Inky Names

The season is changing and it's time to soon upload the historical novel.  In about five days, it will be on kindle (hoorah!) and I keep chaning my mind on what name to publish it under.  The traditional marketing ideal is that for each genre of book, there should be a different name.  My historical fiction name would be Elizabeth Drake, which I love (old family name too), but as I'm not publishing traditionally, I think I'll stick to my nearly established name of Holly Stacey.  If (emphasis on if rather than when) I ever get a traditional publishing deal, then I may branch out a bit and use a pen name.  But not now.  The pen name didn't do terribly well for Raven Wyrstone (The Howling Moon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Howling-Moon-Raven-Wyrstone/dp/0956036341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347304373&sr=8-1) although I love the book.

Okay, it's written in my blog, so I've got to stick to it.  No waking up at 2am and deciding to change again (the 2am waking is thanks to my lawyer troubles... still that one bit of paper is awaiting a signature).  Truly.  Sticking to the one name.  Except for the non-fiction on Victorian asylums.  That will be under H.E. Stacey...

Ah, and here is my kindle link for my YA urban fantasy - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Faerie-Conspiracies-ebook/dp/B00955JPCK/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347304405&sr=1-1

Solicitor Splats

 

We were supposed to exchange on Monday.  Our solicitor has been a dream.  However, all solicitors in the chain are meant to be in the office at the same time.  I’m sure someone is on holiday without having told anybody else.  Not only that, but they were all talking to each other two weeks ago and now… silence.  Number X in the chain is not available to anybody, solicitor or not.  All house moves are on hold.

 

Its crazy, isn’t it?  How so many people can have their lives on hold just for one phone call?  And what happens when one of them is hit by a car? Has a family accident? Gets a real flu?  The world shouldn’t have to come to a grinding halt.  The system is terribly flawed.  We are chain free – we don’t even have to wait for our house to sell and with a good solicitor, it’s taken eight weeks (and counting) for all the house checks to come through (that’s checks, not cheques, which they’ve been having no problems accepting).

 

So where does this leave us?  Boxes are strewn everywhere.  Poor Claudia has to eat in front of the TV (tough, isn’t it?) because the dining table is covered with boxes (and the cat… she loves boxes).  My projects are all on hold and I’m going absolutely stir crazy.  Still, we went out to Chappel Beer Festival last night and that was good.  A date night with beer (although I ended up on a rather nice medium-sweet perry) and chocolate – there was a chocolate stall!

 

Fingers crossed we get a phone call today… Fingers crossed that nothing is mortally wrong with that solicitor!

Introductions

Despite having put all projects on hold for a few weeks, I thought it might be good to post the introdution to my Three Women in Asylum book.  In fairness, it was written while waiting for my train home.

Also, as the book will be dedicated to Isabella, a girl from the late Victorian Era who helped guide me back to Borthwick, I've posted the photo of 'The Dreamers' who I'm writing about for the fiction anthology.

Introduction:

 As an archaeologist and children’s author, it may seem strange that I’ve decided to write a book on women in asylum in the Victorian Era.  Stranger still when my archaeological focus has always been early Medieval.  Having excavated with several rescue archaeology teams, I had occasionally come across Victorian archaeology – it couldn’t be missed although it was almost always taken for granted and discarded.  The answer is very simple.  When I was a MA student in York, my class was led to the Bothwick Institute to look at medieval city plans.  They were truly amazing, but what caught my eye the most and what lodged deep into my psyche, were the photographs on the wall.  At the time, Borthwick was located on the premises of what used to be Clifton Hospital – the North Riding Mental Asylum.  The photos were on inmates, women who were deemed to be insane. 

            I knew a little of what Victorian asylums were like – they had a reputation, along with prisons, as being places of unrest.  Suicides were common and recovery rare (or so I thought at the time).  Women who were postnatal depressive, who were mourning the loss of a young child, who may have miscarried, were almost always sent to an asylum.  Not a very healthy way to grieve.  Not only this, but these women were lumped in with maniacal and suicidal dangerous women; those with lunacy in the family.  Melancholia seemed to be the number one problem with women in asylum, followed closely by ‘mania’.  With so many mental illnesses clumped together, it was hardly a recipe for recovery.

