I have always liked - no loved - books.
My earliest memory of books was when I was not quite four years old. I can clearly recall coming down the steps of Walthamstow Children's Library clutching a book so tight to my chest because it was one I hadn't 'read' before.
(For anyone who knows Walthamstow, the children's library, back then in 1956/7 was in its own building in the High Street, sited where Sainsbury's is today.)
The book was an Alison Uttley Little Grey Rabbit story, and I say 'read' in inverted commas because I can't remember if I read it myself or someone read it to me - but I have a suspicion that I was reading myself because I don't recall having to wait for Mum or Dad (or Big Sister) to read to me.
Like most children of my age (nearly 60) I clearly remember reading books beneath the bed clothes with a torch after lights out.
Does 'lights out' still happen nowadays? I assume its 'TV/Computer/Games Console Off' now?
The first love of my life book was Jill's Gymkhana by Ruby Furgusson. It was a birthday present (I was about nine I think) I knew the parcel was a book by its shape and feel, and I recall thinking 'Oh, a book, how boring'. Until I opened it and found it was a pony story.
I've still got that book - it was the start of my writing career because it opened up the world of pony stories - and I so desperately wanted a pony of my own. We couldn't afford to keep a pony though, so I made one up and wrote dozens of stories about my pony in countless school exercise books. (She was a palomino called Tara.)
From there I went to writing science fiction and fantasy, then historical novels, and now my nautical historical adventures (with other plots and outlines waiting to be explored on the Bookshelf of Ideas).
Books have comforted me when I was sad, have made me laugh, made me cry. I turned to books when I was lonely - which was most of my childhood and teenage years because I was shy and had very few friends. It didn't matter, in books, if you felt awkward and gawky, and had to wear horrid thick bottle-bottom glasses which made you feel stupid and ugly. It didn't matter about the bullies and the snide girls who teased and tormented, or the fact that your parents were rowing yet again. With a book you could shut yourself away from the real world and enter a different world - your own world, where everything was beautiful.
Books have taken me on wild adventures, plunged me into romantic interludes, shattered my heart, and kept me awake at night too frightened to turn off the light until I had read to the end.
Books have entertained, educated, amused and made me think.
Books have given me a career, and brought me wonderful friends from all around the world.
I buy books compulsively, I could not exist without having books around me. I don't write books because I want to write them - I write them because I have to write them; there are too many words and thoughts and characters and plots inside me to stay buried in my mind - the words have to be released onto paper (well OK, the keyboard) As I'm writing this, I am not thinking about what I'm writing, the words are just coming, spilling from me like a summer rain storm, or a tumbling rainbow.
The worlds created in books are real, the characters are real, its just that they exist in another dimension, a place called Imagination.
Books are beautiful, and when I die, please make sure I am buried with a book.
And if you have fifteen minutes to spare, watch this wonderful video. It sort of sums up why books are so beautiful and why we love them so.
Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
“did you intend on making everyone so
disagreeable?”
Tuesday Talk
I had this e-mail last week from a reader. At first I wasn’t quite
sure what to think – understandably, authors prefer to get gushing praise about
their work, but this enquiry was, on first reading, quite the opposite.
Did I intend to make everyone in Forever Queen (UK title
is A
Hollow Crown) so disagreeable? The reader didn’t like the main
character, Emma, very much, and finished with: “It makes for a gloomy,
disheartening read.”
Phew, that’s tough for an author to read – and respond politely
to!
However, I read the e-mail again…. and rather than me waffling on
here, I’ve posted the correspondence we subsequently had (with Brandi’s
permission of course.)
Read through – and then I would be very interested in your
comments.
~ ~ ~
Hello,
I just finished reading The
Forever Queen and I don’t quite know what to say about it. I think it took much talent to keep the story
straight and the characters all coordinated, but did you intend on making
everyone so disagreeable? The sub-title of the book claims “sometimes, a
desperate kingdom is in need of one great woman” and I find myself wondering
who that was supposed to allude to. It
certainly couldn’t have been Emma because from the description given of her
actions in the book, she wasn’t much different or better than Cnut’s first
wife. It was impossible for me to
establish any kind of empathy with her. I don’t understand a woman who doesn’t
love her own children and her greatness seemed to consist solely of underhanded
manipulation of all at her disposal. I could
not find one single character in the entire cast that I could cheer for. Really, I only kept reading to the end
because I hoped at least one character would emerge as sympathetic. I’ve never disliked a book enough to write to
its author, but this has cast a serious pall over my mood. I am curious to know if it was your aim to
present everyone in their worst light.
Every favorable description given about a character is contradicted by
an equally negative one a few passages or pages later. It makes for a gloomy, disheartening
read.
Brandi
~ ~ ~
Hello Brandi,
I’m sorry you did not like Forever
Queen (the sub heading was not mine, it was the publisher’s choice)
The problem is, Brandi, this is English history and historical
fiction is supposed to follow the facts as much as possible, and unfortunately,
this period is – disagreeable!
One of the reasons I wrote
the book was to explore how Emma managed to cling on to her crown – this was
the eleventh century, don’t forget, women did not have rights, not even queens.
The only way she could keep her power (and power was the be-all and end-all)
was to be manipulative, as everyone else was also manipulative.
What intrigued me as well, was why did Edward loathe his mother?
(this is fact, he hated Emma) Was it because she abandoned her sons into exile,
or because she preferred her son by Cnut?
Cnut himself was not a pleasant man – although he became a respected
king. And as for Æthelred...... they were all not very pleasant people, most people
in power in history weren’t – Henry Tudor for instance.
