Save the Date!

No, as far as I know there aren't any weddings in the near future - although there is a wedding in Plenilune, which is what we're all here to talk about.  Most of you who follow Scribbles are also readers of my sister's blog, The Penslayer, and may have heard rumors of publication in the wind.  Today is the day to announce with something more like certainty that her fantasy novel PLENILUNE will be crashing onto the literary scene this Fall.

look out for PLENILUNE on october 20

The fate of Plenilune hangs on the election of the Overlord, for which Rupert de la Mare and his brother are the only contenders, but when Rupert’s unwilling bride-to-be uncovers his plot to murder his brother, the conflict explodes into civil war. 

To assure the minds of the lord-electors of Plenilune that he has some capacity for humanity, Rupert de la Mare has been asked to woo and win a lady before he can become the Overlord, and he will do it—even if he has to kidnap her. 

En route to Naples to catch a suitor, Margaret Coventry was not expecting a suitor to catch her. 

PLENILUNE falls into the sub-category of "planetary fantasy," referring to such books, like C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, whose stories take place on planets other than Earth.  A tremendous story of faith and sacrifice, politics and war, it combines the full-blooded, lyrical writing style of Jenny's The Shadow Things with a capacity for world-building that continues to leave me in awe.  And a little jealous.  Want to learn more?  Swing over to The Penslayer, follow the blog, and get a taste of the style that sets this author apart.

As we wait for October 20 (it's less than three months away, people), stay tuned for more information about PLENILUNE.  A cover reveal - for which the banner above is just a teaser - is in the offing, as well as a chance to pre-order for yourself, for friends, for relatives, for fun. 

And you really don't want to miss the cover reveal.  

It's fantastic.

The Summer Not-List

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I like lists.  I like the orderliness of them and the fun of crossing the items off.  They make one feel accomplished.  ("...that I might not be so uneducated in comparison to Jane Fairfax.")

However, when it comes to book lists, I am a little like Emma Woodhouse.  I can have every intention of reading all the ones I've written down, but somehow as soon as I bind myself to do it I have absolutely no interest in following through.  They are suddenly dull and uninteresting, or just not suited to my mood.  Since this has happened a number of times, I tend not to make them anymore; I don't even use the "to-read" function of Goodreads, which I think for most people is just a glorified way of taking a book under advisement so as to forget it faster. 

On the other hand, I don't like footling about.  I like structure and planning, because otherwise when I finish one book I can't decide what sort I want to read next, and so I pick up something I think will suit.  And then I am self-obliged to finish it, even if I get a quarter of the way in and realize it isn't what I wanted to read and why on earth did I pick it up when there are a score of others I actually do want to read?  I suppose that is a hazard that comes with an excessive amount of books (is there such a thing?) in one house: you can't see the forest of literature for the bookish trees. 

Last month, then, I decided I would go ahead and make a list.  Not a list of books I am going to read in a set amount of months, or anything like that: just the ones I most want or need to read, to keep me (hopefully) from being distracted by others.  It seems to have gone well enough so far.  We'll see if it keeps up.

a few of the unconquered tomes

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

 Washington - Ron Chernow

Dragonwitch - Anne Elisabeth Stengl

The Conquering Family - Thomas Costain

Under Enemy Colours - S. Thomas Russell

The Mark of the Horselord - Rosemary Sutcliff

The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner

God in the Dock - C.S. Lewis

The Winter Prince - Elizabeth Wein

the conquered ones

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

Right Ho, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse

The Last Plantagenets - Thomas Costain

Wodehouse hardly constitutes a grueling read, but I was careful to speckle the list with lighter works as well as ones with which you could knock a man senseless, such as Washington, or which take some trudging, like Arthur Custance's series.

the ongoing sieges

The Seed of Abraham - Albertus Pieters

Echoes of the Ancient Skies - E.C. Krupp

The Black Arrow - R.L. Stevenson

Plenilune - Jennifer Freitag

The annoying thing about reading a book that isn't yet published is, you can't boast about it on Goodreads.  What is the good of reading at all if you can't boast on Goodreads, I'd like to know?

The Next Big Thing

pinterest: tempus regina

A few weeks ago Anne Elisabeth Stengl (who, for the information of newer Scribbles readers, submitted to the grueling process of an interview here way back in September 2011) asked me if I would be interested in participating in an author blog hop.  The idea is to answer a series of questions regarding our "next big thing" - in this case, my work-in-progress.  It seemed a splendid opportunity to introduce Tempus Regina, though I doubt it will be much less nebulous at the end.

