Susan McCaskill's Blog: Susan McCaskill, Author, page 6

What Do I Do When I'm Not Writing?

I have had people ask if I have a "Real Job," because writing isn't a "Real Job," right? Well, yes it is, but unfortunately, I'm not J.K. Rowling, and at this point in time, it doesn't pay the bills. So, what do I do? I am what is called a Historical Costumer; I make historically accurate, and historically inspired clothing. There's a difference, you ask? There is!

Historically inspired clothing is just that; it takes its inspiration from clothing of yesteryear. I might make a dress (which I did) inspired by Elizabeth's dress in Pirates of the Caribbean, which means it is similar in looks but not exactly true to the time.

Historically accurate clothing, on the other hand, is accurate to the time period. This means that the fabrics used are as close as one can get in this day and age to what was used back then. The sewing techniques used are those used back then; for example, no serged seam bindings, they are all hand whipped or overcast. For medieval clothing, or anything before the 1800s, the sewing must be done by hand only, as there were no sewing machines in Lady Jane Gray's time!

I currently make costumes for theatre, and have been making historical costumes for about five years. Before that, I started at 12 with my own dance costumes, and when my daughter took ballet, I made her recital costumes, and those for music festivals. I then kind of segued into making costumes for the entire dance school for year end recitals and festivals. When my daughter was in her teens, we both started taking flamenco, and I learned to make flamenco dresses.

Why do I do it? For the same reason I write; I love it. Does it make me rich? No, but it's rewarding, and does bring some money into the household, but thank goodness my husband has a "Real Job!"

Below are two examples; one of a historically inspired costume, and one true to the time, in this case, Edwardian.


Dress inspired by
Pirates of the Caribbean
Edwardian Dress, circa late 1800s
                             

A Snippet from the Second Book, Penelope Parker: Chaos and Light

As always, this work is copyright to me, Sue McCaskill, writing as Susan McCaskill. Any unauthorized use will be prosecuted.

