Tag Archives: Sister Scribes

SISTER SCRIBES: KIRSTEN HESKETH ON WHY WRITERS CAN’T QUIT

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‘At what point do you give up on the writing?’

A friend asked me that the other day. A longstanding friend whose views and judgments I generally respect. We hadn’t seen other for a few months and she asked if I was published yet. When I replied that I was not, she followed through she asked the question above. She asked it pleasantly, with interest, no apparent edge at all. In her mind, clearly a logical and reasonable question.

‘At what point do you give up on the writing?’

I didn’t really answer my friend. I think I just shrugged and the conversation moved on. But it got me thinking. More than that, it knocked me for six.

‘At what point do you give up on the writing?’

What had she meant by that?

Was there an implication that I was failing, maybe had already failed, because I wasn’t yet published? Was there a suggestion that maybe, just maybe, I was deluding myself? Kidding myself that my writing was going somewhere when really there was no hope. That there was no chance of my ever being published. Was that, I asked myself in one of those dark nights of the soul, how other people, other friends saw me? Did they feel sorry for me? Did they shake their heads at each other and say, ‘poor girl, she’s been plugging away at this for so long’?  Did they purse their lips and murmur, ‘she still isn’t published, she’s still warbling away from deep in the querying trenches’?

Then I stopped being paranoid!

It had only been a question.

But maybe this is what I should have replied:

  • Things in publishing work at glacial speeds. It’s not unusual for nothing to happen over a few months – or at least nothing you can announce to the world at large. In fact, since I’d had last seen my friend, I’d been signed by a top London agent. I was moving in the right direction and full of optimism and enthusiasm. But, no, I hadn’t been published.
  • It’s really difficult to get published nowadays. It takes talent, sure, but also loads more persistence than you think you’ll need. And luck. Lots of luck. Getting the right work on the right desk at the right time. I know many really talented writers who are not published yet. And yet hope still springs eternal. It may happen. It will happen ….
  • It’s not just about being published. It’s really not. It’s a journey, not just a destination.
  • I have never thought about ‘giving up’. Oh, sure, when I have a knock-back, I throw things about* and say I’m going to take up crochet instead. But, even at the time, I know I don’t mean it. More than that, I can’t imagine a time when I would.
  • I write because I love writing. I write because I have stories and thoughts and dreams I want to put into words. I write because I can’t not write. And even if I am never published, will it still have been ‘worth it’? Hell, yeah.

So, what should I have said when my friend asked at what point I would give up writing?

‘At what point do you give up on the writing?’

I should have told her the truth.

I should have said ‘never’.

 

Writers, how would you have responded to my friend’s question? Do you agree with my points above? What else would you add? I’d love to know.

Join the discussion below or @Sister5cribes

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: ADA BRIGHT ON BEING A CO-AUTHOR

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I’m delighted to welcome my very good friend and fellow co-author, Ada Bright, to Sister Scribes. Ada is a novelist and a photographer, a wife and a mom and a very picky eater. She has lived in Southern California her whole life and says she fits into a good number of the stereotypes of the area, including being pretty laid back, considering anything below 65F as frigidly cold, and being unfazed by any earthquake under 5.0.

Over to you, Ada!

 

Thank you to Cassandra Grafton for inviting me to be a guest on Sister Scribes.  I was going to quip that we really are “sister scribes” since we co-author novels together, and we are unofficial family, but then I was imagining Cass reading it and injuring her eyes because she rolled them so hard… and I wouldn’t want to be the cause of something like that!

My best memories of childhood are from when I was living fictional stories by reading books. The characters I read about and re-read about were so much more formative to who I am than my early peers.

Writing became a natural next step for me. By writing extra scenes or character studies, I could hold on to the world I loved longer. My desire to write novels came more recently, but stemmed from a similar core. I simply wanted more.

