A History Lover's Dream Come True, Part 1

As most of you know--or will quickly learn by having a look around this blog--historical fantasy is my favorite genre. I love the magic that occurs when a reader becomes fully immersed in a distant time and place, only to find that a twist of something supernatural has altered life in that long-ago world. At their best, these stories teach us to view ourselves or the world in a new light. I always come away from historical fantasies feeling somehow richer, filled with a new appreciation for my surroundings.

Perhaps my love of these stories fuels my interest in antiquing, and shows like American Pickers on the History Channel. There's a thrill in discovering items that, while of course not magical in the strictest sense, have a certain otherworldly charm for having endured decades or centuries of careless human hands, dank cellars, and rotting tool sheds.

Yet for all my love of the past, I never imagined my own family legacy waiting to be dusted off and pieced back together. I didn't fully understand how much could be lost over just a few generations. But like the Victorian tea set in my dining room, restored from a blackened mess to brightest silver, stories of the past always endure. They're in your grandmother's attic or your own basement, patiently waiting for someone to brush away the cobwebs and shine a light in the dark.

 An image of The Glenn House, my grandfather's ancestral home, taken in 1906. The home itself was completed in 1883.

My maternal grandparents, affectionately known as Nana and Papa, are getting on in years. I was their first grandchild, and I've watched them work so hard for quite a long time. Now that they're (mostly) retired, they've been going through their closets and attic to organize a lifetime of accumulated belongings. Old cookbooks, stacks of records, silver-plated serving dishes--a lot of moderately interesting vintage treasures.

But the best and most important surprise was waiting in their tool shed, a pale blue building behind their house that was, quite literally, dripping with water damage.

There we found a decaying book that had belonged to my great-grandmother and namesake, Sarah Emmeline Glenn. Part family history book, scrapbook, and journal, it contained everything from Sarah's original poems to photos dating back to the late 1800's, and even a set of daguerreotypes from the later years of the Civil War. There was a Victorian tea set and other silverware belonging to my great-great grandparents as well.

The book in question, sitting on my grandparents' kitchen table.

Three daguerreotypes from the shed, one dating to 1864, the others to 1865. The woman in the middle is my great (4x) grandmother Deane.

Sarah Emmeline Glenn, around age 18. She went by "Sally." I don't know why this came out so yellow when I scanned it in, but it doesn't look like this in person!

When I heard about the amazing things my family had unearthed from my grandparents' shed, I made the hour drive to my home town to spend a day going through the old book with my sister. The pages reek of decay, but it was well worth the allergy attack for the opportunity to gently turn the pages of that book. We found a newspaper announcing the end of World War II, food ration stamps from the same war, and pictures of my Papa as a baby. Best of all, I got to know my great-grandmother and namesake through her poetry, some of which is actually quite clever (I guess being a writer is in my blood!).

Some quotes Sally wrote in her old scrapbook. I especially like the one on the left.

Sometimes she typed her poems, like the one shown here. I really like how this one shows so much about her character! She was a fun and creative person.

This one makes me wonder how she spent her days.

Again, I love her sense of humor! This is a fake 'license' from the 1920s for a Backseat Driver!

A photo of my papa during his time at the University of Virginia, from Sally's scrapbook.

This book and all the memories it held naturally triggered a lot of long-buried memories of my papa's early life. But it was only when my sister found The Glenn House--the home of Sally parents, my great-great grandparents--through a simple Google search that the story of my papa's ancestors began to emerge. The Glenn House, originally built by my great-great-great grandparents for their daughter Lula, as a wedding present, is now a museum. In fact, the Historical Society of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where the house is located, was formed to restore the house and preserve the legacy of my great-great grandfather, David Glenn.

My papa had no idea the house was even still standing.

Beyond excited, I emailed the staff at The Glenn House right away, and within a few hours I received an enthusiastic response. They didn't know the Glenns had any living descendants, and they were just as thrilled to learn about my family as we were about the house's existence!

Sarah "Sally" Glenn was the Glenn family's youngest daughter, and she grew up in the beautiful house in Cape Girardeau along with her older brother, Garrett, and sister, Ruth.

The Glenn House as it stands today.

I continued to exchange emails, pictures, and information with the wonderful people who run tours of The Glenn House, and they shared a wealth of photos and documents with me in return. Memories continued to surface for my papa, and as he shared them with me, I passed them along to the Glenn House staff, who gather information to try to present to visitors a complete picture of the life of the Glenn family back in the 1800s.