            I wondered then, and for over a decade afterwards, what had happened to these women; what was their confinement in an asylum like, and were they ever released?  It wasn’t until I was writing for a fiction anthology based on a Victorian portrait of a young woman who looked pregnant that I was finally tempted to research the Clifton Hospital records.  Writing for the anthology brought back those eyes, staring at me through their protective glass.  Young unwed women of pauper backgrounds like the one in the photograph I was writing about were often sent to the asylum and the babies whisked away to orphanage or workhouse.

            And so, halfway finished with a fictional short story, I ended up booking a train to York.  The Borthwick Institute had relocated since I’d been.  At the time of writing, it was located at the main university’s campus library. The photos I’d seen before, now packed away; only one lonely image of a Clifton Hospital patient remained, pinned to the notice board, watching me research.  I enjoyed the moral support. 

            I started with the female photograph album and then moved onto Female Patient Admissions, then to Female Case Studies.  Each tome offered thousands of names, their origins, their history and family, sometimes their address.  One thing was certain, by the time I’d read through their case, I felt like I knew them.  On my first day of research, I kept reading entries of women who’d spent a lifetime in asylum.  Their reports went much the same, about four entries per year from Dr Nicolson, who I also felt an affinity for (I was saddened to learn that he’d spent years in the same role, only to become an alcoholic and dismissed from service because it was discovered he’d married and had a family outside the hospital; something that was against the rules).  When I’d read the final entry, ‘patient died in the presence of the ward nurse,’ I’d often feel like crying.  My second day of research yielded much happier results as most of the women I’d read about ended up ‘cured’ and discharged.  There were so many women, youngest having been 16 and many up to their 60’s.  One woman was so bereaved when her doctor husband died, she was suicidal and distraught.  She’d constantly told Dr Nicolson how she and her husband ‘were ruined’ and how she was ‘lost’.  Finally, two of her good friends wrote to the commission and requested her release.  There were no more notes, but I hoped that they were looking after her well.  Of her adult children, there was no mention.

            So how did I get to just three case studies?  As I said above, there were thousands of entries in the handful of years I wanted to focus on.  1889 was the date I was primarily after, as the photo book with the patients’ images was set to that date.  I first looked through the photos, picked out about five and then started hunting for their records.  Of those, three had such telltale signs of postnatal depression, broken heart and bereavement that I felt those were the women I should focus on.  It was difficult not to be swept up in every story and I would strongly urge anyone interested to spend just a day reading up on these women at Borthwick.

Borthwick Inklings

At the moment, I’m typing at York Rail Station, waiting for my train.  It’s a good thing, I think, that all the stores close at 5:30, museums are locked, and I’m given a chance to do some more work.  I’ve just finished chapter 2 of my Women in Asylum book and I’m excited about delving deeper into my notes to write up more.  Although, I am limited on time as the staff here won’t let me plug in as the plugs are ‘untested’.  I’ve about half an hour of juice left in the machine!

It was good meeting up with a friend last night (when I was supposed to be writing) and having a pub dinner was especially tasty!  So, with the request made to me on the night, I’m ‘blogging more frequently’.  Michelle, this is for you :-)

 

So I may not have mentioned the non-fiction book I’ve been working on.  To be fair, I’m not sure how far I’m going to take it.  I was bewitched by the photographs of Victorian patients in the North Riding Mental Asylum about 12 years ago and now I’m finally following up on the research I’ve always intended on doing.  I spent all of today and half of yesterday in the Borthwick Institute, looking up case files from 1887-1889 of some of the female patients. 

