Writing the story, not meeting word count

I hope everyone's 2013 started out well and continues to be as it should.



All is well here. The writing is going according to schedule, as at the moment I an working on my French and Indian War novel, that has taken on a life of its own.



Toward the end of last year, I made a writing decision which will, ultimately, be the best for me. I will concentrate on novels from here on in. Novellas are great and I enjoy writing them, but readers want, or seem to, novels, full length, with layers of story. As a reader, I identify with that.



When I wrote Tarnished Gold, which is with Dreamspinner and will come out in April or May, my husband asked me "How is it going?"



My answer was always, "It's going, as Jack and Wyatt want it to."



I got to thinking about that and concluded that instead of writing for a specific word count, I was writing the story, as Jack and Wyatt "dictated" it to me. When I finished, I had 105k, the story spans twenty years, and it captures my two characters in situations we all live through in two decades--deaths of friends and family, self-discovery, realizations that things aren't always as they seem, and myriad other things that life throws at us all.



I don't want to write slices of life stories, nor do I want to write a 30k story, with the word count pre-determined. I've done that, and it no longer feels right. I don't want to write thinking, "Okay, one more sex scene and that'll do it." Or "Two more chapters should wrap this up," then check the word count meter.



As I rewrote Serenity's Dream, I found that there was no much more story there than I had written four years ago. The same with Lord Decadent's Obsession. With each of them, I added thousands of new words in new story, bringing the word counts up over 60k on each of them. I sent them off to my editor feeling as though I had no where else I could take these characters, that I had done them and their stories justice.



Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess has gotten the most thorough revamp, a significantly different story (with many elements of CT&D,) and a sequel, all wrapped up into what is now, Thornhill's Dilemma. I have always said that Phillip Allard, the Duke of Thornhill, was my favorite character of all I have written, and that didn't change. However, in what is likely to end up around 90k, his story is richer, more in depth, and, alas,  complete.



I started the rewrites with the intention of removing all the passive voice and filters, and ended up truly writing the stories. There is something very satisfying there, very rewarding. You get richer characters and a feeling that you have wrung every gesture out of them.



There are other books I'd like to rewrite. This year, when I get Free Me and In His Arms back, they will be combined in one volume. I've already rewritten Free Me and will work on IHA as time permits.



I have Love Immortal, but I think it will be awhile before I can get to that. Splendid Captivity as well. I received my rights back on them, but haven't had time to give them a good polishing before subbing them elsewhere.




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A few of the books I used for research for Tarnished Gold,
which is set in Old Hollywood, in the 19teens-1930's.

 Meanwhile, I research like a mad woman. Doing historicals is a passion, but it does require a tremendous amount of research. Thankfully, I love it. The French and Indian War, Rogers' Rangers, and Abenaki Indians have kept me busy, but what I have learned is amazing. I look forward to the subsequent books which are set during the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the American Civil War. The series deals with 100+ years in the lives of one family, living on the family farmstead in Upstate New York. How each generation deals with the legacy left from the prior one.



I come from the area where the stories take place. In my many years as a genealogist, I discovered that many of the homesteads that exist today are occupied by descendants of the original landowner. The concept fascinates me, particularly since my family always rented homes and never owned until I was out of the house.



A few years ago, I was invited, as the owner of a website for the town my mother grew up in, to attend a family reunion in that town. I met wonderful people, one, the owner of the great many acres of a homestead that was settled when the original settler, using his land grant given by the U.S. government. He was the first settler in my mother's hometown of Stephentown, New York. Asa Douglas discovered a beautiful piece of land that he and his family turned into a farm of some repute.



Today's owner is a direct descendant of that original settler and the land has stayed in the family for over two hundred years. Asa Douglas, a Revolutionary War hero, and his wife, Rebecca Wheeler, were the great grandparents of Stephen Arnold Douglas, known as The Little Giant. Famous in New York and Illinois politics, he is probably most famous for his debates against a guy who became president, Abraham Lincoln. Stephen Arnold Douglas was born on that farm in Stephentown.



As is my wont, I am immersed in history and I love it. Can't get enough. With that in mind, I am off the the French and Indian War. Joshua Boughton and Julia Goodhue are confronted with a family problem. I have my dictation pad out and I am ready to write down their solution.



Big hugs until next time,

Brita