Barbara Kyle's Blog: The Rest of the Story - Posts Tagged "the-queen-s-exiles"

Writing my first historical novel years ago, I discovered an eye-opening research resource: my husband.

The Queen's Lady is set during the reign of Henry VIII. Now, Henry and my husband share no similarity regarding tyrannical rule and beheaded wives; I married a thoughtful, peaceable man. He is, however, endowed with the standard issue male anatomy, and this helped my research. Here's how.

In a 1st draft I'd written a scene of a Midsummer Eve celebration in which boisterous revelers dance around bonfires, lovers steal kisses, and a drunk old man pisses as he staggers through the crowd.

Wait a minute, I thought. Can a man do that— urinate while walking?

I took the problem to my husband. "Can a man do that?" I asked.

"I'll go try it," he said, and walked out the door.

Thankfully, we lived on sixty acres of nothing at the end of a dead end road. Not a soul around.

Five minutes later he came back in. "Yup," he reported.

You can see why I value this resource.

At other times I've been grateful to have my husband set me straight on how men think.

For example, in The Queen's Lady I'd written a scene of high drama in which my heroine, Honor Larke, to save her friends' lives, takes a terrifying risk by hiding in the hold of a ship and ends up trapped there as her enemies roam the ship's top deck. If she is found it will mean her death.



I couldn't leave Honor there. Since the ship belonged to her business partner, Richard Thornleigh, who loves her, I wrote a scene of Richard coming on board and bargaining with her enemies.

"I wouldn't do that," said my husband with a frown when he read the scene. "If the woman I loved was trapped in the hold and facing death I'd burn the ship to the waterline and get her out."

I was agog. Of course Richard would do that!

Final draft: Richard swims to the hull at night, climbs aboard unnoticed, sets fire to the mainmast and yells, "Fire!" In the chaos of shouting men he slips down to the hold, frees Honor, throws her through a gun port into the bay, and dives in after her. Saved!



The Queen's Lady was my first novel in the Thornleigh Saga and Kensington Books published it in 2008. Five more have followed. The sixth, The Queen's Exiles, will be released in June 2014. In creating each story I've had my husband read the first draft, chapter by chapter, and he has often made suggestions of sheer magic:

- a trail of gunpowder laid inside hollowed reeds

- a rational way for the heroine to avoid a killer

- the need for my soldier-of-fortune hero to experience an epiphany, to crave a purpose for his life

- the real advice of a man to his friend who's treated his wife badly: "You're an idiot."

Did I use these suggestions? You bet. And many more.


I'm lucky. My husband is no rookie at storytelling. He's been doing it for years as a film producer/director/screenwriter and as a communications expert for progressive organizations advancing environmental and animal welfare issues. (That's him above, with an otter friend.)

After writing six historical novels (and three thrillers before that) I've learned this empowering lesson: it takes a team. I'm blessed with an "A" team. My husband, Stephen Best. My agent, Al Zuckerman of Writers House. My editor at Kensington Books, Esi Sogah.

So when you read my novels' acknowledgements pages in which I thank these people, you know my gratitude is heartfelt.

More on Al and Esi—the rest of the team— in my next posts.

*****
For info about the Thornleigh Saga books, please visit my website: http://www.barbarakyle.com/

*****

It takes a team.

That's a lesson I've gratefully learned in having nine novels published.

I'm blessed with an "A" team—three exceptional people who help me create my books. I'll sing their praises here.

I write a book a year, on average. Before Kensington Books published my historical novels I wrote three contemporary thrillers for Warner Books under pen name Stephen Kyle. Beyond Recall was a Literary Guild Selection. In June Kensington will release my 6th Thornleigh Saga novel, The Queen's Exiles.

Creating a book a year is a challenge. I couldn't achieve it without my support team. Here they are.

My Agent, Al Zuckerman



Al Zuckerman is something of a legend in the publishing industry. He founded Writers House and grew it into one of the biggest literary agencies in the world. He's been midwife to dozens of bestselling books, many of them blockbuster hits such as Dr. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, Michael Lewis's Moneyball (made into the film with Brad Pitt), and Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I'm honored that Al names me as one of his leading clients: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/...

When I was a rookie in this business, peddling my first novel but knowing nobody, I sent queries out to a slew of agents as all new writers do when trying to break in. I'd read an interview with Al in which he was asked: "What's the one piece of advice you'd give new writers?" Al's answer: "Be willing to work your ass off." Oh, I thought in my dream state of dumb novice, he means the endless book launches, signings, interviews, and fan mail. Nope. Turns out he meant the ass-busting work of writing.

