Writing process

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Playing the story game

I have a pagination problem in my CreateSpace files, so CreateSpace tells me, and it won’t let me download a pdf proof until I fix it. Tonight. I’ll do it tonight when I get home.

Meanwhile, I thought you might like to see the covers of the two stories I wrote as prizes for those who won made-to-order stories from me last month: one at the Bluestocking Belle’s housewarming party, and one at the launch of Farewell to Kindness.

Here’s how I play the made-to-order story game.

The winner gives Jude Knight three characters or objects, and a trope. Jude writes a 2000 word to 5000 word short story any way she likes, but it needs to include the three choices and be an interpretation of the trope. Jude retains copyright (and may use the story later either as it is or amended), but the winner gets a printed copy despatched from CreateSpace within three weeks of giving Jude the specification. (Delivery speed will depend where in the world you happen to be.)

Crystal and Tiffany, Saturday is the three week point, and I’m going to make it!

TRL cover

 

KtF cover2

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Writing to a different drummer

Stop trying to fit in when you were born to stand out.

Stop trying to fit in when you were born to stand out.


I write the type of historical romance that I like to read, with strong determined heroines, heroes that almost deserve them, and villains who are more than paper cut-outs. I like complex plots with real issues at stake, and I enjoy a sense of the rich tapestry of life, with characters galore. I especially like writers who create fictional worlds that they revisit time and again, where each book stands alone as a story, but where we meet characters we’ve known before from other books.

Quite early on while writing Farewell to Kindness, I had a few critiques from book industry people that suggested I was skirting too near to the edges of the historical romance genre. I should remove the villains’ POV chapters. I should simplify the plot. I should soften the heroine, who starts the book by threatening to shoot someone. I should remove some of the action and add in more about the romance. I should move the meeting of the hero and heroine closer to the front of the book. I should remove the two secondary romances, the heroine’s older sister, and a number of other characters.

These critiques were kindly meant. My advisers wanted me to write a book that would sell. Writers need readers. The story isn’t just the one I tell; it’s the one you hear, and until you hear it, it doesn’t live.

I didn’t ignore them. I tightened my writing a lot. I did remove some characters and ‘unnamed’ others to make them less distracting. But I didn’t completely rewrite my book, either. The book these advisers wanted me to tell could have been written by any competent writer. It wasn’t one I could throw a year of my life at.

I launched Farewell to Kindness last week, with over a hundred books presold and the reassurance that prereaders had enjoyed it. And I am finding readers, and I love that they’ve enjoyed the book, and cried in the right places, and argued over whether the hero’s cousin is an arrogant so-and-so, and written me some wonderful reviews. Maybe my audience will be small, and a different book may have reached more readers. But this is my book, and I love it.

Yesterday, a couple of things happened that prompted the following private message conversation with fellow Bluestocking Belle Mariana Gabrielle. The trigger was a series of comments from another writer about how we need someone experienced in the industry to comment on our books so that we can tailor them for the market.

Mariana: This laying down the law about writing for the market just bugs me. Silly, really, but true nonetheless.

Jude: It must be nice to know everything.

Mariana: LOL. Exactly. LOL really is one of those days!

Jude: Short weeks are always crazy. And I got a 3 star review on Amazon that pointed out the ways I don’t comply with industry norms. (Not a bad review — quite a fair one – but just a reminder of why I went indie.)

Mariana: I hate the fair ones.

Jude: This review started “This book is pretty good, but it’s not a good match for my tastes,” and went on to suggest cutting out a lot of the plot twists and spending more time on the romance. Which is fine, but this was not that book.

Mariana: ‘Not a good match’ says it all. At least that was acknowledged.

Jude: I get cross with those who pontificate about the one right way.

Mariana: Me, too; about anything, not just writing.

Jude: Yep. Makes my skin crawl. I’m fine with ‘right for me’; just not ‘my way or no way’.

Mariana: That’s why I trained myself to talk about what works for me. Much more palatable.

