The Z Files: Gemma Lawrence ~ Scorpio

Astrology ~ a bit of fun, a load of rubbish, or something to take seriously?

I invited around 70 writers/bloggers to write a piece about whether or not they're typical of their sign, and how its traits affect their writing life ~ if at all...

Has your favourite writer been featured yet?  Links to all previous posts at the end of this one :) 

Today's guest, striding over to my blog in a subtly confident Scorpio manner, is fellow Tudor obsessive, Gemma Lawrence.  Lover of many things historical, she also finds some great quotes on Twitter's #ShakespeareSunday:)  Gemma's series and short stories have quite a following on Wattpad, and she won an award on the site last year.  I read her first published novel, The Bastard Princess, about the early life of Elizabeth I, and was highly impressed; my review, including Amazon links, is HERE

Tell us about the life of a Scorpion, please Gemma ~

"My favourite explanation of my star sign was on a t-shirt someone once gave to me which said: 

“Scorpio: Cynical, sarcastic, manipulative revenge-seeker”

Call me cynical if you like, in line with my star sign, but I’ve often thought that Scorpios were cast as the baddies of the Zodiac…. And as a writer, I have to say… baddies are important. We cannot have the light without the darkness, we cannot prevail over evil unless there is evil there to vanquish in the first place. What would Harry Potter be without Voldemort? What would Luke be, without his nefarious father Lord Vader? 

And there is something in all of us, I believe, which would rather be Dick Dastardly than Penelope Pitstop…."

"Baddies give the hero something to fight, to prevail against, give the author a chance to explore their own darkness, and give the reader a chance to take on the qualities of the hero they admire, to recognise and fight evil in the world when they see it.

There are exceptions in literature of course; it’s hard in fact to find a hero in a book like Wuthering Heights since Cathy and Heathcliff are both such deplorable characters, and perhaps that is why a book such as this becomes a classic; because it gives free rein to the reader to see what happens when evil is unleashed without hope of redemption."

"But we Scorpios are given some good virtues, perhaps to off-set the naughty ones: loyalty, something very important to me; focus, something I can see in some of my life… although not all! Courageousness, a trait I admire in many of my characters and I hope something that I possess, and then the trump card; sexy.

Oh yes, we all like being told we’re sexy, why wouldn’t we? But of course, many baddies have a charm and a magnetism which can be called attractive, perhaps because baddies are the ones to always act on their wicked impulses…"

"So, do I believe that I am all of these things? I can certainly see some of them within me, I think we all can. But if I am one of the baddies of the Zodiac, I would much rather be cast as a baddie with some hope of redemption… a star sign in which the good characteristics might prevail over the bad ones… I think that is what we all struggle with in our lives generally; to outweigh the bad in us with the good. We are all capable of goodness and evil, but I am sure that most of us, if we admitted we were not a Harry Potter or a Hermione Granger, would rather be a Draco Malfoy than a Lord Voldemort, a Lord Vader rather than an Emperor Palpatine….  We are, most of us, redeemable baddies struggling to be heroes in our own lives. And perhaps the reason the baddies of literature and film are so charming to us is because we recognise a little bit of ourselves within them. It’s not a bad thing, and what’s good about it, is that learning to recognise your own faults may lead to something baddies never seem to possess; an ability to control them.

So, do I mind being cast as a baddie of the Zodiac? Not really. I know I am, like most people, a redeemable baddie… and if nothing else, it gives me a chance to say things like… “Drat!! Tripe Drat!!” and “I’ll get you next time, my pretty…” 

Baddies often get the best lines, after all…"

I think membership of the typical and higher Scorpio club has been well earned :)  You can follow Gemma on Twitter and read more of her stuff on Wattpad.

Now, some fellow Scorpions to whisk across the desert with her....

Acclaimed historical novelist, the late Anya Seton....

.....and the (also, sadly, late) great, poet and short story writer, Sylvia Plath

Who's next?  An AstroSceptic Libra!

Previous Posts:

Leo and Aries: Terry Tyler and Proofreader Julia

Leo: Anne Goodwin, Alex Johnson

Aries: Cynthia Harrison

Gemini: Jerome Dumont, John Privilege, Shelley Wilson

Aquarius and Capricorn: Nicky Black

Aquarius: Cathy Ryan, Lynda Renham

Capricorn: Steffany R

Sagittarius: Rachel Amphlett, Wendy J Lennox, Katrina Mountfort

Virgo: Louise Marley, Elizabeth Ducie, Barb Taub

Pisces: Maria Savva, Sacha Black

Scorpio: Robert Leigh, Catherine Hokin, Jenny Twist
Taurus: Valerie-Anne Baglietto, Valerie Poore,

Cancer: Katie Oliver, Mark Barry

Libra: Jen Ammoscato, Joanne B