After a false start and second thoughts, a teenage aristocrat and officer from one of France’s then most noble families, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, along with several other officers, slipped out of the country in April 1777 from Bordeaux on a small ship called Victorie. (They left without … More “Lafayette, we are here”
Well, we’re here: Soulac-sur-Mer, north of Bordeaux, on the coast: The drive up here from the airport vaguely reminded me of Florida – flat and sandy. Brittany is not like this. Our lunch yesterday. Yes, a bit of a caricature, we knew: We went out to dinner last night at a pleasant, small restaurant in … More “Bonjour” From Soulac-sur-Mer
A last post before heading off tomorrow…. JOURNAL, Hertfordshire, 26 August 2016, Early morning. Weather fine. Another warm day to come it appears. We depart tomorrow for France. Little is packed as of yet, but I’ll do that later today. Much to do before…. In Conventions, a variety of historical figures appear in places, times … More “Journal, Paris, 21 October 1792”
Working away yesterday on Conventions, at one point it struck me again how you may outline and pre-plan a novel to the smallest degree, but that’s nowhere near the same thing as actually writing it. I find some of my (in my opinion) “best” stuff comes via improvisation and even accidentally…. while I’m actually writing. … More Fictional Inhabitants Of A Bygone Era
It’s a pleasant surprise to have your phone ping around 10pm and find this, as I did last night. I screen captured it earlier this morning. Yes, this is about the time I usually start my day: That opener is from my new poet friend, Tracey, in Cambridge. She’d found out who I am through … More What The Poet “Said”
For starters, I would like to point out that what follows is all Kate Colby’s (The Cogsmith’s Daughter and The Courtesan’s Avenger) fault. 😉 Yesterday, I found on Instagram that she had included me (along with six other authors) in a “challenge” to share 7 sentences from page 7 in my latest work in progress. Next … More Instagram “7-7-7” Challenge (Brought To WordPress)
Since “Day 1” I have known broadly how Conventions would end. Back on Friday, I summoned up the courage and wrote it in detail – the final chapter. While writing one always also surprises oneself, too: as I worked on it I realized I could toss in an unexpected (and in my humble opinion, great) … More Endings
So much can happen, and we often learn so much, sitting around a table together:
I don’t want Conventions to be too similar to the Atlantic Lives novels (which I plan currently to return to after Conventions). It’s a huge challenge as a writer to try to head down a different path. But tackling new challenges is what authoring is all about: if you stay in your “comfort zone,” you’ll … More “War with France again? Oh, how dreadful.”
R. J. Nello 