Time Periods

 Camille Boucheron

I am Historical Romance writer Camille Boucheron. I am the author of The Seamstress, The Raven and the Rogue, Vixen Blade, Soul of a Pirate, Pirate’s Fortune and The Songbird. I am also Editor-In-Chief at The Eclectic Coast Magazine.

I have always enjoyed historical books and movies. When I am researching a new novel, I immerse myself in that time period. I study everything about it from clothes, to food, to mannerisms of speech. While researching Vixen Blade, I found a real sword to hold and swing so I could better understand what my character felt when she was engaged in battle. For Soul of a Pirate, I had to learn the art of poison and for Pirate’s Fortune (soon to be released) I extensively studied the origins of insane asylums. An avid student of history, The French Revolution features prominently in The Raven and The Rogue. For The Seamstress, I had to learn about costume design and organized crime.

Camille Boucheron

I knew very early in life I was a writer. It was something I felt inside of myself. I remember finding my mother’s typewriter in the basement. Clicking open the shiny latches, I felt as if I’d discovered a magical treasure. I still smell the ink, hear the distinct sound of the clacking as the keys struck the paper, and the bright ding as I reached the end of the sentence. The arts have always held sway over me. Music, art, sculpture, but writing has always been my truest love.

Throughout my life, whatever tragedy or triumph I have faced, writing is the one constant in my life. When I was homeless, I wrote on spiral notebooks purchased from the dollar store. Through tears, through misery, the force that called me to write burned in my soul. During that dark and broken chapter of my life, I wrote my favorite novel, Vixen Blade. Writing that novel helped me to cope with the dire circumstances I faced.

Talia from Vixen Blade is my favorite character because she was born from strife. All of my characters are survivors of misfortune, but deadly when pushed too far. I do not write bodice rippers or explicit stories. Sometimes a great kiss between the hero and heroine is all you need.

There was never a time I didn’t write. I remember reading a quote once that said, “Writers write, everyone else makes excuses.”

Being a writer isn’t easy. Putting yourself out before the masses to be critiqued can be devastating when someone gives your work one star or writes an entire essay on why they hated it. I also learned early on that people correlate monetary success with being a writer. Being a writer means being able to handle and accept rejection on a personal level. Before people could independently publish, if you wanted to be published you ran the risk of having your work returned to you with a simple and direct letter. In my case it read something like this. “This does not fit our needs at the time. Thank you for your interest in our company. Please check out our latest releases.” It was harder for me to get published because I don’t write sweet formula romance. I write sweeping and adventurous stories.

My favorite books are Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, every novel in The Lord of The Rings series, and The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

I have been writing professionally for over twenty five years and write on a daily basis. When I am not writing novels, I am working on stories for The Eclectic Coast Magazine. Writing is not a hobby or pastime for me. It is in my blood, it is the beating in my heart. When a new novel comes to my mind, I write the entire outline as fast as I can on whatever is available. I wrote the synopsis for my latest work on the back of a school lunch menu because it was all I could grab at the moment.

I will always be a writer. It is not about making a fortune, but about being fortunate to call myself a writer and share my stories.

Camille Boucheron is the author of The Seamstress, The Raven and the Rogue, Vixen Blade, Soul of a Pirate, Pirate’s Fortune, and L’oiseau Chanteur. She is Editor-in-Chief at The Eclectic Coast Magazine and currently resides in the beautiful coastal community of Gulfport, Mississippi.

Getting Past our Writing What-Ifs

by Heather Day Gilbert

A couple months ago, I wrote a blogpost entitled Who Cares What’s Hot for my friend and fellow blogger, Julie Cave.  It was chock-full of the swagger and confidence that comes from being a newly-agented author.

We’re two months into the submission process on my Viking novel, and the swagger has swagged on outta here.

I chose to write about a historical time period I’m particularly fond of, since I’m supposedly related to Eirik the Red. The story of my main character, Gudrid, shows up in the Icelandic sagas, and I felt strongly that someone needed to write about this woman.

She came with her third husband (the other two died) to the “new world” of North America. She had the first European child born on this soil (his name was Snorri, not Virginia Dare). She grew up steeped in paganism, but rejected tradition and became a Christian. Icing on the cake: she was a ward of Eirik the Red.

A story worth telling, no?

I enjoyed bringing Gudrid to life, writing in the first-person, present tense to make it more immediate. She’s a realistic, believable character, not some weird Viking from Hagar the Horrible. She struggles with temptation in her marriage. She fights slavery. She has to survive while caring for a baby.

I’ve received mixed responses from publishers, but one that was particularly discouraging indicated that though the writing is sound, people won’t want to read about Vikings because they don’t know much about Vikings.

What? I thought the purpose of reading books was to open new worlds to us. I know many people knew nothing about the nature of black “help” in the South until The Help arrived on the scene. People knew little about Johannes Vermeer until Girl with a Pearl Earring came along. And The Mists of Avalon has single-handedly colored the way we look at King Arthur and Guineviere.

Fiction can change the way we view an entire time period, for good or for bad. I believe there’s enough evolutionary (Clan of the Cave-Bear), pro-pagan hype out there. I felt it was time time to show how Christianity changed an entire group of people for the better.

I’m nothing, if not passionate about this book.

But what if no one wants to publish it (my husband assures me this will not happen, and he hasn’t read the book…bless his heart). What if these years of research/revising/checking the Old Norse dictionary for word choices are worthless in the end?

What if Gudrid’s story is never told?

I’m trying to have faith. Trying to leave this in God’s hands. But, at the end of the day, God will choose to prosper this book or not. I did it for His glory. I was born to write, simple as that. Every time I try to stop writing, God sends me numerous messages that I’d better stick with it.

****How about you? Where are you in this writing process? What are your What ifs? And how do you feel about reading about new historical time periods?****

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Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Fifteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as eight years spent homeschooling her three children. Her historical fiction novel, God’s Daughter, is rooted in the Icelandic sagas. It tells the story of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir, the first European woman to have a baby on North American soil. You can find out more at Heather’s blogspot, or at her FB page. She’d also love to chat on twitter @vikingwritergal.