Release date: CURRENTLY UNCHAPERONED - 13 January 2021

 I've got my release date for CURRENTLY UNCHAPERONED, the first book in the Currently Charmed series, out from The Wild Rose Press.

13 January 2021

I'll be talking much about this on social media over the next few months.  #CurrentlyUnchaperoned

A to Z Challenge: My Novel: My New Novel!

Last week when I wasn't excepting it I was struck with the idea for a new novel.

Now, I've been mulling for a few months over what my next project should be. I have very specific plans for this novel. Originally, I was considering a Turn-of-the-Century steampunkish Romance novel involving an enchanted pocketwatch, but it just didn't hook me. Or rather, the characters weren't hooking me.

Oh well. Toss that idea aside. Maybe it'll develop itself later. Still am in need of a novel.

I'd been reading other A to Z Challenge blogs, and one of them spoke about how we needed to bare ourselves on our page. Only then can our novels come alive.

Normally I'm a bit nervous about baring myself on a page because I fear that someone will use my weaknesses against me.

Then I thought, my fear is the Real Me. How honest would it be to explore that on the page?

What if Our Heroine had the same fear and It Came True? The fear of someone deliberately using your weakness against you is a very real fear. I know this because it has happened to me. It's terrifying.

Thus, Our Heroine was born. I realise that she'd been lurking in me for decades. I'd even attempted to draft her into an earlier novel. I trunked that novel because it Hadn't Worked. Now I see why, because I was too busy bolstering up my heroine with hubris so she didn't get hurt. Not an attractive character trait.

I speak from experience; that does not work in real life. Yet that's exactly what too many people do.

(Now that I think about it, elements of her also appeared in my very first novel, when I originally attempted to put my personal experiences down on paper.)

Once I made the decision not to be afraid of Our Heroine's vulnerability, that's when she was truly freed.

Unlike most of my other newly-drafted characters, she even came with a name: Victoria Arden. Now, I'm terrible with names. I've completed final drafts of novels with characters sporting placeholders such as "His Badness" and "Lord MMMM", preferably with terms that are easy enough for search'n'replace without compromising any other text.

Our Story so far:

Miss Victoria Arden is no stranger to loss. She lost both of her brothers during military campaigns against Napoleon. When her father died, she and her genteel mother discovered that he was not as well-off as they thought. There simply wasn't enough money to keep poverty from their door for long.  The only solution: Victoria must marry.

When a cousin offers to host Victoria in London for a Season, naturally she jumps at the chance. He even provided a chaperone in the form of another poor relation.

Alas, the chaperone proves herself inadequate to the task. At a society do, Victoria is lured away by a less-than-savoury character with intentions of compromising her. Thanks to being raised by two brothers, Victoria is capable of surprising her attacker and escaping with her skirts down.

However, she never counted on her attacker's final weapon--gossip. To punish her for getting the best of him, he spreads the rumour that she was compromised. Based on this lie alone, Victoria finds her reputation completely and utterly ruined. The invitations stop coming. In public she receives the cut direct. Society quietly puts Victoria Arden away.

There go her chances of an honourable marriage.

One day when she's moping away, an invitation arrives for an "intimate supper", hosted by the Duke of Whatever. In her experience, "intimate suppers" often feature only a hundred guests or so. Plus, it's hosted by the Duke of Whatever, and he's considered good ton. Naturally, she accepts the invitation.

However, when she and her chaperone (who desires an atonement for her earlier lack of duty) arrive at the Duke's town residence, she discovers it's truly an intimate supper--only Victoria and the Duke.

There, he offers what many a fallen woman would consider a lifeline--carte blanche. A truly compromised young lady might consider such an offer.

But Victoria is furious. She lashes out at him for the insult. It's her lashing out at the unfair stricture that demands a young lady must remain virtuous or she is ruined forever, that a lie was stronger than the truth, and that Society is so shallow that they would seize any opportunity to squish a little ladybird like her purely for entertainment. But deep down, she lashes out at him because he would never have considered her wifely material; she's only good to tumble for a season, then abandoned at whim when he grew bored with her.

Nobody else might believe her, but Victoria is convinced she has some sort of value. If only someone else would recognise it.

So that's the premise. It's like this story is writing itself. I love it when they do that.

However, I need your help.

1. I'm terrible at names. Victoria's name came to me the same day the plot did. Also, the Duke's first name is John:

          "I insist you call me by my Christian name." Amusement tweaked at the corners of his lips.
          Victoria frowned at him. "I will not call you 'John' in front of others. It wouldn't be proper." It'd be too intimate. If she were to embrace such familiarity openly, then the ton would naturally assume she'd accepted his offer. "I won't do it."
          "And I will refuse to answer to any other name. My mother gave it to me. It means 'beloved'."
          Her temper flared. "I most certainly will not call you that in public!"

