Today's guest on the podcast is Tracy Chevalier author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. Her 10th novel, A Single Thread released recently. Tracy joined me today to talk about the plight of "excess women" in England post World War One, how writing leads her to hobbies - not the other way around, -and how a writer needs something in their lives that isn't word-based.
The Saturday Slash
Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.
I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.
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Tymeria, a kingdom ruled by ignorance and fear. Not a bad hook, but I think you've got a better one in you!
At first glance, Tymeria’s a kingdom of beautiful wineries, fair maidens, and noble knights. But beneath its beautiful word echo here with "beautiful" vineyards is a prison. A prison for the nonhuman races and any human who dares to help them. In Tymeria, the only good elf is a dead elf. This line could almost be your hook! Good world building so far. You've established this is high fantasy, and that something smells in Denmark.
There was a time when nonhumans and peasants had a beacon of hope, the knights in the night: the Knightmares. But eighteen-year-old Jevan knows his comrades aren’t the same free-fighting vigilantes of old. The crusade died; its crusaders reduced to sellswords. It’s not a desirable life – assassinations, theft, a bit of butchery, bodyguard service – but they need to eat. Great so far!
When Jevan accepts a request from a wealthy family to rescue their daughter, he assumes it’s just another job. At first, all goes well. However, the kidnappers they just killed weren’t mercenaries, but members of Tymeria’s religious military organization: the Paladins. And the damsel-in-distress is really part of a rare nonhuman race with the ability to transform into a deadly humanoid wolf creature – a wolfborn.
With vengeful Paladins hunting them, and the wolfborn’s presence generating a moral debate that may tear them apart, the fate of the Knightmares hangs perilously in the balance more than ever. Because they know the facts – it was the Paladins who nearly wiped out the Knightmares long ago, and their extinction is now truly imminent.
Told through four alternating viewpoints, KNIGHTMARE is an Adult Fantasy novel of 95,000 words with a unique twist on the werewolf genre that reimagines them entirely, revitalizing them a race of noble beasts rather than cursed monsters.
Right now, have to say that this is looking really good... the only thing that tripped me up is when I get to the last para, and see that there are four viewpoints. This query only tells me about one character. I can assume that the girl-wolf is another POV, but I have no idea who the other two might be.
This is a great query... but it's focused heavily on the world building, not the characters. My advice is to find a way to condense your world building info down to the opening para, then introduce each of your POV's - and their conflict - in quick, concise para for each.
Annie Sullivan On Re-Inventing A Short Story
Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.
Today’s guest is Annie Sullivan, author of Tiger Queen, a YA-retelling of The Lady or the Tiger features secrets, suitors, thieves, and a fierce princess.
Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?
I’ve had ideas come to me in dreams and in things I’ve overheard strangers talking about, but for Tiger Queen, the idea was inspired when I was in 7th grade and reading the short story called “The Lady, or The Tiger.” It’s an infamous short story because it has a cliffhanger ending. As a child, I was incensed that there wasn’t an ending. So I decided to create one for it, and the story just developed from there.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
Even though I had a short story as a base, my version truly only uses bits and pieces from the original. And the story is extremely short, so I really had to delve deep to develop it. First, I focused on my characters. I like strong female characters, so I developed a hardcore heroine who could not only survive the harsh desert landscape I placed her in, but who could vie for the throne because of her abilities with a sword. From there, the story took on a life of it’s own as I added more characters to the world and discovered their motivations for either helping my main character reach the throne or for wanting to stop her.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
For better or for worse, I don’t plot out stories beforehand. I don’t know where we’re going until the character arrives there. That way, I’m as excited about what’s going to happen as the reader. I do usually know the ending, but I’m usually pretty firm on how those play out since it’s what I’m aiming for as I write the novel.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
I have so many ideas that I’ll never be able to write them all! I get ideas from watching movies or reading other book. I find inspiration in unique fairytales or creatures I read about as a child. There are ideas everywhere!
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
It’s more deciding what am I excited to write about and what do I think would work well in the current YA market. I have to pick the one story just won’t leave me alone.
I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
I think I would never get anything done because I’d be too busy petting my dog. So I generally write alone—with no food even (because my keyboard would be a mess!). I might have a cup of tea, a warm blanket, and a carefully selected song playing though!