I am writing a book. I can’t
tell you how hard it is to put that out there. What I can tell you is that it
is a lot easier to dream about than actually do.
I am finding that unlike
writing for pleasure a large writing project requires, above all else, self
discipline. You cannot just write when the mood takes you, or when you are
alone or when you have time. In my case
I am almost never alone, there is always (and I mean always) something that
needs my time and as for mood, being a typically hormonal woman, this is an
unreliable source of motivation. You must research, you must be organised and
resist the temptation to rush. You must be determined.
With all this in mind I have
enthusiastically set foot into this circus of a literary adventure optimistic
that I can keep all the balls in the air. (In truth I’m scared to death I won’t
be able to keep all the balls in the air but optimism sounds catchier).
And so to the book itself –
it is called ‘The Stained Glass Horse’. My mentor in all of this, (you don’t
think I would step foot into the ring without some sort of literary contact do
you?) says its genre is historical fiction.
I found this label quite
uninspiring when it was first applied. I could not keep out of my head visions
of semi dressed sixteenth century ladies-in-waiting reclining in ballroom
dancing poses in the arms of ardent ridiculously handsome suitors, a white
stallion signifying who the hell knows what in the background. I was sure my mentor
had it wrong and considered changing mentors. (Just kidding!).
Apparently historical fiction
covers fiction set in the past with a real setting and often real historical
events. Mine is a wartime tale set mainly in rural, affluent England
They say write about what you
know. I also find it helpful to write about what I love. I love the restraint
people exercised in 1930's England, their manners, their courtesy toward each other, the things unsaid. I
love the English countryside, the folklore, the quirky English ways that they
do not see as quirkiness. As a interior designer the sumptuousness of the
historical homes also catches my fancy, as a lover of clothes and shoes, the
elegant attire of the age makes me swoon. And as a lover of love – the romance
of this era sends me into raptures, the loves lost, the loves reunited, love
across boarders, across nationalities across oceans and against the odds.
I hope I can pull all this
together into a tale about the choices people make, the responsibility we all
must take for our own destinies, the backgrounds against which our lives
play out and the influence great events have on our personal lives.
I sit at my desk and bravely
type onto a blank screen ‘Chapter One’…
