Zoe Brooks's Blog, page 7
January 12, 2014
Self doubt
I am currently working on the first draft of my next novel. I say "working" because that is very much how it feels: the words just aren't flowing. Nor are the ideas. Nor is my confidence.
The new book is very different to my previous ones. My first four novels were all set in the same world, and three were narrated by the same character - someone I knew so intimately that I could just slip into her mind and voice without thinking about it. This book is set in the real world - in Prague in 2010 - 2013 in fact. There are two very different POVs in it - one a male detective, the other a young British woman - and both are totally unlike yours sincerely.
In November I took part in NaNoWriMo and hit the 50,000 word target for this book, but then I lost momentum. One reason was that I needed to do some research. This was achieved with a stay in Prague and questioning various Czech friends. But still the log jam did not shift. I came back to the UK to Christmas, an elderly father in hospital with a broken pelvis and the rest of the family collapsing with various bugs, so no work was done for several weeks.
Now I no longer have any excuse, apart from the usual ones of work and family pressures. But still I can't settle down and start writing again. This is more than the usual problem of starting the engine post-Christmas. I just can't work out what is stopping me. I have at least booked my flights for four weeks in my Czech writing refuge. But my plan was to spend the month rewriting, not writing from scratch.
I have a number of methods of overcoming writer's block:
going for a walk often works, but with floods and torrential rain that isn't really an option,boarding myself up in my Czech cottage (see above),writing first thing in the morning, indeed working on the story even before I get up (a friend of mine swears by it), forcing myself to sit down and write, which so far has been unproductive,writing something else (such as this!). I fear it all comes down to self-doubt. I am worried I have not the skill to finish what I have started. There is always in my experience a point in writing my books (usually at 30,000 words) where I have a dark night of the soul, where I doubt my ability to finish. I wonder whether this 50,000 crisis is worse, because the NaNoWriMo target made me press on through the 30,000 word barrier, when I should perhaps have taken a break to reflect on where I was going. I don't know.
Will I come through this? Watch this space
The new book is very different to my previous ones. My first four novels were all set in the same world, and three were narrated by the same character - someone I knew so intimately that I could just slip into her mind and voice without thinking about it. This book is set in the real world - in Prague in 2010 - 2013 in fact. There are two very different POVs in it - one a male detective, the other a young British woman - and both are totally unlike yours sincerely.
In November I took part in NaNoWriMo and hit the 50,000 word target for this book, but then I lost momentum. One reason was that I needed to do some research. This was achieved with a stay in Prague and questioning various Czech friends. But still the log jam did not shift. I came back to the UK to Christmas, an elderly father in hospital with a broken pelvis and the rest of the family collapsing with various bugs, so no work was done for several weeks.
Now I no longer have any excuse, apart from the usual ones of work and family pressures. But still I can't settle down and start writing again. This is more than the usual problem of starting the engine post-Christmas. I just can't work out what is stopping me. I have at least booked my flights for four weeks in my Czech writing refuge. But my plan was to spend the month rewriting, not writing from scratch.
I have a number of methods of overcoming writer's block:
going for a walk often works, but with floods and torrential rain that isn't really an option,boarding myself up in my Czech cottage (see above),writing first thing in the morning, indeed working on the story even before I get up (a friend of mine swears by it), forcing myself to sit down and write, which so far has been unproductive,writing something else (such as this!). I fear it all comes down to self-doubt. I am worried I have not the skill to finish what I have started. There is always in my experience a point in writing my books (usually at 30,000 words) where I have a dark night of the soul, where I doubt my ability to finish. I wonder whether this 50,000 crisis is worse, because the NaNoWriMo target made me press on through the 30,000 word barrier, when I should perhaps have taken a break to reflect on where I was going. I don't know.