That's the sort of fun I'm looking for.

I welcome suggestions for names for the following characters:

• John needs a last (family) name and the Duke of ______________.  I was considering claiming an existing title that was currently not in use at the time of the novel. I am open to something made up.
• Victoria's Cousin. His father was Mrs Arden's brother. He's minorly-titled nobility, late 20's, unmarried, and extremely fond of Victoria in a protective brother sort of way. Isn't above supporting her in some harebrained scheme, but only if it makes sense. Will often act as a voice of reason.
• The Chaperone. A poor relation. On the far side of middle-age, slightly foolish in many things. Easily distracted. Untitled gentlewoman.
• The Compromiser. Serial ruiner of poor young debutantes for sport. Victoria spurned his advances and he's the one who spread the initial rumour. Son of gentry, maybe minor nobility, with an overblown sense of entitlement.
• Society Matron. Moves in the highest circles and insists on proprietry. She's the sort of lady of which the Patronesses of Almack's approve.

2. The Duel. Compromiser is called out in a duel over Victoria's honour. He is shot. Should it be:

• a minor wound--his pride is dented more than his skin.
• a major wound that will affect him for the rest of his life.
• his death. (slow or quick?)

3. Subplotty fun. Cousin needs a subplot. Could be romance, but it doesn't have to be. He needs something to centre his life on other than meddling in the affairs of Victoria.



I'm open to your ideas and suggestions in the comments. If I am influenced by a comment of yours, I'll put your name in the acknowledgements.

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Her Grace acknowledges that writing is a lonely profession. However, novels are rarely spawned in a vacuum.

My Contemporary Humour Novel--The Cat Came Back

I outlined but never got more than a chapter or two into this novel. I really like TCCB. I think it has a clever plot and some really good slapstick, but I didn't  l o v e  it enough to complete it. My heart was more into Fantasy and Romance, than contempo comedy. Still, it was a bit of fun.

Desperate for money, college student Sally takes on a cat-sitting job, but not for any old cat. Fluffy was the completely spoiled pet of dying socialite Amanda Harris. Amanda loved Fluffy so much that she left her entire fortune to the cat, much to the chagrin of her grasping relatives.

Can she do that? According to her attorney, absolutely. Also, once Amanda passes on, Sally is guaranteed a job for as long as Fluffy lives--may Fluffy have a very long line, Sally hopes.

Sally's day is shattered when, two days after Amanda's funeral, Fluffy is found dead. In panic she rushes the dead tabby straight to the vet Thomas. Sally's hopes are crushed. But Thomas has a plan: get another cat.  Fluffy was not anything special breed-wise.  Like Sally, Thomas also had a financial interest in Fluffy's long life.

Thus, Fluffy was replaced by Fluffy II. 

Two days later, bailiffs show up to throw Sally out of the house. After all, she can't live there if the cat is dead. "But Fluffy's not dead," she tells the bailiffs, and produces her "proof" in the form of one irate cat. The bailiffs leave, bemused.

It's only then Sally suspects the relatives had killed the original Fluffy. She calls Amanda's attorney with her suspicions. Amanda's attorney, likewise, has a financial interest in a live Fluffy. The attorney doesn't know that this Fluffy is a replacement. He has Thomas the vet ascertain that this is indeed Fluffy, and is satisfied.

A week later, Fluffy II is found dead. Another panicked call to Thomas, who produces Fluffy III. 

Sally grows concerned. Fluffy II was definitely poisoned. She worries that eventually the relatives, eager to get their hands on Fluffy's money, will manage to successfully prove Fluffy's death.

Sally can't exactly go to the police, for that will reveal her complicity in replacing a dead cat. Nevertheless, she ups the security at the house, and does her best to keep Fluffy inside.

For the next few months several more attempts are made on Fluffy's life, some failing, some successful. 

One day, Fluffy goes missing. A window Sally always kept locked is discovered open. Calling upon Thomas once more, she heads out into the neighborhood in hopes of finding Fluffy alive.

Alas, it's too late, in all senses. Sally and Thomas find a dead Fluffy, the victim of a car. The driver had stopped and called the police... because the driver was one of Amanda's relatives. The police are bemused as to why someone called them about a dead cat, until the will is produced.  

Sally is given twenty-four hours to vacate the premises. 

She refuses to back down without a fight. Convinced this is a case of murder she reviews the security footage to discover the relatives entering the house, disarming the alarm and stealing the cat. (They had a key and the alarm code.) To throw Sally off the track, they left a window open. However, they hadn't known about the security cameras, and thus were caught.

Sally and the attorney take the footage to the police, and the relatives are busted. Because Fluffy VIII died under suspicious causes, Amanda's will decreed that all her wealth go to the Thomas the vet's cat shelter. After all, that's where Amanda got the first Fluffy, who had been her most loving companion for the rest of Amanda's life (unlike the rellies).