Anne Elisabeth posted her own answers last week, featuring her Summer 2013 release Dragonwitch - which I, for one, am eagerly expecting.  This novel will be the fifth in her dramatic fairy-tale series Tales of Goldstone Wood.  There aren't any spoilers, so if you haven't seen the post already, be sure to take a peek and do some ooh-ing and aah-ing.  If you've come from her blog already, then welcome!  And may I introduce...

the next big thing

1. What is the working title of your book? 

Tempus Regina.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? 

 I think this was one of those stories whose title came to mind first, which is pretty rare for me. I had scraps of other ideas floating around in my mind—lost kingdoms and civilizations and curses and doom and all that jazz—and a few of them appended themselves to the title. Developing it into an actual story was, and is, somewhat slow going.

3. What genre does your book fall under? 

 Primarily fantasy, but to be technical, I would call it historical fantasy.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 

I’m not sure I’ve been rubbing shoulders with the characters long enough to pinpoint actors for them! On demand, however, I’ll do my best. Regina is a relatively easy choice: Katie McGrath would be little short of perfect. As far as looks go, Chris Hemsworth is not very far off how I envision the Assassin, but personality-wise I don’t see it working at all. David Tennant, on the other hand, has most of the personality and few of the necessary looks. I foresee this being a tricky issue.

I confess, I want Jeremy Brett for the Fisherman—which is sad, because Brett passed away some time ago. As a necessary second choice, I would cast Joaquin Phoenix—if he were younger. I’m always about ten years behind the times.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Centuries out of time, Regina Winters sets out to return to her own era and the brother who is her charge—no matter the cost to herself or to the world around her.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

Represented by an agency is the goal.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

It’s a work in progress! I only properly began in November 2012, but I am currently a raw 80,000 words in.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

As far as books I’ve read go, I would say C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, particularly That Hideous Strength; Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising; and perhaps some Stephen Lawhead. Judging only by hearsay and back-cover blurbs, I would take an educated guess and say Mary Stewart’s Arthurian Saga and maybe Marion Zimmer Bradley, though I don’t intend to read the latter to find out. However, I tend not to read books that might be similar until after I write my first draft, so as to avoid copy-catting as much as possible. I’ll get back with you at a later date.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? 

One of the most important elements of inspiration was a story my sister dabbled in years ago; she never finished, which caused me much chagrin, but the general idea stuck with me and eventually resurfaced. I think I was also inspired by a documentary—I forget what it was called—that I watched years ago on the discovery of underwater antiquities; that is something of enduring interest. A more recent, and more massive, blast of inspiration came from the realization that Tempus Regina was already linked to a novel Jenny is now working on (you can read about it by following the link to her blog below); though the connection was quite unconscious on both our parts, it has been extremely helpful to discover that these two novels are, in a way, “book ends” of one another.

To a lesser degree, I’ve been inspired by pocket-watches, Sherlock Holmes, ancient and medieval science, legends, Howl’s Moving Castle, a heap of music, and a great dose of white phosphorus.

jennifer freitag & faith king are participating in today's blog hop

&

I also tagged mirriam neal.  Keep an eye out! 

Fun Facts and The Soldier's Cross

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Yesterday Jenny shared with you some fun facts behind the writing of The Shadow Things: rewriting, map-making, contract-signing facts.  Now it is my turn to conjure up for you some trifling tidbits from behind the publication of The Soldier's Cross.  Did you know...

1. I had a great, detailed, intricate outline when I began writing, and ditched it almost before I had used it.  So sad, really; I spent such a deal of time over that outline...  Incidentally, I wrote it in a large pink-and-white spiral-bound notebook during our annual beach trip.  I still have the notebook, and somewhere around here, the outline also exists.

2. The Soldier's Cross was not my first, but my second attempt at NaNoWriMo.  In 2008, caught up in the charm of this newly-discovered challenge, I launched proudly into a story just as the founders would have wanted me to: no plot, no theme, no ending in mind.  It was about a modern-day idiot of a magician.  Bad idea right there: I can't write modern-day setting worth a hoot.  Anyhow, I think I got about 17,000 words total.  Yeah...

3.  Coming up with designs to show the cover designer approximately what I wanted for The Soldier's Cross was hard.  And fun.  I got to trawl through shelves at Barnes & Noble, writing down the titles of covers that caught my eye.  I also found that I'm particularly fond of covers with a "watered" technique, where different aspects run together.

