Okay, yes, I'm on the bandwagon of those excited by the new royal baby! But that's allowed, right?, since my current work is wrapped up with the royals and I'm inspired by genealogy.
I can't resist pointing out the obvious. Baby Prince George Alexander Louis is named after George Louis (that's King George I) and my son Alexander, namesake of Lloyd Alexander, the author. :) Well, if I had given him that name, that would be why!
Louis and Alexander are both names of immensely powerful leaders--the obvious examples being Louis XIV of France and Alexander the Great. Given the weakness of the current royal house, I can see why they'd choose such strong names.
I am more curious about the name George, particularly George Louis. Perhaps it has to do with his unjustified unpopularity with the British peoples. He was actually a pretty great leader, despite all the undeserved slander, and he stayed strong despite it all. Maybe that's why they chose it--disguised with the strong Alexander sandwiched in the middle of his name, since historic George Louis is STILL unpopular with the British people.
Yes, I'm very sympathetic to the royals. I'm not saying that they inherently deserve a huge chunk of the common folks' taxes. That's an argument that has many sides to it--including the fact that a huge tourism and media industry is wrapped up with the royalty. But Prince William and Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II and little Prince George Alexander Louis did not exactly CHOOSE their position. They were born into it, so I'm sympathetic to their trials.
Anyhow, blessings on little baby Prince George and may he be as strong as George Louis, his ancestor, in facing the inevitable scorn and rage of the media. Poor little lucky baby!
Silk: Caroline's Story;Tapestry: A Lowcountry Rapunzel; and Homespun.
My Blog:
My character-driven historical fiction grips readers' emotions and surprises them with unexpected twists. In Silk: Caroline's Story, the first installment of The Silk Trilogy, “The social realism of Jane Austen meets the Southern Gothic of Flannery O’Connor.” It's 1899 in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and Caroline must choose between the town doctor and a good-natured farmer, all the while oblivious to a young sociopath who is not about to let this happen. Full of laughter and heartache—with a sinister thread—the next two generations of the family continue the trilogy in Tapestry: A Lowcountry Rapunzel and Homespun. Other novels are in the works, but I often feel more like blathering about my reading and writing than actually doing it, so I've opened this venue for sharing my thoughts with you—about books already written (by me and by others), those yet to come, and a few about life in general!
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Frederick the Great was Gay
Maybe. Whew, these fellows--the Prussian kings--keep coming up in my readings, and I can't get them straight for the life of me. The deal with Frederick the Great's personal life is that he didn't have kids and wanted to live apart from his wife, only visiting her once per year. When young he tried to run off with his tutor, he had a secret library of poetry, and he played the flute.
His father, King Frederick William I (a.k.a. the Soldier-King), had abused him and his mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, to a degree. This woman, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was sister to King George II of England. She was the granddaughter of Sophia of Hanover and daughter of King George I of England.
Why can't I keep this straight? Because George I of England's sister, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (aka Figuelotte), was married to King Frederick I of Prussia. See? Told you.
Yep, way too many Sophias and Fredericks. Hence this blog to see if I can straighten them all out. Shall we resume?
So...
1. Think of Frederick the Great (a.k.a. Fritz, Frederick der Grosse, Frederick II king in Prussia) as gay. That should help keep it clear that he wasn't any of the Sophia's spouses, because I remember they all had children. It was actually rumored that he was gay...
2. His father, King Frederick William I, was somewhat of a tyrant to his family. The mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was forbidden to see her children without his presence (as he was afraid she would turn them against him), so poor little Fritz had to hide in the furniture when his father would pop in to his wife's apartments! Mean old Poppa Soldier-King also beat Fritz when he couldn't manage to stay on a wild horse and scolded him for wearing gloves in cold weather!
3. Back to Poppa Soldier-King Frederick William I. He was paranoid, I think--and tough. His ideals were actually fairly good. He never started a war. He introduced primary schools. He stored grain for bad times and died with a surplus in the royal treasury. He eliminated mandatory military services (by establishing a tax). Anyhow, I'm guessing he was probably just a bit crazy--that Soldier-King who never started a war. Sounds just worried to death, doesn't he?
That said, though, he did mistreat his wife, Sophia Dorothea, which is reminiscent of her mother's own mistreatment. Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Soldier-King's mother-in-law and his wife's namesake, was called the Prisoner of Ahlden, for very, very good reason. So, both Sophia Dorotheas were restricted and somewhat mistreated by their upset husbands.
