Sarah Scheele's Blog, page 23

Those Old Valley Stories

After working with the two remaining Valley Stories (Victoria and Alyce) I realized enlarging Victoria just isn’t going to happen right away. The story I was trying to do stalled and I couldn’t seem to get it going. Any writer knows what that’s like and it’s abominably frustrating, especially on a deadline and with many projects planned. But stories have a will of their own. Perhaps I can pick it up after a while, months from now, but I have other books to deal with.

So I switched gears and dealt with the related issue of Alyce. I’m not sure that moving Alyce into Palladia will be required, because I’m only doing that to make sure it doesn’t overlap in any confusing or annoying way with The Prince’s Ball. As I’ve been popping back into the Prince’s Ball (so nice to be back) I am getting an idea that might just possibly make it separate enough that changing Alyce isn’t necessary. If this idea works, I might not have to change Alyce. In that case, I would release the story largely as the one that was published before, joined in a paperback to Victoria. (The two Valley stories other than Consuela could be packaged together.)

​The only difference would be very mild tweaks to update the fake-history setting to an actual historical setting. A historical setting is I believe what interested people about the story in the first place and the switch would be intuitive and a matter of a few sentences here and there. Another good thing about Alyce is that, unlike all other Milland versions, Lord Timson's castle is based on a place in Spain. So it would be effortless to make the story go with Victoria--actually more than it did in the original Valley stories release. Working with the story again has been fun and messing with the plot enough to have Lord Timson be from Spain made the story really downright funny in a way it hadn't been before. Why would a Spanish ruler invite an English country girl from a town like Emma's Highbury to his castle? Sounds fishy if you ask me.
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Just a thought . . . planning . . . planning . . .
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And there will be more updates. 

Star Wars Fun Fact Day

Here is a picture of a puzzle I did with my sister. We just picked it up for, like, a couple of dollars at a resale shop and guess what? It even had all the pieces!!! (Used puzzles can be pretty scary when it comes to trusting all the pieces to be there. We had a little fun piecing it together on Sunday afternoons for about a month. We’re not used to doing puzzles—people rarely even gave either of us any and we always thought puzzles were boring—so it took a while. One piece fell in a pile of stuff under the table during that month and we finally figured out it must be missing after trying lots and lots and lots of remaining pieces in that slot.

On a whim, my sister looked up Star Wars puzzles and found the following fun facts you might not know:They are some of the best places to get prequel-based merchandise. There are some great Phantom Menace puzzles.Puzzles of Han Solo and Princess Leia looking soapy are often very simple, like 25 pieces. WHY??? Those puzzles are for little kids and little kids think Han and Leia’s romance is boring.There is a weird, creepy puzzle of Princess Leia as a hologram inside R2-D2. She is peering up at us and honestly looks weird.The Boba Fett Boys are mad because they want puzzles of adult Boba as well as little Boba. Adult puzzles are very hard, far too hard for the boys, and there is much complaining online.There is completely strange, irritating puzzle of Yoda in a little Santa dress. Seriously, like a cutesy teenage girl. A SANTA DRESS. A SANTA DRESS!!!! (What the heck?)On a more traditional note, the puzzles of Chewbacca are very advanced, thousands of pieces. Whoever that Chewie person is, they are also the person who loves hard puzzles.Puzzles of Darth Vader often come in 3-packs in Christmas tins and are moderately difficult. Christmas tins—huh. I’ve always found Vader’s lack of Christmas cheer disturbing.  
And there will be more updates. 

