Eva Stachniak's Blog: On the absence of stories..., page 2

New Year--new novel

Happy New Year! May it be kind to us all.






The Chosen Maiden is almost ready to appear--the release date is January 17. The Quill and Quire published its first review:

Many works of fiction take as their inspiration true events and persons of historical significance, but few do so as lovingly and imaginatively as Eva Stachniak’s fifth novel.
...

The Chosen Maiden delves into the workings of an artist’s mind and reveals the resiliency of art in a time of worldwide political upheaval and war.
...
The Chosen Maiden is both a tribute to a female artist who remained true to her vision despite numerous obstacles, and to the woman behind her who made it possible.

The whole review is available on line:
http://www.quillandquire.com/review/t...

The Chosen Maiden

What a tense moment it is. The book is finished, submitted, edited and proofread. Soon it will be released and there is nothing else I can do to improve it.

My new novel, The Chosen Maiden, is based on the life and art of Bronislava (Bronia) Nijinska, a brilliant dancer and choreographer. She was born in a family of dancers. Her elder brother was Vaslav Nijinsky, the god of the dance. I hope that Bronia's extraordinary life, her passions, resilience and her talent will captivate the readers of The Chosen Maiden as much as they captivated me when I wrote it.

The release day is January 10, 2017.

The Winter Palace available in French

I am happy to announce that The Winter Palace is now available in French:

Le palais d'hiver


Empress of The Night is also available from the same publisher:

http://www.ada-inc.com/catherine-la-g...

Making History Come to Life in Historical Fiction:

This is a blog post I wrote for the Brockton Writers Series.
https://brocktonwritersseries.wordpre...

Making history come alive means writing novels that create a rich and convincing fictional world which gives the reader the experience of the past. Here is how I go about it:

Before I write:

1. I find a period of history and historical characters that resonate with me.

Since I grew up in Poland, I’m drawn to the stories from behind the Iron Curtain, which—I believe—has long kept Eastern Europe cut off from the rest of the world. Because I’m an immigrant, I respond to characters who changed cultures and countries, who had to re-write themselves and find new meaning in their transformations.

2. I do general research.

At the beginning I read anything I can find on the historical characters that intrigue me: memoirs, letters, biographies, scholarly books and articles. If possible, I visit archives and talk to historians who specialize in the period.
My goal for general research is to gain a solid understanding of the historical period I intend to write about: its concerns, dilemmas, preoccupations, and joys.

3. I make comprehensive lists of details.

I take detailed notes on anything that strikes me in my research: descriptions of clothes and daily chores; gossip, beliefs, fears; popular expressions, topics of conversations, favourite pastimes, food, drinks, and popular books.
I divide these notes into categories for easy reference and access. Among many excellent software packages designed for such tasks Scrivener is my favourite.

4. I travel.

Visiting the locations where important scenes of my novel take place allows me to put myself there, describe what I see, and develop a feel for the lay of the land. Later when I am at my desk, writing, I find it much easier to visualize my characters in these locations and, consequently, make the scenes I write full-bodied and alive.


5. I step away from my research.

Researching is great fun, so it can easily become a never ending quest, especially attractive on a bad writing day. After about three months of research I take a research break and focus on constructing my fictional world. By that time, all I have read and noted has become like the bottom of an iceberg, submerged, invisible, but there to support me.

As I write:

6. I strive not to give history lessons.

There is a fine line between providing the reader with essential information and sounding like a lecturer. I mention historical facts only if and when they impact my characters’ lives. I let my characters interpret these facts, without the benefit of hindsight and from their limited—and often not entirely reliable—point of view.

7. I don’t alter solid facts.

Writers differ considerably on their approach to historical accuracy. I don’t alter undisputed historical facts, but I make use of gaps and historical controversies if I need them for my version of the story. And since I often present historical events from my character’s point of view, I explore historical gossip and speculation, as well as the limits of private and collective memory.

