Birthing a Book Baby

It always starts with the fun part. No, not that … this isn’t that sort of blog.

The fun begins with research: searching for possibility, for the kernel of an engaging tale. It means throwing myself into a new story and falling in love with beguiling characters. And then comes the writing. The fragile opening words, then sentences. Paragraphs become scenes. Scenes grow into chapters.  Like rolling a snowball, it gathers shape and mass.

Once the manuscript is complete, I read it through and ask myself an important question:  is she the one? Perhaps I pass her to a reader or two. Do I love her enough to devote many hours for editing, trimming, developing and sharpening?

Yes.  She is a keeper.

And so, I persist with it shaping and forming. Growing.

I bring an editor on board. Gather feedback. Back to the keyboard I go – trimming, adding, re-arranging. Cut. Cut. Cut.

Now she is truly beautiful:   a fully formed, polished work – dare I say – of art.

I send her out on submission to literary agents – tailored queries and opening chapters dispatched to a carefully curated list of would-be shepherds. Fifty per cent return bearing courteous rejections. The others simply vanish, lost at sea.

Undeterred, I submit her to a few competitions. To my absolute joy, she gets shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society First Chapters Competition in 2024. Surely this will help her catch an agent’s eye.

Inexplicably, I repeat that unpleasant submission cycle THREE times. (With further manuscript revisions between rounds.)

YEARS pass. It is, frankly, absolute insanity.

Eventually, I pick her up – perhaps for one last time – and read. Do I still love her? Does she deserve her place in the world? Shall I shepherd her myself?

The answer is yes, gentle readers. 

I will be self-publishing The Queen of Bushy House in the autumn.  This story is set in my local area, Teddington, and draws upon the true story of two remarkable women:  Dorothea Jordan and Queen Adelaide. They never met in life but are inextricably intertwined. This is a tale of love, loss, betrayal and longing for acceptance – with themes of motherhood and female friendship woven throughout.

In the meantime, I thought it would be rather nice to revive this blog. And I am making the move to Substack. Shall I start introducing my cast characters?  Maybe a sneak peek at the opening chapter? Perhaps a few posts about the self-publishing process? What would you like to hear about?

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