It’s all how you frame it—and CLAUDE AND CAMILLE giveaway

I’m back from my writer’s retreat, which was semi-successful in that I made healthy inroads into what I planned for it. My intent was to write and complete a novel “bible”* for THE LILY MAID. My agent set this task for me during our last meeting, thinking it would help clear up some character motivation issues. As usual, she was right. But little did I realize that such a project requires more than three days’ concentrated labor—I managed to set up the document formatting and begin writing the first third. Even as such, the document came to well over 25,000 words!

As usual, I was too ambitious in thinking that I’d work 24/7 since I’d be without distractions and interruptions. The reality is that writing a novel bible is hard. So distractions were needed to clear my head.

The top photograph is the view from my hotel room from where I spent my writer’s retreat. Below is what I saw on a walk outside my hotel—daffodils everywhere surrounded by wildness stung by sea water. Beautiful!

And yet, if I turned my head toward another direction, here was my view.

Monster uber-resort. Atlantic City, baby. It’s all how you frame it.

For the record, I didn’t play even a single slot machine. Gambling makes me feel queasy—publishing is high stakes enough for me. But the hotel had an amazing spa, which helped to stoke the creative muses. After all, inspiration likes fire and water and heat.

As for finishing my novel bible, I’ve set up a schedule for the rest of it. It’s going to take me probably another week or so—maybe longer. Yikes!

On a totally unrelated note, congratulations to those who won copies of Stephanie Cowell’s CLAUDE AND CAMILLE! I’ve sent each winner an e-mail with instructions on how to claim your prize. I hope you enjoy it! This generous giveaway was courtesy of Crown Books.

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*I’ll write more about what’s involved in creating a novel bible next week.

• Filed under The Novel, be-mused, giveaways and raffles, travels | 2 Responses

Publishing Monday: Good news—and AC, baby

Above are most of the research books I’m bringing with me on my latest novel writing retreat, which begins tomorrow morning. Hello, Umberto Eco and Oscar Wilde and 1880s’ Baedeckers! This time, I’m off to Atlantic City. Not that I like gambling—far from it!—but I do like cheap, luxurious mid-week hotel rooms where I can hunker down and stare at the ocean while ordering room service. Upon my return, I plan to write a guide entitled The Introvert’s Guide to Atlantic City, Or How I Went to AC and Avoided Slot Machines and Snookie.

My plan for these next three days: to finish writing the book “bible” for THE LILY MAID. My agent had given me this task when we last discussed my novel two months ago—she felt it would help me with this new draft—so time’s a-wasting. Another goal: to revise my first fifty pages anew, now that I’m armed with a new set of notes from said agent, her lovely and perceptive assistant, and two generous beta readers.

Meanwhile, I fear I’m starting to come down with laryngitis yet again. And I’m stretched out from trying to tie up all the various errands that need to be done before my departure, such as cleaning the hamster cage. (Don’t worry, Nibbles! I won’t let you down.)

But in the midst of this, I’ve had some wonderful news. My novel query for THE LILY MAID won the Backspace Query Contest for a scholarship to the Backspace Writers Conference. As part of my entry, I had to include my novel’s first two pages, so this feels like a lovely validation of where I’m going with this book. I’m really surprised—I never expected to win though, of course, one hopes to. I mainly entered the contest thinking it was a good spur for rewriting my novel synopsis, which has proved very helpful during the revision process. Anything else was icing on the cake.

So thank you, Backspace Writers Conference! I’m so pleased to be attending you.

• Filed under The Novel, be-mused, travels | 3 Responses

Creativity Friday: On Your Desk

Ever wonder what my desk looks like as I work? Terri Windling, the wonderfully inspiring creator of many books and much beautiful artwork, has included my workspace in her “On Your Desk” blog series. Also included: the desk of Jane Yolen and those of many other mythic artists and writers. I love this intimate look at creative working environments!

Terri was also the editor of the late and much lamented Journal of Mythic Arts, which I adored reading on a regular basis. Fortunately, the archives are still available for your perusal.

Terri and I have known each other for longer than I can believe—it makes me feel quite old to think of it. When I was first starting out as a children’s book illustrator over two decades ago, the illustrator Alan Lee suggested I contact Terri for advice regarding my first picture book, Rapunzel. I still remember the first time I met Terri—I was fresh out of art school and totally intimidated by the publishing world. In walked this lovely, fae-like woman who instantly put me at my ease and was so encouraging of my art. It was Terri, by way of author Ellen Kushner, who set me up with a literary agent for my children’s books so I was able to begin earning a living as an artist.

Though many books have passed since then, I have never forgotten Terri’s generous help and pure spirit. Anyone starting out in publishing knows how intimidatingly difficult can be to get that first foot in the door. It is through gestures of faith from people such as Terri Windling that creativity is encouraged to go out into the world and prosper.

You can view my desk here.

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Reminder: Tomorrow is our Holiday Artisan Fair at the gallery. If you live in the NYC area, I hope you’ll stop by for your holiday shopping needs! This is our last event of 2010.

• Filed under be-mused, blogs we read, creativity, friends and colleagues, studio and gallery, the world around me | No Comments

Publishing Monday: Back from England—and more

Ack, how could almost a month pass since my last blog post? And that one was right before my trip to England at the end of November. Quelle scandale! Well, the truth is that since my return I’ve been so inspired that I’ve been working nonstop on my novel THE LILY MAID and other projects (more about those below). So the objective of my trip was more than met. And Nana’s ashes were brought home to the church where she was baptized and married.

