Ann Victoria Roberts's Blog, page 3
December 10, 2012
LIAM'S STORY
Ned Hoste had done it again! Produced a wonderful new cover for LIAM'S STORY - the novel which followed LOUISA ELLIOTT. For what happened to the Elliott family in later years, you can read LIAM'S STORY as an ebook in January 2013.
November 28, 2012
LOUISA ELLIOTT - new cover
So excited about the new cover for LOUISA ELLIOTT - Ned Hoste has updated the original one he designed for Chatto & Windus (UK) http://goo.gl/a7AGW and this will appear on the ebook version due to appear shortly.
November 15, 2012
LOUISA ELLIOTT - Reflections
For the full post - including a photo of the real Liam - Louisa's son c 1914 - go to my website:
http://goo.gl/pRXHi
There, you'll find some of the back-story to LOUISA ELLIOTT!
By the way, in answer to some of the comments/reviews of LOUISA, I'd just like to say that in the UK, marriage of cousins has never been a problem. The Wedgewoods and Darwins did it all the time - keeping the brains and the money in the family!
http://goo.gl/pRXHi
There, you'll find some of the back-story to LOUISA ELLIOTT!
By the way, in answer to some of the comments/reviews of LOUISA, I'd just like to say that in the UK, marriage of cousins has never been a problem. The Wedgewoods and Darwins did it all the time - keeping the brains and the money in the family!
November 7, 2012
LOUISA ELLIOTT - re-editing a bestseller
It's been emotional - in every sense of the word.
Re-editing a novel, 23 years old, written when I was in my 30s, has been a challenge. I've been through excitement when the digital file arrived, anticipation waiting for the right day to begin, dismay when I started reading, and ...
Dismay? Oh yes. The incredibly long sentences - and all those semi-colons. When someone back in 1989 said the novel was reminiscent of Thomas Hardy, I thought it was a compliment - but it may well have been despair at the endless sentences, the dwelling on emotion, the feeling that one simply wanted to get hold of these characters and give them a good shaking!
The last 3 weeks has been like living in a time-warp. Editing a 700 page novel, working late, getting up again at 4 or 5 am because my characters were 'bothering' me - I've been doing all that, just like the old days. And what's more, my husband has been away at sea for a month, just as he was then.
The most extraordinary part, though, has been getting to know my characters again. They were part of my life - through two big novels - for almost 10 years, so they have remained in my memory like old friends. Ones who shared tumultuous events, but have since dropped into the background. But meeting them again - that's been very strange indeed!
Imagine - you go to a reunion after 20 years, only to find you've grown older, but your friends have stayed the same. Not just in looks, but in dress, habits, enthusiasms and - yes, most shocking of all - they're still fighting the same battles, still beating their breasts over that unwise affair, still bewailing the consequences...
I longed to tone it all down a bit! But I had to remember that this novel was a bestseller in its day, so to retain the emotion, retain the passion, I had to go along with it - remembering that I wrote it in my 30s!
As I know from readers who have come to it more recently - it remains a powerful story. Set in late Victorian England, to be sure, but with themes as modern as today.
There were technical faults that as a first-time author I hadn't been aware of, so I've adjusted some of those, restructured a lot of sentences and tightened up some long, descriptive passages. The book is a little crisper, I think, as a result.
But after 3 weeks of living alone with these characters through 12 & 14 hour days, it's been like revisiting the past. My past, their past, the characters themselves. I found myself so totally absorbed by their quandaries, their decisions, and the effects of those decisions, that I was, once more, living in their world. A 19th century world of grandeur and poverty, with many shades of grey between. (This is a grown-up romance!) And I've been thinking that fans of the TV series DOWNTON ABBEY will enjoy LOUISA ELLIOTT. It has all those elements and more.
Through 700 pages, the experience for me has been rather like bringing up my own children. Getting them through the troublesome teenage years. to a point of maturity where they are ready to leave home.
By the time I reached that point, a few days ago,I knew that they had acted for the best in difficult circumstances. But I also knew that those decisions would affect them for the rest of their lives.
By the end I was weeping, because saying goodbye to Robert, Louisa and Edward was like saying goodbye to my own family.
I console myself with the thought that it won't be for long. Once LOUISA ELLIOTT is up and running as an ebook, I'll be preparing for another visit. Louisa, Edward and Robert will be bringing their children home to stay for another 3 weeks, so we'll just have to see what happens then!
LIAM'S STORY/MORNING'S GATE is the next project.
Re-editing a novel, 23 years old, written when I was in my 30s, has been a challenge. I've been through excitement when the digital file arrived, anticipation waiting for the right day to begin, dismay when I started reading, and ...
Dismay? Oh yes. The incredibly long sentences - and all those semi-colons. When someone back in 1989 said the novel was reminiscent of Thomas Hardy, I thought it was a compliment - but it may well have been despair at the endless sentences, the dwelling on emotion, the feeling that one simply wanted to get hold of these characters and give them a good shaking!
The last 3 weeks has been like living in a time-warp. Editing a 700 page novel, working late, getting up again at 4 or 5 am because my characters were 'bothering' me - I've been doing all that, just like the old days. And what's more, my husband has been away at sea for a month, just as he was then.
The most extraordinary part, though, has been getting to know my characters again. They were part of my life - through two big novels - for almost 10 years, so they have remained in my memory like old friends. Ones who shared tumultuous events, but have since dropped into the background. But meeting them again - that's been very strange indeed!
Imagine - you go to a reunion after 20 years, only to find you've grown older, but your friends have stayed the same. Not just in looks, but in dress, habits, enthusiasms and - yes, most shocking of all - they're still fighting the same battles, still beating their breasts over that unwise affair, still bewailing the consequences...
I longed to tone it all down a bit! But I had to remember that this novel was a bestseller in its day, so to retain the emotion, retain the passion, I had to go along with it - remembering that I wrote it in my 30s!
As I know from readers who have come to it more recently - it remains a powerful story. Set in late Victorian England, to be sure, but with themes as modern as today.
There were technical faults that as a first-time author I hadn't been aware of, so I've adjusted some of those, restructured a lot of sentences and tightened up some long, descriptive passages. The book is a little crisper, I think, as a result.
But after 3 weeks of living alone with these characters through 12 & 14 hour days, it's been like revisiting the past. My past, their past, the characters themselves. I found myself so totally absorbed by their quandaries, their decisions, and the effects of those decisions, that I was, once more, living in their world. A 19th century world of grandeur and poverty, with many shades of grey between. (This is a grown-up romance!) And I've been thinking that fans of the TV series DOWNTON ABBEY will enjoy LOUISA ELLIOTT. It has all those elements and more.
Through 700 pages, the experience for me has been rather like bringing up my own children. Getting them through the troublesome teenage years. to a point of maturity where they are ready to leave home.
By the time I reached that point, a few days ago,I knew that they had acted for the best in difficult circumstances. But I also knew that those decisions would affect them for the rest of their lives.
By the end I was weeping, because saying goodbye to Robert, Louisa and Edward was like saying goodbye to my own family.
I console myself with the thought that it won't be for long. Once LOUISA ELLIOTT is up and running as an ebook, I'll be preparing for another visit. Louisa, Edward and Robert will be bringing their children home to stay for another 3 weeks, so we'll just have to see what happens then!
LIAM'S STORY/MORNING'S GATE is the next project.
