Deborah Swift's Blog, page 45
March 26, 2012
Nutmeg - a perfect little novel
I received Maria Goodin's debut novel via the Amazon Vine programme, having heard it was already set to be translated into four languages even before publication. Published by Legend Press - a small independent publisher, I can quite see why.
I was totally enchanted by this novel which is at once funny, moving and thought-provoking.
The story hinges around the relationship between Meg and her eccentric mother, who is terminally ill. The book is a sensory delight as Meg's mother is obsessed with cooking. What's more she has never told Meg the truth about her childhood but has told her stories that fictionalise Meg's life. Meg's memories are made from her mother's stories. Most of the stories involve food - the tastes and smells of pastry and cakes, herbs and spices. Rebelling against this fictional life, Meg takes refuge in science and cold hard facts. But cold hard facts cannot tell the truth as well as fiction can, and it is this that makes the book so engrossing.
Meg's mother is endearing precisely because of her story-telling and eccentricity, something which Meg's boyfriend, the rational Mark, sees as lies and mental illness. Mark is determined to cling to his own myth of scientific sanity, and his attempts to do so mean he rides rough shod over others sensibilities. When Meg eventually finds out the truth about her childhood, she is left wondering whether the memories her mother invented for her gave her a better start in life than the truth.
The divide between fact and fiction is a slippery one, and one which Maria Goodin exploits brilliantly. So much so, that at the end of the book when Meg's mother's funeral arrives you are left wondering how much of Meg's portrayal of it is real and how much of Meg's story was "True".
Tender, funny and poignant, this has definitely been the highlight of my reading year so far, and one I shall be recommending to all my friends.
Check out Legend Press's website for an extract, or to buy a copy.
March 23, 2012
My New Book Resolutions
I've just finished book number three, eighteen months of research, and 150,000 words later and it is finally done and off to my editor. It always amazes me that what takes so long for me to write can be devoured so quickly by a reader. And isn't it sod's law that the moment the book has gone off, I suddenly remember lots of little errors I should have corrected.
And it hardly seems a minute since it was last September and I was on my research trip to Seville, to try to fill in the gaps in my research and geography that could only be done actually in Spain. The tapas and warm breezes seem a long time ago now after months of writing at the computer.
Outside the Museum in Seville, bag contains camera and notebook!The last few months I have thought of little else but the novel, and as soon as I had finished it I succumbed to the dreaded flu virus. So instead of all the enjoyable things I'd planned to do, like enjoy coffee with friends again and spend more time out side in the garden I've had six days in bed with the lemsip and too many hankies.
But it has allowed me to stop and think about the pressures on us as writers and to re-assess my priorities before I begin another novel. It also allowed me to read - and in doing that enjoy the creations of other writers. Somehow when I'm in the middle of a novel I don't make enough time for just reading.
The beautiful Alcazar, SevilleSo here are my 'new book' resolutions, which will hopefully prevent me from taking to my bed when the next one is done.
i. Walk more. I live in a beautiful part of the world, but spend far too much time in front of a screen. To do this, I'll need to be organised, so that I waste less time on inessential computer tasks.
ii Rationalise my on-line social networking. When I first became a writer I joined every site that would have me, thinking that all publicity is good, right? But now I realise I can't possibly do it all if I want to have a life that isn't solely virtual. Although I have made some lovely contacts online, much social networking seems to be intensely competitive and motivated by the fear that if you don't do it your book will fail. But like most of us, I don't want to be under constant pressure, and from now on will only do social networking I think I can genuinely enjoy.And I hunger after the real - in life, in my fiction, and in my relationships with people.
iii. I miss my paintbrush now I'm no longer involved in scenography, so I thought I might join an art group. Getting out and about is essential if I'm not to turn into an unsociable hunched-over old lady who can only talk about her latest book.
iv. The writing is my greatest pleasure so I'm going to move my timetable to give me my optimum writing time (for me 9am - 1pm), and write my first draft quicker. I used to think eighteen months was a long time, but it goes so fast! I've realised I need much longer for the editing than I do for the drafting, so I'll aim to get all the research and a first draft done in nine months which will give me much more editing time. I love the editing, a chance to make it shine whilst knowing you do actually have a book in front of you.
v.Try to make the next book shorter! This morning Past Times Books (see logo on the right) let me know that they are now going to stock novellas of over 17,500 words. If only! I think I'm probably onto a loser with this one. I could write two short novels instead of one long one, I muse. Trouble is, I rather like the feel of a good meaty historical novel. And I really enjoyed Labyrinth and Pillars of the Earth and Wolf Hall, and had no trouble making it to the end. If the story grips you, then it grips you and I for one am quite happy with a big thick brick of a book.
vi. Eat a proper meal at least once a day without trying to read research papers or books at the same time.
Below you can see some of the books I used for my research during the last year. Most of them have the odd toast crumb or biscuit crumb between the pages as well as my markers. Though I have to say, I do look after my books!
As for my resolutions, I seem to remember making the same ones after I'd finished The Gilded Lily about eighteen months ago, so I'll see if I do better this time round.
What are your resolutions when you start a new project? And do you stick to them?