Let's Talk A Year with the Harrisons

This book has taken a long time to make it into my collection, but it’s a really fun read, so I’m glad I moved it on into a more permanent position. I started writing it over 10 years ago, and about 8 years ago added the subplot of Betty Hilligan and her family to the initial idea of the Harrisons, 3 girls who had been educated at home and were now moving into the world. Betty added a lot of comedy to keep the story from getting too dull (social issues about homeschoolers is a topic that easily becomes tedious.) Her mother’s plot with Mr. Shotgun, which was created literally on the spur of the moment as I was writing rapidly, made me able to tie me in some of Letty’s adventures so all the storylines came full circle and interlocked together.
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There’s a ton of local flavor and hints of daily life based on where I lived these earlier years of my own life in Texas. Small towns, country fields of corn and wheat, churches—even the college buildings are based on real places I went to constantly. I think the authentic hum of daily life is what really stands out about this book. While the characters are invented and not based—for the most part—on anyone I’ve ever known, the setting is real. It’s a place you can really sink into and live because it’s based on the places I knew.

What I hope would be a lasting impression from the book is the theme of being genuine and honest. It’s a story with real, ordinary situations, even if some of them are exaggerated for fictional effect, and I would like to think I talked honestly about those situations. What it’s actually like to go through them. Even if it’s topics that don’t come up in most people’s lives, like church politics, TV families, and getting framed for a blind date because you accidentally ran into someone popular, there’s a thread of emotional genuineness about how it really feels to deal with things. Honesty the only thing that gives relationships integrity and I think that shows in The Harrisons.

And there will be more updates.

Heroine Spotlight ~ Consuela

When I first came up with Consuela, I wasn’t sure how she was going to turn out. But Consuela (if one of my most unusual) is also one of my most charismatic heroines. Her friendship with Miss Plummer isn’t all there is to her. She is a rather tough person who’s lived on the streets and pulled herself up to working in a popular salon for tourists all on her own without any help. Because of her past, she’s a very shrewd judge of character. Consuela isn’t shy about sharing her opinions with those who are more socially advantaged aka, people with more money, people with more education, and people for whom she works. But there’s a lot she keeps to herself too.

Consuela doesn’t go for a rude, punk look. She acts very cute—someone’s stereotyped idea of a pretty and poor young woman with a ribbon in her hair. And she never feels that she can’t handle a situation even if there’s a lot going against her. This is a quality that might surprise people, since she, like Sam Weller, is so snarky and outspoken. Actually, almost everything she does is orchestrated and planned to look spontaneous. But that’s a good thing, because she often uses it to help others, like the EC women she stumbles into.

She’s a bit of a romantic too, although she struggles to admit it. Not only a romantic about love—though her romance barely gets off the ground for a while because she and her boyfriend constantly fight—but a believer in friendship, loyalty, and good relationships. Even though she hasn’t had many friends and seems to have had pretty bad parents, she is never sour or bitter. She is plucky and always believes in other people just a little bit. (Not that she shows it until they’ve proven themselves.)

Consuela isn’t a person that’s easy to be friends with. But if you can pass the test, she’s a very rewarding person to know.
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And there will be more updates.

Some More about My Books

I didn’t think when I first started going through my books that it would mushroom into a 6-month-long massive project with more still to come. I guess I hadn’t been aware how buried the books had been in incorrect marketing, misleading covers, wrong genres, and the like. Plus, the website and social media presence needed an overhaul as well. I’ve joined a number of writer groups on FB that I hadn’t been in before, just as a prelude to doing more, and I've really enjoyed it.

Going through all my books has changed them so much that it makes me feel overloaded to realize I’m only about halfway through. (Staggers under weight of huge stack of books. Totters. Reels to a chair. Collapses as books thud all over me.) I’ve been working over my laptop for such an extent for so many months that I have neck and shoulder pain. I spent half of yesterday with a heating pad. Of course, my own books and website aren’t the only things I’ve been working on, but still . . . just to show this has been a serious, serious task.

The Prince’s Ball is still the elusive goal for end of the year, who knew it would take so long to get there? (reaches for the goal . . . can do it . . . can do it.) Now I’m in the midst of all the old “Valley stories” material and working on turning Alyce into a Palladia novel and Victoria into a separate book. It’s been wonderful to work through everything and I have to say this has been a marvelous year. An almost literally typing-until-I-drop year. But wonderful.

And there will be more updates.

