Stepping into other worlds...
It is a curious thing to be marketing Voyage of the Pleiades while also churning away on the revisions to A Garden of Shadows. Despite my best efforts (okay, meager efforts), the feedback and reviews I receive on Voyage of the Pleiades impact my creative process. I’m very aware of audience now, in a way that is less easy to ignore than when you are writing your first book. During the creation of that first book, your readers feel theoretical, benign. And then you unleash your creation on the world. At that moment, everything changes. The bubble has burst.
I’m fortunate that there has been an overall positive response to Voyage of the Pleiades, and I’ve been invited to give a few interviews. An interesting theme that reoccurs in these interviews is a fascination with my life. I’ve written about it in other posts, but my Alaska chapter was mundane compared to many of the people I know. But I recognize that living without running water, in a 400 square foot, off-grid cabin, seems extreme. Given the prevalence these days of books and memes dedicated to escaping to a cabin, I guess I see why it is interesting from the outside.
If you know me in person, you know that I do not like to talk about myself. I’m the person you want behind the scenes: scary attention to detail, sharp memory, virtually invisible. I can talk about my books for hours. Talk about my life? Ick. But I do it, because it is part of this whole marketing circus of selling a book.
One of our choices as writers, is to decide how much to come out from behind the curtain. It isn’t as straightforward a choice as you may think. Many people write under a pen name, and I did consider it, if you’ve read the racier parts of my book, you can understand why that might be an advantage. Another benefit of a pen name is putting some distance between you and the characters you’ve created. In fact, there is some of me in every one of my characters. They aren’t based on anyone I know. They are my creation. My books are historical fiction, not memoir.
But I didn’t publish under a pen name, so I figure these questions are fair. If you are interested to hear how I responded, here are links to a few of my recent interviews:
Historical Novel Society interview.
The LitBuzz reviewed Voyage of the Pleiades and interviewed me, I’ll follow up when that interview goes live.
As a treat, I thought I would share Linnea’s first experience of the Alhambra in A Garden of Shadows. My revisions are coming along, the goal is to get this book in your hands in late Spring 2024.
Excerpt from A Garden of Shadows….
We wound through the Albaicín’s narrow streets of white walled buildings. Most of the elaborate courtyards were hidden view, but the occasional pot of frothing, fuchsia bougainvillea hinted at the wonders behind the walls. Between the breaks in the buildings, the Alhambra loomed across the canyon. Perched on the hill above Granada, the medieval Muslim collection of palaces, were a formidable presence that housed treasures. Or so I had read in Washington Irving’s fantastical descriptions. The delights of the Alhambra were neglected over time, abandoned as a dwelling to be used to house gunpowder during the Napoleonic Wars, but it was undergoing a transformation. A major restoration was happening at the Alhambra, inside and more important to me, outside. The gardens were being redesigned, brought back to life, and I had been longing to see them.
We clattered over the bridge and the illuminated rose walls filled our view. I pressed my face to the carriage window as we ascended the hill. A line of men stood out front to greet the carriages, they were dwarfed by the soaring structure. I imagined how it must’ve felt to cross the plains in medieval times, winding your way toward the Alhambra, an intimidating beacon above the surrounding countryside. Matias elbowed my side before I realized that the carriage had stopped. When I stepped down and faced the exquisite, humbling edifice of stone, I couldn’t resist pulling off my glove to run my hand over the surface.
“It’s stunning, and this is the outside.”
My escorts laughed, Hugh drew me away from my fascination. “Come, wait until you see the inside.”
We proceeded through the ancient archway, I resisted the temptation to crane my neck, but every inch of the structure was fantastical. We passed through the tower into a rectangular space with a high vaulted ceiling. A canopy of tiles spiraled in dizzying geometric designs that appeared to dance in the flickering torchlight. Despite being built as a fort, it felt airy, an amalgam of outside space and interior mathematical perfection. I wanted to linger, to examine every inch of the stuccos. Rooms branched off in several directions, carved arches invited one to enter and linger. It was almost more than the mind could take in at once. Antonio forcefully nudged our group toward an opening to the outside into the infamous Court of Myrtles. Torches were placed along the pool that reflected the dark water in the center. Down one side was a receiving line, a procession of opulent fabrics and jewels. When we passed into the luminous area, a man whose embonpoint was straining the tensile strength of his jacket, rushed toward us.
I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into the sequel! And if you haven’t had a chance to purchase Voyage of the Pleiades yet, here are the links again.