Of course, impatience is not usually a good trait for a writer. But, in my case, I got  very, very lucky: I’d already met Cass. While we share a similar taste in stories, our writing is very different. I write in bursts that push the story forward, she composes a scene and always seems to have a handle on just exactly where our characters, our plot and even the reader are in their experiences at any given moment.

While we specialize in different areas, when we co-write, there is not one sentence that is purely one or the other of us. We write alone during our respective work days (which are 9 hours apart, since Cass lives in Switzerland). That means we usually start by waking up to a new scene from the other partner that we will begin by editing. Once we edit the new material, we either ask for a call to clarify what we’ve read or what we need to write next or we just continue on.

So many times, while talking about our first co-written novel The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen, I say how much I love co-writing with Cass – I mean, what writer wouldn’t want to hand off a scene that isn’t working to someone else and have it come back polished?! But, the further I get on in my solo novel, the more I realize that this experience of creating a shared world with someone has been a learning experience beyond measure.

As hard as writing can be, Cass and I have created a system that is, with all its ups and downs, fun. I have often joked about how I would leave text in the middle of the manuscript that said something to the effect of “Cass writes something brilliant here.” It can be a crutch, most definitely, but eventually, each writer will have taken a turn at being the hero even if the night before their entire scene ended up in the bin.

What I couldn’t have predicted is that seeing how Cass untangled us taught me both to recognize my negative patterns and also to learn ways of getting myself out of the ditches I’d written myself into.

Last year, Cass and I signed with Canelo Digital Publishing, and we’ve just finished writing our second novel together, which will be out later this year. No matter where our single careers take us, I will always be game to join our words together to create the voice that is both of us but not quite either of us.

Thank you for having me, Sister Scribes!

 

You can find Ada and Cass on their Blog, Tabby Cow: https://tabbycow.com

Alternatively, Ada can be found on:

Facebook Ada Bright

Twitter @missyadabright

 

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: FEBRUARY

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Susanna:

The Mermaid’s Scream by Kate Ellis

Famous author Wynn Staniland is as well-known for having turned into a recluse after his wife’s suicide as he is for the high-brow books he wrote before the tragedy. Now he has agreed to let Zac Wilkinson write his biography, but what are the startling facts Zac claims to have unearthed? When Zac is found murdered, DI Wesley Peterson’s investigation reveals a series of secrets in a mystery that successfully blends the present with the past.

Kate Ellis deftly handles the multiple threads in this story. As well as being intriguing and drawing the reader further in, the complexities of the plot make it impossible to predict what’s coming next. It is an engrossing, confidently-written story, featuring well-rounded characters.

I listened to the audio version published by Isis Soundings, read by Gordon Griffin, whose narration is in no way showy or intrusive, but who invests each character with their own voice and creates a quietly suspenseful atmosphere.

 

Kitty:

This month I finally finished Penmarric by Susan Howatch – it took ages but allowed me to wallow in adolescent nostalgia, always a favourite activity.

I have started to read Circe by Madeline Miller which I’m loving, my degree was in Classics so I love reading anything that features the Gods, heroes and myths of antiquity and this is beautifully written. She makes everyone so vibrant, I am quite in awe.

I also read Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane which had me giggling on nearly every page apart from those that made me hold my breath as I raced through. I shall definitely be reading more of hers.

Finally, I have to mention Rachel Burton’s The Pieces of You and Me, a love story so honest, brave and uplifting that I fell deeply in love with it and will keep it forever.

 

Jane:

Although I hadn’t intended to read another Sapere book quite so soon, that’s exactly what happened. I was emailing with Amy Durant, the editorial director, with an idea for a timeslip novel for them and we fell to discussing the structure. As she felt it was something Alexandra Walsh had done particularly well in The Catherine Howard Conspiracy she emailed me an early review copy.

It’s the sort of book you don’t want to say too much about in case you inadvertently slip in a spoiler, but the timelines are split between present day and the early 1540s – not surprisingly, given that was when Catherine Howard was married to Henry VIII. I had expected to enjoy the modern part of the story, but I was completely captivated by Alexandra’s depiction of the Tudor court and the way she brought the historical characters to life.

