Jude Knight's Blog, page 164

What Elyse said

Elyse writes in defence of romance novels on Smart Bitches Trashy Books.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what I read. It doesn’t even matter that I do read, quite frankly. What matters is that we live in a world where fiction aimed directly at women is perceived as garbage. That doesn’t say anything at all about me, it says a lot about what needs to change.

I’ve quoted the last paragraph, but read the whole thing. Cheers and cookies, Elyse.

What she said

Elyse writes in defence of romance novels on Smart Bitches Trashy Books.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what I read. It doesn’t even matter that I do read, quite frankly. What matters is that we live in a world where fiction aimed directly at women is perceived as garbage. That doesn’t say anything at all about me, it says a lot about what needs to change.

I’ve quoted the last paragraph, but read the whole thing. Cheers and cookies, Elyse.

Now a Goodreads author

I woke up to the email I’ve been waiting for; I’m now a Goodreads author.

So I can get to work on a Goodreads’ author profile, and add the other two books. (I’ve already put Farewell to Kindness and A Dangerous Madness into Goodreads.

I notice that another book named A Dangerous Madness was published in May this year. It looks good; I’ll have to put it on my to read list. And I’ll have to find another title for the second Redepenning book.

UPDATE: Done. The second book is now A Raging Madness.

A timeline of stories – colour coded by series or group

Click on the chart to see it full view.

I’ve been using letters and numbers to code the stories into groups, and I have this complicated spreadsheet that says what is happening to each set of characters in each year – but I thought I might find it useful to have a simpler chart that sets each story in its year. The ones that cover several years didn’t fit neatly, so I’ve given each one of those their own column. The colour coding helps me to see which books belong in which series.

I told you I was an obsessive planner.

(K1-8, L1-4, and M1-4 aren’t far enough along to have a year, yet.)

That’s 56 books, or approximately 5,600,000 words. At 500 words a day, that would be 37 years (nearly). Just as well I’m doing nearly 30,000 a month. That’s still 15 years, though! I might need to retire and write full-time!

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m practising avoidance again. The chicken coop has clean sand and clean straw. The husband has a coffee. The bed is made. I’ve played around with the RSS settings in Facebook and still haven’t got it working. I’ve created this pretty looking table and posted it here on the blog. There must be something else I can do other than tussle with Farewell to Kindness! (Are your characters giving you trouble, Jude? Whatever gives you that impression, dear reader?)

 

How much was sugar in 1807?

I’ve found this neat website that tells the answer – a fully searchable edition of the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. You name it, and somebody will have stolen it – and the value of what they stole will be right there in the proceedings.

I wanted to know whether Elizabeth’s cash-strapped household could afford to let Hannah make strawberry jam for the fete. Turns out that the price of sugar had been dropping for years, and was one shilling a pound in London in 1807. It was probably more out in the Cotswolds, but – yes – thanks to the various genteel jobs the sisters had picked up around the village, Hannah could make strawberry jam with the wild strawberries growing along the edges of the nearby woods.

What do you think of lo-o-o-ong books?

It’s a funny thing. In my life as a commercial writer and editor, I’m known for brevity. I’ve even been called the slash and burn queen, wielding a red pen (or the electronic equivalent) in place of a weed cutter and a blow torch.

My all-time great slash and burn moment was replacing a 159 word sentence in a set of terms and conditions with six words that meant the same thing.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that my fiction writing self takes a very different approach.

The other day, my sister – who is up to chapter 28 of Farewell to Kindness (I’m still writing chapter 29) asked if I was getting a bit overcomplicated. “All those subplots,” she said. “And now Hannah’s husband has reappeared.” She assured me that she likes it, and she wants to know what happens next. My new critique partner (thanks Romance Writers of Australia) is only up to chapter 4, but has also commented on people that she thinks might be surplus to requirements – although one of her favourite characters probably won’t make the final cut, since she never appears in the book again.

This is, of course, a first draft. I told my sister that I need to get the whole story out of my head before I know what to cut and what to leave. And some of it will have to go; I can already see some places where scenes don’t progress the action.

But losing characters and plot lines? I’m still thinking about that one.  Personally, I like long complicated books, where all sorts of things are going on, and the author only ties it up with a neat bow in the last chapter. But do other people? I’ve been reading a few online discussions, and the jury is still out.

Jacob Whaler on long books versus short books

Reddit 

Size matters, from Bookriot

and Karen’s books and chocolate

What do you think?

I’ve added new covers on the Books page

And one more to go (just waiting to get clearance from the photographer of the image I want to use). These covers are my placeholders, till closer to publication time. Made using Pixelmator with license-free images and a couple of things I bought.

I’m trying to create a ‘look’ for each series. What do you like? What doesn’t work? Do you have a favourite?

Thanks

Thank you to Simon at Rocking Self Publishing P0dcast. I followed his video course when creating this website. Thanks for the truly neat apps, plugins and widgets, Simon.

Thank you also to John Corwin of Novel Publicity & Co for the ‘complete and unabridged guide to GoodReads for authors’.

And thank you always to my own personal romantic hero, whose timely bacon and egg sandwiches and cups of coffee made this website possible. Love you, darling.

60,000 and counting

Today on the train to work I passed the 60,000 words mark. I’m up to scene 43 of the 91 listed in my plotting spreadsheet. (It has all the scenes in the novel in the left hand column, and columns D to Q let me note which plot lines each scene advances. Did I mention that I’m an obsessive planner?)

Yipes! 43 out of 91 doesn’t sound far enough. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure I’m more than halfway through. Some short scenes coming up?

Tentative first steps

So this is it. After a lifetime of writing, a year of planning, and five months on Farewell to Kindness (almost 60,000 words and counting), I’m here in public. I’ve set up a domain name, created a website and a blog, and begun a Facebook profile. I’ve mocked up a cover. I’ve added a bit of content, and written myself a list of other things to do.

I feel like the new girl in school.

After all these years growing confident in my profession, I now have a new one. Will I be any good? Will people like what I do?

I could say it doesn’t matter. I’m having fun. And it’s true that I’m having fun. I love writing. Each day, I have to drag myself away from the draft to do other things.

But having my work appreciated matters. Writing for myself is well and good. But the true test of whether I can write novels is you – you unknown people out there in the wide world that read historical romances. Without your approval, I’m a hobbyist. With it, I’m a novelist.

Watch this space.