Five Facts From History the BryonySeries Taught Me, Part Two

In the first post of this kind, I'd mentioned how part of the fun of writing novels with a historical basis is, well, learning the history behind them.

Here are five more facts about history I didn't know before I wrote the BryonySeries prequel, Before The Blood.

1) I learned A LOT about one of the most brutal wars in human history, a war of which I had almost no knowledge before the research.

And that war is the 30 Years War.

2) A variation of vichyssoise can be made with two other ingredients - and now I want to try this version.

The ingredients are almonds and grapes.

3) I learned the lyrics more cowboy songs I ever knew existed - and two lines to one from the Civil War won't leave my head.

The lines are:

 I'm lonesome since I crossed the hill

And over the moor that's sedgy

Such lonely thoughts my heart do fill

Since parting with my Betsy

And I discovered the music to many of them on YouTube.

4) I can name a number of restaurants that no longer exist in Chicago - and tell you what they served.

Here's one: Henrici's.

5) I had never heard of cordgrass - but now I know what it is and where it grows - and why (even though the "why" didn't make it into the story).

You can see a photo here.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

Taking a Break from the Coronavirus

COVID-19 has been on my mind a lot this past week especially.

Not only am I one of those borderline high risk people (almost sixty, I have asthma, and my insurance just refused to pay for my medicine - but no worries, I paid full price and will continue to take it), I work for a daily publication where updating the community about the pandemic feel near-constant.

Top that with some family emergencies, and it's been an interesting two weeks.

So Saturday, I stopped most of life and "hunkered down" with one of the two novels I've been first drafting and found I'd made some real genuine process.

Last weekend, I'd experienced a slight return of the muse, but not until I re-read last week's work (apparently manuscript distancing slows the spread of the infection "author self-doubt") did I fully realize the progress I'd made.

Part of that is due to a new method of approaching this particular novel (The Phoenix, the first in the Limbo trilogy, yes, part of the BryonySeries).

For my first novel (Bryony), I wrote scenes as they came to me and used them to help structure the novel. It was fun seeing them come together, too. I call this the "Golden Spike" approach.

For the rest of my novels, I used outlines for the book and each chapter. In most cases, I had the first and last sentences of the books and chapters written before I "painted by number with words," working in order of each chapter in a linear progression.

Neither approach was working with The Phoenix.

Over Christmas break, I did outline the novel and each chapter. 

I do have the first and last sentences written.

But I remained disconnected with the characters and overall story line. I started, and then abandoned, character questionnaires because they weren't helping.

So last weekend, I reread through everything and added a little to each chapter. That helped.

I didn't know how much it helped until I re-read everything this past weekend.

So this weekend, I did the same. I added to each chapter in both linear and non-linear ways.

I call this "macro to micro writing."

And I will continue in this fashion until this half of the novel is done.

Not sure if that will work with the other half (the novel is two parallel story lines).

But I will cross that time zone when I reach it.

Five Facts From History the BryonySeries Taught Me, Part One

Part of the fun of writing novels with a historical basis is, well, learning the history behind them.

Unfortunately, the research involved can also greatly lengthen the time it takes to write said novels.

For one, the research must get done. What did people of French descent eat on Christmas Eve in the late nineteenth century (I know this answer to this one!).

Also, it's simply too easy to get lost in the enjoyment of the research itself, which leads to another click of the mouse to this site and to another one over here.

Here are five (for now) facts about history I didn't know before I wrote the BryonySeries prequel, Before The Blood.


1) Ellis Island was not the first immigration center.

It was Castle Garden, now known as the Castle Clinton National Monument. The site was originally a fort, then a theater (where P.T. Barnum once brought Jenny Lind to sing), the immigration center, and an aquarium.


2) Old St. Patrick's Cathedral (not the "new" one) has an interesting tourist attraction.

Catacombs.


3) A company still around today started the pension system.

American Express, followed by railroad companies, such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.


4) New York was home to two interesting industries.

"Rogue" slaughterhouses was one of them. The other you probably already know: opium.


5) A certain "cocktail" was used both as a stimulant and a poison, depending on the amounts. In fact, it used to be a favorite of Olympic athletes.

Strychnine and brandy.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day Six, Recap, Some Numbers

Yes, I'm officially sick, not horribly, but enough to be blech. 

In light of my sluggish mind and body, I altered my last day of my at-home writing retreat.

I worked less on book five and finished editing books three and four. 

I'm hoping, over the next six weekends (which should be interesting because I have some "life" things going on), I can finish the remaining arcs and flesh out the details so I can hand off books one through four to my editor around Labor Day and finish editing book five by the time she is ready to read it.

The goal is to release the first book in January 2019.

