ScribblingSandy

Firlefanz, 15 hours ago to random

Huge news!

"South Breaks" made it into SPFBO 10.

It was basically a 50% chance, with almost 600 submissions and 300 books in the running.

I'm very excited. Of course, we will wait for the finalized list, and then we'll wait even longer for the reviews to trickle in. Eventually, each reviewer will list three favorites, and the final winner will be chosen from those 30 books.

I doubt South will be among those, but one can dream.

#WritingCommunity
#SPFBO10

ScribblingSandy, 1 day ago to random

#PennedPossibilities - MC or SC POV: What was your favorite day or holiday when you were a child?

Alfie:
I loved those weeks in summer that we spent at Lymfort Hall.

The house is a bit dark inside and could do with a brightening up, that's true, but the gardens are splendid! Especially the walled gardens with the fruit trees (SO MANY gooseberries!)!

I loved roving over the estate with my siblings, even if the garden follies are far less adventurous than those at Endsleigh. ☺️

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 4 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities — What is one place your characters want to visit?

Alfie would like to return to Lymfort Hall, his father's main estate and the one his father utterly detests due to the bad memories he has of the place. Alfie, by contrast, is not haunted by a traumatic past connected to the house and sees the potential of the place.

John is just happy to be where Alfie is. ☺️

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 5 days ago to random

#WordWeavers Who is your most fun character?

In the current WIP? The greataunt with the basilisk glare and the crocodile smile. 🐊 She is acerbic, is as rich as Croesus, doesn't suffer fools lightly, and has a kind heart.

In my two Victorian novellas, she is keeping my MCs on their toes, and just like in Springtime Pleasures, where she made her first appearance as the hero's aunt, she helps to facilitate the happy ending (esp. in Reunion on a Winter Night!)

#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 11 days ago to random

#wordweavers May 1: Introduce your setting as if it’s a character in your story.

Imagine a small village - no, not even a village, a handful of houses clustered around a railway station, and a small hotel in the middle of the countryside. The station, the houses, the hotel are all brandnew, built just a couple of years back when the London-Southampton line was built.

At the moment, everything is covered with a thick layer of snow, and a deserted train stands at the station.

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 12 days ago to bookstodon

Happy memories from 2005: The first ever picture of me and my debut novel, The Lily Brand

#bookstodon
@bookstodon

ScribblingSandy, 14 days ago to random

Today's #PennedPossibilities prompt and @pretensesoup 's answer to it made me think about whether Alfie should wear spectacles. His mother does, and moreover, eye problems are something that shows up in twins, doesn't it?

Alfie with fogged-up spectacles?

Also, I'm happy to report that I found out after which English country house I originally modelled Endsleigh Hall eleven years ago. Only the map of the grounds I drew up back then remains elusive...

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 14 days ago to random

#WordWeavers - Do you have an irrepressibly good-humoured character? How do others react to them?

Not in my Victorian WIPs, but there is always Damianus from Gladiator's Passion (and there will be a few more Roman stories in the future!). Damianus is basically a Golden Retriever in human form. 😊

ScribblingSandy, 15 days ago to bookstodon

Hey @romancelandia and @bookstodon - would you like to have a look at a Victorian pocket calendar from 1847? Of interest to lovers of of history and historical romance! 😊

https://youtu.be/Ah_KprMiJeo?si=_ffg02kgCaHJhn1j

ScribblingSandy, 15 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - Do you write standalone stories, series, or both? Which do you prefer?

I started out writing standalone novels, then tried my hand at series because series was / is the way to go, but looking at my Roman series, I'm probably pretty sh*te at writing series because after getting the first 2 books done according to plan, the plan started to sideways, I eventually unpublished one of the two books, and now I'm writing this series backwards and outwards. :blobcatpeek:

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 15 days ago to random

#WordWeavers - Who's blaming who in your story?

The weather, obvs. If it hadn't snowed so much, the trees wouldn't have come down across the line and across the street and nobody would have become stuck in the little hotel across from Andover Road Station.

And John and Alfie would not have met, and Will and Nell would not have met again, and nobody's life would have changed forevermore.

It was the snow. :blobcatcozytea:

ScribblingSandy, 17 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 25: Do you add a message from the author to your work?

I always put an Author's Note in my books, and this is where I talk about my research for the story, list some of the most important research works, and end with a round of thanks. I typically put the Author's Note at the end, but in some cases (anachronistic wild boars in Springtime Pleasures and Roman military terms in Gladiator's Passion), I've put an additional shorter note at the beginning of a book.

ScribblingSandy, 18 days ago to random

Long Covid is kicking my butt this week. Nearly didn't make it home yesterday because I was overcome by exhaustion. 😞

ScribblingSandy, 18 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 294 — What, to you, are the most important elements of good writing?

When I think of the authors whose work I most admire - Roaemary Sutcliff and Dorothy Dunnett -, then I'd say the ability to create compelling characters and vivid settings. In addition, both Sutcliff and Dunnett were excellent at bringing the past to life, and Sutcliff in particular had a knack of creating these small timeless moments that stay with you for many years after reading her books.

ScribblingSandy, 18 days ago to random

Good morning, lovely tooting friends! ☀️ May your day be filled with joy!

ScribblingSandy, 19 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - Do you agree with Rose Tremain, who said you shouldn't plan a book's ending; it must be earned?

Earned by whom??? By the author? By the story? By the characters??

Anyway, it's not how I plan my stories: I see all of them as a film first (often several times) before I start writing. So even if I don't do a proper outline (or mindmap - a mindmap is better, really), I have a plan for the story. It might change a little during the writing process itself, but not much.

ScribblingSandy, 22 days ago to random

The online supermarket where I buy most of my groceries is running a sale on cakes.

I repeat: Cake is on sale! This is not a drill!!!

(This is actually the perfect excuse to try a slice of cake I haven't had before.)

eclectech, 23 days ago to art

Chicken with a Pearl Earring

giggles

(with appropriate apologies to Vermeer, obvs)

#MyfanwyAndFriend #silly #nonsense #art