H.R. Moore's Blog, page 4
September 14, 2013
Chapter 10 - That sinking feeling
Every website in the know tells aspiring authors that they should get used to rejection, and I’m no different to everyone else. I wrote to around 15 agencies asking for representation and a couple of months later, I’d either been rejected or hadn’t heard from every single one. When I sat back and thought about it, there was probably a good reason for this. The astute amongst you will notice there is neither a chapter nor a mention anywhere in the proceeding chapters dedicated to editing, because up until this point I’d done very little - big mistake!
Like so many new authors out there, I got impatient. I’d had some really positive feedback from those who’d read my book and I got a bit carried away - I simply couldn’t wait to see what would happen when I submitted to agents. It wasn’t that I thought my book was so good it didn’t need to be edited, I just thought it was probably good enough to be picked up and then the real editing would happen in conjunction with my agent and an editor who knew what they were talking about. To be clear, it wasn’t full of grammatical errors and typos or anything like that, it was that I hadn’t sought enough critical feedback or spent time tightening the whole thing up. I have no idea if this was why my book was rejected, or whether it was the then title ‘E=’ that put people off, or if it just didn’t appeal to those I sent it to, but after this, I sought more robust feedback; I sent it to Georgina.
Georgina is my other sister, my more critical sister, my sister who is not a twenty year old girl slap bang in the middle of my target audience, and because of these things, her feedback was oodles more constructive than Alice’s (and the others I’d shared Legacy with to date). Georgina came back with thoughts on descriptive detail, ideas on character development and with comments about word repetition. This was great as it was stuff I could really use and meant I could have a proper, critical conversation about structure, content and characters. I took the feedback on board and also started reading and rereading successful books in my broad genre; books like The Hunger Games, Twilight and A Discovery of Witches, before I started thoroughly editing my manuscript.
By the time I’d been through this process, I’d fallen pretty much out of love with the idea of traditionally publishing my book, but I submitted to one more agency - The Blair Partnership - as they were the only agency I’d come across who seemed to be doing ANYTHING at all to try and move the industry forwards. Before I heard back though (another rejection), I’d already been swept up in the freedom and speed of self-publishing (as we’ve already established, I’m not a patient person!) and had self-published online. Furthermore, around this time I heard a brilliant quote - ‘rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools’ - and self-publishing felt a little bit like circumnavigating the rules…
Like so many new authors out there, I got impatient. I’d had some really positive feedback from those who’d read my book and I got a bit carried away - I simply couldn’t wait to see what would happen when I submitted to agents. It wasn’t that I thought my book was so good it didn’t need to be edited, I just thought it was probably good enough to be picked up and then the real editing would happen in conjunction with my agent and an editor who knew what they were talking about. To be clear, it wasn’t full of grammatical errors and typos or anything like that, it was that I hadn’t sought enough critical feedback or spent time tightening the whole thing up. I have no idea if this was why my book was rejected, or whether it was the then title ‘E=’ that put people off, or if it just didn’t appeal to those I sent it to, but after this, I sought more robust feedback; I sent it to Georgina.
Georgina is my other sister, my more critical sister, my sister who is not a twenty year old girl slap bang in the middle of my target audience, and because of these things, her feedback was oodles more constructive than Alice’s (and the others I’d shared Legacy with to date). Georgina came back with thoughts on descriptive detail, ideas on character development and with comments about word repetition. This was great as it was stuff I could really use and meant I could have a proper, critical conversation about structure, content and characters. I took the feedback on board and also started reading and rereading successful books in my broad genre; books like The Hunger Games, Twilight and A Discovery of Witches, before I started thoroughly editing my manuscript.
By the time I’d been through this process, I’d fallen pretty much out of love with the idea of traditionally publishing my book, but I submitted to one more agency - The Blair Partnership - as they were the only agency I’d come across who seemed to be doing ANYTHING at all to try and move the industry forwards. Before I heard back though (another rejection), I’d already been swept up in the freedom and speed of self-publishing (as we’ve already established, I’m not a patient person!) and had self-published online. Furthermore, around this time I heard a brilliant quote - ‘rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools’ - and self-publishing felt a little bit like circumnavigating the rules…
September 8, 2013
Thoughts on Legacy (from my biased little sister)
Note: this is an older post from my website blog (www.hrmoore.com) that is out of sequence with the latest chapter but goes hand in hand with Chapter 8.
I vividly remember the first time Harriet told me that she had written a book. It was 3 October last year and I woke up to an email from her with a subject line simply reading "Book". She then proceeded to tell me not to tell ANYONE but she had started to write a novel and she wanted my honest feedback. If I'm to be completely honest, it came as no great surprise - Harriet had always talked about writing a novel when she had the time, and it seemed that the 3 months away working in New York had provided her with just that (she later told me that the idea had "just come to her on a walk home across Central Park one evening", which I thought was cracking!).