This clause surprises everyone, including Thomas. As for Sally, Amanda left her enough money to finish school.

Since I may never write this book, I thought I'd share the outline with you so you can enjoy it.

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Her Grace has novels she may never write.

My Forgotten Novel: The Clock That Struck Nothing

I don't know if this counts as a novel, because I never finished the first draft.

After I wrote The Atomic Girl and before I wrote Legacy of Leporis, I came up with a YA urban fantasy called "The Clock That Struck Nothing".  Dreamed up the whole plot, even wrote a few scenes, but it never got beyond that.

I did that sort of thing when I was young. Came up with all sorts of plots for stories. Short stories got written, because they were short. Longer stories got dreamed up, weighed and either entertained me for a while, or were quickly forgotten.

TCTSN was the only novel in that time I bothered to start writing. Never finished it, as the idea behind the novel was pretty lame.

Essentially, a girl finds a curious antique clock in a shop and absolutely has to buy it. Once she gets it going, it has a funny little chime for the hour.

That night, when all the world was asleep, the clock began to chime. Not the tinkly little sound before, but great big booming belltower-type chimes. This startles the girl awake. When she looks at the clock face, the hands are gone. The clock chimes on and on, and a sparkly black cloud of magical whatever smoke comes pouring out the the clock, envelops her, and sweeps her away to a fantasy land that needs her help to save it from... whatever it was that was threatening the clock.

So yeah. That entertained my young adolescent self with magical escapist adventures where Our Heroine spends time in a place where she's truly needed and wanted. Every morning she was returned to her reality, which grew duller and duller each passing day.

Eventually she would have figured out a way to remain in the fantasy land, but the story never got that far before I abandoned it.

Completely forgot it had existed for thirty years. Wonder what made me think of it now?

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Her Grace's brain is populated by all sorts of stories.  Some of them even see the light of day, if only briefly.

My Cozy Regency Romance Novel: Currently Unsupervised

Right now, the plot of this novel is drawn all over the large window of my office. I formulated this plot backwards. I started with what one of my characters describes as "The Whole Situation", a bit of scandal that must remain under wraps No Matter What.

I've got the major players, and lots of arrows drawn here-there-everywhere, describing what's happening and to whom, and what will happen if The Whole Situation is discovered. (Really. Why some people must leave incriminating documents lying about, I don't know.)

Essentially, Our Heroine, Miss Felicity Abbot of the Essex Colchesters has a talent for undoing locked things. She's also got a bit of an attitude and a rebellious streak. Can you blame her?  She's been kept from the London Season for reasons entirely out of her control.  Naturally, she's going to sneak off to see what's so great about a Party.  Oh, and she thinks negus tastes absolutely terrible.

The first draft is complete, but needs a bit more tweaking. Some of it sags a bit in the middle. However, I do love the scandal.

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Her Grace loves a good scandal, as long as she's not involved. She prefers to watch the train wreck from a safe distance.

My Regency Romance with Magic: Her Endearing Young Charms

Another born-in-November NaNoNovel.

Miss Merribelle Hales spent years imbuing a silver locket with man-attracting charms. On her way to her first London Season, her locket is stolen--along with a kiss--by a highwayman. Her only clue to his identity: a pair of intense eyes. Without her best charm, how will she ever be able to compete on the Marriage Mart?

Lord Alexander Rochester has worries aplenty. His ailing father's contested estates are woefully in debt, so he must seek a wealthy wife. His courtship of Miss Hales goes terribly awry with a simple kiss that leads to his slapped face and an accusation of theft.

It's a case of mistaken identity. Alexander knows and fears the real culprit. He faces the loss of his father, his estate and the lady he loves at hands of the Handkiss Highwayman.

I love Our Heroine of this novel, the Honourable Miss Merrybelle Hales. She's got attitude and a few flaws. She's not afraid to speak her mind from time to time. Sometimes her sense of self-togetherness is threatened by fear, but very rarely does she give in to that fear.

Actually, I love several of the characters of this sweet little Regency Romance with Magic. Merrybelle's brother George is a standout. Some of his dialogue is among my favourite lines.

Lord Alexander, Our Hero, has a heavy weight on his shoulders, and it shows. Poor lad. He's a lot more fun when he's not being crushed by Hard Knocks.

I love how there's magic, but it doesn't totally dominate the worldbuilding. It sits on juuust this side of plausible.

After Of The Dark, this has to be my favourite novel.

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Her Grace, of all the Romance genres, loves Regency Romance the best, possibly because of the presence of a comedy of manners.

Edited to add:  This novel is published. Please get it, read it and leave an honest review.

Amazon ebook | Amazon paperback | Smashwords | Kobo | B&N | iTunes | GoodReads

My Novel Known as Aunt Sophie

Christian Nauck could do the graphic novel.