 

David Glenn, his wife Lula Deane Glenn, and their oldest child, Garrett. Circa 1890. This picture was in my grandparents' shed, and we shared it with the staff of The Glenn House.

My family and I sorted through old tax papers, censuses in Cape Girardeau, and other documents generously provided to us by the Glenn House staff, trying to get a sense for the life of my great-great grandparents back in the late Victorian era.

And as we gathered more information, what emerged was the sort of story a writer loves to read: one of true love, kindness, triumph, and of course, tragedy.

In October, we'll be heading to Cape Girardeau, MO, to see The Glenn House in person. I'll write another post about the Glenns and their life story then, as well as my experience of reconnecting with my ancestral home and the wonderful historical society members who have worked so hard to restore the house to its former glory!

The Writer's Process Blog Hop

Hey all!

Today, I’m excited to be participating in a writer’s blog-hop about the writing process. As you may have noticed, I don’t do too much blogging and sharing (read: I’m shy!). But when my dear friend and CP, the fabulous Ami Allen-Vath, invited me to take place by tagging me in her post, I couldn’t resist. Check out Ami’s answers about her writing process here! And read my answers below:

1. What are you working on?

I’ve been revising a YA high fantasy novel for the past several months. During that time, I’ve also had to revise another book twice, and it was harder than expected to switch back and forth between the two! That said, I’m closing in on the last chapter and am quite proud of the result. It’s a fantasy adventure story about a friendship between two girls, super-creepy goblins, and of course, true love. There’s also a dash of humor. I hope to be able to share it with everyone someday!

I’ve been developing ideas for my next project as well. I don’t want to share too much yet, until it’s a little further along, but it will be an eerie YA historical fantasy that takes place in France during WWI. There might be witches and other creepy things. I’m especially excited about the setting, as I was lucky enough to visit France a few years ago and loved it.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

I write in a few different genres, so I’ll start with my high fantasy novel I’ve been revising. It’s actually more of a ‘low’ fantasy—there’s no complex magic system, no large number of different creatures to keep track of. I think it does a good job of easing the reader into the fantasy aspect (fruit that turns people into vicious goblins) by taking place in a world where most of the rules are the same as our own. There’s also a new take on goblins and how they came to be in this story, inspired by Christina Rosetti’s poem The Goblin Market. The idea for the book first surfaced when I was talking to my husband about The Lord of the Rings. I love those books, but I always struggle to picture myself on Frodo’s adventure because almost every prominent character in Tolkien’s works is male. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but when I decided to write a fantasy story, I made sure that the adventure focused on female characters surviving hardships in the wild and kicking butt!

My historical fantasy novel differs from others in the genre with its setting and mythology. Also, while it has a strong romantic story line, it also focuses on the relationship between a teen girl and an elderly woman. My grandparents are my favorite people in the world, and I haven’t seen a lot of grandparent figures in YA (that said, if you know a great YA about grandparents, comment and let me know!). The book also pulls in mystery and thriller elements along with the fantasy for what I hope is an intriguing story!

3. Why do you write what you write?

I write because I love looking for magic in the everyday, and if I can make someone else see the beauty around us with my words, then I feel I’m doing something positive with my time! I also write to escape, to travel places I would otherwise never get to see, and to go on the wildest adventures.

4. How does your writing process work?

First, I’ll get a new idea and scramble to write it down. I tend to get my best ideas either in the middle of the night or while in the shower (go figure!) so they usually end up scribbled onto a post-it note or the notepad on my iPhone before they make it to a shiny new Word document on my laptop.

Then I start to develop the project by choosing a name for my main character (something I can’t proceed without!). I’m a plotter, and my favorite way to do this is actually in Excel, where I can see a detailed map of the story scene by scene. This really helps later on, when I’m editing, because it’s easy to see where things can be cut when it’s laid out in a spreadsheet. See my post on revising for more on this!

Once I’ve got my first few chapters outlined and a query written (I still write them even though I have an agent, because I believe it’s the best way to understand the big picture of your story!), I’ll sit down to write on my couch in my sunny living room. My four rescue dogs provide a great distract—er, I mean, great company—while I’m drafting and editing! I work pretty much whenever the mood strikes, but I do think it’s very important to make time for family (read: playing Diablo III with my husband!).

