Before I get started, I want to remind you that on Wednesday we'll be announcing the winner of Linda O. Johnston's latest book in her Pet-Sitter Mystery series, HOWL DEADLY. Good luck to all those who commented on her Networking and Writing Organizations blog last week.
On Friday we'll announce the winner of Michelle Diener's debut book, IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, from the readers who commented on her blog Using Real People and Events in Fiction. It's not too late to read her blog if you missed it and make a comment. Good luck!
I don't consider myself artistic in any way, but I started making greeting cards years (okay, decades) ago. My friend, Dee Gruenig, gave me my first rubber stamp and taught me how to use it. Well, her career in the rubber stamping industry rocketed, and I acquired more stamps and techniques.
Now I have one bedroom devoted to nothing but my card making supplies. And it's filled to overflowing. My cards have evolved from simple, rubber stamped images to embossed, glittered, feathered, ribboned creations that are a joy to make.
But my real joy comes from giving my cards away--as birthday, get well, and special occasion messages to my friends--and as gift packs. I often donate a pack of cards to organizations I belong to as a door prize or raffle item.
One time a pack of ten of my cards earned $100 for Hurricane Katrina relief. That made me quite happy. Another time I visited a professor to whom I had given a card three years before. That card was displayed on his credenza. More warm fuzzies.
These days everyone who receives a card tells me I should sell them. I certainly make more cards than I can use or give away and still appear sane. But I worry that selling them would make card-making seem like a job.
You crafters out there know that you never get paid for the time you spend making your art. Then there is the trouble of actually selling them--to a boutique, at a table at a farmer's market or swap meet, or online. That's the daunting part for me. And it would take time away from my writing.
However, I could use that money to buy even more feathers, Swarovski crystals, interesting cardstock and envelopes. And more people would be able to enjoy them. I feel like those commercials with a person on each shoulder, whispering into my ear.
I guess it's a little like putting your writing out there and hoping someone--or many someones--will pay the money to buy what you've carefully, lovingly crafted. Yep, I'm the one that Laura, Jen and Sharla tease and say, "What? Are you waiting for someone to come to your door and ask to buy your book?"
Maybe it's time to put my cards and my writing out there and see what happens.
What do you think? Spread the joy and deal with the hassles of selling and distribution, or continue as I have been? (Change can be scary.) Would you pay $5 for a handmade card with no catchy poem inside? (Heck, you're writers, you can make up great lines to personalize a card!)
Next week--Part 2 of Crafting Handmade Cards: The Process
Our Sensational Summer Friday guest today is a true world traveler – she was born in London, was raised in KwaZula Natal, South Africa, and she now lives in Australia. Laura Drake knows Michelle Diener through her RWA-WF (Women's Fiction) chapter, where Michelle is the VP of Communications. The title sounds vague, but in an online chapter, this is a huge job!
You can learn more about Michelle at her group blog, Magical Musings.
Her debut book comes out on Tuesday of next week, and no one is more excited about her debut release than we are!
Michelle has generously offered to give one lucky commenter a copy of IN A TREACHEROUS COURT.We'll announce the winner on Monday's post. Be sure to leave Michelle a comment!
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Firstly, thank you so much to Laura for inviting me to visit and guest blog today at Writers in the Storm!
I can hear you now. You are shouting, "No! Don't do it!"
Fortunately, the people I'm talking about have been dead for nearly 500 years and won't be calling me to account any time soon. Nevertheless, there are still issues with using historical figures in your work or weaving your story around events that happened. This week the first book in my Tudor-set series, IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, is being launched into the world, and it contains mostly real people and a number of real events, so I know a bit about the issues involved.
When I first came across a reference to my main character, Susanna Horenbout, in a work of historical non-fiction, I was fascinated by her. She was trained as an artist by her father, one of the most eminent illuminators and painters of his day, and praised by numerous Renaissance master painters as exceptionally talented.
Susanna was sent to the court of Henry VIII when she was around 22 years old, presumably to work for Henry as a court painter, but very little is known of what she did for him.
The plot of IN A TREACHEROUS COURT came to me very clearly as I delved deeper into the facts known about Susanna and the events of the time in which she would have been sent to the Tudor court. But I was nervous. How much leeway could I take with a character who is based on a real person?
What I had to get my mind around was that as a work of fiction, I didn't actually have any restraints, other than the ones I chose to put on myself. And so I decided to use every fact I could find, and every event of that time, and make my story fit around them. For me, that made the story more satisfying. While it may have been harder to do than if I decided to 'loosely interpret' both the character and the historical period, it was worth the trouble.
Don’t get me wrong, I love novels that play fast and loose with history just as much, but I wanted a gritter, more realistic feel. The thing is, when you take the 'faithful to history' tack, you have to be sure you have been faithful to history. That means research. And more research. I'm almost paranoid about my facts, and I quadruple check them. I've probably still missed things, but I like to think I've done as much as possible to make sure I haven't.
One good thing about my two main characters is that while there is some information on them, there isn't a lot. I had some broad strokes to work with, but I had an incredible amount of leeway, too. With a more famous character, like Henry VIII, it is a lot harder to play around with him as a character. An even bigger burden is reader expectations.
If your readers know a historical figure or event, either from common knowledge or study, they will have a perception of it that is not necessarily your perception. Writing Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette or Napoleon, for example, you will come up with a great deal of resistance if you break from the norm as far as character or motivation goes, whereas I'm the first fiction writer to have a book with Susanna Horenbout in it in any form, let alone as a main character, as far as I'm aware (there are obviously non-fiction references to her). That gives me the chance to create her as I want, without the weight of public knowledge exerting any force on my creation.