Jude: If I’d responded [on the post that triggered this conversation] it would have kept the point off topic. But I’m tempted to do a new post on how ‘the industry’ inevitably plays it safe by doing what has worked, and therefore is doomed to playing catch up when readers follow something new and different.

Mariana: That sounds like a good point, and I have opinions on that. Trying to be “the next XXXXX” is incredibly stupid. By the time you think it, you are too late.

Jude: If I let others shape my writing I might be mildly successful but dissatisfied.

Mariana: Many of my friends say, “You could write the next 50 Shades…” They don’t get that there is no next 50 Shades. No next Twilight or Harry Potter. Trying is a fool’s game.

Jude: If I write what I want to write, I will be satisfied, and if people like it they’ll need to come to me to get it.

Mariana: Yep. And my integrity will be intact.

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Revised publishing schedule

InnovationI had an idea. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it is so-o-o good, I’m not aiming to publish Encouraging Prudence in September. Instead, I’m holding it over until October.

And you’ll be glad I did. (Or, at least, I hope you’ll be glad.)

To fill in the gap between the publication of Farewell to Kindness and the publication of Encouraging Prudence, I’m writing another novella, which I’ll publish sometime in July, maybe as a birthday present to myself. It’s tentatively entitled A Baron for Becky, and it isn’t the Marquis of Aldridge’s story. His happy ending is still several years away, but he does have a leading part in the novella, as Becky’s protector.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So, by the end of next month, I plan to have finished the first draft of two novellas (Gingerbread Bride, for the Bluestocking Belles box set, to be published in November), and also of Encouraging Prudence.

And by the end of April next year, two years from the day I started writing Farewell to Kindness, I’ll have published at least three and possibly four novellas and four novels. Or, at least, that’s the plan.

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My plan for world domination

booksIn the past few weeks, I’ve neglected the blog as I worked 15 hour days to keep up with a busy time in the day job, plus publishing work for Farewell to Kindness, plus the launch of Bluestocking Belles (which included writing screeds of dialogue in what may be the world’s first Facebook event-based collaborative novel).

Normal business is about to resume. I have a post planned on working women in the 19th century, and another on coroners’ juries. And Penetrating Analysis has written several articles I’d like to link to and comment on.

First, though, a comment about where I’m going from here.

It has been six months since my first post on this blog. If you’ve been reading along with me, you know that I have since finished, and am about to publish, the book I was halfway through then. I’ve also published a free novella, and at some point today I expect downloads for that to pass the 43,000 mark. (I know! I can’t believe it either!)

I’m partway through writing the second novel, have begun the third, and have written odd scenes out of some of the ones to follow.

See, here’s the thing.

I want to write fiction full time. I have so many ideas- so many half-outlined drafts and characters in search of their happy ever after. But I need to pay the bills. I’m lucky enough to have a day job I love, so I’m not complaining. But my income from fiction so far has been under $2 (for print copies of Candle’s Christmas Chair), and the 57 pre-orders on Farewell to Kindness will net me around $10.

(I’m so excited to have preorders at all! Thank you, everyone who has put one in.)

I have a plan. According to my research, around 95% of published books sell under 50 copies a year, and under 100 copies in total. But the more books a person writes, the more likely they are to be noticed and to be read.

By the end of this year, I’ll have published two novellas (one in a boxed set with the Bluestocking Belles) and three novels, and (if we can work out the logistics) will be named as a co-author in the published version of our mystical magical inn party conversations.

By the end of next year, I’ll have doubled that output. So I’ll have nine or 10 published works out there. Six (the novels) will be earning me income, the collaborative projects will be making a contribution to the Malala Fund, and Candle’s Christmas Chair will continue to be free.

Will that be enough? I don’t know.I hope so. I have some great stories just bursting to get out of my head and on to paper.

