I was contemplating the romantic appeal of a chipped mug and special stories it may be holding within its depth in connection with my fantasy novel last week and then yesterday I watched the new episode of "Once Upon A Time" (my favourite new show) and lo and behold! - it's all about a chipped mug and a special story behind it... and I had no idea, because I don't read spoilers.

my writing journal, entry 7

I've been working on my fantasy this week and it went really well. I've completed another chapter, made a very important list and decided on a number of very important dates, which was no mean feat, because I suck at maths. I'm very happy with my progress. There were some surprises, some characters and episodes that I've never planned on writing, and I must say that I love it when they happen very much. I've had some fun with the names of the people and the places too. I love looking through the lists of names and their meanings and, especially, I love to hit the name that is just right. I never know where and when that will happen but I know that I must be always on the ready :-))

my writing journal, entry 6

I haven't done a lot of writing this week and the blame is all mine: I simply didn't try. But, surely, it shouldn't be difficult if you feel very strongly about the story? Is it that I'm not? No, it can't be right. I love the characters and their charming rural neighbourhood and I can't wait to tell their story - I've waited long enough as it is - but it's just that this little world, a borrowed Regency England world, that I'm vastly fond of, is powerless against my very own ever-growing, evolving and expanding fantasy world. I can't stop thinking about it and its characters, building it in detail, reconstructing its history from forgotten memories and writing anew the story of its main character.

my writing journal, entry 5

Another great writing week. I completed Chapter Three and started working on Chapter Four of my fantasy novel. I also wrote an important timeline so as not to get confused later on. LDF got another one-star review and this time with some unflattering but truthful words attached to it. People seem to be residing under the misconception that it is a romance; in fact, it is anything but. Nasty people and things happen in real life. Why is it so surprising, then, that they should happen in books likewise? I don't know if anyone ever had this strange compulsion to write a story-line that they ultimately hated, however, that's exactly what happened with LDF. I don't blame people who bought and read it for not liking it - I understand that - but I would ask them not to blame me for having expectations before reading it and feeling disappointed afterwards. That's one of the biggest mistakes that one can make before taking up a book, watching a movie, etc., for the first time.

Charlotte E. English: Interview + GIVEAWAY

Please, help me welcome Charlotte E. English for an interview at my blog today! Leave your comments and e-mails for a chance to win her two e-books: Draykon and Lokant (check the links for the blurbs). The giveaway is open until January 30, 2012.

How long have you been writing? Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been scribbling things since I was a child. At school I always loved English classes the best, because I got to write things. I tended to get carried away and write a lot more than I was asked to. I don’t know if my teachers loved or hated that.

I can’t say that I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Like many little girls, I desperately wanted to be a ballerina when I was about seven years old. I must have been somewhere in my mid teenage years when it occurred to me that writing was something I could actively pursue in the long term, and that’s when I started writing a bit more seriously.

Do you remember your first writing attempts?

The very first ones? No. I can remember bits and pieces; I was awarded a sticker with a unicorn on it during primary school, for writing a poem about poverty. I regularly got praised (I think) for having a wild imagination, every time I produced something else far too long for class. I scribbled stuff at home.

My first remotely serious writing attempts, shall we say? I was seventeen, lonely, bored and unhappy and I decided to create a fantasy world. It kept me occupied for months, though most of that consisted of drawing maps (badly; I’m a rubbish artist). I eventually worked out a plot that I never wrote – though I never forgot it either, and parts of it made it into the first novel I completed, Draykon.

What genres have you been writing in? What other genres would you like to pursue?

So far I’ve been writing fantasy more or less exclusively. I like to mix that up with bits and pieces of the mystery genre, though, and elements of romance. I have written short stories in the historical fiction genre, and I’d love to do some novels someday. I’m a history buff with a particular fondness for the Regency period. The best thing to do, perhaps, would be to combine fantasy with the Regency; that can work surprisingly well. But all that is for the future.

What are the main themes of your latest book? What was it inspired by?

