Category Archives: Personal Posts

When dithering descends

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Personal Posts, writing historical fiction, Writing Process

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I have this thing I do when my mind is muddled, my direction uncertain, and reality is not quite as hoped – I clean my desk and files. Somehow an orderly work place – the alcove in my bedroom – helps me refocus.

Writing wise, the past year has been challenging. I know I’ve moaned about this before so I’ll give the quick version: manuscript rejected by my publisher, agent can’t find a home for it, new book proposal also rejected by the same publisher. That’s over two years of work in limbo, folks. Confidence is serious whacked at this point.

At the moment, the bedroom is littered with piles of paper, file folders placed on the floor, the bed, the desk as I sort through three years of stuff. And here, dear readers, is the point. I’ve just come across the letter my editor sent when she first reviewed Time and Regret. I’ll share a few bits with you and hope you’ll understand the reason for doing so.

“Time and Regret is a marvellous novel!” – yes, she did include an exclamation mark.

“I love the way the narrative slowly builds and the mystery unfolds over the course of the book just as much as I love the way you slowly develop relationships and so much careful history between all the characters.”

“You have a beautiful writing style, and the mixture of dialogue and narrative seems perfectly balanced.”

“The pacing in the book is truly wonderful, and pulls the reader right along throughout the entire novel – clearly I was captivated since I stayed up till midnight to finish it!”

OK – enough about me. Back to clearing the decks so I can get to work. Thanks for listening.

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.

6 Signs that you’re OUT OF CONTROL

25 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in Author Entrepreneur, Personal Posts, writing historical fiction

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I’m OUT OF CONTROL – there, I’ve admitted it. Feels better although I know that will be fleeting. What brought on this particular episode? I can’t find an email from an author who asked for an endorsement – and if you are that author, please email me ASAP. I’ve looked through every email received in the last six weeks – nada. I looked through my sent emails – zilch. I looked through deleted emails – same result. WTF, I muttered.

Many of you are aware that being a writer these days is a challenging mission. In fact, there are so many barriers to getting an agent and then to getting published, it’s a wonder any of us remain sane. Most of us blog, we’re on various social media, we collaborate with other authors, we build and execute marketing plans – oh, and did I mention, we write novels?

Here are 6 signs that you’re out of control.

  • Your desk is a horror show – piles of papers, a slew of stickies on topics from ‘sign up for Instagram’ to ‘call Mom’ to ‘make sure X character has a hobby’, coffee cups where the residue on the bottom has started to go moldy, empty bags of your favourite snack, an article you clipped out months ago because it was crucial (can’t remember why), a card you intended to send for a friend’s birthday that happened over a week ago, and so on.
  • There’s nothing checked off on the To Do list you wrote a month ago. That is if you even find time for such lists. In my former career, such lists used to be part of my daily routine, as did the notebooks I used to capture ideas, document meetings, record commitments and so on. I was a very organized person – emphasis on the past tense.
  • You have so many emails in your inbox (or inboxes), you’re thinking of declaring email bankruptcy – yes, there is such a term. My husband did that at least once. But, of course, you’re frantic that there’s at least one life-altering email in the pile.
  • You’ve neglected to pay one of the freelancers you rely on and not surprisingly, she’s reluctant to take on any more work for you.
  • You’re so pale from being huddled at your desk that your husband, child, best friend, mother (whoever cares about you) thinks you’re seriously ill. Other symptoms of desk huddling are rounded shoulders, a bad back, weight gain and the jittery feeling that comes from too much caffeine.
  • You spend waste time on your favourite social media venue instead of tackling critical tasks. This is one of my bugaboos … when I can’t face the challenges, I hop on Facebook. Shaking my head as I admit this.

I’m sure there are more signs, but I haven’t got time to think of them 🙂 Feel free to add your experiences or thoughts in the comments.

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.

The evolution of a novel (3)

20 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Personal Posts, writing historical fiction, Writing Process

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

… or how East Rising Sun morphs into The Admiral’s Wife. I left off with my wonderful colleagues at Lake Union suggesting I weave a historical thread into the contemporary novel I set in Hong Kong. And you might recall that I was not exactly pleased 🙂

This little suggestion was tantamount to starting over. I fussed and fumed, muttering less than positive statements about my publisher. “They have no idea how difficult this is!” “Why did they encourage me to write this novel in the first place?” “I should throw it out and work on something else.” Mutter, mutter, mutter. My poor husband had to listen to all this and I’m grateful for his patience and encouragement.

After several days of paralysis an idea twigged. I scrolled through the WIP looking for something I’d written – a few throwaway lines about one of my characters’ family background.

Early in the nineteenth century, the Wen family fortune began with diamond mining in China then expanded to ship building and lucrative trading across Asia. In a move against the British, Patricia’s great-great-great-grandfather used his trading company, cleverly hidden behind several shell companies, to transport opium to Europe and Britain. That decision generated even more wealth.

Maybe this could lead somewhere. Thoughts swirled around. This could happen. No, that wouldn’t work. What about this? What about that? I kept mulling until something finally gelled.

I now had two story lines and a sense of how they would connect. The present day story featured two expat women: Patricia, a Chinese American, and Sara who was from Boston. The past storyline focused on Winifred, the admiral’s wife, who was British and had arrived in Hong Kong because her husband had been posted there. And of course, there was a connection between the two stories that would gradually emerge.

I discussed the general idea with my editor. She liked it and made several suggestions. She wanted roughly 75 pages and a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. I worked on it for several weeks – hardly did anything else. My agent reviewed it. I made changes. My agent reviewed it again. A few minor edits. Then we sent it off.

Wait, wait, wait. After a heads up from my agent, I received feedback from my Lake Union editor. The floor plummeted out from under me again – they weren’t going to take it. Didn’t think my writing was good enough. But, but, but.

To make matters worse, I then sent the same material off to a freelance editor I work with. She gave me the honest truth. Definitely not my best writing and there’s too many main characters. You should cut out one of them.

Bloody hell. Did I tell you writing is hard work?

So here’s where I am. The present day story features Patricia, my Chinese American character. She’s married. She and her husband have moved to Hong Kong to reunite with her parents and older brother. Having lived in the US her entire life, this new world is foreign and disorienting. The past story focuses on Winifred, the admiral’s wife. She’s moved to Hong Kong because of her husband’s naval career. She too finds the place foreign and disorienting. And there’s a mystery connecting the two timelines – hopefully a fascinating, dramatic connection.

The novel has taken shape. I’m excited about it and love my main characters. With any luck I’ll have the first draft completed by the end of March.

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.