Everyone needs a crazy aunt who can drag them into adventure. For Denise Fagmilia-and-Paterfamilias, that's her Aunt Sophie.

When her mother Madre dies, apparently of illness, Denise Fagmilia is sold into indentured servitude. This is dreadfully unfair, and rather illegal, as Denise does have a living father. Somewhere.

"IF you had a father," she's told, "He wouldn't want you. You have no Talent."  It's true. In all her twelve years, Denise hasn't shown a single scrap of magical Talent.

Before she is sold on, her Aunt Sophie comes to rescue her. Aunt Sophie also brings with her the suspicion that Madre might have been murdered.  In her grief, Denise discovers she does have a talent.She can scry the dead.

As an epidemic sweeps the kingdom and political factions threaten civil war, Aunt Sophie takes Denise from the streets of Hometown to the Palace and audience with the King himself. With her Talent discovered, lots of people want Denise.

Sophie agrees with Denise on one vital thing; Denise needs to be reunited with her father, albeit for reasons other than what Denise believes.  Denise simply wants a family. But Aunt Sophie knows that Denise will help stop a civil war--or start one.

TNKAAS is a NaNoWriMo novel with magic and steampunky flavour. It's sit quite nicely on the shelf next to some Scott Westerfield.

I wrote the first half in a November, and then finished the draft some time after that.  Right now it feels like a YA, but I don't know if I want it to be a YA. It's a little too heavy for a MG. Some readers balk at the thought of an adult novel with a child protagonist. And for further thought, who's the true protag? Sophie or Denise? The novel is from Denise's POV, but Aunt Sophie is very much the mover and shaker here.  I'll have to do another draft and see if I can change the mood.

A note: When I'm drafting something, I'm terrible with names. Completely terrible. I can't even come up with a title. So terrible, I'll concoct these rich, round characters with histories and baggage and goals and dreams, but I can't tell you their name.  Aunt Sophie and her partner Mathu are the only ones in this series who have proper names. Everyone else is named with placeholders.  That's why the two families are called Fagmilia and Paterfamilias.  Even Denise's name is a punnic placeholder.  Eventually I'll source names when I need to. Until then, this is what they're called.

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Her Grace is happy to let this one age for a while. But it does have potential, if written the right way.

My Novel with Two Endings: House of the Dark

During my four years of BIC (butt-in-chair) gonna-be-pro writing focus, I wrote House of the Dark.

A decade ago I'd toyed with a couple of scenes, playing with a few ideas.  However, once I'd completely written Bride of the Dark, I threw those scenes out and started again from scratch.

So glad I did. It's a much, much stronger novel because of it.

The original outline called for one particular ending. But when I wrote this draft, I changed the ending. Then I thought, maybe I should write the original ending as well?

So now I've got this novel with two eucatastrophic endings, both wrenching in their own way. Then I thought, which ending made me cry more?  Which one had me bawling as I wrote it?   

That ending is the one I pitch with. It's a beautiful, bittersweet ending. Honestly, I wept for days.

Am hoping my beta-readers also cry for days. (Earlier plot neeps have already kept one up half-the night.  Sorry, Jen.)

You know, I would absolutely love to tell you about this novel. I really would, I love the plot, I love the characters. This is the novel I've been aching to write since the very beginning of my career.  But it's so chock full of spoilers.

I completely believe in the whole Of The Dark trilogy. I do believe it will be published.

This novel also settled to me, irrevocably, that I must be an author. I cannot be any other thing unless I am first an author.

I hope y'all get a chance to read it--  No, wait.  You all will get a chance to read it. One way or another, this will be published.  I believe in these books so much.

I've written other novels and then happily trunked them without a further thought.  But these won't let me go.

Availability will simply be a matter of time.

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Her Grace would love to write another series as powerful as Of The Dark. But this series will always be her first love.

My first published Novella: "As Good As Gold" (The Enchanted Faerie)

Is a novella a novel, only really small, or is it a short story with pretensions?  I'll leave that up to you.

I found myself wasting spending quite a few years focusing on short stories, non-fiction articles and other small projects.  I'd forgotten novels, somewhat.  I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back to writing novels, but I'm not sorry for what I learned as a writer of shorts.

Long-story-short, a handful of us who'd been published in a serial magazine that flopped after a few issues decided to get together and do a "serial novel" (or is it an anthology with the stories tied together? Again, up to you).

We came up with a theme, a setting, a connecting character and an idea: if a young maiden seeks love and can lay her hands on a hundred pieces of gold, she can rent a magical fairy from a gypsy woman, that will help her find that true love.  Each author (there were six of us), were given a character and told to write a story.

I got Daywen Athalia; I wrote "As Good As Gold".  We pitched it to The Wild Rose Press, and they took it on. They published it hardcopy and ebook, and for the next five years we got paid royalties every quarter.

My story got good reviews.  For that, I was pleased.  I'd done a good job.

