ANNE CLEELAND —RECHARGING HER CREATIVITY

~My apologies for the late posting. Blogger did not follow scheduling directions.~ 

My guest is historical/mystery author, Anne Cleeland. Anne writes a good story with some intriguing twists. The story may be Regency in setting but the story is anything but predictable! 

She discusses a few things about her and offers some good advice about unleashing creativity—dive right and let it flow. 

• Why this genre instead of another? What excites you about this genre? 

            I've always loved historicals, and the Regency era in particular.  I think it stems from the Jane Austen/Georgette Heyer/Stephanie Laurens stories that are so enjoyable—partly because the setting provides an immediate tension; young women in society had to operate under strict rules, while love and longing simmered just beneath the surface.  Remember how in Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie changes her mind about Darcy but she’s fretting because she’s not allowed to tell him?  Or how shocked everybody was in Sense and Sensibility because Marianne was writing letters to a man she wasn't engaged to?   There’s something almost chivalric about the love affairs, and I think that’s very appealing in a fairy-tale sort of way.

            Meanwhile, while tea was decorously sipped in formal drawing rooms, the world was in absolute turmoil.  I use this contrast in Daughter of the God-King; the heroine has lived a protected and uneventful life until the world intrudes and she is suddenly swept up in dire events.   Much of the story takes place in Egypt, because it was during the Regency era that the treasures of Egypt—locked away for centuries—were finally unearthed for everyone to see.  Egypt is romantic and mysterious at the same time, and the setting is perfect for an adventure story.  

• How important is belonging to a writing group, such as RWA, to an aspiring or published author?

            To those of you who are thinking about writing your own book, I strongly encourage you to find a writing group of similarly-minded souls. I joined RWA after I wandered in one day to hear an author speak, and kept going back month after month—the combined knowledge and experience in the room was priceless, and everyone was amazingly supportive and helpful.   It’s no easy thing to write a book, and you’ll find all kinds of encouragement and practical advice on the how-tos.  And I think this industry more than most is built on networking and contacts—so go out and find your fellow pre-published authors; you’ll make lifetime friendships and have a lot of fun while you are embarking on your new hobby and/or career. 

• How do you refresh and recharge yourself so you can continue writing? 

            It’s the strangest thing—the day I decided to sit at the laptop and bang out the stake-out scene in Murder in Thrall I started a new obsession.  Now, I’d rather be writing than doing just about anything else, and I think most other writers know exactly what I’m talking about—it even takes up my reading time, which is something I never thought would happen, since I love to read. 

            Sometime my best ideas come when I’m tired after a long day and I think that I’ll just do a few edits on the last chapter.  The idea for the big twist in Daughter of the God-King came to me in such a way—late at night when I was trying to get to bed.  (As a reader, I love being surprised and so all my stories have at least one big, shocking twist.)

            Sometimes the ideas come when I’m not thinking about anything in particular—walking the dog is the perfect example.  So I suppose my answer to this question is vice-versa:  it’s the writing that refreshes and recharges me for everything else I have to handle in day-to-day living.  Again, to those of you who are considering it, my advice is to dive right in—don’t worry about the logistics until later. You’ll be surprised and amazed by your own creativity.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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The Cursed Tombs of Egypt Hold Many Secrets...

Miss Hattie Blackhouse has never been close to her parents...and no wonder, since the Blackhouses are renowned scholars who spend most of their time excavating ancient tombs in Egypt. But news of their disappearance forces Hattie to leave England and embark on a voyage that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her past.

An encrypted senet board and a gold medallion lead Hattie on a perilous quest to track down her missing parents—and discover why people associated with the Blackhouses continue to turn up dead. What she uncovers is a secret that could alter the course of history... 

Excerpt (chapter one)

Filled with intrigue, romance, and ancient secrets, Anne Cleeland's thrilling novel takes you on an unforgettable Egyptian adventure.

                                                                                                                                      

Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a degree in law from Pepperdine University, and is a member of the California State Bar.

She writes a historical fiction series set in the Regency period as well as a contemporary mystery series set in New Scotland Yard. A member of the Historical Novel Society and Mystery Writers of America, she lives in California and has four children. 

MONDAYS MUSING—SUNSHINE AND WRITING

The last few days have been beautiful and warm. Lots of golden sunshine this weekend.  NaNo or no, the idea of sitting in my office at the computer has been an anathema to me. I spend over thirty hours a week sitting at that blasted computer and that’s just for work. I probably spend another twenty dealing with blogging—probably more. So, while I have been writing I've chosen to savor the sunshine  this weekend and spent quite a bit of time outside (especially with our first snow in a matter of days, sigh) and took the time to relax and rest. It’s been grand.