Which reminds me, it looks like lunch time. Off to make a healthy meal of pea and courgette soup.
And it hardly seems a minute since it was last September and I was on my research trip to Seville, to try to fill in the gaps in my research and geography that could only be done actually in Spain. The tapas and warm breezes seem a long time ago now after months of writing at the computer.
Outside the Museum in Seville, bag contains camera and notebook!The last few months I have thought of little else but the novel, and as soon as I had finished it I succumbed to the dreaded flu virus. So instead of all the enjoyable things I'd planned to do, like enjoy coffee with friends again and spend more time out side in the garden I've had six days in bed with the lemsip and too many hankies.But it has allowed me to stop and think about the pressures on us as writers and to re-assess my priorities before I begin another novel. It also allowed me to read - and in doing that enjoy the creations of other writers. Somehow when I'm in the middle of a novel I don't make enough time for just reading.
The beautiful Alcazar, SevilleSo here are my 'new book' resolutions, which will hopefully prevent me from taking to my bed when the next one is done.i. Walk more. I live in a beautiful part of the world, but spend far too much time in front of a screen. To do this, I'll need to be organised, so that I waste less time on inessential computer tasks.
ii Rationalise my on-line social networking. When I first became a writer I joined every site that would have me, thinking that all publicity is good, right? But now I realise I can't possibly do it all if I want to have a life that isn't solely virtual. Although I have made some lovely contacts online, much social networking seems to be intensely competitive and motivated by the fear that if you don't do it your book will fail. But like most of us, I don't want to be under constant pressure, and from now on will only do social networking I think I can genuinely enjoy.And I hunger after the real - in life, in my fiction, and in my relationships with people.
iii. I miss my paintbrush now I'm no longer involved in scenography, so I thought I might join an art group. Getting out and about is essential if I'm not to turn into an unsociable hunched-over old lady who can only talk about her latest book.
iv. The writing is my greatest pleasure so I'm going to move my timetable to give me my optimum writing time (for me 9am - 1pm), and write my first draft quicker. I used to think eighteen months was a long time, but it goes so fast! I've realised I need much longer for the editing than I do for the drafting, so I'll aim to get all the research and a first draft done in nine months which will give me much more editing time. I love the editing, a chance to make it shine whilst knowing you do actually have a book in front of you.
v.Try to make the next book shorter! This morning Past Times Books (see logo on the right) let me know that they are now going to stock novellas of over 17,500 words. If only! I think I'm probably onto a loser with this one. I could write two short novels instead of one long one, I muse. Trouble is, I rather like the feel of a good meaty historical novel. And I really enjoyed Labyrinth and Pillars of the Earth and Wolf Hall, and had no trouble making it to the end. If the story grips you, then it grips you and I for one am quite happy with a big thick brick of a book.
vi. Eat a proper meal at least once a day without trying to read research papers or books at the same time.
Below you can see some of the books I used for my research during the last year. Most of them have the odd toast crumb or biscuit crumb between the pages as well as my markers. Though I have to say, I do look after my books!
As for my resolutions, I seem to remember making the same ones after I'd finished The Gilded Lily about eighteen months ago, so I'll see if I do better this time round.
What are your resolutions when you start a new project? And do you stick to them?
Which reminds me, it looks like lunch time. Off to make a healthy meal of pea and courgette soup.
March 22, 2012
The Apothecary's Daughter
The Apothecary's Daughter delights the senses.I love the design of this book, which makes a change from headless women or vast expanses of flowing skirt. It is nicely designed inside too, with well-chosen period typography for the title pages and a good clear readable font.
You would not think London in the time of the plague would be good material for a romantic novel, but Charlotte Betts pulls it off superbly. The book tells the tale of Susannah, who, after the re-marriage of her father to the shallow and demanding Arabella, is forced to leave her erstwhile home to find marriage herself. As in all romances, the path of true love does not run smoothly, and in Charlotte Betts's novel, there are obstacles aplenty - not least her new husband, Henry Savage, who turns out to have quite a few secrets Susannah doesn't know about. The novel does not shirk from portraying the harsher realities of everyday life in the 17th century - slavery, the non-participation of women in society, and these aspects add depth to the story.
Unlike many other sketchily researched romances, this one really deserves the title "historical romance" as both aspects are in perfect balance.Vivid and engaging, the research is thoroughly done and succeeds in giving us an insight into this neglected period of English history, with all the smells of the apothecary's trade, the sage, the turpentine, the juniper. If you are looking for a cracking good story, and to be transported to another age, you really can't beat this.
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February 10, 2012
Blending Historical Fact with Fiction - an interview with Terence Morgan
Hello Terence, lovely to have you here.
Tell us a little bit about your research and how you weld the real history in your books to the fictional elements.
It's a bit like building a wall; you have these known historical facts, which are the bricks, and they have to be laid in a certain sequence. The stuff you make up is the cement that holds them together, and that can be thrown in where it fits. As long as it doesn't make the wall unsteady, it can go anywhere.