Surely you liked Edmund Ironside? He would have been a good king
(as would Æthelstan, I think) sadly they both died
before they had chance to prove themselves.
I’m sorry, but I can’t change the reality of history!
Perhaps you would prefer one of my other books? I think Harold in I am
the Chosen King (titled Harold the King in the UK) is quite
a nice person. Duke William wasn’t though .... (another Norman, Emma’s great
nephew; perhaps being disagreeable ran in their family :-)
Thank you for writing, again, I’m sorry I let you down.
Helen
~ ~ ~
Dear Helen
Perhaps to say I disliked it is too strong a phrase. I was
unsettled by it. When I was discussing it with some friends, I mentioned that I
think the reason it bothered me so much was because it wasn’t blunted by
fiction. I had just finished reading a
book set in a similar time period, Lawhead’s Hood. His characters were of
course mostly fictional, but the scene was set with historical facts. The
difference is that your book was mostly historical fact fleshed out with
fiction and his was fiction fleshed out with fact.
I think it confused me how I was supposed to feel about the
characters. When reading Godwin’s distrust for Harthacnut, I expected him to be
entirely detestable, but then Emma compares him frequently to the husband she
loved and I can’t outright hate him or love him. That’s how I felt for the majority of the
characters. I couldn’t dislike or
identify with them. You’re right though, I did like Edmund and I liked Godwin
as well. My heart went out to poor
Edward and Albert. I just had such a
hard time identifying with Emma as a heroine when I didn’t like her as a
woman. It has helped me clarify in my
mind some English history though. My
mom’s English and from visiting there as a child, I thought I had a pretty
decent grip on the history. How wrong I
was!
I suppose I’m too used to reading fables and myths where the
complexities of human nature can be neatly set aside in favor of archetypical
heroes and villains.
In any case, I just wanted to say that my discomfiture was not
your failing. I wished I had half your
writing talent and dedication to produce such a complex novel.
I am curious and hope you don’t mind me asking, what your feelings
on Emma are. Did your conception of her
change at all during or after writing her story? In your fictionalized account, do you believe
that it was England’s best interest or her own that she fought so savagely for
or would this fictionalized Emma not even have differentiated between the two?
Thank you for the response.
Brandi
~ ~ ~
Hi Brandi,
Stephen Lawhead mostly writes fiction and fantasy – very little of
his is “fact” , so no if you are a fan of his you possibly wouldn’t get on with
“straight” historical fiction.
Historical fiction is
fiction of course, much of it is made up because we don’t know the facts, but
what facts we do know are used with integrity. I suppose what I’m trying to say
is – maybe readers are not meant to
like some of the people from the past? I detest Duke William of Normandy, for
instance, I can’t stand him, but I’m not writing him, I’m writing the history of what happened when he was alive.
The same with Emma – do you have to like a person to read about
what happened in the past? (in which case there would be very few Tudor
novels... do people actually like
Henry Tudor? Or do they read the books to try and understand what happened and
why?)
Edward was badly treated – but he treated people as badly when he
was king (he was useless at the job!) which was another reason why I wanted to
write Forever Queen, to explore why he was so useless!
Godwin I like very much – Harold his son I adore – now there IS a
hero! He gave his life defending his kingdom and his people.
Emma? I admire her. I think
she was courageous and resilient to survive as she did. But do I like her?
Hmm, probably not.
Let’s put her in the position of a modern politician: instead of
Hilary Clinton, we have Emma Queen. She is battling against a male dominated
world, if she appears soft and fluffy no one will respect her. She has to come
across as forceful, domineering and above all capable. No I don’t like Hilary
Clinton – but I do admire her.
Do you see?
Would you mind if I use your e-mail as a topic on one of my blogs?
Something along the lines of “do you need a
likeable heroine in historical fiction?”
And at the end of the day Brandi, you might not have felt
comfortable or liked Forever Queen –
but it has set you thinking, and you will remember the character and
the history! (and I hope, be tempted to read more of my books? J
As you like Stephen Lawhead, you might prefer my pirate-based Sea
Witch series. These are historical adventure with a touch of fantasy, so
fiction based around a few facts.
Helen
~ ~ ~
Dear Helen
Yes, I will say that after reading your book, I find myself
looking up the characters online to learn more about them and what part they
played in the unfolding of history.
No, I don’t mind if you write a blog post about our exchange. I think it’s a good subject for discussion
actually, and will be interested in what others have to say.
Funny thing is even though I was so put off by Emma, I still find
myself itching to read the next in the series to see what became of her and how
Edward’s reign unfolded. Your story has
made me feel as if I know them, if
not exactly like them.
Thank you for whetting the appetite of my curiosity on this
particular era of history. I feel in
some ways as if a new door has been opened for me.
Brandi
~ ~ ~
Reading through this I realise I didn’t answer all of Brandi’s
question:
in a nutshell, Emma was fighting for her own survival, not England’s.
She wanted the power the position of Queen gave her, I doubt she gave two hoots
for the people she was Queen over.
Did any of the Kings (and Queens) of that time put the people first I wonder?
Empress Matilda comes to mind here – if she cared about England
and the people, would she have been so determined to fight for her crown
against Stephen? On the other hand, you could argue that she was determined
because she was convinced she would be the better ruler for her people.
As a final word - Brandi's comments prove that you can write an honest review/e-mail saying you didn't enjoy a book without being rude or offensive.
Have your say below -
Do you need a likeable hero/heroine in historical fiction?
