Made it back safely from the Festival of Romance in Bedford, where I thrust my beyond-awesome rack cards for The Dust of Ancients upon various persons, met some lovely writers and readers, and ate far too much bacon. Hooray.
Friday night's reading went okay, I think. I was absolutely boiling in my costume, and it was a huge relief to climb out of it and cool down with several glasses of wine. What do you mean, water's better? Don't be silly.
Saturday morning saw us setting up the tables at the Romance Fair (book fair, really) and I did sell a couple of books, but since the prize of my game - which a lot of people played - was a paperback copy, it was fairly obvious people were waiting to see if they'd won! I didn't mind at all, I have just 4 books left now, to distribute down here for reviews, and loads of people took my flyers and rack cards, and The Dust of Ancients got a lot of interest. Cocktails on the way back to the hotel (which was fantastic, incidentally, and the main culprit of my bacon-mainlining weekend) finished that part of the day nicely.
Then it was the awards dinner. I didn't win the category, but looking at the list of those I was up against, I knew right away I didn't have a hope, which made it easier. These were literary giants, in relation to li'l ol' debut novelist me. I was convinced enough that, when they began reading out the names (and although I got a lovely big cheer, thanks to all who contributed to that!) I didn't even feel that queasy sensation when hope gets a good grip of your insides and starts to tangle them up like an over-excited slinky. It wasn't going to happen, and so I was able to relax and enjoy the awards without having the worry in the back of my mind that I might trip and fall on my arse on my way to the front of the room.
My biggest and most genuine congratulations to those who did win, and especially to Christine King, who won the Piatkus Entice prize that Maid of Oaklands Manor won last year. She seems a lovely lady, and her fella's very funny and didn't seem at all fazed at being thrown into a room filled with sparkly dresses and mad shoes.
Moving swiftly onward to the following morning (Sunday) we discover the reason for the title of this entry. It wasn't snowing, so we can forget that. There were no patrols, that I'm aware of, on the premises. So I think we must take it at its most literal. Yes, there was actually a moment when I was running through the streets of Bedford chasing a rapidly disappearing car.
Backing up slightly then: I'd arranged to hand over the MS of my new novel (Lady of No Man's Land) to Caroline Kirkpatrick, the editor representing Piatkus Entice at the conference. I'd printed out chapters 1-4, detailed synopsis and basic synopsis, etc, and put it all into a nice little black folder, then promptly left it on the back seat of the car taking me to the Corn Exchange.
As the car drove away I realised what I'd done, and yelled, waved, and, when it didn't stop, ran after it. As I watched it zip around a corner and out of sight, a bus came up behind me, and the driver saw I was tearing my hair out, gave chase, and eventually flagged the car down. Driving back past me a few minutes after my wonderful friend (and travel-blogger) ScarletJones had brought my folder back to me, the driver beeped and waved, and I nearly fell over trying to convey my relief. The wedding is in two weeks. (I'm kidding, don't send cards.)
The conference was amazing. I was able to put in place a contingency plan in case Piatkus decide not to go with my series - at least it'll be someone else to query with it, as apparently it won't matter in the slightest that the series began with one publisher but might have to move to another. Thanks to Kate Allen (Kate Nash) for organising the event, and I highly recommend a visit next year if you're in the area. There's a pub that does awesome cocktails. Did I mention that?
So that was it, then, my first foray into the world of literary conferences/festivals. I'm absolutely shattered, but I loved it. All I have to do now is wait to see if someone will buy my series, as a series. Oh, and write the next one. Yeah, I knew there was something I was supposed to be doing ....
As always, thanks for reading, and if you hate Captchas, please feel free to comment on the Facebook Post instead :)
Monday, November 11, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Endings and Beginnings, Readings and Dressing Up
Well now. Having just typed "The End" on my latest WIP, I decided it was time to come and have a little ramble through what's new and/or interesting in the TelNix world.
Lady of No Man's Land is the second in a trilogy which began with Maid of Oaklands Manor and will conclude with Daughter of Dark River Farm. It follows Evie, the daughter of the house, who joins the Red Cross as an ambulance driver and goes off to Belgium shortly after the outbreak of World War One.
