Passages

[Skybase Girl]

to Captain Ochre!

And what a marvellous birthday tribute Caroline has paid him.

This story has been a long time in the 'works' and has been eagerly anticipated by those who know just how much blood, sweat and tears have been poured into it, but as Chris said in her Website Updates report, it's been more than worth the wait. I've spent all afternoon and the early part of this evening utterly absorbed in it - I've only just now stopped to eat a meal that's gone quite cold.

Caroline's portrayal of youth and family life with its ups and downs, tragedies and joy, is finely and seamlessly woven. The most basic piece of advice given to budding authors is "write about what you know." That's not always easy or even possible when it comes down to facts, especially in the sci-fi or fantasy genre, where the writer may be forced to rely on imagination. But I think it always hold true for emotion; truth and authenticity are best served by experience. We all go through the various life stages, but a writer is in a privileged position to use the knowledge and wisdom gained to hopefully create something that is real, true and completely honest. Caroline has certainly done that here.

I know she feels that her 'forte' is not in character or dialogue-driven pieces, but I beg to differ. While she can write anything with aplomb and she's damn good at 'action' sequences ( envy), "Passages" shows she's equally adept at delving deep into her characters' psyche. It is hard; you want so much to get it right and do your character justice and you always wonder if you've done that successfully. You also want the reader to care about all the characters, not just the protagonists, which means you have to know them all inside out. I loved everyone in this story - Rick's parents, his brother, his friends ( even the irritating airhead - you know who I mean, Caroline). Even the most minor original characters were imbued with character and depth and that's no mean feat.

Rick's journey from a twelve year old child to a confident and self-assured young man of twenty-one with the world at his feet, has been warmly and richly imbued with joy and laughter, heartbreak and tears, all of which the reader shares with him. Well done, Caroline, this is an absolute tour de force and a delight to read.

[Marion]

I had the pleasure of beta-reading this story and I know the skill and dedication that has gone into producing the finished version. It is a real tour-de-force, especially as Caroline does not accept that she can write character-driven plots and dialogue. I think she has proved that - for once - she is quite wrong. The story is excellent and flows along with incident and emotion, but the mainstay remains the character of the individual who becomes Captain Ochre.
It is an instant classic!

[Carrie]

Ladies,
Thank you both, and my apologies for not replying sooner. I'm delighted that you found the story enjoyable and worthy of your time invested. It made all the hard work worthwhile to read your kind words.

xxx