget the banner (background strip at the top of the profile). Most users have a pen name but if you are already published, or have other social media accounts, or a blog/website, it makes sense to use the same name so you can be easily found by your readers. You can add links to these accounts from your Wattpad profile, and when you post a story you can also add a link to a retailer such as Amazon or Kobo. 

Make it clear if your story is only an extract. You don't want readers waiting for the end of a story which will never come.

Each chapter of a story counts as a separate read/vote, so it makes sense to post each chapter as a separate instalment. For example, Why Do Fools Fall in Love* has fifty-two chapters, so one person reading the whole story would be the equivalent to fifty-two reads.

It is up to you how long your chapters are. I try to aim for at least 1,000 words per instalment, preferably 1,500 words. It certainly makes you think about where to put your cliff-hangers!

Votes are worth more than reads, so gently encourage readers to vote for your story if they have enjoyed it. At the end of each of my chapters I have a 'call to action': 

Thank you for reading my story! 

If you have enjoyed it, please help others find it by voting!

I also add the date the next chapter will be posted.

If you are serialising a novel, try to post a new instalment once a week. If you want your story to rise up through the charts, you will need to post at least twice a week. 

Wattpad readers are non-critical when it comes to spelling mistakes and typos - to them, the characters and the story are more important - but don't use this as an excuse not to post your very best work! If you are posting a work-in-progress, you can go back and edit it at any time.

After you've published a new chapter, double-check for errors. I copy and paste my chapters, which look absolutely fine until I hit 'publish' - and then everything  mysteriously shifts to the left. Occasionally words merge and weird symbols appear. So I always make sure I check through what I've posted after publishing as well as before.

Remember to share your stories to your other social media accounts. Widgets are available to add to websites and blogs. You can also create quote art - a line or two from your story set against a pretty background.

Like Facebook and Twitter, you can post a message to your followers via the Conversations tab. Readers can write on your 'wall' and you can send direct messages to individual users. And every time you update a story, your followers will receive a notification.

Why I love Wattpad

One thing I found extremely disconcerting at first, was the way a reader can comment at any point during the text! But once I got over myself, I realised what a great idea it was. The comments are almost always positive and as a writer it is lovely to see how readers are engaging with your story and characters.

As stories are told in instalments, forcing readers to wait for the next part, it really made me think about where the best place was to end the chapter - and how much of a page-turner that chapter really was. It also made me think about the reader and what their reaction was likely to be to an upcoming scene.

Conclusion

If you are a published author, with little or no free time, looking for a social media site to do the whole 'buy my book' thing, Wattpad probably isn't for you.

If you are a published author wanting to expand on your readership, and you're happy to chat to fans about your characters and plot twists, you could post up a novella or the first book in a series. 

If you are new to writing and want to connect with fellow authors, and you have a thick enough skin to cope with readers putting comments all over your work, then why not give Wattpad a try? You could set up a profile and read other people's stories to get a feel for the site first, until you feel brave enough to dive in and post one of your own.

Like all social media, you'll get the most out of Wattpad the more you use it, and by being friendly, genuine and social. You need to take the time to do it properly - set up a profile, post stories or extracts, and interact with readers and other writers. Read, comment and vote for other people's stories; become involved.

And above all, don't forget to have fun!

*This story is no longer available to view on Wattpad

This post was previously published on Novelistas Ink