and the Bluebeard story
Hello!
Hello all you beautiful people! We’re three months out now, and things are coming together for publication day. The list of things to do is long, but I’m checking things off. I hope you’re finding progress forward in whatever you’re working on, too.
All Things Girl, Incorrupted
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Really!
I’m posting a page a day until release day! You can find the first page here:
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For binge readers…
And if you prefer to read in chunks at a time—and I hear ya, I much prefer binging too—no worries. I’ll send reminders as we get closer to release day, when there will be upwards of 100 pages to read, and you can take a big bite before the big devour on September 12.
What else I’ve been up to…
I’ve been posting some character introductions over on Instagram. Come see!
What I’ve Been Reading
links to books are affiliate links1
Girl, Inc Related Reading
I read an insightful post by The Gothic Library about the Bluebeard story, which I’d heard of but wasn’t too familiar with.2 The post is about how many stories that came after Bluebeard, including Jane Eyre3 and Rebecca, draw from story, mainly by way of locked rooms and secret wives. In Rebecca’s case, the story involves a rarely-used wing and secrets surrounding Maxim’s first wife.
I found this post very interesting, because Girl, Incorrupted draws from Rebecca, and it, too, has a locked room by way of a theater’s third floor that requires an access card, and it also involves a suspicious/secretive relationship—except the relationship isn’t prior, it’s more… parallel? Lateral? Imagined? I don’t know yet as until now I hadn’t given the relationship’s label or that particular influence of the Rebecca/Bluebeard story much thought, believe it or not. I more consciously drew from the Mrs. Danvers character, the way she promotes and protects Rebecca’s memory.
Anyway, if you’re interested in story meta or in how writers consciously and subconsciously draw on prior stories, the post is worth a read.
Fiction
Other than that, I’m reading Fourth Wing. Actually, I’m listening to it while I take three or even four walks a day because it’s just been so beautiful out. Perfect temperature. Perfect amount of breeze. Perfect humidity. Just perfect.
I’m about halfway through so far, but it’s good. I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s dark academia with dragons and sexy times. If that’s your cuppa you should check it out.
All Things Current Project
Alec’s story is taking shape, and I’m getting really jazzed about it. I can see where the draft is on track and where there’s opportunity for more and better. And there’s lots of opportunity for more and better, and while that’s a lot of work, it’s also the best part. I always want to write a big-feeling story. My zero drafts usually leave me feeling slightly unsatisfied, because I know the story isn’t as big-feeling as I want it to be. But that’s why we revise—and that’s why I love to revise. Because every cut and every add gets the story a little closer to how I want it to feel, to how I know it can be. And then, eventually, it is.
Winnie Pug Update
Winnie had company last week. That cutie on the left is Delilah. Or as Winnie calls her, Big Momma D. As you can see, she’s the sweetest.
Believe it or not, there is a solid ten-pound/4.5-kilo weight difference between the two of them. (Winnie is tiny for a pug and D is a tank). I tried getting pictures all week, but they would NOT cooperate. Then, before D left, I was lying on the couch, and they were playing on me, and D got tired and sat, and Win got an assist from the SO (that’s his hand), and they finally gave me this gem of a pic. Totally worth the weight. (Hah! I wrote weight, not wait. It shall stand!)
Good To Knows
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Thank you for reading! Talk to you again soon!
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In short: Widower marries a young bride, leaves her with the master key and instructs her not to look in a closet while he’s out, but she does, finding his previous murdered wives, and then almost becomes one herself.
You know I’ve never actually read Jane Eyre?
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