The book kept me on edge from beginning to end. It was reasonably clear who could be trusted in the historical story but far less so in the contemporary strand and I just had to keep turning the pages. Not only that but the teasing out of an alternative historical truth was done so well that I even ended up almost believing it. The book is everything a classic timeslip should be and I’d thoroughly recommend it. It’s available for pre-order now.

It was when I was in Truro library tracking down local history books for research that I came across Winston Graham’s Poldark’s Cornwall. I’d been hunting for this book for some time and it didn’t disappoint with beautiful photos and the links – real and imagined – between Ross and Demelza’s world. It also contained a couple of pages of useful advice for authors. Most pertinent to me seemed: “…risk of becoming too preoccupied with history… But novels are about life.” I think I should pin that up on my wall.

 

SISTER SCRIBES: CASS GRAFTON ON MRS GASKELL… ON CHARLOTTE BRONTE

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The other day, I had the urge to watch North & South again, the well-received BBC dramatization of Elizabeth Gaskell’s second novel.

I’m not sure if this stemmed from a need to watch a classic film or simply the shallowness of wanting to wallow in Richard Armitage’s smouldering interpretation of John Thornton, but whatever the attraction, it did make me think about Victorian writers.

Written originally for Charles Dickens’ magazine, Household Words, North & South has more recently been dubbed the ‘industrial’ Pride & Prejudice. It is typical of the stories spilling from Mrs Gaskell’s pen at this time: ones that didn’t flinch away from contentious social commentary but always had, at their heart, a bit of romance – and a copious body count!

It wasn’t a novel, however, that first introduced me to Mrs Gaskell’s writing. Back in school, I was obliged to read Jane Eyre as a set book.  My teenage heart was swept away by the passion of Charlotte Brontë’s classic and, considering myself plain and unnoticeable, I relished reading about this ‘oh so ordinary’ heroine getting her man.

Intrigued by the story behind the author, I bought a copy of a popular biography of Charlotte – the aforementioned Mrs Gaskell’s account of ‘The Life of Charlotte Brontë, having no idea of the drama surrounding the book.

It was written at the invitation of Charlotte’s father soon after his daughter’s death in 1855. Encouraged by Charlotte’s close friend, Ellen Nussey, Patrick Brontë wanted Mrs Gaskell, also a friend of his daughter’s, “to publish a long or short account of her life and works, just as you deem expedient and proper”.

Mrs Gaskell was used to her own writing exciting controversy amidst the admiration, but although the biography attracted critical acclaim, it was not universally well-received, with some critics not appreciating the whitewashing of certain aspects of Charlotte’s life. Mrs Gaskell had been stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place – after all, parts of Charlotte’s life (like anyone’s) were not really for public consumption.

More controversy, however, came back to haunt the author. Published in March 1857, the Life attracted enough attention for a second edition to be announced in May of the same year. Suddenly, though, the book was withdrawn from sale, due to the threat of libel proceedings on more than one count and general grumblings from those who felt they had been unfairly depicted in the book.

The three main issues seem to have been these: how Patrick Brontë himself was portrayed; the account of Charlotte’s brother, Branwell’s, decline – exacerbated by the implication of the influence of a ‘lady’, who was described in such a way, all of society knew her identity; and descriptions of Charlotte and her sister, Emily’s, time at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge.

Mrs Gaskell went on to describe herself as being in ‘the hornet’s nest with a vengeance’ and referred to the biography as ‘this unlucky book’ in a letter to her publisher. Its overall success, however, meant the Life wasn’t going to disappear. Balancing out the unpleasantness of the above, Mrs Gaskell began to receive additional information, either from others who admired what she had already achieved or those who wanted to correct certain details.

She faced a daunting major revision, but set to and the third edition – Revised and Corrected – appeared in the November, less than six months after the original had been withdrawn from sale. It contained a substantial amount of new material.

