#SnippetSunday from #The Beltane Choice!

Snippet Sunday and an update!

Nobody said self publishing would be easy and I've spent the last couple of days knowing exactly that. For all sorts of reasons, a main one being my contract had expired with Crooked Cat Books for my Celtic Fervour Series, I'm doing full re-edits to each of the three previously published books.

The new versions will be edited by a skilled professional and then I'll be formatting them for self publishing. My fantastic brand new covers for them are wonderful and I can't wait to show them off!!!

The problem with that is they need to be edited first so that I can determine the correct amount of pages in the book. As I may have pointed out before, my graphic artist cover designer can't finalise her work till the spine size is known and that's dependent on page sizes. Though...I'm hoping she'll allow me to show off my fabulous covers very soon - at least the first one.

My new version of The Beltane Choice,  Book 1 of my Celtic Fervour Series, is now off to my editor. Look out for details of re-publishing soon. Now I'm off to re-edit Book 2 of the series.

Meanwhile here's a #SnippetSunday extract from ....The Beltane Choice

Head down, she trawled behind as the warrior-band followed Lorcan, making their way along another reinforced pathway and across a log causeway bordered by wattled walls. Brennus followed in her wake, taking his guarding seriously. Once into the open at the lake’s edge she could see the roundhouse they approached more clearly, no longer obscured by the tall reed and fronded light-green willow cover.

The crannog dwelling sat tall and proud, this one a little larger than a typical roundhouse. Built out over the water, its circular wooden platform sat on stilted foundations, the walkway access edged with a waist-high woven wall of willow, with an infill of thinner twigs. The wattle and clay daubed wall of the dwelling was low, no higher than Nara’s head, the thatched roof beams protruding over the top of it, creating a shady overhang. On the outer circular platform edge two children played a game on a wooden board with marked coloured stones. Close by, a young woman stood weaving at a tall upright loom under the overhang near the children. A little further round, Nara could just glimpse a skin-covered coracle and a dugout boat floating at a protruding landing stage, accessible from the platform edging.

“Mother,” Grond called ahead, “Lorcan is here to visit Father. Where is he?”

On their approach the children scurried away, an older woman appearing immediately. Then, more slowly, an older man whose smile was a beam of sunshine came out.

“Lorcan. Welcome!” The older man clapped Lorcan on the shoulders, greeting him warmly while he gave an invocation of hospitality to all. “It is long since we talked.”

“My thanks, Gyptus. It is good to be here again.”

Lorcan’s confident smile as he and Gyptus walked round to the landing-stage made Nara feel neglected. She wished the smile was for her, now her own situation was back to threatening. A lone Selgovae, she was surrounded by even more Brigantes; from the hostile look on their faces none happy with her presence. 

Slainthe! 

#8 #Saturday Shorts – with #Kathy Sharp

It's Saturday again so it's Saturday Shorts Interview time! 

Today I have my Crooked Cat author friend Kathy Sharp who is about to take my comfy seat and get out of the snow that's presently settled over almost the whole of the UK.

Welcome back to the blog, Kathy! It's been a while since you've visited, so let's hear about what life is like for you...

Please tell us a little bit about your daily life. 

I live by the sea in Weymouth, Dorset – part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. I have lived here for nearly fifteen years now, and I love it. This wonderful place inspired me to take up writing again after a gap of many years.

When is your best time to write?

In the mornings, usually. It’s when I feel most creative.

Which social media platforms do you find most comfortable to use?

I’m a private person so I tend to be a little wary of social media. I probably feel most at ease with Facebook. I have come to know some lovely people both here in Dorset and round the world through writers’ and readers’ groups I have joined.

Nancy: of all of the social media sites that i've joined I'm also most comfortable on Facebook. 

Please tell us what your latest book is about and its genre.

Whales and Strange Stars is an adventure set in the marshlands of 18^th century Kent. Historical fiction? Yes and no. The characters and events are fictitious, but I did try to give the book an authentic period setting.

Nancy: That's a tricky aspect I find in my writing, too. It's the dividing line between an authentic setting and the point at which even a slightly known historical figure becomes fantasy since we can never portray them exactly as they were. 

Did anything in particular influence you to write it?

Yes, and it’s a long story. But in short – I spent much of my early life out in the marshes and on the river in that part of Kent. It’s more than fifty years ago, but the book is laced with my own memories of riverbank life, wildlife, and messing about in boats.