The timing of this book is rather bloody perfect actually, quite by accident. When I wrote Oaklands (under its many previous titles) I'd always planned to do a "companion" novella to accompany it, following the exploits of some of the other characters during the middle section of the novel - the years 1913-1916. Naturally I'd decided to make this quite war-centric, without realising that Oaklands was going to be picked up and published during this summer just gone, or that I would be writing the "novella" as a full-length piece that I would be hoping to pitch to the same publisher just as commemorations for the centenary would be starting to kick off. I hope they like it, but even if they don't you can bet it'll be out there somehow.
So there we have it. I began Lady of No Man's Land on Sunday 17th February, and finished today; just over 8 months later. This might seem like quite a long time for a first draft, but in my defence, yer honour, I've still got my day-job. And it's taken one HELL of a lot of researching! (not my day-job, obvs)
However, I've not been idle: during this time I have edited, formatted and self-published in paperback and e-book the first in the Lynher Mill Chronicles, The Dust of Ancients, which seems to be being well-received, it's certainly selling quite well considering I'm doing it alone with no publisher backing. I've completed a first draft of book 2, The Lightning and the Blade, and begun book 3, The Western War.
I've also built a new website ... two new websites, in fact: re-built my old one at www.terri-nixon.co.uk and made a new one for my self-published work at www.lynhermill.co.uk
The other bit of exciting news, is that Maid of Oaklands Manor has been shortlisted in the "Best Historical Read" category of reader awards at the Festival of Romance 2013. I'd planned to attend this year anyway, and am down to do a reading (in costume!) at the Art and Romance evening on Friday. I don't want to wear that awful outfit I wore to my book launch party, but if it comes down to it, I might have to.
One last thing - I've put together a collection of some of my old horror stories, and published them on Kindle under T Nixon. It will be free from tomorrow until November 1st, my little Hallowe'en gift to anyone who likes a good, blood-curdling bit of vileness with their morning toast.
So. That's me up to date. There's supposed to be a big storm coming tonight; so far all we have is a bit of rain, but it's meant to hot up a bit later and into tomorrow morning. I'm off to pour the remaining dribbles of last Christmas's Baileys, and watch Downton Abbey. Provided the power stays on.
Pip Pip!
:)
As always please feel free to comment here, if the robot-thing will let you, or on the Facebook post.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Writing Around Corners.
Here’s the challenge: a novel where one of the key plotlines
is the rape and subsequent pregnancy of a naïve young volunteer
ambulance-driver in Belgium, 1917. Necessity dictates this pregnancy must not
still be an issue by the end of the book.
Plenty of potential for harrowing scenes of emotional
turmoil and physical distress. Great! My problem, however, is that my agent and
I are pitching this within the romance market, since it’s a sequel to Maid of Oaklands Manor, and so the challenge is not so much writing the storyline
convincingly and well, as writing it convincingly and well, but without mentioning sex, rape, pregnant or miscarriage! I have not been told
specifically to steer clear of these words, but have been given guidelines that
suggest certain things are not likely to be well-received within this genre,
and specifically with the publisher I have in mind.
I just want to make
it clear: this is not a whinge! I have chosen this path, and I’m
enjoying it. I’m particularly enjoying this novel as there is plenty of action,
romance and drama in it already, which is how I’m able to write these scenes
without feeling the need to be more explicit. The girl in question is not my first-person narrator, so I am
able to stay within the head, and consequently use the carefully chosen words,
of someone who was not present at the time. The perpetrator of the rape is not the ‘leading man,’ nor anyone he
knows well, (although his identity is important and has far-reaching
consequences) This will hopefully mean that, with our hero unsullied by any
hint of foul play, we can continue to root for him and our heroine, while
seeking justice for our poor driver.
I know there are plenty of romance novels with ‘orrible
stuff in them, and this one is no different, but the ‘orrible stuff in this
book is confined to the results of trench warfare and not a reflection on (or
of) any of the sympathetic characters. And, since this is a sequel, anyone picking it up has a right to
expect a similar style.
