by Anita Mae Draper
Coming up for air... I've been in my cave working on
Emma's Outlaw. Yes, trudging through Tuesday's blizzard from the house to my office in our converted garage. At least it gets me out in the fresh air - even though the wind almost blew the coffee out of my mug on the way there.
But finally, I'm at the end. And, I'm on such a high about it, I didn't want to stop and draft my posts.
Yes, I said posts. You see, I'll still be posting on my inspirational group blog Inkwell Inspirations. I really enjoy it over there because I get to talk about life and books and not just writing, although I slip it in sometimes, too.
Take my Inky post for yesterday - it's called
When Fiction Meets Fact. It's about my excitement of starting a new book and how I'm trying to figure out how to make my hero heroic. I use the biblical story of David and Bathsheba as an example because when King David was faced with temptation - a nude Bathsheba - he succumbed.
Hmm, that's doesn't sound heroic, does it. But it sure makes for an entertaining story. I mean, not only did David commit adultery with her, but when she informed him she was pregnant, he tried to cover it up by calling her husband home from the battle. The plan was for her husband, Uriah, to sleep with Bathsheba, then think the baby was his. Except it didn't work out that way because Uriah refused to enjoy the pleasures of his warm, loving wife when his men were sleeping in the cold courtyard.
So, when that didn't work, David sent Uriah to the front line where he'd have the best chance of being killed. Sure enough, Uriah died in the battle. (Are you beginning to think that maybe Uriah is the true hero here?)
Worried that he'll be found out, King David makes up a story and sends it out as fact. In other words, he lied while trying to cover up his crime. What kind of hero does that?
Add to that, David didn't even repent until the prophet Nathan called him out. Finally, David repents. God forgives him and after some more bumps on the road, David and Bathsheba have another child - Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived.
When you look at David's life as a whole, he is a hero. He just happens to be a hero who stumbled. And because of that monumental stumble, we get to enjoy David and Bathsheba's epic love story. But is it truly a love story? That's the discussion over on my Inky post.
So, the challenge is to write an exciting historical romance with a hero similar to a larger-than-life hero like David. Except, I'm not sure I want my hero to succumb like David did. Maybe take him to the brink of temptation, dangle him over it awhile, then let him come to his senses. I dunno - what do you think?
Anyway, twice a month or so, I'm over at the Inkwell. We have theme days over there and I usually stick to Historical Tuesday's or Fiction Wednesdays. The first two Tuesdays in Oct I blogged under the Historical theme about using repeat or
Now and Then photography.
But back to
Emma's Outlaw, I'm polishing the end, now. While my critique partners check it over, I'll be making the final adjustments to my synopsis and query letter. By this weekend it will be gone - submitted to the editor and agent who've waited over a year to read it.
NaNoWriMo starts Nov 1st and I'm hoping to start my new story at that time. I'm very excited about it because it'll be set in 1881 in the District of Assiniboia (now Southern Saskatchewan). I've wanted to do a western Canadian story for a long time and feel the timing is right. Especially since
Love Inspired Historical is gearing up to release 4 new titles a month instead of 2 and intently recruiting new writers. So that's who I'll be targeting this time around.
You can find out more about my NaNoWriMo experience - and my new story which I've yet to name - on my personal blog at
http://anitamaedraper.blogspot.com/.
I also have a
website in the works but the only thing that's available on it at this time is daily horse information and a daily cowboy/western quote. Both are interesting and sometimes good for a laugh.
I'll be adding the following to my website soon:
- recipes used in my stories (really old recipes)
- photos and interesting stuff about my research trips
- jigsaw puzzles of my photos
- links to my posts here at Prairie Chicks and Inkwell Inspirations
- links to places I guest blog
At this time, I've only posted at one other blog and that was at the International Christian Fiction Writers (ICFW) and my post was entitled
Canadian Prairies Missed the Old West. That post was actually what got me thinking about my upcoming story.
And finally, I'm on
Facebook and
Twitter which is probably the first place you'll hear news of my 'call'.
Thank you to the readers and guests who took time to visit us here. I really appreciate(d) your support.
To my fellow Chicks, it was an honour to work, learn and write with you. I wish you many successes in your writing journey.
Anita Mae.