Nancy: I've visited Kent but never been on the marshes. The whole of the south coast is a wonderful place to visit, and I have to confess I mostly spent holiday time driving to the many historical visitor attractions and sites of interest - of which there are loads! The book sounds like a fascinating way to be introduced to the area via the past leading, which could lead on to the present.  

Did your latest book require any specialised research?

I read 18^th century authors such as Daniel Defoe and Fanny Burney to get an idea of the ‘voice’ of the times. I studied the political and social history of the century, too, of course – but on the whole I felt I learned more about ordinary people of the day from Defoe.

Nancy: I've not read Defoe since I was in my teens, but trawling through social history of an era- newspapers etc -  is amazing for finding out useful tidbits, and for me is always a very pleasurable digression. 

Who is your main character?

Rosamund Euden, a young girl who has never left her home, a silted-up and forgotten river-port. It’s Rosamund’s longing for adventure and to see the outside world that forms the heart of the book.

What’s your main character’s greatest weakness?

Eavesdropping. No good ever comes of listening in to other people’s conversations, as Rosamund discovers.

What’s your main character’s greatest strength?

Loyalty. But misplaced loyalty can be a dangerous thing. She discovers that, too.

Are you a lover of editing your work?

My plots are complex, and I enjoy working on them to see that they make good sense. I’m not a fan, though, of pulling my prose apart word by word. It interrupts the flow of storytelling too much.

What’s your favourite occupation? (apart from writing!)

Studying and photographing plants, both wild and tame. It’s a lifelong obsession! I’ve recently begun researching the history of garden plants and 18^th and 19^th century plant hunters. It’s a fascinating subject and it’s giving me lots of ideas for future books.

Nancy: Yes, I don't see them often ( re FB's weird sharing policy) but have really enjoyed your photography, and sometimes photos re. your choir info as well. Please continue to share them on Facebook!

Find Kathy at the following places: 

Twitter: @KathySharp19, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathy-Sharp-111574195915740/  Website: https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/

Kathy Sharp

Kathy Sharp was born and brought up by the sea in Kent. Life took her inland, and she worked for many years as a desktop publisher for Surrey County Council, and as a tutor in adult education.

And then, one day, she visited a friend who had just moved to the Isle of Portland, Dorset, and fell in love with the place. She has now lived by the sea in the Weymouth and Portland area for more than ten years, and still loves it. The wonderful Jurassic Coast, and Portland in particular, were the inspiration for her Larus Trilogy of novels.

Kathy also sings with, and writes lyrics for, the Island Voices Choir on Portland, and is a keen member of local writing groups, as well as enjoying studying the local flora.

Latest book: myBook.to/WhalesAndStrangeStars

Thank you for sharing your days with us, Kathy and my very best wishes for all of your writing, past, present and future! 

Slainthe! 

# 8 Someone to #Lean on- #Leah

Friday means it's time to give those supporting secondary characters a bit of the limelight!

Today, I'm joined by my Crooked Cat author friend  Miriam Drori who has chosen to feature a secondary character - -Leah  - whose impact is strong in her contemporary novel Neither Here Nor There. 

Welcome to my Friday series, Miriam, it's great to have you back again! It's been a few years since I read Neither Here Nor There so it's excellent to be reminded of Leah's  role in the novel.  There are a number of themes covered in your story and one of those is essentially breaking free of traditions. Thank you for sending along the photograph because I think that'll also help my readers to imagine the scenes. I'll let you explain a bit about Leah's role so that we can get to know her better!

Neither Here Nor There, set in Jerusalem, is a romance told from two points of view: the heroine (Esty) and the hero (Mark). Esty has just left the closed, haredi community in which she was brought up. Mark is a new immigrant from the UK. Neither point of view is from inside the haredi community. Esty, despite knowing that community from the inside, always had doubts about its way of life. Mark has never experienced it.

That’s why I’m delighted Nancy has given me the opportunity to explore the motives and thinking of Leah, who has only a minor role in the novel. Leah is nineteen, the same age as Esty, and they were at school together. Leah married at sixteen, has three children – all under three, of course – and hopes God will reward her with several more. She feels particularly blessed because her eldest is a boy. Her husband spends his days studying and she admires him for that. She herself was never a very good student and certainly never thought of questioning anything they were taught.