4. On the other hand, Fritz's grandmother, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, daughter of Sophia of Hanover and mother of the Soldier-King, had it rather cushy. She ran in intellectual and artistic circles--becoming a disciple and correspondent of the philosopher and mathematician Liebnitz and a patron of music.
Her husband, King Frederick I in Prussia (not to be confused with King Frederick William I in Prussia...sigh), was deeply in love with her and allowed her free reign and a lot of independence. He, too, was a patron of the arts and sciences (establishing two academies), but Fritz (his grandson) referred to him as 'the mercenary king' for how often he hired his Prussian soldiers out to protect other countries (making his son the Soldier-King's elimination of mandatory military service particularly appreciated, I'm sure!). Fritz says his grandfather was 'great in small matters and small in great' meaning, I assume, his achievement of having Prussia named as a kingdom (hence he became 'king' in Prussia, though not in his Brandenburg territories) and supporting arts and academies, but his failure to his people in causing their deaths through warfare.
5. Oh, by the way, our beloved, gay Fritz wrote the Anti-Machiavel. Though I haven't read it, the name just warms my heart, you know. In his own day, The Prince by Machiavelli was considered somewhat of a guide for leadership. Unfortunately for many people, Fritz still became an absolutist in the end and didn't follow his father's peaceful path for Prussia. Instead, he gloried in war and was very successful at it.
That's it for today's history lesson. Hopefully you'll get somewhat past my previous understanding, which was simply "Fredericks and Sophias abound!"
His father, King Frederick William I (a.k.a. the Soldier-King), had abused him and his mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, to a degree. This woman, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was sister to King George II of England. She was the granddaughter of Sophia of Hanover and daughter of King George I of England.
Why can't I keep this straight? Because George I of England's sister, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (aka Figuelotte), was married to King Frederick I of Prussia. See? Told you.
Yep, way too many Sophias and Fredericks. Hence this blog to see if I can straighten them all out. Shall we resume?
So...
1. Think of Frederick the Great (a.k.a. Fritz, Frederick der Grosse, Frederick II king in Prussia) as gay. That should help keep it clear that he wasn't any of the Sophia's spouses, because I remember they all had children. It was actually rumored that he was gay...
2. His father, King Frederick William I, was somewhat of a tyrant to his family. The mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was forbidden to see her children without his presence (as he was afraid she would turn them against him), so poor little Fritz had to hide in the furniture when his father would pop in to his wife's apartments! Mean old Poppa Soldier-King also beat Fritz when he couldn't manage to stay on a wild horse and scolded him for wearing gloves in cold weather!
3. Back to Poppa Soldier-King Frederick William I. He was paranoid, I think--and tough. His ideals were actually fairly good. He never started a war. He introduced primary schools. He stored grain for bad times and died with a surplus in the royal treasury. He eliminated mandatory military services (by establishing a tax). Anyhow, I'm guessing he was probably just a bit crazy--that Soldier-King who never started a war. Sounds just worried to death, doesn't he?
That said, though, he did mistreat his wife, Sophia Dorothea, which is reminiscent of her mother's own mistreatment. Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Soldier-King's mother-in-law and his wife's namesake, was called the Prisoner of Ahlden, for very, very good reason. So, both Sophia Dorotheas were restricted and somewhat mistreated by their upset husbands.
4. On the other hand, Fritz's grandmother, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, daughter of Sophia of Hanover and mother of the Soldier-King, had it rather cushy. She ran in intellectual and artistic circles--becoming a disciple and correspondent of the philosopher and mathematician Liebnitz and a patron of music.
Her husband, King Frederick I in Prussia (not to be confused with King Frederick William I in Prussia...sigh), was deeply in love with her and allowed her free reign and a lot of independence. He, too, was a patron of the arts and sciences (establishing two academies), but Fritz (his grandson) referred to him as 'the mercenary king' for how often he hired his Prussian soldiers out to protect other countries (making his son the Soldier-King's elimination of mandatory military service particularly appreciated, I'm sure!). Fritz says his grandfather was 'great in small matters and small in great' meaning, I assume, his achievement of having Prussia named as a kingdom (hence he became 'king' in Prussia, though not in his Brandenburg territories) and supporting arts and academies, but his failure to his people in causing their deaths through warfare.
5. Oh, by the way, our beloved, gay Fritz wrote the Anti-Machiavel. Though I haven't read it, the name just warms my heart, you know. In his own day, The Prince by Machiavelli was considered somewhat of a guide for leadership. Unfortunately for many people, Fritz still became an absolutist in the end and didn't follow his father's peaceful path for Prussia. Instead, he gloried in war and was very successful at it.