Thank you to all the people who have downloaded Candle’s Christmas Chair. A special thank you to those who have written reviews or ratings. Thank you to those who have emailed me, direct messaged me, or commented on FaceBook. All of these things give me confidence to continue.

Whatever happens, I’m going to keep on writing. I love what I’m doing. But a writer without a reader is a sad creature indeed. Please know that you are hugely appreciated.

(Incidentally, for those who have fallen a little in love with the Marquess of Aldridge over the past few weeks at the inn, his cameo appearances start in Encouraging Prudence and will continue from time to time in future books. But his actual story is the third book in the planned series “In the Halls of the Mountain King” coded I and coloured light blue in the chart of story ideas. So it may be a while.

I’ve written the first 600 words though, and might be tempted to publish that here in due course.)

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Because… life

I was doing so well. A blog post every day. 1000 words a day minimum on the work in progress, Encouraging Prudence. Candle’s Christmas Chair published and Farewell to Kindness well on its way. I’d even organised some time off in March, figuring that I’d need to do some major promotion in the lead up to Farewell’s publication date.

Then, life happened. My commercial writing work got really busy, right when three people in the team left for other pastures. One of our daughters was seriously injured and spent 10 days in hospital (she’s on the mend now, thank you). A neighbour and dear friend fell from a ladder and died.

So I haven’t nearly finished the first draft of Encouraging Prudence, I’m behind on organising the launch for Farewell to Kindness, and my recent blog posts have been few and far between and not as interesting as I usually try to make them.

But Farewell is still going to be published on 1 April, I’ve created (and tweeted) some memes to promote it (like the one posted below), and I’ve been having a lot of fun meeting other writers and readers amidst the ongoing madness the Bluestocking Belles have created at our Housewarming Party site.

In the next few days, I’ll post excerpts from Farewell, and links to articles and reviews from the blog tour Enchanted Book Promotions are running for me. And then, I hope, normal service will resume. Thank you for your patience.

Rockfall meme FtK

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What to do with a bad review

Kilburne_The-love-letterI’m thinking about bad reviews this week, because — after a dream run for Candle’s Christmas Chair and over 80 reviews — I have my first two really negative ones. I’ve had some people make critical remarks, and some give low ratings, but the novella has not been truly panned till this week.

What do you do with a bad review? Some people have tantrums. Some weep. Some sigh philosophically and move on. I research and turn it into a blog post. I know! Right?

Steve Aedy, in a guest post on Book Baby, gives three reasons why a bad review is good.

Reason one is that you might be able to learn from it:

Sift through all the “I hate this book,” sentiments.  Find the real substance of the review – characters are flat, grammar and punctuation wasn’t perfect.  Take these tips to heart the next time you pick up your pen.  Look for ways to improve your writing.

Reason two is that bad reviews can get your book noticed. And a debate between people who like the book and those who don’t can attract even more attention. Even bad reviews, then,boost book awareness. Aedy points to the example of 50 shades of grey; 30% of the reviews on Amazon are negative.

Reason three is that bad reviews enhance Search engine optimisation.(SEO)

Every time someone posts a link to your website on their website, it makes Google happy.  This happiness results in SEO.  Google doesn’t care about the reviewer’s scathing remarks.  All Google cares about is the link that reviewer posted.

I found a fourth reason. A bad review gives your good reviews credibility, making it clear to readers that your reviewers aren’t just your Mum in multiple identities.

And a fifth. A bad review that specifies exactly what the reader doesn’t like may attract a reader that loves books just like yours. Your reviewer hates time travel books by means of a magic-wielding cat, and can’t stand wise-cracking heroes and super smart heroines? And they say so? They’ve just marketed your book to those who were searching for all those elements.

Carol Pinchevsky has some advice for new authors.gleaned from interviews with some of sf’s great, all of whom have had bad reviews.

– Think about what the critic is saying.

Carey says, “Obviously, my intention [to deconstruct Tolkienesque epic fantasy] wasn’t clear to that reviewer, so the comment is constructive in terms of forcing me to think about how I could have better executed my idea.”