I started reading it there and then, racing through the first 20 pages that she had sent me and immediately demanded more. This process of Harriet sending me the latest instalment, me reading it and then instantly calling her to tell her my thoughts went on for about four months. I wanted nothing more than to discuss my ideas with someone, what was Anita going to do next? Who did I prefer, Alexander, Marcus or Bas? What did I want to happen next? But sadly, I was sworn to secrecy. The only people who knew about Legacy at the time were myself, Harriet and Chris, Harriet's husband. Now, I obviously couldn't discuss it with Harriet in case she gave anything away (her poker face isn't the best) and as for Chris, well, for some reason my brother-in-law didn't seem to care about who was hotter out of Alexander or Marcus! So, I struggled on in silence...
January came and Harriet finally sent me another e-mail, this time with a subject line of "I've finished". I stopped what I was doing and read the new pages there and then, I simply HAD to find out what happened at the end of book one. After this, the pool of people I was allowed to talk to grew as Harriet began to tell more and more people about the book and I was granted permission to send it to my housemate who devoured it in 2 days and still pesters me about when Harriet's going to write book two!
Legacy turned out to be everything I want in a book. It had a solid story line that kept me demanding more each time I finished a new section, a romantic side which made me wish that I was Anita, it was funny and, like all great books it made me want to gush about it in great detail to everyone I met! I loved the fact that I could get lost in a different world while I was curled up on the sofa finding out where Harriet was going to take the characters next. Now, like my housemate, I can’t wait for book two – Harriet, hurry up!
I vividly remember the first time Harriet told me that she had written a book. It was 3 October last year and I woke up to an email from her with a subject line simply reading "Book". She then proceeded to tell me not to tell ANYONE but she had started to write a novel and she wanted my honest feedback. If I'm to be completely honest, it came as no great surprise - Harriet had always talked about writing a novel when she had the time, and it seemed that the 3 months away working in New York had provided her with just that (she later told me that the idea had "just come to her on a walk home across Central Park one evening", which I thought was cracking!).
I started reading it there and then, racing through the first 20 pages that she had sent me and immediately demanded more. This process of Harriet sending me the latest instalment, me reading it and then instantly calling her to tell her my thoughts went on for about four months. I wanted nothing more than to discuss my ideas with someone, what was Anita going to do next? Who did I prefer, Alexander, Marcus or Bas? What did I want to happen next? But sadly, I was sworn to secrecy. The only people who knew about Legacy at the time were myself, Harriet and Chris, Harriet's husband. Now, I obviously couldn't discuss it with Harriet in case she gave anything away (her poker face isn't the best) and as for Chris, well, for some reason my brother-in-law didn't seem to care about who was hotter out of Alexander or Marcus! So, I struggled on in silence...
January came and Harriet finally sent me another e-mail, this time with a subject line of "I've finished". I stopped what I was doing and read the new pages there and then, I simply HAD to find out what happened at the end of book one. After this, the pool of people I was allowed to talk to grew as Harriet began to tell more and more people about the book and I was granted permission to send it to my housemate who devoured it in 2 days and still pesters me about when Harriet's going to write book two!
Legacy turned out to be everything I want in a book. It had a solid story line that kept me demanding more each time I finished a new section, a romantic side which made me wish that I was Anita, it was funny and, like all great books it made me want to gush about it in great detail to everyone I met! I loved the fact that I could get lost in a different world while I was curled up on the sofa finding out where Harriet was going to take the characters next. Now, like my housemate, I can’t wait for book two – Harriet, hurry up!
Traditional versus self publishing
Note: this is an older post from my website blog (www.hrmoore.com) that is out of sequence with the latest chapter but goes hand in hand with Chapter 9.
The first book in The Legacy Trilogy, Legacy, is currently being edited. When this (long and tumultuous) process is complete, I'll decide whether to pursue the traditional publishing route through an agent or self-publish via Amazon.
Pros and cons from the research I've done so far:
Traditional:
Pros:
The done thing - the 'true' way to get published
Better distribution
Marketing and PR spend behind the book
Agent's advice and expertise from the off
Expert editorial advice
Cons:
Can expect to earn 10% of a book's selling price (15% of which goes to the agent)
Very long time to market
Most books that go the traditional route do not make money
Publishers are spread thinly so in reality there is only a little marketing and PR spend, especially for new authors
Most publishers have not embraced the online distribution channel effectively
Authors still expected to do a great deal of marketing / presence building themselves
Self publish online only:
Pros:
Very quick speed to market
Earn up to 85% of the sale price of each book
Control over all aspects of the book
Can always pursue the traditional route later (this is being done more and more) if the author is successful
Momentum going this way
Cons:
Bit of a stigma (although this reduces all the time)
No expert advice unless you pay for it
Have to do all marketing etc yourself
Still considering the best route to peruse, but self-publishing is looking more and more likely…
The first book in The Legacy Trilogy, Legacy, is currently being edited. When this (long and tumultuous) process is complete, I'll decide whether to pursue the traditional publishing route through an agent or self-publish via Amazon.
