This will be a shorter harbinger than usual, as the turnaround from Thanksgiving to the first Advent Sabbath is as hectic as True Thomas’ ride to the Elfyn land with the Fairy Queen.

What I’m Working On:

November was a calmer month than usual. I’m waiting on a beta reader to finish a pass through the paranormal mystery without a name, and then it’s off to my agent in December.

While I wait on that and any news from my agent on the Thief story, I’ve been doing research for The Winter King two. This book is unique, because when the idea for it came to me, it arrived with a completely intact ending. I know exactly how I want the story to wrap up, so I’ve been busily crafting new characters and a plot that will get us to that ending.

This is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. I’m doing research and chatting with the characters to get a feel for who they are and what makes them go. If you stop by my house on any given morning, you’ll find me in the living room muttering to myself. You might assume I’m communing with the dead, but never fear. It’s just the imaginary people in my head. Very normal.

What I’m Reading:

I finished up Deceit, Desire and the Novel by Rene Girard. I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Scapegoat or I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, but it was still a strong analysis of human nature using several novels as proof texts. After that, I read The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene which was very sad (the Graham Greene trademark) and incredibly written. I chased that with something lighter: This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart.

For audiobooks, I listened to Rigney’s Leadership and Emotional Sabotage (a great reminder right before the holidays, where plenty of emotional sabotage takes place). And, I listened to Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. I hadn’t read that one in years, and I was pleased by how much I still enjoyed it. (That’s where my urge to reread Thomas the Rhymer came from.) The one big caveat here is that the story gets weirder the further into the 21st century we get. Jones was writing before the Me Too movement, before the hyper-awareness of grooming practices and sexual assault cases. If you know the myths Jones is pulling from (which were, themselves, suspicious), and you can see how soundly she condemns the actions of the main character’s love interest at the end, then the book makes more sense. But even still, it’s always going to have an odd taste to it, much like the old myths. This is a great article on the book that’s full of spoilers.

A Writing Tip:

When I’m in the early stages of novel prep, one of the most important things I do is gather up all the things I’m excited about writing/exploring in that particular novel. This is helpful for two reasons:

1. Those scenes act as anchors that I can build the rest of the story around

2. When I’m inevitably in the doldrums later on, I can revisit my flashcards and remind myself what I thought was so great about this story in the first place.

So, as I’m doing research, I might stumble across a particularly neat historical event, and I’ll think of a scene where I can incorporate some or all of it. Onto a flashcard it goes! Or, I’ll be puzzling through a character, and I’ll come up with a personality trait I really like, and I’ll think, “I could show that trait by having them do X.” There’s another flashcard. As my pile of flashcards grows, I’ll end up consolidating quite a few of them into the same scenes. But for now, I’m not worried about organization. I’m letting myself daydream, and it’s an awful lot of fun.

That’s all for now, see you in December!

Christine