Will I come through this? Watch this space
November 21, 2013
The Black Dog - Magic and the Real World
English: A ghostly Black Dog. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)As you know I am active on the Magic Realism Facebook Group as well as on the Magic Realism group on Goodreads. It is the fate of all people interested in magic realism to be endlessly discussing the definition of magic realism. One of the recurring debates is whether we "white westeners" can really write magic realism. We are so out of touch with our magical roots, that we are playing at magic realism, whereas other cultures still have magic at their centre. There is a lot to say for that point of view. And sometimes I do indeed feel a fraud.But then I think about my childhood and I realise that in some ways I too grew up in a world infused with magic. I went to a small Church of England school, where I learned the bible stories, which were then reinforced by what I learned at Sunday School. My childhood faith was profound and I believed in a world in which angels and devils existed in equal quantities.
But there was also another magical world that was part of my childhood, one which had its roots in pre-Christian tradition. There was for example the story of the Black Dog. The dog was said to have eyes of fire and be huge in size. It was a supernatural beast, the sight of which foretold death. A hound of hell. Those of you familiar with British folktale will know that the black dog appears all over the British Isles and probably dates back to the days of Herne and the Wild Hunt. Alan Garner features the Hunt in his Brisingamen books. Our town had its own black dog, which sometimes could be seen on Sudeley Hill. Perhaps it is not by accident that hill is also the location of a prehistoric trackway. As children my sister and I believed in the black dog, so much so that on one occasion my sister became hysterical when she thought she saw it at the window. That was about fifty years ago now.
I haven't heard talk of the black dog for many years. But that doesn't mean that the myth has died, merely that it has morphed. What you get now in Gloucestershire and indeed in other areas where the black dog once roamed are sighting of big cats - usually described as black, presumably pumas. Take this account on the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16760599. 38 sightings of big cats were reported to the Gloucestershire police in four years, and no doubt many more went unreported. I even know someone who claims to have seen the beast. What is going on here? Is it that we are trying to apply a modern realist interpretation (escaped captive animal) to ancient magic? Maybe you only have to scratch the surface of modern realism to find the magical hiding underneath.
************************Over the next month to celebrate the launch of my book in paperback I am giving away copies of books, bookmarks and other goodies. You can enter using the rafflecopter below or contacting me direct. Good luck.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
November 15, 2013
Launch of Girl in the Glass in Paperback
I am pleased to say I have just published the first book of my Healer's Shadow Trilogy as a paperback. It has been out as an ebook for over a year and people have been asking me to produce it as "proper" book all that time.
It's normally available on Amazon.com for $13.99, but there is a special offer on at the moment, so it is actually $13.29 if you move fast. On Amazon.co.uk it's £8.65. Don't ask me why there's no reduction on the uk book, it's up to Amazon, I had no say in the matter!
Over the next month I will be running more posts about the book and also holding a giveaway of copies of the book and other goodies, as a Happy Christmas to ten of my readers.
You have the option of taking part in the giveaway through Rafflecopter, but I know some people don't like using Rafflecopter, in which case just leave a comment below with you contact details or email me on zoe.brooks@googlemail.com and I will enter you into the giveaway manually. The raffle is now live and will run for a month.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
October 10, 2013
Company of Shadows Free 11th - 13th Oct
The Company of Shadows is now published and for three days (Friday 11th - Sunday 13th October) it will be free on Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/Company-Shadows-Healers-Shadow-ebook/dp/B00FNWV7X4
and
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Company-Shadows-Healers-Shadow-ebook/dp/B00FNWV7X4 (for British buyers).
I'm not going to be advertising the free days other than on this blog and my Facebook page. I want my readers to know about the book first.
I will launch the book in a month's time.
The book is the final book in the Healer's Shadow trilogy. It feels very strange to be saying goodbye to Judith, who has been part of my life for three years now and I will miss her.
September 6, 2013
August 13, 2013
Cover Revealed
Here is the cover of the third book in The Healer's Shadow trilogy. What do you think?
The book is now undergoing its second edit and should be published in September. I am offering a number of free pre-publication review copies to readers of this blog. Email me on zoe.brooks@googlemail.com.
July 23, 2013
Extract from Company of Shadows
Here is a sneak preview of my next book, the third book in The Healer's Shadow trilogy.
