Monday 1 November 2010

A new book begins...

Just a quick diversion from the 5 books theme to tell you that, today, I've started work on my next book – the second in the putative trilogy, provisionally entitled A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. I'm very excited about it, especially as I'm going to be using Scrivener – the research and drafting tool for the Mac – for the first time.

Today I have been reading up about hwo the Black Death changed the English wool trade and mulling over the major plotlines of the book to see whether they gel. More mulling will take place as I read. I'm also trying to work out where the book starts. We've moved on almost twenty years from the events described in The Black and The White and I need to find exactly the right moment to reintroduce the reader to our characters. Which means finding the right POV for the book's opening. Unlike TBTW, which is first person throughout, AWISC is going to be multi-viewpoint.

I love researching and planning a book. Anything seems possible. And it'll keep my mind off the wait to hear the first professional verdict on The Black and The White.

6 comments:

Tim Stretton said...

Great news, Alis!

There's a magical feeling of potential about starting a new book (I think it's the fact that I haven't had a chance to cock it up by actually writing anything yet, but that's perhaps overly cynical).

I hope there's a plot strand where one of the horny-handed sons of toil makes a key discovery from hearing and interpreting the lowing of cows...

Alis said...

Now there's a thought...

Frances Garrood said...

Alis I am full of admiration. I just can't do that. It feels lke getting pregnant immediately after giving birth. I always need a post-natal pause.

But very good luck with it!

(Talking of cows - well, Tim was - we haven't heard That Cow recently. Perhaps they really are going to change the record.)

Alis said...

I feel I've had all the post-natal pause I can take, Frances, in that I've had three weeks since I finished TBTW, during which time I've been finishing off the extra material our editors wanted for the autism book. Suffice it to say that writing non-fiction in no way fulfills the same need in me as writing fiction. Even just researching and planning as I was yesterday felt like a homecoming after being somewhere cold and alien. It even stopped me being anxious about TBTW.

Frances Garrood said...

Alis - I agree about the fiction v non-fiction thing. I have an idea for a self-help book on relationships. It's something I've used a lot in counselling, works very well, and is entirely my own idea. I've even got an artist who will illustrate it (it would be a light-hearted, easy read). But can I summon up the enthusiasm to write it? Fraid not.

I hope the autism book does well.

Alis said...

Thanks, Frances. Yes, writing non-fiction demands a wholly different kind of energy, doesn't it? All from the conscious, rational mind rather than the playful subconscious. The rational mind is fine as far as it goes but I'm not sure I want to spend all my time there!