There is an interview with me up today on Lin Treadgold’s website. I talk about all kinds of things. It might even be interesting! đ
(Back to edits I go)
Frantic editing cave post – in which I made a library-related mistake
I am back in the editing cave.
…
I know, I haven’t been out of it much of late. That’s what happens when you have two books due and are writing two more. So editing cave.
Unfortunately, I made the fatal mistake of going to the library with my kids today. One we don’t usually go to. Why a fatal mistake you ask? Because, I answer, pulling at my hair like a maniac, I found books… 3 books!.. that I have been dying to read.
Ash by James Herbert (I adored the previous David Ash books and didn’t know about this one until quite recently so am super psyched)
Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper. (I mean come ON. SUSAN COOPER!)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (because I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while and it ticks all the right boxes for me)
Soooooo I am making a deal with myself. For every chapter I get through on the edits (for which I have a deadline and I’ve kind of worked this out so bear with me*) I can read. I have three weeks. I have three books. The more chapters I get through and the shinier it becomes I can read more of the books. The lovely shiny books.
And this isn’t even taking into account that I got The Gutter Bookshop in Dalkey to order Liz de Jager’s Banished for me and it’s due in next week. Squee.
Cue hysterical laughter. And editing. And hopefully reading!
——
Oh and in a little bit of other news, my steamy paranormal romance The Mirror of Her Power is due out in April. It is so not YA, but it is fab and lovely. Edits for that are done. Yay! Thanks to my awesome editor Dayna!
——
*I haven’t really worked any of this out at all. But anyway…
LĂĄ FhĂ©ile BrĂde
Happy Imbolc or St Brigid’s Day. As Brigid (or a form of her called BrĂ) appears in my forthcoming YA fantasy A Crack in Everything, I thought a little post on the day marking the first day of Spring was in order.
In mythology Brigid (there are a variety of spellings so I’m going with this one for simplicity) was the daughter of the Dagda and the wife of Bres. She was the goddess of poets, invented keening (thanks for that BrĂ!), was a healer and is associated with all things fiery.
When Christianity came to Ireland Brigid became St. Brigid of Kildare. Or the historic Brigid took on the attributes of her pagan goddess namesake. Or something. It’s rather complicated and the source of great controversy.
The Brigid’s Cross is made for the 1st of February, St. Brigid’s day, and is said to protect against fire and to keep evil from the house. It’s made from rushes. It links the image of a cross with a pagan sunwheel, and neatly combines both aspects of Brigid, the Goddess and the Saint.
So news news news news news
I promised news and here is news. This is turning into a year of news (let’s hope!).
This time the news is R. F. Long news. I’ve signed a contract with Taliesin Publishing for a new paranormal romance called The Mirror of Her Power.
It’s the first in hopefully a series about magicians and magic and steaming hot heroes… well, it’s not a YA book. Hence the R. F. Long name on it.
But if you liked Soul Fire you’re going to love this!
We’re hoping it will be out in the Spring so not long to wait at all.
Roll on 2014
So in the midst of all the writing, and the watching of Doctor Who and Sherlock, 2014 arrived.
I’m pretty excited about 2014, as my new YA series starts this year with A Crack in Everything coming out in the autumn. I am working away on the sequel at the moment A Hollow in the Hills and it’s starting to come together (slowly… see above re Doctor Who and Sherlock).
And there will be some more news soon. Oh yes there will.
In the meantime, here is an interview I did with Deirdre from Dublin City Libraries in which I talk about libraries, writing, favorite authors & books and pretty much whatever else crosses my mind. As usual. đ
Happy Christmas!
Turkey’s in the oven, ham already done, lego EVERYWHERE, a fairy has moved into our house via our fairy door…
All set for Doctor Who later on.
Happy Christmas everyone.
In which things fall apart but come out all right
I’m sitting here surrounded by boxes and the contents of our kitchen, as our kitchen is part-way through renovation. (Kitchen of Doom, as I have dubbed it, although in all seriousness it appears to be going very smoothly and will be lovely when finished.)
It got me thinking about workmanship, and that part of writing which is getting down to it, doing the work, and fixing it if everything goes wrong. Not that the kitchen has gone wrong. But it is currently stripped back as far as it can possibly go. Pipes and wires and holes in the floor stripped back.
Everything went wrong with the WIP. Well, sort of. And not actually everything. It was one of those moments, 25k words in when you go “oooooh, those characters don’t work like that. They’ll work like this.” But getting them to work like “this” means going right back to the beginning. Yes, from almost a third of the way into the book. As in back to 2k words right at the beginning. It sounds like the end of the world, doesn’t it?