Book TwoPenelope Parker: Chaos and Light

As she regained consciousness, she gradually became aware of her surroundings, and the first thing she noticed, was that she was warm and comfortable. The second that the burning winds were gone, as were the howling taunting voices that had torn at her sanity. Those sounds were replaced by the quiet murmur of voices. Surely she knew those voices? One voice rose over all;“Penelope! Penelope! You’re safe!”She recognized Prudence’s voice, and valiantly tried to open her eyes and reply. As she opened her eyes and gazed around her, she saw Paddy and Morna, her Aunt Matilda, her father, and...Mum!“Mum!” she croaked. “You’re Okay!”“Hush, darling. I’m fine. You need to rest and get your strength back.”Penelope tried to raise her arms to give her mum a big hug, but they felt strangely heavy. Looking down, her eyes widened as she took in the two sausage-like appendages she assumed were her arms. They were swathed in bandages from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers. She looked up at her mum, her eyes full of questions.“Penelope,” came another voice. Daddy! “Much of your skin was burned off by the Chaos winds, and it has taken the Healers weeks to start the healing process.”“Weeks? How long was I unconscious?”“Over a month,” said her father.“What? I can’t have been unconscious for that long!”“What is the last thing you remember?” asked her aunt.Rummaging through her scattered memories, she thought.“I remember Prudence’s voice. It helped me shut out the voices and go into my safe place. Then I remember Hec’s voice telling me they were on their way.Bolting upright, she gasped, “Hec! Where is she? Is she okay?”“Took you long enough girl.” Came a tart voice,Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw Hec perched on the end of the bed.“Hec! I heard you! I knew you would find me!”“Of course I did, silly girl. There was no doubt.”Penelope fell back on the pillow, exhausted by the sudden excitement. Suddenly, she felt arms around her and realized it was Prudence. She returned the hug as well as she could given the multitude of bandages on her arms.“Oh, Penelope; I thought you were going to die! I don’t think I could have stood it if you had.”“I’m okay, Prudence, thanks to you. If you hadn’t been there for me, I don’t think I would have survived.”“Ah, ye’re a tough one, lassie!” sounded a booming voice.Looking over, she saw Paddy’s beaming face and Morna’s scowling one. Laughing in spite of herself, she put her arms out for a hug, which Paddy gladly gave.“Where is Jacob?”Paddy said, “He had to get back to the village to look after his livestock. What with one thing and another, he was gone much longer than he planned. He will be here as soon as he can.She sighed with relief, on learning that Jacob was all right, and that nothing had happened to him.“Thank you all for rescuing me! You’re the best family anyone could ever have!”As she spoke, she realized what she said was true; they were family, all of them, even Morna.Looking up at her aunt, she asked, “When will I be able to come back to school? I’ve missed so much.”Laughing in spite of her worry, Matilda said, “First things first. You must heal. You won’t be much good in school with those arms!”Penelope chuckled, even though she was impatient to get to her studies.“Prudence can help me catch up as much as I can right now. Please, Daddy? I can’t just keep lying here like a lump!” She looked at her father pleadingly.Her mother looked less than happy when her father agreed.“Alright, but only an hour a day for now. It won’t do you any good if you get over tired.”“Hmph.” Came a voice from the foot of the bed. “And what about me, pray tell? Am I to be ignored after I risked life and paw to rescue you single-handed? Is this the thanks I get?”Looking towards the voice, Penelope saw Hec sitting there looking distinctly miffed.“Oh, Hec, of course not! I can’t do it without your help, you know that. Come and cuddle next to me. I want to feel your warm body and your fur next to me, even though I can’t hug you properly right now.”However, Hecate was not going to let Penelope get off that easy. She sat there glaring at Penelope, doing her best imitation of Grumpy Cat, and failing miserably as she realized how close she had come to losing her forever. Giving her already immaculate fur another lick or two, just for good measure, she sighed and snuggled down next to Penelope.“Land’s sake, girl, don’t you ever scare me like that again! My old heart couldn’t take it. Now Gwyddion, don’t you think young miss has had enough excitement for one day? And don’t you think that some real food should be on the agenda soon?”Shaking his head in amusement, Gwyddion had to agree with Hec.“Hec’s right, everyone. Penelope needs her rest if she’s to heal. Say goodbye for now, and let’s leave her to rest. Hec and Prudence may stay.”“Gwyddion,” protested her mother.“No, Eleanor; you will have plenty of time together soon, when she is a little stronger. Come on now, all of you.”So saying, he strode out the door, leaving the others to follow. Eleanor looked at Penelope and stooped to give her a quick hug, which she bravely returned. Paddy winked and raised his hat as he followed Gwyddion and Eleanor out the door, leaving Morna and Matilda to follow.“Get well soon, Penelope” said Morna gruffly, and stomped out the door, lighting her pipe as she went.As Matilda was leaving, she turned to Penelope and said, “I will have your missed lessons put together tomorrow, and Prudence and Hec can help you with them. This will just be your regular subjects, none of the physical part. Oh, and you have also earned your second robe, something no other student has ever done in their first year.”
As Penelope gaped at her aunt, she swiftly left the room, closing the door behind her.

A Reprise of Some of My Reasons For Writing the Book

My book Penelope Parker: Witch in Training started rumbling around in my head a little over ten years ago. I played with it, wrote a couple of chapters, and made notes. Then Life intruded, and it sat collecting dust until last year, when I decided I wasn’t getting any younger, and the book was not going to write itself. (It did, but that’s another story.)Penelope herself is based loosely on me as a child. I was gangly, a square peg in a round hole, and was mercilessly bullied. I also saw things others didn’t, and I’m sure my mother worried about me!Gillian Barrington-Smythe, the antagonist, is also based on a girl I knew at school. She came from a rich family, and was spoiled and used to getting her own way.The other characters just emerged fully formed from the recesses of my brain, and I’m not sure where they came from!The school Penelope was expelled from is also the school I went to in England, as is the name of the headmistress. Unfortunately, the school no longer exists; there is a council estate there now.I love the Harry Potter series, but I always felt that a few more strong female characters would have been good, so I set out to do just that. There aren’t too many books in the fantasy genre that have a female as the main character, so Penelope was born, partly from me, partly from fantasy.
All the main characters are female, and the only males in the book are the fathers, Gwyddion and Marcus, Hecate’s brother, Paddy, and Jacob. I think that will continue, at least for the next book, and we’ll see what happens after that. I’m already working on the second book and hope to have the first draft finished by April if all goes well.
ADDENDUM: April is looking rather ambitious at this point! There is so much else happening right now, that the firt draft probably won't be ready till Summer. The second book is titled "Chaos and Light", and continues Penelope's adventures.

