When does a writer write?

Well, the logical answer is “when he or she is in front of the laptop/PC busy typing.”

That may be the most logical answer, but it’s not true.  A great percentage of the writing is done throughout the day. . . . mentally, and maybe I should even add ‘unconsciously’.  That is also writing even if it doesn’t conform to the usual definition of writing.

I don’t mean sitting down and just thinking. That doesn’t work with me. What I call ‘mental writing’ is really opening up your mind, and letting ideas come in like a film. The mind doesn’t turn off the novel because the writer is busy doing something else. It’s still there spinning around.

I do most of my ‘mental’ writing in bed, and usually in the middle of the night.  This is when I find solutions to problems that come up in my soon-to-be novel.  I always have a pad and pencil on my bedside table and I note things down before they disappear like dreams.

And I’ll tell you a secret! I also have a note pad in my handbag and another one in the kitchen. I just never know when something is going to come in.

I am sure any Maltese visiting my website will immediately recognize where my picture was taken. It was taken on the Black Pearl. The Black Pearl has a long and colorful history. It was built in 1909 in Sweden and is believed to be one of the last surviving wooden trading schooners. That in itself is enough to make it special.

Today it rests in Sliema Creek between Msida and Ta’Xbiex, and has been turned into a fashionable restaurant which can only be described as “being one of a kind”. The Restaurant is on the upper deck and there is also a Pub on the lower deck.

Ask any one in Malta, and you will be told that the Black Pearl once belonged to Errol Flynn. To tell the truth, it may or may not have belonged to him. Seems no one knows for sure. Does it really matter if it is true or simply a legend?

My application to join the Goodreads author program has just been approved!!!!!!!

Mary De Gruttola is scheduled to be interviewed by Clare Hatfield, RTT Rapid Transformation Therapist and member of FEMpreneur Malta. Stay tuned! UPLOADED 07/08/2021

A novel about the Nigerian Military Romance Scam

by Mary De Gruttola

All scams are despicable as they prey on the vulnerable.

Perhaps it is because I am a soldier’s daughter, but the scams I find the most despicable of all are the so-called Military Romance ones also known as the Nigerian Military Romance scams.

People think the victims of these scams are only women, but nowadays, more and more men fall victim to them and totally in the same way. The man is lonely and suddenly the picture of a beautiful female soldier appears on his screen.

All the victims have one thing in common. They are lonely. Maybe they don’t realize they are lonely at that particular moment, but when a handsome or beautiful (in the case of a woman) soldier falls into their message box as if by magic, and in addition seems to be not only attracted to them but cares about them . . .well, can you blame them?

Although I have felt strongly against these scams from the first day I heard of their existence, the idea of writing this book became a persistent thing after waiting for a bus in Sliema on a hot, sunny August day.

When you take the bus to work every day you soon become acquainted with all the others, who like you, take it on a daily basis. Usually, you don’t know their names or even where they work, but it is always nice to see them and if they don’t show up for a few days you start wondering why.

Like Sandy Glover in My Darling Ron, one of my bus stop acquaintances one day came up to me all excited.  A few months prior to that hot August day, she had met a handsome soldier on Internet. They were in love. He was going to leave the army after his tour of Afghanistan, come over to the island, marry her and buy a house. He had even asked her to start looking at some properties.

This fifty-year-old woman was so happy because she had had a very unhappy first marriage and she could see that this one was finally going to bring her the happiness she had always wanted.

I was silently screaming “Don’t believe him. It’s a scam.” Instead, I sat quietly next to her in the bus listening to her happiness bubbling over, I asked her if she had told her children. She said no. She was a little embarrassed to tell them because her handsome soldier was younger than she.

I could not bring myself to tell her it was a scam.

I could not bring myself to break the happy bubble she was in.

I simply could not.

Instead, I said I was happy for her and in what seemed to be an afterthought, I added, “I think you should tell your children. You don’t want to spring the surprise on them when he arrives. Let them get used to the idea first.”

Was I right?

Was I wrong?

I don’t know.