Note: I am not
saying anyone picking up a book by the
same author should necessarily expect the same; if they can read a book,
they can read a blurb, and should make their choice based on that. But a sequel
needs to keep within the parameters already established, and in the case of
this three-parter, it’s simple: action; romance; history-without-the-history-lesson;
characters whose heads are fun/interesting to be in. That’s what I’m aiming for,
and what I hope people are finding.
As always, comments below welcomed, or you can leave a note
on the Facebook post.
Maid of Oaklands Manor: available now from Amazon. £2.99 ($4.63)
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Invisible Research
So. The book is out, getting some great reviews, (hooray!) and people are asking questions about the research aspect of writing an historical novel. I thought I'd do a little post about it, because, in answering those questions and watching people's eyes widen, it's becoming more and more evident that a high percentage of the research I've carried out will never be noticed.
We all know that information dumps are ghastly; they cause eyes to glaze over at best, and at worst they make the reader grit his or her teeth because they feel they're being lectured to instead of entertained, but research is a necessary part of writing, whether it's historical or not. I'm currently writing a Mythic Fiction series, (contemporary) and that has required checking song titles against the date of the flashback for a 1980s school disco scene; the clothes the girls would have worn; who was 'hot' in the media and might be emulated; who was considered geeky (and not in a good way.) I have also spent time looking up a certain type of small power boat: the construction materials; the layout beneath the deck; the removability of furniture; the engine capacity and so on. Tidal and geographical information has also been checked, as has the effect of lightning strike on the human form and on stone, and various other things that will, hopefully, weave through the story without even being noticed. Including how to make crack cocaine in a spoon, and what it smells like ... let's hope my computer is never taken away by the police and searched!
For Maid of Oaklands Manor the research has had to be even more intensive. Since the opening chapters are set in the spring of 1912 it's only polite to at least mention the Titanic, which required a certain amount of fact-checking so it didn't feel re-hashed; I also had to look into the politics of the time in order to be able to drop bits into conversation and then move quickly away; naturally there was the more obvious clothing, etiquette and speech to check; and a certain amount of war knowledge was necessary, covering both the second Boer and First World Wars. (For Lady of No Man's Land this research has intensified, and become far more focused on trench warfare and the field hospitals in France and Belgium.)
However, as the title of this post suggests, it's the invisible research, that only I know about, that allows me to look at the finished manuscript and feel I've done everything I can. Things like the weather during a given time of the year: I can write confidently about an outdoor fight on New Year's Eve, in a drizzly rainfall, knowing no-one is going to turn around say, "wait, there was heavy snowfall in Cheshire that year!" If I say the area had endured a wet and windy summer in 1912, you can bet that's the truth and not just a convenient reason to have fewer picnics and outdoor parties than usual!
I checked the dates of birth of all my main characters and confirmed their significant birthdays fell on the days of the week I've said they did; I ensured there was a rail service on a certain day of the year, to and from particular destinations; likewise with a steam packet travelling to Germany. Flowers are another important detail, no matter how brief the mention - you can bet someone out there is an expert and will soon have something to say if you have the wrong flower blooming at the wrong time of the year in the wrong conditions, or any combination of the above.
For all the people who will read a book and simply accept what the writer says, there's still that small number who will happen to know if it's correct and on whom the smallest mistakes will grate. This post is in no way a grumble about that, in fact it's a shout out of respect to those people; everyone deserves to be immersed in the story they choose to read and, as writers, it's our job to keep them there and not have them pulled rudely out by inaccuracies. Which is why we try our very best to ensure the details are as close to correct as we can possibly get them. There might well be slips, but if we do everything we can to secure the big facts in place with the little pins of invisible research, we're going to write with more confidence and lessen that chance, and hopefully increase the enjoyment of whoever picks up our work to read.
If you enjoyed this post please leave a comment below or on the Facebook link.
Maid of Oaklands Manor is out now in e-book. Published by Piatkus Entice (little, brown book group) and available from Amazon and iBooks at £2.99.
