Tag: Historical Novel Society

revisiting tarot

For all my interest in the strange and unusual, I don’t have much experience with it. I’ve never been “intuitive” or “empathetic” or whatever else people call Colin Wilson’s Faculty X.  I’ve never seen or experienced anything I can’t explain.

So what am I doing with all these tarot cards?

a spread of tarot cards in bright primary colors. The most visible card is The Emperor, featuring a king wearing purple with a crown on a blue background
I’m currently using my Tarot of the Witches deck, a gift from my mother. They’re small and slick enough to shuffle easily.

My parents got me my first deck as a birthday gift when I was in high school, a classic Rider Waite deck (which ought to be called the Rider-Waite-Smith deck). I suspect they had my grandmother’s help, she of the “Fate” magazine subscription with their eclectic back-page classifieds. Where else would one find such things before the internet put everything a only click away?

I was fascinated, in large part by the artwork. The Rider Waite might look a bit flat compared to some of the glossier decks out there (Dali, David Bowie, Dave McKean)* but the outlines are clear, the symbols easy to see. Still, I love variations on a theme so I’ve accumulated a couple more decks over the years.

I never tried to use them for divination, not seriously. Sure, I tried to memorize the meanings and learned a layout or two. But I don’t think I ever believed any of my results. Nothing ever seemed to pan out, even though the meanings were broad enough to interpret however I wanted.

But tarot are good for other things – specifically, shaking up the creative impulse.

Author and tarot designer Kris Waldherr‘s session at the Historical Novel Society conference was a compressed version of her extended tarot workshops, and the first time I’ve seen tarot presented as a tool for accessing and activating creativity. Cards can be used as inspiration, as story-structuring (the Major Arcana itself is a story cycle of major archetypes), casting character readings, and more.

But what I’ve found most useful is that the cards jog my right brain. The flexibility of interpretation invites me to make things up about any given card’s meaning or imagery. The symbols get me out of my plodding, linear thinking. Sometimes just looking at the artwork instead of words rests my mind long enough for something to float to the surface.

Asking them questions is useful as well. Never good for a simple “yes” or “no”, layouts help me get at ideas and answers that I already knew but couldn’t quite articulate.

So I view tarot as a less of an oracle** that works in mysterious ways and more as a tool to get at my subconscious.

Much as I love the pretty decks, I’ve found a version of the Rider Waite with meanings printed on the card so I don’t have to break off and look them up!

*Links to specific decks don’t imply endorsement, just personal interest.

**Fun fact: all tarot are oracle cards, but not all oracle cards are tarot. I found a John Dee oracle a while back that I ought to give another look, but one thing at a time.

 

mixed emotions

Tomorrow HNS2021 starts and I wish I were more excited than I am.

I type this from my home office – the same office from which I’ve been working from home for the past year and a half. So while I have the week off the day job, there’s not much change in my routine. Indeed, I still have domestic obligations that aren’t going away just because I’m on (sort of) vacation.

I’ve made shamefully little progress in my writing, due to…well, everything. It’s been a crap year. I’ve even neglected my blog because I’ve simply not had much to talk about. “Be forgiving of yourself”, yes, but I go into this conference in about the same place as I did back in 2019—except without not even an active blog presence to point to.

My first HNS was back in 2015. Back then I was excited about the conference and the people and the classes and the first feedback on my first draft of The Book!!! This year (my fourth conference, Christ, my fourth!) I just want to be done with the latest draft of The Book so I can start querying it again and move on to the next thing.

More than anything else I want to get excited about the Next Thing. The muse isn’t gone, and I still sit down to Scrivener every morning in case it shows up. I’ve got a couple of vague notions (and one short story I’m actually eager to polish) but that feeling of being so seized by an idea that I can think of nothing else eludes me.

I’m in a ditch. I know I can dig out. It’s taking a hell of an effort though, and I’m an impatient person.

Over the next few months I am going to try and resurrect this blog though. If you have any ideas of what a (still relatively isolated and housebound) writer might blather about I am all ears.*

*Contrary to perceptions my comments are not closed – they’re just closed after 3 weeks and I’ve not written a blog post in 3 months.

HNS recap

This isn’t going to be your usual conference recap.

If I try to list names or sessions I’ll forget someone and I don’t want to risk leaving someone out or appear to play favorites. If you were there, you know who you are, and you made my third(!) HNS conference everything I dreamed it would be and more!

The weekend itself was a delightful, overwhelming blur. Many people met and re-met, many sessions attended, many ideas spawned and shaped.

