Revision of My Novel With Style

While I revise my medieval novel set in England during the reign of Edward II I get rid of repeated words and phrases.

I also rephrase sentences which contain gerunds that I tend to over use. For example:-

I changed "...trying to smooth away his pain" to "in an attempt to smooth away his pain."

Another examples follow.

I replaced "Yvonne broke her fast in the great hall before going..." with "Yvonne broke her fast in the great hall before she went..."

After I tweak the next 100 pages I shalll read the novel from beginning to end to check I for the last time.

I hope that the rewrite will be stylish after so much hard work.

Medieval Novel, Emotion

This morning I continued to revise my medieval novel set in the reign of Edward II of England.

From the day of her birth the heroine's life takes many twists and turns, some of them tragic. While she grows from childhood into a capable lady,  I'm happy when she is and cry when she does. I hope that when the novel is published my readers will be swept away on the same tide of emotion and care deeply about her.

Raised Bed and Radishes

I have an eight foot by four foot raised bed in which I planted rows of baby lettuce, radish, rocket, carrots, turnip and beetroot. All of the vegetables, which I make good use of, are flourishing. Radish and turnip greens as well as beetroot leaves can be cooked and enjoyed in various ways.

Today, I ate this season's first radishes with crackers spread with Philadelphia cheese. Previously, I bought some radishes from the supermarket. They were large, a little woody and almost tasteless. My home grown ones are tender, juicy and slightly spicy. My grandson, who popped in after school to give me a slice of upside down cake that he made in food technology, agreed with me when he  tasted the radishes.

Such a humble salad vegetable but so delicious. I shall plant another row elsewhere.

Mediaeval Novel, Final Revision

I wrote my mediaeval novel set in the reign of Edward II of England a few years ago. Since then, I five of my novels have been published and a sixth has been accepted for publication. In between writing those novels and dealing with lots of 'writerly' matters as well as the demands of daily life, I have dipped in and out of my mediaeval novel. Now, I am determined to finish the revision, but the main problem is that I have dipped in and out of it so often that I see what should be on the page, not what is actually on it. Sometimes it seems as if it will never be ready to submit but, fingers crossed, I shall submit it in June.

Winston and Winnie Are Dead

Winston and Winnie, a pair of plump wood pigeons annoyed me when alive. They pecked at any greens in the garden which were not covered with netting and stone seeds I put out for smaller birds.

On Friday, feathers floated on the surface of my small garden pond. This morning, I saw  feathers scattered over the lawn near the pond. I assume a fox from the nearby woods caught them or, maybe, a cat.

So sad not to have seen them today.

False Pretences Romantic Regency Mystery is a Guest

My novel, False Pretences. a Romantic Regency Mystery and I are guests at Story Teller Alley, do pop in and visit us at: http://storytelleralley.com/falsepretenses (My hostess misspelt pretenses and will correct it, so you might need to visit: http://storytelleralley.com/falsepretences.)

What is Riomance?

 

What is Romance? Not an easy question to answer. I suppose everyone has a different opinion.

 

The cynical poet, Lord Byron wrote:

 Romances paint at full length people’s wooings,

But only give a bust of marriages;
For no one cares for matrimonial cooings,
There’s nothing wrong with a connubial kiss:
Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch’s wife,
He would have written sonnets all his life?

 I prefer a poem written by William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (17^th Century)

 There is no happy life

But in a wife;
The comforts are so sweet
When they do meet.

 Two figures but one coin;

So they do join,
Only they not embrace,
We face to face.

Ah, you may sigh that is romance in marriage.

 But romance is much more. In the Middle Ages it was a narrative in verse or prose about the adventures of chivalrous knights and adoration of an unattainable lady, which had little in common with real life. King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table and the tale or Lancelot and Guinevere have fascinated the romantic at heart for generations.

Then there are the songs of troubadours, Henry VIII’s Greensleeves, and in more recent times one of my favourites, Unchained Melody.