I start with the big scenes, writing things that I know have to appear in the book somewhere and developing them, sometimes in quite a lot of detail. In 'The Shadow Prince', that means the things which we know happened historically to Perkin -- his adventures in Ireland, his marriage in Scotland, his invasion of England, his capture by Henry VII and so on. That way I have a string of events with large gaps in
between. Then I start to look for what MIGHT have happened in the gaps, and what COULD have happened (and of course what could NOT have happened) and start to work on the ones that look most promising. That's always a lot of fun, and sometimes very rewarding. It can lead to total re-interpretation of why things happened they way they did. I tell the story in the afterword to 'The Shadow Prince' of how I bought two books for a total of 65p, one ('Cod', by Mark Kurlansky, 55p) in an Oxfam shop and the other ('The Columbus Myth' by Ian Wilson) for 10p in the parish jumble sale, and managed to get an enormous amount of information out of them that led to a complete rethink of the plot. They were a rich mine of ideas that in the end led to a complete re-write of the ending.
I also try to think thematically. In 'The Shadow Prince', for example, I had a clear theme of appearance and reality, disguise and role-playing, that ran right through it, so I looked for places where I could build on that or enhance it in some way, which in his case was relatively easy to do and fitted in with what I needed.Then I look for real people whom my protagonist might have met. In 'The Master of Bruges' I was lucky enough to be able to throw in all sorts of disparate historical characters from William Caxton to Richard III, from Charles the Bold to the magician Tremethius. 'The Shadow Prince' is the same (I won't put any spoilers in by telling you who he meets). I think I'm the despair of my editor, who tries to remove my knowing jokes. I managed to keep a couple this time, though (my favourite is on page 69).
What excited you about the fifteenth century and made you want to write The Shadow Prince?
It was the obvious thing to do. Macmillan wanted another book after 'The Master of Bruges', and I didn't really have anything in mind. Then someone suggested a sequel, and I realised that at the end of 'Master' I had left the door open for a follow-up with Prince Richard. The fact that there were big gaps in the story of Perkin Warbeck meant that I had a lot of leeway, the many unanswered or unsatisfactorily answered questions about him meant that I could choose the interpretation I wanted (or needed, as the case may be), and another major factor was that most of the groundwork for the research was already done, as I had covered Flanders and the Wars of the Roses in the first book and many of the same characters were involved with Perkin. I had had so much fun with 'Master' that I looked forward to repeating it -- frequent trips to Belgium, necessitating even more frequent sampling of Flemish beer - you get the picture.
Are you a plotter or a seat-of-the-pants writer? Tell us a bit about your writing process.
As you can tell from the above, I'm probably a bit of both. As at the moment I'm writing historical novels, there are obvious constraints that I have to observe - I can't have impossible things happening, for example, or characters meeting who lived at different times, so there is a clear plotting element to my books. On the other hand, I am constantly looking for new interpretations of history, so I do tend to go off down the highways and byways in search of the odd and the curious. Of course, not all of the stuff I find ends up in the finished manuscript, but enough does to make it worthwhile.
Have you always been a History buff?
Yes. I used to love it at school, but I enjoyed the peripheral bits rather than the political stuff. As a result it was the only O-level I failed, because I spent too long writing on battles rather than treaties, or individual feats of exploration rather than political takeovers -- the adventures of Lewis and Clark rather than the ramifications of the Louisana Purchase, and so on. About forty-five years ago I discovered the joys of historical wargaming, and that led to lots of researching of battles, uniforms, tactics and so on.
Who or what has made the most difference to your writing?
I've always enjoyed the sort of story which takes a minor character from history and weaves them into a plot involving major historical characters. I suppose Lew Wallace's 'Ben-Hur' was the first of this type I read as a boy, and then there was Robert Graves' 'I, Claudius'. Then when I was a student George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman' series started to appear, and I decided that if I ever wrote stories, that would be the type I would write. I was chuffed to bits when an earlier reviewer of 'The Master of Bruges' compared it to a Flashman.The biggest difference, though, was caused by retirement. I suddenly had time to work on plotting and writing and researching, and it's no coincidence that I didn't publish my first novel until I was sixty-five. I know many people are able to combine a full-time job with writing, and of course I have enormous respect for them, but I never could. I suppose I was just too lazy. I wrote articles for papers and magazines, but they are just short things you can toss off in an evening and don't impinge on family time, and similarly I wrote schoolbooks, but they were based on the lesson notes I had to write for class, so they didn't take up much time either. Novel writing is a different cauldron of cod altogether.
Do you have a special place to write or a special routine?
If I use the phrase 'book-lined study' then readers will get the wrong idea. I do have a study (a converted bedroom), and it is book-lined in the sense that I have seven enormous bookcases that I've picked up from jumble sales and charity shops and which are filled with an eclectic and completely disorganised host of tomes, but I defy anyone to find anything. (I, on the other hand, am blessed with one of those spatial memories than can recall exactly where I saw something, even if it was four years ago, and go straight to it. Having said that, my glasses are an exception to the rule.) I am an indiscriminately enthusiastic purchaser of books, and buy them far faster than I can read them. I discovered the Hakluyt Society a year ago, and now have about forty of their publications dotted about the room. A couple of them found their way into 'The Shadow Prince' by various circuitous routes.Routine? Perish the thought. I write when I remember to, when the agenbite of inwit pricks (am I using that correctly?) I am extremely disorganised.
