Fiona Harper's Blog, page 4
December 1, 2011
New book started!
Finally, I have done enough research and character digging to at least make a start on my next book! I've decided I might as well blog about how I'm using my plotboard as I go along.
At the moment the poor thing is naked, but that will change in the next couple of days...
At the moment the poor thing is naked, but that will change in the next couple of days...
November 27, 2011
The Plotboard - part two
Cards and drafts
I thought I'd mention a bit about how I use the cards and Post-Its on my plotboard before I get into detail about the different sections of the board.
First draft
The keyword for this stage is: messy. This is the ideas stage, after all. Flashes of inspiration. Nothing neat about those. In this stage I tend to scribble ideas down on any bit of paper I can find and pin them to the board where I think they'll be most relevant.
Don't care about what colour or what shape the ideas...
I thought I'd mention a bit about how I use the cards and Post-Its on my plotboard before I get into detail about the different sections of the board.
First draft
The keyword for this stage is: messy. This is the ideas stage, after all. Flashes of inspiration. Nothing neat about those. In this stage I tend to scribble ideas down on any bit of paper I can find and pin them to the board where I think they'll be most relevant.
Don't care about what colour or what shape the ideas...
November 19, 2011
One of the best bits
One of the best bits of my job is getting to research and/or visit interesting places. My next book is going to be set in a stately home, so today I visited Leeds Castle (near Maidstone in Kent) for some inspiration. I'm not going to say much more, but just let the pics I took of this fairytale castle do the talking:
Leeds Castle
The bridge to the castle island
The Queen's bedchamber
Little courtyard in the centre of the castle
The library (I want!)
The castle from the lawn on the island
From the...
Leeds Castle
The bridge to the castle island
The Queen's bedchamber
Little courtyard in the centre of the castle
The library (I want!)
The castle from the lawn on the island
From the...
November 18, 2011
Plotboarding - how I got started
Okay, I promised some blogs about my plotboard. Now, I can't claim to have invented the idea – far from it – but I've been tweaking my own approach to using index cards and pins to help me visualise my book for about six years now.
I'm quite a visual thinker and it helps me to 'see' the structure of my book this way. It also provides a place to put all those 'lightning bolt' ideas I get about my book before, during and after the first draft. You know the kind of ideas I mean: the ones you ...
I'm quite a visual thinker and it helps me to 'see' the structure of my book this way. It also provides a place to put all those 'lightning bolt' ideas I get about my book before, during and after the first draft. You know the kind of ideas I mean: the ones you ...
November 7, 2011
Should've stayed on board...
Just got revisions back for Always The Best Man (whether it keeps that title or not remains to be seen!). It seems that my ending feels a little rushed. I had suspected as much myself, and when I got my trusty plotboard out, I could see why!
This is the current incarnation of my plotboard.
There are four rows:
act 1first part of act 2second part of act 2act 3
Compared to the beginning of the story, the last act is a little sparse! And if I'd paid attention to my board instead of ignoring tha...
This is the current incarnation of my plotboard. There are four rows:
act 1first part of act 2second part of act 2act 3
Compared to the beginning of the story, the last act is a little sparse! And if I'd paid attention to my board instead of ignoring tha...
October 30, 2011
Celebrations all round!
I have FINISHED MY BOOK! One more read-through on my Sony Reader, just to catch anything I missed, and it's good to go. Yay. I love the just-finished-a-book feeling.
However, I've got another book due in three months, so my post-book euphoria will rapidly moprh into starting-a-new-book excitment. It's a Christmas series about three sisters that I'm doing with Shirley Jump and Donna Alward. More on that soon...
And if that wasn't enough excitment, I've just seen the UK cover for Dancing...
However, I've got another book due in three months, so my post-book euphoria will rapidly moprh into starting-a-new-book excitment. It's a Christmas series about three sisters that I'm doing with Shirley Jump and Donna Alward. More on that soon...
And if that wasn't enough excitment, I've just seen the UK cover for Dancing...
October 18, 2011
New Cover!
Just coming out of deadline hermit status (and New Voices mentor status) for a few seconds to post the North American cover for my January 2012 release:
Wow! That's all I can say. It's inspired by a scene out of the book, but I'm not saying any more because to do so would involve horrible spoilers!
Will be really interested to see the UK cover of the same book, Dancing With Danger, because I bet it'll be totally different.
Wow! That's all I can say. It's inspired by a scene out of the book, but I'm not saying any more because to do so would involve horrible spoilers!
Will be really interested to see the UK cover of the same book, Dancing With Danger, because I bet it'll be totally different.
October 1, 2011
Unfortunate typo!
Have just been alerted (via Twitter) to a rather unfortunate typo in my latest book, Swept Off Her Stilettos! (Reminding me of the recent Susan Anderson news story.) On page 186, it says:
Sorry, folks! It was supposed to say pantry ! I've chekced the ebook version, the print version... Yup it's there in every single one. No much to do now but cry...or laugh. ;-)
Sorry, folks! It was supposed to say pantry ! I've chekced the ebook version, the print version... Yup it's there in every single one. No much to do now but cry...or laugh. ;-)
September 29, 2011
RWA Workshop 3: Set In Emotion
Next on the list of helpful workshops at the RWA conference this year is Set In Emotion by Erin Quin.
This interative workshop shows how to layer in emotion to your scenes by using description - especially how describing things from the viewpoint character's persepctive can flavour the scene and add atmosphere. Erin suggests identifying the overall mood or emotion of your scene and then finding 'word families' that reflect that to use in description.
I definitely use this technique already in m...
This interative workshop shows how to layer in emotion to your scenes by using description - especially how describing things from the viewpoint character's persepctive can flavour the scene and add atmosphere. Erin suggests identifying the overall mood or emotion of your scene and then finding 'word families' that reflect that to use in description.
I definitely use this technique already in m...
September 28, 2011
RWA Workshop 2: Hips Don't Lie
My second RWA workshop recommendation is Hips Don't Lie by Gina Ardito - an helpful, amusing and informative journey through the world of male and female body language.
This fun, hands-on workshop will detail the subtle and not-so-subtle signals our bodies send out in the pursuit of romance, so authors can rejuvenate their prose with more than just shrugs and winks.
Great for helping keep those physical mannerisms fresh and true! And if you want to know why men can't tell the difference betwee...
This fun, hands-on workshop will detail the subtle and not-so-subtle signals our bodies send out in the pursuit of romance, so authors can rejuvenate their prose with more than just shrugs and winks.
Great for helping keep those physical mannerisms fresh and true! And if you want to know why men can't tell the difference betwee...