Also, as a little birthday present, Rebekah finished formatting Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness today. So I'll scroll through that today, too. Maybe swap out the recipe in Sue's Diner.

For anyone who is interested in word counts, I presented them here in total for all five books (so far), each book by chapter and total word count (one through four is fairly stable) and book five (so far).

Plus the prologue and the epilogue.

For anyone who's read the entire BryonySeries trilogy and want to know how that compares in length, the total  of those books are at the bottom.

For anyone who wants to compare the length to other books they might have read), here's a couple links to check out:

https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/List_of_50,000_Word_Novels

https://indefeasible.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/great-novels-and-word-count/

Basically, Before the Blood, the prequel to the BryonySeries is five full-length (but incomplete) novels, with the last two being about the length of Bryony. Together as a whole, these five books tell an incomplete story.

What does that mean?

It means each book, on purpose, when finished, will not be finished.

Each book's cliffhanger prepares the way for the next novel (if read in order; they do not need to be read in order), but each book's cliffhanger does not flow into the next novel.

Again, all five books together tell one incomplete story. The trilogy (Bryony, Visage, and Staked!) finishes the story.

And yet

Each incomplete novel is a developed novel in its own right, complete with plot, unique cast of characters (although a few characters do cross multiple books).

How long have I worked on this? 

I began outlining the prequel in 2010 and pecked out the structure and research into January of 2014 when I began writing i earnest. Each novel has taken me approximately a year to write (some a little more, some a little less).

This is the most complicated story I have ever written. I no longer remember why I chose to write it this way.

But I am very thankful for the freedom to try an experimental way of telling a story, whether or not anyone agrees with the style or enjoys reading it.

Was it worth it?

Yes!

With the finish line in sight, I can honestly say I've learned a tremendous amount about about writing, structure, plot development and character development, dialogue, self-editing, revision, and, mostly, discipline: making myself write when I didn't feel like writing or when ideas did not come. I feel the things I've learned will help me in my job and future projects. This alone makes the entire effort worth it to me.

By Wednesday morning of this past week, with writing on average of 15 hours a day, I hated everything about writing, including this story. I was pretty sick of coffee, too.

Anyway, for the curious, here it is.

And for those who think this is a lot, it's not, really. The Harry Potter series is over a millions words in seven books, whereas my eight would need another 250,000 words to approach it.

So, you see, nothing so remarkable. And I'm certainly no JK.

BEFORE THE BLOOD

TOTAL: 368,441 (so far)

PROLOGUE:  481

JOHN SIMONS:  54, 739  (55,220)

CHAPTER 1: ONE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS: 2,680

CHAPTER 2: TASTING IMMORTALITY: 4.456

CHAPTER 3: KEYS TO HEAVEN: 8,468

CHAPTER 4: MAID TO ORDER: 4,284

CHAPTER 5: POST-GRADUATE STUDIES: 10, 551

CHAPTER 6: SHEDDING THE COCOON: 5, 663

.

CHAPTER 7: MUSIC HALLS AND GARBAGE CANS: 6, 644

CHAPTER 8: ONE FOR THE MEMORY BOOKS: 4, 648

CHAPTER 9: THE CONTRACT: 2,197

CHAPTER 10: CROSSING THE RUBICON: 5, 148

KELLEN WECHSLER:  55.473

CHAPTER 1: ASHES: 2,007

CHAPTER 2: FORBIDDEN FRUIT: 2,095

CHAPTER 3: THE VISION: 1,736

CHAPTER 4: BEATEN DOWN: 4, 127

CHAPTER 5: BLACK DEATH: 3, 797

CHAPTER 6: ANGEL OR DEMON? 11.985

CHAPTER 7: STARTING FRESH: 11, 106

CHAPTER 8: JUST SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: 6, 517

CHAPTER 9: THE SUITE LIFE: 9,707

CHAPTER 10: THE VACATION: 2, 396

BRYONY MARSEILLES: 78.098

CHAPTER 1: WORM IN THE APPLE: 2, 786

CHAPTER 2: THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH: 9,482

CHAPTER 3: BREATH OF LIFE: 1,824

CHAPTER 4: BABY STEPS: 3,249

CHAPTER 5: A MOST PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE: 26, 598

