Jennifer Donnelly's Blog, page 5

I Have a New Tea Rose Story!

To all you lovely Tea Rose Saga readers: THANK YOU! I’m so grateful to you for taking the time out of your busy lives these past many years to share your thoughts, enthusiasm, and kind words about The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose and The Wild Rose – they mean more to me than I can say. And I’m beyond excited to share Molly's Letter, a brand new Rose story, so we can continue the conversation!

But you're probably wondering just what I'm up to with this out-of-the-blue addition to the Tea Rose Saga ... so here’s a quick, spoiler-free Q & A:

Q: Is Molly's Letter a new Tea Rose Saga book?

A: Yes! But it’s not a 700 page novel. It’s a 120 page novella, and it’s the first in a series of new stories set in the world of the Rose Saga. Each story centers on an episode in the lives of characters from the Rose books -- some major characters, some who might’ve been mentioned but not deeply delved into. Or they might be entirely new characters that none of us have met before!

I’m calling these stories Rose Petals – all parts of the big bouquet that is the Rose Saga.

Q: Does Molly’s Letter feature characters from The Tea Rose?

A: It sure does! Fiona Finnegan and Nick Soames return in this story, as do Fiona’s Uncle Michael and Fiona's friend, Mary Munro. Plus a new character – but I can’t say too much about him … yet!

Q: Where is the story set?

A: Molly’s Letter is set in New York, within the timeline of The Tea Rose, in the gap between Parts Two and Three, in the summer of 1891.

Q: It’s been twenty years since The Tea Rose was published. What inspired you to revisit these characters now?

A: Two little – and powerful – words: my readers. Molly’s Letter is a love letter to everyone who ever wrote me, or emailed me, or posted a comment to tell me how much they loved the Rose books, and how they wished they could spend more time with those characters. That kind of encouragement, that depth of love and loyalty … well, it’s nothing short of overwhelming, and I hope that Molly’s Letter and the rest of the Rose Petals speak to my readers’ hearts in the exact same way that the Rose books do.

Q: What is Molly’s Letter about?

A: The story explores how two characters from The Tea Rose, Michael Finnegan and Mary Munro, try to find love again after each has lost a beloved spouse, and how Fiona and Nick try to help them – but how that help might be too little too late. Molly’s Letter contains one of the saddest scenes I’ve ever written, and one of the funniest, too – at least if you like slapstick humor as much as I do! And it ponders an important question: It is possible to get a second chance at love?

Q: Where and when can I buy Molly’s Letter?

A: When – October 3, 2023. Where – On Amazon in e-book and paperback; at your local bookstore in hardcover and paperback; and on most other e-book platforms.

Q: Can I pre-order a copy?

A: Yes! On Amazon as a Kindle e-book right now; other formats and retailers are coming soon.

Q: Are you publishing these Rose Petals without a traditional publisher?

A: Yes! These aren't traditional books -- they are a collection of related but independent stories, I don't know what all of them are going to be, I don't know how long they'll be, and I don't know how many I'm going to do. That's not a model for traditional publishing! If my Rose Petal story is 100 pages long, I want to publish it at 100 pages ... and price it accordingly. So I have started a small publishing company called Wild Rumpus and our first project is to produce these Rose Petal stories. I'm a little nervous to be doing this independently, to be honest (I mean, what do I know about the business of publishing?!) ... but it's incredibly exciting and liberating at the same time!

Q: So, we have Molly's Letter with Fiona and Nick ... what other Rose Saga stories are we going to see and when?

A: Well, I don't entirely know, but I do have several ideas, and they span all three Rose Saga books. I'm working on the second one right now ... and it's set in the Winter Rose featuring (who else?) Sid and India. I'm biting my tongue to not spill the whole plot right here because I LOVE those two and I'm so enjoying being with them again ... but I think I better write it first! When will it be out? Well, when it's done 😉. Seriously, my hope is to do one of these every few months ... so maybe around the holidays or very early 2024. I will keep you posted!

Remember when Nick bought Fiona that Tiffany necklace in the Tea Rose?

Remember when Nick bought Fiona that Tiffany necklace in The Tea Rose? Hmm, neither do I …

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I wonder what Fiona and Michael are up to …

I’ve been spending time with some very dear, very old friends, and it turns out they have some new stories to tell. I’m almost finished with the first one and I can’t wait to share it with you!

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The Sh!t No One Tells You About Writing

I get asked a lot of publishing questions by aspiring writers – some of which I can answer, and some not so much. But this wonderfully frank and funny podcast I just discovered has plenty of answers, and I wish it had been around when I started out.

Hosted by novelist Bianca Marais and literary agents Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra, it’s a rich resource of information on everything from query letters to crafting characters to building tension and suspense.

Check out From the Archives: Talking with the Bestseller Whisperer (27 Sep 21), which features the very talented Tara Singh Carlson, who edited Delia Owens’ beautiful book Where the Crawdads Sing for insight into the editor/author relationship, and From the Archives: 10 Harsh Truths Writers Need to Know (3 Aug 21), by co-host CeCe Lyra, for a dose of writerly tough love.

It has quite a bit on self-publishing, too, which I haven’t done (yet), but for some reason get asked about a lot. Check out Bonus Episode: What it Takes to Be a Successful Indie Author (20 July 21) with novelist Kiersten Modglin, Author and What You Need to Know About Self-Publishing (19 Nov 2020) with novelist K.A.Tucker (Author).