 

I wanted to focus on post-natal depression, and I think I found a few, but as it was all labelled either ‘melancholia’ or ‘mania’ it’s difficult to tell even when the put the ‘supposed cause’ on the file.  The case notes have given clues into the lives of these women, but my favourite must be the woman from Whitby who was convinced her husband was lost at sea (he wasn’t, but she was looking after three children, the youngest being only three months).  She made a full recovery in a matter of months and also learned some fine needlepoint on the journey. 

Not all the entries were so uplifting.  One girl was in for ‘loss in love’ and ended up dying in the asylum having spent every day absolutely listless and in despair.  It’s hard not to feel an attachment to each woman in the case books – reading each entry from the point of admission to the point of release, death, or relocation ends in either jubilation at a full recovery or extreme melancholia when they don’t.

 

On other projects, here is a brief update.  Blood Tide is halfway re-edited.  I’ll pick it up again after the move and it WILL be ready by Christmas on Kindle.  I’m still writing for Knowonder and they’ve been fabulous.  My Cornwall tales seem to be going over well, and some of my other stories are rejected so I don’t always get it right, but I’m getting the hang of what works and what doesn’t.  Lillia and Rose is still going but slowly – I don’t want to rush this one and I’m working on writing it out by hand so I can really savour it.  Again, jewellery work is on hold until the move is finished and I can prep my new workshop.

 

More later…

some random updates

http://www.knowonder.com/?s=holly+stacey is my latest children's story for knowonder, and my favourite so far :)

Ah, the baby is out with husband shopping for food, the cinnamon rolls are rising in the oven, I’ve done the washing up, put on the laundry, managed to brush my  hair and pour a coffee.  I’ve not drunk the coffee… it’s now stone cold, and I expect I’ll have the baby and husband come in any second, put a stop to my writing, and any chance of updating my blog (until baby has afternoon nap in which I’m actually meant to be tidying up the allotment).

Things have been manic.  As my friend Kirsty says, “Yes, it has everything to do with having children.”  So it’s not just me being disorganised (is that me relieved or worried?)  But I just can’t help myself.  I’ve been doing more writing now, having given Wyvern Publications a limited amount of time while I focus on my own work (after three years of helping other authors, editing other manuscripts, and learning things about PDF that I never knew I’d need to know, I’m now looking at getting my own work out and about).

We’re also mid-move.  Still waiting on one mortgage (or re-mortgage) but the company changed the rules half way through our application and have asked us to re-apply and pay more fees (which I am assured by our financial advisor he’ll get back for us).  I’m sure everything will pan out fine, but home isn’t home anymore, it’s become a building site.  Not to mention, I can’t get over how much builders make.  On a per-hour basis, it’s looking mighty fine – I think doctors get less!  So, maybe I’ll stop this writing lark and pick up some tiling equipment (as that seems to need less start up items than the rest of the building choices, lol).

Oops, rolls out of the oven now (nearly missed it!) and coffee still stone cold but now half finished. 

Right, where was I?  Ah, just a writing update (curses, the door is opening and I’m needed for baby-pushchair retrieval)…

Okay, now, where was I.  Writing.  That’s it.  I’m halfway done with the latest edit of Blood Tide (followers will know I’ve been reworking this novel for the past two years) and I’m hoping to (truly) get it up on kindle before Christmas.  It will be my first time using the kindle upload pages, although I’d like to do the same with The Faerie Conspiracies.  I’m not even going to look for an agent for Blood Tide – it has dialect and therefore is risky.  Agents aren’t taking any risks.  Main publishers aren’t either.  There is a revolution in the publishing industry and it’s been easier than ever to self-publish.  Agents are in dire straights, but still need authors, who no longer need them.  The average self-published author makes $10,000 a year from their writing (this is an average, about half will not, according to recent survey, make more than $500, many won’t make their money back if they’ve paid someone to do it for them).  But have a look at the kindle book Memory of Snow by Kirsty Ferry – you’ll find some excellent fiction just at a click of a button.