He was right, of course, as he has been with every other piece of advice he's given me over the years in shepherding my novels from stumbling story outline to polished final draft to book contract to foreign rights sales. Al has vast literary wisdom and book-business savvy, and I always heed his counsel. In the words of my late father (who used the following phrase as his highest compliment) Al is a scholar and a gentleman. I'm proud to call him my friend.

My Editor, Esi Sogah



Esi Sogah joined the editorial team at Kensington Books in 2013 after working for years with bestselling authors at William Morrow & Avon where she helped launch the Avon Impulse digital-first imprint. I'm fortunate indeed to have her on my team.

Esi is a joy to work with, a true collaborator, whether we're discussing characters in my current manuscript or artwork for the cover of my latest release or future storylines for my Thornleigh Saga books. She's got that magical mix of passionate story-loving heart and cool analytical head that's the mark of a top notch editor.

Here's my Kensington page: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author...


My Husband, Stephen Best



My go-to guy. Stephen is an invaluable partner in my creative process. Luckily for me, he's no stranger to storytelling. He's been doing it for years as a film producer/director/screenwriter and as a communications expert for progressive organizations furthering environmental and animal welfare issues. (Above, he's with an otter friend.)

In creating each new book I get Stephen to read the first draft, chapter by chapter. He constantly makes suggestions that are dead right. He has also helped me solve knotty research conundrums, such as whether a man can piss while walking. (I told you he was invaluable.)

For that answer, and more, read my post about Stephen: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Writing as a team sport? I say "Go, team!"

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My new historical thriller, The Queen's Exiles, will be released 27 May 2014.

My new novel The Queen's Exiles will be released on May 27th and I feel like celebrating, because I think you're going to love this book's heroine, the courageous Scottish-born entrepreneur Fenella Doorn.

That's Fenella on the cover.

So I'm giving away four Advance Reader Copies. ARCs are pre-release promotion copies that my publisher sends to booksellers and the media. I've got four and they'll go to four winners chosen randomly.

Here's what to do. Just email me to say you'd like to enter the giveaway. If you also feel like offering to post a review here on Goodreads or on Amazon please don't hold yourself back!

My email is bkyle(at)barbarakyle(dot)com

Four winners will receive a signed ARC.

This offer is open to the U.S. and Canada and the U.K. The giveaway ends on midnight April 30th. Good luck!

For info about my books please see my website http://www.barbarakyle.com/

*****

Most of us vividly recall a book that touched us deeply, whether as young adults or at a crucial moment later in our lives. The moment makes us feel a special kinship with the author. It's a meeting of minds, even of souls. It's a bond, and a potent one. (This lovely painting is by Daniel Gerhartz.)

For an author, it's always a happy day when a reader gets in touch to say how much a book meant to them. Sometimes the message is moving, like the Yarmouth museum curator who told me The Queen's Lady helped him as he mourned the death of his father.

Sometimes the message brings a laugh, like the lady who cheerfully told me she got The Queen's Captive because she'd loved a similar book, and then realized, as she was enjoying The Queen's Captive, that this was the very book she'd read and loved!

Here are three readers whose messages to me were very special.

The Colonel

Some years ago I was in England researching The Queen’s Lady and spent a day exploring Hever Castle in Kent. This was the home of the Boleyn family, and Henry VIII came here to court Anne. That tempestuous affair changed the course of England’s history.



As I strolled the grounds in a happy haze of imagination, I picked up an acorn. What a lovely feeling to hold in my hand something living from the so-called "dead" past. I squirreled the acorn away in my pocket and brought it home to Canada, and it sat on my desk beside my computer, a sweet reminder of its place of birth as I wrote The Queen’s Lady. The acorn was still on my desk when I wrote The King’s Daughter. It had become a touchstone that spirited me back to the Tudor world. I was very fond of it.

Then my husband and I moved, and in the shuffle the little acorn got lost.

A few months later I got a cheery email from a reader telling me he was on his way to England for an Anne Boleyn Tour during which he’d be staying at Hever Castle. There would be dinners in the Great Hall where Henry and Anne ate, plus lectures, plays, and demonstrations – “A once in a lifetime experience,” he said. I replied to wish him a happy trip and told him about my acorn. He is a retired air force colonel and lives in Tennessee.

Four weeks later a small package arrived in my mailbox. It was from the Colonel. Inside was a note: “I looked for an acorn to replace the one you lost but couldn’t find one. I did get you this.” Nestled under the note was a pine cone. He had scoured the Hever grounds for it. “It’s from the area where Henry courted Anne, according to the castle staff,” wrote the Colonel.