I have several hundred photos from my trip, many of them research-oriented. One highlight was a visit to Highgate Cemetery’s West Cemetery to visit the grave of Elizabeth Siddal, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s model, muse, and wife. Below is Rossetti’s Beata Beatrice, an oil painting he completed of Lizzie (which is how her many knew her) several years after her death from a laudanum overdose. Though her passing was ruled death by misadventure, she may have left a suicide note which her husband destroyed. However, Lizzie was a gifted poet and painter in her own right, a fact often overshadowed by the Sturm und Drang particulars of her association with Rossetti.

The fragile condition of Highgate’s West Cemetery leaves it closed to visitors except by advance arrangement. I feel very fortunate to have had such a special experience. I am grateful to Justin, my guide at Highgate, who was both knowledgeable and tolerant as I paid my respects.

I was pleased to see that someone else had recently visited Lizzie’s grave—I added my offering of a peach-colored rose to the red flowers already there. Lizzie’s plot in the Rossetti family enclave is located down a hidden, isolated and ivy-strewn pathway slick with autumn leaves. Justin said that she’s visited by more men than women–and the men tend to weep. One even became visibly angry and ranted about how she was abused by Rossetti. “I think the women who visit are made of sterner stuff,” my guide concluded.

Lizzie’s tragic life is included in THE LILY MAID as a cautionary tale. In this excerpt from my novel, my protagonist Elizabeth is warned about the dangers of being a muse from her ex-fiance:

Charles began, “Elizabeth Siddal was the muse for Dante Rossetti, the most famous Pre-Raphaelite of them all—”

“—Don’t bore me. I know who Rossetti is,“ I interrupted. “And I told you, Mr. Dulac is not a Pre-Raphaelite.”

“Doesn’t matter. All artists seek inspiration—a muse, if you will.”

“Indeed.”

“Everyone should have a muse. But nobody should have to be one.”

Charles’ eyes met mine, daring me to ignore him…. His voice became low. “Elizabeth Siddal posed for some of Rossetti’s most famous paintings—Beata Beatrice, Paolo and Francesca. His poems are about her. You know this one:

‘At length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart:
And as the last slow sudden drops are shed
From sparkling eaves when all the storm has fled,
So singly flagged the pulses of each heart….’

I flushed, remembering.

Charles continued, “Anyway, Rossetti claimed to be in love with Miss Siddal—that she was the only one who could inspire his art. But he soon tired of her, beautiful as she was, and replaced her with another muse, Jane Morris. Miss Siddal did not take it well. Sure, Rossetti did the right thing and married her, but she never recovered from losing that influence over him. It was like a drug to her. So she replaced it with another drug, laudanum. She died at the age of thirty-one from an overdose.”

I was disturbed, but determined not to show it.

“When she died, Rossetti tucked his only copy of his poems in her coffin next to her long copper hair. He regretted it, so he had the coffin exhumed from Highgate seven years later.”

THE LILY MAID is about a young woman who becomes a model to a charismatic artist and his wife and, in the process, uncovers a mysterious tragedy. It’s set during the Aesthetics art movement in 1880s London. You can learn more about Elizabeth Siddal and her work at LizzieSiddal.com and PreRaphaeliteSisterhood.com—both wonderful sites. I also highly recommend Lucinda Hawksley’s biography, Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites.

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It wouldn’t be a Publishing Monday post without some mention of publishing. As I posted last month, my new e-book imprint Art and Words Editions is officially launched! I’m especially pleased that all of our Fall books have been approved and released by Amazon, BN.com, and Apple.

Our newest addition—and one which I’m especially proud of—is Lisa Hunt’s Soul Drawings. Thie e-book original is a stunning look at the fine art of this much-loved illustrator whose many publications include the Fairy Tale Tarot, Animals Divine Tarot, and Celestial Goddesses.

Soul Drawings is available for $9.99 in iBooks, Kindle, Nook, and PDF formats; the PDF will work on any computer. View excerpts from the book here. In addition, you can download a free chapter and art here from Apple, BN.com, and Amazon.

In January, we’ll be posting an exclusive and candid Q&A with Lisa about the creation of Soul Drawings as well as a video detailing what goes into creating a “soul drawing.” Not to be missed!

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, be-mused, creativity, e-books, friends and colleagues, new projects, the art world, the world around me, travels | 3 Responses

Doomed Queens: Harrowing Historicals and a review

I have a guest post up on Harrowing Historicals, a month-long celebration of all things spooky and history-oriented. It’s hosted by the lovely Allie (of Hist Fic Chick) and the equally lovely Nicole (Linus’s Blanket). (I was fortunate to have met both of them at Mary Sharratt’s reading  at the gallery earlier this year.) A little about Harrowing Historicals:

Each day of the month at witching hour (12 midnight, EST), Nicole and I will feature a different historical fiction (and a few fun non-fiction!) read that has a Halloween tie-in. Because let’s face it – history is fraught with some scary stuff! Join us for chats on the history of vampires, Queens who died in gruesome ways, what it’s like to consult psychic mediums for historical fiction research, and scary personages like Elizabeth Bathory and Jack the Ripper. It’s going to be an exciting month filled with all things spooky history!”

My guest post is entitled “Let Them Eat … Ectoplasm?” Yup, it’s about the ghost of Marie Antoinette. Thanks to Allie and Nicole for inviting me to participate!

On top of this Allie has also posted a great review of DOOMED QUEENS. Plus there’s a giveaway of sets of Ask the Queens advice cards and Doomed Queens playing cards; info is listed at the bottom of my Harrowing Historicals guest post.

• Filed under be-mused, blogs we read, queens, reviews + press | No Comments