That's it for today's history lesson. Hopefully you'll get somewhat past my previous understanding, which was simply "Fredericks and Sophias abound!"
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
An Uncle and a Murder
So, again I ask, how can I write this blog without spilling all the juicy stuff I come across? I'll have to discuss that with someone at a writing group. I haven't actually tried to attend one yet, but I intend to. It's just that, well, I tend to be out of town or taking a nap or even, perhaps, be busy actually writing when the group times roll around! I do have one in my calendar, though, so I'll try to take that question with me if I ever make it there...
It'll probably be years before I get to this particular book, though, so I'm going to go ahead and relate the 'discoveries'. It's these things that fuel my writing, you know! In this case, I'm particularly proud of myself for sticking to my guns and reading my Memoirs of the Electress Sophia as opposed to diving into Crossed by Ally Condie.
I picked up Crossed from the library yesterday and have been looking at it longingly. I will get there--yes, young adult novels are my choice pleasure reads--but I decided to opt for the Memoirs because of my blog to you. See? It helped!
Anyhow, my joy with genealogy and historical books is to read between the lines. Sometimes, actually, to just read the lines! Such surprises await. For instance, I lived in Butzbach as a girl and, in my last year in Germany, attended a middle school in Giessen. When Sophia passes through this area, she is accompanied by the Landgravine, an uncle, who rules the area. Yes, that is quite exciting to me to think that my family ruled the territory that I lived in while in Germany. Pretty cool.
Then, more between the lines, I pay attention this time to the fact that a priest drowns in a river just after her marriage future takes a decisive turn away from the marriage he's scheming to broker between Sophia and the Duke of Parma. She honestly says that she can't say whether it was an accident or not--seeming to refer to suicide--but soon afterwards lets slip that the only 'witness' to those marriage discussions, to which she'd been favorable, was now dead. And that marriage with the Catholic Duke of Parma was NOT the marriage she and her Calvinist brother thought best, after all. She was nearly 28, though, and she'd likely decided that the marriage agreed to over a year previously was not going to happen--after the guy failed to show up. But when it worked out with this preferred party, she of course would have regretted any promises to the Duke of Parma's representative. It would reflect very poorly on their honour, especially as she'd already dumped one suitor--the abusive Prince Adolf of Sweden (hmm, interesting that name Adolf, isn't it?)--the year before for her Hanoverian choice. And how did that big-chinned Prince Adolf make a fuss!
Hope this isn't all just a confusing jumble for you, but perhaps in time I'll figure out how to share bits and pieces without giving away the whole thing! Is that how it's done? Until I figure that out, I'll just keep you in the know. Hmm, that wouldn't be the main point of the book, though. Perhaps it would simply tickle your fancy to read snippets that you recognize from my blog? I'll go with that belief for the time being--as it's easiest for me. I mean, that priest didn't even figure into the overall construct of that book before!
Aside from the Memoirs, I've begun listening to a historical novel by Philippa Gregory. I'd shunned them before, after associating her books with another similar book by a different author, but I'm enjoying the one I'm on about Mary, Queen of Scots, and am tickled to see that she covers many famous women of English royalty, but not the ones I plan to write about. That's perfect for me--I can set myself up by listening to stories of previous generations and go from there. While I just love Mary, Queen of Scots, I don't feel the urge to write on her life; not yet, anyhow. Perhaps because it seems to be well-covered already.
Funny how little respect I give the passage of time. It can amaze me when I realize that I'm connecting folks with their gg-grandparents. A lot can change in just a generation. That's just something I have to watch out for, as I tend to see their relationships as often far more intimate than they actually were. In a book about Cleopatra, it mentioned how she and Julius Caesar visited the great pyramids of Egypt--and that Cleopatra was far closer to us in time than those pyramids were to her. So, I don't think I'm alone in lumping the past, but it is something I need to be careful of. Even so, it can't hurt to have a better understanding of the time periods leading up to my characters of interest.
It'll probably be years before I get to this particular book, though, so I'm going to go ahead and relate the 'discoveries'. It's these things that fuel my writing, you know! In this case, I'm particularly proud of myself for sticking to my guns and reading my Memoirs of the Electress Sophia as opposed to diving into Crossed by Ally Condie.
I picked up Crossed from the library yesterday and have been looking at it longingly. I will get there--yes, young adult novels are my choice pleasure reads--but I decided to opt for the Memoirs because of my blog to you. See? It helped!
Anyhow, my joy with genealogy and historical books is to read between the lines. Sometimes, actually, to just read the lines! Such surprises await. For instance, I lived in Butzbach as a girl and, in my last year in Germany, attended a middle school in Giessen. When Sophia passes through this area, she is accompanied by the Landgravine, an uncle, who rules the area. Yes, that is quite exciting to me to think that my family ruled the territory that I lived in while in Germany. Pretty cool.
Then, more between the lines, I pay attention this time to the fact that a priest drowns in a river just after her marriage future takes a decisive turn away from the marriage he's scheming to broker between Sophia and the Duke of Parma. She honestly says that she can't say whether it was an accident or not--seeming to refer to suicide--but soon afterwards lets slip that the only 'witness' to those marriage discussions, to which she'd been favorable, was now dead. And that marriage with the Catholic Duke of Parma was NOT the marriage she and her Calvinist brother thought best, after all. She was nearly 28, though, and she'd likely decided that the marriage agreed to over a year previously was not going to happen--after the guy failed to show up. But when it worked out with this preferred party, she of course would have regretted any promises to the Duke of Parma's representative. It would reflect very poorly on their honour, especially as she'd already dumped one suitor--the abusive Prince Adolf of Sweden (hmm, interesting that name Adolf, isn't it?)--the year before for her Hanoverian choice. And how did that big-chinned Prince Adolf make a fuss!
Hope this isn't all just a confusing jumble for you, but perhaps in time I'll figure out how to share bits and pieces without giving away the whole thing! Is that how it's done? Until I figure that out, I'll just keep you in the know. Hmm, that wouldn't be the main point of the book, though. Perhaps it would simply tickle your fancy to read snippets that you recognize from my blog? I'll go with that belief for the time being--as it's easiest for me. I mean, that priest didn't even figure into the overall construct of that book before!
Aside from the Memoirs, I've begun listening to a historical novel by Philippa Gregory. I'd shunned them before, after associating her books with another similar book by a different author, but I'm enjoying the one I'm on about Mary, Queen of Scots, and am tickled to see that she covers many famous women of English royalty, but not the ones I plan to write about. That's perfect for me--I can set myself up by listening to stories of previous generations and go from there. While I just love Mary, Queen of Scots, I don't feel the urge to write on her life; not yet, anyhow. Perhaps because it seems to be well-covered already.
Funny how little respect I give the passage of time. It can amaze me when I realize that I'm connecting folks with their gg-grandparents. A lot can change in just a generation. That's just something I have to watch out for, as I tend to see their relationships as often far more intimate than they actually were. In a book about Cleopatra, it mentioned how she and Julius Caesar visited the great pyramids of Egypt--and that Cleopatra was far closer to us in time than those pyramids were to her. So, I don't think I'm alone in lumping the past, but it is something I need to be careful of. Even so, it can't hurt to have a better understanding of the time periods leading up to my characters of interest.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Accountable to You
I'll share a secret with you. I find that I stick to things better when held accountable to them--and that's part of the concept behind this blog. I think that's generally true for everyone, but we don't all realize that it applies to personal goals as well as daily life. For instance, we're more likely to follow through on a course of study when given deadlines and consequences.
Anyhow, that's how I wrote Silk--I set a word count goal and stuck to it--daily ticking off that count. I did the same for Tapestry, though there was an interruption. By the time I got to Homespun, I felt that I'd proven to myself that I could do it, so I could relax more with those requirements, but it took FOREVER to finish.
I heard J.K. Rowling say that she approached writing as a job. She laughed when someone asked her about waiting for inspiration and said that no book would ever get written that way. Well, I have heard of an occasional book being written that way, but in general I think career authors can't simply wait for inspiration if they expect to write multiple books.
Not to say that there's not inspiration behind book concepts--just that the words that flow to put it together aren't necessarily gushing forth. They're work to pull together, to connect everything.
So, part of my design in creating this blog is to hold myself accountable to you--to finish what I start, what I decide to sit down and work on. No absolute promises--I know better now that I've dealt with life's surprises in this last year, but I think I'll do a better job of completing whatever I tell you about here.
I've dallied with a number of resources lately, but I'll go ahead and relate one 'research' venue that I want to complete first--I plan to read the Memoirs of Sophia: Electress of Hanover once again just now. I read them quite a while ago and they're a quick read that will put me in the right frame of mind again after having my mind twisted by claims that we wouldn't relate to the way they thought about things back then--so many stuffy books (mostly from the 19th century) seem to confirm this. Sophia of Hanover, however, is a witty and wise 17th-century princess, and I totally relate to her, connect to her writing. It doesn't hurt that I fancy her my ancestress (if that family tree is to be trusted!). I don't want to be drawn into the trap of thinking I can't write from the heart, that I have to second-guess everything with cerebral logic, restrict my perspective. Of course we have to consider their setting, but some of them were broad-minded, intelligent, fun-loving, emotional people, just as we are.
