Selling my Artwork

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Artwork, bookfairs, plants

Mixing artwork with writing is probably the perfect combination for me, as I was saying to my writers’ group on our weekly zoom call. When I need a break from writing, I can settle down to some art, and when my eyes boggle at that sort of closework, I can go back to the writing. The two intermingle and reflect each other. There is always something to get on with, however I happen to feel.

So this week I find myself with the beginning of a second novella coming together. It needs a fair bit of thought, so in between writing sessions I can wander off and work on some ink drawings I hope to have ready to sell at bookfairs, and perhaps other events later this year. The central motifs of each are simple outline prints based on the drawings I did for my books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary – with more to add from Dropwort Hall, which is in the pipeline for publication. Altogether I have around 27 different basic designs, all of which will have unique hand-drawn backgrounds, based on plants of woodland, seashore and riverbank. Believe me, it’s huge fun to play with.

It’s many years since I offered any artwork for sale, so anything I knew then is hopelessly out of date. Questions of presentation and pricing are having to be carefully rethought. But, hey, it’s all part of the fun. I can’t wait to do some more – in between writing sessions, that is. It’s  a very happy balance of work.

My illustrated books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from www.veneficiapublications.com

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The Trouble with Prequels

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books, Prequels, writing

Well, well, so the book is finished, complete with illuminated chapter numbers. It’s a bit of fun, both the story and the artwork. So, I sent it to my sister to see what she made of it.

‘I want a word with you,’ she said sternly at our next zoom meeting.

‘Eh?’ I said in surprise. She isn’t usually stern. ‘Ooh, what’s the matter?’

‘You can’t leave it like that,’ she said. ‘There I was on the edge of my seat, and you just stop! I want to know what happens next.’

‘But you know what happens next,’ I said. ‘It’s a prequel, and you’ve read the other books.’

‘Not good enough,’ she said. ‘There’s a thirty or forty-year gap between the end of this story and the start of the next one! What happens there?’

‘Ah, right.’ I see what she means.

‘You need to write another one, fill in that gap.’

‘But…but…’ I was getting flustered now. But she does have a point.

I thought about it. Some of that back-story is included in Isle of Larus, the original first book in the series. But not all of it. If I write another novella to ‘fill that gap’, won’t I render a substantial chunk One solution, on reflection, is to rewrite the first part of Isle of Larus to ‘fill the gap’ in the story a little more, and use that as a means of introducing the characters in a more integrated way. I’m wary of mucking about with existing books, but I think in this instance it might be a good idea. I was a very new writer when I wrote Isle of Larus, and I’ve already tinkered with the first section in the light of the many things I’ve learned since. I looked at the rest of that book, and its two sequels, and changed very little – it’s just that first section that troubles me. So I’ll go back and have another look at it. If I can’t make that work, then perhaps another prequel introducing the characters might be the best answer. Writing books is never simple, is it? I hope that will be enough to keep my sister happy!

My illustrated books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from www.veneficiapublications.com

That Old Question of Genre

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genres, supernatural, writing

‘Definitely a bit woo-woo, your books,’ said my friend Judi at our writers’ zoom meeting this week. Woo-woo? I had to rush off and google it. It’s a slang term, I learned, meaning inclined towards the spiritual, the occult, the magical. Possibly a bit impolite, depending on how it’s applied – a bit ‘away with the fairies.’ Still, it’s not a bad description of my stories, I guess. But I doubt if it counts as a genre.

I used to worry a lot about genres, given that my books didn’t fit comfortably into any of the usual ones. Fantasy? Sort of. Magical realism? Not quite. Mystery? Partly. But, as Judi said, definitely a bit woo-woo.

For the past year or so that whole question of genre, and feeling out of sync with the options, has evaporated for me. This dates from my finding a publisher that suits me perfectly. Their books deal with the magical, the occult, witchcraft. There are goddesses, spells, herbs. Suits me down to the ground. It’s not that I’m involved at all with the occult, but these subject areas do provide opportunities for such rattling good stories. How much fun it is to give a character something inexplicable, or downright supernatural to deal with, sit back and see what happens. I had a wonderful time writing my recently-completed novella, where I revisited a favourite character, the Reverend Pontius. The supernatural tends to make a beeline for the poor chap, to his great consternation, and I have a lot fun setting up impossible mysteries for him to solve. He’s doing his best to cope with it all. The not-quite-real world he inhabits is pretty elastic, too, so I can make anything I like happen.

Now I don’t mind if people call that fantasy, fairytale, magical realism or just woo-woo. It’s a bit of each. And there are plenty more stories to write. Watch this space!

My illustrated books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from www.veneficiapublications.com

Prologues – A Good Idea?

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novels, prologues, writing

They’re very much out of fashion, prologues. A bit Victorian, I suppose. Long ones can certainly be a very dull read when you want to get on with the story proper, but there are circumstances in which they can be helpful.

If a story deals with extra dimensions, parallel universes, that sort of thing, I reckon it’s helpful to say so. Many writers these days leave the reader to figure it out for themselves – but it can leave the reader hopelessly baffled. Of course, one way to deal with the problem is to put a hint in the book’s back-cover blurb, or in its online description. That’s fine for paper books, where you can simply turn the book over for a reminder, but e-books tend to be rather divorced from their blurbs, so it can take a bit of effort on the reader’s part to find them.

The reason I’m fretting about this is my recently completed novella (now proudly titled Call of the Merry Isle). The story takes place in another world, another dimension, similar to our own in many ways but with some special differences, and I feel it’s necessary to say so. Yes, I could leave the reader to flounder about in puzzlement, but that risks them giving up on the book entirely. I really don’t want that to happen, so, fashionable or not, I added a short prologue. I found I could say what I needed to in just over fifty words. It will form the basis of the back-cover blurb and book description, too. Multi-purpose writing – what’s not to like? Here it is:

Once upon a time there was a young man who didn’t quite know where he was going in life. Nothing unusual in that, you say. But in the dimension in which he lived there were, shall we say, extra complications that the rest of us don’t have to cope with. Allow me to tell you the whole story…

So there you have it – clarity from the outset, versus reader bafflement. I know which I prefer as a reader, and I hope everyone else will find it helpful, too.

My illustrated books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from http://www.veneficiapublications.com