Romy Gemmell's Blog, page 56

Interviewed on Jude's blog

The fascinating Jude Johnson, who I profiled on my Author Spotlight last week, has now posted an interview with me about writing and Dangerous Deceit on her own lovely blog, Words that Remain.

Thanks, Jude!
Rosemary

Monday Market: The First Line

I found details of this intriguing little journal and thought their 'first line' approach to stories very useful for kickstarting ideas, as well as for submissions to their publication. They provide the first line of a story and entries should be between 300 and 3,000 words.

The first line for the current submission is 'It had been a long year', and entries should be emailed by November 1st 2011. They offer a token payment of $20 for published stories, but it's also a great site for first line ideas. This is often all we need to start the seeds of a storyline, so it's a valuable creative exercise.

Full details and rules of submission are on The First Line website.

Rosemary

Author Spotlight - Jude Johnson

Today, I'm delighted to welcome very interesting fellow Champagne author Jude Johnson into the Author Spotlight. Jude's first novel, Dragon & Hawk, was published a few months ago and it introduced me completely to another time and way of life.

It's always fascinating to read about an unfamiliar period of history through fiction and Dragon & Hawk takes the reader right into the later part of 19th century Arizona. The story is rich in historical detail, from the dangerous conditions in the mines to the saucy girls in the local saloon. The excellent characterisation of the three very different Welsh brothers drives the story forward. Each brother is carefully depicted but it is Evan Jones, the dragon of the title, we follow most closely in this book as he seeks to find his true love, the Senora.

The Senora herself is an interesting character – a curandera, a healer, and the hawk of the title. Their love is never straightforward and is hard-won but they are meant to be together. The author doesn't spare the grittier details of life, the hardship and cruelty, but the characters feel like real people who lived and loved in those difficult times. An added bonus, or distraction, depending on your taste, is the addition of Spanish and Welsh phrases throughout the story, but they are always understandable and add to the authenticity of the period. Dragon & Hawk is an enthralling read!

Jude kindly agreed to answer the following questions.

Do you prefer to write (and read) historical fiction?

At the moment for writing, yes. I'm a Gemini, so I change my minds (my multiple personalities have multiple personalities) rather often, but so far writing history enthrals me. Though I have dipped my nib into fantasy a couple of times, it still was historical fantasy.

Reading-wise though I am all over the place. I have a huge stack of paper books and e-books to read: an Arthurian fantasy, a contemporary murder mystery, and a Persian-flavored take on Cinderella are all calling to me. Plus I'm reading nonfiction history of the American Revolution.

Why did you write about three Welsh brothers?

I fell in love with Cymraeg, the Welsh language, and started studying back in 2001. Then I went with my son's (then) grade school class on a field trip to the copper mining town of Bisbee in Southern Arizona where one of the miner tour guides told us how the original mine managers went to Wales in the late 1870s to recruit workers. After all, the Welsh coal miners were renowned even then for their knowledge, skills, and scrappiness. Suddenly, a circuit snapped on in my brain and I imagined how they must have reacted when they arrived in such a hostile environment so totally alien from their homeland. I mean, Wales is lush green and trees and rain and sheep. Southern Arizona has this vast desert; Bisbee even then had no trees, no rain, big deadly rattlesnakes, and the Apaches weren't exactly rolling out the welcome mat.

How did you do the research needed for Dragon & Hawk?

I started with things I didn't know: mining details and how those men lived. Thank goodness for historical societies and how they preserved so much of those days! I am fortunate to live in Tucson where the first Territorial historical society was formed in 1874. Their research library has a ton of original documents, photographs, maps - even the original, hand-tooled leather ledger book of all the stagecoach and train robberies compiled by the Wells Fargo Detectives. I would get lost for hours reading and noting the little details, such as a real stage robber who came from Wales. I was also fortunate at the time to have two Native shaman and a long distance horse racing enthusiast to consult. My mom had also shared stories of my grandmother, who was a curandera - a Mexican mystic and healer back at the turn of the twentieth century. Those details were vital for me; I wanted my Welsh friends to know what it was like for them here, and I wanted my Arizona friends to learn about the cultures immigrant miners brought to our state.

I recently signed a contract with Anaphora Literary Press to have my research about real Welsh immigrants published. It's called Cactus Cymry--Influential Welsh in the Southern Arizona Territory. (Cymry is the Welsh word for Welsh people.) It should be released in the next month or so - woot!

How important is natural medicine to you?

I have to kind of chuckle here because when I first shopped my manuscript around, a number of publishers labelled it a fantasy because of the natural/Native healing rituals. These aren't fantasy to many, but are used constantly around here. We even have an "Integrative Medicine" clinic at the University of Arizona Medical School that incorporates herbs and Native medicine rituals. It's second nature to me to use herbs and natural elements before anything else. My "real career" is as a chiropractic physician, and while I limit my practice to strictly accurate chiropractic manipulation, I tell my patients where to find information on alternatives if they so desire.