We all know that information dumps are ghastly; they cause eyes to glaze over at best, and at worst they make the reader grit his or her teeth because they feel they're being lectured to instead of entertained, but research is a necessary part of writing, whether it's historical or not. I'm currently writing a Mythic Fiction series, (contemporary) and that has required checking song titles against the date of the flashback for a 1980s school disco scene; the clothes the girls would have worn; who was 'hot' in the media and might be emulated; who was considered geeky (and not in a good way.) I have also spent time looking up a certain type of small power boat: the construction materials; the layout beneath the deck; the removability of furniture; the engine capacity and so on. Tidal and geographical information has also been checked, as has the effect of lightning strike on the human form and on stone, and various other things that will, hopefully, weave through the story without even being noticed. Including how to make crack cocaine in a spoon, and what it smells like ... let's hope my computer is never taken away by the police and searched!
For Maid of Oaklands Manor the research has had to be even more intensive. Since the opening chapters are set in the spring of 1912 it's only polite to at least mention the Titanic, which required a certain amount of fact-checking so it didn't feel re-hashed; I also had to look into the politics of the time in order to be able to drop bits into conversation and then move quickly away; naturally there was the more obvious clothing, etiquette and speech to check; and a certain amount of war knowledge was necessary, covering both the second Boer and First World Wars. (For Lady of No Man's Land this research has intensified, and become far more focused on trench warfare and the field hospitals in France and Belgium.)
However, as the title of this post suggests, it's the invisible research, that only I know about, that allows me to look at the finished manuscript and feel I've done everything I can. Things like the weather during a given time of the year: I can write confidently about an outdoor fight on New Year's Eve, in a drizzly rainfall, knowing no-one is going to turn around say, "wait, there was heavy snowfall in Cheshire that year!" If I say the area had endured a wet and windy summer in 1912, you can bet that's the truth and not just a convenient reason to have fewer picnics and outdoor parties than usual!
I checked the dates of birth of all my main characters and confirmed their significant birthdays fell on the days of the week I've said they did; I ensured there was a rail service on a certain day of the year, to and from particular destinations; likewise with a steam packet travelling to Germany. Flowers are another important detail, no matter how brief the mention - you can bet someone out there is an expert and will soon have something to say if you have the wrong flower blooming at the wrong time of the year in the wrong conditions, or any combination of the above.
For all the people who will read a book and simply accept what the writer says, there's still that small number who will happen to know if it's correct and on whom the smallest mistakes will grate. This post is in no way a grumble about that, in fact it's a shout out of respect to those people; everyone deserves to be immersed in the story they choose to read and, as writers, it's our job to keep them there and not have them pulled rudely out by inaccuracies. Which is why we try our very best to ensure the details are as close to correct as we can possibly get them. There might well be slips, but if we do everything we can to secure the big facts in place with the little pins of invisible research, we're going to write with more confidence and lessen that chance, and hopefully increase the enjoyment of whoever picks up our work to read.
If you enjoyed this post please leave a comment below or on the Facebook link.
Maid of Oaklands Manor is out now in e-book. Published by Piatkus Entice (little, brown book group) and available from Amazon and iBooks at £2.99.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Contracts, Conferences and Confidence
As the publication date for Maid of Oaklands Manor approaches I'm finding more and more people asking me about how much money I'm going to make. Now, I really want to make this absolutely, perfectly clear; this book is not going to make me rich! It's not going to get me enough to buy a house, or a car, or probably even enough to pay off my Visa (which isn't that big a bill!) If I'm lucky I'll have a little bit of extra pin money around Christmas. Unless Julian Fellowes decides to adapt it for ITV, of course ;)
I also want to state once more that, hand on heart and may my trousers fall down in public if I'm telling a lie here: I KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT THE MONEY! True story. This book has been my tribute to my grandmother, and I'm beyond thrilled that I've been able to immortalise her name in its (digital) pages, along with one of my favourite stories of hers from when she was in service. But I honestly mean it when I say that being published by an imprint of a major publishing house has been the biggest part of this. It's been such an exciting and enlightening time, I've learned so much (I feel as if I'm a candidate on The Apprentice here, and can hear Lord Sugar in my head saying: "throughout this process!") and whatever comes next is going to be just as exciting, I'm sure.
