Book Series by J. S. Marlo

 

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

I just finished reading an historical fiction book set in Nova Scotia during WW2. I really enjoyed it, but not once while reading it did it occur to me that it was part of a series. It wasn’t until I reviewed it on Goodreads that I realised it was the second book of the series. The title of another book she wrote was printed on the cover, but nothing indicated that other book was in fact the first of the series.

There was no series name or number on the book cover, so I started searching to see if there were written or unwritten "rules" on how to set up a series. I didn't  find any rules, which I thought wasn't a bad thing since it meant I was breaking any elusive rules, but I discovered that series were classified by types.

 

These are the three most popular types of series: Dynamic, Static, or Anthology Series.

 

Dynamic Series:

A dynamic series follows the same characters as the main story carries out through the series. The characters grow as the series progress. The series should be seen as one whole story, not distinct installments in the characters’ life. These individual books are not standalones and need to be read in order for the story to make sense.

 

Static Series:

A static series follows the same characters, but these characters don’t develop in any major ways over time. Each book features a different story, and these individual books are standalone and can usually be read in any order.

 

Anthology Series:

An anthology series do not follow the same characters for every book of the series. The series are tied by a world, a setting, or character relationship. These individual books are standalone, and while some series can be read in any order, other series may need to be read order to avoid spoilers.

 

 

While I was writing my first novel Salvaged, I wasn’t thinking about series. My goal was to finish it, then not get lost in the overwhelming and scary world of synopsis, query letters, and publishers. It wasn’t until I finished my second novel Unraveled that the word “series” struck me. By then, I had found a publisher and Salvaged was tiptoeing into the published world, so I had started looking farther into my publishing goals. The truth is, I became very attached to the characters in Unraveled. Since I wasn’t ready to let them go, I turned the book into a series.

So far, I have written twelve novels. Eleven are published and the twelfth "The Red Quilt" is scheduled for release this coming December. Out of the dozen, only two are not part of a series. The other ten novels are part of four different series...but what kind of series?

 

In my Duty Bound Series, the main character in each new book is a minor character from the previous book, but few other characters from the previous book make it in the next one. Each book takes place a few years after the previous one, the recurring characters evolve, but it introduces new plots and new characters. There are some dynamic & static elements in them, the books are standalones, but reading them out of order gives spoilers about the previous books. So, to my great surprise, it looks like an anthology series. I'm not sure why, but I would never have associated the term 'anthology' to my series until now.

 

My Heart & Endurance Series is a bit different.  The first two books start with different characters and intrigue, but at one point in the second book, characters from the first book begin filtering through. The main characters in the first two books become minor characters in the third book whose storyline revolves around two new main characters. Each book takes place a year or two after the previous one, the recurring characters evolve, but there is a minor loose end that isn’t resolved until the third book. As much as I would have liked to tie that loose end in the first book, it realistically takes years for justice to render a verdict, so while that verdict didn’t come as a surprise, it only became official in the last book. While these three books can be read as standalone, they should be read in order to avoid spoliers. Again, this series looks like an anthology series, even though there are

dynamic & static elements.

 

My Unraveling the Past Series is definitely an anthology series. Brand-new characters in every book. Different settings. Different years. Different means of time-travel. Standalone stories. No continuity. The theme of the stories is what ties them together. In each book, the main character travels back in time and tries to right the wrongs of the past. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have numbered that series.

 

My Fifteen Shades Series will probably resemble my Duty Bound Series in the sense that one of the minor characters in the first book will become the main character in the second book. More about the first new book of that series The Red Quilt next month. I'm finishing my edits, but I received its book cover. It’s gorgeous! I can’t wait to share it with everyone.

 

Happy Reading & Stay Safe

JS

More info about book series, visit Ignite your ink

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

 

Do-It-Yourself Writing Retreat by Eileen O'Finlan

 

    Click here for purchase information

     

   

   

    

Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website 

I have spent that last eight months researching in preparation for my next historical novel. It's always a tough call for me to assess when I'm ready to begin the actual writing. Though I know research will continue through to the final page, there has to come a point when I feel I have done enough to be comfortable diving into the writing. Still, typing those first words is daunting. This time I had just the boost I needed.

On Monday, July 19th, my friend and fellow author, Jane Willan, and I set off for the home of another friend and writer, BWL author, Eileen Charbonneau in Bellows Falls, Vermont for a homemade writing retreat.

