During my virtual book tour, I was invited to do guest blog posts at the following blogs, which allowed me to ramble on as I wished about Fagin’s Boy.
I’ve picked the best bits out of each one, and have included the links to each post, in case you’re of a mind to read my blather.
(Tottenham Village)
Historical Fiction Connection
This was my first guest post, and I thought it would be interesting to talk about character development.
“I love this character, so much, that I had to make him a bit of a jerk to be believable. I wanted to give show those personality traits that would present him as a real human being, and not a metaphor for goodness. So, I looked at him from as many angles as I could. I turned his ability to beat up a bigger kid into a flash paper temper, which was lot of fun. Anyone might think that Oliver was this tame housecat, but if you cross him, he will mess you up. Mention his mother in anything but glowing terms? He will try and kill you. (The latter of which is actually canon.)”
You can read the entire post here:
http://www.hf-connection.com/2014/03/guest-post-christina-e-pilzs-fagins-boy.html
(Coventry Market)
Historical Tapestry
In this one I thought I would talk about one (among many) of the things I was told I could not do or should not do.
“I’ve often been told that….You have to start with action or dialog! A book won’t sell if it doesn’t start off with a bang! All the agents that I spoke to were really adamant about the dialog/action/bang thing. But where on earth did this rule come from? I guess has forgotten Cold Mountain, then. Or Gone With the Wind. Or pretty much ANY Charles Dickens novel you’d care to name. Frankly, in my opinion, you should (there I go, using that word!) use the device that the story needs; forget about everything else.”
You can read the entire post here:
http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.fr/2014/03/blog-tour-guest-post-by-christina-e-pilz.html
(On the street.)
Passages to the Past
By this time in the game, I was pretty much done with being coy about writing, and how hard it was.
“Being afraid is a large part of being a writer. But, luckily, so is being brave. And smart. And confident. Of course, the confidence can waver from time to time, so that’s where the brave comes in. You have to be brave to keep going when you are filled with so much self-doubt you could drown with it. And then comes the anger. Or, at the very least, a bull-headed determination not to let The Man wear you down to the point where you just do as he says, and go about your business, for there are no dreams to be lived here.”
You can read the entire post here:
http://www.passagestothepast.com/2014/03/guest-post-by-christina-e-pilz-ebook.html
(The Strand)
Here is a link to a website about George Scharf, whose work I’ve included in this post.