Despite the challenges she faced, Elizabeth Gaskell did an admirable job, and her insight into the life of Charlotte Brontë is a fascinating read and one I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about Victorian authors.

As for myself, I think I’ll avoid any attempts to pen biographies for my writing friends and immerse myself in fiction instead – the visual rather than the written version on this occasion! Excuse me whilst I hit play again on North & South… I may be gone some time!

 

Sources: Various Gaskell letters, and Alan Shelston’s Introduction and Appendices to the Penguin English Library 1975 edition of Jane Eyre

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: CAROL THOMAS ON COLLABORATION

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It’s my absolute pleasure to introduce Carol Thomas, my long time Chindi Authors partner in crime and one of the best collaborators I know. Carol’s contemporary romance novels have relatable heroines whose stories are layered with emotion, sprinkled with laughter and topped with irresistible male leads; while her children’s books have irresistibly cute, generally furry characters young children can relate to.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller

At the Romantic Novelists’ Association conference in July 2018, Sam Missingham made the point that as writers, even writing within the same genre, we are not competing. Readers read books, lots of them and generally in a preferred genre. Working collaboratively on promotion means a group can be greater than the sum of its parts. Her point was well made and, from experience, I have to agree.

After self-publishing my first novel, Crazy Over You, I reached the point where I didn’t know what to do next. Fortunately, I heard about Chindi Authors – a local group of self-published authors, working together to promote their work. Writing in a range of genres, they had amongst them a wealth of knowledge about self-publishing and promotion.

I joined and learnt a lot, not just from the others, but also through what I achieved from being an active member of the group. My confidence grew, my author platform improved. When it came to pitching my next novel, The Purrfect Pet Sitter, to Choc Lit, all that I had learnt was invaluable. I successfully gained a contract under their imprint Ruby Fiction.

While I remain an active member of Chindi Authors, following Sam Missingham’s advice, I have also recently joined forces with fellow romance writers Caroline James, Angela Barton, Morton S Gray, Julie Houston, Jane Cable, Tora Williams and Mariam Kobras to form Apricot Plots.

We are all passionate about writing smart, fresh romance for the twenty-first century – stripping away out-dated conceptions of romance and romance writers. We are loud and proud about our genre.

Covering the sub-genres of contemporary, historical, mystery, suspense, comedy and more, together we offer something for every romance lover. And we enjoy interacting with our readers, offering competitions and giveaways too. Together we reach more readers and can keep our presence active. If one author is having an off day, the others can take up the slack.

And while our public persona as a group is important what is also invaluable is the private group we share. Behind the scenes, we can talk about issues with our writing, plots, edits and so forth, as well as the general things, positive and negative, that get thrown at us in life. We are there for each other, ready to listen, supportive and encouraging.

When you write within the romance genre, you soon learn that you are part of a very supportive and collaborative community of writers – especially if you become a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. But, as my experience with Chindi Authors proved, I don’t think this is necessarily genre specific. Writing itself can be a solitary affair, connecting with other authors is important and when you work collaboratively, it can be beneficial too.

Three top tips for working collaboratively:

1) Take a little time to find your way, but also be prepared to step up. Somewhat obvious but … the key to collaboration is collaborating.

2) Be prepared to compromise. Working as part of a group will require it at some point.

3) Be actively supportive of others; you’ll get more from it than you might think. Rightfully so, when it comes to working in a group, you tend to get out, what you put in.

 

Find Carol on Twitter @carol_thomas2 and on other social media here:

http://facebook.com/carolthomasauthor

http://www.pinterest.co.uk/carol_thomas2/

http://www.instagram.com/carol_thomas2/

Website / Blog Link:

http://carol-thomas.co.uk/blog

 

 

 

INTRODUCING SISTER SCRIBES: JANE CABLE

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This isn’t an easy post to write. If you’re a Frost regular, then you probably know who I am. On the other hand our readership is increasing all the time, so you could well never have heard of Jane Cable.