Lady of No Man's Land will hopefully be finished and pitched to coincide with the centenary marking the start of the First World War, and it's such a great feeling to know it was actually conceived a good 3 years ago, when I was thinking about writing a WW1 novella as a companion to (what was then) Saturday's Child. I don't feel as if any band-wagon-hopping has occurred, because of that. I really hope Piatkus Entice, or one of the other Little, Brown imprints thinks it's worth picking up the other books in this series, and that they offer me a contract for both of them, but I'm going to be writing them anyway.
You know I said I'm not going to get rich off this book? Well that's true. But I can't shake the feeling that, despite the fact that it's considered too niche to pitch to a large, traditional publisher, I have something rather special with The Lynher Mill Chronicles. I really feel SO strongly about that, that I don't even care about not pitching it, and will self-publish The Dust of Ancients this autumn . I have decided to create Lynher Mill Publishing as a business, and to self-publish anything that can't find a traditional home, while writing whatever else is required of me as an author of Historical/Romance. I intend to pep up and finish Penhaligon's Attic once I'm done with the three-book series (Maid, Lady, Daughter - that's not the name of the series, I need to find one even if it's just for my own use.) and then, hopefully, to move on to contemporary "romaction," which is what I call the fast-paced romance thriller, such as Fire and Fury. I'd like to write more of those and I know I could write those faster than I can write historical!
The Kate Nash Literary Agency Day. London, June 15th 2013.
I accepted the invitation to this rather wonderful occasion, thinking; "oh my god I'm going to feel such the outsider. I hope I don't make a total teapot out of myself." I was convinced I'd have nothing to offer, that I would sit in the corner and rock, chanting "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy," until someone very kind escorted me off the premises.
After getting a coach at silly o'clock, and paying over the odds for a taxi so I wouldn't have to fight the tube, I got there after a couple of people and before some others, so right away I didn't feel I'd messed up there. And I couldn't have been in nicer company. Everyone was absolutely wonderful, and although nervousness made me babble quite a lot, and a lot of it was, undoubtedly, complete rubbish, no-one made me feel as if I should go to my corner and just belt up. I don't want to make this blog post even more ridiculously long, so I won't go into the details of the day, I just wanted to illustrate here, in the spirit of the way I'm starting to feel, that I actually believed I belonged there - in part thanks to the loveliness of my fellow clients, but also, and yes, I'm going to say it: because BLOODY HELL I HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!
The theme that's emerging from this post even as I write it, is that I have discovered a confidence in my own work I could never draw on before. I can come out and say: "this is good!" and believe it, instead of muttering, "I hope it's not too awful."
I like that.
As always, please feel free to comment either here or on the Facebook link/s when I've posted.
Thank you for reading!
I also want to state once more that, hand on heart and may my trousers fall down in public if I'm telling a lie here: I KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT THE MONEY! True story. This book has been my tribute to my grandmother, and I'm beyond thrilled that I've been able to immortalise her name in its (digital) pages, along with one of my favourite stories of hers from when she was in service. But I honestly mean it when I say that being published by an imprint of a major publishing house has been the biggest part of this. It's been such an exciting and enlightening time, I've learned so much (I feel as if I'm a candidate on The Apprentice here, and can hear Lord Sugar in my head saying: "throughout this process!") and whatever comes next is going to be just as exciting, I'm sure.
Lady of No Man's Land will hopefully be finished and pitched to coincide with the centenary marking the start of the First World War, and it's such a great feeling to know it was actually conceived a good 3 years ago, when I was thinking about writing a WW1 novella as a companion to (what was then) Saturday's Child. I don't feel as if any band-wagon-hopping has occurred, because of that. I really hope Piatkus Entice, or one of the other Little, Brown imprints thinks it's worth picking up the other books in this series, and that they offer me a contract for both of them, but I'm going to be writing them anyway.
*
You know I said I'm not going to get rich off this book? Well that's true. But I can't shake the feeling that, despite the fact that it's considered too niche to pitch to a large, traditional publisher, I have something rather special with The Lynher Mill Chronicles. I really feel SO strongly about that, that I don't even care about not pitching it, and will self-publish The Dust of Ancients this autumn . I have decided to create Lynher Mill Publishing as a business, and to self-publish anything that can't find a traditional home, while writing whatever else is required of me as an author of Historical/Romance. I intend to pep up and finish Penhaligon's Attic once I'm done with the three-book series (Maid, Lady, Daughter - that's not the name of the series, I need to find one even if it's just for my own use.) and then, hopefully, to move on to contemporary "romaction," which is what I call the fast-paced romance thriller, such as Fire and Fury. I'd like to write more of those and I know I could write those faster than I can write historical!
