just keep writing, just keep writing . . .

Thea is obsessed with the movie Finding Nemo — I don’t know how many times she’s watched it. (We fast forward through the part where Nemo’s mommy dies for obvious reasons.) Anyone who’s ever seen it probably knows the little melody that Dorie sings as they look for Nemo: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming . . . ”
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Good advice, especially if you’re trying to reach a goal — just keep swimming/keep moving/don’t stagnate. Or, in my case, just keep writing.
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Last week, I spent most of my time on research for the New Book. Between that and having a bad head cold, it feels like I did not get much accomplished that was tangible. This week, I’m hoping that all of those facts which I poured into my head will spill on to the page easily.
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Right now, I’m writing about queens of medieval Europe, and it’s been tricky to locate source material — it’s not like writing about the queens of Henry VIII where there are a gazillion books, movies and more published. (Yup, they’re in my book too). I do have a subscription service for academic research and books, which is helping tremendously. What makes this needle-in-a-haystack process so rewarding is when I come across some fact that is so outright bizarre and colorful that I’m reminded that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
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For example, I’ve just written about Joan I of Naples. As countess of Provence, she set up a large brothel in Avignon for the nobles, effectively grabbing economic control of that industry. I’m not sure what her motives were exactly — still researching this — but a few years later when she gave Avignon to the church as part of a complicated payback scheme, all of the area prostitutes were unemployed. One wonders whether they moved shop or found a new profession.
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I’m starting to think about the art for the book. It’s going to be illustrated in black and white, and a bit Victorian in style — think Dante Rossetti’s early pen-and-ink drawings.
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I’m already lining up models for the queens. I’ll be starting the art in the new year. I can’t wait!
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Technorati Tags: queens, Doomed Queens, Kris Waldherr, writing advice, dealing with deadlines, Joan I of Naples

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