“If I were a real healer, I wouldn’t have stopped. I couldn’t have stopped. So you are wasting your time, Bessie. If you only knew, how easy it was to turn people in need away.” “I would believe you, but for these dreams.” “They are nothing to do with healing.” “On the contrary they have everything to do with becoming a wisewoman. It is the common belief that to dream of falling means you are in a situation you cannot control. And to some extent that is true. But for us, the dreams we acquire when we start to become wisewomen have another meaning. They open the door to our familiars. “When I was a young woman, my dreams were always of being buried alive. Night after night, I dreamed of being in the cold damp soil, with the earth in my mouth and nostrils. I fought for breath, I fought the earth as it pressed down on me. My dreams were of the dark and of the crawling things that dwell in it. Sometimes my body would be caught up in the roots of trees and sometimes I would be alone in endless tunnels. I still have those dreams, but now, they bring me joy. For when I faced my dreams, embraced my fear, I came to know my familiar. We all have a creature, through which we can travel through the world, through which we see the world, that is our other self. Mine is the fox, that wanderer in the dark places of the forest.” “I saw you once. You had your fox–head stick in your hands. Annie said you were with your familiars, but you hadn’t gone anywhere. You hadn’t turned into a fox. It could just be your mind, your subconscious, playing tricks.” “How eager you are to explain things. No, my mind is not playing tricks. I choose to go into my dreams, I choose the paths. Maybe I do see there what I intuit. There is an explanation for you. Does it matter? It is a skill, if you wish to call it so, that has served me well over the years. It is a skill I learned with my mother’s help. With my help, you could do the same. But first you must learn to love falling.” I laughed “I very much doubt I would ever do that.” “Yes, you can, Judith. Let me help you.” “No, don't you see? I'm not interested in becoming a wisewoman.” “It is not a choice, Judith. You were born to be one. It's in your blood. Your mother...” “My mother again! You know nothing about my mother.” “And you do? You were only young when you lost her. How many things does a mother hide from her daughter, waiting the time when the child is ready to hear? How much have you told Jo of your past? Very little, so much so it is virtually nothing.” I remained silent. “When I say you have no choice, I mean that to deny what is inside you is dangerous. You too have power, I have seen it. Deny it and it will break out all the same. That is what is happening with your dreams. You have always had them, ever since you experienced the first blood of womanhood, but they are getting stronger and more frequent. You must admit that is true.” “So I get nightmares, so what? I can live with them.” “But can others? Those around you?” “What?” “Sarah died of a fall. You fell from a tree. Your dreams can spill into your life, endangering you and those you love” “Preposterous, they were accidents.”
“Were they, Judith? Are you sure?”
This blog post is part of the Magic Realism Blog Hop.
“If I were a real healer, I wouldn’t have stopped. I couldn’t have stopped. So you are wasting your time, Bessie. If you only knew, how easy it was to turn people in need away.” “I would believe you, but for these dreams.” “They are nothing to do with healing.” “On the contrary they have everything to do with becoming a wisewoman. It is the common belief that to dream of falling means you are in a situation you cannot control. And to some extent that is true. But for us, the dreams we acquire when we start to become wisewomen have another meaning. They open the door to our familiars. “When I was a young woman, my dreams were always of being buried alive. Night after night, I dreamed of being in the cold damp soil, with the earth in my mouth and nostrils. I fought for breath, I fought the earth as it pressed down on me. My dreams were of the dark and of the crawling things that dwell in it. Sometimes my body would be caught up in the roots of trees and sometimes I would be alone in endless tunnels. I still have those dreams, but now, they bring me joy. For when I faced my dreams, embraced my fear, I came to know my familiar. We all have a creature, through which we can travel through the world, through which we see the world, that is our other self. Mine is the fox, that wanderer in the dark places of the forest.” “I saw you once. You had your fox–head stick in your hands. Annie said you were with your familiars, but you hadn’t gone anywhere. You hadn’t turned into a fox. It could