Pros and cons from the research I've done so far:
Traditional:
Pros:
The done thing - the 'true' way to get published
Better distribution
Marketing and PR spend behind the book
Agent's advice and expertise from the off
Expert editorial advice
Cons:
Can expect to earn 10% of a book's selling price (15% of which goes to the agent)
Very long time to market
Most books that go the traditional route do not make money
Publishers are spread thinly so in reality there is only a little marketing and PR spend, especially for new authors
Most publishers have not embraced the online distribution channel effectively
Authors still expected to do a great deal of marketing / presence building themselves
Self publish online only:
Pros:
Very quick speed to market
Earn up to 85% of the sale price of each book
Control over all aspects of the book
Can always pursue the traditional route later (this is being done more and more) if the author is successful
Momentum going this way
Cons:
Bit of a stigma (although this reduces all the time)
No expert advice unless you pay for it
Have to do all marketing etc yourself
Still considering the best route to peruse, but self-publishing is looking more and more likely…
Chapter 9 - The numbers game
Alongside writing Legacy, I started to look into the publishing industry to learn what I’d need to do to get published. To start off with (I’m not going to lie), I had dreadful preconceptions about self-publishing and its validity as a ‘respectable’ route to market. My cousin wrote a book a couple of years ago and told me he was thinking of self-publishing. My instant, naïve, (unspoken) reaction was that he was obviously doing this because his book wasn’t good enough to be ‘properly published’ - how little I knew.
During my research, I learned about the route to traditional publishing (get an agent who will sell you to publishers), but also couldn’t help but come across the self-publishing phenomenon. The general message was that more and more people are choosing to self-publish; some very successful authors actually opting to self-publish rather than peruse a traditional publishing deal, and some authors switching from the traditional model to self-publishing as they often make more money this way.
The more research I did, the more self-publishing seemed like a good option (see my blog article on self versus traditional publishing), however there was still a part of me that wanted to be published ‘properly’ or at least to give it a go. Others had had success fairly quickly via the traditional route and those I’d shared Legacy with were really positive, so I decided to have a crack.
I did some fairly extensive research into how to get an agent; there’s a plethora of advice online and then there are offline resources such as the Writers and Artists Yearbook, which I also bought. Essentially, you have to write a stand out cover letter and a great synopsis of your book, then send those, along with the first three chapters, to as many literary agents who are currently accepting applications and seem to fit your genre, as possible. The cover letter should be tailored to each agency and therefore research on each agent prior to writing is advised.
The problem is, this process is a bit of a lottery. Agents who may at some stage in the future be interested in your book may not have an open list at the moment; agents may feel that there is no current trend towards your kind of material and that they don’t want to take a risk on something readers aren’t currently demanding; agents may be in a bad mood when they’re reading your submission or not like something you say in your cover letter and therefore write off your book before they’ve even got to the three chapters; an agent may have a celebrity approach them for representation with all the marketing benefits this brings and choose them instead of an unknown; agents may prefer personal referrals from others they trust and choose a book that comes to them via this route rather than via their ‘slush plie’.
In short, it’s a numbers game for new authors; you need to write to as many seemingly appropriate agents as possible and hope to strike gold. The important thing to remember (says the advice online) is that pretty much everyone gets rejected by at least some of the agents they submit to (even JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer), so just keep plugging away, show you are willing to do a load of self-promotion and hopefully, eventually, someone will like your material enough to offer representation.
So with this in mind, I started to play the numbers game, but I couldn’t shake from my mind that most published books don’t make a profit (meaning most authors never get more than their initial - usually small - advance), and of the money they do make, they have to pay 15-20% to their agent. This implies that agents (and indeed publishing houses) are not that good at picking the right books (if your definition of the ‘right books’ is ones that will sell); instead they tend to pick books that they are passionate about and feel they can represent well.
The publishing industry (just like many other old, well established industries - insurance, banking etc), is slow to adjust to the modern world (partly I’m sure because this requires significant investment in both structural and cultural change). They are yet to truly embrace the possibilities presented by social networks and the data available from sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They are yet to fully explore how to make the ebook distribution channel work for them (and their authors), and some agents won’t even accept submissions from authors via email, requiring a physical copy to be sent in the post!
Anyway, whilst these thoughts where whirling around my mind, I kept writing submissions, still a little bit in love with the idea of being a ‘proper’, published author; the kind with a real live book out in the shops. How hard could it be anyway, if I wrote to enough agents, eventually someone would pick me up - wouldn’t they?