All of these writers, editors, and agents are so charming and honest, and so incredibly passionate about their work, and I loved listening to them and learning from them. Hope you will, too!

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Three Rules for Writing a Novel

With all respect to Mr. Maugham, here are three rules that have helped me:

1). READ Read everything: novels, poetry, the back of the cereal box. It’s all nutrition. Beautiful sentences, breathtaking metaphors, perfect words—these things help build voice and style: a writer’s muscle and bone.

2). WRITE If you want to be a writer, you have to write. (Which is simple and obvious. And hard.) Wishing and thinking and planning and talking (all of which I’m constantly guilty of) don’t count.

3). REVISE No one gets it right the first time. If you’re struggling, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer; it means you’re not willing to accept bad writing. Keep shaping, changing, adding, cutting, polishing until that diamond you’ve carried in your heart shines.

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I Need the Darkness

Insomnia visits me often and usually for one reason: a book — the one I happen to be writing.

My eyes snap open and tangled plot lines writhe before them like snakes. Colorless characters lurch around like sad paper dolls. And my careful, considered structures, painstakingly built during daylight hours, teeter and collapse.

I used to fight insomnia hard, closing my eyes, tossing and turning and punching my pillow, but lately I’ve been trying a new strategy: surrender.

Now I stare straight ahead at a window I can’t see. And in the darkness, so absolute, so unnervingly quiet, some deeper vision sharpens and reveals what the daylit hours hid from me. I start to tease a plot line free. A character lays her heart bare. A shaky foundation is shored up.

Minutes pass, then hours. Little by little, light fills the window, showing me what I knew was there all along.

I just needed the darkness to see it.

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Home at Last

Five years ago, I stood in a dirty, smelly, wreck of an old stone house and knew I wanted to call the place home. Bushes were growing in the window. Bats lived in the attic. Wallpaper was hanging down in strips. But the house whispered to me.

Part of the reason I fell in love with the property was its falling-apart stone garage. I could see past the broken windows and crumbling dormers and what I saw was a workspace that was airy and inspiring, but also rock solid, literally. A place that would put its arms around me.

Renovating it took a lot longer than I anticipated – thanks, Covid; thanks, cancer – but it’s finally done, and move-in day is about a week away.

As the reno ends, so does another project I’ve spent years on – my fairytale trilogy. I’m finishing edits on the last book and am getting ready to let go of characters I’ve lived with for a long time. They were with me through the pandemic. In the hospital and after. They kept me company during some pretty dark days. You’ll meet them soon and I’m so excited for that, but for now, I’m saying my good-byes. And my thank-yous. They may not live in my head anymore, but they’ll always live in my heart.

Already, some new characters are knocking on the door. I think they’re looking for a home, too, and I’m going to invite them into my lovely stone cottage for a chat.

I can’t wait to tell you what they have to say.

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Get a First-Edition A Northern Light

Look what I found! While digging out boxes of The Tea Rose, I discovered a few cases of another old friend – A Northern Light! I have only a few first-edition/first-printing U.S. hardcover copies, but I have put them up for sale in my online shop.

Like my first-edition Tea Rose offering, these Northern Lights are brand new and untouched since they were printed and bound in 2003 … and I’ll personally sign them and wrap them for you in a beautiful, gift-ready package (I’ll even inscribe them to you or your favorite reader — just let me know to whom in the “Order Notes” section of the order form.)

There’s a photo of me hugging the book below. I can’t tell you how special that felt — to hold this story that contains so much of who I was as a girl, as it first appeared when it was published nearly two decades ago. Like the Tea Rose, many of you found me through A Northern Light — and we have been together ever since. What a journey it has been! I’m so lucky and so thankful to have had you alongside me all this time.

Mattie Gokey would try to find a word for this feeling — a combination of gratitude, reminiscence and pride all wrapped into one. Priminitude? Gridescence? Not sure, but your love, support and enthusiasm have sustained me through good times and bad since I wrote ANL … and I can’t wait to share some new stories with you soon!

Learn more here: https://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/product/a-northern-light-signed-first-edition-hardcover/

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Own a Signed First-Edition Tea Rose!

I have some (Tea) Rosy news to share! When I moved house not long ago, I found several boxes of first edition hardcover copies of The Tea Rose. Now I’m selling them in my new online shop! Each book comes beautifully ribboned, signed and inscribed on request, and includes a hand-written note from me to the recipient.

They make lovely holiday gifts for Rose fans, and if you’ve always wanted a pristine copy for your bookshelf, this is it! Get all the details on my shop page here: https://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/product/the-tea-rose-signed-first-edition-hardcover/

 

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Second Draft Hell

When your redraft starts to resemble an instruction manual, it’s time to take a break. Structure is so tricky. It holds a story together, and propels it. It can help generate suspense and heighten emotion. It has so many important jobs to do, yet should be invisible, or at least unobtrusive, like the seams and darts that shape a beautiful dress. I’m working away revising my next novel, which will be the third in my trilogy of fairytale retellings, after Stepsister and Poisoned. And even though I’m ripping my hair out at the moment, I can’t wait to tell you about it. I’ve been spending my days with a whole new cast of characters, all of whom I’ve grown to love. Ok…most of whom I’ve grown to love. One of them…well, she eats love for breakfast. More to come on that soon! And in the meantime, back to Second Draft Hell!