CHAPTER 6: THE MIRACULOUS MEDICAL BAG: 2,776

CHAPTER 7: DOUBLE VISION: 5,748

CHAPTER 8: THE DARK SIDE OF PROGRESS: 21,353

CHAPTER 9: THE DREADED CURSE BEGINS: 3,206

CHAPTER 10: FREEZING TIME: 1,076

HENRY MATTHEWS:  89,770

CHAPTER 1: EATING CAKE: 744

CHAPTER 2: THE GYPSY: 3,700

CHAPTER 3: DEADLY NIGHTSHADE: 5,642

CHAPTER 4: REST FROM THEIR LABORS: 4,058

CHAPTER 5: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: 2,034

CHAPTER 6: HAUTE COUTURE: 26,759

CHAPTER 7: SHOT IN THE HEART: 28, 127

CHAPTER 8: ANTIQUE LACE, PURPLE ROSES, AND VALENTINE HEARTS: 10, 127

CHAPTER 9: SEWING OATS: 7,035

CHAPTER 10: MEETING AT THE CROSSROADS: 1,724

BRYONY SIMONS:  89,419

CHAPTER 11: THE STRANGER:  4,236

CHAPTER1 2: ICE CREAM SOCIAL: 7,572

CHAPTER 13: PSST! BRYONY HAS A BEAU: 3,323

CHAPTER 14: THE DAM BREAKS: 2,284

CHAPTER 15: THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS: 5,742

CHAPTER 16: UNTIL DEATH: 8,774

CHAPTER 17: WHERE HEARTFELT DREAMS COME TRUE: 18,523

CHAPTER 18: THE SERPENT: 5,691

CHAPTER 19: SHATTERED GLASS: 2,479

CHAPTER 20: SHADES AND SHADOWS: 4,385

CHAPTER 21. THE SENTINEL: 8,096

CHAPTER 22: ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SLEEP: 3,321

CHAPTER 23: BRAVING THE WILDERNESS: 2,187

CHAPTER 24: DOWN THE STEEP STAIRCASE OF DESPAIR (STORM CLOUDS): 4,385

CHAPTER 25: STORM CLOUDS (DOWN THE STEEP STAIRCASE OF DESPAIR_: 1,816

CHAPTER 26: ENCHANTED TWILIGHT: 1,386

CHAPTER 27: BRIGHTER DAYS AHEAD: 1,680

CHAPTER 28: SHACKLED: 878

CHAPTER 29: DR. GOTHART LEADS THE WAY OUT: 1,366

CHAPTER 30: BLOOD BATH: 1,297

EPILOGUE: 461

By comparison:

Bryony: just under 100,000

Visage: 130,589

Staked: 149,167

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day Five

Brief update. The kids have been sick for the last week and half, and I think it might be my turn. (Blech).

Edited chapter eight of the third novel (all eighty-four pages of it) and worked on some of the remaining arcs of the rest of book five. While scrolling through, I was surprisingly pleased to find the bulk of chapters 27 through the epilogue are written.

My goal was to get through chapter 27. As I stand on the precipice of the final day of my BTB writing retreat, I really did better than that.

Here's what's left to do for book five:

1) Write half a dozen (or so) story arcs.

2) Fill in the blanks of dense details I bleeped over to save time.

3) Write most of the sexual scenes and one intense death scene.

4) Do the best I can do to fix the epilogue.

5) Edit the book.

Scrolling through book four, I found most of it in very good shape. Depending on time and energy tomorrow (if I really am sick), I will finish editing book three and four. Going forward, that will leave six weekends or so to address one through five in a major way.

At least three of those weekends have other stuff planned, so this can be challenging as I tend to stay away from most of the fiction during the week, preferring to put most of my time into my job.

Granted, book five doesn't have to be perfect to give books one through four to my editor.

But I do want to be certain it's structurally sound. And while she is reading the first four this fall, I will continue polishing five.

I think being able to release the first book in Before the Blood in January 2019 is very doable.

For those of you who find any value in my dribble, thank you. Your support is greatly appreciated.

BTW, I spent most of today on Fisher Farm, and I don't have an existing illustration for it. So here's a photo Sarah Stegall took a few years back and sent it to me because it reminded her of Simons Woods.

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day Four

When I logged on this morning for a quick pass at social media, I had this surprise: a shout-out for Bryony from someone who has not read the book and someone I do not know.

Here is the link:

https://mistralkdawn.blogspot.com/2018/07/apc-spotlight-bryony-bryonyseries-book.html?zx=b37d49aaad0d6930

Today I accomplished more than I anticipated.

Last night, I decided to modify my goal to only chapter 25. Trying to make up two days felt impossible and it was stressing me out.

But I peeked at chapters 26 and 27 anyways. And they felt do-able.

So I moved around chapters 21 through 27 all day.

I skipped over a few parts (brief details that eat up time and slow the composing pace. Those can be added in spare moments), one really intense death scene, and anything sexual and/or romantic (requires a different type of mood and time commitment).