What do you hope readers will love about your book?
I think it has a certain swashbucking charm, some humour, and a nice twist in the tale that I find pleasing. History students will, I hope, chuckle at the solutions I have postulated to a number of mysteries. I got a five-star review in the Telegraph soon after publication, and the reviewer seemed to find in the book all the things I hoped were there. If the readers have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it they're (I hope I'm not too presumptuous in using the plural!) in for a good time.
Thank you very much Terence for taking the time to answer my questions, and all the best with
The Shadow Prince.
Terence's other book, The Master of Bruges is also published by Macmillan.
Tell us a little bit about your research and how you weld the real history in your books to the fictional elements.
It's a bit like building a wall; you have these known historical facts, which are the bricks, and they have to be laid in a certain sequence. The stuff you make up is the cement that holds them together, and that can be thrown in where it fits. As long as it doesn't make the wall unsteady, it can go anywhere.
I start with the big scenes, writing things that I know have to appear in the book somewhere and developing them, sometimes in quite a lot of detail. In 'The Shadow Prince', that means the things which we know happened historically to Perkin -- his adventures in Ireland, his marriage in Scotland, his invasion of England, his capture by Henry VII and so on. That way I have a string of events with large gaps in between. Then I start to look for what MIGHT have happened in the gaps, and what COULD have happened (and of course what could NOT have happened) and start to work on the ones that look most promising. That's always a lot of fun, and sometimes very rewarding. It can lead to total re-interpretation of why things happened they way they did. I tell the story in the afterword to 'The Shadow Prince' of how I bought two books for a total of 65p, one ('Cod', by Mark Kurlansky, 55p) in an Oxfam shop and the other ('The Columbus Myth' by Ian Wilson) for 10p in the parish jumble sale, and managed to get an enormous amount of information out of them that led to a complete rethink of the plot. They were a rich mine of ideas that in the end led to a complete re-write of the ending.
I also try to think thematically. In 'The Shadow Prince', for example, I had a clear theme of appearance and reality, disguise and role-playing, that ran right through it, so I looked for places where I could build on that or enhance it in some way, which in his case was relatively easy to do and fitted in with what I needed.Then I look for real people whom my protagonist might have met. In 'The Master of Bruges' I was lucky enough to be able to throw in all sorts of disparate historical characters from William Caxton to Richard III, from Charles the Bold to the magician Tremethius. 'The Shadow Prince' is the same (I won't put any spoilers in by telling you who he meets). I think I'm the despair of my editor, who tries to remove my knowing jokes. I managed to keep a couple this time, though (my favourite is on page 69).
What excited you about the fifteenth century and made you want to write The Shadow Prince?
It was the obvious thing to do. Macmillan wanted another book after 'The Master of Bruges', and I didn't really have anything in mind. Then someone suggested a sequel, and I realised that at the end of 'Master' I had left the door open for a follow-up with Prince Richard. The fact that there were big gaps in the story of Perkin Warbeck meant that I had a lot of leeway, the many unanswered or unsatisfactorily answered questions about him meant that I could choose the interpretation I wanted (or needed, as the case may be), and another major factor was that most of the groundwork for the research was already done, as I had covered Flanders and the Wars of the Roses in the first book and many of the same characters were involved with Perkin. I had had so much fun with 'Master' that I looked forward to repeating it -- frequent trips to Belgium, necessitating even more frequent sampling of Flemish beer - you get the picture.
Are you a plotter or a seat-of-the-pants writer? Tell us a bit about your writing process.
As you can tell from the above, I'm probably a bit of both. As at the moment I'm writing historical novels, there are obvious constraints that I have to observe - I can't have impossible things happening, for example, or characters meeting who lived at different times, so there is a clear plotting element to my books. On the other hand, I am constantly looking for new interpretations of history, so I do tend to go off down the highways and byways in search of the odd and the curious. Of course, not all of the stuff I find ends up in the finished manuscript, but enough does to make it worthwhile.
Have you always been a History buff?
Yes. I used to love it at school, but I enjoyed the peripheral bits rather than the political stuff. As a result it was the only O-level I failed, because I spent too long writing on battles rather than treaties, or individual feats of exploration rather than political takeovers -- the adventures of Lewis and Clark rather than the ramifications of the Louisana Purchase, and so on. About forty-five years ago I discovered the joys of historical wargaming, and that led to lots of researching of battles, uniforms, tactics and so on.
Who or what has made the most difference to your writing?I've always enjoyed the sort of story which takes a minor character from history and weaves them into a plot involving major historical characters. I suppose Lew Wallace's 'Ben-Hur' was the first of this type I read as a boy, and then there was Robert Graves' 'I, Claudius'. Then when I was a student George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman' series started to appear, and I decided that if I ever wrote stories, that would be the type I would write. I was chuffed to bits when an earlier reviewer of 'The Master of Bruges' compared it to a Flashman.The biggest difference, though, was caused by retirement. I suddenly had time to work on plotting and writing and researching, and it's no coincidence that I didn't publish my first novel until I was sixty-five. I know many people are able to combine a full-time job with writing, and of course I have enormous respect for them, but I never could. I suppose I was just too lazy. I wrote articles for papers and magazines, but they are just short things you can toss off in an evening and don't impinge on family time, and similarly I wrote schoolbooks, but they were based on the lesson notes I had to write for class, so they didn't take up much time either. Novel writing is a different cauldron of cod altogether.