But actually, strangely (and writers’ brains, as you probably know, are very strange places), it turned out to be a MASSIVE relief. When I tell people they look at me as if I’m about to cry and they’ll need to get out a mop and bucket, and maybe find some sedatives. It probably disturbs them more therefore when I laugh, kind of manically, and any “no! It’s brilliant! I couldn’t be happier!”
Because I know what’s up with the main characters now. Their conflict is right there for me. I know its source, I know their emotions, and I finally know where we’re going.
That 23k isn’t lost. I’ll still be able to do something with it, use parts of it etc. Since I made this change I’ve gone from eeking out 500k wordcounts to 1400k the other day. It’s exhilerating.
Which brings me back to workmanship (by a roundabout route). If the basic underlying structure of something isn’t right, you’ve got to strip it right back to the foundations and start again. Even if it hurts. Even if there’s such a long way back to go.
It’s so SO much better in the end.
Wibbley Wobbly Timey Wimey
So as I’ve said in the past couple of weeks I’m stuck into some serious writing. Or at least I would be if it was going the way it’s supposed to.
Ah but things rarely go the way in which they are “supposed to”. Especially when it comes to writing.
I don’t work easily to a plan. My brain doesn’t work that way. Sometimes I get a full story and can write from beginning to end. Sometimes it’s more out of a magical mystery tour.
Stories don’t always do what we want or what we expect. That goes for writers as well as readers. I have always been what’s known as a “pantser”, a writer who writes “by the seat of their pants”. And sometimes the story only comes to me out of sync. I get the interesting scenes, the shiny bits, the things that want and need to be said. Later on, I have to play a game of join the dots.
And this particular WIP is giving me this mystery tour in spades.
It’s not a problem. But it’s a bit of a pain. And I keep looking at the last WIP I completed a draft of, back in early Spring, which jumped pretty much fully formed from my head to the page (ick), and thinking some quite regretful thoughts. I’m sure I had some pointed comments about it at the time though. I can’t remember them now. Now it’s that perfect paragon who did exactly what I wanted.
This one on the other hand…
Every story is different. Every plot and every character. And every writing process. It’s an adventure every time. That’s what makes writing so much fun.
I’ll just keep telling myself that.
(this also serves to further give evidence that I aten’t ded yet).
Authors for the Philippines
First off, and most importantly, Authors for the Philippines! The Treachery of Beautiful Things and a gorgeous Tree of Life Pendant can be yours, along with a host of other amazing things. Just bid at Authors for the Philippines
Bidding is now live and will close at 8pm GMT on Wednesday 20th November.
Bids are in UK Pounds ÂŁ, and money goes to the British Red Cross.
In other less serious news, can someone explain what on earth possessed me to get two cookery books and a sewing book out of the library today when I have a book to write and characters who are not cooperating with me???
I Aten’t dead
So I’m writing again. Very very slowly. I’m not sure why (apart from a lot of non-writerly things going on in real life at the moment, which to be honest probably account for both this and the level of exhaustion I’m combatting). But BUT I am writing, there are words going onto the page and they are (mostly) moving forward. Except for that one day when I wrote 600 and deleted about 1000. đ Those days happen too.
At the moment I am aiming for 500 words a day. It isn’t very much but I’m working on the theory that any number of words is a positive thing and if I go over the 500 that’s extra-amazing. I’m also working on getting the feel of the book and the characters right.
I have tried plotting. And I keep my “plot” as an overall guideline but basically I know the beginning and the end, maybe a couple of things I want to include and the characters. Everything else is a grey area. Anything can happen. I think I know what I want to happen next but on the other hand it’s entirely possible the characters will turn around and go “Nah, I’m off to do this instead.” It has happened before and I know without a doubt that it will happen again. This is what writers mean when they talk about the voices in their heads or the characters feeling real to them. The subconscious storyteller often heads off in more interesting directions.
Another thing about this story is that it is the second in a series, the first being “A Crack in Everything” which is coming out next year, so part of the process is to reread that first. It has been a while and it’s becoming something of a voyage of discovery, reintroducing myself to these characters who I adore. While at the same time they frustrate me, defy me, talk back to me and generally sass each other.
For example I wrote about 500 words yesterday of a brother winding up a sister while eating a steak sandwich with extra mustard. Will it stay in the book? Probably not. But it was important for me, as the writer, because I was right in the minds of those two characters, could see what made them tick, how they felt about each other and most of all his sense of humour. I’m not even sure it will be important in the long run – they aren’t major characters – but it was fun.
Writing is about exploration of character as much as storytelling. It’s about getting yourself right inside the mind of another being and having a look around. But you arent’ some kind of puppet-master. If I try to make my characters do something they don’t want to, they come out dull and flat. If I let them show me what they want to do, if I go along for the ride, then I learn a whole lot more.
So that’s where I am at the moment. Still here.
To quote Granny Weatherwax….
