Author: Lynne Collier/Author

Hello. My blogs are primarily about my work as a writer, faith as a Christ follower, gardening and my childhood in mid-century England. I hope that something I say will make you smile today and encourage you in your journey.​

Raising A Child With Autism

Are you or someone you know raising a child with Autism? I recently published the second edition of my autobiography as a mother of an autistic child. My son, Benjamin, was non-verbal as a small child and was later identified as having High-Functioning Autism.

(Click the book to link to Amazon and find out more about our story.)

 

Here are some excerpts from the book —

“Benjamin continued to bring home daily reports day after day throughout the six months. Comments of “Benjamin does not co-operate” filled each activity page. He would come home from school so despondent every day and head straight to his room. There he played alone for the first two hours after school until he felt ready to join the family. It took my seven-year-old son that long to unwind after the stress of school. My heart ached for his struggle to just feel like a good boy…”

“He had drawn a picture of his teachers and classmates fighting, with guns. Some of them were headless, falling off tall buildings, most of them spurting blood! I was horrified when he showed me the picture. I asked him who the people were and why they were fighting. He still didn’t connect with his emotions well at this age, so I didn’t get a clear understanding of what the problem was. I just knew it was serious. This was not the heart of my little boy…”

Here are some Benjamin quotes from the book —

“I’m very good at delivering a punch line at the time it will be funniest. The problem is that I haven’t yet learned to keep my mouth shut when someone is eating or drinking.” – Benjamin

“It is because of me, but it is not my fault.” – Benjamin 

 

Update on Benjamin

Benjamin is now a published author and speaks at churches and schools about his experience growing up with Autism. You can book him here.

Follow Benjamin on his blog at https://benjaminfrog.com/

benjamin-collier-author-headshot
Benjamin T. Collier/Author and Speaker

Til next time remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

 

Playlist for the Book “The Fellowship Of The King”

In my last blog, I wrote about the value of creating a playlist as you write and for your reader’s enjoyment as they read your books. I said I would share with you my playlist for “The Fellowship Of The King.” A Christian Guide to Kingdom Purpose. Well, here it is. If you’d like to buy the book to go along with the playlist, you can get it from Amazon.

The book is a guide to discovering what your purpose may be for God’s kingdom while you’re here on earth; your royal assignment and quests, what God has laid on your heart to do for others, and the personality, experiences and natural abilities He gave you to accomplish those quests. Fun quizzes and note pages are included.

“The Fellowship Of The King”

The first few songs are for the introduction to Kingdom Purpose as we go about our daily lives. Axe or Sword starts the second part of the book, which takes you on a journey to discover who you may be in a fantasy realm and what the king there would ask you to do as a Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Nord or Imperial (with leeway to choose any other race you’re familiar with).

The book has note pages to write down what you discover and blank pages for your artistic talent to shine as you imagine yourself in another world. If you want inspiration, you may find it on my Pinterest board on Spiritual Gifts & Christian Purpose.

Playlist and Characters

Watch and Listen on YouTube

Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) – by Chris Tomlin
 
 
There and Back Again – by Chris Daughtry
 
 
Bring Me to Life – by Evanescence
 
 
These Dreams – by Heart
 
 
The Kingdom – by Starfield
 
 
Desert Song – by Hillsong
 
 
Only King Forever – by Elevation Worship
 
 
Mighty Warrior – by Elevation Worship
 
 
Axe or Sword? – from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
 
 
The Ring Goes South – from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
 
 
The White Tree – from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
 
 
The Medallion Calls – from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 
 
(For Halflings)
Concerning Hobbits – from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
 
 
(For Mountain Dwarves)
Durin’s Folk – from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
 
 
(For Deep Dwarves)
The Bridge of Khazad Dum – from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
 
 
(For High Elves)
Evenstar – from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
 
 
(For Wood Elves)
Vox – by Sarah McLachlan
 
 
(For Grey Elves)
Breath of Life – from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
 
 
(For Imperials)
Minas Tirith – from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
 
 
(For Nords)
No Quarter – by Led Zeppelin
 

If you enjoy the playlist, please Like and Subscribe. I’ll be adding more playlists for my other books soon.

And if you think any other songs would fit the playlist, you’re welcome to add them in the comments. Enjoy!

Cover of the book The Fellowship of The King

Check out the book on Amazon.

Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image with an imagination that invites you to take a step beyond.

~ Lynne

Writing A Novel || The Importance Of Playlists

How Playing Music Can Help You As You Write

I find it helpful to have a playlist as I write my stories and I choose songs that fit with the genre I’m writing in. I learned this from another author and I’m very thankful to him for suggesting this. My playlists are collections of various artists in various music styles, even some instrumental, and follow the course of the story.

For instance, if I’m writing an epic battle scene I’ll usually listen to an instrumental with loud drums and clashing symbols. If my protagonist is departing on an epic adventure and happens to be a halfling, I’ll play all the scores from the entire collection of LOTR, if my protagonist is in the mood for romance — well, you get the idea.

Benjamin T. Collier is the one to thank for this playlists idea. Here, he talks about why he uses playlists to inspire him when writing and as added enjoyment for his reader.

“… Each song referenced in ‘Singularity’ is mentioned by title and musical artist, so readers can find each song online as it comes up in the story. In case some of my readers want to have the songs all lined up already before they start reading, I’ve written out the playlist below, which I played often in the background as I was writing…”  Read Ben’s full blog post about his Singularity Playlist by Benjamin T. Collier

How A Playlist Helps Your Reader

Do you find yourself enjoying a show more when there’s relevant music playing in the background of a scene or as a filler? I faithfully watch reruns of Heartbeat, a British show about the people of a small town close to where I was born. The background music takes me back to that era. I may even sing along. Do you enjoy a movie more when the music actually becomes part of the story as in Guardians Of The Galaxy when Quill plays tunes from the 80’s?

