queen of none – A Mad Pursuit

Ever since I read Stephen King’s On Writing twelve years ago, I’ve been acutely aware of my biggest fault as a writer: my inability to achieve distance from my own writing. King talks about finishing a manuscript and then putting it away for a few weeks, letting it mellow a bit, in order to return to... / READ MORE /

December 9, 2009

arthuriana, fantasy, queen of none, writing

characterization, lanceloch, lancelot, queen of none, writing

Loving Lancelot or, the Force of Character

I have to confess, I’ve never much liked Lancelot. I never got the whole thing with him, never understood why, time and again, he appears in book after book after book, film after film. And I swore, up and down I swore, that if I ever wrote Arthuriana that there would be absolutely no sign... / READ MORE /

December 8, 2009

fantasy, Gawain, queen of none, Uncategorized, WIP, writing

anna pendragon, arthuriana, Gawain, king arthur, queen of none, retelling stories, writing arthuriana

Arthur Re(du)x – Part One

I can’t say for sure, but I think the first time I ever saw something remotely Pre-Raphaelite was in elementary school upon visiting the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. It very well could have been this painting, though I’m not sure when it was acquired. Regardless, I remember returning from the museum on an... / READ MORE /

April 6, 2009

queen of none, writing

first person narrative, narrative mode, narrative voice, queen of none, third person limited, third person narrative, writing, writing problems

Perspective tension

I am still having a problem. When I wrote Queen of None a few months ago, it happened very quickly. To this date it’s the fastest I’ve ever written a book. At the time, writing it was the easiest thing in the world. Everything flowed magically, or so it appeared to me, and when it... / READ MORE /

March 3, 2009

fantasy, queen of none, writing

arthuriana, draft, fantasy, novel draft, queen of none

The draft of None is done

I was going to save this until tomorrow when, I hope, I’m a little cheerier. But, hey, it’s not every day you finish a book. I mean, writing one. Since the beginning of the year I have implemented a no whining, no complaining, work-only approach to writing. I decided I will no longer sit around... / READ MORE /

February 27, 2009

fantasy, queen of none, WIP, writing

arthur, arthuriana, naming a novel, novel titles, queen of none, titles, WIP

Judge a book by its title

Having somewhere around four titled works, I often feel like a total newbie. Hell, I feel like a total newbie most of the time with the whole publishing thing. I was once told I could sell anything, and that would help me in life, yet for the life of me I can’t figure out why... / READ MORE /

February 25, 2009

fantasy, queen of none, WIP, writing

anna pendragon, arthurian legend, arthurian novel, arturiana, novel excerpt, queen of none

The Lady of the Lake is a blacksmith: an excerpt from Queen of None

From Queen of None. I wanted to find a spoiler-free section, but that’s almost impossible. But here’s a bit of description I rather liked, as Anna and Lanceloch (who have just been married…) approach the Lake, after Anna has struck a deal to visit her imprisoned Aunt Viviane. A note: this is not an attempt... / READ MORE /

February 18, 2009

fantasy, geek, WIP

armor, eye candy, medieval, medieval art, queen of none, suits of armor

Medieval and medievalesque armor @DRB

Medieval suits of armor. – Beautiful, beautiful! I have an unabashed love of suits of armor, which is helpful considering my current project is Arthurian. And although, as is pointed out in the comments, not every single one of these is authentic medieval, they are still one barrel of eye candy. The artistry, regardless of... / READ MORE /

February 16, 2009

fantasy

anna pendragon, arthurian novel, arthuriana, fantasy novel, king arthur, mythology, novel in progress, queen of none, WIP, works in progress, writing

Play it again, Frodo: why I love a remake

There are too many purists in the world. Too many folks who cling to original books, movies, songs, rallying for the acknowledgement that their beloved version is The Best That Ever Was. Hollywood is “out of ideas”, books are “recycled”. Like this is a bad thing? The thing is, we’re always telling the same story.... / READ MORE /