Hello, once again

Sorry this has taken so long, several months, but life has intruded. Deaths, loss of loved ones, waiting for the loss of loved ones. Hard.

But I've finished the first draft of Jasper's Lament, London 1664, a story of a young erudite of religious theory during a time when there is little tolerance for it. The story opens when Jasper's father dies under strange circumstances. During the course of the year, he finds his father has been involved in plots against the king. His uncle is of a perverted religion; his mother converses with his dead father, who resides in a corner of the common room. Jasper falls in love with the daughter of a Dutchman, who is in England illegally, for soon England will go to war with that dead flat country.

And during all this, Jasper takes his place as full partner in a London shop. Rumor and warmonger gossip in an understated tone. Good stuff.

Meet My Main Character

I’ve been tagged by Linda Root & Anita Seymour Davison to tell you about the main character in one of my writing projects, but I really can't do that. I finished The Barbers, and my WIP is now just being born. Instead, I'll tell you a little of my 'Plan'...

Back in the day (a Texas colloquialism great grandparents used) I found Samuel Pepys. Upon reading his journal I realized it was a discussion of local mores, slang, and his life saturated in current events that were so minute, so abbreviated, I couldn't make heads nor tails of it. My understanding of the mid-17th century was nil, and what Mr Pepys wrote in his journal felt like jumping into a whirling chasm filled with bits and bobs only the locals of the time understood.

So, I had to learn of what his journals said, i.e., the life of one living in the 17th century who'd endured the English Civil Wars, and the Restoration, the 1st & 2nd Anglo/Dutch Wars, the death of King Charles II and subsequent exile of James II, then of course, the insane Titus Oates escapade.

I studied London City and its Liberties. I packed my library with all sorts of historical texts filled with random pieces of information my heirs will most likely give to used book stores, or the Goodwill. I mean, not many care about the history of beds or shoes and Livery Companies, the microscope Robert Hooke had made, or that he felt veins and capillaries meant something important. 

For The Barbers I found lovely 17th century published texts that helped my story roll along the foggy lanes of London, on medicine and science, even an experiment on a dog. It was soooo exciting.

My Plan, therefore, is to write of the volatile 1660 decade until London burns to the ground. Each novel will take place in London during one year due to the amazing amount of current events. So far, I’ve managed to write the years 1660-1663. 

My birthing project (Chapter 1 is always painful) is of London 1664. That manuscript has yet to take on a personality of its own. In the interim I’ll tell you of The Barbers, and my protagonist, how she deals with life in general.

 What is the name of your character? Is he/or she fictional or a historic person?

My character's name is Celia Barber, a fictional person. She apprenticed as a barber under her father, and enters the guild (Barber-Surgeons), but as a woman she will never be licensed. (There are some documented cases of women holding licenses outside the 7 mile radius of London, but not within the city proper.) Celia shares a shop with her father who snips hair & shaves chins, while she heals. It is against the guild to be a barber and do the work of a surgeon or physican. King Henry VIII separated the barber/surgeon job functions, which weren't often adhered to, but I digress.

When and where is the story set?

The story is set in London 1663.

What should we know about him/her?

Celia Barber is very interested in science and medicine, and she chafes at the restrictions set against women.

As religious strife settles down, the great brains of England begin to explore medicine and science. Celia strives to see a dissection in the Hall of Surgeons, and an experiment in the Royal Society, but her dreams far outreach reality.

Celia's sister works at the Palace of Whitehall and introduces her to Viscount Deeping, who takes an immediate 'shine' to Celia. He enjoys her quest for knowledge, her dreams to see an experiment at the Royal Society. He takes her there as his lackey where Celia is thrilled to meet Robert Hooke, who created so many tools for the scientist, and wrote theses for the physician.

What is the main conflict? What messes up his or her life?

Her mother is narcissistic, and as a toddler ignores Celia. Finally, when she is about three or four, her mother casts Celia to the streets with a pronounced slam of the door. Her father rescues her, but the rejection takes its toll. Celia never trusts anyone; she'd rather keep to the shadows with her thoughts and dreams, which were many, but life intervenes. She loses one brother, than another, and she can't save them.

What is the personal goal of the character?

To heal people the best she can with local herbs and the latest science, but her goal is sidetracked when her impudent sister sees an inkling of treasure, and the intrusive viscount.

Is there a working title for this novel? And can we read more about it?

The title is set in cement, and the work published. The Barbers, a Tale Most Curious & Rare. 

When can we expect the book to be published?

It’s on the cyber shelves as we speak, paperback and ebook, on amazon, almost all countries. 

Many thanks to Linda and Anita for inviting me on this trip of how my historical fiction develops of itself (after tons of research, that is).

Please click on the links below for The Barbers
USA
UK 

For my other novels, see amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Pym/e/B004GILIAS

Historical Novelists Book Fair

We will take a bit of a break from The Art Of English Shooting which you will see below, and then in a few day's time, above. 

