Category Archives: Vivika’s Musings

Vivika's Musings

Creating chaos from calm

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Think about the conversations you have day to day.

“How was your weekend?”

“Did you get up to much?”

It’s all pretty mundane, as you would expect. There’s no harm in mundane. I’m a creature of habit and have a routine I rarely deviate from. However, when you want to write a story you want the audience captivated and mundane dialogue and events just won’t cut it.

Now imagine some the conversations you would have during life’s stand out events.

“We’re pregnant!”

“I’m so sorry to tell you this …”

Whether it’s good or bad the emotional stakes are raised and the dialogue naturally hits harder. Which brings me to my point.

Imagine you’re creating a scene and it is showing the character in an everyday situation. Sometimes you can learn more about a character in their day to day lives, but how well does that read? After a while it wouldn’t provide much to keep the reader intrigued. This is where creating chaos from calm comes in.

Say your character is having dinner with a friend. They are catching up as friends do. Is that what a reader wants to follow? After a while they will want to know any exciting news the friend is bringing. They will want to know why the character was so adamant they have dinner together. Or, my personal favourite, perhaps the both of them are expecting a quiet dinner when something major in the restaurant happens. Since I’m a fan of the more morbid, perhaps someone is assassinated. Perhaps a fire is started.

Don’t be afraid to keep your audience on their toes. Just remember some of the golden rules:

  • Avoid shock for shock’s sake
  • Keep it relevant to the overall plot
  • Use your setting to your advantage and pull your character out of their normality.

I am a thriller writer by trade so It is easy for me to immediately jump on those themes. But, the same applies to romance. When your character has met someone they have fallen for, naturally, even a quiet dinner is going to seem like a much bigger deal. Or comedy; this quiet dinner starts spiralling out of control leading to all kinds of ridiculous outcomes.

Give it a try. Create chaos from calm.

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Vivika's Musings

Trust me. I’m a writer

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There is one thing you should know about writers. No matter what you say to them, no matter how mundane the conversation may be, you are already being cast in scene of some kind. A quick interaction on the bus, or a simple passing gesture can escalate to a full scene with themes, and possibly contributing characters. You have a back story now. It may be nothing like your real life story, but it’s real now, at least to someone.

We all have imagination. More often that not it’s the simplest things that can stir it. People watching is a great activity for writers. Take a quick glance (we’re not creepy stalkers) to the person next to you at the cafe. If they were a character in your story, what would their name’s be? What would be their motivations?

It opens up the world around you and not only does it help get those creative juices flowing, it also opens up the world around you and reminds you, you are not alone. This world is made up of millions of different people with different stories, different thoughts and different songs on their lips. That’s a good thing to be reminded of when we live in an age where communication has never been easier, yet so is the option to completely cut ourselves off.

That being said, as a writer, it also means you can cast someone who displeases you in any scene of your choosing. Having someone mauled by a pack of wild dogs because they came off a little rude may be too much for some, but who am I to hinder the creativity of others.

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Vivika's Musings

We protect our youth in Scotland

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Since the beginning of this year I have been training as a volunteer panel member of the Children’s Hearings for Scotland. For those of you who aren’t residing in this country or are just generally unfamiliar, the CHS is set procect young people flagged by Social Work or have found themselves in trouble with the authoririties.

It is a remarkable system that is incredibly child-focused. I am incredibly proud to be a part of it and I am incredibly proud to be Scottish, with this being how we protect our young people.

After I finished university I did a lot of work with charities and my mentor was a panel member. From then, it was always something I had wanted to be a part of. We all have troubled times. What makes a difference is having someone there who can protect you at your most vulnerable. I am grateful that this country offers me the chance to be that protext

It is emotionally taxing and incredibly indulging. Yet, there is few things in my life I have felt as worthwhile. I have loved taking part in the training and I even had the opportunity to sit through a few panels as an observer. I have my last training session tomorrow and I cannot wait to get involved because it truly makes a difference in the lives of the young people and their families.