Do you have a special place to write or a special routine?
If I use the phrase 'book-lined study' then readers will get the wrong idea. I do have a study (a converted bedroom), and it is book-lined in the sense that I have seven enormous bookcases that I've picked up from jumble sales and charity shops and which are filled with an eclectic and completely disorganised host of tomes, but I defy anyone to find anything. (I, on the other hand, am blessed with one of those spatial memories than can recall exactly where I saw something, even if it was four years ago, and go straight to it. Having said that, my glasses are an exception to the rule.) I am an indiscriminately enthusiastic purchaser of books, and buy them far faster than I can read them. I discovered the Hakluyt Society a year ago, and now have about forty of their publications dotted about the room. A couple of them found their way into 'The Shadow Prince' by various circuitous routes.Routine? Perish the thought. I write when I remember to, when the agenbite of inwit pricks (am I using that correctly?) I am extremely disorganised.
What do you hope readers will love about your book?
I think it has a certain swashbucking charm, some humour, and a nice twist in the tale that I find pleasing. History students will, I hope, chuckle at the solutions I have postulated to a number of mysteries. I got a five-star review in the Telegraph soon after publication, and the reviewer seemed to find in the book all the things I hoped were there. If the readers have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it they're (I hope I'm not too presumptuous in using the plural!) in for a good time.
Thank you very much Terence for taking the time to answer my questions, and all the best with
The Shadow Prince.
Terence's other book, The Master of Bruges is also published by Macmillan.
January 26, 2012
The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn - sweeping historical romance
I read the paperback version of this which had a different cover showing a large country house, but I don't think that is out in shops yet. (I got it from Amazon Vine) But you can pre-order!I read it on a train to London, and it took me two journeys to demolish it - a substantial novel then.
The Last Summer is set during the beginnings of World War I and tells the story of Clarissa, who loses her luxurious lifestyle and her home during the book.Impeccably written and well-researched this is an atmospheric and haunting read. It takes the reader from languorous summer days by the lake on a country estate to the horror of the trenches with equal aplomb.
The love story at its heart unfolds over sixteen years or so, so this is no flash in the pan romance but the real thing. Judith Kinghorn skilfully navigates our journey through love and loss, and despite the fact the reader knows that Clarissa and Tom must somehow find the inevitable happy ending the tension is nicely built through all the different episodes.Part of the story unfolds through letters which hold a secret not revealed until the end.
The social and historical background feels real. Clarissa's journey from society debutante to independent woman who wants to work for herself must be the journey many women took in this period and the book highlights this nicely. The back of the novel says it was "the end of a belle epoque" and Clarissa senses this before it is made real to her through the events in the story. People have likened this book to Downton Abbey, but it is not quite as cosy. Death and duty are here too, and the stifling repression of the moneyed classes.
This is a perfect balance of romance and grit, by a great new writer. Don't miss it.
January 18, 2012
Bringing your inner artist to heel - the long haul
Last week I read a great article in the Guardian called "unleash your inner artist" in which well-respected artists from different disciplines told the reader what inspired them. Each had ideas for setting the right conditions, and they varied from "Find a studio with more than one window" to "go on a journey with someone who is as different from you as chalk from cheese".As a writer I have no trouble at all finding inspiration. I could start twenty books tomorrow. But the question is, could I sustain them? Never mind unleashing the inner artist, how do I bring it to heel?
For novelists, most of their work of their first draft happens in the middle of the book. For me the pattern looks a little like this:
Inspiration! (The beginning! I write feverishly.)
Hard graft,
H a r d G r a f t,
H a r d G r a f t,
H a r d G r a f t,
H a r d G r a f t
Aha! The End is in sight.
The End - breathes a sigh of relief.
So a lot of the trick of it is about keeping inspired through the long middle. The characters or subject must have viability for the long haul, and be fascinating enough to sustain my interest over the eighteen months it takes me to research and write the book.
One of the best quotes in the Guardian article was from Guy Garvey, singer/guitarist with Elbow, who quoted in turn some advice he'd been given by songwriter Mano McLaughlin.
"The song is all, he said. Don't worry about what the music sounds like; you have a responsibility to the song. I found that really inspiring: it reminded me not to worry about whether a song sounds cool or fits with everything we've done before - but just to let the song be what it is."
When I start out I have an idea of what the book will be.As I approach the middle I realise that the book is moving away from my vision of it. I try to bring it back. It persists in going its own way. Much of the hard graft in the middle of the book is about the battle between my control of the story and my imagination which wants to take a looser journey.Somewhere near the end of the hard graft phase I realise I have to "let the song be what it is" and allow the story that wants to be told to have free rein. Just about then, I glimpse the end.
