ScribblingSandy

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

The theme for today's #FridayKiss is "tears", and when you're writing a second-chance-at-love story you have, of course, QUITE A LOT of bits with tears to choose from (because you're a mean, mean author who enjoys being mean to her characters and making her readers cry :blobcatbigfan: ).

(Snippet also in next toot.)

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

I had Covid in October, and the aftereffects are still kicking my arse. 🙁 Next Friday, there's a concert that I'd love to go to, but I know that it's simply not possible because I still don't have enough energy for braving Frankfurt in the evening and sitting through a whole concert. Especially not at the end of the week. ::sigh::

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

One of the fun things about writing my two Victorian stories (apart from the ROMANCE and VICTORIAN parts) is weaving the stories together. There are a few scenes that appear in both romances, but they're told from different POVs and parts of a scene that remain hidden in one story are revealed in the other.

(Okay, the love scenes are fun to write, too.)

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Snippet from the WIP:

But before John could comment, there were voices in the hallway and then the door was flung open to admit the elderly lady who had wielded her umbrella against Forrester earlier on. "That will do quite nicely," she told the flustered maid servant.

"Aunt Burnell--" The voice of the young oak tree.

"Of course, we won't mind sharing a dining room," the woman continued, blithely ignoring both maid and nephew. "Given that this hotel is so overrun with unexpected guests...
1/2

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities - If your MC could be the best in the world at something, what would it be?

For John, it would be loving Alfie. And he is totally going to become the best at this. ☺️

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 7 Feb: Complete this phrase: I write because…

I cannot not write. Since I was little, I have been telling stories to myself, and writing is simply an extension of that.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Since the birdie site stumbled toward the way of the dodo, I've lost touch with several people, and it just makes me so sad.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

2nd-chance-at-love stories are meant to tug at your heartstrings, but that doesn't mean that you can't have some comic relief in them in. ☺️ Enjoy this snippet!

Forrester sprinted all the way to the hotel, pushing past the party that included the elderly woman and the young oak tree. The elderly woman took this with little grace and, yelling something about outrageous young louts, swung her umbrella, missing Forrester by just a few inches.

1/3

Firlefanz, 3 months ago to random

#BookBirthdayParty

Okay, I'm bad at games and such, but I'll give away an ebook of Sky Falls to someone commenting below (I'll use my dice to roll the winner).

If you could pick a theme song for Sky, what would it be?

(I know I'd be absolutely hopeless with that question, so I'm asking you all.)

Sky Falls, Pillars of the Empire 2

https://books2read.com/SkyPillarsEmpire

#WritingCommunity
#BookGame
#PlayWithMe

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 4: What software do you use to write?

I write my first drafts on my Alphasmart Neo and in dotted Din A5 notebooks. Then I transfer the manuscript into Word, with revisions done on paper.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Okay, I've decided I won't let a stupid article drag me down so now I'm doing some research for my two connected Victorian novellas. May I present Micheldever Station and The Dove Inn - back in 1846, they were known as Andover Road Station and Western Road Hotel.

This is where my characters meet and where they all get stuck when heavy snowfall interrupts their train journey.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Today I read a completely depressing article about how authors use AI, and one of the very prominent voices in indie publishing claimed that soon all fiction would be written by AI and that authors would just... I don't know... ::waves hands:: ...do anything but write. Market their computer generated books, most likely.

I had planned to write a bit today, but after reading that, I find it rather difficult to get into the mood.

CelloMomOnCars, 3 months ago to random

A broad cross section of Germans are taking to the streets and the squares to protest the rise of the far-right in German politics.

Their brilliant slogan: #WirSindDieBrandmauer
In English, #WeAreTheFirewall

I hope the slogan goes viral, whether in German or in translation. It reflects exactly what is needed: for lots of us to show up together, and not allow the far right fascists to take over.

WE are the firewall.

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Happy weekend, everybody! ☀️ I've got some music for you: This is "Wiosna" ("Spring") by Frédéric Chopin. He wrote this arrangement in February 1846 - incidentally, this is also the year in which the stories I'm currently working on are set. ☺️ Enjoy! 🎶

https://youtu.be/Z0SXI3sTtQs?si=yc4eC3ZuEVbeHheG

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

Newsletter has gone out, and I decided to pack a little WIP update into it. ☺️

Have you already signed up for my newsletter? If you haven't, start here:
https://news.sandraschwab.com/newsletter

ScribblingSandy, 3 months ago to random

The quiet satisfaction of putting Easter Eggs into your WIP. AND some fan-girling over Punch, the 19th-century satirical magazine. AND a Victorian joke about railway tickets. :blobcatbigfan:

#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 1.26 — Would you ever co-write a book? Why or why not?

Co-write a book? Nope, nope, nope.

The whole concept seems like a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.

Co-writing a series with books or stories written by different authors would be a different matter.

sharonecathcart, 4 months ago to random

Still struggling a bit in the wake of my friend's passing. I'll get through it. I am just around a little less right now.

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 21: If your antagonist won a huge sum of money in a lottery, what would they do?

No antagonists in the stories I'm currently working on! :blobcatbirthday:

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 21: Do you know the ending before you start writing?

Yep. The story tends to play like a film in my mind. Sometimes bits in the middle are missing or just very blurry, but the ending is always there when I start writing a new story.

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 20: Do you have a blog? Tell us about it and share a link.

I used to have a blog on Blogspot, then I installed a Wordpress blog on my website, but gave it up several years ago.

I've been thinking about starting to blog again, but I hardly find time to write anyway, so... 🤷🏻‍♀️

And the blog I'm feeling the most nostalgia about is my Blogspot one. That's where I posted about my first novels, that's where I still have a picture of my cute cat (long gone over the 🌈) in the header.

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub How do you decide on characters' names?

For my Regency and Victorian stories I use a mixture of Debrett's, a dictionary of first names, and bibliographies in my research books.

For my Roman books, I try to find names that would be feasible for the era and for the region the person is from. So for Gladiator's Passion, I consulted research books on the legion stationed at Vetera and on names that appearnon pottery shards from the region. Plus books on Roman Egyptian names.

ScribblingSandy, 4 months ago to random

#WordWeavers Did you realize what writing was going to be like when you started?

I mean, I started writing stories as soon as I could write (and before that, I drew pictures about the stories I was inventing for my own amusement). So no, I didn't really know what it was going to be like. 😊

I had a much clearer idea, though, when I switched to write in English 24 years ago. That was one of the good things about RWA: enabling newbie authors to learn about the business side of writing.