WIP-I am making progress . . . I think

First of all, for those who don't know, WIP stands for Work in Progress. It's a term I learned in the writer world that refers to the authors current books' progress. So this is an update, for all the people wondering what happened to the writing side of my life. (Yes, all of my last posts have been about children. They tend to take over everything, in a good way.)

So first of all-A Circle of Sisters. It's still moving toward publication. I wrote my very first back cover copy for the book last week and I've heard rumors of a cover. Don't fear. It's making steady progress.

As for other works . . .

Oh, wait, did you know I had other works? Like the YA contemporary novel I begged many of you to read months ago? Yeah. It's sitting in a pile with other hopeful novels waiting to be read. But it's been sent out into the big bad world of publishers, so that's progress, even if it's silent for months. We'll let it sit. That's the best place for it.

Do you want to know more?

Should I admit to my current mess of a draft?

Yes, it's fantasy. I had to try my hand at it. It's hard. It takes a lot of time to create worlds, characters, histories, climates, traditions. I've researched everything from old fashioned clothing, seal skin coats made by Eskimos, and tribal paint, to animal and plant life, war, ruins on Islands, and chambered cairns (stone graves.)

... An ancient warrior the English Mastiff ...
All this research got me to thinking about authors and the weird things they unexpectedly end up learning about for their novels. So all my author friends, what are the strangest things you've done or researched in the name of writing? For me so far, its got to be the detailed instructions on how to sew a sealskin coat that I pulled up and examined. Though my research on war dogs was also unexpected. Can you believe these guys were breed for war?

7 comments

  1. Hm... aside from the stuff that'd land me on an FBI watchlist, maybe Viking language, rune stones & graves? Russian and German foods flavored with poppyseeds? Canadian-Emirati foreign relations? The procedure for a concelebrating priest in the Catholic Mass? It's so random!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poppyseeds had me laughing. Your research makes me want to read your books.

      Delete
  2. Progress is progress! I write YA contemporary as well. SO fun! Posted my query and the first 250 words of my novel on my blog today for The Writer's Voice 2013 contest. Things I've done to research my novel? Hum...interviewing doctors, driving across the state to take pictures of train tracks... Great question. I'm sure I can think of more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kudos, Jo. I don't write, but I just wanted to comment to let you know a) I'm excited you're writing a fantasy and b) I love that you're doing research. Well-researched novels are definitely better than their counterparts. Plus, I love inadvertently learning something from a novel :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I know you'll appreciated it, I should also mention that bits of my fantasy story are inspired by King Henry the Eighth and his daughter Mary. You never know what will end up triggering a story idea.

      Delete
  4. Kudos, Jo. I don't write, but I just wanted to comment to let you know a) I'm excited you're writing a fantasy and b) I love that you're doing research. Well-researched novels are definitely better than their counterparts. Plus, I love inadvertently learning something from a novel :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like life is moving forward and you're working forward-that counts:) It was great to meet you at Storymakers (at the signing by Kimberly Little's table)-and to realize I already follow your blog!

    ReplyDelete