Emerging Local Authors

I am fortunate enough to have been invited to participate in our Victoria Public Library's launch of Emerging Local Authors in April! This means our books will be in the library branches, which is great exposure.I am really looking forward to this! Look for "Penelope Parker: Witch in Training" in any Victoria Library.

Overdue Update

Wow! I just realized one year has gone by since my last post! It has been an incredibly busy year, and I'm not quite sure where it went. I have not made much inroads into Book Two, because of one thing and another, but after the convention I am attending mid February, pen will be put to paper again!

In other news, my book will be part of an effort by our local library to put forth local emerging authors, and I am lucky to be involved in that. I should have more news on that sometime in March, and the event gets rolling sometime in April. Looking forward to my book being in the library!

My Guest Visit On Emma Jane Holloway's Blog

I am very grateful to Emma Jane Holloway for hosting me on her blog. She was kind enough to give my novel a boost. Thank you Emma! Emma is a wonderful story teller, whose Baskerville Affair Trilogy is a must read.

Review For Penelope Parker

Penelope Parker: Witch in Training is a fun little fantasy book. There is an obvious analogy to be made with the Harry Potter series - a child goes to a school of witchcraft and wizardry to be trained to control her powers. However, there are a few things that set Penelope apart. First, PP:WIT is centered around female characters. While it certainly isn't a girly book (male readers will love it too--no fairy princess nonsense), there is more opportunity for young female readers to identify with the main characters in this book than in some of the other books in this same genre. Further, the magical instruction and rituals in the book reference genuine Wiccan practices. This lends a sense of realism and solemnity to the magical themes that is missing from most witch and wizard books. I think readers will find this both enthralling and educational.

PP:WIT is action packed, and moves very quickly. It is descriptive enough to draw the reader in to its magical world, but it does not get bogged down in overly long descriptions or dialogues. As such, it is perfect for young readers who aren't yet accustomed to reading lengthy novels, or for older readers who just want a fun quick read.

The book's vocabulary is challenging at moments, but not so much as to take away from the experience. Young readers may find that every few pages there is a word they have to look up, or ask an adult about. This is just enough of a challenge to expand a young readers vocabulary and to make them feel like reading this book was an accomplishment.

PP:WIT ends leaving the reader wanting more. The characters are likeable and interesting, and by the end I found myself genuinely interested in their exploits, and concerned for their well being. I, for one, welcome and anticipate a sequel.

Word to the wise: the characters are always hungry, and always snacking on something good. Have some snacks on hand while you are reading. ~J.H.

My Experience with Self-Publishing

I know many of you who took the NaNoWriMo challenge are wanting to self-publish, so I thought I'd do a post about my experience. The whole idea of self-publishing can be daunting; so many places offering to help you become a published author. But like anything else, it's Buyer Beware. Some companies only want your money, and don't offer good value. Others offer many services, but are also prohibitively expensive, especially for those of us on a hamburger budget!

I checked out many companies, and found that many only offer Ebook publishing, which is fine if that's what you are looking for, but not if you want a hard copy in your hot little hand! Smashwords is good for Ebooks, as is Kindle Direct, as long as you can do your own formatting to their specifications. I found Kindle much easier and more forgiving in that respect; Smashwords had me tearing my hair out before I finally got it right.

For paperbacks and hard covers, there is Lulu, which lets you publish for free, but also has a learning curve to get the formatting right. The problem is, I found them very expensive to produce, and you would have to sell your books at an awfully high price to break even, never mind make a profit.

If you're OK with a paperback, for my money, CreateSpace gives you the best bang for your buck, and their support line is great. You can publish yourself, if you can stand the formatting hassle. I couldn't and used their Simple Interior Design service. It was $349 US, but the best $349 I ever spent, for the frustration it prevented. They also offer editing services if you need them, and a book cover design service. However, one great thing is that they have an online cover designer that you can use for free. It is limited, but offers many templates, and variations. I used it and was pleasantly surprised at the quality. They will also distribute your books to many distributors at no cost to you, unless the books sell, and even then, their royalty system is more than fair. The interior is also very professional, and I am completely satisfied with my experience with them, and will definitely go with them again when my second book is ready for publishing.

Guest Blog Coming Soon!

Keep an eye out here for my guest post about my book, over at Emma Jane Holloway's blog. She is the author of A Study In Silks, A Study In Darkness, and A Study In Ashes. If you haven't read the series, you should! 

Penelope Parker Now Available In Paperback

Penelope Parker: Witch In Training is now available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook in Amazon's Kindle Store