Subsequent drafts are about letting go of previous rigid ideas that I had about what my book might be, and who I might be as a writer. I have had to let go of ideas that I might be a) as brillliant and respected as Hilary Mantel b) as popular and best-selling as Dan Brown c) about to be tipped as the next TV book club read, or d) the ground-breaking quirky new voice of the 21st century.
You might have to do the same. Maybe you thought it was literary fiction, until you found you had written a fast-moving convoluted thriller with a crazed psychopath. Maybe you thought you would like to write a romance, until you found it impossible to force those love scenes and ended up with a murder instead.Maybe you became so interested in the motivations of your central couple that the plot never happened and it became a meditation instead and you found you had written a literary novella.
I write historical fiction so here are my top tips for inspiring myself in the long haul.
Surprise, surprise, they all involve leaving the computer and going out, and none of them are hard-line research. They are what I call "dabbling."
Browse your subject in a second-hand bookshop.Don't rush, allow lots of time for diversions.
Wander round a place your character might have lived.
Look up his/her name on Ancestry.com and find out what his/her namesakes did
Go horse-riding. (In my books most people travel by horse)
Go to an Antique shop, auction or museum and handle objects from the period.
Find a spot to daydream about your book and make a point of allowing time for the mind to drift.
Let the song be what it is.
January 2, 2012
Three old trades - trunk-maker, wheelwright and hawker
Whilst researching The Gilded Lily, and London low-life of the 17th century, I was often impressed by how labour-intensive simple manufacturing was, before the industrial revolution, and also how ideas of ethical ways of making a living have shifted over the centuries. I thought I'd share some of the trades that are now almost lost to us in England.
The Trunk-Maker
A trunk-maker made trunks, chests, portmanteaux and cases for holding knifes or weaponry. He needed to be skilled in woodworking, metalwork and leatherwork in order to carry out his craft. So that although it was not highly regarded, he must have had to master a number of different skills.The wood needed to be shaped in the same way a barrel-maker made barrels, and then the structure covered with horse or sealskin with the hair left on, or hide tanned in the tannery. To stretch the leather over the wooden frame it was first boiled and pummelled with a mallet to soften it. Once it was stretched over, metal bands secured the whole thing in place. The bands were heated in the fire and hammered and nailed on. Travelling trunks had rings to strap or chain them before or behind the carriage. Portmanteaux and buckets were made solely of leather. The Portmanteaux carried linen clothing or hats, gloves and stockings, and could be shaped to sit over the horses back or attach to the saddle. Buckets for watering horses, or carrying other liquids were also stitched together by hand and then sealed with rabbit-skin glue and the seams greased to make them watertight.The Wheelwright
The wheelwright made wheels for road-waggons, carriages and carts.This is why the name "Wheeler" was quite common. I used the name Wheeler in The Lady's Slipper for one of my characters who I felt 'turned' from his original ideals. When making a wheel, it consisted of several parts.There was the nave or centrepiece, a circular wooden boss, and the spokes which were inserted into the nave, and also into the fellies or outside rim of the wheel. An iron tyre was fitted to the outside edge whilst red hot so that it moulded well, and also so that it burnt a small depression into the wood.This made it lay flat with the wood and roll easily.Considerable strength was required to bend the wood to make the fellies, and for the stretching of the iron band around the rim. Picture and more information about wheelwrights fromhttp://apetcher2.blogspot.com/2011/03/life-in-year-3rd-february-worshipful.html
The Hawker
A street seller of birds called himself a "hawker" from which we get the name for any person who travels door to door selling his wares.There is evidence that goldfinches were caught just outside London at Chalk Farm (then an actual farm rather than a Tube station!) and also at Finchley. Goldfinches were favoured because they looked pretty and lived the longest of caged birds - about fifteen or sixteen years, and were therefore better value than the average bird which survived three to nine years in captivity.Birds were also sold in bird shops, where as many as five hundred birds could be displayed. The hawkers skill was to catch the birds by means of a bird net fastened to the ground by stars - iron pins - and open at one end. A caged call-bird was put in the middle of the net. Hours went into the training of this decoy.The bird was trained to sing loudly to attract other birds, and when sufficient birds had congregated under the net the catcher pulled a line and the net fell.Birds were caught and sold for their song especially in London, where bird-song was prized. Linnets were very popular, but catching them was cold work as it could only be done in winter. Thrushes nests were plundered for their eggs, and the fledgelings were hand-reared in country cottages specifically for sale to the hawkers who would then sell them on at a profit.
Birds and cage images from http://www.christmasballs.com and http://allaboutbirds.com
December 18, 2011
Writing an Icon - an unusual art
I was reading in our free Parish Magazine that one of the nuns from our local monastery has been commissioned to write an icon for the local church. Of course it is a painting, but the terminology for producing a religious icon is to "write" it. I wondered why the word "writing" was used, so I did a little investigation.
An icon (from the Greek eikon - an image) is like a picture, but is not supposed to be an actual representation of the person, more like a window into our understanding of the qualities that the saint or holy person represents, and a window into our own soul and relationship with God. An icon can be compared to a carefully constructed poem. Every element, like a word in a poem, fits very concisely and precisely to add to the overall meaning and harmony of the whole.