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Vivika's Musings

Writer’s Block

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If you’re a writer yourself you will know the physical pain and agony that is writer’s block. If you’re not a writer you may think I’m being a little overly dramatic here. As dramatic as it may sound, the pain of writer’s block is very real.

Even if you’re not a writer, think of a time when you felt your mind just go completley blank. You’ve forgotten a dentist appointment. You’ve let the cat out for the second time today and you don’t even have a cat. You get the idea. It is a complete, all consuming state of despair when you believe you will never function properly again. Okay, that may be a little overly dramatic.

it’s always good to keep those creative juices flowing. Even if you’re not an artistic sort yourself. After all, creative thinking can make the world such a beautiful place. Maybe it’s thinking of all the amazing things your child could become. Maybe it’s planning a romantic trip with your significant other. Creative thinking reminds us we are alive. When that creative thinking is your very life, it can be stressful when it’s blocked.

My suggestions:

Take a walk. It’s an oldie but a definite goodie for so many reasons.

Clean the house. Chores area great way to focus your mind without having too much pressure. Bonus for having a sparkling home afterwards.

Read. I’ve always been a big reader and nothing stirs the creativity more than a good novel. If you don’t like what your’re reading, pick up something else. Take in a move or a series if you prefer. Indulge in storytelling.

Listen to someone else. Older relatives are by far the best for this. They have so many stories to tell and not enough people to hear them.

Take some time to think creating and imagination. What creative thinking have you done so far today. You may be surprised with just how imaginative you are.

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Vivika's Musings

Getting it out there

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I consider myself a confident person. Whilst I’m not overly social, I’m not completely out of place when I need to hold a room. I am not shy of public speaking, although I would prefer to just lose myself in my own thoughts. I’ve always been a dreamy-headed person. Like many authors I probably come across as awkward trying to string a sentence together in the real world when my mind has been plagued with my own imagination for too long.

Over the years I have spent a lot of time building on being able to communicate in other ways outside of the written word. When you are a story teller sometimes just writing it down isn’t enough. Not everyone is a reader. Some prefer to hear how your characters would sound, or would prefer to have you tell them the story. I’m a confident reader. The problem is, I’m not a performer. When I was first asked to read my stories to friends or to family it was daunting. Reading aloud at school was one thing. You were reading someone else’s words. When it’s your own charcters and plots it’s your own innermost thoughts and feelings that are being displayed.

The only way to get past that nervousness was to bite the bullet and get those first words read and get the story started.

The most surprising thing from reading your story fresh to an audience is the reactions you get in realtime. Sometimes there will be lines you didn’t intend on being funny, yet manage to garner a hearty laugh. There may even be lines you thought were hilarious and barely get a snicker.

More often, for me, is the shock on the audience’s face when I read a scene that is brutal. A lot of the time I have desensitised myself to just how nasty a character or a scenario is coming across. It’s not until I see the horror on my audience’s face I realise, whoops, that may have been a bit too much.

Any reaction is better than no reaction. So I say, get out there, give it a try. Let people hear your stories. Even if you’re not the greatest reader in the world. You don’t have to be a seasoned actor. They are your stories and they deserve to be told.

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Vivika's Musings

Frequently Asked Questions

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When I meet new people and I tell them I’m an author I always seem to get asked the same questions.

Whilst there are millions of books out there, being one of the ones who writes them still seems a rare find for a lot of people out there in the wild. Unless you happen to be at an event specifically for writers, it seems authors rarely venture out of their natural habitat of a comfy spot with a notebook and a coffee.

Here are some of the common questions that are posed to me:

HAVE YOU BEEN PUBLISHED?

Yes, my first book was released in 2013. That seems like a lifetime ago.

I do like the idea that people are making that distinction. It’s not a published book that makes you a writer. It’s writing that book that does.

YOU SHOULD WRITE A STORY ABOUT (SUCH AND SUCH)

Part of the fun of being a writer (at least for me) is twisting real life and make it grittier and filthier than it generally is. Be sure you really want your experiences to be a part of that before pitching story ideas.

WHAT’S YOUR STORY ABOUT?