I’ve not even typed up my notes yet but a few notions stand out:

Make shit up. Hammering a story arc out of Kelley and Dee’s peripatetic activities sent me down research rabbit holes that did nothing to help the story, so “permission” to focus on the fiction in historical fiction in the next book* was supremely freeing!

Do what scares you. If a project seems out of your league, you’re probably on the right track.

Say yes. To ideas, to opportunities, to something or someone you’ve not considered before. You might learn something.

Be flexible. In terms of describing your work, marketing, etc. ‘Cos my manuscript has fingers in multiple pies but doesn’t fit in any one pie tin.

Go gothic. See “be flexible” above. I always thought of “gothic” fiction as something set in the Victorian era that explored the tension between man and technology. Not so – check out these tropes. At HNS 2017 I learned I was writing historical fantasy; this year I further honed that down to gothic fiction. Makes it easier to describe this thing, that’s for damn sure!

Avoid burnout. Because I’ve been skating on the edge of it for months, and enjoy riding that edge until I hit a wall. I may turn off social media apps or designate certain times or days social media-free just for my own sanity. I may also set aside a day a week to NOT work on book-related stuff.

Stay on site, if possible. This is specific to conferences, but not just HNS. This year HNS was in my own back yard but I got a hotel room so I wouldn’t have to cut interesting conversations short to hit the road. Because guaranteed-all the really good conversation takes place after hours.

This publishing thing is incremental. I am thrilled to report that I pitched my novel and got some interest! I’ve sent pages to the relevant parties and while of course I’m hopeful I keep reminding myself: this is just a foot in the door. If it goes nowhere, that’s ok – these pitches were practice for future pitches. If this book goes nowhere, it’s ok – this book was practice for future books. If this book does get representation, that’s only one step in the long process of getting a book on shelves. It’s a cliché but overnight success is never, ever overnight.

picture of an iceberg. Exposed section is the success that people see. All the stuff underwater is the invisible stuff that goes into success: hard work, determination, disappointment, sacrifice, dedication, good habits, failures.
Credit where credit is due: this is Katelyn Shelby‘s. Read the post as well.

As I type this I’m prepping for the final loop in this summer’s roller coaster: Nationals. So it’s going to take me awhile to digest everything I learned last weekend. Maybe I’ll make some headway on my to-read stack between competitions, so there’s that.

*For the next book I am going to avoid real historical figures for this reason. I’m also likely going to write the pitch/synopsis first to keep the story foremost in my mind.

I’m on a ride…

By the time this posts I’ll be on my way to the Historical Novel Society conference. Or, at least, I’ll have my query typed, my elevator pitch memorized, and my manuscript grammar/spellchecked to within an inch of its life.

Via Giphy.

I’m as prepared as I can be. Hell, I’m overprepared, but while I’m excited about the conference, the stakes feel higher than before because I’m pitching to an agent and an editor.

Not that I haven’t pitched before. I did at my first HNS back in 2015 because I didn’t realize I wasn’t ready. Ah, the bliss of ignorance!

I’ll be fine. And this weekend will be wonderful!

what I do when I don’t write

This past Sunday afternoon I finished my third draft.

I am still unhappy with parts of the book but apart from a few tweaks in the proofreading/spellchecking stage the bulk of rewriting is done. It’s as good as I can make it without professional help, so I’m going to fulfill my personal goal of pitching this thing at the Historical Novel Society conference in just over two weeks.

[gulp]

I’m really trying not to think about that.

Fortunately I’ve got some distractions.

long stretch of blue fabric draped all over an unfinished basement with popes and water heater
That’s what part of 8 yards of silk habotai looks like-it extends a good few feet beyond the frame. Photo author’s own.

I promised myself a sewing project or two during the initial query process/before I start research for the next book* and what you see above is the raw material for a long-standing plan to make a silk pleated gown in the style of Fortuny’s Delphos. I made a polyester version years ago but it does not move or drape the same way natural silk does.

I dyed this with natural indigo at a friend’s house back on a cold, chilly day in May and set it aside though I wanted to play with it so much! But I’ve learned I can only do one project at a time if I want to do it well.

In addition to the HNS conference I have a family trip and Nationals this month so my June is well tied up. Hopefully I’ll get back on my weekly blogging schedule as well.

What have you got planned for this summer?

*I’m deciding between two plot bunnies and will get nose back to grindstone this fall.

historical fiction: where the boys aren’t(?)