She did not show up at the bus stop for over a month, and when she finally did, there was no mention of a handsome soldier and an upcoming marriage. I made believe I had forgotten all about it.

So, how do these guys work? They must be real smooth operators to be able to commit so many scams? The answer is: Oh, yes, they are smooth operators. They have a particular modus operandi and they are experts at manipulating people and especially people’s emotions.

Here are ten of the many clues that tell you what you are dealing with when “face-to-face” with a Military Romance Scammer:

1. They tell you that their parents, wife or husband is/are deceased. It’s always a very tragic story. The Maltese have a word for such stories: ‘Tal-Biki’ (it’s to cry for). It’s the kind of word that carries its meaning in its very sound and is also impossible to translate in any other language.

• They profess their love almost immediately. 
• They call their victim “my love,” “my darling” or any other affectionate term very quickly or even immediately.
• The relationship progresses quickly. Quickly doesn’t mean months. It means weeks.

• Although they say they are in the U.S. military, their English and grammar do not always match that of someone born and raised in the United States.

• They ask for money which, of course, will be refunded immediately.

• Be very suspicious if a third party gets involved, Ex. A commanding officer or as is the case in My Darling Ron an estafette to pick up the money.

• They have a very fertile imagination and really don’t worry about what is true or not. They figure that if they tell a lie with enough sincerity. . . it’s more than believable.  Members of the military are not charged money so that they can go on leave or for their funerals.
• They always have a reason for avoiding phone calls and tell you they cannot write or receive letters through the mail. All military personnel have an APO or FPO (Fleet Post Office) address.

1. They ask you for your address or personal information. 

Above all they are criminals and should be treated as such.

Mary De Gruttola

Malta – 2021

In The Drop of the Hammer, you often come across the word Walloon as a language: ‘the Bailiff bellowed in French and Walloon’ or in the footnotes ‘Binamé is Walloon for Beloved’.

But what is Walloon and is it still spoken?

Walloon is a Romance language that used to be spoken extensively in the south of Belgium, some villages in northern France—and believe it or not —in some areas of north-eastern Wisconsin, in parts of Canada, and in a little town in Pennsylvania called Charleroi. Today many people still use Walloon, but much less than before. In spite of the decrease in the number of people who still speak it, there are many clubs, associations, theatre companies, and cultural centers that are working hard to keep the language alive.

Please note that I will soon add a page entitled TOOL SHED onto the website. You may wonder why I would even think of adding a page entitled TOOL SHED and not maybe MISC.

The answer is simple.  A MISC file is one where you throw things in not only in a haphazard way but also because you don’t always know what to do with them.

On the other hand, a TOOL SHED is always a pretty fascinating place where you can find all kinds of interesting things.

Seriously now, what are we going to have in our tool shed? Tools! Tools to help aspiring writers!

Help! My main character has taken over the story!

As you know, I am now working on The Epiphany of Geert Vandiest which is coming out towards the end of the year.  I also have another manuscript which is on the back burner. I don’t know how long it is going to stay there.

The reason it is on the back burner is that I am emotionally entangled in it. You would think that I am talking about a love story, wouldn’t you?

Would you laugh, if I told you that The Marquetry Box is about the furthest away you can get from a love story?

The Marquetry  Box  ( see blog on Dedication for more info) is about a young Belgian deserter , who runs away to join the French Foreign  Legion, and then ends up in the penal colony of French Guyana. The entire story is very Pappillonesque (have I invented a new word?)

I want to base the novel on Valentin (convict 37885). Please note that the operative words in that last sentence is  “Base on”.  Problem is that the main character, Valentin has sort of taken over.  I can hear you say, and I partly agree, “It’s his story, and he can do what he wants to!”

Well, yeah, but I am the writer. Don’t I have anything to say about it?