Every other author I know freezes up like a deer with a big old truck smashing towards it. Thousands of words come together to make a novel, sometimes hundreds of thousands, yet it is virtually impossible to sum up the story in just a few. It’s like asking for you to fit your entire life experience so far into a few cohesive sentences.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE IDEAS FOR YOUR BOOKS?

Everything really. From observing an argument on the bus, up to the way the postman was walking down the street.

WOULD I LIKE YOUR BOOKS?

That all depends on what you are into as a reader. It’s no use telling someone who adores romance set during world war one to read a crime procedural book set in a post apocolyptic planet in the far reaches of the galaxy. That’s not to say they wouldn’t enjoy the change of pace, it’s just people’s tastes are different.

If you do spot an author in the wild and they look a little confused and grumpy, just urge them to the nearest coffee house where they can be collected by a loved one. Then feel free to ask them about their work!

“If you do happen to be my kind of reader, feel free to check out these thrillers, available on Kindle Unlimited.

Vivika's Musings

I can’t live without you!

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The air we breathe. The food we eat. The water we drink.

All of these are most defintely things you can’t live without.

Family, loved ones and friends.

These are things that life wouldn’t be the same without.

Hobbies, art, wonderment.

These are things that life would have little quality without.

Then there’s everything else.

When someone says to me, they couldn’t live without their phone, or a cosmetic item or any of those things I consider the set dressing of life, it makes me wonder why.

Why have we become such a world where those trinkets are the things we place our very existence on? Wouldn’t it be nice just to strip things back a little again and bask in the simpler things. Instead of the dinging of social media notifications we can enjoy the singing of the birds again. Instead spending thousands on products so we like what we see when we look in the mirror we can look back up at the sky again.

Let’s face it, we don’t need expensive toys to live. We don’t need the fanciest clothes or the biggest house. A luxury car may take you places but you’ll never be transported quite the way you are when you learn something new.

I say all these things knowing very well I am someone who rarely has their phone out of their hand. I like the best consoles and I like buying new things as much as the next person. As a new month dawns in 2026 I just thought it would be nice to live a little differently for a while.

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Vivika's Musings

Conspiracy to theorise

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There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there. Some of them are completely outlandish. Some of them at least sound like they hold an element of truth. What interests me most about it is getting a glimpse into what shapes people’s beliefs.

The first outlandish one that comes to mind is ‘flat earth’. I trained as a scientist so whilst I like to believe in the fantastical, I do have to some logic in the world around me. Logic directs me to the scientific evidence that the world is not flat.

A more recent one that was and probably still is widespread (no pun intended) is theories surrounding COVID19. A global pandemic is an experience I never thought I would have in my lifetime but in 2020 the entire world shut down. In this instance theories started to arise because people were frightened. Many were dying. We were being told to stay in our homes. Shop shelves were empty. It was a horrendous experience and terribly frightening. That collective concern culminated in the belief that we weren’t being told everything. People were frightened and they were looking to try to garner some kind of understanding and through this theories starting forming. Some were ridiculous (it was a hoax set up to gain control and instill a new world order.) Some were frighteningly real sounding (it was a bioengineered weapon).

In this era of modern technology there are unprecedented opportunties to share these theories. The realism AI can provide means that misinformation floods everywhere. When I was gathering my thoughts for this blog I was hesitant to research conspiracy theories online. Who knows were my algorithm would take me. It’s already wild enough researching for thriller books.

There are so many conspiracy theories, I’d be here all day going through them all. I wanted to open the discussion on them though.

Do you have any theories that are considered conspiracies that you truly believe in? If so, what shaped that belief? No arguments necessary. No debates just looking to understand.

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Vivika's Musings

Oh, the horror!

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One thing I find quite common in fans of horror like myself is we were exposed to the genre from an early age. For some this was an exciting experience. For others, myself included, it was – not to put too fine a point it – horrifying.

Poltergeist, IT (the original series with Tim Curry) and Child’s play were just some of the movies I saw when I was arguably way too young. I was always an imaginative child so the scenes these movies presented, as corny as they may be now, played on my mind and formed lifelong phobias. Those lifelong phobias, I just happened to turn into a career.