Recently, The Wild Rose Press published my story as a standalone ebook. Go buy, either from Amazon, or directly from The Wild Rose Press website.  Leave a review.

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Her Grace is happy to have finally published something longer than a short.  Some day, she hopes to publish a long, preferably by some random penguin.

My First Pitched Novel: "Almost An Empress"

It took over a dozen novels, but now my mastery of the Craft was coming to fruition.  I'd had a fair bit of luck getting several short stories published, as well as regular columns for internet magazines and some non-fiction articles for rather prestigious publications.

I could safely say I'd moved from Apprentice Writer to Journeyman. Yay!  (If anyone asks, I tell them I'm a Journeyman. 'Cause that's what I am.)

I was inspired to write another novel based on Middle-Eastern culture (pre-Islam), with feminist overtones.

Dance is women's magic--a close-kept secret. Maysa ibn-Nabil has been trained well. As the daughter of a powerful lord, she becomes the first wife of the new young Emperor, well-placed to influence an entire nation. It is a political marriage only, one that looks never to be fruitful.

The throne is not a safe place. One of the Emperor's brothers escaped the purge of rivals. Now he challenges the Emperor for control of the nation.

The true power of the nation is not the man who sits on the throne, but the woman who stands behind it. Seating the best man to rule would be a simple matter, if not for a rival magic--unknown to Maysa--that is counteracting her own.

Hmm...  not the best blurb. I'll have to work on that.

So, I got an opportunity to pitch my novel.

Back then, few publishers accepted unsolicited manuscripts.  So when Harlequin/Silhouette opened up, for a time, to unsolicited queries, I queried away!

Not my best query evar (see below), and it was not a surprise to see my novel be rejected.  But hey! I'd pitched.

            Maysa, daughter of a powerful sheik, finally comes into her own as a woman grown with the completion of her year as a Dancer.  Unbeknownst to men, who believe it to be nothing more than entertainment, Dance is also the women’s magic, with which they influence the world.

            When Maysa returns home after her year of study, she learns that Idris, the man she loves, is leaving for war.  Wanting to convince him to stay, yet not raise the suspicions of her mother, she dances “Remember Me”.  Unfortunately, he follows his honor.

            She follows the wishes of her father and enters into a pleasant, albeit short-lived marriage with an older man.  After she is widowed, the young emperor desires her as his wife.  It is a political marriage, where she doesn’t even like him, much less love him.  No sooner is the betrothal contract signed, than Idris returns, looking for her.  Indeed, he remembered her because of her dance--so much he couldn’t get her out of his mind…  Can love defy an imperial contract?

            In the tradition of an "Arabian Nights" tale, "Almost an Empress" is the story of Maysa’s journey through marriage, widowhood, and an unwanted engagement to convince Idris of her love.

Um, still not right. Maybe I don't know my own novel.  That can happen.  You write the novel and are so close to it that sometimes you can't see the themes for what they truly are.

Themes I played with:

• Sisterhood
• Dance as a secret magic to influence the world
• Secret love
• Successful (albeit short-lived) marriage and subsequent widowhood
• Political instability
• Women as a respected socio-political power.
• Political marriage (arranged marriage)
• Music as a secret magic to influence the world
• Teamwork
• Family Betrayal
• Fratricide

Several years later, I rewrote the novel as a NaNoWriMo project.  It's better, but not my best novel to date.  Ah well.  Revisitation is always an option.

________________________

Her Grace once learned American Tribal belly dance and would love to learn Urban Tribal, that tightly-controlled and mesmerising style: World Horror Con 2008 Gothic Belly Dance

My Novel Written on a Bus: "Let Sleeping Gods Lie"

Around the turn of the millennium, I worked for a Dotcom. Oh, those heady days! Dotcom bubble, you burst too soon.

I had a fifty-minute commute to work every day.  So I took a laptop with me and wrote a novel.  Took me longer than I wanted, but I got it done.  No carsickness either.

The Goddess Lilami loves her valley and her people. When a priest from a rival god invades the sanctity of her valley, she calls upon her young priest Eahn to drive him away--but only in a way Lilami approves. (The ways of the gods are baffling.)

But the rival priest refuses to go.  He gathers a few converts to the mysterious Urunathe with vast promises of wealth and prosperity.

Lilami knows such promises will never last. But how can Eahn convince her people that Lilami's way is the only way for true happiness?

I based my worldbuilding on various South American cultures.  I love that this novel is entirely populated by People of Colour.  Not a single blond hair or blue eye in the house.

About the time I wrote this, I had been a member of the Online Writing Workshop for a while.  I'd learned so much! I can't recommend this workshop enough (or any of her contemporaries, such as Critters.org).  Critique of others' work taught me more about the Craft than any book I'd read.