A New Release

I’m so pleased that Everwood is now available. I paired it with The Amulet of Renari, which I mentioned I’d like to bring back individually. Everwood isn’t quite as long as Renari (just about 4000 words), but enough to fill out the paperback book. I love the idea of individual stories instead of collections, but there’s an obvious logistical problem when dealing with shorts and paperbacks. Although Renari is actually almost 20k, so it’s not exactly flash fiction.

Regardless of all that—I was digressing—Everwood combined delightfully with Renari. They really balance each other, yet they’re also similar in their mood of gentle fantasy with just a hint of magic. And there’s a thread of comedy in Everwood—just the least little touch. The Tower-Maiden is sweet, but she really can be humorless at times . . . well, you’ll see when you read it. This will be the free ebook for June. Everwood has never been published, so it adds a bit of something new to the Renari release and puts it in a nice direction.

There’s an Amulet of Renari & Everwood page on the website now. I took down Jurant since I don’t want too many pages overwhelming visitors, as I’ve talked about before. The Jurant book is still available on Amazon though.

And there will be more updates.

Character List ~ City of the Invaders

It’s easy to do a character list for Invaders because at least half the characters actually are a cast—in that amateur-but-very-publicized play Frank and Katia have to join. The others are people like parents who bring them to the theater; directors who put on the play; and audience members who come for the action-packed premiere in the final chapters. Only Katia’s aunt and uncle have no tie to the play and even they do mention it when reconnecting with her family (warning, do not reconnect with relatives who live near the city leader and have never wanted to talk to you before!) I'll put up pictures at a later time. 

Katia Fierten: Age 15. EC girl who moved from a tiny, rural community with no other EC. She studied dance at the nearby, mid-sized town of Derota before her family made the jump to the big city.Frank Fierten: Age 17. Katia’s brother, he is a quiet and enigmatic person. He doesn’t talk much and doesn’t like his secrecy invaded by the fame that comes from the play.Ulf: Age 16. Their next-door neighbor in Wyncon. Extremely short and unusual boy, Ulf is an observer on the scene and often adds his commentary when things are shady or need investigation.Tara: Age 16. Katia’s old-for-her-age cousin, who is dating the Dragonak’s son (much older than she is.) Tara looks down on Katia, but eventually befriends her and Katia doesn’t let her in on many secrets.Bruce: Age 18. Bruce is the cool boy and the star of many, many theater productions before Frank’s arrival. A calm and friendly young man, he doesn’t take himself too seriously and doesn’t begrudge Frank the spotlight.Mr. and Mrs. Fierten: Frank and Katia’s parents, they’re kind of oddities and outsiders on the EC community. Katia’s mom in particular is a hysterical, rather strange woman with a secret past.Mr. Coughing: the harried, critical theater and activities director. A surprisingly tense man, he is aware of the scrutiny the EC gets during the productions and has strong feelings he doesn’t usually show.Aunt Monroe and Uncle Tarvin: Mrs. Fierten’s sister and sister’s husband. Katia’s mother lost touch with her non-EC family years ago, but remains dedicatedly obsessed with them as well and is eager to accept an invitation to reconnect.Rachel: Age 14. Rachel is an awkward kid who makes a lot of mistakes and can’t fit in. Most of the other kids mistake her insecurity for stupidity, but Katia respects her and her feelings.Lina: Age 15. Lina is also a neighbor in Wyncon, but not as friendly as Ulf. She is very interested in the theatricals and a bit of a rude show-off. She rejects Katia constantly, but she somehow fails at being really mean.The Dragonak: The corrupt city leader, he comes from a gangster-type family that runs the city’s politics. He doesn’t like EC, but doesn’t usually attack them until a certain robotic dog threatens him.Sidney: A mysterious man who is a source of the intrigues and appears only at the end.Gac: Age 15. Gac is an aggressive, arrogant boy who studies dance with Katia. He always wants to be her partner and then kicks her or drops her so her feet are injured. Katia can’t stand him.  
And there will be more updates.