Lets start with Pennywise. Released in the early nineties I was still in primary school when I first saw it. What stuck out most to me was the vibrancy of Pennywise’s red hair. It stood out to me against the duller, New England backdrop. The colours made him more eyecatching, more threatening. Even as a youngster I never saw clowns as anything less than nightmre fuel.

Then there was Chucky. The doll possessed with the spirit of an evil man. Another red head. As an imaginative kid with little to no real friends toys, stuffed animals and dolls were my most treasured companions. To see what a doll was capable of doing, at least by movie standards, was horrifying.

Cut to several decades later and I find myself still lost in that imagination. I do still have treasured toys and dolls, Pennywise and Chucky being one of them. I also sport vibrant (yes you guessed it) red hair. I knew there were some correlations between how my approach to creativity was shaped by these old horror movies as a child. However, it wasn’t until I started to write this blog I began to realise just how much.

The villainy, the vibrancy, the outldandish plots and the reactions from viewers were something that became embedded in my ambition. I came to enjoy writing material that made a reader shriek, gasp or become unsettled. I could have written happy little stories with lovely endings. I ask though, were would be the fun in that!?

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Vivika's Musings

EH!

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In my younger years I had the pleasure of seeing a lot of live music in my adopted home of Dundee. After a fifteen-year hiatus I paid a visit to the old venue known as ‘The Doghouse’. It was like nothing had changed. There were the same thrills. It was like no time had passed at all.

Before I get to that, first I’d like to mention Lexi Campbell, an amazing individual who I never had the pleasure of meeting. With their passing, a legacy of music behind. Mental health issues are something that can affect all of us, so Lexi’s family and friends made it a mission to raise awareness, supporting some amazing charities at the same time. The Lexfest event was something to be proud of. It was what drew us all back together after such a long time and I was glad to be able to enjoy the music that was provided.

Returning to my own experiences, fifteen years ago, on the music scene was an amazing band called EH! Their unapologetic presence on stage made them a standout. Ian, Sean, Paul and Andy had an excellent mash of indie and classic rock sounds. They had a vibe that was always captivating.

Image Credit: Tracey Stewart Thompson

That was then. In more recent times, things had gone quiet. People mature. Priorities change. Life gets in the way. Then recently word got out that they would be coming back together in support of Lexfest and some wonderful causes. Fifteen years is a long time. Many rehearsals would have to take place to see what still worked. Would they even be able to mesh again? Would it be the same with so many changes on the scene?

During the weeks prior to the gig, I found myself waking up most mornings humming the tunes like I did back then. I was excited to see it all again. I just couldn’t wait to recapture those moments.

The boys took to the stage after the long absence. I took a spot front and centre in the audience. The drums, the bass, the guitars and the bold vocals erupted. It was like they had returned home. They were exactly where they belonged. I had my young niece in my company, and even the younger generation found themselves absorbed.

Image credit: Kirsten Connelly

The music was incredible. They even introduced a new song, ‘Money don’t grow on trees’, which rang with poetry and held such power in the soft melody. I decided there and then it was my new favourite.

I know there were nerves all round within the band. They needn’t have fretted. Music touches the soul in a way nothing else does. It’s never gone. It is an entity that has tremendous power. It reunited us with old friends (missed you so much, Tracey!). It brought us together after all those years. As Ian would say, we formed a ‘wee community’.

I saw the good it did for Paul to get back to those drums again. Andy, you strive for perfection on that bass, and that’s the name of the game. From a fan though, I don’t think you realise how talented you are. Sean, I’ve never known anyone personally who can handle the guitar the way you do. It never ceases to amaze me. Finally, Iain, I missed your poetic spirit. You have an affectionate confidence that most of us can only aspire to.

It was great seeing EH! back on stage again. I look forward to gathering for the love of music all over again!

Main Image credit: Kirsten Connelly

For more information on Lexi:

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/3212120/amie-flett-lexi-campbell-legacy/