When it comes time to share my work, I have six awesome CPs and betas who read and edit for me! They all have different strengths, so I can feel confident that my story is strong from many angles after they’ve been through it. My books wouldn’t be the same without them!


Well, there’s a little bit about me and my work. If you have questions I didn’t answer above, don’t hesitate to ask. And if you’re interested in reading about other writer’s processes, check out some of my favorites:

Teresa Yea: She’s one of my fierce CPs, one of my agency sisters, and best of all, a great friend! Her work is dark and lovely, and the pacing will have you finishing the book in one sitting. Find her on Twitter @litconnection.

Hilary Harwell: One of my agency sisters and a terrific beta reader. Her MG stories have a fresh, authentic voice and they’re deliciously creepy. Not to mention super fun and memorable! Follow her on Twitter @AnInspiredMind.

Rachel Pudelek: Another agency sister of mine who writes a variety of awesome things, from YA horror with strong female protagonists to Egyptian-based MG fantasy. She can be Twitter-stalked @Rachelpud

Thanks for reading!

On Inspiration

So here's another post that my lovely agent gets some credit for! She asked me to write a few lines about my inspiration for fantasy novels (she's going to be sharing the words at an upcoming SCBWI conference). I thought I'd share them here as well.

Inspiration:

Two things come to mind when thinking about my inspiration for writing any type of fantasy. First, I’ll often make a list of elements I loved in favorite fantasy novels or movies—whether it’s a type of setting, a romance trope, etc.—and try to see what twists I can create from them. Second, I look for magic in the everyday, because it somehow makes my descriptions of other worlds even more vivid when I sit down to write.

...Also, for no reason other than that I feel like it, here's a picture of me and my adorable little Juliet. Who can resist a ten-pound greyhound? :)

Until next time!

The One Where I Give Advice on Revising

I don't usually give writing advice to anyone, especially knowing that what works for one person doesn't always work for another. However, my fabulous agent recently asked me and her other clients to share some revision advice on her blog, and this post was born! I'm not sure when her post with all our revision advice will go up, so check in at her blog often--there's some great information for querying writers there, besides.

On Applying Feedback

*Brainstorm right away if the mood strikes, but at the same time, wait a day or two (at least!) before you actually begin planning out the revision. Not only will this give you more time to process the feedback you've been given, but you might also find that even more brilliant ideas come to you while you’re mulling things over.

*When I'm beginning a revision, I like to make a chapter-by-chapter plan of attack first (I love to plan things, so if this isn't your style, that's cool too!). For instance, if I need to add a scene between two characters, I’ll outline the best place for my new scene between existing scenes/chapters in a new Word document. Some feedback will of course apply throughout the whole MS, so I make a separate list/Word doc of things I should change in every chapter.

*Even if you don’t outline before writing your novel, it may be helpful to write a brief chapter-by-chapter or scene-by-scene outline when you're ready to start revising. That way, you can get a sense for how your book flows overall and where to add scenes if necessary, or else trim others to amplify tension. (When I do this for a book, I use an Excel document and make a spreadsheet that details chapters, scene numbers, characters in a given scene, and a brief description of plot points in a scene. This is something my agent did with me to show me where I could trim certain scenes in an MS, and I've found it incredibly helpful with revising any story).

*When actually doing a revision, be prepared to do multiple read-throughs of your MS. For me, what works best is going through once and making any major changes, then going through a second time to line edit, checking for filter words, showing vs. telling (every writer's enemy!), and any places where I can tighten the prose on the revised MS before sending it back to my agent or CPs. 

Helpful Tips

*Stay true to your story. Maybe that sounds cheesy, but what I mean is, there’s no one way for feedback to be taken. It's like that Neil Gaiman quote: "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." So, if you’re told to change something in your story, make sure you change it in a way that remains true to your vision for your work. At the same time, don’t refuse to change something simply because it seems too daunting. In my experience, I’ve found that the changes that seem the most intimidating or painful are the ones that ultimately make my story so much stronger!

*Never be afraid to ask for questions or clarification. As my agent will tell you, I ask questions until I’m confident about making changes! I also use my CPs to help with ideas if I get stuck on a certain bit of feedback. They come up with some amazing suggestions for changes and plot twists!

*Always read dialogue out loud. I do this when drafting too, but it’s equally relevant when revising. I also read revised passages of my MS aloud to check for weak spots in the writing. Those spots are usually indicated by places where I pause/stumble.

