ScribblingSandy

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#WordWeavers March 24 - Are there any other writers in your family?

No. Which tends to be a problem because there is not much understanding for the creative process (but then again, this is also an issue of boundaries... 🤷🏻‍♀️). But at least, I'm no longer told what I ought to write instead of the things that bring me joy...

Did I mention issues? Yeah. Issues. (Today was a particularly bad day.)

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to mmromance

I've just realized that I haven't yet shown you the cover for John & Alfie's story, Passion of a Winter Night. So without further ado, here it is!!! 😊 I hope you'll like it!

Passion of a Winter Night will soon be available as a special goodie for my newsletter subscribers.

@romancelandia
@queerromanceclub
@mmromance

#HistoricalRomance
#VictorianRomance
#mmRomance

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 17: What personal expertise makes it into your books?

My books are infused with my love for history, and especially the love for cultural history - a love that has deepened over the years thanks to the subjects I studied at university (among them folklore studies) and my later research projects as a PhD candidate and post doc. My last big research project before I left academia focused on Punch, the satirical Victorian magazine - my Victorian novels are a continuation of this. 😊

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to bookstodon

This promo image for Eagle's Honor: Ravished from 2016 turned up in my FB memories today. Awwww, Livia & Adelar! 😍

#HistoricalRomance
#RomanRomance
#UnusualHistoricals

@bookstodon
@romancelandia

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#WordWeavers What powers (e.g. political, religious, corporate, magical, natural, etc.) influence your characters’ lives?

❄️ SNOW ❄️

And, to a lesser extent, the crocodile greataunt. 😊

(At least within the context of the story.)

#AlfieAndJohn
#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 1 month 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, 2 months ago to random

Are breeders in thr USA cutting dogs' tails off?? I just saw a dog video on IG that featured a Weimaraner with a tail that's way too short for this breed.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities - What is something your MC is reluctant to tell people?

For John and Alfie, it's obviously that they're gay. (Historical romance author here.)

For Alfie, it's also that he would have liked more time with his twin sister (they spent a lot of time apart in the past few years) and that he feels a bit lost without her.

#AlfieAndJohn
#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WordWeavers - How do your characters welcome spring?

My poor characters are still snowed in at Andover Road Station... 😉

But there might be some spring / summer extras in the making. 😊

#AlfieAndJohn
#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 259 — Sum up your MC in three adjectives.

Alfie: Adorable (with dimples)

John: Intelligent, conscientious, careful

#AlfieAndJohn
#HistoricalRomance
#PassionOfAWinterNight

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 16 - Have you ever started a chapter with a quote or a poem? How do you feel about the idea?

I love the concept, and in The Lily Brand, I put quotes from Tennyson's The Day Dream at the beginning of the larger parts of the novel (rather than at the beginning of each chapter).

In Springtime Pleasures, I used old-fashioned descriptive chapter summaries at the beginning.of each chapter and had the best fun with that!

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

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

ScribblingSandy, 1 month 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.)

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub Do I want to write full time, or am I happy for it to be a hobby/hustle?

That's a difficult question. At the moment, I simply wouldn't be able to write full time. I've had too many breaks in my writing career and, let's face it, unusual historicals, for the most part, don't really sell well. People want the dukes.

I also don't have a partner to support me financially, so in other words, I need the day job to provide me with financial stability.

1/?

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

New installment of the newsletter has been sent to subscribers' inboxes.

I had a lot of fun with this week's "A Bit of Punch" because I could repurpose a couple of paragraphs from an article about Richard Doyle's sequential art in Punch (the Victorian magazine) I wrote back in 2012/13 for the proceedings of an academic conference. I LOVE it when I can repurpose my academic research and share it with more people!!! :blobcatbigfan:

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#IrishCoffeeClub - How would your characters attempt to catch a leprechaun?

Alfie: We'd need a glass jar--

John: Or a tin can. Or perhaps a bucket? Depending on how big the beastie is.

Alfie: Wouldn't a glass jar be better? You'd want to sketch it, wouldn't you?

John: True.

Alfie: So. A glass jar and... eh... some milk? Or would it prefer beer?

John, grinning: I would prefer the beer.

Alfie: I know you would. Where would we need to go to find a leprechaun?

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

THE CAKE HAS ARRIVED AND IT IS BEYOND DELICIOUS!!! I repeat: THE CAKE IS BEYOND DELICIOUS! (It probably also has a million calories, but who cares about that when it comes to cake?)

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - How much do you edit as you write, and how much do you leave until the second draft?

I write the first draft on my Alphasmart / Neo (and some chunks by hand) and with that itty bitty screen you can't really edit as you write. Which for me is a good thing!

Because of the way I plan my stories beforehand, my first drafts tend to be quite clean anyway. (Exceptions apply. 😉)

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub April 1 - What's your favourite easter egg in your own work and/or another work of fiction?

I love putting Easter eggs into my work - sometimes, the Easter egg is self-referential (e.g., in the Valentine's bonus story to Yuletide Truce, Aigee & Kit comes across various characters from my other books in Hyde Park) and sometimes it refers to another author's work (e.g., in Castle of the Wolf, Cissy finds a German edition of one of Pratchett's books in the castle library) 😊

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Opening your book with action is good, but you also want to set up the scene and let your readers know where the heck your characters are. Putting some vague clues as to the setting at the bottom of the first page is too late - and yes, even when you write contemporary romance, we need some setting.

Great, one of your characters is walking away from the other? So does that happen in a bar? In a locker room? In an office?? On the street??? On a mountain in the Alps???

Aaaargh! 🙄

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub Do you invent places in your work? Are any based on real locations?

The country estates in my Regency and Victorian stories are fictional (except for Eglinton Castle in The Bride Prize!), though they tend to be based on real estates or are cobbled together with bits and pieces of real estates.

Most of the towns and cities in my stories are real locations - heck, in my Victorian stories, I even let busses and trains run according to real timetables! 😄

ScribblingSandy, 2 months ago to random

#WordWeavers: Write an intro post from you MC’s POV

John: John Mitchell, writer. I work for the weekly periodical About Town. Follow me for updates about the world of theatre and general London news.

Alfie: Hi, I'm Alfie. 😊

Comment from John: You can't just introduce yourself as Alfie.

Reply from Alfie: I can't? Whyever not?

Reply from John: You are a lordling. Lordlings don't go around introducing themselves that way.

Reply from Alfie: It's all right. I'm just an "Honorable" anyway. 😊