Promo: Gallows Wake by Helen Hollick

Today, I'm delighted to welcome my good author friend, Helen Hollick, to Ruins & Reading! She'll be chatting to us about writing, research, and her latest release, Gallows Wake, a new exciting adventure set on the High Seas. It is on my TBR list.

Please make sure to check it out. Helen's novels make for great escapes on those long cold autumn nights...

Welcome, Helen!

Reading, wRiting and Research (see what I did there?)

By Helen Hollick

 

Writing a novel – or two or three, or more – is not quite as simple as some readers and ‘wannabe’ writers think. There is far more to it than tapping away at a keyboard, wearing away the letters with your fingernails whilst transferring the words swirling around in your head onto the PC or laptop, in an enthusiastic frenzy. (Actually, most of the writers I know spend hours gazing out of a window wondering what on earth to write for the next scene...)

 

Leaving aside the essentials of believable characterisation, a decent plot, realistic dialogue, suitable continuity, experienced editing and eye-catching cover design (not to mention actually getting the thing published!) whatever genre you’re writing requires an element of research. 

 

‘What? Even for contemporary?’ I hear you cry. Yes. Even for contemporary.

 

Let’s assume you are writing a romance set in modern-day London. It really is not good to have your character strolling arm-in-arm with his/her girl/boyfriend breathing in the briny smell of the sea. Yes, I know the River Thames flows into the North Sea at Southend-On-Sea – over thirty miles away from London. Yet I have come across this exact blooper. The novel was set in Victorian England, so the smell was more likely to be sewage, not ozone. Or to mention Blue Jays in an English garden? We do have jays, but not Blue Jays – they are different birds. Or... well, you get my point. Read, do your research as thoroughly as you can for this little ‘add flavour’ snippets. The little bits are as important as the big bits.

Most research is for historical fiction. What type of clothes, weapons, housing, food? The historical facts. Get the obvious things wrong and you’ll lose your readers. (The Romans did not have potatoes, for instance.) Even for alternative historical or fantasy-based it is still important to get basic facts right in order to create a background of believability for the made-up bits.

 

For my nautical adventure series I do, occasionally ‘bend’ the historical facts to suit a particular scene or character, but I do try to include any slight manipulation in my author’s note. For instance, in Gallows Wake (recently released Sixth ‘Voyage’ of the series,) I mention the eviction of the Jews from Portugal. The story is set in 1719 but the mass eviction occurred much earlier. However, I need this little snatch of inaccuracy for a future adventure, so included it. (Confession: but I forgot to add this confession in my author’s note in the first published edition *duh*. Fortunately, as a self-published author for this novel, I could update the text as soon as I realised my error.)

 

So research is important BUT don’t research at the expense of your writing – if all you do is research, research, research, you’ll never get that novel written. And do keep in mind, you are writing a novel not giving an historical lecture. ‘Info dumps’ in novels can be pretentious (OK, truth: boring!). As can footnotes. Footnotes belong in non-fiction, not fiction. If you need to add a footnote in order to explain something, then your narrative is not good enough. Work the facts in somehow – that is the skill of being a good writer. Ditch the footnote and rewrite the narrative.

 

I’ve never forgotten some important advice that the late, great, Sharon K. Penman (a dear friend) gave me, she quoted something she had heard:

 

A boy was reading a book about turtles. He was asked what he thought of it. 

‘This book,’ he said, ‘tells me more about turtles than I wanted to know.’

 

It’s a good quote, and good advice to remember.

 

THE VOYAGES

 

SEA WITCH   Voyage one

 

PIRATE CODE  Voyage two

 

BRING IT CLOSE  Voyage three

 

RIPPLES IN THE SAND  Voyage four

 

ON THE ACCOUNT  Voyage five

 

WHEN THE MERMAID SINGS  A prequel to the series

(short-read novella) 

 

And just published...

 

GALLOWS WAKE

The Sixth Voyage of Captain Jesamiah Acorne

by Helen Hollick

Where the Past haunts the future... 

 Damage to her mast means Sea Witch has to be repaired, but the nearest shipyard is at Gibraltar. Unfortunately for Captain Jesamiah Acorne, several men he does not want to meet are also there, among them, Captain Edward Vernon of the Royal Navy, who would rather see Jesamiah hang.

 

Then there is the spy, Richie Tearle, and manipulative Ascham Doone who has dubious plans of his own. Plans that involve Jesamiah, who, beyond unravelling the puzzle of a dead person who may not be dead, has a priority concern regarding the wellbeing of his pregnant wife, the white witch, Tiola.

 

Forced to sail to England without Jesamiah, Tiola must keep herself and others close to her safe, but memories of the past, and the shadow of the gallows haunt her. Dreams disturb her, like a discordant lament at a wake. 

But is this the past calling, or the future?

 

From the first review of Gallows Wake:

“Hollick’s writing is crisp and clear, and her ear for dialogue and ability to reveal character in a few brief sentences is enviable. While several of the characters in Gallows Wake have returned from previous books, I felt no need to have read those books to understand them. The paranormal side of the story—Tiola is a white witch, with powers of precognition and more, and one of the characters is not quite human—blends with the story beautifully, handled so matter-of-factly. This is simply Jesamiah’s reality, and he accepts it, as does the reader.” 

~ Author Marian L. Thorpe.

Universal Buy Link:

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

Where you will find the entire series waiting at anchor in your nearest Amazon harbour – do come aboard and share Jesamiah’s derring-do nautical adventures! (available Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and in paperback) 

 

Or order a paperback copy from your local bookstore!

 

~~~

About the Author:

Helen Hollick

 

First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She is now also branching out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her Jan Christopher Murder Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant.

 

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon and occasionally gets time to write...

 

Website: www.helenhollick.net

Newsletter Subscription: http://tinyletter.com/HelenHollick

Blog: www.ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HelenHollick

Twitter: @HelenHollick https://twitter.com/HelenHollick