During my research, I learned about the route to traditional publishing (get an agent who will sell you to publishers), but also couldn’t help but come across the self-publishing phenomenon. The general message was that more and more people are choosing to self-publish; some very successful authors actually opting to self-publish rather than peruse a traditional publishing deal, and some authors switching from the traditional model to self-publishing as they often make more money this way.
The more research I did, the more self-publishing seemed like a good option (see my blog article on self versus traditional publishing), however there was still a part of me that wanted to be published ‘properly’ or at least to give it a go. Others had had success fairly quickly via the traditional route and those I’d shared Legacy with were really positive, so I decided to have a crack.
I did some fairly extensive research into how to get an agent; there’s a plethora of advice online and then there are offline resources such as the Writers and Artists Yearbook, which I also bought. Essentially, you have to write a stand out cover letter and a great synopsis of your book, then send those, along with the first three chapters, to as many literary agents who are currently accepting applications and seem to fit your genre, as possible. The cover letter should be tailored to each agency and therefore research on each agent prior to writing is advised.
The problem is, this process is a bit of a lottery. Agents who may at some stage in the future be interested in your book may not have an open list at the moment; agents may feel that there is no current trend towards your kind of material and that they don’t want to take a risk on something readers aren’t currently demanding; agents may be in a bad mood when they’re reading your submission or not like something you say in your cover letter and therefore write off your book before they’ve even got to the three chapters; an agent may have a celebrity approach them for representation with all the marketing benefits this brings and choose them instead of an unknown; agents may prefer personal referrals from others they trust and choose a book that comes to them via this route rather than via their ‘slush plie’.
In short, it’s a numbers game for new authors; you need to write to as many seemingly appropriate agents as possible and hope to strike gold. The important thing to remember (says the advice online) is that pretty much everyone gets rejected by at least some of the agents they submit to (even JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer), so just keep plugging away, show you are willing to do a load of self-promotion and hopefully, eventually, someone will like your material enough to offer representation.
So with this in mind, I started to play the numbers game, but I couldn’t shake from my mind that most published books don’t make a profit (meaning most authors never get more than their initial - usually small - advance), and of the money they do make, they have to pay 15-20% to their agent. This implies that agents (and indeed publishing houses) are not that good at picking the right books (if your definition of the ‘right books’ is ones that will sell); instead they tend to pick books that they are passionate about and feel they can represent well.
The publishing industry (just like many other old, well established industries - insurance, banking etc), is slow to adjust to the modern world (partly I’m sure because this requires significant investment in both structural and cultural change). They are yet to truly embrace the possibilities presented by social networks and the data available from sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They are yet to fully explore how to make the ebook distribution channel work for them (and their authors), and some agents won’t even accept submissions from authors via email, requiring a physical copy to be sent in the post!
Anyway, whilst these thoughts where whirling around my mind, I kept writing submissions, still a little bit in love with the idea of being a ‘proper’, published author; the kind with a real live book out in the shops. How hard could it be anyway, if I wrote to enough agents, eventually someone would pick me up - wouldn’t they?
September 1, 2013
Chapter 8 - Sharing
The most terrifying part of the whole experience, for me, was when I shared what I’d written with others. Fairly early on, I realised the only way I’d be able to work out if what I had written was any good, and equally the only way I would be able to improve it, was to get real opinions from others. This was however, wildly difficult to do in practice.
You see, until I got to the stage when I was ready to share the first few chapters, I hadn’t told ANYONE (not even my husband - he was back in England so this wasn’t too hard) that I was writing a book. I was really worried about how people would react; I thought most people would think it was a bit embarrassing and really self-indulgent, so why put myself through the trauma of others knowing?
The first time I told anyone was when my husband, Chris, came to New York to visit. Even then, I was squirming inwardly as I handed him my laptop, telling him, ‘read this and tell me honestly what you think.’ Then I quickly left the room, I couldn’t bear to see his facial expressions if he thought it was rubbish.
Luckily, when I came back he was still reading and seemed pretty positive. I told him if he didn’t like it, or if it wasn’t his thing (it is a bit girly after all), he didn’t have to read it all. He continued to read, saying he wanted to see what happened next and afterwards, something wonderful happened; we had a conversation about my characters. I can’t begin to describe how great this was; someone else talking about my characters as though they were real and speculating about where the story was going, was truly amazing. This gave me a much needed confidence boost to share a little more widely, which meant when I had written a bit more, I sent it to my little sister, Alice. For Alice’s thoughts, see her blog post - Thoughts on Legacy (from my biased little sister).
Needless to say, Alice was keen and she’s been subsequently brilliant, less for (much needed) constructive criticism it’s got to be said, and more for general moral support, enthusiasm, confidence boosting, and encouragement, but that’s what I really needed at this stage. The criticism came later and is where my other sister will come in...