4.  I went with my father to sign the contract for my novel, and when Jenny signed hers, I went along with her and her husband.  After that we went to Chick-fil-a, despite Jenny's cold.  Good times.

5.  I listened to a great deal of music while writing The Soldier's Cross; apparently something about me has greatly changed, because I can't listen to music and write now.  I recall large doses of Mannheim Steamroller (The Holly and the Ivy is a favorite), Fernando Ortega (Noonday Devil especially), and Twila Paris (Daughter of Grace is really the theme song for the novel).  When I picture the winter scenes, particularly in the convent, my mind goes to The Holly and the Ivy.

6. I still can't make a pretty signature, and it pains me to look at books from the 1800s with beautiful signatures in calligraphic font.  Enough said.

7.  My clearest memory of plotting The Soldier's Cross is of the scene with the Duke of Gloucester and the slobbering dog.  How charming.

8. Although I finished out NaNo 2009 with 62,000 words, I put the novel aside for a month or so because I could not bring myself to kill a character who most certainly had to die.  I believe it was my dad who at last informed me that I needed to buckle down and write the stupid scene.  (Well, I hope it's not stupid, and he wouldn't have said it in this terms anyhow, but you get the idea.)  That makes it very difficult to say exactly how long it took me to write the book.

9. I finished writing on a Sunday afternoon, and made the mistake of immediately calling up Jenny to tell her all about it.  I say this was a mistake because I happened to wake her up from a nap, and that's just not something you do if you value your skin.  She didn't flay me (hard to do through the phone), but she was not terribly excited.  Finishing novels on Sundays is not recommended.

Blog Party Giveaway!

It's finally time!  November is here, which means NaNo, Thanksgiving, an enormous amount of birthdays, and the birthday party for The Soldier's Cross and The Shadow Things.  We told you it was going to be big, and hopefully we won't disappoint.  We've got posts lined up for the whole month: everything from question-and-answer sessions to marketing tips to discussions on Historical Fiction, Christianity, and the whole shebang.

To kick off the month, Jenny and I are hosting a giveaway of two copies (each) of our novels.  (Because who doesn't love a free book?)  There will be two winners at the end of the month, which gives everyone a better chance at winning a copy, and each winner will receive one copy of The Soldier's Cross and one copy of The Shadow Things.  With Christmas just around the bend, you can get started on gathering presents early.  Or you could, you know, keep it for yourself.  That always works, too.

At any rate, here's the scoop on how to enter.  It's quite simple, really.

Give the party a shout-out on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter - the more participants the merrier!  Then let us know by leaving a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win.

If you have already read either The Soldier's Cross or The Shadow Things, post your thoughts in an Amazon or Goodreads review.  Then leave a second comment with a link to the review, and you will earn a second entry.  Reviews not written in November cannot be entered.

And that's it!  Hurry and get your entries in; you will win brownie points, at the very least, and hopefully shiny copies of both novels as well.  The giveaway closes November 30, so in the midst of the mad scribbling some of you will be doing, don't forget to take advantage of this as well!

Day Four {Inspiration}

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." (Jack London)

day four: an author or novel that has inspired your writing style

These are all difficult questions, primarily because they seem to imply that there should be a single answer. But unfortunately, there isn't. I read and enjoy a number of authors and I daresay that they have all influenced my writing in one way or another, but there is no particular one who I can point to and say, "That person inspires me. That is what I want my writing to be like." If I had to pick one, however, it would have to be my sister

Jennifer Freitag

Jenny inspired me to start writing. For as long as I can remember she has been creating stories. Whenever we would play outside, she was the one who made up the stories we would act out (sometimes under duress; she often tried to foist it off on someone else, but that never worked). Then she got her awful hulk of a computer and would spend hours writing stories that I thought were works of genius. I would always contrive to read them, and I always adored them - with the exception of the time she killed off my favorite character and wouldn't bring him back to life no matter how hard I pleaded. I think I'm scarred for life.

Eventually I decided that I wanted to write, too. I wanted to have the same magical hold on words that she does. I wanted to be a creator, an artist, to be able to hold something up and say, "This is mine." It took me some time to be certain that I really was a writer, but I think that despite the wonderful books I have read since that time, it is still Jenny who inspires me most.

When I sat down to write this post I wasn't sure what answer I would give to the question, but there it is. The prize goes to Jenny.