In the meantime...
Welcome to the Historical Novelists Book Fair April 12-15 in this year of our Lord 2013. 

http://tgunwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/on-line-spring-book-fair-historical.html#comment-form

According to the rules of the game, I am to start with latest release, a story of espionage in London 1662. It is titled: Of Carrion Feathers. But to get a better picture of my plan, let's begin with why I chose London during the 1660's.

My goal is to write a London novel each year from 1660-1666 when most all of the inner city burnt to the ground. The reason for a book each year is simple. The current events of those years were so extraordinary that I simply had to dedicate a book per year to explain it all.  That means I cannot speak of something in one book that happens a year later, which is sometimes difficult. Historians have a tendency to blur data as long as it's within a certain span of time.


For instance, the very end of 1659 there were whispers to bring the king back to England. When the king returned in May 1660, the churches were silent of music, but I cannot speak of music in the churches until quite awhile after the king resettled in England. Historians will say music returned to the churches with the Restoration (1660). Well, that is true, but in 1659 or in 1660 during Viola, there was no music in the churches. It took quite a while for this to happen.  But I digress...

As above, 1660 brought King Charles II back to England, and what a time that was. So many singing and dancing in the streets. The transition from Puritan to Anglicanism was extreme. Due to ever changing rules, good folk did not know if they were married or not. Many took this confusion to heart and left their spousal unit to marry again, but across town where they were not known. Viola, A Woeful Tale of Marriage is about a young woman who finds she is married to a bigamist. It's a rousing good tale. 

Then, in London 1661, we have TWINS (An EPIC 2012 Finalist) that begins with a little known superstition where a man can only sire one child at a time. If a woman has twins, especially fraternal, then it is clear to all she is an adulteress.  

But that's not the only storyline. TWINS deals with a papist (Catholic) merchant in an overwhelmingly Protestant London. If it were known our protagonists were Catholic, they'd be run out of town to the distance of at least 7 miles. It's a good conflict. 

TWINS is about trade in London during the year 1661, prior to when the East India Company got a better hold in the business. (The company did not fare well during the Civil Wars or Cromwellian years.) Our merchant - the twins' uncle - is in the Levant Company, and Edgar goes to sea as a learning experience. What he doesn't expect is to fall into a battle with pirates, or deal with a corrupt Levant official. 

Emmatha is forced to stay behind and marry a widower, and a Catholic, gentleman farmer (who has several children by his ex sister-in-law). Is this confusing? Where's the twins' father in all this? You'll have to read it to find out. 

By 1661, trade was better, and more ports of call were being explored, but it wasn't until Catherine of Braganza (1662) that England made so many more strides in that area. TWINS is another good rumpus tale that men and women alike will enjoy.

Of Carrion Feathers is London 1662 during the worst of the nonconformist uprisings, and plots are rampant against the king. With all the plots that abounded, it was a wonder King Charles II escaped this year unscathed. 

There is little written about espionage during this time, but I did find a lovely volume that detailed from the smallest to the largest plots, and the king's burgeoning spy network.  It's a Cambridge study in early modern British history, titled: Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II, 1660-1685

There were even women in these spy groups, which added to the danger. My chief protagonist is Beatrice Short who is very bright, but not discreet. She is discovered snooping about the Undersecretary's desk, and finds ciphers. He recognizes her brilliance and blackmails Beatrice into becoming a spy for the Crown. 

Beatrice does not want to be a spy.  Since the king returned from exile, he had brought the French way of the theatre, which put women on stage.  Beatrice wants to be an actress, but as a servant, she doesn't have the coin to take music and dance lessons. After getting caught by the Undersecretary, he strikes a bargain with her. If she spies, and breaks code, the Crown will pay for her lessons. 

Beatrice reluctantly agrees. She is paired with a jaded spy called Oliver Prior. For most of their spy mission, neither knows the other works for the Undersecretary--a wily, controlling fellow. Beatrice figures it out much sooner that Prior, since she's so smart, but when Oliver finds out, he is furious.  For more on the full of this story, let's look at the back cover. 

Now, to continue with this book fair, and its rules. Let us do a small excerpt Of Carrion Feathers, London 1662

Beatrice trod up stairs.  At the first level she found a lit candle.  With it in one hand and the dish of starch in the other, she climbed one level after the other `til she reached the top.  The candlelight wavered.  She was on a very dark floor with two doors shut tight. 

She heard rats in the walls, and a clock ticked somewhere near.  No sconces or lanthorns lit the way.  Cold drafts snatched at her skirt hems, and Beatrice frowned.  She’d found herself in a very dreary place. 