All kidding aside, I think I know too much about him.  Let me give you an idea of the research I have done so far:

1. I have spoken to members of his family (who actually never met him because he died in 1911.
2. Valentin’s birth certificate is in my possession. I tried to get his death certificate and failed.  I stopped trying to obtain it when I realized how they disposed of their dead inmates.
3. Received documents from the Belgian Army concerning his desertion, including a list of clothes he took along. Although it is barely veiled that Valentin stole them, I want to insist on the fact that he didn’t steal them.  That’s all he had to wear and the 2^nd of December 1906 was very cold.
4. Been in contact with the French Foreign Legion
5. Been in contact with the IREL (the French National Archives of Outre-mer  (Overseas), which, of course,  includes French Guyana.
6. I know about Valentin’s Tattoos and I can describe them. All Legionnaires like tattoos, I am told.
7. I have a picture of Valentin, his mother, his father and his brothers dated 1895
8. I know about the chargers. (Er . . . .this is not the place to ask me about them.)
9. I have a copy of the doctor’s log from the “Loire”. Dr. Leon Collin was in charge of the convicts’ “well-being” on the ship that took them to South America between 1906 and 1911. Notice that “well-being” is in quotes. This is no black mark against Dr. Leon Collin because I think he did his best and for sure he was not in favor . . . partly or in toto . . . of the French South American Penal Colony System. You may, however, gleefully confer a double black mark to the French Government under Napoleon III, as it is more than well deserved.

It’s not as hopeless as it sounds. Really. I will get back to writing it.

Interestingly enough, writing this blog has made me realize what is holding me back. Because of Valentin’s strong personality and all the information I have, I practically feel obliged to write a biography. BUT, I DON’T WANT TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY! I want to write a fiction based on true events. Valentin may be the one with the story, but I am the one with the laptop. So, I guess, that means I won!

I remember being an 8 years old 3^rd grader. At that time we lived in Mineral Wells, Texas and my dad was stationed at Camp Wolters.  One day he took me to the base library and got me my very first library card!!! I was so proud of that card.

We don’t appreciate how lucky we are to be able to read and write.

I now live in Malta and there are many people here who sill cannot read or write. They manage pretty well, but they have never been given the key to the magical world that reading and writing represents.

We tend to take this ability we have of reading and writing for granted—not to mention all the effort we put in as kids to learn both.

I came across this youtube video this morning, and I thought I would share it with you.

I have a confession to make. Up until I started writing novels, I use to totally ignore Dedications in books. The good news is I’ve changed. In fact, I have changed so much, that now the Dedication is the first thing I look for.

So, does that mean Dedications are important and play a role in writing the novel?  The answer is ‘Absolutely, yes!’

My initial reaction to them was ‘It’s nice’ and I would compare them to the long list of ‘I thanks’ that stars winning Oscars rattle off. Today I realize Dedications not only serve a purpose but also fall into different categories.

What categories can Dedications possibly fall into? Here are the three main ones. I am sure that there are others.

THE STAND

The Dedications in The Drop of the Hammer and in The Marquetry Box (this last title/novel is still in the researching stage) definitely come under The Stand category.  In both cases, the aim of my novel is to denounce historical events, that I feel should never have taken place, and my Dedication is that crystal moment where I take my stand.

In The Drop of the Hammer, I stand against the atrocities of the Burning Times, and I write:

“This book is dedicated to Jehenne Anseau, and all the other women who were accused, tortured, and burned at the stake during The Burning Times.”

In The Marquetry Box, I stand against the atrocities that occurred in the French penal colony that was operated for more than 100 years, from 1852 to 1953, in the Salvation Islands of French Guyana, and I write:

I dedicate this novel to the men and women who were sent to French Guyana to purge their sentences. Some completed their sentence and survived, but many more died than those who survived. At its worst, there was a 75% death rate. No matter what the crime was, big or small, it remains a fact that the Penal System in the French Guyanas represents a 101-year crime against humanity.

THE THANK YOU

This one speaks for itself.  In My Darling Ron, I thank the lady who inspired me. For sure, she has no idea she inspired me, but I want to thank her anyway.

THE CRYPTIC MESSAGE

In The Epiphany of Geert Vandiest , (which will come out end of 2021 on Amazon), I write the following Dedication:

This book is dedicated to Morris Felton who was there, the day it happened.

When what happened? When? Read the novel when it comes out and maybe you will discover what and when.

If you have other categories, do please let me know.