220px-Guardians_of_the_Galaxy_Vol_2_poster from the blog by Lynne Collier

Music can enhance your reader’s experience with your story. Give it a try. Maybe I’ll create one for my readers of The Fellowship Of The King and share it in my next blog.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

Writing Fantasy || Point of View

Whose Point Of View Matters Most In Your Story?

The answer to this question will play an important role in the tone of your entire novel. We listen to other people probably every day in one form or another, in personal conversations, a lecture at school, a boss or characters on a TV show. Notice how the tone of their voice influences you. What tone do you want to convey in a particular scene or throughout the entire story?

  • Interesting
  • Funny
  • Lively
  • Friendly
  • Romantic
  • Quarrelsome

The characters telling the story have their own unique voice and, depending on that voice, will tell a scene in a specific way.

8 Points to Ponder when Writing Point Of View. Writing tips.

8 Points To Ponder For Point Of View

  • Have you thought about what tense you’ll write in? Will your story read better in past tense or present tense? Past Tense – “Suzie shopped at the mall”.
  • Present Tense – “Suzie is shopping at the mall”.
  • When you sit to write each scene, who do you hear talking in your mind?
  • First Person – “I love doughnuts”.
  • Second Person – “You love doughnuts”.
  • Third Person – “Suzie loves doughnuts”.
  • Omniscient (aka, all-knowing) – “Suzie loves doughnuts but she doesn’t realize they’re laced with a powerful hallucinogenic”. Use this voice sparingly, as when none of the characters knows something but your reader needs to know it.

 

Choose Your Narrators

Just like in a movie audition, test your characters’ voices to see which point of view sounds best for each scene. You may want to do several viewpoints throughout your story, but remember to not switch viewpoints in the middle of a scene or chapter unless you make a specific break in the narrative. It confuses the heck out of the reader. If you’re new to writing fantasy/fiction keep it simple and write one POV for each scene. You may feel like you want to write the entire story from one POV, but test other voices to see if you can spice things up, add some humour or simply add a different perspective to delight the reader.

 

Voice Test for POV

Write a paragraph from the author’s POV. This means you just write out the paragraph as it happens, without emotion or opinion. Then write it out in all the voices of your characters who are in that scene. Let them say what they feel and what they’re thinking.

  • Who sounds good for this particular scene?
  • Who has an emotional investment in what’s happening?
  • Who will it influence later in the story as your plot unfolds?
  • Who sees something no one else does?

 

Example:

  • “Suzie went to the mall again. I hope she’s not spending all her money. She still has two weeks before her next paycheck”.
  • “She went to the mall again. Who does she think she is, buying all those fancy expensive clothes? They look ridiculous on her anyway.”
  • “Suzie went to the mall this morning. She needed to choose a dress for her grandmother’s funeral”.

Do you see how each character changes the tone of the scene? What were they thinking and feeling? Ask them why. Draw the scene out from your chosen character’s point of view.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

 

Resources to check out

Back To The Future – where the twists are revealed by other people’s POV and by the main character.

 

 

 

Writing Fantasy || Society

Who Lives In Your Fantasy World?

We have the freedom to create an entirely new world from our own imagination! How amazing is that? We get to decide everything that happens in this world and who lives there. We’ve already decided what our world looks like. Now we’re going to decide how our world works so we can write a society for our fantasy characters to live in.

fantasy-society-lynne-collier-blog
art by kellepics

 

Your World’s Society, Technology & History

Before you can create your characters you’ll need to know what goes on in the world around them and how they fit into this world. However, if you’ve already drawn up an extensive list of characters and decided what they eat for breakfast, no problem, don’t waste all that creativity, just build the society around them and let it unfold from there.

Here are some things to consider about your world:

Social Norms

  • What kind of work do they do?
  • What significant events have shaped the history of this world?
  • What’s their educational system like?
  • Do they own businesses or trades?
  • Are there male and female or children and how do they develop?
  • What religious beliefs are in play? How do they worship? Write down some of their moral values.
  • Is there a law enforcement system? How is it run?
  • Is it a democratic society, dictatorship or monarchy?
  • How do they communicate? Is there more than one language?
  • What about transportation?
  • How do your characters communicate long distance?
  • What do they do for fun
  • Does your world run on electricity, steam or natural resources?
  • Are there warring factions?
  • What are their weapons?

 

Ask Yourself, “If This Is True, Then What Needs To Happen?”

• If characters go to work in cities, then where do they live?
• If they live in high-rise buildings, then how do they get to the top floors?
• If by elevators, then how are they powered?
• If by electrical power, then how is it generated?
• If by water, how is it produced?
• If by rain, how is it stored?
• …

You get the idea. Here we have characters that live in high-rise buildings where they get to their apartments by taking an elevator which is powered by electricity produced by water which is held in reservoirs outside of the city.

You can go on from there, filling in the “If This, Then What..?” questions until all the questions about your characters’ needs are met in their world. You only need the details that are relevant to the characters. There’s no need to write lengthy, unnecessary descriptions which aren’t relevant to your story and will only bore your readers. You just need to know how they do what they do.

Remember to show this in your writing, don’t tell it. (More on this later).
You may need to go back and add transportation routes, such as wide rivers and ports for boats, roads for trades’ people, or something like train tracks to your world map — grab the cheat. Add any changes as you write your story so you don’t forget the details.

The easiest way to figure this out is to put yourself in the shoes (hairy feet, hooves) of your characters. Walk around in your world as if you were there and see what you need.

Have fun!  #writingfantasy

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne