The beans have recovered from last week's mishap. The only question is whether the post extension at the west end of the fence will survive for another month:
The story I was working on last week is more or less set, and I've been practicing telling it. Getting close...
I spent a good bit of the weekend reading Sharon Penman's newest book, Lionheart. Since I was lucky enough to win an advanced review copy (it comes out in October) from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program (at 50:1 odds!) I thought the least I could do was read and review it asap. I've finished the reading (which took a while - 594 pages and not a quick read), so should be reviewing it soon; I'll post it here when I do. Normally I don't read new historical fiction (new to me, that is) while working on one of my own books, but both her style and period are so different from mine that I'm not worried about cross-contamination.
That's it for today.
-GRG
I wondered about your standard avoidance of historical fiction when I saw you'd won Lionheart! But I don't know the author nor that book, and figured there must be a special reason.
ReplyDeleteI liked both the original and your reworked story, and freely admit yours was the easier to read. Whatever the audience, they should have a rollicking time -- I suspect you're aiming for that, given the ending.
elenchus
Regarding Lionheart, in the first place I didn't think it was at all likely I'd get it, and it wasn't actually my first choice of the two or three I requested. I've read four of her books in the past, so had some idea what the style would be like as well. What she does is wonderful, but it's very different from what I do, and in this case there's no overlap of characters or location. It's really closer to reading a history text: very much prose as opposed to poetry, very much "just the facts."
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Mongan story - yes, humor seems to be a strong part of it. It's fun to tell, and I hope fun to hear. The language modifications are mostly aimed at making simpler to follow.