She set the starch pot on the floor, and opened the door on the left.  Ladder-stairs led to the garret.  She faced the other door, and opened it to see a large chamber.  The clock ticked louder, and raising the candle, she saw it on a mantelshelf.  Windows were shuttered.  The room was near pitch, and Beatrice was glad to have the candle.  With it, she scanned more of the chamber.  A long table stood against one wall.  Joint stools, and hard backed chairs clustered about something large in the center of the room. 

Beatrice tiptoed around the chairs and stools to the large thing--a box--garnished with thick, metal handles.  The nearer she got, the more it looked like a coffin sitting on joint stools.  She raised the candle, and stepped closer.  She dipped the candle toward the box, and mewed in fear. 

It was an empty coffin.  Grains covered the bottom of it with black wool draped over one side.  It stretched silent in the dark chamber. 

Waiting to be filled. 

Don't forget my other, not of London 1660's novel: The First Apostle, a story of Camille Desmoulins during the French Revolution. You can see it along the banner of my blog. It's the one with the red cover and a guillotine. 

If you want to see what the story is really like, go to amazon.com and Look Inside the books. All ebooks have been reduced in cost. Check out the link: 

http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Pym/e/B004GILIAS

The English vs the Dutch

Yes, I know. It's been ages since I last posted anything here, but I think I deserve a little break with five novels released in a period of two years. (Whew, as I wipe my forehead of damp.) Not all has been relaxed with my feet warming in the sun, though. I've been researching for my WIP, a historical novel set in London 1663, tentative title: The Barbers.

After the Cromwellian years, the Presbyterians lost their tenacious hold over English mores. King Charles II was pulled out of exile and ensconced in Whitehall Palace, and he couldn't have been more different than Cromwell. It gave the Puritans heartburn. 

The Presbyterians fought to regain what they'd lost by plotting against the king, but Charles' spymaster had taken notes from Cromwell's spymaster and kept the king safe.  You can see this in my latest release Of Carrion Feathers.

Along with this, the new queen's dowry brought new ports of call to England, located in the Spice Islands.  Before, England's merchants had to claw their way over the holdings of other nations.  One would think the Portuguese and Spanish who had long taken possession of these regions could not be shaken off their foundations. Not true.

By early 17th century, the most tenacious grasp on the Spice Islands was surprisingly from the Dutch.  They fought tooth and nail for what they wanted.  Even though England and Holland were not 'technically' at war, their merchants were.  Vicious scuffles were on the rise in the Southseas. It was only a matter of time before these skirmishes would flare up along the English Channel and North Sea.   

East Indiamen at Sea

These battles started more than half a century before when the two countries established their East India Companies. The English company began September 1599, and the Dutch  a few years later in March 1602. Since both referred to their companies as East India Company, to delineate I'll refer to the Dutch company as VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie).

In research, I've been enthralled with Nathaniel's Nutmeg, a narrative nonfiction by Giles Milton. His telling of the spice wars is nothing short of astonishing. Both the Dutch and English found bounty in the Southseas but at a terrific cost. In their fight to dominate the spice trade, they ran into headhunters and cannibals. They suffered from typhoid, endless days and nights in high humidity, high temperatures on bug biting islands. A company factor (English or VOC) sent to these islands to build up the business only lasted 2-3 years before succumbing to disease. Most of them died before their ladened ships reached home.

Even though the English company began first, their choice of captains for the journeys set them back, while the Dutch poured out of the gate like furies. They were aggressive and unwilling to bend in their attempts to hold every island that held spices. One of the most vicious of these battles was over the Bantam Islands (an Indonesian archipelago) where nutmeg and mace were the spices most coveted. During this strife, Run Island's nutmeg crop was destroyed. In the 1660's when England could finally make strides into the East Indies, there was little left to harvest on the island.

The hostilities turned into war, and at this time, torture was not only approved of but expected. One poor fellow's torture was very clearly stated in a journal...

Dutch East India Vessel

From page 234 of Nathaniel's Nutmeg: "First, I caused him to be burned under the nayles of his thumbs, fingers, and toes with sharpe hotte iron, and the nayles to be torne off... Then we burned him quite thorow the handes, and with rasps of iron tore out the flesh and sinewes. After that, I caused them to knocke the edges of his shinne bones with hotte searing irons..."

In the end the poor wretch was made target practice, and finally died.  

Due to early 17th century English internal strife (Charles I, Laud, Parliament), VOC's trade ran far ahead of England's, and they excelled during the English Civil Wars. Once Cromwell took the throne, he realized the Dutch were a carbuncle on England's trade. He went to war what is now called the first Anglo/Dutch war, fought entirely at sea.

It wasn't until Charles II married the Portuguese Infanta that England could make serious (and successful) inroads on the spice trade. But even then, the Dutch continued to irritate the English. Under Charles II, England and Holland fought two more wars, all at sea.

Many thanks to Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton

Please find my novels at: http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Pym/e/B004GILIAS