Brin says, “No matter how good you are, there is always some way to become ‘even better.’ Hence you need to be open to the bad news, as well as the good.” Brin believes in this enough to create his own acronym: CITOKATE (“Criticism Is the Only Known Antidote to Error”).

– Don’t read reviews:

Cherryh reads no reviews, neither negative nor positive. “If they’re good, I might divert my writing to try to please. If they’re bad, I’d feel bad, and maybe be tempted to change my writing to please. In either case, not a good thing.”

– Stay cool.

Carey says, “Readers’ expectations are something authors can’t control…. Taste is personal and reviewers are only human.”

– Remember, it’s nothing personal.

“We review books, not writers,” says Hartwell.

Finally, Pocket full of Books has a regular feature in which they link to authors who have reacted badly to a bad review. Go take a look if you want an example not to follow:

So what did I do about my own two bad reviews?

The first hated the snippets of history, was bored by the use of the language of flowers, and just wanted my hero and heroine to get on with the love story. This reviewer called the novella ‘a total snooze fest’. Best strategy? Ignore. (That said, I’m grateful to the person who posted a five star review on the same site, giving readers two very different opinions to consider.)

The second was on a site that already had a number of positive reviews, and was quite long. Here are some quotes:

‘far too frequent mentions of anatomy and implied love making at the end (married couple).’

‘Min gives in to the hero’s pestering and her baser feelings’.

‘sure [Candle] is kind and caring’

‘some might think his attentions sweet but I found them annoying and over the top’.

On the whole, I think that, if anyone reads the review, such comments are more likely to work for me than against me. Thanks, reviewer.

The reviewer’s most scathing remarks were reserved for a perceived historical error. The review sent me hurrying to check my facts when it claimed that the Roman Baths in Bath were unknown in 1805. I was sure that this claim was wrong, but looked anyway. The discovery was in the 18th Century. I can only speculate that the reviewer confused the 18th Century with the 1800s.

Phew! I expect I will (and probably have) made mistakes, but I try hard not to, and that one would have hurt.

Enough said, and enough attention paid. Time to get back to writing the next book.

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Writing process blog tour

dangerousworksToday, I’m having my moment with the torch of the Romance Writers’ Blog Hop. It has been passed from writer to writer for some time. Not only do you get to know a little about me and my writing process, but I get to introduce you to fellow romance authors so you can learn about their individual writing styles and processes.

I was nominated by my friend Caroline Warfield, writer of Dangerous Works and the forthcoming Dangerous Secrets (release date 18 March). With a 4.9 star average rating on Amazon, Dangerous Works tells the story of a scholar who dares scandal to learn what she needs to know to illuminate her study of Greek poetry, and the man she trusts to teach her.

You’ll find Carolyn on:

Her blog

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My writing process

Now to answer the questions about my writing process.

What do I write?

AzedCompWords5Tempting though it is to give Hamlet’s answer (“Words. Words. Words.”), I’ll behave. So what do I write. The short answer is ‘historical romance’, but this is my blog, so I’m allowed to give the long answer.

The novel and novella I’ve written, the two I’m working on, and the ones I plan to write in the next few years are set in the early 19th century. I do a lot of research to get the details accurate, and I include snippets about world and local events as part of the background to the action.

So ‘historical’ works.

Every plot so far tells the story of two people being attracted to one another and falling in love, and finishes with the two main protagonists starting a ‘happy ever after’ that I try to make believable.

So ‘romance’ works too.

And the first three novels also include elements of mystery and thriller. So I’d be quite comfortable with those designations, too. (The novella, though, is a straight sweet historical romance.) If people like the protagonists of my 2nd novel, I may go on to write about more of the cases they investigate together, and those will be historical mysteries rather than romances.

Bath houseI have some book ideas for other historical periods: for example, the elves that whisper stories to me want me to write a murder mystery set in Edwardian times in Rotorua. But, at the moment, I’m sticking with the early 19th century.

