I generally take the way I write more or less for granted,
but it’s always fun to think about things you take for granted. Chris Green at http://crystal-green.blogspot.com/ invited
me to take part in a progressive blog talking about just that: what my writing
process is!
What am I working on now?
Right
now I am working on the second book of my Irish trilogy that takes place during
the Regency period, The Broken Heart.
Unlike the first book, which is set entirely in Ireland, this book is set in
both England and Ireland. Caroline, who in the first book has set her heart on
being a belle at the London season and falling in love with a handsome,
eligible man who adores her, has all that happen, but it doesn’t turn out as
she expected. Caroline has to grow up suddenly from a dreaming girl to a woman
who has to take her destiny into her own hands and make her own happiness. But romance is still involved . . .
I
suspect my writing falls somewhere between the traditional historical romance
and women’s fiction. In the first book of the trilogy, The Divided Heart, the dominant curve of the book is Caroline’s
sister, Anne, who has to come to terms with her love for both the Irish people
by whom she is surrounded, and the English who have conquered them—two
communities with centuries of hostility between them. Born in Ireland to an
English family settled in Ireland for generations, her heart is divided between
the place and people where she lives, and the English traditions of her family
and the community in which she moves. There are two men involved, and from both
of them Anne finds much to be attracted to, and to learn. The real history of
Ireland is therefore important in a way that Regency fiction does not always
deal with.
Why do I write what I do?
History
in general fascinates me—it seems endlessly interesting to learn how other
people, living in other times, have carved out their own ways of living given
the circumstances that surround them. I married an Englishman, and for the
early years of our marriage, we lived in London. It was during the Irish Troubles, when Northern
Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom, was torn between the Catholic and
Protestant communities, warring over the issue of whether Northern Ireland
would remain part of the United Kingdom (the position of the Irish Protestants
living there) or be reunited with the southern counties, now the independent
nation of Eire (the position of the Catholic population). The struggle was long
and ugly, and it was on the front pages of English newspapers—which I read in
London—and on television every night. As an American, it came as an enormous
surprise to learn that the English, at that period still absorbing their Norman
conquerors, had been in Ireland since around 1100. How the two communities had
lived together for so long, and in bitter antagonism, fascinated me.
How does my writing process work?
It
usually begins with a lot of reading. Although I’ve been to Ireland, there’s a
big difference between walking across the Ha’penny Bridge (which is what the
original toll was—now of course there is none) and marveling at the Book of
Kells, and learning about its troubled history.
So I
read a lot, and then I wrote a lot, most of which got discarded. I’m a real
pantser, and it’s not until the characters get a grip on me that I can see
clearly where their stories will lead. Sooner or later, generally sooner, thank
goodness, I can see the path straight before me, and then it’s simply a matter
of following it as I am led. By the end, the characters and their adventures
are as clear to me as my husband is when he gets home from work and asks mildly
if I’ve given any thought to dinner.
Most
of the rumination stage for the second and third book (I hope) has gone on
already. The Broken Heart should be
ready for publication in spring/early summer of 2014, and The Rebellious Heart, the third book of the trilogy will be out
later this summer.
Selena
Fulton, A multi-published author living in Florida,
Never Let Go, a time travel set in the Civil War era, will be blogging about
her writing process on March 10 at selenafulton.wordpress.com
