It’s already the end of June – it’s been over three months since I last posted. I’m sorry for the silence. I’d like to say I’ve been busy typing away put since the world got flipped upside down, I don’t think I’ve managed to type more than a paragraph. I really admire [and am a little bit jealous] of the authors who have been able to use quarantine time to whack out reams of pages – I wish I was one of them. Between homeschooling and entertaining my children, and getting used to this new ‘normal’, I just haven’t been able to write.
I am back, though. I’m aiming to get writing again and finally finish the Danethrall trilogy. The third and final book is still without a name, but there are just a few chapters left to type before it will be ready for the editing process. Cross fingers it will be published this year.
How have you been handling the quarantine? If you’re an author, have you been able to write or have you been at a stalemate like me? If you’ve had problems, how have you overcome them? – GSKT
It was by birthday two weeks ago, I turned twenty-eight. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of birthdays, but it was nice. My husband spoiled me with some new house plants, new books, some “Sailor Moon” Luna and Artemis salt shakers (I’ve been obsessed with that anime since I was a little kid) and a wrap skirt – I’m looking forward to summer when I can wear it. 😛 It ended up snowing the day after my birthday – I don’t know the total, but there was a LOT. It’s finally melting away; hopefully we can have a couple more weeks of autumn before winter arrives for real.
Frigg, wife of Odin Jenny Nyström (1854-1946)
Since my birthday, I have been working steadily on book 3. I have the draft of the first eight chapters done, but rather than continue from there in chronological order, I decided to begin the last part (well, sort of middle to last part) of the book instead. 62 pages and 22,395 words later over three days later, I’m pretty happy, haha! I don’t want to give any spoilers away so I won’t say much as to what the chapters are about, but they are dark and exciting – Aveline is travelling the world and going through a lot in the final book.
I look back over the previous two books and see where Aveline began and how much she has grown since then. As cliche as it sounds, seeing her grow fills my heart but leaves me a little saddened since I know this is it for her. Once the Danethrall trilogy is over, I won’t return to her.
Aveline’s saga began as just a hobby, just a story I was writing to fill time in my day between children and chores, but it became so much more. It became a published book, then two – now a third in the works! It was a dream come true – an item ticked off my bucket list. I always wanted to write a novel, but I could never finish one no matter what I wrote about. Drawn to the idea of Aveline’s life, the life of an Anglo-Saxon in the land of the Danes, I finally found a story I could finish. Indeed, it ended up spanning over three books!
My interest in history (especially that of the Viking age) has been lifelong. As mentioned in my bio, I was born and grew up in East Anglia, Aveline’s homeland of the Kingdom of the East Angles, where the Great Heathen Army attacked in 865. Aveline’s saga opened that entire world to me; I searched for inspiration for the next event in Aveline’s life, scouring sources of the Early Middle Ages, travelling 9th century Europe through the pages of books.
Some of the subject matter in the books is very provocative and unsettling, but in a strange way, I am glad those pieces unnerve my readers. The Middle Ages were a dark time, people did not have the morals and sensibilities we have today and I am not writing about modern people or times. Seeing the atrocities of the past makes you appreciate the time you’re living in, makes you realise how much humankind has improved over the centuries. You might find some parts distasteful or horrific, but such was the normalcy of the time, and I did not and will not water it down. Though there might be a few historical inaccuracies scattered about my books (nothing can be perfect, right?), for the most part, my characters are suited to the period they live in and I pride myself on the realness of them and the situations they go through.
I am proud of my books. The Danethrall Trilogy might not be a bestselling series, and the novels are not traditionally published, but they are mine. I achieved something I’d always wanted to do because of them. Every time I receive a positive review or message from a reader – from a stranger who decided my books interested them – I am filled with happiness. I never thought that one day someone across the globe would personally write me and tell me they enjoyed my book.
Damn, I even enjoy the criticism to a certain extent – it proves that I have done something, that my story has had an effect on someone regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. I must admit, I’m thankful the criticism I have received has never been wholly negative and has been about the shocking nature of certain scenes – though funnily enough, not the scenes I thought I’d get complaints about, haha!
This post is getting long now, so I’ll end it here. 🙂 Thank you for everyone who has bought, borrowed, read, reviewed and reached out to me. – GSKT
A Viking ship is approached by Byzantines at Constantinople. Michael Hampshire/National Geographic/Getty Images
I’m 30,216 words into book 3 of the Danethrall Trilogy right now. Funnily enough, I have more notes than I have pages written for book 3. Unfortunately, it has taken me quite a while to get typing again since publishing Rise To Fall. The summer was busy, as summers usually are, and honestly I didn’t have the ‘writing bug’ hit me for some time. I would like to go more in depth, but I don’t want to release any spoilers for RTF, haha. All I will say is I was more emotionally attached to some characters than I expected …
Book 3 has had many working titles so far, but now it has been relegated to the title ‘book 3’, for none of the working titles really fit anymore. After finishing both Danethrall and RTF, I had a general idea of where I was going with book 3, but I have since had far too many other ideas, and organising them into one book is proving to be quite the juggling act – affecting the title of the book being just a scratch on the surface of what I need to figure out. Book 3 will be the last in the Danethrall series, so figuring out what is a good idea but doesn’t need to be included, and what is a great idea that should definitely stay is taking up a lot of my time. Luckily, whatever ideas I cut from book 3 might become material for any future books – I have lots of other story ideas for various other time periods I’d like to write about. I’m quite the ‘pantser’ – I usually have a rough idea of what I want to write about, I start typing and let the story come to me as I go along. With book 3, I have to really concentrate and plan, since this will be it and I really don’t want to end with any loose ends I’ve forgotten to tie.
As much as I am determined to end the Danethrall series as a trilogy, ending it is bittersweet. I’ve enjoyed writing this series a lot, I have learned so much through the writing process, I’ve become very attached to the characters, and as excited as I am to give the characters an ending they deserve, I am saddened to finish this tale. Danethrall was the first novel I ever completed writing – though there were many ups and downs with the publishing of it (I still cringe at what a mess that was), I still published it. I fell in love with the Danethrall characters so much, I wrote RTF, and now book 3 is coming along. At some point I have to say goodbye to these characters, and this book is it. It may take me a while longer to finish book 3, but I hope to make an ending worthy of these characters.
Onto bright subjects, if you have read RTF or Danethrall, I’d love to hear your opinions and questions. I received a beautiful message from someone in England who had read my books and it really made my day. In fact, her email inspired me out of my funk and got me writing again. I truly thank her for that.
Anyway, here’s a cute picture of Saga and Kit the cat snuggling on the sofa. Saga loves all the cats and our other dog, Fable, but none of them enjoy her kisses or snuggles – Kit is the only one who accepts her love. 😛
Today is the day, the second installment of the Danethrall trilogy is out now!
Unfortunately due to some issues with the printers, Rise To Fall will not be available to purchase as paperback until 1st May at latest, but until then it is available in e-Book format. 🙂 I have been working on these issues for the past week and was hoping to have it all resolved by now, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
Thank you all for supporting me in my writing endeavours, I hope you enjoy Rise To Fall.
Gwendoline SK Terry 