by Sarah | Sep 15, 2010 | All About Me, Writing
Day 05 – Something You Hope to Do in Your Life
Picking just one thing isn’t as easy as it sounds. I have many things I hope to do. I hope to go on a cruise, to see all the sights this country has to offer, to watch my children graduate high school, college, get married…have my grandchildren.
Those are ‘normal’ hopes and goals. Ones most people think of, hope for. For something that is what I hope to do – it’s to see my name in print.
To be published. Paid to do something I love – write.
It has nothing to do with fame or fortune – but seeing one of my goals accomplished. A dream realized. I’ve been lucky enough to perform on stage, play a vocal lead (community theater or not, it’s still wonderful) – and that is one dream that’s been realized. A dream I loved and still love and hope to one day go back to…
But now.
Now is the time I am focused on my writing. I’ve been writing since high school. From drivel to serious works, poetry to prose. I enjoy it. I will keep doing it.
But my hope is to be published. It would mean so much to me. To have my characters brought to life for more than just my (wonderful) circle of friends (and readers, I love you ladies). To think I might inspire someone else to write as many of the books I’ve lost myself in over the years inspired me.
So that is what I hope to do in my life. Even if it takes me more years than it already has (that’s almost 4 years and counting of seriously trying to get published).
by Sarah | Sep 14, 2010 | Changing Tracks, Contests, Writing
It’s a sort of butterfly effect.
You change one detail and the whole story changes. It can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing.
With Mercury’s retrograde cycle finally ending on Sunday I found myself with an unusual flurry of activity. See, the last query I sent out to an agent was way back in July. July 6th, to be exact. At that point I pretty much stopped. I did send out the query to the smaller publisher, but otherwise I did nothing.
I waited on results from contests, I wrote a (very) little, I got my response back from the publisher, and I collapsed.
Not because the editor was cruel or the tips were unmanageable, or that I couldn’t handle the c/c. It just was not time for me to work on it.
I admit for one night I wallowed. Cried into my keyboard and my facebook page.
Then I left it. I left the notes, I left the story, I worked on my personal blog, and I worked on some of the 100 words projects. I even posted a couple of times here.
About a week ago I picked up those notes and fiddled with the ms, but not with much enthusiasm.
Then Sunday out of the blue I got a request for a partial. One of the last agents I had queried requested more material. A bit of hope sparked again, but something in me made me hold off.
Then yesterday I got the results/feedback from the one contest I entered. I didn’t final, but I got moderately helpful notes from one of my two judges. Plus, both confirmed my suspicion that my synopsis pretty well sucked (though not so bad, I did get a request for a partial off of it).
Now to the point of my post (finally)…
Today, energy and excitement returned. Based on the notes I got, I rewrote the synopsis. It’s FAR less detailed than my last one. I left out a lot of secondary characters I mentioned in the original. I actually left out part of the mystery to focus on the romance. I cleaned it and tightened it.
Then I looked at my ms again. I looked at the notes I’d received. The first two chapters were fine, but an idea tickled me on the third based on those notes (part of what was requested). I realized that with one small change I could alter those opening chapters. In one moment the manuscript could make more sense, run smoother, and cleaner.
Now I’m going to have to go through and make some minor adjustments in the next few chapters along with the basic cleanup recommended by the editor…but with one change I feel confident again.
So I was right. I didn’t have anything to lose. I had everything to gain.
by Sarah | Sep 9, 2010 | Books, Reviews
In the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to get a chance to review two new releases by the Historical Fiction Author, Sandra Worth. I’ve enjoyed both novels immensely, and when I learned that she would have a new novel coming out early next year, I asked if she would mind doing an interview. Thankfully she agreed to sit down and answer a few questions for me and my readers!!
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First of all, Sandra, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and let my readers get to know you better. I’ve enjoyed reading your last two novels, and am glad you could take the time to stop by for a quick interview.
Thank you, Sadie. It has been my great pleasure to have your lovely reviews of my books. Reading them has made my day on several occasions!
I was pleased to have a chance to review them! Your novels opened my eyes to a period of history I’d never known much about before.
Can you tell my readers a little about who you are?
Well, I’ve written five novels on the Wars of the Roses and the demise of the Plantagenet dynasty in England. I’ve won numerous awards and prizes for my novels, and each of my five books is a multiple-award winner.