You see, until I got to the stage when I was ready to share the first few chapters, I hadn’t told ANYONE (not even my husband - he was back in England so this wasn’t too hard) that I was writing a book. I was really worried about how people would react; I thought most people would think it was a bit embarrassing and really self-indulgent, so why put myself through the trauma of others knowing?
The first time I told anyone was when my husband, Chris, came to New York to visit. Even then, I was squirming inwardly as I handed him my laptop, telling him, ‘read this and tell me honestly what you think.’ Then I quickly left the room, I couldn’t bear to see his facial expressions if he thought it was rubbish.
Luckily, when I came back he was still reading and seemed pretty positive. I told him if he didn’t like it, or if it wasn’t his thing (it is a bit girly after all), he didn’t have to read it all. He continued to read, saying he wanted to see what happened next and afterwards, something wonderful happened; we had a conversation about my characters. I can’t begin to describe how great this was; someone else talking about my characters as though they were real and speculating about where the story was going, was truly amazing. This gave me a much needed confidence boost to share a little more widely, which meant when I had written a bit more, I sent it to my little sister, Alice. For Alice’s thoughts, see her blog post - Thoughts on Legacy (from my biased little sister).
Needless to say, Alice was keen and she’s been subsequently brilliant, less for (much needed) constructive criticism it’s got to be said, and more for general moral support, enthusiasm, confidence boosting, and encouragement, but that’s what I really needed at this stage. The criticism came later and is where my other sister will come in...
August 23, 2013
Chapter 7 - Starting to write
Once I’d planned the world, the story and my characters, I nervously started writing. I had no idea if I could write a book, whether the words would flow or if it would just be such an embarrassing process that I would give up before I’d really started. To my surprise, the words came pretty easily and not only that, I loved the process; I found it strangely liberating to be in total creative control of what I was doing, something very rare in daily life. Equally, the journey was constantly surprising; initially I’d thought I was writing a standalone book, but soon realised there was just too much content for this, so it turned quickly into a trilogy. Furthermore, characters who I’d thought wouldn’t play a main role to start with (Marcus for example), ended up taking centre stage, and new characters (like Anderson) appeared out of nowhere.
I’m a very visual person so I imagined everything as I wrote, taking inspiration from things and places familiar to me; St Andrews for Kingdom, Devon moorlands and Scottish highlands with their bleak landscapes and meandering rivers for the land around Empire, Tuscany for the weather and feel of Empire, cathedrals for the Temples - Lincoln cathedral providing inspiration for both the Mind Temple (its gothic choir) and Body Temple (its low arches), and others such as Salisbury’s and Exeter’s naves for the towering, simplistic spaces of the Spirit Temple.
I wrote a little at a time to start with, re-reading several times what I had written before moving on, but as I gained confidence, I wrote much more quickly, writing several thousand words per sitting towards the end. I think what greatly helped with this was a clear plan of what would happen at each stage of the book. This way I always knew what was coming next and could easily refer back to what had gone before. It provided me with obvious goals of where I needed to get to each time I sat down to write and also meant I saw real progress, ticking off sections as I made my way through, with a clear idea of how far I was from completion.
But also, because of the new and unexpected twists and turns that happened along the way, it was exciting for me to see what would happen next. I would daydream on my way to and from work, imagining (as I do when I read other peoples’ books) what would happen next, but the wonderful thing was, when I got home, I could write my thoughts down and incorporate them into the story as I went along if I wanted. This was the thing I loved most; the only person who could limit what I could write was me, so the only limits on what I could write were those of my own imagination.
I’m a very visual person so I imagined everything as I wrote, taking inspiration from things and places familiar to me; St Andrews for Kingdom, Devon moorlands and Scottish highlands with their bleak landscapes and meandering rivers for the land around Empire, Tuscany for the weather and feel of Empire, cathedrals for the Temples - Lincoln cathedral providing inspiration for both the Mind Temple (its gothic choir) and Body Temple (its low arches), and others such as Salisbury’s and Exeter’s naves for the towering, simplistic spaces of the Spirit Temple.
I wrote a little at a time to start with, re-reading several times what I had written before moving on, but as I gained confidence, I wrote much more quickly, writing several thousand words per sitting towards the end. I think what greatly helped with this was a clear plan of what would happen at each stage of the book. This way I always knew what was coming next and could easily refer back to what had gone before. It provided me with obvious goals of where I needed to get to each time I sat down to write and also meant I saw real progress, ticking off sections as I made my way through, with a clear idea of how far I was from completion.
But also, because of the new and unexpected twists and turns that happened along the way, it was exciting for me to see what would happen next. I would daydream on my way to and from work, imagining (as I do when I read other peoples’ books) what would happen next, but the wonderful thing was, when I got home, I could write my thoughts down and incorporate them into the story as I went along if I wanted. This was the thing I loved most; the only person who could limit what I could write was me, so the only limits on what I could write were those of my own imagination.