I’ve also started (and abandoned) a number of sf books that I may go back to eventually. And the short stories I had some success with in the dim dark ages of my youth qualified as literary, being otherwise unclassifiable and universally gloomy.

What am I currently working on?

BookcoverCCC2I’m continuing to market my first published fiction in 30 years, my novella Candle’s Christmas Chair. Candle is available free from all major ebook outlets and is doing well — more than 25,500 copies downloaded in its first 5 weeks and over 100 reviews in various places, with an average rating of over 4 stars.

I’ve just sent my debut novel, Farewell to Kindness, to the proofreader. It will be on prerelease early in March and published on 1 April. In Farewell to Kindness, an earl on a mission of revenge is attracted to a widow who lives rent-free in one of his cottages, and whose daughter is the image of his predecessor, his deceased cousin. Rede, the hero, doesn’t want to be distracted from his quest to destroy the villains who killed his family. Anne, the heroine, wants to stay in hiding to avoid the villains after her and her family. Love is both unexpected and inconvenient. Farewell to Kindness is the first in the series The Golden Redepennings.

BookcoverEPI’m writing the first draft of Encouraging Prudence, starring the thief taker (bounty hunter) who helped Rede in Farewell to Kindness, and the spy he loves. Sent to investigate a blackmail scheme, the two uncover blackmailers, murderers, traitors, difficult relatives, and one another’s vulnerabilities.

I’m also researching for A Raging Madness, the second in The Golden Redepennings. Alex, Rede’s cousin, is coming home through Cheshire when he meets a woman he can’t stand and can’t forget. Ella thought Alex was the last person on earth she would turn to for help. She knows what he thinks about her. But when her evil in-laws seek to have her committed to an asylum, she is forced to seek his protection. I need to find out more about the canals through Cheshire.

And I’m beginning to plot a novella — another Farewell to Kindness prequel — for a boxed set I’m putting together for Christmas 2015 with a group of friends. Tentatively called Gingerbread Bride, it tells the story of a woman with a reputation for running away.

“Not away,” Mary said, definitely. “To. I run to. There’s a difference.”

“Away. To. It doesn’t matter. You’re a lady now; not a little girl. Surely you must see that you have to go home?” Richard didn’t expect Miss Waterford to listen, though. When had she ever?

“You can’t stop me, Lieutenant Redepenning. You can’t stop me, and you can’t catch me.” She flung her last words behind her as she heeled her horse into a flying gallop, striking his with her whip as she passed. “No-one can!”

Richard, shouldered to one side by the horse, sat where he’d landed, watching the two horses and the Admiral’s daughter receding into the distance. Annoying, arrogant, impudent, self-willed little bitch. What a woman!

How do my historical romances differ from others in the genre?

google-romance-novelBooks in the general category ‘historical romance’ cover a huge range of different eras, plot tropes, character types, tonal styles, and subcategories. And self-publishing has opened the door for writers to produce work that broadens the range still further.

I write strong determined heroines that, in ways that can be defended as historically feasible, refuse to accept the constraints society would place on them. I write heroes that can appreciate and respect my heroines. And I write villains that you’ll love to hate.

I also create complicated plots with a large cast of characters, and I enjoy using settings that don’t comply with the ballroom/house party scenes that are often found in historical romances.

My first two books take place in the same part of England, west of the Cotswolds. But Encouraging Prudence ranges more widely and finishes in another country altogether (Sweden, I think, but I’m not there yet).

I don’t stick to the world of the Beau Monde. Dukes, Earls, and Barons are fun and fascinating — the rock stars of their era. But the hero of my first book had a career as a fur trapper before he inherited an Earldom, and the heroes of the next two books are both commoners.