It was about this time that my mastery of the Craft took a turn for the better. For the first time in... well, ever, I wrote a novel I honestly believe is publishable. Maybe I was maturing as a writer.

Just needs another editing pass or two.

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Her Grace is pleased with this novel. She will do another draft soon.

My Serial Middle Novel: Bride of the Dark

So after a series of failed novel start and tepid finishes or abandonments, I went back to what I truly loved: Fantasy. Specifically, Of The Dark.  If you recall, what was a standalone had blossomed out to a trilogy.

Time to write the second novel.  I dug out my old notes, realised they were crap and started fresh. Having had lots of experience in crap novels, I knew what wouldn't work.  One idea I absolutely scrapped was keeping the main character Adrastea in isolation until she came around to the idea of marriage to the Dark God.

Duh!  Nothing kills a plotline more than a single character in a white room.  So I populated the novel with characters. Rich, interesting, hazy-shade-of-gray characters.

This did the trick.  Suddenly, things aren't so black and white for our little Raised-in-the-Light girl.

Cranked out most of a draft (barring a handful of scenes I wasn't sure about), and drafted an outline for the third novel.

There.  Got that out of the system for the time being.  Oh, ten years later I rewrote the draft Yet Again, this time, applying a goodly amount of Plot Spackle. It's a much better beast now.

While I love the Of The Dark series, this middle novel, this Act II, where lots of bad things happen and the UberPlotArc is not resolved, is my least favourite of the three. (Never did like middle novels.)  My beta readers aren't too fond of it because of its darkness.  But it needs to be there.  Sorry, Melody.

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Her Grace, if she believes enough in a novel, will rewrite it, now that she's armed with a better mastery of the Craft. Richard Armitage still makes the best Mor-Lath, God of the Dark.

My Contemporary YA Novel: Mormon Molly

Thought I'd attempt a contemporary YA novel. Attempt is a very good word for it.  I completely failed this one by being totally boring with boring characters, boring plot, blatantly preachy and everything else that can turn off a reader.  Happy for this one to remain in the trunk.

Besides, better Molly Mormon novels have been written.

Molly grew up in Utah, she and another half-million Mormons.  As the dominant culture, everyone tried to look like everyone else.  Such was life behind the Zion Curtain.

One day a new girl started at Molly's high school.  She was not from Utah and she was not Mormon!  
Could it be possible that someone not Mormon could be a good person?  [Well, duh, yes. Molly learns several Valuable Life Lessons. Why am I boring you with this crap?]

I can't believe I once thought writing contemporary YA was a good idea. What was I thinking?

To make up for such a bad book idea, here's some pictures of cats, Mormon-themed:

______________________________
Her Grace solemnly swears never to attempt a contemporary YA novel ever again.  Ever.

My Stereotype Reversal Novel: An Uncommon Heroine

Possibly my first truly Feminist text. This was more an experiment than an honest attempt at a saleable novel.

Just before I wrote this, I was dwelling upon all the stereotypes and tropes often found in Fantasy fiction.  I thought I'd take a whole bunch of them, and reverse them.

I had a feisty heroine, Mary Jane, who refused to buckle down to convention and propriety.  Her younger sister was to marry Lord Miniver, who was Not A Nice Person.  MJ sought to stop her, thus saving her.

This is a book best forgotten. The only reason I remember it is because it was the project I was working on when I lost my first baby.  Lord Miniver was being a most troublesome character (with chauvinistic tendencies) and wouldn't talk to me.  He didn't respect my authority as an author.

So, when I had to go under general anesthetic for a D&C, I told him I was locking him in a very dark, very lonely room [in my head] and only I had the key.  I was now going to go under anesthetic.  There was a chance I might not come out.

If he wanted to be released from that room ever, he would spill the beans regarding his characterisation.

It worked.

Turns out, he was a thoroughly unpleasant person.

Between him and my inability to string a decent plot together for this tale, I abandoned the novel before I could complete it.

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Her Grace, by now, was not above abandoning a novel if it wasn't working. Sometimes one has to experiment.

My Thriller Novel: Hausfrau

Yeah, I wrote a contemporary thriller. We had just bought our first house. Not long after we acquired The Crackerbox, a parrot flew into our front window, killing the poor thing. Alas.

We gave it a respectful burial in the corner of our yard, right where we were going to put a new shed.

Thus, I got an idea.  What if it wasn't a parrot, but a different kind of "bird" buried there.  Thus I came up with this lovely little convoluted murder plot with betrayal, illicit behaviour and lies. (I doubt my real-life neighbors ever suspected I gave them such sordid fantasy lives.)

I love the plot, I was improving in the craft, but this novel is safely trunked, simply because I am not a Thriller author, nor do I have any intent on ever becoming one.

Mr and Mrs Hauser scored a lovely deal on their first home. Why anyone would sell such a nice place at such a low price? Someone was keeping a secret.  What's in the locked shed and where's the key?