August 20, 2013
Chapter 6 - The story
And then there was the most important bit; the story. I can’t say too much here without giving away the plot for those who are yet to read Legacy, but it was built for those who grew up reading fantasy such as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Twilight and The Hunger Games. It’s for those who want something similarly fantastical and escapist, but equally want something marginally more mature. Legacy is a voyage of discovery, both for Anita, who is learning who she really is and what she’s capable of, and for the other main characters, who are having their eyes opened as to what the world is really like.
There are parallels for anyone emerging from behind our traditional shelters from the big wide world - family, education, parental internet controls, Disney fairy tales… Legacy addresses some of the key themes for this time; parents are not infallible (in fact most of them are pretty average); politicians are wholly unreliable; relationships are difficult, not only because they’re full of choices, but because Prince Charming, unfortunately, doesn’t exist. There are especially strong parallels for those who have recently left the safe confines of education, to find the world of work isn’t quite what they had always either expected or hoped for; people are mean, or worse, indifferent; bosses don’t always want to recognise obvious potential; stupid decisions are made; power is abused; people who should be older and wiser are scared, stubborn and risk averse.
However, whilst recognising all the disappointments of reality, Legacy also offers escapism, not least the romantic kind; Anita has three gorgeous, powerful men chasing after her and let’s face it, that can make pretty much anything seem manageable…even the potential destruction of the world in which you live, or the fact you’ve been lied to about who you really are for your entire life. But it also offers a certain pushing-the-boundaries-of-human-abilities escapism; when you walk into a room and it feels tense, there’s got to be something more to that then body language - right?
There are parallels for anyone emerging from behind our traditional shelters from the big wide world - family, education, parental internet controls, Disney fairy tales… Legacy addresses some of the key themes for this time; parents are not infallible (in fact most of them are pretty average); politicians are wholly unreliable; relationships are difficult, not only because they’re full of choices, but because Prince Charming, unfortunately, doesn’t exist. There are especially strong parallels for those who have recently left the safe confines of education, to find the world of work isn’t quite what they had always either expected or hoped for; people are mean, or worse, indifferent; bosses don’t always want to recognise obvious potential; stupid decisions are made; power is abused; people who should be older and wiser are scared, stubborn and risk averse.
However, whilst recognising all the disappointments of reality, Legacy also offers escapism, not least the romantic kind; Anita has three gorgeous, powerful men chasing after her and let’s face it, that can make pretty much anything seem manageable…even the potential destruction of the world in which you live, or the fact you’ve been lied to about who you really are for your entire life. But it also offers a certain pushing-the-boundaries-of-human-abilities escapism; when you walk into a room and it feels tense, there’s got to be something more to that then body language - right?
Chapter 5 - Setting the scene
Once the detail of the world was set, I started getting on to the really fun bits; firstly, the backdrop. I knew I wanted to write a love story, the kind I would love to read, or even better find myself embroiled in. It would have to be something brooding and full of tension, but once again pushing our human boundaries, making more overt the butterflies, prickling skin and electricity we feel when in the throes of crazy attraction.
But everyone knows the best part of a love story is the courtship, the excited anticipation to see what will happen next. Nobody wants to read about long term relationships; the peaceful monotony of happily (or even turbulent monotony of unhappily) married life is not my idea of a fun read on a Sunday afternoon. So I started to think about how to keep things interesting, how to extend the initial tension without just throwing problems at a linear relationship and not surprisingly came up with multiple love interests (powerful, good looking ones naturally) to add a bit of spice. They all bring something different to the table and reflect the time old conundrum of what to look for in a relationship - fun, flirty escapism, grounded, brooding power, or solid, reliable safety.
Equally, I wanted to touch on our very modern obsession with celebrity, how we turn rulers into these too and our fixation on overnight fame. These themes are juxtaposed against an extremely talented main character, who far from coveting, shies away from the limelight, caring only about the pure joy of winning against the most tenacious of adversaries. And in the world of Legacy, the most tenacious of adversaries are the Descendants; three ruling families, each representing one of the three Gods. They pass their rule down to their children, monopolising power and ensuring its concentration in the hands of a privileged few. The only way for others to get close to power is to be born into one of the Council families (those who are entrusted to help the Descendants run the world), do something great and be appointed a Councillor, or climb the academic ladder and become a leader within the Temple to which you belong.
I split the world into three broad areas; Kingdom, Empire and The Wildlands. Empire, where the first book is set, is a quiet, sedate-paced, former premier city. It provides a degree of separation and difference from cosmopolitan Kingdom; a more imposing metropolis and home to the Descendants. The Wildlands are really a place of mystery in the first book, primarily because for Anita, they’re a vast unknown too; they will become much more familiar in the rest of the trilogy.