Every morning after an amazing breakfast served up by Eileen's husband, Ed, we each went off to our own corners of Eileen's lovely home to write. We had lunch on our own whenever we got hungry and either ate yet another amazing meal cooked by "Chef Ed" or we all went out to eat. Each evening, the three of us gathered to exchange what we'd written that day and critique one another's work.

I doubt I have ever been so productive in such a short time, especially at the start of a new novel. In the five days I was there, I completed the first draft of three and a half chapters. Given that my work-in-progress has a dual timeline, something I've never before attempted, having the guidance and feedback from these two veteran authors was indespensible. 

Writing with others and being accountable for accomplishing something by the end of each day provided great motivation and inspiration. With each of us in a different place with out current projects - Eileen in the middle of her next novel, Jane working on the final revision, and me at the very beginning - we ran the gamut of the writing process.

Thanks to Eileen, we were able to offer a presentation and book signing at Village Square Booksellers. We were honored to be featured in this Bellows Falls book store's first post-COVID event and grateful for a good and enthusiastic turnout.

Though there are many worthwhile writing retreats offered all over the world, the cost and travel involved make them unobtainable for many. My advice to those who would love to go on a writing retreat is to find another author or two and create your own retreat. You don't have to go far or spend a lot of money. You can do as we did if space allows and hold it at the home of one of the writers. What's important is a dedicated time and place to write and, later, to meet for critique. It is amazing what can be accomplished. Of course, it helps to have a guy like Eileen's Ed around to handle all the meals in spectacular fashion.

                                            Left to right - Jane Willan, Eileen Charbonneau,

                                            Eileen O'Finlan at the last critique session of our

                                            writing retreat (follwed by Ed's homemade pizza!)

I Carry Home With Me by Jay Lang

 

                      I Carry Home with me

                                 Author Jay Lang

                                          

My time as a child spent on Read Island was nothing short of magical. If I wasn’t jigging for cod in our beautiful little bay, floating under the magnificent eagle that would sit on a branch hanging over the water, I was traipsing behind my dad in the forest.  He would point out little places, under the canopy of the majestic trees and on the lush forest floor where tiny creatures could hide. He used to say, “Be careful where you step. You don’t want to tread on a gnome’s home or a fairy’s lair.” It was the sparkle in his eyes and the enthusiasm in his voice that convinced me the island was an enchanted place. Looking back, I understand just how privileged I was to witness the wonder of my surroundings, from the playful seals that would pop their heads up beside our dock, or the magnificent whales that would pass by and breach high out of the water. I was living in a moving painting. The memories of Read Island are imprinted deep in me, and no matter where I’ve travelled or how far my journey sometimes takes me, my heart and my spirit have always belonged to the coast.  

When I moved away and attended university and became a writer, I always knew that in order for my stories to come to life, I needed to write about places I loved and knew well.  So, before I write, I close my eyes and go back all those decades ago when I was a young girl sitting in Surge Narrows on the Dodmans Wharf eating a chocolate bar, the feeling of the salt air on my skin, the sound of the waves in my ear, and I’m there again. Granted, my stories are suspense novels, but every book I write always has a strong connection to the beauty of the coast. Read Island is part of the Discovery Islands, located between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The small island had an old one-room schoolhouse which taught grades 1-12. The school boat was operated by whomever volunteered to pick up the kids from around the bays and coves of the island. Instead of electricity, running water and markets, we had woodstoves, kerosene lamps, wells and gardens. All these years later, Read Island hasn’t changed. There are no ferries that go to or from Vancouver Island, only water taxis or private boats.

For purchase information on Jay Lang books click book covers

 

 

If ever you wanted to see rustic beauty in the purest, most spectacular form, I highly recommend a visit to Read Island. 

 All of my novels are available at bookswelove.net/lang-jay/ 

My novels are Hush, Shatter, Shiver, Storm, The Cove, Impulse, and I’m currently working on my next novel, The Immoral.

 

Personal Cleanliness and Cosmetics in the 14th Century by Rosemary Morris

 

To see more of Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.

I have written two #classic#fact fiction# novels, Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, Volume One of The Lovages of Cassio set in Edward II’s reign, and Grace, Lady of Cassio, Volume Two, set in Edward III’s reign, (to be published on the 1^{st of} September 2021). At heart I am a historian, so in this and my recent blogs, I am sharing some of my intensive research into times past.

 

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness

Medieval people believed in the saying ‘cleanliness is next to godliness.’ They thought a spiritually clean person without sin was spared from illness, and the necessity of seeking redemption through God’s mercy.