All their neighbors have plenty of issues of their own, from suspected infidelity to a missing teenage daughter.

When digging a new garden in the back yard, Mrs Hauser comes across a rather difficult 'tree root' that turns out to be the arm of a dead body.  Once the body is identified, the drama of the neighborhood spills over into their lives. 

The Hausers wonder if they've paid too much for their house.

You know how Everyone has one novel in them, and once they write it, they have no desire to write another one?  This is my Novel In Me. I'm glad I wrote it. I enjoy the story. I have no desire to write another contemporary Thriller ever again.

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Her Grace loves the Regency Romances of Georgette Heyer. She thinks her contemporary thrillers suck, and is very sorry she read "Behold, Here's Poison".

My fanfic novel redyed: "Savark"

When I was young, I was awfully fond of the pulp novel series Doc Savage.  So, during my screenwriting days at university (right after I did Star Trek), I wrote a screenplay for a Doc Savage movie.

It needed doing.

(Alas, Conde Nast has the rights, and they're very particular about rights.)  So I thought, why not rework it into a novel? So I changed the names, tweaked a few facts, took the Science Wizard himself and made him a real wizard.

Thus I cranked out a novel.  I still didn't have a good mastery of the craft, but I was improving. Probably helped that I'd already written a full screenplay, with developed characters, etc.

Nearly fifteen years later, I idly toy with the idea, realising that this novel really should be a steampunk, should I ever choose to rewrite it again.  I love the characters, think the plot may have merit, and could definitely do a much better job of it now.

While at university, I composed a soundtrack for the screenplay. (It's long, like seven minutes.) It's still one of my favouritest pieces.



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Her Grace will always be fond of the Man of Bronze.  Of all her early novels, this one stands the best chance of a rewrite.

My First NaNoWriMo Novel: "Only a Peasant"

Yep, 2001.  NaNoWriMo had been running for about three years.  (To be honest, I can't remember if I participated in 2000, the second year of NaNo. I can't seem to find any records of it anywhere.  But I was often an early adopter of Cool Stuff, if I was in the right place at the right time.  In this case, good old misc.writing, that introduced the OWW to me, also introduced me to NaNoWriMo.)

Anyhow, I thought, why not give it a go?  I'd been entranced by the idea of a Book in a Week (BiaW). Honestly didn't know if anyone could crank out a full-sized novel in one week. (Since then I have learned,Yes, you can. I've seen it done.  Will give it a try sometime.)

So, a book (albeit a short one at 50K words) in a month?  No problem!

So I came up with a vague outline for "Only a Peasant".

When Anmury is abducted and taken to the palace, she fears the worst. It is not for tortuous purposes she has been taken. Anmury is to become queen.

How can she be queen?  She's only a peasant. Besides, bad fates befall queens. They all die in childbirth.

But that is exactly the reason the King wants a peasant for a wife.  It seems royal ladies are far too delicate to bear children.  Yet peasants pop them out, strap them to their backs and return to work. The king fears not having an heir, even a half-breed, worse than contaminating his bloodline with that of a peasant.

The King is willing to accept Anmury. The nobility would not.  A plan is hatched to train her up and present her as a foreign princess.[Think Eliza Dolittle meets Princess Caraboo.] Will Anmury be discovered before she can give the king an heir, or will their plan succeed?  Can they maintain the illusion forever?  For any child she bears will be seen as a traitor to the crown, should her true origins be discovered.

Alas, I could not meet the deadline. For someone who's never written that much in so little time, 50K in a month was nigh impossible. I never finished "Only a Peasant", and it languishes, pretty much forgotten.  It can't qualify as a completed novel.  But I list it here, for it was my first foray into NaNoWriMo.  With the exception of a year I gave birth, I've participated in NaNo ever since.  With each passing year, I get better and better at writing cleaner draft quicker.

Very useful skill for a career novelist.

You know, I have absolutely no desire to complete this plotline.

For fun, here is my winner's certificate for 2004:

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Her Grace has always been fond of NaNoWriMo. But, like a good, faithful pair of The Perfect Jeans, she feels she may have outgrown it. She honestly doesn't know if she'll participate next time.  It all depends on what her project schedule is like.

My Fantasy Novel: Daughter of a Lady

So I wrote a whole bunch of short stories and graduated from college and got married and did all those things 20-somethings do. Even spent some time writing fiction for a Usenet newsgroup. It was very very good and very very bad for me, that newsgroup. I try to think of it fondly like an ex-boyfriend.

And I wrote a novel,"Daughter of a Lady".  I got over my bad Historical Romance issues and dove into a pure Fantasy novel.

Mary, the daughter of a powerful warlord, is given in marriage to Jonan, leader of an allied nation. Before she goes, her mother bestows a gift, secretly handed down to all the women of her line: Mary has a Totem, to guide her as she helps rule a nation.