But a good story wouldn’t be a good story without some kind of villain, and villains, I think, are especially powerful when the reader has cause to question what their real motivations are. I wanted to reflect that nobody is all good or all evil and trying to navigate our way through the black and white of right and wrong is a minefield, through which (although we pretend otherwise), no unequivocally correct path exists. The only certain outcome is that we will all lose a limb or two along the way.
But everyone knows the best part of a love story is the courtship, the excited anticipation to see what will happen next. Nobody wants to read about long term relationships; the peaceful monotony of happily (or even turbulent monotony of unhappily) married life is not my idea of a fun read on a Sunday afternoon. So I started to think about how to keep things interesting, how to extend the initial tension without just throwing problems at a linear relationship and not surprisingly came up with multiple love interests (powerful, good looking ones naturally) to add a bit of spice. They all bring something different to the table and reflect the time old conundrum of what to look for in a relationship - fun, flirty escapism, grounded, brooding power, or solid, reliable safety.
Equally, I wanted to touch on our very modern obsession with celebrity, how we turn rulers into these too and our fixation on overnight fame. These themes are juxtaposed against an extremely talented main character, who far from coveting, shies away from the limelight, caring only about the pure joy of winning against the most tenacious of adversaries. And in the world of Legacy, the most tenacious of adversaries are the Descendants; three ruling families, each representing one of the three Gods. They pass their rule down to their children, monopolising power and ensuring its concentration in the hands of a privileged few. The only way for others to get close to power is to be born into one of the Council families (those who are entrusted to help the Descendants run the world), do something great and be appointed a Councillor, or climb the academic ladder and become a leader within the Temple to which you belong.
I split the world into three broad areas; Kingdom, Empire and The Wildlands. Empire, where the first book is set, is a quiet, sedate-paced, former premier city. It provides a degree of separation and difference from cosmopolitan Kingdom; a more imposing metropolis and home to the Descendants. The Wildlands are really a place of mystery in the first book, primarily because for Anita, they’re a vast unknown too; they will become much more familiar in the rest of the trilogy.
But a good story wouldn’t be a good story without some kind of villain, and villains, I think, are especially powerful when the reader has cause to question what their real motivations are. I wanted to reflect that nobody is all good or all evil and trying to navigate our way through the black and white of right and wrong is a minefield, through which (although we pretend otherwise), no unequivocally correct path exists. The only certain outcome is that we will all lose a limb or two along the way.
Chapter 4 - The devil is in the detail
Once the big picture was painted, I set about constructing the detail. Although my world is fantastical (in that it is different to Earth), I see it very much like our own, with just a few crucial differences. There is a much slower pace of life; no mobile phones, computers, or even televisions in the way we know them. Everywhere is clean and well put together, even the poorer areas (although run down) don’t have rubbish strewn around. The cities are majestic and regal, the sun mostly shining and a faint glow seeming to radiate off them; Empire has the feel of a Tuscan idyll but with English architecture. The cities seem very serious places on the outside, like Oxford’s colleges, or the city of St Andrews, with the same feeling of powerful, timeless secrets radiating from their seams. There is space everywhere, nobody crammed in as is our experience of modern city living and there is greenery all around; trees growing through the cities, and lush farmland and woodland surrounding them.
The concept of energy is as central to the world in Legacy as it is to ours. However, Legacy’s concept of energy is concerned with an innate ecosystem that people help create and consume, not the kind largely dependent on black stuff we dig from the ground. This makes the world cleaner; no pollution or grime filling the air and clogging the oceans. Energy is utilised in a number of ways; powering cars and trains as they hover above overgrown roads and lines, sending radio announcements across the world, creating projections out of thin air and most importantly, is utilised by individuals during Mind, Body and Spirit pursuits.
I knew I wanted my characters to be extremely human; the kind of people we all meet every day of our lives (albeit, a little better looking!). However, like all those people we randomly come across, I also wanted them to have special skills and abilities that aren’t always immediately obvious. But although the abilities of my characters are recognisable as human, I wanted to ever so slightly push the boundaries of what we can do on Earth; for some to be able to feel and see the energy brimming out of others, for people to interact in ways we can’t and for those very tangible, odd moments of awkwardness we experience with others to be explained away through the energy we all have.
However, as in our society, background and social influence have a great deal of sway over success, mind set and how people view the world. I wanted to explore themes such as privilege, the impact of expectation and how (as we very often see in professional athletes and women in business alike), confidence in oneself can change our entire existence. In the same way as there are people in our world who could be great, if they only knew it, the world of Legacy has those with significant natural abilities but who are just plain lazy, those who achieve above and beyond what others think they should through persistent hard work, and those who plod through life, happily middle of the road with no obvious contribution to make. Furthermore, just as in our world, children inherit a mix of characteristics from their parents, including a mix of Mind, Body and Spirit. These characteristics manifest differently every time, making everyone’s combination of skills unique.