I have been having fun with my NaNo story. It’s been in my head for sometime. I've researched and gotten the feel of the world. It wasn't my intention to write it as a NaNo entry and given my current schedule, I wasn't even planning on taking part this year. However, many in my writing group (I've mentioned them before and we've been together for over six years), do the NaNo every year. Let me say, moaning about my schedule cuts no ice with them, lol! So, with a strong boot in the ass encouragement from them; I’m in.

Realistically, I doubt I will get 50k done in November but I will get a substantial amount done which is what I need to do. It will also get me back into taking the time to write fiction daily and buying out the time I have—usually early morning—to add to the story. It does help me stay on track knowing others are doing the same. It gives incentive to keep going even when I get stuck, like I am right now. I put that section aside and am working on another scene while my mind mulls over the other section. Of course at the rate I’m going I might hit 50k by Christmas. J

Are you doing NaNo this year? How’s it going?

Guests this week:

Wednesday:  Historical romance author, Amanda Forester. Midsummer Bride Love is one experiment this scientist hasn't tested
Friday: Anne Cleeland, Daughter of the God-King In the dark, mysterious tombs of Cairo, a thrilling puzzle awaits to be discovered

The Historical Writer’s Dilemma: How Accurate Must You Be?

My guest is historical author, Anne Cleeland. Fascinating lady and one who writes an excellent tale of adventure, danger, spies, and suspense set in regency England. Today she shares some of her thoughts on research and writing historicals. 

I am lucky enough to have two series debuting this summer—and neither of them draws from personal experience. I’m a lifelong California native, but I’m writing a Regency adventure series and a British detective mystery series—that features an Irish heroine, no less. It almost goes without saying that precise accuracy will be abandoned in the interest of telling a good story, but how much license should be taken, and at what point do you run the risk of having the reader abandon your implausible ship?

There are no easy answers, but along the way I've attended a few panels on the knotty problem of how accurate you should be when writing historicals, so for those of you who read or write historical novels, I thought I’d pass along what I've gleaned.
 

In the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, neither Elizabeth Bennett nor Mr. Darcy wear gloves to the formal Netherfield ball—an omission that would have been unheard of at the time; both would have gone home rather than attend bare-handed. In Downton Abbey, one of the streets in the town has a double yellow line—not exactly Edwardian. The movie Braveheart tells us that the future Edward III was the product of a liaison between William Wallace and Isabella of France.  The problem is, Wallace was executed seven years before Edward was born, and Isabella of France was nine at the time Wallace was executed.

Are the stories any less compelling? The answer probably depends on your perspective. If you teach history—or are just a purist in general—these liberties are unacceptable and your disbelief is no longer suspended.  On the other hand, if you are not familiar with the era, you may not even notice these types of errors, but you may also come away with a distorted view of historical fact.   The trick to writing a story from an earlier time period is to find the right balance between dry-as-dust history and an engaging story, and how accurate you need to be—at least in my opinion—depends on your target readership.

If, for example, you are writing “hot” Regencies, strict accuracy is necessarily abandoned unless you write about the demi-monde, because nice young ladies didn't fool around (and were never given an opportunity, even if they were so inclined.)   I know some may want to argue about this point, but remember that Jane Austen served as a reporter at the scene, so to speak, and in her books it was a scandal if an unmarried woman wrote a letter to a man she was not yet engaged to. “Nice” women of the time were chaperoned within an inch of their lives until they were handed over to a husband with the correct pedigree.

So it seems that the question is not whether to take liberties with historical accuracy, it is how much liberty to take. My own rule of thumb is to never write anything that would “jolt” the average reader out of the story’s time frame—not the average history professor, just the average reader.

Here are some things to ask yourself: 

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• How much accuracy do you like to see from your favorite historical writers? Can you think of any other examples where an anachronism “jolted” you out of the story?

                                                                                          
                                                                                                                      

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TAINTED ANGEL Anne Cleeland

A Deadly Game of Deception...

Notorious and beautiful, Vidia Swanson works as an "angel," trying to coax incriminating secrets from powerful men who may or may not be traitors of the Crown. Her latest target is suspected of stealing gold from Wellington's troops, but matters take an alarming turn when Vidia realizes that her spymaster thinks she is the one who is tainted—a double agent working for Napoleon.

Backed into a corner, she can only hope to stay one step ahead of the hangman in a race to stop the next war before it destroys her—and destroys England. Tainted Angel offers up a compelling game of cat and mouse in which no one can be trusted and anyone can be tainted. EXCERPT 

"A world of spies and traitors where no one is quite what they seem and the truth is only true for a moment...a thrilling take that will keep you guessing until the very last page."—Victoria Thompson, author of Murder in Chelsea

                                                                                                                                                       



Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a degree in law from Pepperdine University, and is a member of the California State Bar.  She writes a historical fiction series set in the Regency period as well as a contemporary mystery series set in New Scotland Yard.  A member of the Historical Novel Society and Mystery Writers of America, she lives in California and has four children.