My most recent publication is Lokant, the second book in my Draykon Series. A major theme of this series is finding out who you really are, discovering your natural place in the world (and having the courage to pursue it). I think many of us feel the pressure of expectations and I admire those who aren’t ruled by such things. It takes a lot of courage to make your own way.

What goals do you set out to achieve when you start writing a new book?

At the moment I’m writing a series; I’m about a third of the way through the third Draykon book as I write this. So some of the goals are merely practical, like making sure it’s of a length to fit with the rest. A trickier problem is making sure this book is a worthy sequel to the previous two; it has to carry through all the themes and ideas I started with in Draykon #1, bring all the various questions and mysteries to satisfying conclusions and resolve character relationships. Lots going on.

Are you a fast or a slow writer? How long does it take you to write a book?

I’m a fast writer. I think I can say that. I usually write at a pace of 3000 words per day, which gets a first draft done within two months. Of course, editing takes up a number of extra weeks after that. But I’m writing in a world I’m familiar with, about characters that I know well. When I start a completely new book, I may be slower at it.

Do you ever base physical appearance of your characters on people you know, portraits or actors? Any examples or images that you'd like to share?

I haven’t done that so far, or at least not consciously. I’m lucky with my cover artist, though. She’s produced some fabulous portraits of my characters based on description and discussion.

Introduce the main characters from your latest book. Who are they? Let them speak for themselves. What would they like to say?

Llandry Sanfaer isn’t very good at speaking for herself because she’s young and terribly shy. She’s getting better at it though – and it isn’t her fate to be able to hide from the world forever.

Lady Evastany Glostrum, on the other hand, is quite used to speaking for herself, and for a lot of other people too. She’s the queen of her social world, her talents are stretched when she’s taken out of it.

As for Tren, if he’s going to speak he’ll make it into a joke. How does he maintain that youthful good humour, no matter what happens? I wish I could make a better job of it myself.

Thank you very much Charlotte for stopping by! I enjoyed reading your answers a great deal and I found that we share a lot in common as writers: the origins of our fantasy worlds, the themes of the books, the wish to combine fantasy and Regency together...

Thank you for reading about me and my writing. I love to hear from readers and fellow writers, you can always find me at my blog or on twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/Charlottenglish).

my writing journal, entry 4

It was my Regency WIP week and I cheated: I didn't have time for writing this week and keeping in mind that I put down quite a lot of text in my notebook the last time I worked on it I didn't even bother writing anything new. I've been typing it down and expanding it a lot since yesterday and, unless I'm hit by a lazy spell today and I'm rather prone to them, I will write some more. I couldn't stop thinking about my Fantasy WIP and, because it is my own imaginary world rather than the borrowed one that of my Regency, I naturally feel myself much more at home there. I did find time to write a big piece of backstory for it! In other writing-related news, I received a 3-star review for "Lord Darlington's Fancy" where I'm once again accused of "the lack of passion"... Oh, well, another thing to work on this year!

Update: I did it! I finished Letter Fifteen! Wow, it only took me three months! *heavy sarcasm here* Also, in an unexpected fit of inspiration, I finally managed to write the outline of the whole thing, starting with Letter Sixteen and till the very *happy* end!

my writing journal, entry 3

I've been under the influence of The Muse these past two weeks and I'm sure every writer knows what a blessing it is when you don't have to molest your brain in order to squeeze out just a few paragraphs each day. But her time is almost up and I expect that next week will be nothing but struggle. It's my Regency WIP week next and I'm happy to say that last week I finally managed to overcome my latest writer's block, which enabled me to move forward with the story. This week I've been working on my Fantasy WIP, that I started soon after NaNoWriMo (I failed to complete that but I learnt a lot along the way) and I'm already on Chapter Three and reasonably happy with what I've written so far. I'm a bit worried about the fact that I haven't outlined it on paper, but I know that if I start outlining it now, I will get stuck and then I won't be writing for another long while and I'd rather be writing, because I ADORE the feeling! Oh, and by the way, I've got two critique partners now!