8. I take as much content as I can from the writings of the past.

The writings of the past provide me with the material from which I build my fictional world, but I do not stay away from the modern interpretation of what I find.
In Empress of the Night, for instance, I used 18th century descriptions of Catherine the Great’s stroke but interpreted them according to the current medical knowledge. This modern interpretation of stroke victims’ perceptions became the backbone of my novel.
The writings of the past also provide me with ideas for my character’s conversations, concerns, and dreams, and often suggest specific incidents that befall them.

9. I recognize my own limits.

With time, values, attitudes, sensibilities change. I realize that I can never escape my own times, and neither can my readers.
I embrace these limits. I look for voices silenced or marginalized. I claim them for my characters, explore them, infuse them with new, modern meaning.
In the end the only novel I can write is a contemporary novel about the past.


10. I remind myself of what drew me to the historical character in the first place.

All the historical research is but an aid in creating vivid and memorable characters whose dilemmas, fears, dreams, and joys matter to me, the author, for compelling reasons.
As I began writing my novels of Catherine the Great, I kept in mind the fact that the history of her Russia affected the history of Eastern Europe, and—by extension—the history of my own family. I reminded myself that even though Catherine the Great was one of the most powerful women in history, she had to face and overcome misogyny, and that she was an immigrant to Russia who had to rewrite herself and develop a new identity, a process I am intimately familiar with.



A list of my favourite internet research sites:

Toronto Public Library:
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/bo...

Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/ 

Open Culture:
http://www.openculture.com/

BBC archives:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ 

Database of British Newspapers:
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co...

Etymology Dictionary on line:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=a

Current Value of Old Money:
http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/...


On Twitter:

#twitterstorians is a great # to follow for information and tips on historical research as well as blogs by researches and students of history.

Upcoming Readings

Empress was published in March, and I am still promoting it both in Canada and the US, meeting with readers and talking about the novel and Catherine the Great.

Next week (May 14 and 15) I will have two readings in Seattle. If you live close by, or have friends there please spread the word and come!

My website has all the details:
http://www.evastachniak.com/2014/03/1...

And here is what BOOK LOONS wrote about Empress of the Night:

"The Winter Palace was an extraordinary novel and so is Empress of the Night - do read them both as their different perspectives illuminate events, as does Eva Stachniak's lyrical writing style. Highly recommended!"

http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Revi...

Empress of the Night on blogs

So much of publicity for a newly published book is happening in cyberspace! This is why I've prepared this short update of the latest blogs that have hosted me or Empress of the Night on three continents.

Enjoy!

http://www.evastachniak.com/2014/03/2...

Empress of the Night--the latest news

Empress of the Night: A Novel of Catherine the Great--here are some early reviews I'd love to share:

…ambitious…structurally complex and psychologically intense Empress of the Night aims for Hilary Mantel. Stachniak’s writing is distinct, however, especially in vivid description of sensory details: perfume, sweat and the click of heels on polished floorboards.--Quill & Quire (Canada)

Empress of the Night … casts light on Catherine’s life with unflinching honesty and intimacy. This fun novel of lovers, intrigue and malicious and manipulative nobility keeps readers enthralled with every page…--Virtuoso Life Magazine (US)

Stachniak’s absorbing novel opens readers’ hearts to an extraordinary and misunderstood woman …wonderfully written, Stachniak’s story vibrates with passion, drama, and intrigue. This is a feast for fans.-- Romantic Times Magazine (US)

…historical fiction fans will appreciate this personal account of a formidable and, indeed, infamous ruler. --Library Journal (US)

And a link to my UK interview on The Bibliophibian:

http://breathesbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Book Love 2014 Giveaway

A group of fabulous authors have banded together to give away 20 books! Empress of the Night, my second Catherine the Great novel, is among them.

To win all 20 books, you must add them to your Goodreads to-read list by clicking the link next to each book (you can add books to your Goodreads to-read list by clicking on the button just below the book’s photo on Goodreads). The more books you enter the more books you will win if you are picked. You can only win all of the books if you add them all to your to-read list.

There will be 1 winner for every 250 entrants. US and Canada only. Contest runs till February 16, 2014.

Please click on this link to get the details and to enter:

http://catherinemckenzie.com/book-lov...


Good luck!

