Good writing derives from a fresh observation of everyday occurrences. Good writing draws the reader in. Good poems must be accessible and draw you in with a catchy phrase or an easy metre; and then overwhelm with concentrated meaning. Good writing, and good poems, should be easy to understand – but leave you thinking.
“When you meet the characters you have created – or start to worry about what they will do next, you know you have succeeded…”
stillyou canNigel’s first book, Rootless, is now available for purchase (link to Amazon /Rootless-Nigel-Scotchmer/dp/B0CJL9W8V1). The book is not your typical ‘coming of age’ story. Nigel wants you to think about your expectations for the characters in the book, what you would have done in their circumstances – and why the heroine does what she does. Life is complex; motives are sometimes hard to understand and to justify. Sometimes people you want to like don’t do what you want them to do. Some characters in the book are enigmatic; we are only told a little about them – and, of what we are told, is it really relevant to understanding them and their actions?
The Catholic Club is Nigel’s second book, and it is not available yet – although you can read the first chapter at the Catholic Club page. This book reveals more about the character of Boaz, introduced in Rootless, and takes place some years earlier. The two books are related, yet are quite different. Our lives are often in chapters; different, yet still related. Boaz is not the central character, as there is another love interest, the stunning and headstrong dancer Lakshmi. They are surrounded by characters who have their own issues, devils, and ambitions.
Prior to writing full time, Nigel led an active life in business, travelling widely and collecting companies, patents and accolades in various fields.
Nigel often has a contrarian view, a view that has been honed by being mugged in Mumbai, escaping a kidnapping in Istanbul and an assassination attempt in Saltillo, Mexico.
His stories combine everyday events with action and passion, told in a non-judgemental way, highlighting the complexity and unpredictability of modern-day life. The stories are fast-paced, can surprise with their earthiness, and yet have an undercurrent of a romantic sense of loss.
Work
This is the fictional memoir of Ottawa girl, Helen, who grows up in an abusive home environment and comes of age at university. She then travels across Canada both in an attempt to escape that and to discover herself. She is pretty, intelligent, very opinionated, and yet profoundly needy. It is a fast-paced novel, and it takes a while for the reader to sympathize with her as she doesn’t always do what the reader expects. But she grows as she conquers her own mistakes and overcomes the hand she was dealt with. She slowly realizes innate intelligence is not enough in life. The work tangentially introduces Boaz, some years after the events in The Catholic Club. More on Rootless.
This story involves the earlier life of Boaz before Rootless, the mysterious character introduced in Rootless, and recounts his adventures, his travels and his romantic and passionate love for Lakshmi, a beautiful and headstrong girl he meets, by chance, upon the ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Boaz is driven by his overarching quest, and yet haunted by visions of, and need for, Lakshmi. It is a story of dreams, of hopes, and the fight for them. Read the first chapter of The Catholic Club as an issue of the Ironist. It is the universal story of our lives. More on The Catholic Club.
This is a collection of poems, and reflects Nigel’s belief that poetry should express concentrated emotions and thoughts in a new, fresh manner and yet be easily accessible by the reader. Many of these poems explore the place memory in our lives, and the effect that memory has upon us all.
Irony allows us to took at a subject, an issue, or an event from a different angle. Irony is central to Nigel’s view of the world. There are always different perspectives, and our appreciation of our own lives is improved if we can consider them. The Ironist is a blog/newsletter that considers the incongruities, the unexpected angles, the different depths, that an unexpected perspective permits. More on The Ironist.
“You have to be able to sit back and watch – whether it is the opening of the translucent green leaf in the warm spring sun, or that desperately insecure and unhappy police officer, arresting an obviously innocent bystander on orders of his superiors….it’s life around you. It is my job to weave a story for you to enjoy.”