I want to go to the UK to visit several sites including Hereford, Shrewsbury, Wells, Salisbury and Bath as part of a research effort for several projects.
Back in 2003-2005, I lived in the UK for a short period of time, so I also intend to catch up with a few of my friends I haven't seen in years. But the main point of this trip is research.
I am a published writer with several books out from a small print publisher. One of my planned projects, "Wake of the White Ship," takes place in the West Country during the 12th century anarchy. It's a spinoff of my novel "The Vimana Incident." Another project, a biography of William Longsword, Third Earl of Salisbury, will require visiting archives and speaking with historians.
My biographical work on William Longsword has already been featured in Encyclopedia Britannica. I rewrote their article with a great deal more material gleaned from my research, but I feel I can gather more information still.
I would like to spend at least 3 weeks in the UK if at all possible. I will need some money for ground transport and lodging as well. If possible I would like to bring my husband with me since he has never been to the UK.
My novel "The Vimana Incident" can be purchased here:
https://www.amazon.com/Vimana-Incident-Rose-LaCroix/dp/1614502277
My article about William Longsword can be read here:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Longsword-3rd-earl-of-Salisbury
Donate to my GoFundMe page here:
https://www.gofundme.com/9w4ja-help-me-get-to-the-uk
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Sunday, June 25, 2017
"The Linen Butterfly" Update
The stylistic rewrite of "The Linen Butterfly" is up to chapter 3 now. The book is now down to 114,001 words. It may end up longer or shorter depending on what I decide to do with some passages toward the end that still need extensive revisions.
After this stylistic rewrite I'm going to set it aside for a week, then read through it again and see if it needs anything.
The current editing pass is ironing out awkward prose and dialogue, and fixing some issues I identified in the continuity check. The next pass will be reading it with fresh eyes to see if I need to make some tweaks to the pacing and plot, or if I missed any mistakes.
I should have my manuscript ready to review fairly quick, actually. I'll need Beta readers soon, depending on how the next few phases of work go. I remember from my continuity check that in the passages written back in 2013, some of the prose was pretty clumsy.
Still, this manuscript is less of a sow's ear than I'd thought. I'll make something of it.
After this stylistic rewrite I'm going to set it aside for a week, then read through it again and see if it needs anything.
The current editing pass is ironing out awkward prose and dialogue, and fixing some issues I identified in the continuity check. The next pass will be reading it with fresh eyes to see if I need to make some tweaks to the pacing and plot, or if I missed any mistakes.
I should have my manuscript ready to review fairly quick, actually. I'll need Beta readers soon, depending on how the next few phases of work go. I remember from my continuity check that in the passages written back in 2013, some of the prose was pretty clumsy.
Still, this manuscript is less of a sow's ear than I'd thought. I'll make something of it.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
"The Linen Butterfly"- DRAFT DONE!
I finished the draft tonight. I just couldn't keep my hands off it. Word count stands at 114k words which is within my target. However I don't know what the final word count is going to be.
The next phase will probably have to start Sunday night since that'll be the tedious part, making sure this story 14 years in the making can still be made into something presentable.
The next phase will probably have to start Sunday night since that'll be the tedious part, making sure this story 14 years in the making can still be made into something presentable.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
"The Linen Butterfly" Progress!
I hit a crucial benchmark with "The Linen Butterfly" tonight. I finished the first half of the story arc- rewritten from scratch from the original "Goldenlea"- and pasted in the second half.
The second half needs to be reworked for length, style, and content and then the whole book needs a good once over, but the current word count is 126k words so my goal of 110k words is absolutely on target once all of the redundant, obsolete, and unnecessary material is removed from the second half.
This includes several passages that I copied and pasted from the second half and moved into the first half to make the story flow better. Those will be removed from the second half and new material will only be added if it makes the narrative flow better.
My goal is still to have a draft ready for proofreading in one month, and to have a draft ready to submit by the end of the summer. Knock on wood, I'll have "The Linen Butterfly" out by January.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Linen Butterfly Update!
