Elaina J. Davidson's Blog, page 193
September 11, 2020
Very interesting!!
Nicked this from Danny Kemp on FB! These are so good :)
September 10, 2020
September 9, 2020
Spagret :)
Seriously,I almost always order pasta!!
Writers Wednesday 09 Sept
Hi, everyone! Due to a glitch, there will be no interview posted today. Will catch up next week :)
September 4, 2020
285k+!
Thank you for visiting Elaina's Writing World!!
xxx
September 2, 2020
Writers Wednesday: Interview with Hannah Byron
Hello, everyone! Today we have the privilege of chatting with Hannah, not only a friend of years but a wonderful writer!
Ever since I could hold a pen, I’ve written stories and poems, and I’ll write till my dying day. I became a published author in 2011, but in 2020 I’ve decided to narrow my genre to Historical Fiction and launch my first four books in the Resistance Girl Series.
I have a fondness for history, heroines, and high stakes. So, these days you can often find me researching the world wars of the 20th century. I’m fascinated by that period and how it has shaped the world you and I live in today. Especially the opportunities for women. Think only of simple things as the right to vote!
Combining research with creating fictional stories about ordinary women who do extraordinary things is what I absolutely adore. If you’re interested in finding more about the golden nuggets of my archive digging, do check out my blog ‘Historical Facts & Fiction’.
My prose has been described as character-driven and descriptive. I’m heavily influenced by the early Russian, European, and American novelists… and by the stacks of Harlequin novellas I used to read. A cocktail of the absolute best with the quick & dirty is a favourite of mine.
It is my wish to enthral you with my European stories from a time when life was perhaps less rushed but certainly as complicated.
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Hannah Byron (pen-name of Hannah Ferguson) was born in 1956 in Paris (Fr.). She is of British/Irish/Dutch descent and lives in The Netherlands. Next to writing historical fiction, she is a part-time translator for a Dutch university. Hannah has two grown sons and lost her 29-year-old daughter in 2014.
Hannah's latest book is now on preorder:
Two young women of noble birth, a persevering surgeon and a plucky spy wield their own weapons to impact the First World War
Baroness Agnès de Saint-Aubin is a young Parisian doctor with a mysterious past. She follows the attractive—but married—Dr. Alan Bell to the front lines at the Château de Dragoncourt in Picardy, where they help battle the horrors of the trench war. When the castle is captured by German soldiers, the war turns personal as Agnès’s secret becomes both a terrible liability—and a mighty weapon. Until Alan is severely injured and her world falls apart.
Countess Madeleine, the young go-getter of the Dragoncourt family, is furious that she’s been sidelined to a Swiss finishing school. Knowing her place is in the thick of the action, she runs away to join her siblings who are working as medics at the Château. Upon learning that it’s fallen to the Germans, Madeleine is determined to effect a rescue of the French doctors and nurses held prisoner within. But what can a mere teenager do against the German army?
Told from Agnès’s and Madeleine’s perspectives, In Picardy’s Fields is a tribute to the brave young women of WW1. Through their work and courage, they set in motion the true liberation of 20th century women.
I always love talking to Hannah about her writing, for she has such an interesting take on the process. Thus, without further ado, here we go:
Every writer feels the pull of a story and yet the why and when is different for all. What sat you down to start writing again?
Oh, that’s an intriguing question! And a very appropriate one in my case because I used to be the incorrigible fits-and-starts type of writer. With long stretches of not writing interspersed with feverish activity.
Uhm… how long have we got? *do grab a coffee or tea!*
I’ve written stories and poems since I was a kid but I became a published author in 2011 at the ripe age of 55. If I now see my first books, I’m actually glad I just went for it and did not gave the whole process too much consideration or I’d never have dared to publish them. Don’t get me wrong, I probably had a dash of talent already, I just knew very little about storytelling and plotting, and about the other side of the coin: marketing my books.
By nature, I’m an intuitive so I was happily ‘pantsering’ along and wrote the books and uploaded them on the various platforms with the help of small Indie publishing groups. It was a grand time, in which I met many of my now writer friends. You among them, Elaina!
Serious stuff going on in my life between 2012-2015 resulted in an abrupt end to this rather charming innocence I had around writing and publishing. It made me think seriously about life in general and about what a ‘writing career’ meant to me.
In my darkest hours I had experienced that just keeping my pen going over the paper, writing anything, anytime, was a LIFESAVING activity but somehow I hadn’t yet pieced together that not writing fiction was also detrimental to my health. Now I know and it’s as simple as rolling off a log: if I don’t write I become edgy and depressed. My everyday writing quota is vital. I have to tap into my creativity or I wither.
In the past years I did quite some courses in plotting, writing, editing, publishing, and marketing, until - at the beginning of 2020 - I declared myself ready for a total rebrand in Historical Fiction. And then things went south! I had been SO looking forward to this new decade – leaving behind the 2010s with relief – and believing we were embarking on the Roaring Twenties of the 21st century. But no. Three months in and we’re all sent back to our own hearths with our tails between our legs, forced to reboot and adapt to a totally changed society. No opportunities for putting on dancing shoes and pretty cocktail dresses. Not even romance is possible with this social distancing. Alas! It’s been a shock, a wake-up call, showing us how vulnerable we humans really are. But we can – at least - be thankful for two things: Internet and writing! Again lifesavers, at least for me.
Oh, indeed, 2020 caught us off guard! I, too, remember expounding about 20/20 vision and how great a year it would be ... alas. Tell us a bit about your process. Do you have a schedule? Do you plan or are you a seat-of-my-pants writer?
I’m still in the process of finding my routine but I can share what I’ve learnt so far.
I made one important switch connected to the rebrand: writing is no longer a hobby for me, it’s work. The difference? For work:
1. 1. You show up. This means I write every day. It’s either writing scenes for a new WIP, or edit the one that I’ve just finished, or plot a next one. Most days this is done simultaneously and that can be pretty challenging because I also still have a day job. Currently, I’m in the final stages of prepping no. 1 coming out on 24 September, working on the edits of no. 2 just back from the editor and plotting no.3. But who ever said work was easy?
2. 2. You get paid. Ho! Wait. Did I say ‘get paid’? The investments I’ve made and am making for this rebrand are impressive (understatement) and no book has yet been published, so no money comes in. That’s correct, but I consider myself a writer-entrepreneur. My business is called Hannah Byron Books – everything official – and I’m now in the stage where I have to invest in my business. You can’t open a shoe shop without having at least some pairs of pretty high heels and sturdy boots on display. So you invest in sprucing up your COME AND BUY MY SHOES store. It’s the same in the writing business. I’ve invested in my professional knowledge, website, covers, editors, software programmes, email automation. The list goes on and on. It’s scary, but so is opening a shoe shop - which I would never be able to do
September 1, 2020
In production: Lantern Audio
Happy to report that the audiobook for Our Lanterns Glow has just gone into production! Never have I received so many auditions for a book and especially for one so brand new :)
Our Lanterns Glow