Are you writing a sequel?

Two sequels are already written and are in the queue for publication by Champagne Books. Book Two is Out of Forgotten Ashes and is scheduled for release in April 2012. Book Three is Dragon's Legacy and will be released in July 2012.

My next project is in a different time and space from Dragon & Hawk. I'm working on a Revolutionary War tale based on the true story of a friend's ancestor who was pressed into the British Navy, jumped ship in Boston Harbor, and nearly froze to death hiding out in a cranberry bog. And that's just the beginning of his adventures!

Any tips for new writers?

Write what you love to read, or write what enthuses you. If you aren't excited about it, how can you expect anyone else to be? Don't worry about trends or what's hot; the cycle always turns. And be open to change; characters don't always do what you want them to! Sometimes their ideas are better than your original ones, so be ready to go with the flow.

Fascinating! Thank you for your insight, Jude.

Where to find Jude:
Website; Blog; Facebook; Twitter
To buy Jude's Books: Champagne Books
Jude's Amazon (US) Page
Jude's Amazon (UK) Page
Fictionwise

Coming soon (from catalogue): Anaphora Literary Press

[image error] Author Bio: Granddaughter of a curandera, a Mexican healer who uses herbs, psychology and a little bit of mysticism, Jude incorporates a bit of family legend into her Dragon & Hawk series. Currently, Book One, Dragon & Hawk, has been released by Champagne Books, with Books Two and Three slated for release in Spring 2012. Jude's short story Within The Mists, about a Lieutenant of Nelson's Navy rescued by a selchie (a woman on land who becomes a seal in the sea), is now also available from Champagne Books as an e-read.

Jude loves adventure, action, romance, and fantasy to spirit her readers into a different time and place. She has studied the Welsh language – Cymraeg - enough to order beer, swear, order pancakes, and ask for the facilities. Trips to Britain to capture the cadence of the melodic Welsh accent and attitude allowed her to infuse her Welsh immigrant characters with realism. Jude also speaks fairly bad border Spanish. Home is situated in the Catalina Foothills of northern Tucson, Arizona, near Pima Canyon and not too far from Sabino Canyon. Jude lives with her long-suffering husband and son, as well as two deranged cats who don't mind watching bobcats, coyotes, and javelina frequent the yard - but only from behind the double-paned windows.

Behind the Scenes Novel Spot

Way back when, the Champagne Books authors were given the opportunity to apply to be a featured writer on the Behind the Scenes Novel Spot. Although my first novel was just coming out, I reckoned October was far away and duly applied.

Well, from today, I'm the featured author all this week! This is a novel idea (excuse the pun) as I had to write an autobiographical piece to be spread over 7 days - kind of showing the writer and the influences behind the writing, as it were. It was fun to compose, although when I begin to read it over this week I'll probably wish I'd mentioned this, or left out that!

Online writing can seem a bit removed from real life sometimes, until we realise people might actually read it - a bit like any kind of writing really. And isn't that why most of us write and send work out in the first place, even though it's a scary thought sometimes. But it's fun to think about some of the influences through our lives that shape us today.

And if anyone wants to read my 7-day ramblings, they start today on Behind the Scenes!

Rosemary

Friendly Blogger Award

It's always lovely when blogging friends acknowledge one another and perhaps introduce writers and readers to blogs they haven't come across before.

So I'm delighted to accept this cute Friendly Blogger Award from my lovely writing friends: Janice Horton and Gilly Fraser. Than you both very much - I love reading your blogs!

In the spirit of giving, I'm now passing this award on to the following friendly bloggers. I follow many more, but these are the people whose blogs I regularly read and enjoy:

Vikki Gemmell  (my talented daughter) Joan Fleming (supportive friend and new blogger)Myra Duffy  (another supportive friend quite new to blogging)Teresa Ashby  (one of my favourite short story writers and amusing blogger)Joanna Campbell  (another favourite short story writer)Joanne Fox  (yet another lovely short story writer)Frances Garrood  (novelist and writer whose posts often make me smile)Diane Fordham  (encouraging Australian writer)Carol B  (friendly writing snippets)K.C. Woolf  (inspiring words for women)Paula Martin  (bloggging writer who feels like a friend)Debs Carr (friendly Jersey writer aided by Grumps her dog)
Please pick up your award, ladies, and take a bow for keeping me entertained!
Rosemary

The Day After the Launch!