Evidently I’m writing a fantasy novel.

This is news to me.

via GIPHY

So how did this happen?

Of all the sessions I attended at the HNS conference last week, the one about male protagonists was the most surprising. As far back as 2015 I’d heard murmurings that my choice of a male protagonist was unusual but I didn’t realize just how unusual.

Industry logic goes like this: historical fiction is written primarily by and for women. Women prefer to read from the points of view of other women. Hence, a female protagonist is all but required in order to market a book as “historical fiction”*. Hence, having Edward Kelley as my protagonist creates a hurdle to publication, at least in this genre.

Of course, historical fictions with male protagonists do exist, though they’re often marketed as something else. This results in oddities like “Wolf Hall” being shelved in literary (even though Hilary Mantel clearly thinks of herself as a historical fiction writer) and books from the POV of a male spy having women on the covers to meet reader expectations.

Which makes little sense because readers don’t actually expect this. Anecdotes aren’t data but the panel attendees–men and women alike–enjoyed reading male protagonists and want to see more of them. Authors enjoy writing them, even though some editors warn them off (!).

The trope persists due to a risk-averse publishing industry based on what I suspect are very old stats. This does a disservice to readers and authors alike in terms of publishability and findability.

Interestingly, fantasy/sci-fi has the opposite problem. Which led to my asking whether I should pitch the Work in Progress as fantasy, given my male protagonist and fantastical elements. The panelists replied with a resounding “yes”.

So, shall I pitch as fantasy and betray the sisterhood/fall under histfic readers’ radar, or pitch as historical fiction and possibly never publish at all? It’s a conundrum. Fortunately, I find this funny as well as frustrating.

I invite readers to share their favorite genre-bending media (not just books! Movie, tv, comic, game, etc. recs are all welcome!), particularly historical fiction not marketed as such. How did you find it? Did you have trouble finding it?

*Not that historical fiction can’t be about men: it often is, just through the eyes of the women around them. The notion is that women don’t mind reading about men, they just don’t want to walk in their shoes.

year in review, year to come

Strange days, the weeks around Christmas and new years. I find it difficult to keep motivated due to the disruption in schedule (and a nice cold I’m working on – achoo!) Certainly not a time to start anything new. So I thought I’d review:

For the coming year:

  • Attend the HNS conference in June
  • Have a proper second draft in time for this conference if it kills me
    • To this end, write a bit every day, even if it kills me
  • Keep meeting with critiquers and critiquing in turn
  • Guest blog post(s?)

And this is just off the top of my stuffy head.

Happy holidays to those that celebrate. Don’t worry, I’ll see you one more time before the new year, with a tidy link dump for next Wednesday.

everything, everything: the HNS conference

Wow.

This past fantastic weekend was my second writing conference and my first (and certainly not the last!) Historical Novel Society conference. I’m still digesting it all, but here are some highlights:

  • The camaraderie. Socially awkward me had spontaneous conversations everywhere: on light rail, in the elevator, at every meal and in every session. The entire HNS membership is as kind and welcoming as my local chapter. Thank you all!

  • Keep Calm: Gabba gabba we accept you one of us!
    Via http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk
  • Others who “get it”. Who understand how you can’t NOT write, no matter how difficult it gets. Who grok the indescribable relief/joy of the perfectly turned phrase. Who talk to and channel their characters. Who appreciate the addictiveness of research. So much nodding in agreement my teeth are still rattling.
  • The readers. After all, we all started as readers, and without them authors would just be talking to themselves. I look at my “to read” pile and weep with envy at their luxury of time to read all these wonderful books! Many blog their enthusiasm for their chosen genre and they know what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s coming next. Hats off!
  • Hearing what brought authors to their stories. Often their plots are years in the making, based on childhood obsessions or family histories. Everyone is so passionate about their work!
  • The hard to hear but much-needed blue pencil cafe critique of my first 10 pages. The sting only lasted until my little black heart smiled at my mentor’s suggestions for tightening the screws on my characters…
  • Reassurance that I’m on the right track.
  • Valuable information about the responsibilities of authors, editors, agents, and publishers, and how they intersect.
  • A reminder that published authors are still responsible for the bulk of their publicity, and that it doesn’t have to be a chore.
  • The impetus to finally create my author Facebook page.
  • Tips on how to read in front of an audience without turning into a panicky train wreck.

Somehow I’m both more terrified AND more hopeful about the long revision process to come. It’s time to get to work.

What was your favorite part of the conference?