The Return of Renari

The Amulet of Renari just sprang up on its own terms, self-created. Years later I came to see it had an essential similarity to Narnia—or at least a discussion of Narnia—but it was isolated from most of my worlds, which were fundamentally linked and characters and situations could often crisscross fluidly during the writing phase. Renari was separate. People never really liked the story either—they just didn’t and couldn’t explain why—but I didn’t care. I always felt sure the poetic imagery of the final chapters was echoing something real, some feeling that was inside a reader out there.

On an off chance it would work, I did mildly link it into Ryan and Essie’s universe—Renari is mentioned as a planet system. So it’s not truly a fantasy world like in most stories, a place that is made up and operates by rules of magic. It has some linkage to our real world—which makes it even more like Narnia. The travelers to Narnia always come to and from our world, so Narnia is a part of our world. “I suppose this whole country is inside the wardrobe.”

After a while I decided to bring it back. I even had an ebook cover from the past, and just need time (soooo busy right now) to run up a quick little ebook. Now Facets has been retired, this would give more people a chance to read Renari. I don’t know yet how it would fit in my scheme of things, but I’ve just always been sure about it.

And there will be more updates.

Meet Miss Plummer

This is Miss Plummer from Consuela, an elderly lady who just might bear a resemblance to Mr. Pickwick. She’s part of the EC, a small minority that many people think is useless. They are mostly interested in classics and artistic pursuits and in a culture people feel is irrelevant. The EC do have one card though—they are the only people who can really read. Since the building of a new society is still in progress, a new written language hasn’t been created for the words people speak on the street. As was the case at times in the past. People still used the old language, Latin, for writing and most people couldn’t even read it.

This part about being able to read will come in handy in the third book in the series, but it’s not a big part of Miss Plummer’s life and she often feels self-conscious. The EC want everyone to get married and she never did, so she feels additionally that she doesn’t contribute to others. So she has formed friendships with three other EC women, younger than herself, and goes around doing charitable work after disasters, feeding the poor, etc.

Along the way, she stumbles into Consuela, a much younger woman who in spite of her age has much more experience. Miss Plummer is naïve to go poking into other people’s affairs, even if she wants to help. Soon she’s actually arrested and it turns out people she trusted weren’t such old friends after all. But Consuela is there to pull her through, because Miss Plummer really is a nice person underneath. Maybe not someone you should imitate—but what they used to call a ducky.

And there will be more updates.

The Lowdown on Science Fiction

I’ve written in a number of genres over the years. In fact, there are very few I haven’t tried, except the trashy ones like horror and erotica. I even wrote the dialogue and scenes for a children’s picture book, but I didn’t have an illustrator. Among my published works I now have epic fantasy; historical romance; contemporary romance; contemporary women’s regional; military sci-fi; YA dystopian adventure; historical (non-romance); children’s fantasy; and western.

While not all the stories are equally suited to me, I’ve written a LOT of them. I’ve noticed that over the years, including recently, a number of people have insisted I was a “sci-fi” writer. I find this strange because sci-fi hasn’t been a huge proportion of my output. It might be 30% at most. I’ve written almost equal amounts of historical work. Why am I not a “historical” author? There would appear to be equal validation for that. And what about the fantasy? Even a story like Ryan and Essie has large amount of fantasy, though it has a sci-fi angle too. If people just think I’m better at speculative than other work, why do they never mention my fantasy stories?

My point is that I don’t particularly like science fiction. I’ve written it along with many other things, but I didn’t feel the stories were better, more with readers, or more likable. The sci-fi stories I did were also maybe a bit unusual for the subgenre they were in, whereas my work in other genres is more typical. I only write anything with science fiction or futuristic when that’s just where the story has to be told--and the kind of sci-fi I think they mean, for there are many kinds, is one I find really boring and I'm not sure it's what I actually write. Not that I’m against my sci-fi stories—that would be unfair—but I am surprised by an idea they are most of my work.

And there will be more updates.