I had such a good time last night at my very first book launch and reading. Thank you so much to all my family and friends who came along to support me, and a special thanks to my daughter and her friends who helped to set out the nibbles and clear it all away! My dear, long-suffering husband deserves extra special thanks for everything he did to make it such an enjoyable evening. And I even sold many books (you can tell I'm not a busines woman). Dear Lorna brought me the gorgeous flowers in the photo. Thanks too, to all my lovely blogging and Facebook friends who wished me well. 


As a bit of fun, and hopefully some interest, I tried to dress in a vague semblance of Regency style. I just adapted a dress I had at home by sewing a ribbon under the bust, and I wore medium long white gloves, and even sewed some pearls on a cream ribbon to tie in my hair. Unfortunately, the hair wasn't long enough to pull neatly into a topknot, but my heroine, Lydia, usually had rather untidy hair.

I also brought along a parasol, a fan, a reticule and a shawl to illustrate the kind of items a Regency lady wouldn't be without. And I even showed a mask which my daughter bought me last Christmas - it might feature in the next book, if I ever get it finished! I've posted some photos of what a real Regency lady might look like on my romancing history blog.


So, all in all, I had a lovely evening and the venue was perfect. And the icing on the cake was the fact the local Art Club has an exhibition on in the elegant hall at the moment, so the walls were beautifully adorned with lovely paintings. Roll on the next launch!

Rosemary

Live Book Launch and Reading!

Well, it's finally here - my very first book launch and reading of Dangerous Deceit. It began with a fun cyber launch in May for the e-book and now it's a live launch of the print book in front of family, friends and acquaintances!

To make it more interesting and fun (I hope), I'm dressing in vaguely Regency-style, adapted from what I already have. It won't be completely authentic, but will give a flavour of the evening fashion of the period. I also have a fan, parasol, shawl, something that will pass for a reticule, and even a mask - although I won't be wearing the latter. Think I must be a frustrated actress!


The lovely venue is the Watt Hall, in the Victorian era MacLean Museum in my original home town of Greenock, from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, this evening, Monday 3rd October. I don't know whether to be excited or nervous, or both!

Rosemary

Jane Eyre: From Book to Film

Last week, I managed to see the new film of Jane Eyre at the cinema, an event I'd been longing for as this is one of my all-time favourite books. As always, I was a little nervous about the portrayal of Mr Rochester since he's been my literary hero for a long time, through many different versions of the novel in film and TV. I also loved the recent TV production starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson, which had more time to develop the characters.

So what did I think? It was a beautifully made, atmospheric film, with stunning cinematography, excellent main characters and an intriguingly different beginning from most versions. I don't remember seeing Michael Fassbender before and I wasn't disappointed with his portrayal of Mr Rochester. Mia Wasikowska seemed the embodiment of the young, but strong Jane Eyre, and Judi Dench, excelled (as always) in her portrayal of Mrs Fairfax. And the Yorkshire accents sounded authentic.

But... one of the biggest disappointments for me was the love story itself. I love the passion in the book, and the relationship between Mr Rochester and Jane just didn't convince me in this version. I felt more emotion during the scenes with the young Jane and her fragile childhood friend at the terrible Lowood school. Perhaps the film was too short to develop the main romance with enough conviction, but even the ending left me, and my friends, a bit bemused. Although Thornfield Hall is a ruin at the end, this looked like a set piece and it was a bit incongruous for Jane to find Mrs Fairfax suddenly appearing in time for her arrival. And that rather diluted the final meeting between Jane and Mr Rochester.

Obviously a film is never going to be 100% accurate in bringing the pages of a novel to life, and something is bound to suffer. On the whole, it was an enjoyable, atmospheric film but I don't think it's the film version of Jane Eyre I'll most fondly remember.

Rosemary

Mills & Boon New Voices

In case anyone isn't aware of this (who might be interested), the latest Mills & Boon New Voices competition is now under way. Authors who haven't had a book contract may enter the first chapter of a romantic novel up until 10th October. Anyone registering on the site can comment on those chapters, and a short list of twenty will be announced on 20th October.

The next stage will be second chapters from the top ten, and so on until they find the winner on 4th November. Sounds like a great opportunity for anyone wanting to write for M&B.

Full details and registration are on the New Voices website, which is appropriately titled: Romance is not Dead. Good luck if you enter!

Rosemary

Introducing Elizabeth McKay

I'm so delighted to be featuring new Scottish children's writer, Elizabeth McKay, on my children's writing blog, Flights of Imagination.

Many short story writers will know Elizabeth's fabulous women's magazine fiction, as she is a regular author in Woman's Weekly among others. Now Elizabeth has added another success to her list with the publication of her first picture book, Wee Granny's Magic Bag, by Floris Books in Edinburgh. This a gorgeous story book for young children, and even the adults will enjoy reading it!

Please pop over to Flights of Imagination to read about Elizabeth's exciting new venture.

Rosemary