Writing: The Balance between Facts and Fiction and Characters Behaving Badly
There are the facts in the history books, and then there’s the fiction in my books. That’s the basic problem I have as an author – establishing a balance between the two. I’m a bit of a perfectionist; if I write a story set aboard a ship of the Royal Navy in the 18th century, I want the setting, the language and the characterisations to be as historically correct as possible. But there’s a group of people I’m not allowed to forget in my navy-induced euphoria: my readers. Some of them would appreciate a book written in the language of the 18th century, or lengthy descriptions of uniforms; they’d greatly enjoy tons of naval terms and information regarding a purser’s handling of payments and book-keeping.
But the majority wouldn’t. I write to entertain (myself and my readers), and I can’t expect the audience to buy three lexica, four guides and a special edition of The Young Officer’s Sheet Anchor just to understand what the hell I’m talking about. My work must be understandable. It’s a difficult balance act to find the right words and terms to keep the characters and their actions in the correct timeframe, but at the same time not bore the readers out of their skulls. And don’t say that couldn’t happen – it happens faster than you think! Only yesterday I went through a chapter I’ve been very proud of, only to realise that, from a reader’s point of view, it was about as exciting as an article about the mating rites of dung beetles. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t folks out there who would find great pleasure in the love-life of bugs, but – you know what I mean. The chapter had to go.
Too much realism or historical accuracy can ruin my work. I write historical naval adventure with supernatural elements and male/male romance, not a history book or a naval manual. Reading about a supper the heroes enjoy is probably more enjoyable than the details of the food’s contents. Of course, no Age of Sail story without mentioning weevils at least once, but personally, I draw the line at whipworms, hookworms and pinworms. It’s great if a reader thinks at the end of the story “Mmmm, now wouldn’t it be nice if Captain Denningham walked right through that door and stayed for supper?” I don’t want said reader to add “…but I’ll have him deflea’d, dewormed, thoroughly bathed and sent to the dentist first before we move on to the dessert.” It might be true and historically accurate, but – no. Just no.
If I wrote gritty, realistic drama, things would be different. There couldn’t be enough dirt and stench and whips and whipworms, I guess. But I’m a 21st century person. I have to create a scenario in my head that allows me to throw some romance into the adventure, and that scenario does not allow too much dirt and parasites. Well, not of the animal-kind.
Looking at the final draft of “The Purser, The Surgeon, The Captain And His Lieutenant” now, I can say that all the characters are fitting into the time-period, and behave accordingly. But the only character who’s really “authentic” to the core is the purser, Sebastian Quinn. And while many of his actions are ruthless from our modern point of view, they make perfect sense for the man he is and the time he lives in.
Actually – and that’s really a weird thing I noticed – I had more problems writing the chapters set in modern London than those in the 18th century! It was more difficult to describe something I actually know! Switching from one time period to the other really wasn’t easy, especially as the language of the characters differs greatly between the two centuries.
Denningham is not a problem, nor is his sister, but Quinn and Barnett? Somebody pointed out to me that these two are really bad role models, and that it might not be such a good idea to describe the “good guys” as drinking, smoking and swearing. But what can I do? They are swearing. They are drinking. They are smoking. It’s part of their lives and personalities.
I’m all for “cleaning up” the 18th century setting (far thee well, beloved ringworms!), but I refuse to clean up the characters for reasons of political correctness. This is non-negotiable. But maybe I’ll put a special warning label on the front cover: “Being Sebastian Quinn is hazardous for your health! Especially when Thomas Barnett is close by!” It might increase sales…
A new review – and some musings regarding Amazon and selling books
Not even sinusitis and fever can keep my spirits down with reviews like these!
Jaime Samms has reviewed “Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased)” over on Uniquely Pleasurable. The website is a great resource for recommendations; it’s really worth the time to have a look around if you’re interested in homoerotic and lesbian fiction, art and other media.
PLEASE READ JAIME’S REVIEW HERE
and if you feel like buying the book, please don’t let me hold you back! Just go over to my website – it only takes a few mouse clicks, and “Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased)” will be yours. The book, that is, not the lieutenant. But then I’m not so sure you’d want that gentleman around your house, anway.
Maybe you have already read about Amazon’s recent move which mainly concerns authors of “Print on Demand” authors – like myself, for example, so naturally, I am concerned. I’m already battling with the problems other “POD” authors might face in future. To quote Gary Larson: the future looks bleak – we all have brains the size of a walnut and the mammals are taking over.
The sales I make through Amazon Germany are ok, but I sell most of my books through my own website, because I write in English. It would be so much easier if I could sell through Amazon USA and Amazon UK, because that’s where people buy their books, and that’s where they would buy my books. There’s also still this perception in some circles that “available on Amazon = good book”. Because the Gods know there are only top-quality books available on Amazon…
I’m currently facing the following problems:
- There is no “print on demand” service in my country. I have to order in Germany, which means that I have to pay import taxes on my own books.
- Postage here is really high. My readers can’t profit from collected shipping like on Amazon.
- The more pages the book has, the more expensive it gets, and the more it weighs. Means: higher postage.
For me it’s not about making big money, it’s about covering my costs while keeping the price low enough for people to afford my work. I guess I’ll manage that with Samuel Blackwood, though handling everything yourself is a lot of work (it’s also a lot of fun, so I won’t complain.) With “The Purser, The Surgeon, The Captain And His Lieutenant”, things will be different, though.
“Samuel Blackwood” and the other “Penny Dreadful’s” which will follow can’t be turned into Ebook format, because layout and illustration as well as general presentation are part of the book’s concept. For PSCL there is the option of making the book (which consists of three books, actually) available as an Ebook – only few illustrations, for example, and if you want the “real thing”, there will still be the print version available. I’ve discussed this with Eve yesterday; we both agreed that saving money by using thin paper or cheaper print quality is a no-no. It’s not what we want, it’s not what we’ll do.
How do you feel about this? I think that especially for my readers over the pond an electronic version of PSCL could be an option, because let’s face it, I’m aware that book price plus postage for this big, fat novel of mine would be quite high. Not everybody could afford it.
We haven’t decided on anything yet, but I thought I’ll mention the idea here. I’m also thinking about putting book one of the three up on the website for free, so people will get an idea what they buy if they buy (of course cutting the freebie off right when our heroes are hanging from the cliff…!)
