What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? This is my fifteen published novel, and the second book I was working on since the pandemic began. In August of 2021, I began initial research for The Myrtle Wand, and by early or mid-September I was writing it. I wrote an additional 50,000 words during November for National Novel Writing Month. I believe I finished the first draft before February, or perhaps very early that month. I made some revisions before it went into editing, and additional revisions after. By early summer it was in production and Advance Reader Copies were sent out. Maybe a month or two later I proofed the final set of galleys. I consider a novel “completely finished” when I am no longer permitted to make edits or changes. I don’t remember exactly when that happened. Late summer, I suppose.
Click on below link to read about National Writing Month
https://nationaltoday.com/national-novel-writing-month/
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? I write at home, in my main sitting room/library. And on the screened porch at my lake house, which overlooks the shoreline and faces the mountains.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I drink hot tea when I’m writing, and often during the winter, hot cocoa in the late afternoon.
Because The Myrtle Wand is a retelling and continuation of Giselle, I often listened to the score Adolphe Adam composed for the ballet. I usually write mid-morning to late afternoon, except as deadline approaches—then I will work late into the night. I write on my laptop, although I will make pen and paper notes of scenes and dialogue as they occur to me when away from the keyboard. And I do sometimes write significant scenes in longhand, if my thoughts flow better that way. At home, I sit comfortably on a sofa, facing a fireplace. My dog is nearly always curled up beside me. That’s just one of the reasons she’s featured in The Myrtle Wand, as the heroine’s canine companion! At the lake, I’ve got a writing chair and footstool, and I drink tea and listen to music there as well.
Click on the link below to view an excerpt from Adolphe Adam’s Giselle
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.
The Myrtle Wand, pp. 141-142
Taking their bows, the seven players were rewarded with enthusiastic applause.
“I enjoyed that,” Bathilde said.
The duke offered her a smile, saying, “A familiar situation, no doubt inspired by the Italian commedia del’arte. With the addition of uniquely clever dialogue.”
King Louis left his gilded chair and approached them. Marie followed several respectful paces behind. As her large dark eyes settled on Bathilde, her expression lacked any sign of warmth or friendliness.
Jealous, she realized. Doesn’t she know she has no cause to be?
“A diverting entertainment,” the king commented. “If my brother pays his players by the laugh, they will receive a heavy purse for this night’s work. De Rozel, my felicitations on your betrothal to the princess, whom I hold in the highest regard. She is too modest to tell you so, but it’s true. On the next fine day, Signorina Mancini and I shall ride out to Vincennes to inspect the creatures in the menagerie Monsieur Colbert has established for me. I invite both of you to accompany us.”
Bathilde looked to the duke to judge his reaction. His expression revealed nothing.
“My riding horses haven’t yet arrived from Normandy,” he replied.
“You may choose any of the mounts in my écurie. Princess Bathilde has a favorite, I know. A gray, somewhat larger than the one I taught her to ride in Poitiers. Nine years ago, when the Frondeurs were running rampant through this city.”
“I’m content to do whatever pleases the princess,” the duke declared. “And satisfies Your Majesty.”
“Excellent. We will ride together again, with companions more charming than we had when leading our troops into battle.”
The duke inclined his head.
Bathilde sensed his unstated reluctance to join in the excursion. Accepting the king’s invitation meant going against her betrothed’s inclination. Unable to decline, she hoped she’d never again feel trapped between these two opposing forces.
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Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? Princess Bathilde isn’t yet well acquainted with her future husband, the Duc de Rozel. But she does know that he, like she, is a close friend of King Louis XIV. When invited to ride with the king and his ladylove to Vincennes, she’s torn between her duty to please the monarch, and her desire to comply with the preference of the man she will marry. His excuse about his lack of a horse indicates that he’d rather refuse the invitation, and yet he gallantly defers to her—and to their king.
This passage foreshadows later, more intense conflicts that arise in Bathilde’s encounters with the king, required by him to do something she suspects her duke might dislike, or that would rouse his jealousy.
In life, we often feel trapped between opposing forces, or our own conflicting desires. We experience an uncertainty about what to do or say, especially if we lack enough information to act upon. For Bathilde—and for the duke—that sort of tension increases throughout the story.
Click on the below link to visit Margaret Porter’s website
Most of the INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links can be found at the very end of the below feature:
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/03/stephenson-holts-arranged-marriage-is.html