The first thing to say is I’ve recently been given the role of Contributing Editor at Frost and I’m feeling a bit of a fraud. If anything, having dragged my Sister Scribes on board (not that all of them were kicking and screaming) I’ll be ‘contributing’ even less this year. But it will allow me to spread my wings a little and write more about some of the other things I love… like history, travel, food and drink.

I’m also feeling a bit of a fraud about describing myself as a full time writer, because the reality is I generally spend about half the time writing (or marketing, or all the other bits and bobs associated with it) that I would do if I had a genuine full time job. But actually I want to enjoy life too.

I’m in my fifties (and proud of it… prouder than I am of the parentheses which are plaguing every paragraph) and my OH and I have worked really hard in the corporate world and in our own business since we graduated. Rather than continue at such a pace we decided to kick back and in 2017 we downsized to Cornwall and it was the best thing we ever did.

I’m a total advocate of the lifestyle down here. Not the part holidaymakers would necessarily see, but the everyday world of the everyday people. Very few live to work – most work about enough to live. Nobody’s bothered what you do or what sort of car you drive. As long as you say thank you when they give way to you. And once you sink back into the ‘manana with breaks for pasties’ timescale of anything getting done then it’s a dream.

So where am I in my writing career? I brought out two books independently with a reasonable degree of success, but after a false start with a publisher that went bust I now have a two book deal with Sapere. They are a joy to work with (saying that, I haven’t had my first edit notes yet so time will tell), collaborative and co-operative. They also do their best to bring their authors together, and I’m a great one for that.

Little did I know how influential attending the Romantic Novelists’ Association conference in 2017 would be in terms of finding writer friends. For me by far the most valuable part of the weekend was time spent with other authors and through social media we kept in touch. I was delighted to find that Kitty Wilson lived in Cornwall (although the rat bag has since moved to Bristol) and when Cassandra Grafton came here on a research trip we all met up.

From this meeting the idea of organising our own mini retreat/girls’ break was formed. We invited along Susanna Bavin and Kirsten Hesketh (who’d we also met at the RNA conference) and the rest, as they say, is history and after four days in Bath we’d become Sister Scribes.

There are probably a few other things you need to know about me that sometimes surprise people. I used to freelance as a cricket writer and I love the game. I’m Welsh by birth and fiercely proud of it. And if I couldn’t write it would feel as though my hands had been cut off. Actually, it would probably be because my hands had been cut off…

Follow Jane on Twitter @JaneCable

 

INTRODUCING SISTER SCRIBES: SUSANNA BAVIN

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Despite her concerns about sounding showy-offy that’s the last thing Susanna Bavin is. She may be the quietest of the Sister Scribes, the most softly spoken, but that does nothing to hide her keen intellect and enquiring mind. Most definitely her own woman.

There is something scary about being asked to introduce yourself on a magazine page. Will it sound showy-offy? But my fellow Sister Scribes have all introduced themselves, so now it’s my turn. Here goes.

I am living proof that dreams come true. There! How’s that for showy-offy? Not to mention being rather a grand claim. But it’s the simple truth. As a child, I dreamed of one day living in North Wales – Llandudno, to be precise – and six years ago, my husband and I found a beautiful house here, threw caution and jobs to the winds, and moved here. Best thing we ever did. One question we get asked by people who would love to live here (it seems that almost everybody who comes here on holiday dreams of living here) is, “Is it different when you live here? Less special?” and the answer to that is a resounding No. We love it just as much, if not more, and that feeling of “Wow! We really live here” has never gone away.

So that’s one dream. The other, of course, is that I have finally become a published writer. I say ‘finally’ because, although I was a child-writer and have been writing all my life, for most of that time I didn’t submit anything to literary agents. As a matter of fact, I got rather hooked on getting feedback and worked with a writers’ advisory service for some years. Then I decided to aim for publication, so I joined the RNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association) with the intention of writing four books, so as to have a body of work to offer a literary agent.

