Anonymous commented: I want to know what your next book will be about!
Well, let me tell you, I am dying to talk about it. I wrote the first draft of Book 2 last summer and fall, and struggled with it. I think most published writers talk about the dreaded Sophomore book, the Book 2 curse, the horrible fear of being a one-hit wonder.
I was terrified that GILT was a fluke. That I didn't know how to write a book. That my agent and editor were deluded. That I would let everyone down - agent, editor, myself, and (worst of all) readers.
But I wrote it. And that first draft was not pretty.
However, I loved my character from the very beginning. My husband teases me when I tell people this, but her voice just came to me. (Oh, so now you're hearing voices?) It was a six-hour drive to see my family, everything was quiet in the car, the road curved around a river and bam! The book started. This girl was funny. Snarky. Self-assured but vulnerable. So different from Kitty in GILT. It was her voice that carried me through the first draft. And her voice that made me able to sustain the revisions.
I have a couple of revisions left to go (a novel's path to publication is a long process!), so I am not yet ready to talk about this character. I know I sound cagey, and I'd rather not be. But I want to retain the freedom of writing this character without other voices intruding. Without comments or suggestions.
Writing historical fiction based on real people naturally invites opposing opinions - we don't know what these people were really like! This is what makes them so much fun to read and write about! And I love it when people question my take on an historical character - was Catherine Howard really such a manipulative cow? Was Katherine Tylney really so loyal? Because I don't know! These are real people, but my characters are fictional! I'm just not ready to face these questions yet about Book 2. I need the book to be complete, to put the character to rest, and then I'll tell you all about it.
Promise.
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all the best w/ your future work
ReplyDeleteThank you, roro!
DeleteAnticipation is a good thing! I'm looking forward to the announcement!
ReplyDeleteSuper excited for book two :) I'm sure it must be a struggle to come back and try to write a book that your readers will love as much as they did the first time round but I'm absolutely certain that you can do it! Good luck and no rush, when your ready and willing to talk, we'll be here to listen.
ReplyDeleteTake care and all the best,
Rebecca x
Thank you, Rebecca! And thanks for the vote of confidence!
DeleteMiss Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI really like what you wrote on your blog about historical fiction, really being exactly what it is...Historical FICTION. One of my favorite authors while growing up was Irving Stone. I read every book of his. He made "history" seem so romantic to me! I adored his characters, and as you stated above, they are real people, but the characters are fiction. I read some of your reviews on Good-Reads, and it seemed that the negative responses were from readers that must have had a previous "idea" on how the historical story should have been. Fiction is fiction. I love what you have done with this. Perhaps because I am unfamiliar with King Henry VIII's era that it is so easy for me to fall under Gilt's spell and be drawn into the story for what it is. At the same time, I know that you have done a lot of research on the era, or the story wouldn't dance along as it does, giving me the feeling that I have taken a journey on a time-machine and dropped off in a mysterious time of duchesses, kings, queens, and common maidens. Congratulations on a great first novel. Now relax, "Book two" will carry its own intrigue and magic....the hard works been done...now the polishing! : -)) Dori
And I love the polishing, Dori! Thanks for all your support - I'm really looking forward to sharing this one!
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