Why do I write historical?

enclosureI love reading historical romances, and I love doing research. I’ve been passionate about history since I was a little girl. One of my career aspirations during my teenage years was archaeologist. I fell in love with the late Georgian era when I began to read regency historicals that included information about canal building, balloons, the first gas lights, and all the other incredible innovations of the explosion of invention that changed society between the 1750s and the 1850s.

I see many parallels with today. To take just one example, my period includes the enclosure movement (it was started in England before it moved to Scotland). Intended to make farming more efficient, it resulted in wealthy landowners cut farm labourers off from keeping livestock and collecting foodstuffs from the commons. People who thought they had a historic right to use the common land to feed their families were suddenly cast into dire poverty. Today, companies are laying claim to intellectual property rights over plant and animal bloodlines, even human dna. And they’re taking ordinary people to court to prevent them from using what was once free to all.

Writing historical romances helps me to work through some of this stuff. The trick is to make it an essential plot point or part of the background, and not a lecture.

How does my writing process work?

Or, at least, will bie editing after work.

Coloured pens make everything better. Note the map of the village of Longford at top centre.

I’m still working this one out. I thought I was a planner, and I carefully planned each chapter of my first novel and my first novella. Then I went off in a different direction with each, following the characters on their own journey. This meant a lot of rewriting, going back to seed later ideas into earlier chapters.

With the current novel, I know where each quarter of the book takes place; I have a fair idea of the main plot pivot points; I know more or less what the main conflict is. But I’m only plotting in detail a chapter or two ahead. It’s going well, but I expect I’ll need to do a lot of rewriting, going back to seed later ideas into earlier chapters.

Two things that are working well for me are setting a daily word count and creating detailed character sketches of my key characters.

I started with no daily word count. I wrote when the inspiration elves consented to whisper to me. Then I set a count of 500 words a day and all of a sudden those elves started visiting me more often. Now, I’m writing a minimum of 1300 words a day, six days a week. And I need to keep that up if I’m to meet my writing schedule. According to my beta readers, the chapters I wrote more quickly are better than the ones that took me ages. Go figure.

I have an one page questionnaire for each minor character and an eight page questionnaire for my main protagonists. By the time I’ve worked my way through all the questions, I know them well, and once I know them well I know what they’ll do in any particular situation. I do the minor characters as I need them, but I do the protagonists before I start my first draft. I originally kept the character sketches in the OneNote database for the novel or novella I was working on, but my books cross in so many different ways that I’ve now created a new database in OneNote just for characters.

I also keep Pinterest boards for visual inspiration, and I draw maps and house plans so that, when my characters are moving around, I can visualise what they’re up to and work out what route they need to take and how long they’ll spend getting there.

Up next,  Jessie Clever

In the second grade, Jessie began a story about a duck and a lost ring.  Two harrowing pages of wide ruled notebook paper later, the ring was found.  And Jessie has been writing ever since.

Armed with the firm belief that women in the Regency era could be truly awesome heroines, Jessie began telling their stories in her Spy Series, a thrilling ride in historical espionage that showcases human faults and triumphs and most importantly, love.

Jessie makes her home in the great state of New Hampshire where she lives with her husband and two very opinionated Basset Hounds.  For more, visit her website at jessieclever.com.

Jessie just wrapped her Regency romance Spy Series, but as creativity often plagues those blessed with it, Jessie discovered a whole new story erupting from what she thought was the end.  So she is hard at work on the follow-up series she likes to refer to as the Spy Series: The Next Generation.

But before the next series debuts, be sure to check out the heroes and heroines of the Spy Series, starting with Inevitably a Duchess: A Spy Series Novella.

Inevitably a Duchess Jessie Clever Spy Series Novella 102214Blurb:

Richard Black, the Duke of Lofton, waited for her, watching as the agony of marriage broke the woman he loved.  Lady Jane Haven had to find a reason to survive, a purpose to carry on when it seemed God would not just let her die.  But when fate finally offers them a chance to be together, a treasonous plot threatens to keep them apart.  And when it becomes more than just a matter of survival, Jane must find the strength to be his duchess.

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