In the event, after I had written three, I became aware of other new writers getting their books published, which made me feel left behind, so I decided that the size of my body of work was perfectly adequate at three books and started submitting to literary agents. I was lucky enough to be signed up by Laura Longrigg at MBA.

The books I write are sagas. To date, I have had three published – The Deserter’s Daughter, A Respectable Woman and The Sewing Room Girl. The fourth, The Poor Relation, follows in May. The books are set in the part of Manchester where my family has lived for several generations and where I grew up.

I was a saga writer before I knew what sagas were. As a teenager, I lapped up Victoria Holt’s novels and started writing gothic stories, but these naturally grew and became what I later found out were sagas. For me, this was just the natural development of my writing style. I was delighted when, as a reader, I found out that other people wrote this kind of story too!

What do I like about sagas? The historical setting, for starters. I love to see the characters having to tackle their problems within the social and legal context of the time. I also enjoy the glimpse of social history, which is a great interest of mine. Clothes, meals, furniture – I love all those domestic details especially costume. It’s no coincidence that my forthcoming book, The Sewing Room Girl, involves the making of lots of clothes!

Follow Susanna on Twitter @SusannaBavin

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES READING ROUND UP: JANUARY

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Jane:

I’m the first to admit I’m not the greatest reader. It’s not that I don’t want to be – I love reading – but in recent years time has been my enemy. In 2019 that is set to change as I kick my other business commitments into touch to become a full time writer. Surely there will be time for reading as well?

Many of the books I read at the moment are either for research purposes or to help out other authors, mainly so I can give reviews. I used to laugh at my father for reading only books by people he knew, but now I understand.

First off the blocks was Sapere author Gail Lindenberg’s He Wrote Her Every Day. It’s the story of her GI father’s Second World War, told mainly through his letters, and I chose it partly for research, partly so I could review it and partly because I knew I would enjoy it.

It was a fascinating insight into the life of an American soldier, both training before traveling to Europe and in the final push across Belgium and Germany. Because it was based on Jim’s letters home there are no gory details, but it’s an accurate historical account of one soldier’s war as well as the love story of the early days of his marriage.

With broadening my horizons in mind I’ve joined a book club at my local pub. At my first meeting we spent most of the time chatting about life and books in general, rather than about Wolf Hall, which had been their book for November/December. Very few people had managed to finish it, not because of its quality, but because of its length. I think we were all rather relieved that January’s book was a slim volume, My Uncle Silas, by HE Bates. Although beautifully written I found it rather dated for modern tastes and I’ll be interested to hear what the others make of it.

 

Kitty:

I always have a huge pile of books on the go at the same time, so my flittergibbet butterfly mind always has something to keep it hooked. At the start of this month I promised myself that as well as reading copious amounts of romantic comedies, which are always a pleasure but also help me keep apace of the market, I would begin to revisit some of the books I loved as an adolescent and revel in the stories that helped shape my notions of romance.

I’m pleased I’m doing it and I’m loving it, although some of those epic sagas I used to devour very much reflect the time and attitudes of when they were published. I raced through Hardacre by C S Skelton and adored it as much as I ever did and am currently half way through Penmarric by Susan Howatch which is being remade for television as I type and is chock full of dark brooding Cornish heroes that probably deserve to be locked up!

I’ve just finished Margaret James’ new thriller, The Final Reckoning which had a twist I didn’t see coming at all and The Wedding Shop on Wexley Street which was my first by Rachel Dove but won’t be my last, made me roar with laughter and was exactly my kind of humour. I’ve also just finished Sophie Duffy’s Betsy and Lilibet which is a perfect example of her feelgood women’s fiction which always leave me warm and smooshy on the inside. And on a more serious note, I’ve started reading Empire of Cotton – A global history by Sven Beckert which is a non-fiction book all about, obviously, the cotton trade and appeals to my inner history geek. It’s been a busy old month.