Among the teachings Leah has never doubted are the evils of television, the Internet, the wearing by women of men’s clothes (i.e. trousers) and the baring of arms and legs. She’s happy she learned these things and feels sorry for all the others, who haven’t had that opportunity. Apart from cleaning, cooking and looking after the babies, Leah helps her mother in the grocery store. Usually, she has no reason to go out of Mea She’arim, the small and crowded neighbourhood in which she lives, so close and yet so far from the rest of Jerusalem.

What makes Leah step out of her neighbourhood one morning is the fact that she has to register the birth of her newly born daughter at the Interior Ministry office. And that’s where she encounters Esty, her former friend, who has just requested a passport in the same office. Leah can’t understand why Esty left the community. She knows Esty was clever and thinks she would have been a light to the women of their community if she hadn’t thrown it all away to join the infidels.

Courtesy of Miriam Drori- Mea She'arim, Jerusalem

Miriam's sent along a short excerpt that explains Leah perfectly:

Putting the receipt for her passport application in her bag, Esty made for the stairs to go back down to the entrance. She reached the exit from the office just as a mother was wheeling a pram from the other department on that floor – the one for registering births and deaths. Esty recognised her and, without thinking, called out, “Leah!”

Leah looked up and stood for a moment staring at Esty, her mouth wide open. Esty was also transfixed, but she took in the pram that held two children, one of them probably a new-born, whose birth had to be registered here. By Leah’s side was another child, dressed as a boy but with long straight hair. Of course. Boys under three couldn’t have their hair cut. It was odd how practices that had always seemed so normal were beginning to feel strange.

The boy started to call. “Mummy. Come.” Suddenly, Leah turned away from Esty and continued to wheel the pram to the lift. She hadn’t said a word.

Esty went down a few stairs and then sat on one of them. She had no wish to bump into Leah again on the ground floor. If anything brought out the difficulties of leaving the community, it was this meeting with an old friend. Even though Esty had always known this sort of behaviour by friends and acquaintances was likely, when it really did happen it came as a terrible shock.

Esty and Leah had grown up together. They’d played together, sung songs together and talked of their dreams for the future, the men they hoped they’d marry. True, they’d seen less of each other since Leah had got married, especially when her babies began to arrive. But when they’d met, Leah had always seemed pleased to talk to her childhood friend again, and delighted when Esty cooed over one of the babies.

Now, Leah wouldn’t even say hello to Esty. Probably all her old friends would react in the same way. The incident brought home to Esty what it meant to cut yourself off from everything you’d ever known and begin again with nothing.

A man coming down the stairs stepped round Esty and then looked back at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, thank you.” Esty heaved herself up and continued down, confident that Leah and her entourage would have left by then.

Nancy says: That really is a very poignant part of the novel, Miriam, but I recall Esty as being a strong girl who gets on with the choices she has made, difficult though they are for her. 

Thank you for inviting me back to your blog, Nancy! For another excerpt from Neither Here Nor There, there’s a reading of the first chapter here: http://soundcloud.com/miriam-drori/readingofnhnt.

Miriam Drori

Miriam Drori was born and brought up in London and now lives with her husband and one of three grown up children in Jerusalem.

With a degree in Maths and following careers in computer programming and technical writing, Miriam has been writing novels and short stories for fourteen years. After some success with short stories, Miriam turned her hand to longer fictional works, publishing "Neither Here Nor There" and "The Women Friends: Selina" co-written with Emma Rose Millar.

Miriam’s latest publication is non-fiction and explores the common but little-known disorder called social anxiety, which has been her companion for most of her life. It looks at social anxiety from different points of view, with the help of many quotes from ‘sufferers’ who agreed for their words to be used anonymously. The book has been highly recommended by ‘sufferers’ as well as professionals in this field.

When not writing, Miriam enjoys reading, hiking, dancing and travelling.

Use the following to find Miriam: 

Neither Here Nor There: http://a-fwd.com/asin=B00L0B6CRI

The Women Friends: Selina: mybook.to/thewomenfriends

Social Anxiety Revealed: myBook.to/socialanxietyrevealed

Miriam Drori can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Wattpad and on her website/blog and social anxiety blog.

(You can also find more about Miriam's previous visits to this blog by using the 'Search' facility on the right sidebar.) 

Thank you for coming back and reminding me about the role that Leah plays, Miriam, because I recall her impact being important when it comes to Esty reconciling herself with the choices she's made regarding leaving the community. Before reading Neither Here Nor There I knew very little about the Haredi Community and Jerusalem in general - I can thoroughly recommend it as great read but also if you're interested in learning a bit about that background! 

Slainthe!