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Pale Rose of England
I know you have a new book coming out in February 2011. Can you tell us what to expect from this story?
Pale Rose of England: A Novel of the Tudors follows the life and loves of Lady Catherine Gordon, princess of Scotland. Her first husband was the mysterious young man who claimed to be the younger prince in the Tower, Richard of York. You may recall that the Tudors said Richard III murdered his two nephews? That is disputed by historians. No one really knows what happened to the princes, and their disappearance remains a cold case file to this day. All that is known for certain is that they were never seen again past the autumn of 1483. A new book that came out about three years ago raises questions that can only be answered if Catherine’s husband was the true prince, Richard of York, as he claimed. The Tudors called this young man “Perkin Warbeck,” but he was believed by many of his contemporaries—and by all the crowned heads of Europe—to have been King Edward’s son. The news of his survival thundered and blazed across Europe, and rocked the fledgling Tudor dynasty.
The Princes in the tower
The story of the princes in the tower is fascinating, one I became familiar with thanks to your last release, The King’s Daughter. Richard’s re-emergence in England is wrapped in such scandal and deception. Can you tell me how you research something so wrapped in mystery?
With the help of a Ph.D. medievalist, a lot of delving, probing, many visits to the university library, and a few really good text books!
How much of the story becomes your own imagination versus research?
As regards Pale Rose of England, I’d guess that about sixty percent is research, and forty percent is imagination. The broad outlines of the lives of Lady Catherine and Richard/Perkin are well known, so I work within those confines. However, history didn’t record what Catherine and Richard thought, and little of what they said. This had to come from my imagination. Also, nothing is known about how these two young people felt about the monumental events that happened to them but what little is recorded gives us a peek into the kind of man Richard was, and into Catherine’s character. Extrapolating from her actions—and the few words she spoke that did get recorded—she was a remarkably spirited, adventurous, and courageous young woman, one who stood up for her convictions, even against a king.
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Previous Books & Your love for the Rose/Tudor times
Your previous books have all centered around the War of the Roses and the emergence of the Tudor dynasty. In fact your first books, The Rose of York series, all centered around King Richard III and Anne Neville. What first drew you to Richard III?
I would say the shock of discovering a gross injustice. In defense of Richard III, here’s something to consider: If Hitler had won the war, what would FDR’s reputation be today? The Tudors accused Richard III of murdering his nephews, his brother, his brother-in-law, and his wife. They said he committed incest with his niece and died a coward on the field of battle.
None of this is true. The Tudors rewrote history to justify their usurpation. Richard has been denied the presumption of innocence that he gave us! That is correct—surprising as it is, Richard III gave us a body of laws that together comprise the presumption of innocence. His laws were picked up by our Founding Fathers. Three hundred years after the outcome of the Battle of Bosworth, his legacy, silenced by the Tudors, rose again to blossom in the New World, making him the grandfather of democracy!
In Lady of the Roses, you chose the unique perspective of Isobel, Sir John Neville’s wife to display the War of the Roses. What makes you choose certain characters over others?
I’m not sure I know why. It just happens, like a spark to flame. Why do we choose to be friends with one person, and not with another? We’re drawn to them by something intangible. When I come across someone in history—someone admirable, of outstanding character, who tries to do the right thing in exigent circumstances, I’m drawn to them.
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The Future
After Pale Rose of England, what is next for you?
Ah, I am hard at work on a secret project!!! I’m dying to talk about it but I can’t. The time is not right, and I feel it’s bad luck. One thing I can tell you, though—it’s not set in England. I’m going farther afield for this one.
That sounds exciting! You definitely have me intrigued, and I look forward to when you can spill the beans a little about this new project!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
There is something. I feel that reading is a chemical reaction between a person and a book. We each bring something to the experience. As the old adage goes, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.” In the same way, one person may love a book, and someone else may loathe it; it may not be a great book, and it may not be a bad book. It may, in fact—whether positive or negative—say more about the person who read it than the person who wrote it. Authors (like cooks) can’t please everyone all the time, nor should they try. To my readers out there who have read my books with an open mind and an open heart, and who have taken the time to send in a review—and to those judges who chose them for the honors they have been given—I embrace you all!