I was so touched. The pine cone has had pride of place on my desk beside my computer while I've written four more Thornleigh Saga books. Thank you, Colonel, for what you gave me. A once in a lifetime experience.


The Embroiderer

A music educator in Ontario emailed me with praise about my books and told me she was part of a sewing club of about three dozen ladies who get together at a shop with the delightful name The Enchanted Needle. She said they were working on Tudor period sewing techniques, and she attached images of historic Tudor-era embroidery. Now, I know little about sewing but I know beauty when I see it, and these works were stunning.



As she waxed lyrical about bygone sewing techniques like "stumpwork" and "Assisi," "blackwork" and "bargello," "cross-stitching" and "the morphing power of color," I could only, in ignorance, try to keep up, but when she said my books inspired her in this Tudor-style needlework I was moved again by how glorious and various are the connections between author and reader.


The Boy

That's what I'll call him, the gangly pale-faced kid who showed up at one of my public readings from The Queen's Gamble and listened so intensely. He looked about fourteen, the only person there who was so young. After the reading I saw him at the edge of the knot of people I was chatting with. The others all asked lively questions but he said nothing. He looked like he wanted to but he never took a step nearer. When I finished talking to the people, I noticed the boy was gone.

About a week later I found a package in my mailbox: a slender book and a note. The writer of the note said he'd been at the reading and was a high school student who loved history, and he hoped to one day be a history teacher. My novels were his favorites, he said. The book he'd enclosed was Bloody Tower by Valerie Wilding, a young adult novel in the form of a Tudor girl's diary. It had meant a lot to him when he was younger, he said, so he wanted to share it with me.



There, now I've shared it with you. That's what the writer-reader bond is. We share what moves us. And that connection is what makes the writer's work a joy.

*****

My new novel, The Queen's Exiles, will be released on May 27th. To read about it, and all my books, please visit my website: http://www.barbarakyle.com/

Readers love series. It's a benign addiction. We get to know the continuing characters so well we can't wait to find out what happens to them in the next book.

What happens can sometimes surprise the author. The surprise for me was Fenella Doorn.

Fenella is the heroine of my new historical thriller, The Queen's Exiles. She's a savvy Scottish-born entrepreneur who salvages ships. This is the sixth book in my Thornleigh Saga which follows a middle-class English family's rise through three tumultuous Tudor reigns.

Fenella played a small but crucial role in The Queen's Gamble, and then I kind of forgot about her. She didn't appear in the following book, Blood Between Queens. But when I was planning the story after that Fenella sneaked up me.

She's a determined, passionate, courageous woman, and also rather cheeky - she insisted that I include her in the new story. She reminded me that she had past connections with two exciting men in the series, Adam Thornleigh and Carlos Valverde, which promised some dramatic sparks.

So, I did more than include her in the new book. I made her its star.

That can happen when you write a series - a secondary character can take over. I was glad Fenella did. She offered me an opportunity to create a complex, admirable woman who doesn't fit the ingénue heroine so common in historical fiction.

She's not a young thing; she's thirty. She's not a pampered lady; she rolls up her sleeves running her business of refitting ships. She's attractive but not a smooth-faced beauty; her cheek is scarred from a brute's attack with a bottle years ago. And she's not a virgin; she was once the mistress of the commander of the Edinburgh garrison (he of the bottle attack).

In other words, Fenella is my kind of woman.

But making her the star of the new book in my series meant some serious recalibrating. How could I fit her into the Thornleigh family? Writing a series opens up a vista of opportunities but also a minefield of traps. I'll share a few with you here.

Creating a Series Bible

Before writing full time I enjoyed a twenty-year acting career, and one of the TV series I did was a daytime drama called High Hopes. (That's me on the cover of TV Times, below.) The writers on that series kept a story Bible: a record of the myriad details that had to be consistent from show to show concerning the dozens of characters. It's a wise practice for the writer of a series of novels, too.


My Thornleigh Saga books follow a family for three generations so it's easy to forget facts about a character that were covered three or four books ago. That's why I keep a Bible that tracks the characters' ages, occupations, marriages, love affairs, children, ages of their children, homes, character traits, and physical details like color of hair ... and missing body parts! Richard Thornleigh loses an eye in The Queen's Lady (Book 1) yet in later books I would often start to write things like, "His eyes were drawn to ..." So I keep that Bible near.

Every Book is New

An author can't assume that readers have read the previous books in the series. My agent, Al Zuckerman (in the photo below) always reminds me of this when I send him the outline for a new book in the Thornleigh Saga. "Many readers won't know what these characters have already been through," he wisely says.


