Rebecca Ross's Blog, page 87

Scheming Saturdays.✨I bought this journal MONTHS ago and I’m...

Scheming Saturdays.✨I bought this journal MONTHS ago and I’m still hesitant to write in it.

Your book, The Queen’s Rising, is amazing! I do have one question though- what did the passion of “wit” mean? I didn’t fully understand it the same way I understood the other ones (knowledge, art, dramatics, music). I felt like “wit” and “knowledge” essent

Thank you so much! And I’m glad you asked this, because a few other readers have wondered this too, and I’m always happy to explain it :)

So wit is the most mysterious of the passions, but most often or not, a master or mistress of wit will gravitate towards position of influence and/or power. They often become advisors in royal courts, counsellors of lords and ladies and royals, orators, lawyers, debaters, speech writers, campaign managers, authors or teachers in a passion house. They are highly skilled in the “four suits of wit” which are persuasion, humor, elegance and opposition. This actually corresponds to the symbol they have stitched on the back of their cloak when they become impassioned, to reveal what their strongest suit is (persuasion = spade; humor = heart; elegance = diamond; opposition = club). At it’s core, a passion of wit is someone who is highly skilled in the spoken word. 

If we look at the passion of knowledge, we predominantly see historians, teachers, and physicians (those are the three main branches of knowledge), but of course, there is more to it than that. A passion of knowledge could become a poet, astronomer, botanist, alchemist, cartographer, etc. And yes, there could be some career crossings with those of wit. A passion of knowledge could also be a great counsellor and speech writer and author. But most likely, a passion of knowledge prefers quiet spaces and the company of books over conversations and the company of others, like a wit would.

I hope this is helpful. And thanks again for your question!  

When you were writing TQR, how did you plan the story to become the intricately developed plot it ended up as? I’ve always wondered how authors have developed stories to be so well-detailed. Would you say you discovered these plot intricacies as you wrote,

I’m an exploratory writer, so I love to discover things as I write. When I first sit down to begin drafting a book, I always know two things: where I’m starting and where I’m ending. The rest I discover as I go. Which can be exciting but also frustrating, if I let my plot take a strange turn. 

I find that revising is the perfect time to really hone details (what needs to stay and what needs to be cut) and to weave all the threads together in the narrative. For TQR, I had a few of the plot intricacies figured out before hand. But most of them bloomed as I drafted and fully came together as I revised.

⭐️ GIVEAWAY!! ⭐️ Friends—I am SO THANKFUL for each of you! For...

⭐️ GIVEAWAY!! ⭐️ Friends—I am SO THANKFUL for each of you! For those of you who have read my book, bought my book, posted a review of my book, taken gorgeous pictures of my book, and recommended my book…I cannot thank you enough! It honestly means the world to me and your friendship and encouragement has refueled me and kept me going on days when I felt burned out. So in honor of you, I’m hosting another giveaway! What’s up for grabs:

⭐️ Your choice of one (1) of the following: the U.S. hardcover of TQR, the paperback U.K. edition of TQR, or the audiobook of TQR on CD.

⭐️ These two candles made by @novellyyours that tie into the book! Tristan’s Memories (woods + dark valleys + storms) and The Summer Solstice (jasmine + starlit gardens + cordial)

⭐️ A Passion Cloak!!

I just wanted to say that you are my inspiration. Thank you so much!!! And I love The Queen's Rising so so so much XD

Oh, thank you so much! So happy you love it. You just made my day :)

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! ☀️

What gave you the inspiration to write TQR?

The very first scene I ever envisioned for the book came out of the blue one night when I was working on another story idea. I suddenly saw Brienna sitting in a sunlit library. And across from her was Cartier, who was looking at her intently, as if he had just said something to her. And instead of speaking to him, Brienna spoke to me instead and said, “The summer solstice is in eight days and I have yet to master my passion.” And I was like, “WAIT! Who are you and what are you talking about!?” 

I wrote that line down before I forgot it, and then I had to ask…what was this passion she spoke of? I began to think of things in life that require dedication, time, instruction and one’s whole heart to master. I wrote down art, then music. Next I wrote down dramatics, because I had always been fond of theater as a teen. Then I thought of wit, and lastly knowledge. And the longer I stared at that list, the more the world began to build around it. These were the five passions of life, and Brienna was in a school of the passions in Renaissance inspired world. I then had to ask her why she was worried she wasn’t going to master her passion in time. As I began to write that scene out (which parts of it are still in the first chapter of TQR), I started to understand her more. And I knew that she was going to go through a failure, but from that failure, a new opportunity was going to rise. And that was going to be the revolution to put a queen back on the throne. 

But I think the heart of my inspiration was simply to write a story that I longed to read. A story about sisterhood and dark family secrets, of tangled history and realms ruled by queens. A story of a young woman who is intelligent and cunning yet imperfect, who becomes the driving force of a revolution because of her knowledge, who finds herself and carves her own path in the world.