Current goal: finish "The Linen Butterfly" by late August. Three years late from my original goal but I promise it'll be the be worth it!
I'll have the first draft done by my mid-June at this rate, and revisions will be relatively fast. The biggest operation will be merging the two halves which were written with slightly different continuities.
I expect to shed about 10-20% of the total volume of the text because there are some redundant passages and some scenes that no longer work. I'm also going to trim the ending a bit, it runs long. My total word count should still be about 110k.
It will be the longest and most involved story I've ever written in part because it takes place in two different worlds. I hope you all will enjoy a medieval swashbuckler with a hefty dose of cyberpunk!
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Worldbuilding: Medieval Currencies
One of the fun things about worldbuilding is figuring out sundry things like how basic exchanges are reckoned!
I thought I had it figured out in "The Goldenlea," but I think I'm revising the old system I had in those books in favor of one that has a bit more basis in history for "The Linen butterfly."
Previously in "The Goldenlea," I had a three-tiered system of coinage. This was based on the Anglo-French model of the Livre, Sou, and Denier, and on the thought that it was mostly the same as pre-decimal UK coinage. But that was a mistake. In fact the Livre (Pound) was not a standard coin in its own right until much later.
In fact the Kings of France tried to standardize a Livre coin in the 13th and 14th centuries and failed because it was over- or undervalued. The Livre, for most of the medieval period, was a unit of account for large sums but not an actual coin of the realm. Most transactions were rendered in silver Deniers or the gold Sou, or Solidus.
I revised my Gold Sol/Silver Luna/ Copper Terra system. Instead transactions are rendered mainly in silver Terras and Gold Sola, and an additional unit of account, called a Handweight, has been added. Of course, larger sums can be rendered in marks for accounting purposes.
I thought I had it figured out in "The Goldenlea," but I think I'm revising the old system I had in those books in favor of one that has a bit more basis in history for "The Linen butterfly."
Previously in "The Goldenlea," I had a three-tiered system of coinage. This was based on the Anglo-French model of the Livre, Sou, and Denier, and on the thought that it was mostly the same as pre-decimal UK coinage. But that was a mistake. In fact the Livre (Pound) was not a standard coin in its own right until much later.
In fact the Kings of France tried to standardize a Livre coin in the 13th and 14th centuries and failed because it was over- or undervalued. The Livre, for most of the medieval period, was a unit of account for large sums but not an actual coin of the realm. Most transactions were rendered in silver Deniers or the gold Sou, or Solidus.
I revised my Gold Sol/Silver Luna/ Copper Terra system. Instead transactions are rendered mainly in silver Terras and Gold Sola, and an additional unit of account, called a Handweight, has been added. Of course, larger sums can be rendered in marks for accounting purposes.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Book Has Arrived!!!
My copy of the Gesta Stephani (the deeds of King Stephen) arrived in good order today. This is a rare English translation published by Oxford Medieval Texts that I will be using to write my first straight historical fiction novel, Wake of the White Ship.
Incidentally, when reading the introductory notes on the text, it noted that it for a long time the only text scholars had access to was a 1619 printing called Historiae Normannorum Scriptores Antiqui. However:
Incidentally, when reading the introductory notes on the text, it noted that it for a long time the only text scholars had access to was a 1619 printing called Historiae Normannorum Scriptores Antiqui. However:
Such being the state of affairs, Duchesne's Scriptores was the inevitable basis for this new edition, and a text made from his had already been long in type, when Providence relented, and produced a manuscript.(emphasis added).
MS. 792 in the Municipal Library of Valenciennes, from the nearby Premonstratensian abbey of Vicoigne, a noted centre of learning and a daughter-house of St. Martin of Laon, contains a collection of works relating to English history...
I got chills when I read that because St. Martin of Laon was the abbey I had Godric at in The Vimana Incident. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is a sign I was meant to write Wake of the White Ship. It's not quite as dramatic as being sucked into one of my own books but it's enough of a coincidence to get my attention.
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