It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with all plans to take a break having gone firmly out of the window! I have now received replies back from half of the agents I sent my manuscript to – unfortunately all replies so far have been rejections, so it is looking likely that The Gisburn Witch will be a self-published novel. As ever I remain philosophical and optimistic, and in terms of publishing the book myself, the hard work starts here…

In my last post, I mentioned that I was looking for beta readers, and I’m happy to say that I now have several willing volunteers reading and critiquing the novel. While I await their feedback I have been working on the book’s cover. I’m very excited about the design – for me it sets the right tone for the novel, and says everything it should say about the story. It’s not quite ready for a big reveal yet, but watch this space!

My research for the next book, A Girl Named Sellers, is well under way, and the story is shaping up nicely, albeit mostly in my head for now. It’ll be a few weeks before I start putting pen to paper (so to speak), but at the moment I’m enjoying the experience of trawling through the history. One of the wonderful things about writing historical fiction is that you start with an idea for a story, and as you research you discover hidden gems – small pieces of information which, when the imagination is allowed to run with them, add layers and depths to a story which you hadn’t imagined at the outset. Another fascinating, rewarding and hectic few weeks are ahead, I think!

Have a lovely new year, folks.

Several important milestones on the road to being a published author have been achieved this week. My novel’s first reader has finished reading the book and provided his feedback, which was exciting and nerve-racking in equal measure! The editing required following this feedback has also been completed, and my book has now been converted into E-book format ready for some lovely beta readers to take hold of it and to see what they think. I can’t express how exciting it was to see my work as an E book – it really is the digital age version of picking up a paper copy of your work, perusing the pages, and flicking through so fast that you can smell the new ink. In terms of beta readers I have one already signed up and I’m on the hunt for a couple of others – if you’d be interested, do let me know!

In the meantime, Christmas is almost upon us and I will be taking a break from my literary work to spend time with my lovely family. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

It’s that time of year when what I should be doing is winding down, chilling out, curling up indoors with the kids and a good Christmas movie. That’s what I should be doing. Someone ought to tell my mind that, though, because all it wants to do is gets its grey matter stuck right into researching the next book. It would seem that I have itchy feet – or should that be fingers? – to get working on the next project. As a result, I’ve made a start, ordering the relevant preliminary books and having a more than casual gander at what’s out there in terms of internet resources. And I’m quite enthused – excited even, because I have not one, but two ideas I’m currently running with!

The first idea is to write a follow-up, a sequel of sorts, to The Gisburn Witch. When I started the first book, I only ever saw it as a single, stand-alone piece of work, and in many ways it is. Jennet Preston’s story is concluded within that novel, there is no cliff-hanger ending, no groan from the reader at the realisation that they have to ‘wait until next time’ to find out what happens. At the same time, however, it occurred to me when writing that there were other stories, and other characters, connected to Jennet but fascinating in their own right, upon whom I could shine a whole different light. That’s the idea of the next book – to move the story on, but also to revisit some of it in a different way, from a different angle. And – sigh of relief – I already have a working title for this one! I say sigh of relief because I agonised – and I mean really, really deliberated – over what to call the first novel, so it’s a relief that this one has come so easily. The book will be called A Girl Named Sellers and it will be the story of Jennet Device, the little girl who was so instrumental in the Pendle Witch Trials and the downfall of her entire family. It will be a story which asks, how do you live with the consequences of your actions, and can you ever escape your own identity and reputation?

The second idea is to move away from my beloved Pendle characters and consider a different part of early Stuart society altogether. James VI and I’s queen, Anne of Denmark, is perhaps one of the most overlooked queens in history. We’re all gripped by the Tudors; the endless affairs, intrigues and beheadings – it’s perhaps little wonder that from a literary point of view the Stuarts feel like the sobering hangover which follows the wild party. But they are a fascinating bunch in their own right, and Queen Anne especially deserves some air time. So that’s what I intend to give her, one day soon.

But for now, research, research, and more research!! And editing…lots more editing.

Exciting post folks! Here is the blurb for my first and forthcoming novel, The Gisburn Witch:

“Scandalised as a young woman after being accused of seducing Tom Lister, a gentleman’s son, Jennet Preston’s life is filled with shame and hardship. An outcast in her own village, she befriends the Device family in Blacko, and she is quickly embroiled in their world of folk magic and superstition, of old family feuds and dangerous reputations. When fate intervenes to reunite her with Tom, Jennet risks everything for love and happiness, but when tragedy strikes Jennet finds that she is vulnerable to accusations for which she could pay the ultimate price. The Gisburn Witch is a novel about falling in love with the wrong person, making the wrong friends, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

It’s been a busy week for the book – I’m now halfway through the full edit, and have started looking at possible cover designs if I go down the self-publishing route. I’ve also heard back from a second literary agent to whom I sent my submission – another rejection unfortunately but I keep smiling, I stay philosophical. A rejection doesn’t mean my book is no good, it means that a particular agent doesn’t consider it to be commercially marketable. But there are as many opinions as there are agents so…I will keep working hard and keep chasing the dream.

As I mentioned in my first post I have written a novel entitled The Gisburn Witch. In the last couple of weeks I have been submitting my novel (or at least the first three chapters of it) to literary agents. Preparing your work for submission is no mean feat, and after putting together a tightly edited set of chapters, a synopsis (such an innocent word but my goodness, what a headache) and a covering letter, off my work went, out into the critical ether, so to speak!

Most agents seem to advise that it will be somewhere in the region of 4 to 6 weeks and sometimes longer before they reply to you, so I knew that I was in for a wait. Nonetheless I felt instantly nervous about what I had done: I am immensely proud of my work, of course, but knowing that someone else, a total stranger in fact, is scrutinising it…that’s terrifying stuff for any writer, I think. I suppose it’s because in many ways your book, its characters, its plot and the way you write them are like fragments of you; your inner thoughts, the way your mind works…it’s all there on paper, really. So when someone else is looking over them, for me it’s like they are peering into your creative soul. But anyway, I digress…

So, on Tuesday I received my first rejection by email. Now, I pride myself on being a realist – I keep my dreams for my novels. Nevertheless, I was unsure exactly how I would react to the inevitable rejection letter. I say inevitable because even bestsellers were rejected by agents at some point or another. I knew rejection would come; I expected it, but I wasn’t sure I’d be happy about it. After all, this is my work, my heart, my soul, my stress and sweat over the last twelve months at least. Maybe, for all that I expected the rejection, maybe it would still make me cross, and obstinate. I’m very good at cross and obstinate. As it happened, I surprised myself by being quite philosophical. The tone of the reply was pleasant, friendly and encouraging. This isn’t for us, it said, but it might be that it’s for someone else, so keep trying. And I will. Onwards and upwards!