So each book has to give some background about what's happened to the main characters in the preceding books, enough to fill in new readers. However, it can't lay on so much back story that it bores readers who have followed all the books. Getting the balance right is tricky.

I like the way episodes in a TV series start with a helpful recap: "Previously on Downton Abbey..." It's perfect: it refreshes the memory of viewers who've seen the previous episodes, and is just enough to tantalize those who haven't and fill them in. I wish I could have a nice announcer give a recap at the beginning of my Thornleigh books! The point is, each book in a series must stand on its own. It has to be a complete and satisfying story for any reader.

Consistency Can Yield Rewards

When I had a brute cut Fenella Doorn's cheek in The Queen's Gamble I never expected Fenella to reappear in a future story. Two books later, when I brought her back in The Queen's Exiles, I could not ignore the fact that she would have a sizable scar on her cheek. So I used that scar to enrich her character.

She had been a beauty at eighteen, relying on men to support her, but when her cut face marred her beauty she realized that it was now up to her to put bread on the table and clothes on her back. I made her aware, even grateful, that the scar freed her from the bonds of beauty; it made her independent. And she became a successful entrepreneur.

Letting Characters Age

It's hard for readers to believe that a hero can fight off bad guys like a young stud if the decades-long timeline of the books he appears in make him, in fact, a senior citizen. J. K Rowling was smart. She let Harry Potter and his friends grow up.

I've enjoyed doing this with my characters. Through six books I've taken Honor Larke from precocious seven-year-old to wise grande dame as Lady Thornleigh. Her step-son Adam Thornleigh's first big role was in The Queen's Captive where he was an impetuous seafaring adventurer, but by the time of The Queen's Exiles Adam has become a mature man, a loyal champion of his friend Queen Elizabeth. He has been through a loveless marriage, adores his two children, and falls hard for Fenella.

I'm grateful that Fenella Doorn insisted I feature her in The Queen's Exiles. (By the way, that's her on the cover.) The book has been out for just a week and already I'm hearing from readers that they love her.

Fenella is a star.

"Riveting Tudor drama in the bestselling vein of Philippa Gregory." - USA Today



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For more about my books, or to sign up for my Newsletter, please visit my website: http://www.barbarakyle.com/

The virtual tour with my new historical thriller, The Queen's Exiles, kicks off today!

Join me for interviews, my posts on the great hosting blogs, and a bunch of giveaways with lots of chances to win a signed copy of The Queen's Exiles.

Details of the tour schedule are here: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thequee...

Hope to see you on the tour!

*****

If you'd like to receive my Newsletters you can sign up here: http://www.barbarakyle.com/newsletters/

The "star" of my new novel, The Queen's Exiles is Scottish-born Fenella Doorn. (That's her on the cover.) Of all the characters I've created in my six Thornleigh Saga novels, she's one of my favorites.

Fenella is a savvy entrepreneur who salvages ships. To me, she's a true hero. Yet, for a long time, I didn't see her potential. She almost got elbowed into obscurity as a mere "bit player."

Fenella played a small but crucial role in The Queen's Gamble, and then I kind of forgot about her. She didn't appear in the next book, but when I was planning the story after that she sneaked up me.

She's a determined, passionate, courageous woman, and rather cheeky—she insisted that I include her in the new story. She reminded me that she had past connections with two exciting men in the series, Adam Thornleigh and Carlos Valverde, which promised some dramatic sparks. So, I did more than include her in the new book, I made her its star.

Fenella offered me an opportunity to create a complex, admirable woman who doesn't fit the ingénue heroine so common in historical fiction.

She's not a young thing; she's thirty. She's not a pampered lady; she rolls up her sleeves running her business of refitting ships. She's attractive but not a smooth-faced beauty; her cheek is scarred from a brute's attack with a bottle years ago. And she's not a virgin; she was once the mistress of the commander of the Edinburgh garrison (he of the bottle attack).

She had been a beauty at eighteen, relying on men to support her, but when her cut face marred her attractiveness she realized that it was now up to her to put bread on the table and clothes on her back. I made her aware, even grateful, that the scar freed her from the bonds of beauty; it made her independent. And she became a successful entrepreneur. In other words, Fenella is my kind of woman.

I hope you'll enjoy her story.

"Riveting Tudor drama" - USA Today

"An epic tale of patriotism and treason, political upheaval and oppression, familial love and the ties that bind" - Let Them Read Books blog

For more about my books please visit my website: http://www.barbarakyle.com/