The Kate Nash Literary Agency Day. London, June 15th 2013.
I accepted the invitation to this rather wonderful occasion, thinking; "oh my god I'm going to feel such the outsider. I hope I don't make a total teapot out of myself." I was convinced I'd have nothing to offer, that I would sit in the corner and rock, chanting "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy," until someone very kind escorted me off the premises.
After getting a coach at silly o'clock, and paying over the odds for a taxi so I wouldn't have to fight the tube, I got there after a couple of people and before some others, so right away I didn't feel I'd messed up there. And I couldn't have been in nicer company. Everyone was absolutely wonderful, and although nervousness made me babble quite a lot, and a lot of it was, undoubtedly, complete rubbish, no-one made me feel as if I should go to my corner and just belt up. I don't want to make this blog post even more ridiculously long, so I won't go into the details of the day, I just wanted to illustrate here, in the spirit of the way I'm starting to feel, that I actually believed I belonged there - in part thanks to the loveliness of my fellow clients, but also, and yes, I'm going to say it: because BLOODY HELL I HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!
The theme that's emerging from this post even as I write it, is that I have discovered a confidence in my own work I could never draw on before. I can come out and say: "this is good!" and believe it, instead of muttering, "I hope it's not too awful."
I like that.
As always, please feel free to comment either here or on the Facebook link/s when I've posted.
Thank you for reading!
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Judging a Book by its Cover
We all do it, to some degree or another, I think. I've put books back on the shelf without reading the blurb, simply because the picture on the front has made me wince, or given me what might have been the wrong impression of the work inside the cover. (I'll never know, of course, but that's the point of this post.)
For those who've followed my progress with "the-book-formerly-known-as-Saturday's-Child," Now Maid of Oaklands Manor, you will be familiar with the way I have worried about the cover and what it might look like; to refresh your memory I have mentioned it in this post. I told myself it was silly to worry, and that it would all be absolutely fine. I should point out that Piatkus Entice have been nothing but wonderful throughout this exciting but scary process, and have listened to my concerns, and responded quickly and professionally, but with a very personal touch. This post in no way intends to suggest otherwise, but I'm keeping this record of the ups and downs of writing and publication, and this was (temporarily) one of the downs.
For those who've followed my progress with "the-book-formerly-known-as-Saturday's-Child," Now Maid of Oaklands Manor, you will be familiar with the way I have worried about the cover and what it might look like; to refresh your memory I have mentioned it in this post. I told myself it was silly to worry, and that it would all be absolutely fine. I should point out that Piatkus Entice have been nothing but wonderful throughout this exciting but scary process, and have listened to my concerns, and responded quickly and professionally, but with a very personal touch. This post in no way intends to suggest otherwise, but I'm keeping this record of the ups and downs of writing and publication, and this was (temporarily) one of the downs.
The other week they sent me the cover. Oh dear. What it immediately said to me was: "1930: cheerful farm girl Sally meets a handsome, widowed landowner and becomes nanny to his children. What happens next is both hilarious and touching!"
All of which is fine, and I might very well buy a book with that blurb, but this book is about a tiny, dark-haired slip of a girl who, in 1912, arrives at the house where her mother used to be in service to take up a similar position in the scullery. She doesn't have a nice time of it, frankly, and before long she ends up in Holloway women's prison, before spending the second half of the book entangled with diamond thieves, blackmailers and spies.
Bearing all that in mind, this is the cover that was suggested:
Along with this picture was a note that invited my thoughts, so after about half hour of swallowing tears (yes, tears, how silly is that?!) of disappointment and frustration, I replied to the e-mail with this:
Thank you for sending me the cover for the book. I understand I have no say in the design, and I'm not well versed in what sells well, but I must confess I'm disappointed. Lizzy is mentioned several times to be slender and with a lot of thick, dark hair, and this girl is round-faced, cheerful and blonde, and clearly not a maid. I have also described the driveway that leads right up to the front door quite distinctly, and there are no steps.