That’s a wonderful take on it, and I totally agree! You can’t write for everyone, you can only write the story you love – and odds are others will love it too! I appreciate every opportunity to review a book, and am anxiously awaiting the day Pale Rose of England arrives in my mailbox!
Thank you, Sadie, for this interview, and the chance to meet your readers.
And thank you, Sandra. It was wonderful to have you stop by! I hope we’ll be able to do this again for your next book.
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Sandra Worth’s website can be found HERE. There you can read more about her five published novels and her love of the Plantagenet Dynasty.
To pick up her novels, or preorder her upcoming release, click one of the links below!
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*images from Sandra’s site*
by Sarah | Sep 7, 2010 | Changing Tracks, General, Train To Nowhere, Writing
I like to blame it on Mercury being in retrograde. Messing up my writer’s brain and functions.
It sounds so much better than “in a funk” or “writer’s block”.
Either way, that’s where I’ve been. The only thing that has been written are the 100-words pieces.
A few weeks ago I got a rejection from a mid-size pub that was helpful. It had plenty of notes, and it really got me even more wedged into my ‘stuck’ place. Once that came, not a word was written for the third book in the series (which I’m only 1/3 done with).
The past few days I’ve begun to find a bit of hope underneath all the negative ‘blah’ energy.
I’ve been playing with some alterations for Train to Nowhere and have been working on a mock-up cover (which I always love to do). The characters are changing just a little, and every time they do it excites me even more.
I took Changing Tracks back out of it’s nap. Started a new file and edited the first few chapters according to the notes I received. I’ve set a tentative schedule of 2-3 chapters a day of actual focused editing. I’m changing the font and trying to catch what I missed. There are some things I won’t get after all the edits I’ve done – but I’m hoping to make it just a little tighter and nicer. The good thing is that the first 3 chapters now sound much more like the rest of the books, I didn’t have to change much so the difference was not as tremendous as I thought.
On Thursday I’m pleased to say that I’ll be posting an interview with Sandra Worth. I’ve been privileged enough to get a chance to review the last two novels she’s had published. With a new novel coming out in February 2011, she was kind enough to agree to an interview now – and a review at the release! So keep an eye out for that Thursday.
Either Friday or Saturday I hope to post the net 100 words – but as the word this week is ‘Rotten’, I’m not sure if the muse will grant me such cooperation.
On a side note – my L key keeps skipping. That’s way too many typos for my liking. I need to fix it fast.
by Sarah | Sep 1, 2010 | 100 Words
I know all I’ve done in recent weeks is the 100 word challenge. I promise that I have other things on the line. Including an interview with a great author. For now, here is my 100 words for this week.
This week’s challenge word was “Fingers”. This is not as dark as my last two at all. I hope you enjoy it.
Circle of Life
Long, elegant, comforting and soft.
Soothing with unconditional love.
Strong, steady, supporting and firm.
Cradling unconditional love.
Little, flexing, releasing and stretching.
Reaching toward unconditional love.
Exploring, probing, playing and fidgeting.
Impatient racing toward independence.
Bleeding, broken, impaired and depleted.
Searching for the relief of comfort
Growing, stretching, changing and reaching.
Looking for independent strength.
Shunning, hiding, holding all within.
Smothering unconditional love.
Building, learning, shining and finding.
Once again reaching for love.
Seeking, joining, touching, loving.
Finding the matching grasp.
Encircled, shining, holding, oath swearing.
Joining a larger circle of love.
Tiny, reaching, grasping tight.
Unconditional love found again.
by Sarah | Aug 27, 2010 | 100 Words, Writing
This week’s challenge word was “Corridor”. Without a doubt the first thing that came to mind was this. It took me all week to find the strength to write it. I call it GRIEF.
Grief
The sterile scent of medicine and bleach.
Hospital blue, hospital white.
Forever before me the corridor stretches, his room on my left. At the end is a lounge, I see a couch, hear a TV.
At his door I stand, unable to enter. The man before me not the man I remember.
Strength – gone.
Bulk – depleted.
The pillar of our family held down by tubes and cancer.
I can barely say hi, the tears form too fast. I have to run. To the lounge, where the couch will soak up my tears along with the tears of thousands of others.
Day 05 – Something You Hope to Do in Your Life