Empress of the Night

Empress of the Night and The Winter Palace are two novels inspired by the Russian empress Catherine the Great. Both are meant to stand alone, but they work best together, for together they offer two different vantage points from which the reader can watch Catherine the Great. In The Winter Palace Catherine's story is told by Varvara, her confidante and spy, clearly captivated by her mistress. Empress of the Night gives Catherine centre stage. In this novel we meet the Russian empress as a mature woman who has survived palace politics and secured her own position. A woman who knows how to rule and knows the price of power.

You may not always like her, you may not always approve of her decisions, but you will have to admit she is one of the most fascinating women with few equals in world history.

Using Catherine the Great's memoirs

The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great

This is my latest blog written for:http://writinghistoricalnovels.com

For a writer of historical fiction, period memoirs promise to be the ultimate primary source, a treasure trove of inspiration for a novel’s scenes and the language in which those scenes are couched. But memoirs are not always entirely reliable and need to be read with caution. It may be that what they do not mention is far more important than what they do. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provide an illuminating example.

Catherine the Great started writing her memoirs a few times in her life, but none of these attempts were ever finished. The longest attempt and her final one – abandoned in 1794, two years before her death – begins with the following sentence: “Fortune is not as blind as people imagine. It is often the result of a long series of precise and well-chosen steps that precede events and are not perceived by the common herd….” To a careful reader, it quickly becomes quite clear that the memoirs themselves constitute one of these well-chosen steps. For what Catherine is giving us is not an act of confession – so popular in the 18th century – but a carefully woven story produced by a savvy politician who knows what she wants.

I’ve read and re-read these memoirs many times in the course of doing research for my own novel and, every time I reach for them, I’m awed by the perfect pitch of Catherine’s reasoning and her guiding objectives. Her writing is lucid, straightforward, and logical. She assumes that the reader is familiar with the facts of her reign, so what she provides are the intimate details behind the facts and her thoughts, all carefully chosen to justify why she had the right, moral if not legal, to claim the Russian throne. Before we learn of her orderly habits, her work ethic, and her readings, she makes sure we learn that her late husband was inept, slovenly, and fond of drink. That instead of accepting the Orthodox religion as she did, he “took it into his head to dispute every point”. That he was childish and “resistant to all instruction”.

In contrast to Peter III, we read, Catherine II did everything to be a good wife to her inept husband and a loyal subject to empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Bit by bit she produces further evidence of his unstable character. Peter III, we learn, once executed a rat; he also tortured her, his long-suffering wife, with his fiddle playing. Incidentally – in a telling admission - Catherine also confesses to being tone deaf and finding all music to be an infernal noise.

Catherine presents further evidence of her credentials. She doesn’t spare the details of how she was mistreated – her aunt-in-law left her unattended after childbirth and refused to allow her to see her newborn son – but she also makes sure the reader knows she is not vindictive and doesn’t indulge in self-pity. Yes, she tells us, I was mistreated but I raised myself up and worked with whatever life brought my way. She makes sure we learn of her fortitude, her cheerful disposition, but most of all of her good sense and judgment. For this captivating account is Catherine’s way, not just to elicit our sympathy, but to sway us to her way of thinking. After putting the book down, the reader must be convinced that Catherine deserved to become empress because she was wise and enlightened, a just monarch who had the right to the absolute power she had seized.

Yet, as we read these memoirs we can see how Catherine writes herself into a corner. It soon becomes clear that no matter how enlightened, just, and reasonable she is, she cannot justify her husband’s murder. Yes, he was immature, silly, inept. But was he a threat? Was he the monster she wants us to see in him?

In the end Catherine gives up. The memoirs end in 1759, when she is still Grand Duchess and empress Elizabeth Petrovna is very much alive and in charge of the Russian court. The last few pages are notes for the subsequent chapter, ending with the following words: “… things took such a turn that it was necessary to perish with him, by him, or else to try to save oneself from the wreckage and to save my children, and the state.”

A tall order.

I can imagine her staring at these notes, wondering how on earth she is going to convince the reader that this was the case. And at the end abandoning the whole project altogether.

***

Eva Stachniak’s author website: www.evastachniak.com