Tomorrow: I'll fill in the rest of the blanks (layers, subplots, certain arcs) and patch up what I can on Saturday before my granddaughter's birthday party.

From that point on, I'll be gradually resurfacing, although not full swing until Monday (Sunday is my birthday, after all). I'll still be in at-home writing retreat mode, but it will be finishing up editing book number three from that point on.

Sunday afternoon, I' may even reward myself with a dip in the pool.

Now, the quality of all this writing is a little rough. I imagine it resembles a NaNoWriMo novel, although I'd hope not THAT rough, due to the fact chapters are well outlined and parts previously written.

Now if you'll please excuse me, I have chapter seven in the third novel to edit before I can call it quits for the night.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day Three

My brain hurts.

I didn't quite get two entire chapters done today but not for lack of trying. I'm averaging about fourteen hours of writing time a day, so the process can only move so fast.

Tomorrow, some of the grandchildren are coming to swim for a couple of hours, so I will lose that writing time (and gain even more precious time, I know).

Before closing out for the night, I labeled the different "arcs" in chapters 21, 22 and 23 to help keep me focused. I will concentrate on each arc and then take a short break before moving to the next. I'm hoping this will help.

I doubt I will get all the way through chapter 23 tomorrow. Chapter 24 is complicated, but chapters 25 and 26 are short and straightforward.

The goal was to complete chapter 27 by Sunday night.

I'm keeping in mind I lost last weekend. And I absolutely refuse (to quote Henry is chapter 27, heh, heh) to "rush it."

If I can finish through chapter 26 and edit most of novel number three, I will consider the retreat successful.

And with that, I have chapter six in novel number three to edit before I call it a night.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day Two

Ran out of time to post yesterday and veered a bit from the schedule.

Instead of writing chapter 21, I edited chapters three through five, nearly 100 pages of text I had written from June 2015 through early January 2016.

I veered for two reasons.

These two chapters form the basis of Bryony's earliest years and set her personality and environment. As I ventured deeper into the fifth novel, I felt I needed to reconnect with those early days so I didn't lose my way.

However, it does mean I will need to write two chapters today and two on Friday, the only two complete days I have left for writing. Joshua and the kids are (in theory) coming over Thursday afternoon to swim; I have Riley's second birthday on Saturday afternoon; and church on Sunday morning.

I'll post my progress of Day Three at the end of today.

Armed with coffee, imagination, and drive, here I go.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

At-Home Writing Retreat: Day One

So my plan for a nine-day retreat shrank into a seven-day retreat when I spent the last two days catching up with other projects. (Ha! As if one is ever caught up!).

Undaunted, I launched into the retreat at 9:22 last night by opening the chapter I intended to write on Saturday.

Basically, my goal was to write one chapter a day of the fifth and final novel of Before the Blood.

This translates to chapters 19 through 27, leaving only 28 through 30 and the epilogue to complete the series.

I also hope to self-edit all ten chapters of novel number three. The first two are ready for my editor.

While the task seems insurmountable, I do have the structure and some writing for each chapter completed. Today, I worked hard at chapters 19 and 20 and, for the most part, have them ready for editing.

Tonight: edit the first chapter (maybe two) of third novel. Tomorrow: write chapters 21 and 22 and edit one more in the third. I do have a book signing to attend tomorrow night, so I'm hoping for either a late night tonight or an early start in the morning, however it works out.

If you've read Bryony, the illustration I post each day will reflect some theme in these current chapters.

I'm going to be a social media and email hermit this week. But I will blog to keep my accountable.

Wish me luck!

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

No Ed Calkins Today...

...no new telegrams, no updates on his epic limerick.

Just me making progress on Before the Blood and reluctant to stop to post a blog.

Ever get wrapped up in a project like that?

Worldbuilding: The Beginning, Not the End, of Storytelling

It's no surprise by now that I like rich layered stories, and my favorite are supernatural, fantasy, historical, and science fiction. I love the unfolding of the seemingly impossible.

Worldbuilding, the creation of vivid settings and multidimensional characters with a factual foundation, is essential to the believeability of all stories, but especially writers who write in these genres. I know writers who take this part very seriously and do vast amounts of research and intense character development to meet this goal.

Your science must feel like real science, and your history timeline must be correct...unless your story has compelling reasons otherwise.

But such steps are only the beginnnig, not the end. The paint and canvas serve the picture, not the other way around. At the core of every story should be a compelling story.

You still need a protagonist your readers will cheer on, an antagonist they will boo, as well as challenges to overcome, dramatic tension to keep the pages turning, victories to cheer, and stakes to raise. If you don't have these, the rest won't matter.

One good question to ask yourself? What is the story I'm trying to tell?

Once you can answer that, the rest makes sense.