After signing off with an apology for replying with such a negative note, I hit 'send' and then sat back feeling quite sick, wondering what I'd done, and how they would respond to a newbie like myself questioning their judgement.
I needn't have worried. Within minutes they responded and invited me to find some Google images of a suitable girl, and an idea of the kind of entrance to the house I was thinking of, so that they could find the right image in their stock. I was delighted to do so, and when I sent the images I also mentioned that I would be happy with the back view of a girl, holding a suitcase, and facing the house. I have never liked photographs of the characters on the covers of books, but was prepared to accept whatever they sent back, because I felt I had pushed my luck a little too far, and, frankly, anything was better that than chirpy blonde!
Once again, my fears were groundless. This is what I received back after a day or two spent biting my already shredded nails:
So this, ladies and gentlepongs, is the cover of my very first published novel! Piatkus listened, responded, and this is a cover I can really be proud of which is vital, I think, for a first novel. I've loved all the covers for the collections in which my short stories have appeared, but this ... well, this is all mine!
In other news, I was featured in Writers' Forum this month, after an interview with Sally Quilford , and the PR people at work were alerted to it because I mentioned Plymouth University! It was a lovely piece, and so exciting to buy a copy at WH Smiths - I got so distracted in the queue this random guy behind me had to nudge me to move forward. I wanted to brandish the magazine in his face and squeak "that's me, that is!" but he didn't look the type to appreciate it, so I just shuffled forward and kept my grin (and my squeaks) to myself.
Still working on Lady of No Man's Land, and simultaneously noting plot points for Daughter of Dark River Farm (book 3 in the series). All very exciting, and keeping me busy!
Thank you for reading, as always please feel free to comment either here, or on the Facebook link when I post it.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Things are moving on a-pace ...
So, another few months have passed since my last blog post and I thought it was time I updated.
Where to begin, though? My last entry was filled with excitement about the fact that Saturday's Child had won me a publishing contract with Piatkus Entice, and that post was made a day or two after the announcement. Since then things have, as the subject says, moved on a-pace! The book has now been re-named Maid of Oaklands Manor, and after a brief battle with my common sense I have taken the view that the publishers know so much better than I do what is likely to sell and what isn't. It will be published on 4th July 2013.
The editor who worked with me on the book, knocking off the rough edges, pointing out where I'd repeated words etc, also persuaded me to bring out the romantic part of the story, for which I'm extremely grateful.
I think the problem with me doing that initially was that this was never intended to be a historical romance. Readers of my earlier posts (and I know there are some, because although the comments don't show here, I've had responses on Facebook!) will know this story was inspired by my grandmother's life in service. And although, in the end, the tale went off in a wildly different direction, I still feel as though it's hers and that's why I have kept her name for one of the secondary characters, and one of the incidents in the book that was a true story. Lizzy's attraction to Jack came out of nowhere. She was supposed to be in love with Will the butcher's apprentice but when Jack came along it was hard to ignore the spark between them. I did try though, because I thought the story was one of injustice and adventure. However Caroline Kirkpatrick (editor with Little, Brown) tugged and coaxed until everything came tumbling out and Lizzy and Jack's story became far more intense and, ultimately, much more rewarding.
So, after some amendments, and an additional 13,000 words, the MS went to copy-edit, and then some further edits were necessary to clarify a couple of points of inheritance and family tree (it was all so obvious to me but I neglected to take into account the fact that the reader is not inside my head!). The book is now with the type-setter, and I should have the proofs back in a week or so for one last proof-read. I'm not sure when I can expect to see the cover art, and had been very nervous about it until I saw some of the other covers for historical romances. This is not a bodice-ripper so I would hope there will be no scantily-clad girls or open-shirted men, and I'm hoping the cover will accurately represent the story within. I'm learning to trust the industry more, so am feeling less as if I've handed over total control of my 'baby' to a fiction-factory, and more as if the publishers are applying their expertise to something they believe in strongly enough to take the time and effort they've shown so far.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
On the back of that deal with Piatkus, I have signed a contract with the Kate Nash Literary Agency and we are talking (although very loosely at the moment) about my next book, Lady of No Man's Land. This is a sequel in that it presumes knowledge of characters and key events, but the story is Creswell heiress Evie's. It follows her time as an ambulance driver on the Western Front, and explores what happens when her sense of right and wrong, previously so clear, is put to the test after her friend is viciously attacked by an army officer she had been trying to help. The girl's brother goes after justice but things get out of hand and he is forced to desert.