Thrust into a complex game of politics, her new home is threatened both inside and out. Mary herself comes under threat, for her very presence disturbs the plans of those who seek to destroy her husband's power.

Bog-standard fantasy. The magic doesn't feature in this novel as much as the machinations and political maneuverings.  Still, I was rather pleased with my completed efforts.  Feedback from the 'Orkshop gave high points to the plot and characterisation, even though the Craft could use a bit of work.

Nonetheless, this was the first novel I ever pitched to an editor.  Naturally it was a pass, but Achievement Unlocked: Subbing a Novel!  By now, I'd had success in getting little things published, like short stories and articles.

"Daughter of a Lady" proved to me that I could finish a novel in less than a year. It also reaffirmed that I was starting to get good.  For some people, they can write a good first novel.  For most people, subsequent novels are their winners.  For me, it took a good... um... (counts up novels...) a handful. But I was improving.

(Okay, the 'Orkshop really helped.)

Once I finished "Daughter of a Lady", I wrote another novel, one that had been bugging me for a good ten years...

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Her Grace might resurrect DoaL some day.  Maybe. Unless better ideas come along. They often do.

My Failed Novels: The Women of West Town series

So this eighteen-year-old budding author gets inspired yet again by something and has to write a novel.

I developed a secret addiction to Historical Romance novels during the 1980's.  They all had covers like this:

Now you know why I had to keep it a secret. Covers like these? Prolly not the best thing to feed a pubescent adolescent.

Fortunately, today, this is what the outside of all romance novels I read looks like:

Anyhow, I digress.  Just accept I had a penchant for Romance.

So, one day I was watching Dr Quinn Medicine Woman on TV and thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to write Historical Romance in the American West?"  I knew a fair bit about American History, thanks to My First Job at a living history museum.

So I gave it a try.  

Thus was born, "Adelaide", "Kathryn" and "Marinda".  (Yeah, I liked the name Adelaide. Moving to Australia fixed me of that soon enough.)

Oh dear.  I did not do a very good job of it. I'd barely finished rough drafts of the novels, but they were sad imitations of the torrid 80's Romance I'd secretly enjoyed. My novels were tepid, boring and tedious. Dull. Snooze-worthy. Trunkable. I still had a lot to learn Craft-wise.

Can't even remember much about the novels, other than one of my heroines fell in love with the town Mortician.

Ah well.  We all gotta make mistakes. These were mine.  About the only thing I learned from these novels was that I should not be writing Western Romance.  My feet are firmly planted in the nice, secure world of Speculative Fiction.

Either about this time, or soon after, the misc.writing Usenet newsgroup (and specifically Erin Cashier) put me on to the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy (OWW-SFF, or simply the 'Orkshop). Back then, it was sponsored by Del Rey and was free. Now it requires paid memberships. Still, it was worth every penny to me.

Man, I love that place! It is responsible for taking me from an apprentice writer to a journeyman.  I can't recommend it enough.  Granted, it better serves short story writers, but the workshop environment taught me more about the Craft than anything else.  I also met some really great people who went on to become really great authors.

People you know and read. OWW is The Place that Birthed This Generation of Authors. 

I cheerfully trunked those three horrid novels and got back to what I love: Fantasy.

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Her Grace has some pretty bad novels in her trunk. Don't bother asking to see them. They really aren't that good.

My Our Novels: Star Trek Tie-ins!

Live long and prosper.

During my first "proper" semester at University I met my writing mentor and life-long friend Dr Anne Wingate. We were both B I G fans of Star Trek and got along like the proverbial house on fire.  She loved my idea-generation; I loved she was published.

I can't express in an entire blog of entries how much of an impact Anne made on my life and career as a writer. Know that she has my undying gratitude.

So, this crime writer from Texas nurtures me and teaches me the craft. She questions why I am studying something I like and eschewing something I love--writing. Later, she apologised for questioning my life choices, but why apologise for something that was correct?  Of course I was meant to write novels!

Long story short: we wrote Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes together and pitched them to Paramount during the Writers' Strike of the early 90's. Alas, didn't sell. Ah well. (Factlet: had we sold our episodes, I would have beaten David Gerrold as the youngest Star Trek writer evar.)

Had we sold, my life would have been vastly different than it is now. Now that I'm an older, wiser woman, younger me would not have been able to handle the fame that would have come my way. Most likely, I would have crashed and burned, after making a rather big fool of myself.  Glad that didn't happen.  I wasn't the wisest of College Freshmen.

(Oh yeah. We also wrote some novel tie-ins which did make it in front of an editor to be told thanks-but-no-thanks.  Again, I was okay with that.)

From Anne, I learned much about life as a professional writer--lessons I still remember to this day. They've served me well.

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Her Grace still remembers a female Ferengi by the name of Tasol. Boy, were those the days!