Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 511

Carol Ottley-Mitchell. CaribbeanReads

Carol believes that her writing process has
changed in most ways for the better, over the
years. The concept for Adventure at Brimstone Hill
came to her while on a visit to the Brimstone Hill
Fortress in St. Kitts. She was fascinated by the idea
that this entire story line with its four interesting
characters could have germinated and flowered
in her head - an entire book! “Was it some sort
of madness that needed medical attention?” she
jokingly wondered at the time. A part of her was
terrified the story line would vanish as quickly as
it appeared and this drove her to get it all down
right away. Since that experience, Carol decided
to educate herself about creative writing and
editing. “While writing is mostly about inspiration,
there are rules authors need to consider and at least
be deliberate about flaunting convention. That said,
while I see tremendous growth in my writing since
Adventure at Brimstone Hill, when I reread it there
still is not much I would change.”
The length of time required for Carol to complete
a book varies considerably based on the story
and on where she is physically and mentally.
Adventure at Brimstone Hill was completed in
four months. She was at the time in St. Kitts, where
she gets her best work done, and Carol wrote
every night until the last word was typed. The
five books in the Chee Chee’s Adventures series
were completed in about the same time period,
perhaps less. She was living in Ghana at the time
and perhaps a bit of home-sickness contributed
to the story line of Chee Chee’s search for his own
paradise. Fury on Soufriere Hills, the fourth book
in the Caribbean Adventure Series took much
longer. In that story line, she got the kids into a jam
and it took them several weeks to figure out how
they were going to get out of it. Barberry Hill was
completed in a year and a half. Although it is short
as novels go, Carol explained that its fairly complex
plot took her a while to get it just right. “Once the
writing is complete, though, the real work starts, of
editing, throwing out sections, rewriting, and so on.”