*Have some CPs/betas lined up who are willing to read your revised draft—ones who preferably haven't read your book before. I’ll admit, I’ve had a few CPs re-read scenes from a revised MS, but only when the scene is new or drastically changed. On the whole, I feel you’ll benefit more from having new eyes on your revision to see if everything works the way you envisioned.

Overall, the best advice I have for a revising writer is to plan your revision out—map your chapters and scenes in Word or Excel. This will make planning where to apply feedback and make changes so much clearer. At least, that's what works for me!

If anyone out there has tips on revisions, or ways to revise other than what I mentioned above, I'd love to hear them! Similarly, if you have a question about revising, please ask and I'll try my best to answer!

Happy writing/editing/revising, all!

Fun Writing App

There's a fun online writing tool that many folks have been tweeting/blogging about lately, and I wanted to chime in and echo just how entertaining is is. Here's the link to I Write Like, an app that analyzes your writing style and word choice to determine which "famous writer" your work most resembles. I put "famous writer" in quotes because I'm not sure how large their database of recognized authors is.

To use I Write Like, you simply paste a few pages of your ms into the box that appears on the page, and then you'll see your results. I experimented by using samples from all over each of my novels (pages 1-5, pages 100-103, for instance), and got consistent results for each novel each time. That's impressive!

For my book Fear the Drowning Deep, a YA historical fantasy, I got:

I write like
Neil Gaiman

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

For my book The Goblins' Price, a YA high fantasy, I got:

I write like
J. R. R. Tolkien

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

What's really awesome about this, at least to me, is that these two amazing gentlemen are easily the greatest influences on my writing. I know this is just a silly app for fun, but still, it's nice to think a little of their magic might have rubbed off on me :)

An Overdue Update

Aside from posting about the Sun Vs. Snow contest in which I was a mentor (yay Team Snow!), I haven't updated this page in the past few months--but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

Here are some cool things that have happened recently:

*Back in November, my husband and I took advantage of the 3-day Veterans' holiday to travel. First, we stopped in Baltimore, MD for FaerieCon, a fairy-themed festival of art, books, music, crafts, etc. While there, I met the amazing Charles de Lindt, and even managed to say a few words to him!

Here I am with the man himself! 

On the same trip, we also drove up to New York City, where we spent the night in a beautiful hotel and had coffee with my friend, the talented Alona Raevska (you can check out her music here).

A little blurry, but here we are enjoying coffee and tea.

The next morning, my husband and I spent some time in Union Square before having brunch with my fabulous, hard-working agent!! That's right, I met her! And it was awesome! The three of us (me, Christa and my husband, Chris) had brunch at this great French place, where I had a goat cheese omelet. Yum!

With Christa :)

*I enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving week at the beach with my family, and then in early December...my YA historical fantasy, Fear the Drowning Deep, went out on submission!!! That's right. As I type this, Fear is sitting on some desks or e-readers, trying to make its way in the world :) Wish me (and my book) lots of luck!

*In January, to cure the on-submission waiting blues, I mentored a group of wonderful writers in Michelle Huack and Amy Trueblood's contest, Sun Vs. Snow (links to their blogs can be found in the contest post I made!). 

 

*January was also a crazy month in my personal life as my grandmothers were both having some serious health issues, one of my greyhounds cut his foot all the way to the tendon--ouch!--and another of my greyhounds had a stroke, from which she's recovering nicely. I had to put things on hold a few times in January to just be grateful for my loved ones. It's a good thing to do in general, besides. :)

Khaleesi, left, had a stroke a few weeks back but is already acting like her old self! Thank goodness for that. Her sister Julietta is on the right.

*Writing-wise, I've been revising my YA high fantasy novel The Goblins' Price, and researching/outlining/drafting an exciting new WIP that I can't wait to share more about. I'm hoping to finish the Goblins revision by the end of February, and dive headfirst into this new WIP!

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more fun updates to share soon, sans doggy health problems. Happy writing, everyone!

Winter Fun: Sun Vs Snow Contest!

I'm so excited to be a mentor in Michelle Huack's and Amy Trueblood's Sun Vs Snow query and first page contest in January! It seems fitting to start off 2014 by paying forward some of the wonderful help that landed me my agent this year.

If you're a writer with a complete MS and you're interested in entering, details for the contest can be found on both Michelle's and Amy's blogs. Can't wait to read and critique the fabulous entries for Team Snow! Good luck everyone!!!