Aside from editing Blood Tide, it’s been all about keeping up with the quota of stories needed for knowonder.com, who’ve been amazing to work for.  It may have taken a few months longer for the re-launch, but the wait was well worth it.  Lillia and Rose, my latest children’s novel is going more slowly than I’d anticipated, but I don’t mind.  I’m enjoying taking my time over it.  I’ve also been sending some submissions out to various paying anthologies.

With the house move on hold, most of my jewellery making has been on hold too.  But I have got a workbench sourced (second hand kitchen top) and some more tools for cutting and soldering.  I’m keen on working with some traditional techniques for a set of medieval rings that I can take to the next Oyster Fayre. 

Colchester Medieval Fayre (formerly known as Oyster Fayre)

The Medieval Fayre was a wonderful experience and for the first time in costume, I set up as Seadrake Creations.  The chainmaille jewellery got a good amount of attention, as did the pure silver rings (one woman was kind enough to buy three at once! I gave her a very good discount). 

A couple of things made themselves known to me.  The first was that people don't like to make purchases when they are cold and wet.  The other is that I think I'll be targeting my work more towards authentic period items and less 'inspired by' items. 

Next on the list of things to make will be medieval cloaks (two as I bought way too much material at the fayre) and two medieval (1350's to be exact) hoods.  My tent is large enough to have a changing room and cloak rail after all.

I met some fabulous people and picked up a few commissions - I also learnt a bit more about various PLIs and the best way to start expanding my little business.  As one other trader said, 'I started so my trade would pay for my beer.'  So I'm starting small and having my creations pay for material (not that I don't like beer too).

Next fayre might be The Fairyland Trust Halloween Market... more to come!

May Inklets

It’s so nice to get paid to write children’s stories.  It’s easy to just get caught up in the ‘get published’ mode, sending submissions out to anything that ends up in print, so when payment comes… WOW.  If anybody has a good children’s story, check out www.knowonder.com as it’s still accepting stories and pays very professionally for them. 1 June is when the website re-launches and all the new and wonderful stories will be featured; a story a day.

As for other markets, two short stories have been sent out to Chicken Soup for the Soul, who are constantly producing excellent books.  It’s a good market to capture, so fingers crossed, I’ve got it right.  If not, I’ll keep trying. 

The WIP (Lillia and Rose) will be drafted by August and then it’s the next couple of months for revising and sending out to agents.  It’s really coming into its own and I’m loving getting elements of Viking lore into the story (as the main character’s father is a historian… well, he has an MA in folklore and history, but he now works as an accountant in the city, so much for formal education).

The Colchester Oyster Fayre is getting closer and closer… my list of goods for sale is growing. I’ve now got pirate bags and pouches in treasure map print.  Not very medieval, but as I’m in the ‘pseudo-historical’ section, I figure I can stretch things a bit.  It was fun using my 1940’s hand cranked singer sewing machine (so there’s historic for you ;)

Ooh, and my tent for the fayre is ENORMOUS… I never appreciated just how big it would be (I finally had a chance to test it out at Grange Barn) and it’s too big to have the canopy up.  It will be an excellent place for friends to chill out at after competing in the archery tournament.  I’ll be pimping up the back to have sheepskin throws and a couple of blankies for ‘medieval crash-out’.  I doubt I’ll have time to paint the panels before the fayre, but I aim to have a full woodland up, with golden ink Shakespearean fairy quotes and maybe some Tennyson (or at least Mallory).

I’m still not happy with my website.  I’ve uploaded some new photos but I need to re-photograph many of the items with my ‘new’ second-hand manual zoom Nikkon (thank you amazon marketplace!) so they look a bit more professional.  The website keeps being uncooperative.  I’m no tekkie and my computer doesn’t like updates, but I’d really like to put a more personal and woodland spin on the website.  I may attempt to bribe a friend into helping me update it.

And finally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for my friend and fellow historic fiction writer Laura – her book is with an agent who’s just asked to view the complete manuscript!