The third book in the series, Daughter of Dark River Farm brings the action back to England, and we will get re-acquainted with some of the characters we thought we'd heard the last of. I'm prepared to be surprised by some of them.
I am still working on The Lynher Mill Chronicles too, and will begin a full edit of The Lightning and the Blade soon, now that I've let it sit awhile. This should help me see the direction I need to go in for The Western War, although I've got a rough outline in my head already.
Th-th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
Please feel free to comment here, or on Facebook when I post the link.
Thanks for reading!
Tel. x
Where to begin, though? My last entry was filled with excitement about the fact that Saturday's Child had won me a publishing contract with Piatkus Entice, and that post was made a day or two after the announcement. Since then things have, as the subject says, moved on a-pace! The book has now been re-named Maid of Oaklands Manor, and after a brief battle with my common sense I have taken the view that the publishers know so much better than I do what is likely to sell and what isn't. It will be published on 4th July 2013.
The editor who worked with me on the book, knocking off the rough edges, pointing out where I'd repeated words etc, also persuaded me to bring out the romantic part of the story, for which I'm extremely grateful.
I think the problem with me doing that initially was that this was never intended to be a historical romance. Readers of my earlier posts (and I know there are some, because although the comments don't show here, I've had responses on Facebook!) will know this story was inspired by my grandmother's life in service. And although, in the end, the tale went off in a wildly different direction, I still feel as though it's hers and that's why I have kept her name for one of the secondary characters, and one of the incidents in the book that was a true story. Lizzy's attraction to Jack came out of nowhere. She was supposed to be in love with Will the butcher's apprentice but when Jack came along it was hard to ignore the spark between them. I did try though, because I thought the story was one of injustice and adventure. However Caroline Kirkpatrick (editor with Little, Brown) tugged and coaxed until everything came tumbling out and Lizzy and Jack's story became far more intense and, ultimately, much more rewarding.
So, after some amendments, and an additional 13,000 words, the MS went to copy-edit, and then some further edits were necessary to clarify a couple of points of inheritance and family tree (it was all so obvious to me but I neglected to take into account the fact that the reader is not inside my head!). The book is now with the type-setter, and I should have the proofs back in a week or so for one last proof-read. I'm not sure when I can expect to see the cover art, and had been very nervous about it until I saw some of the other covers for historical romances. This is not a bodice-ripper so I would hope there will be no scantily-clad girls or open-shirted men, and I'm hoping the cover will accurately represent the story within. I'm learning to trust the industry more, so am feeling less as if I've handed over total control of my 'baby' to a fiction-factory, and more as if the publishers are applying their expertise to something they believe in strongly enough to take the time and effort they've shown so far.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
On the back of that deal with Piatkus, I have signed a contract with the Kate Nash Literary Agency and we are talking (although very loosely at the moment) about my next book, Lady of No Man's Land. This is a sequel in that it presumes knowledge of characters and key events, but the story is Creswell heiress Evie's. It follows her time as an ambulance driver on the Western Front, and explores what happens when her sense of right and wrong, previously so clear, is put to the test after her friend is viciously attacked by an army officer she had been trying to help. The girl's brother goes after justice but things get out of hand and he is forced to desert.
The third book in the series, Daughter of Dark River Farm brings the action back to England, and we will get re-acquainted with some of the characters we thought we'd heard the last of. I'm prepared to be surprised by some of them.
I am still working on The Lynher Mill Chronicles too, and will begin a full edit of The Lightning and the Blade soon, now that I've let it sit awhile. This should help me see the direction I need to go in for The Western War, although I've got a rough outline in my head already.
Th-th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
Please feel free to comment here, or on Facebook when I post the link.
Thanks for reading!
Tel. x
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