Bathing

  In an era when there were no anti-perspirants or deodorants people who stank because they neglected personal hygiene would be avoided (to use a cliché) ‘like the plague’.  Men with unsavoury occupations washed in rivers or other natural sources of clean water. Immersing the body in water indoors or outdoors had the benefit of ridding the body from fleas and lice. Mothers or nurses bathed babies frequently and sweetened their linen swaddling with powdered herbs or flower petals mixed with salt. Those in holy orders at abbeys at monasteries bathed between two and four times a year. 

Like royalty, the families of noble men and women, and wealthy merchants bathed in wooden tubs lined with cloths. King John bathed every three weeks. Henry IV bathed on the evening before his coronation. He instituted The Order of The Bath to stress the importance of physical and spiritual purification before a knight made his vows. Some of Edward III’s palaces contained bathrooms with hot and cold running water.

 

Washing

 It took too long to heat water for daily baths. Every morning basins of water were filled for men and women in respectable households to wash their hands and faces. Women attended to children too young to wash themselves. Before and after meals, everyone washed and dried their hands. Every week those in holy orders washed their feet in foot basins. Travellers who went on long journeys, also cleaned their feet in foot basins

 

Hair

Hair was washed in copper basins in water mixed with cinnamon, liquorice, and cumin instead of soap which irritated the skin.

Teeth

 People believed bad breath caused disease. To freshen it they chose one of these spices to chew, cardamon, liquorice, aniseed, cumin, or fennel.

 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

 

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk     

 

Research takes me to different eras and locales by Katherine Pym

  Buy Here

 ~*~*~*~

 

Capt Kidd in NY harbor. It was traditional to have loved ones aboard before sailing

Research takes me to different eras and locales. One of those places is on a wooden ship slicing through the ocean's heavy swells. I have several books that describe the building of them, their terminologies, but few mention what it was like living on board. Until now...

Oh, I knew ships were crowded. Cages of ducks, geese and chickens lined the main deck rails. Cows and goats were harnessed to masts. Below decks, the magazine and filling rooms sat close together but the powder room was farther astern. Safety, you know, even as ships sometimes spontaneously exploded.

Capt Kidd's NY Home

Seamen would often re-use old gun cartridges that, after a while, would deteriorate to a fine dust, and combined with particles of sulphuric and nitric acids found in gunpowder, a highly combustible substance called ‘guncotton’ would form. This friction of dust and gunpowder would cause terrific explosions, sinking the ship and everyone on board. 

Upward to several hundred men crowded onto a vessel. Captain Kidd, the privateer who turned pirate in the last years of the 17^th century, had one hundred fifty-two men and boys cheek to jowl aboard his ship Adventure Galley. Men had to sleep in shifts. 

The decks were so short, maybe 5 feet ceilings, everyone had to walk in a permanent crouch. Unless a seaman was given express permission from the captain, no fire could be taken below decks, and unless the decks had gunports, it was damn dark down there. 

Inaccurate rending of Kidd

“’No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail,’ observed Samuel Johnson. ‘For being in a ship is being in jail with the chance of being drowned... a man in jail has more room, better food and commonly better company.’

“Every available inch below deck was taken up with water-casks, barrels of salt beef, peas, beer; coils of ropes, bundles of extra canvas;” a private cabin or two, depending on the ship’s rate. These cabins were 4x4 feet. No one could stretch or pace. One had to sleep in the fetal position. 

“For landsmen, novices at this naval dormitory, the smell of that sleep chamber was gagging. Their overworked fellow sailors rarely changed their clothes or bathed; to top off the aroma of vintage sweat, toilet hygiene was rudimentary at best. 

“The ship’s head (i.e., toilet) consisted of a plank with a hole in it, which extended forward from the bow; a sailor perched on it, rode it like a seesaw, and, while doing his business, resembled some gargoyle or perverse bowsprit; the ship’s rail might provide the merest amount of privacy. A man attempting to tidy his ass risked a plunge into the sea.” 

Man being flogged

Even as existence such as this seemed pretty unpalatable, it got into the blood of men. Once they found their sea legs and learned the ways of the sea, many wouldn’t leave it for all their stolen treasure. If they didn’t like what their captain did, they could always mutiny, throw the offending captain overboard (as the Henry Hudson’s crew did) and sail away into the stormy sunset. 

~*~*~*~*~

Many thanks to: 

Wikicommons, public domain 

The Pirate Hunter, The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks. Hyperio, NY, NY. 2002

Tuesday 4 August, 2015: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-london-after-350-years-the-riddle-of-britains-exploding-fleet-is-finally-solved-10438854.html