Sunday 26 August 2012

Georgette Heyer, Queen of Gore?

When I started writing this particular series I'm working on now (currently titled Castle Innis, as that is where the first one is set and I can't think of a better general descriptor), I was afraid that I was getting too gory for the genre of historical romance. However, I was reading Georgette Heyer's 'The Spanish Bride' today (keeping in mind that Georgette Heyer is THE regency romance writer, I think she actually created the genre) and I came across this section:

p.171
'A couple of round shots crashed amongst them, the second knocking the Spanish guide's head off his shoulders. His body stood for an instant, with the blood spurting up from the severed neck, and then fell, while the head was tossed through the air to bounce on the ground and roll away till it was stopped by a boulder. Someone laughed, and was clouted into silence by his comrades.'

Seriously, I have not made that up, you can check it yourself. And I know, that image could have been taken straight from a movie like 300 (except for the anachronisms, obviously).

So, have decided I'm not going to worry so much about how much bloody detail I put in, because it is going to be hard to beat that!

On how my writing is actually going:
As I was sick for a large part of this week and got almost nothing written on the second book in this series, I spent this weekend going back to the first book which I didn't complete and working on that (as well as sleeping, curling up and reading, and generally still recovering, though I did go for a jog today beside the river which was nice. Will see how much I have to pay for it tomorrow).

Got 2,000 words done Friday morning, 5,000 yesterday and about 5,000 today. And yes, I admit I said that I thought I had about 10,000 more words to write. However, having written around 12,000 words, I don't actually feel that much closer to finishing! But still, at least it doesn't feel rushed.

I also received the feedback from the reviewer of my first ever novel which surprisingly was really informative and useful. For beginning Christian writers, I am recommending the Caleb Writing Competition (yes, I have just worked out how to put links into my posts. Cool, huh?), which for their unpublished section offers the winners publication and everyone else gets a full report on their story. It also has a published section, but I'm ignoring that for now, for obvious reasons.

My report came back stating that there were a few things to fix up (which they outlined and I full agree with) and after that they would definitely recommend it for publication. Yah! The competition is run by Omega Writers in conjunction with Even Before Publishing, an Australian Christian publisher. Omega Writers group is sponsoring the Word Writers' Getaway, which I am going to not just because it is in Queensland and I could seriously do with some sun, but as my first foray into the world of Christian writers (beyond academics). Is in October, will post more about it when I go. 

So, slightly heartened that they liked my work and thinks it has potential. Now just got to get myself back into writing the mega numbers again. Tomorrow starting again on Book 2 (though book 1 still not finished, but closer.)

Tip for today: Hansom Cabs were not invented until 1836, so not very useful to reference them in a book set in 1790. D'oh. Learn from my mistakes, children, learn from my mistakes.
(Hackneys are the vehicles of choice at the time for general taxiing. Kept trying to think of the word but for unknown reasons kept coming up with 'Turnkey' which I knew wasn't right, or even related.)
This message has been brought to you by the amazing knowledge of Wikipedia. 

Good night.

Buffy.

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