Each icon is supposed to be unique and written with a prayerful attitude, requiring many hours of painstaking work, including contemplating the symbolism of that particular saint.
"It's very important to be at peace with yourself and with the world around you. Writing an icon is a form of prayer. Each brushstroke is like a form of meditation. You have to have that inner peace. Otherwise, you can't do it." Maria Leontovitsh Manley, icon painter.
Not all icons are portraits, although this is the most common form. Above - a 12th Century Icon showing monks ascending a ladder to a welcoming Jesus. Note the devils trying to pull them off!
Nothing artificial is used in the production of an icon, which is usually painted on a wood panel that represents the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge, and sometimes it is called an ark to recall the Ark of the Covenant.
The board is covered with linen cloth which represents the shroud of Jesus and then the whole thing is painted with gesso and egg tempera in the required design. On the right is the earliest known icon of Christ from the 6th century.
Colour plays an important role in the design. Red represents divine life, and blue human life, whilst white is the pure essence of God, only used in resurrection and transmigration scenes. If you look at icons of Jesus and Mary, often Jesus wears red undergarments with a blue outer (God become human) and Mary wears a blue undergarment with a red overgarment (human granted holy gift by God).
Often elaborate gilding is used, made from real 24 carat gold leaf. Gold, which does not tarnish is supposed to represent the Holy Spirit, or breath of life, because you have to breathe on the fine gold leaf to get it to settle into the glue before it can be burnished to a high shine.
There is a specific order to writing the icon: from the most general space (background) to the most specific (the face).
In an interview with iconographer Marek Csarnecki he says:
"There is a pragmatic reason for painting the face last. Although the face is the most important part of the icon, every detail in the icon is part of the transfigured reality, and has to receive the same level of focus and attention. Experience has shown me that if I start with the face, I obsessively work on it to the detriment of the rest of the icon, and it loses its overall harmony or wholeness and develops lopsided.
It's best to work from the outside to the inside, giving every aspect of the work its due. Painting the face first is like having dessert before dinner. You might lose your appetite for the rest of the meal."
I had no idea icons were so complex, or that they had such a rich history and tradition. I am looking forward to seeing what Sister Mary Stella writes for our local church. Apparently her icon will be of Saint Oswald and St Aidan (The patron saint of the local church and St Aidan has links to the North of England.) Pictures are from wikipedia commons.
An icon (from the Greek eikon - an image) is like a picture, but is not supposed to be an actual representation of the person, more like a window into our understanding of the qualities that the saint or holy person represents, and a window into our own soul and relationship with God. An icon can be compared to a carefully constructed poem. Every element, like a word in a poem, fits very concisely and precisely to add to the overall meaning and harmony of the whole.
Each icon is supposed to be unique and written with a prayerful attitude, requiring many hours of painstaking work, including contemplating the symbolism of that particular saint."It's very important to be at peace with yourself and with the world around you. Writing an icon is a form of prayer. Each brushstroke is like a form of meditation. You have to have that inner peace. Otherwise, you can't do it." Maria Leontovitsh Manley, icon painter.
Not all icons are portraits, although this is the most common form. Above - a 12th Century Icon showing monks ascending a ladder to a welcoming Jesus. Note the devils trying to pull them off!
Nothing artificial is used in the production of an icon, which is usually painted on a wood panel that represents the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge, and sometimes it is called an ark to recall the Ark of the Covenant.The board is covered with linen cloth which represents the shroud of Jesus and then the whole thing is painted with gesso and egg tempera in the required design. On the right is the earliest known icon of Christ from the 6th century.
Colour plays an important role in the design. Red represents divine life, and blue human life, whilst white is the pure essence of God, only used in resurrection and transmigration scenes. If you look at icons of Jesus and Mary, often Jesus wears red undergarments with a blue outer (God become human) and Mary wears a blue undergarment with a red overgarment (human granted holy gift by God).
Often elaborate gilding is used, made from real 24 carat gold leaf. Gold, which does not tarnish is supposed to represent the Holy Spirit, or breath of life, because you have to breathe on the fine gold leaf to get it to settle into the glue before it can be burnished to a high shine.
There is a specific order to writing the icon: from the most general space (background) to the most specific (the face).
In an interview with iconographer Marek Csarnecki he says:
"There is a pragmatic reason for painting the face last. Although the face is the most important part of the icon, every detail in the icon is part of the transfigured reality, and has to receive the same level of focus and attention. Experience has shown me that if I start with the face, I obsessively work on it to the detriment of the rest of the icon, and it loses its overall harmony or wholeness and develops lopsided.
It's best to work from the outside to the inside, giving every aspect of the work its due. Painting the face first is like having dessert before dinner. You might lose your appetite for the rest of the meal."
I had no idea icons were so complex, or that they had such a rich history and tradition. I am looking forward to seeing what Sister Mary Stella writes for our local church. Apparently her icon will be of Saint Oswald and St Aidan (The patron saint of the local church and St Aidan has links to the North of England.) Pictures are from wikipedia commons.