just be your mind, your subconscious, playing tricks.” “How eager you are to explain things. No, my mind is not playing tricks. I choose to go into my dreams, I choose the paths. Maybe I do see there what I intuit. There is an explanation for you. Does it matter? It is a skill, if you wish to call it so, that has served me well over the years. It is a skill I learned with my mother’s help. With my help, you could do the same. But first you must learn to love falling.” I laughed “I very much doubt I would ever do that.” “Yes, you can, Judith. Let me help you.” “No, don't you see? I'm not interested in becoming a wisewoman.” “It is not a choice, Judith. You were born to be one. It's in your blood. Your mother...” “My mother again! You know nothing about my mother.” “And you do? You were only young when you lost her. How many things does a mother hide from her daughter, waiting the time when the child is ready to hear? How much have you told Jo of your past? Very little, so much so it is virtually nothing.” I remained silent. “When I say you have no choice, I mean that to deny what is inside you is dangerous. You too have power, I have seen it. Deny it and it will break out all the same. That is what is happening with your dreams. You have always had them, ever since you experienced the first blood of womanhood, but they are getting stronger and more frequent. You must admit that is true.” “So I get nightmares, so what? I can live with them.” “But can others? Those around you?” “What?” “Sarah died of a fall. You fell from a tree. Your dreams can spill into your life, endangering you and those you love” “Preposterous, they were accidents.”
“Were they, Judith? Are you sure?”
This blog post is part of the Magic Realism Blog Hop.
July 21, 2013
Magic Realism or Fantasy
When I was starting out writing the Healer's Shadow Trilogy I went to a fantasy writers' conference. One of the reasons for going was that I was not sure what genre I wrote in. When I was asked by a fellow author over lunch what sort of fiction I wrote, I said that I didn't write fantasy as such, that my book was realistic but there was some fantasy.
"You write magic realism," he said and continued eating his soup.
"Magic realism, what was that?" I asked.
"Terry Pratchett says it's fantasy by people whose friends went to Oxford or Cambridge," he replied. Is that true? For starters I haven't found that particular phrase quoted on the web, but I have found references to him saying magical realism "is like a polite way of saying you write fantasy and is more acceptable to certain people." This is a view shared by many fantasy writers and their readers, but I don't think they are right.
Having spent the last year over on my magic realism books blog reading and reviewing lots of magic realism books I am closer to understanding what makes magic realism different. I publish my findings on the blog today.
It seems to me that although some famous magic realism books are also fantasy, there are many which aren't. The key difference is the emphasis on realism in magic realism. As a general rule magic realism novels are based in a "real" world, often recognizably our own. There is magic, but, in contrast to magic in fantasy, the magic in magic realism is not treated as exceptional. In fact often in magic realism the magic is used as a means of negotiating the real.
So are my books examples of magic realism? They are set in a realistic world. The world isn't ours, but it could be. As for the magic, the books do have some magic. Firstly there are these beings called Shadows, which aren't human. During the course of the trilogy we learn more about Shadows. Magic realism is often based on the concept of duality and the Shadow/human relationship are a good example of that. In the third book, which I am finishing at the moment, we discover that there is more magic in the world than we realized. So yes, I do write magic realism.
July 13, 2013
Coming Up the Magic Realism Blog Hop
Over on my magic realism books blog, I am organizing a blog hop. At the moment there are 20 blogs taking part, so it is going to be fascinating. Remember to visit on the 22nd July, you could win a giveway of magic realism ebooks and a Frank Kafka bookmark.
If you are a blogger and want to take part, you can do so up to the end of the 21st July. If you are an author of magic realism and want to offer a book, please contact me on zoe.brooks@googlemail.com.
June 26, 2013
Girl In The Glass Goes Free
The first book in my trilogy The Healer's Shadow is free on Amazon today (26th June) and until Friday (28th). This is the first time Girl in the Glass has been offered free.
You can download it here on Amazon.com, and Amazon.co.uk, as well as the other Amazon national sites.