I've begun one book about her daughter-in-law, Sophia Dorothea, and another about her mother, Elizabeth Stuart, and I most certainly want to write one with Sophia of Hanover herself as main character. Yes, a big theme for a series, though the one about her mother is a children's/young adult book, whereas the other is more of a romance... See why I need some accountability and organization? When writing resumes this fall, I hope that this blog helps me stick to finishing one of these books before going on to another new project. I have exciting ideas for a few other books in this series already.
Hopefully I'll stick through to the finish point, whichever it is. I plan to keep you in the loop!
Anyhow, that's how I wrote Silk--I set a word count goal and stuck to it--daily ticking off that count. I did the same for Tapestry, though there was an interruption. By the time I got to Homespun, I felt that I'd proven to myself that I could do it, so I could relax more with those requirements, but it took FOREVER to finish.
I heard J.K. Rowling say that she approached writing as a job. She laughed when someone asked her about waiting for inspiration and said that no book would ever get written that way. Well, I have heard of an occasional book being written that way, but in general I think career authors can't simply wait for inspiration if they expect to write multiple books.
Not to say that there's not inspiration behind book concepts--just that the words that flow to put it together aren't necessarily gushing forth. They're work to pull together, to connect everything.
So, part of my design in creating this blog is to hold myself accountable to you--to finish what I start, what I decide to sit down and work on. No absolute promises--I know better now that I've dealt with life's surprises in this last year, but I think I'll do a better job of completing whatever I tell you about here.
I've dallied with a number of resources lately, but I'll go ahead and relate one 'research' venue that I want to complete first--I plan to read the Memoirs of Sophia: Electress of Hanover once again just now. I read them quite a while ago and they're a quick read that will put me in the right frame of mind again after having my mind twisted by claims that we wouldn't relate to the way they thought about things back then--so many stuffy books (mostly from the 19th century) seem to confirm this. Sophia of Hanover, however, is a witty and wise 17th-century princess, and I totally relate to her, connect to her writing. It doesn't hurt that I fancy her my ancestress (if that family tree is to be trusted!). I don't want to be drawn into the trap of thinking I can't write from the heart, that I have to second-guess everything with cerebral logic, restrict my perspective. Of course we have to consider their setting, but some of them were broad-minded, intelligent, fun-loving, emotional people, just as we are.
I've begun one book about her daughter-in-law, Sophia Dorothea, and another about her mother, Elizabeth Stuart, and I most certainly want to write one with Sophia of Hanover herself as main character. Yes, a big theme for a series, though the one about her mother is a children's/young adult book, whereas the other is more of a romance... See why I need some accountability and organization? When writing resumes this fall, I hope that this blog helps me stick to finishing one of these books before going on to another new project. I have exciting ideas for a few other books in this series already.
Hopefully I'll stick through to the finish point, whichever it is. I plan to keep you in the loop!
Hello from Savannah!
I've just gotten back from a trip to South Carolina. I spent the wee hours of the morning painting the floor of the master bedroom of my grandparent's old home. You'll meet this house in Homespun, and it's actually the inspiration for that story. Yes, the Silk Trilogy has many roots in reality, but please know that the stories are fictional.
I've taken a break from writing stories for the summer, as it's so difficult to write while the kids are off from school, but an author can't help herself, I suppose--so here I am, writing something, at least.
It's nice to be back home in Savannah--looking forward to a few more lazy, hazy days of summer here. Pool, television, reading, baby chicks, cooking...life stays busy and flies by here, too.
Well, the reason for taking the summer off of writing still does exist, and I must go for now, but I'm looking forward to keeping you updated on the progress of my books and all the cool discoveries that I make in the meantime. Now, how in the world do authors manage not to spill all the goodies in these blogs? We'll see, I guess!
I've taken a break from writing stories for the summer, as it's so difficult to write while the kids are off from school, but an author can't help herself, I suppose--so here I am, writing something, at least.
It's nice to be back home in Savannah--looking forward to a few more lazy, hazy days of summer here. Pool, television, reading, baby chicks, cooking...life stays busy and flies by here, too.
Well, the reason for taking the summer off of writing still does exist, and I must go for now, but I'm looking forward to keeping you updated on the progress of my books and all the cool discoveries that I make in the meantime. Now, how in the world do authors manage not to spill all the goodies in these blogs? We'll see, I guess!
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