December 16, 2011
Unputdownable - The Courtesan's Lover by Gabrielle Kimm
The Courtesan's Lover is exactly the sort of book to keep you occupied over Christmas as you sip mulled wine before a cosy fire. In fact I would liken it to mulled wine - rich, deep and satisfying!Set in a beautifully realised Renaissance Italy, it tells the story of Francesca Felizzi, a wealthy courtesan, who decides to 'go straight.' The first section of the book shows us her life as a courtesan - the glamour and the potential danger are neatly interwoven. For the book to work this part has to be believable and the author spends some time setting this up, so we understand just what a courtesan's life would have been like, right down to how a citrus fruit is used as a contraceptive device!.The setting of Napoli is impeccably researched; the nitty-gritty of Francesca's business is described frankly, but there is nothing here that would shock the average reader.
Once Francesca falls in love, the rest of the book is concerned with how her former clients interact with each other, and how each past encounter now poses a danger to the one true relationship in her life. The reader is kept on tenterhooks wondering which of her lovers will betray her. There are plenty of colourful characters, not least her servant Modesto, a eunuch, whose plight is both touching and sad. There can be few books that examine the tragedy of these young boys whose voices were preserved by the worst kind of intervention.
There is plenty of danger to add spice to this romance.
We fear for Francesca's life when she entertains the sadistic Michele - the client from hell, and fear for her daughters at the hands of the irrational Carlo, her lover's son. Gabrielle Kimm racks up the tension and the pace so it builds nicely to its conclusion.
The Courtesan's Lover is a well-written pageturner, a good old fashioned story with action, romance and a sumptuous setting. Very highly recommended.
December 8, 2011
The UK Historical Writers Association Dinner
How much noise do fifty writers make when they are gathered together for dinner? The answer is - it's deafening! It could be that we are desperate to speak after staring at our computer screens and notepads in our solitary imaginary worlds, or it could be that historical fiction writers are just loud, but lip-reading skills would have certainly been a bonus!
On the way in to The Westbourne I got chatting with Cassandra Clark, who then introduced me to more people. It was hard to read everyone's name-badges, without missing chunks of the conversation, but over drinks we spoke of agents good and bad, of promotional postcards, and booksignings, and the fact that some plots never seem to go where we want them to go. In short, lovely to share experiences and know that others are travelling the same path.
When we finally say down to dinner and people were eating, the noise abated enough for us to have a proper conversation. I was seated at one of the smaller tables along with what I shall call the "Roman cohort". I found out some interesting facts about roman armour from Lindsay Powell - that it was chain mail, or individually made, not always the plate armour we see in films, and as an added bonus he filled us in on not-so-ancient American politics.
Also on my table was Ben Kane, who not only writes best-sellers but seems to be a great organiser,as it was he who had master-minded the evening. Ruth Downie was opposite me, all the way from Devon, and it was interesting to hear that she has the same trouble with slaves in her books as I have with servants and chaperones. We have to get rid of them if we want a scene to be between just two people, and then bring them back whenever the character needs to go anywhere.
Gabrielle Kimm was next to me and we already know each other from a long while back when we were both short-listed for the same prize. (Neither of us won, but it made us friends.) I had her latest book with me to persuade her to sign it for me, and on the way home I finished reading it, so a review is coming soon.
What was going on at the other tables I have no idea, but looking over my shoulder it seemed everyone was engrossed in conversation with somebody. Thanks to Stella for her warm welcome. It was lovely to meet all those writers. And thanks to everyone I met for a great evening. At the top are the books of the folks I met, if you are looking for a Christmas present for someone, why not choose one of these....
Find out more about the Association:http://www.thehwa.co.uk/
On the way in to The Westbourne I got chatting with Cassandra Clark, who then introduced me to more people. It was hard to read everyone's name-badges, without missing chunks of the conversation, but over drinks we spoke of agents good and bad, of promotional postcards, and booksignings, and the fact that some plots never seem to go where we want them to go. In short, lovely to share experiences and know that others are travelling the same path.
When we finally say down to dinner and people were eating, the noise abated enough for us to have a proper conversation. I was seated at one of the smaller tables along with what I shall call the "Roman cohort". I found out some interesting facts about roman armour from Lindsay Powell - that it was chain mail, or individually made, not always the plate armour we see in films, and as an added bonus he filled us in on not-so-ancient American politics.
Also on my table was Ben Kane, who not only writes best-sellers but seems to be a great organiser,as it was he who had master-minded the evening. Ruth Downie was opposite me, all the way from Devon, and it was interesting to hear that she has the same trouble with slaves in her books as I have with servants and chaperones. We have to get rid of them if we want a scene to be between just two people, and then bring them back whenever the character needs to go anywhere.Gabrielle Kimm was next to me and we already know each other from a long while back when we were both short-listed for the same prize. (Neither of us won, but it made us friends.) I had her latest book with me to persuade her to sign it for me, and on the way home I finished reading it, so a review is coming soon.
What was going on at the other tables I have no idea, but looking over my shoulder it seemed everyone was engrossed in conversation with somebody. Thanks to Stella for her warm welcome. It was lovely to meet all those writers. And thanks to everyone I met for a great evening. At the top are the books of the folks I met, if you are looking for a Christmas present for someone, why not choose one of these....
Find out more about the Association:http://www.thehwa.co.uk/
