Bloodlines

I'm going to spend the summer blogging more about Bloodlines than Banquo's Son although I will still update with news and reviews.

This time last year, I'd written about 9,000 words of Banquo's Son and had just signed my contract with Penguin. Today, I've already written 37,000 words of Bloodlines and I'm not marking national exams so I am hopeful I will be able to devote more time to writing.

Banquo's Son had, as its main focus, the individual concerns of Fleance. Bloodlines takes into account more of the political landscape of the time - fictionalised, of course but I still need to ensure that it is credible so there's still a lot of reading and research needed.

Today, I'm about to head into battle once more and, once we see where that leads, I'll take a break and go to the movies to see A Time Traveller's Wife.

recent reviews from two different folk

My friend, mentor and fellow writer gave me honest feedback after reading Banquo' Son. This is what she said:

My honest –to-goodness opinion of Banquo’s son is

1) a page turner (I know other people have said that, but.. I wanted to know what happened to the characters –

2) I liked seeing the story from the view points of the different characters. I liked the comparisons and contrasts of Rosie and Rachel ( great character questions there)

3) A lot happens – nice and racy and eventful

4) Ties in so well with the Banquo story – so clever, although probably no need to know the Macbeth story.

5) The prophecies – again, so cleverly interwoven into the story so that all came across realistically (if that’s the right word)

6) And at the end I still wanted to know more – so just as well there is a sequel or two!

7) I couldn’t see why one of the reviewers said the language wasn’t right. I thought it fitted it fine – no jarring moments, no clangers, no out-of-character words at all.

8) The events and characterisation of the ‘known’ Macbeth characters and what happened to them after Macbeth – were all so plausible!
The teenage angst stuff –will he/won’t he…. Also very realistic

9) I felt ‘informed ‘ about the historical context – nicely woven into the ‘love’ story and the history surrounding Fleance’s predicament

10) And [deleted to avoid spoiler!]’s death – (someone had to die) was quite fitting. Didn’t upset me at all – and so nicely done.

11) If I had a constructive criticism (which I don’t) … make the sequel darker!
And if it is any indication we have 2 copies at school and both have been out from the day they arrived and there is a waiting list!

Jeannie was a secondary school English teacher and HOD for many years plus time as deputy principal, is the mother of two daughters and a fantastic crime writer herself. Jeannie is a youthful women in her fifties.

The other review came toward me with a huge grin on her face. Ellen is 13 and an avid reader and very good writer herself. 'Mrs Roxborogh,' she said, beaming. 'I've just finished Banquo's Son and I think it was the most amazing book I've ever read.'

How many authors are lucky enough to have their readers milling about them and coming up with gems like this?

Banquo's Son: writing a trilogy and story structure

So here's the thing: I need to make you keep turning the pages. I need to make you slap your head and say - Of Course! Why didn't I see that coming? I need you to believe that if you were Fleance or Rachel or Rosie, you'd have done exactly as they decide to do.

And, I need you to trust that though I have your heart in my hands, I will, in the end, not make you cry so much you hate me but know that what I've written is as it should be. Tears and cheers all.

The last few days has all been about research and looking carefully behind the facade to ensure that the engineering is tickety boo.

My big question now is, the person who has to die in Bloodlines, does the death happen before or after the big moment? And, perhaps, is this death actually THE big moment? Which I kinda suspect might be but I'm open to suggestions.

Banquo's son - what are my readers interested in?

As I've posted before, some who come across this site are new to the whole 'Banquo's Son Trilogy' thing; others have been with me from the beginning (early Jan 2009).

The first of the trilogy is only five weeks old so we've got a whole new world of readers but me, and the few faithful who have been with me since the beginning, want more than sound bites about Banquo's Son.

So, Banquo's Son is a hit! Great reviews; great sales. It's a great novel.

Now, the next one. Well, it's been an exciting few days for me (see previous post) and today, while I supervised an exam, I charted out the point by point events of our dear Flea, our lovely Rachel, and a number of other key characters. That as well as serious study of some serious history of early medieval Scotland/England/Europe.

The problem is, the basics are very thin on the ground. The big picture i.e. the politics (who is in power and who isn't and who was working to disturb both) is there for the world to see.

I don't want to be drawn into that history but I do want the end of the trilogy to aline itself with the real deal.

My minor was history but not this far back. Hmm.

The story is in good heart, dear reader. Just give me time to ensure that the king of scotland is not checking his emails or flying to Europe. *grin*

Fleance and Rachel

I've now got myself in a spot of bother by being mean to these two. Um, think dramatic filmic moment here. Think, who do I save first? Think, no, authors don't save their characters - they make them deal with it.

Trouble is, er, it's me that's going to have to figure out what to do with both these situations. That's a massive ask: research into military manoeuvres, shipping schedules, the weather!

Crap. I've got marking and junior reports ahead of me but now I have to deal with imminent warfare and ruthless torture. Why do I spend so much time reading blogs and forums and FaceBook when I should be writing?

I don't made things easy for myself. (Though I loved spending the most part of yesterday and early this morning reading Vanda Symon's latest: Containment. Joy.

Still, the dusting has been ignored for another week

Banquo's Son, historical accuracy and plagerism

Dianne Brown, in her Here Comes Another Vital Moment, says something along of the lines of this (and I'm too lazy to go find her book and find the passage) 'Such is our predatory nature...we are word thieves; scene stealers' or something like that. Our job as writers is to turn it inside out and filter it back to the world through our own unique lens.

This whole situation with Witi has given me much pause for thought because right now I'm having to do a shite lot of reading about really tedious things to do with 11th Century shipping and battles and religious ceremonies.

On the one hand, I don't want people criticising me for being historically wrong. (A few have already tried but they are wrong, not me, so I'm nonplussed about their erroneous assumptions) but that I might INADVERTENTLY incorporate someone else's phrase into my narrative without realising that it had become part of my psyche, is a huge stress.

People criticise me for using words not used in 11th C even though I said I was using 17th C words. They said some of the phrases are ‘too modern’ yet the ones they’ve quoted have come directly from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and 12th Night.

What I’m saying here, I think, and as I said on Beattie’s Blog, I am disinclined to join the others who have so quickly rallied to throw stones at a man who’s novel Whanau was the first ever non children’s book I read as a child. (My step-brother won it as a school prize). Here was a narrative which told my story with all it’s glory and heartache and laughter and tears and violence.

Sad for him. And sad that people have been so horrible and unforgiving. Whoops – stuff up. Could happen to any of us. All writers of historical fiction could get caught out. Me. Or Jones. Or Alterio. Could. Shouldn’t but it might so we all have to be careful.

Translating a book to film - the ups and downs

Having just listened to Elizabeth Knox's response to Nikki Caro's production of her novel Vintner's Luck raises some interesting questions. Especially in the area of how much input an author has in the final product if ones novel is translated from prose to film. As an English teacher and (in a past life) a media studies teacher, I recognise the different demands of each genre.

Still, a story is a story and I can appreciate Knox's dismay that, for her, the essential love story was ignored to the 'fourth level' Knox says. For her, the lack of information about what had happened was the disconcerting.

So, everyone who reads Banquo's Son and contacts me says the cinematic potential is clear. That there are currently three American producers currently reading the novel makes me take a time to pause.

I may be a bit more proactive in looking at my contract should a film maker come knocking.