Lies Told In Silence was my second novel – a story with connecting characters from Unravelled – novel #1. Later, I wrote Paris In Ruins which imagined the early lives of two characters from Lies Told In Silence – Mariele and Camille. Not a series, but interconnected stories.
Are you confused? Please stay with me for just a little longer.
In Lies Told In Silence – a story about WWI filled with French characters – I invented an aunt, Tante Camille, who at one time lived in a farm house outside a small town in northern France. I also invented a few details about Tante Camille, just enough, I thought at the time, to add interest to the main arc of the story. In my imagination, Camille was a feisty woman who didn’t follow convention. I do like feisty women!
And now, I’m writing a third novel featuring some of those characters. The working title is River of Time, although this is likely to change.
The challenge of writing this new novel has been the constraints imposed by Lies Told In Silence. I’ve included a few of them to illustrate this.
The house referred to above is in the fictional town of Beaufort in northern France which I made up for Lies Told In Silence. Clearly I need green shutters – or at least painted shutters – for Camille’s house in the new novel and perhaps some hydrangeas.
According to this snippett, Camille needs to develop a passion for painting as well as a connection with the art scene. In the new novel, I’ve chosen to do so by incorporating some of the Impressionists into the story – specifically Henri Fantin-Latour, Edouard Manet, and Berthe Morisot are significant to the story. I’ve also created a business opportunity Camille undertakes … more about that in the novel!
Duelling pistols? I hadn’t remembered that detail. Who knows whether that will appear in the story!
Mariele was Camille’s best friend and she happened to be married to Camille’s brother Henri. The detail above suggests that Camille was a bold woman who defied convention. Hmmm. I did say that I like feisty women.
Constraints and opportunities for sure! It’s an exciting process creating a new story.
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. There’s a SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page.
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