I found using real characters and events satisfying, challenging and the hardest work I'd done up until then when I wrote IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, and I've done it again with a sequel, KEEPER OF THE KING'S SECRETS, which is out in February 2012 ( I've just seen the cover, which is gorgeous!).
I have a copy of IN A TREACHEROUS COURT to give away to one lucky commenter (US residents only, unfortunately!), and I'd love to know if you've written a book which covers a real event, either contemporary or historical, or uses a real person, and how you found the process.
~Michelle Diener
Michelle lives in Australia with her husband and two children. She's worked as an editor, a publisher, managed a small IT business, and now writes full time. Her debut historical novel, IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, is due out with Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books on August 9th, and the second book in the series, KEEPER OF THE KING'S SECRETS, is due for an early 2012 release. You can find out more about her at her website and her group blog, Magical Musings. Or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
About IN A TREACHEROUS COURT:
Henry VIII’s most lethal courtier and his newly appointed artist become the only thing keeping him on the throne – and if they survive, neither will ever be the same.
John Parker is one of Henry VIII most useful courtiers — utterly merciless and completely loyal. But one small favour for his King will pull Parker into a deadly plot against the throne, one that will test his courage, his resolve, and most especially, his heart.
A commission from Henry VIII should have been the crowning achievement of Susanna Horenbout’s career, but before the beautiful and talented artist even sets foot in England, she finds herself in possession of a secret that could change its history. With Parker as her only protection against killers who will stop at nothing to silence her, Susanna has to trust the dangerous, enigmatic courtier. She’s used to fighting in a man’s world, but she never expected to be fighting for her life.
What people are saying about IN A TREACHEROUS COURT?
• "IN A TREACHEROUS COURT is an action-adventure-mystery-historical that grabs the reader on page one and doesn't let go. It reminds me of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE in the way it captures the 'feel' of Tudor England, moving with equal aplomb from royal palace to refuse-clogged London street to leaky rowboat on the Thames." Kate Emerson www.kateemersonhistoricals.com, author of BY ROYAL DECREE: Secrets of the Tudor Court.
• "Awesome! History woven flawlessly into riveting fiction." Tammy J. Schneider, Special Features Editor and book reviewer at "Affaire de Coeur" magazine
• "Just when readers think there is nothing new to be learned about Henry VIII, debut author Diener delivers a taut suspense . . . that will keep you turning the pages." Kathe Robin, 4 star review in RT Magazine August 2011 issue.
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 27 published novels, with more to come. She currently writes the Pet Rescue Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, a spinoff series from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries, also for Berkley. The second Pet Rescue Mystery, THE MORE THE TERRIER, will be an October release. She additionally writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne--the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters. The next in the series, GUARDIAN WOLF, is an August release.
Thanks for joining us here at Writers in the Storm, Linda. And thank you for offering your latest Pet-Sitter mystery, HOWL DEADLY , to someone who comments on your blog. So, Writers in the Storm readers, comment and suggest away to get your name in the hat for the drawing of HOWL DEADLY. One entry per person (though we'd love you to comment more than once!) We'll post the name of the lucky winner next Wednesday at the top of the blog. Good luck--and happy reading!
This is my first blog for Writers in the Storm and hopefully it won’t be my last. I thought that networking would be an appropriate topic, since that’s one reason I’m here. I know some of the Writers in the Storm bloggers thanks to my own networking.
Writing is a solitary profession. Many writers have day jobs and continue them while they write. Others, like me, end their day jobs. I’m a lawyer, and I used to take on a lot of part-time law projects when I stopped lawyering full time. Now, those projects are harder to get, although I love them when I can find them. Meantime, writing keeps me quite busy.
Which means I work alone a lot of the time.
That’s one reason I belong to so many writing organizations. I’m a member of Romance Writers of America and attend meetings of two local chapters: the Orange County, California, chapter, and the Los Angeles Romance Authors. I also belong to Sisters in Crime and the Mystery Writers of America, and attend meetings of their local chapters. I’m also a member of the Thriller Writers of America.
I additionally attend writing conferences. I recently enjoyed the Romance Writers of America National Conference at the end of June in New York City . This year, I’ve also attended Malice Domestic, for cozy mystery fans and authors, in the Washington , D.C. , area, as well as the California Crime Writers Conference, held early in June jointly by the local Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America chapters.
At each of these events, I meet other published authors, aspiring authors, and readers--and enjoy them all! Plus, I learn more about the market, what’s selling and what isn’t. I learn a lot and, I hope, also help to teach others what I know about our profession.
If you’re a writer, published or not, I strongly urge you to network. To join at least one writing organization and attend meetings. If you don’t live in an area where it’s easy to get to meetings, most of the organizations have online chapters, and that kind of networking is fun and helpful, too. I also recommend that you join a critique group.
When asked which of the organizations I’d recommend most, I always say it’s the Romance Writers of America if you’re a fiction writer, whether or not you write romance. That’s because the group is great at inspiring and encouraging writers. It helps at whatever level of your career you happen to be.
Of course, reading blogs by other writers is a form of networking, too, especially if you comment. So, please comment on this blog! I’ll even encourage you by holding a drawing where one commenter can win a copy of HOWL DEADLY, the eighth in my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries in which Lauren Vancouver, protagonist of my new Pet Rescue Mysteries, is introduced.
If you have any ideas for future topics you’d like to see me write about here, at Writers in the Storm, please let me know in a comment, too. You can also visit me at my website, www.LindaOJohnston.com, or friend me on Facebook. I also blog every Wednesday at KillerHobbies.blogspot.com. No, I don’t tweet yet on Twitter, but maybe someday.
So, how do you network? Your experience may be the spark for someone else! Besides, it will enter you for a chance to win her latest Pet-Sitter book, HOWL DEADLY.
