Pre-publication…
This month has crept up on me.
I’m due to release a new book at the end of the month, Reliquary and it’s a job which requires a certain amount of dedicated energy.
This month has crept up on me.
I’m due to release a new book at the end of the month, Reliquary and it’s a job which requires a certain amount of dedicated energy.
The inspiration for my latest book, Reliquary, originally came from the research I carried out for the previous trilogy called The Triptych Chronicle. In the process of seeking facts on rare and valuable merchandise that may have been traded in the twelfth century, I came across mention of a silk called byssus and which is still harvested in the Mediterranean from a species of shellfish.
At some point, maybe in the first chapter even, a writer will wonder if he or she has a story.
For me, I write to roughly the half way mark or even just the first 50,000 words and then I send it to my trusted editor for an opinion.
These last couple of weeks, I have held back from continuing with the manuscript of Reliquary until I had a definitive answer on whether the story had legs.
Yesterday, I found a nugget of research for my new 12th century novel entitled A Small Thread of Silk.
I discovered that a very special artefact was in fact 6 metres long.
So what, you may ask?
Well, in imperial measurements, that’s over 19 feet. And that extra-long measurement gives me scope.
I often wonder how I got myself so deeply entrenched in the twelfth century. If one takes the TV or movie image of that era, it’s represented by mud, damp and ell upon ell of brown or taupe cloth which has been hastily cut and roughly sewn together to make tunics.
The most astonishing thing!
I have written seven books and am on my eighth. All since 2006.
One a year.
And published.
And they’ve won awards, ranked continually unbroken for over 12 months in the UK, secured more excellent reviews than not and I have met THE best readers in the world!
All this without sitting in a garrett and locking myself away from the world…
Welcome aboard everyone! I’m part of a nautical blog hop this week … and I promise to offer you more than just mere ship’s biscuit and stale water on this voyage…
![2013-Nautical-Blog-Hop-small[1]](http://pruebatten.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/2013-nautical-blog-hop-small1.jpg)
‘The nef’s sail seemed to define my very existence – a small expanse of canvas patched and re-patched so that it could continue on. It seemed I’d been on the sea for months and I despaired ever being able to place toes on land.’ Gisborne: Book of Knights.
I have a wonderful group of Facebook friends – interesting, interested, kind, generous, and always fun. But two most recently have stood out.
Brian and Yveline Cobb live in France.
We met on Facebook, as one does these days, and over time, he has seen me struggling with Occitán, French etc, and has always offered a little advice. During the writing of Gisborne: Book of Knights, I asked if anyone knew of a twelfth century Templar Commanderie in Aquitaine. No response online, so I went back to my research books and found mention of one in Toulon in Provence. I googled it and found that it is now a private residence and what’s more, that it is for sale. I then asked if anyone knew of it. Whilst Brian didn’t know of the Commanderie exactly, he responded that he knew the area and would be heading that way…