But more than anything, I wanted to walk the line of power and knowledge, recognising that often corruption and hidden relationships are what really make the world go round. I wanted to recognise that people often don’t really care about moral issues when society dictates they should, and that we love the status quo and will hold onto it for as long as we possibly can, before finally and only in the face of no promising alternative, embrace the need for change.
In short, the detail of my world is much like the detail of ours. The real difference is that people can nudge past the boundaries we set ourselves to achieve things we only wish we could.
The concept of energy is as central to the world in Legacy as it is to ours. However, Legacy’s concept of energy is concerned with an innate ecosystem that people help create and consume, not the kind largely dependent on black stuff we dig from the ground. This makes the world cleaner; no pollution or grime filling the air and clogging the oceans. Energy is utilised in a number of ways; powering cars and trains as they hover above overgrown roads and lines, sending radio announcements across the world, creating projections out of thin air and most importantly, is utilised by individuals during Mind, Body and Spirit pursuits.
I knew I wanted my characters to be extremely human; the kind of people we all meet every day of our lives (albeit, a little better looking!). However, like all those people we randomly come across, I also wanted them to have special skills and abilities that aren’t always immediately obvious. But although the abilities of my characters are recognisable as human, I wanted to ever so slightly push the boundaries of what we can do on Earth; for some to be able to feel and see the energy brimming out of others, for people to interact in ways we can’t and for those very tangible, odd moments of awkwardness we experience with others to be explained away through the energy we all have.
However, as in our society, background and social influence have a great deal of sway over success, mind set and how people view the world. I wanted to explore themes such as privilege, the impact of expectation and how (as we very often see in professional athletes and women in business alike), confidence in oneself can change our entire existence. In the same way as there are people in our world who could be great, if they only knew it, the world of Legacy has those with significant natural abilities but who are just plain lazy, those who achieve above and beyond what others think they should through persistent hard work, and those who plod through life, happily middle of the road with no obvious contribution to make. Furthermore, just as in our world, children inherit a mix of characteristics from their parents, including a mix of Mind, Body and Spirit. These characteristics manifest differently every time, making everyone’s combination of skills unique.
But more than anything, I wanted to walk the line of power and knowledge, recognising that often corruption and hidden relationships are what really make the world go round. I wanted to recognise that people often don’t really care about moral issues when society dictates they should, and that we love the status quo and will hold onto it for as long as we possibly can, before finally and only in the face of no promising alternative, embrace the need for change.
In short, the detail of my world is much like the detail of ours. The real difference is that people can nudge past the boundaries we set ourselves to achieve things we only wish we could.
Chapter 3 - Refinement - like squashing some carbon
I knew I wanted my characters to have skills that reflected the God to which they belonged, however it wasn’t until I got feedback from some training I’d been on that I found an idea I liked for what those skills could be. In short, I was given feedback that went something along the lines of ‘you have a great deal of energy’. This struck me as a little odd as I’ve always considered myself to be relatively lazy, however after thinking about it, I realised that although physically I’m not the kind of person that always needs to be doing something, mentally, I’m that annoying person that wants to keep going on a problem when everyone else wants a break. This made me consider the different types of energy people have and to me, there are three broad categories:
Physical - those who are obviously energetic, they just can't sit still, they need to be doing something
Mental - those who love cryptic crosswords and chess, debate and mental challenge - the mentally ferocious
Spiritual - those preoccupied with the large philosophical, religious and ethical issues we face, the visionary spirituals
Moreover, three seemed the right number as I studied John’s Gospel as part of A Level Religious Studies (bear with me) and I think there is something oddly alluring about a trinity (I still feel an abstract kind of mysterious excitement every time someone brings up the Logos - I know, I’m a loser!).
So from there, it was a simple hop, skip and a jump to 3 Gods, 3 different kinds of energy (Mind, Body and Spirit), 3 temples and 3 shadowy ruling lines of power.
Physical - those who are obviously energetic, they just can't sit still, they need to be doing something
Mental - those who love cryptic crosswords and chess, debate and mental challenge - the mentally ferocious
Spiritual - those preoccupied with the large philosophical, religious and ethical issues we face, the visionary spirituals
Moreover, three seemed the right number as I studied John’s Gospel as part of A Level Religious Studies (bear with me) and I think there is something oddly alluring about a trinity (I still feel an abstract kind of mysterious excitement every time someone brings up the Logos - I know, I’m a loser!).
So from there, it was a simple hop, skip and a jump to 3 Gods, 3 different kinds of energy (Mind, Body and Spirit), 3 temples and 3 shadowy ruling lines of power.
