Teaser Tuesday - The Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons

The Castle of Wolfenback is one of the seven "horrid novels" named in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," "The Castle of Wolfenbach" is perhaps the most important of the early Gothic novels, predating both "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Monk."

I'm on page 5 of 224 of The Castle of Wolfenbach. The reason I'm reading it is because I'm writing a series set in 1793, and I wanted one of the characters to buy a book for his sweetheart. I wanted Persuasion by Austen, but that wasn't published until 1818. While doing research I found this book, and decided to see if it would work as a romantic gift. Considering the theme of the book, I'm not so sure. On the other hand, my female character is a determined young woman, and might just love it. There wasn't anything like this available in Norwegian or Danish at the time, so it would have been very exotic and perhaps even sensational.

About the book: Matilda Weimar flees her lecherous and incestuous uncle and seeks refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Among the castle's abandoned chambers, Matilda will discover the horrifying mystery of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. But when her uncle tracks her down, can she escape his despicable intentions?

My teaser: "... nobody will sleep in the rooms upstairs; the gentlefolks who were in it last could not rest, such strange noises, and groans, and screams, and such like terrible things were heard; then at t'other end of the house the rooms are never opened; they say bloody work has been carried on there."

Sounds wonderfully horrid, doesn't it?

More teasers to be found here:  Should be reading

Update - and a little about the new book

It's been a good week, despite the sniffles. As a freelancer, I am very happy when I have work, so I try my best not to complain. I do know what it's like to be without ...

Our new book has be re-scheduled for mid-June. We were supposed to get the manuscript this weekend for proof-reading, but it hasn't come. Just as well, since I have more than enough to do as it is. These Things happen. In Publishing patience is a necessity. An editor has more than one manuscript on her or his desk (my editors have almost always been women - not sure why), and there's a million practical things that needs to fall into place before a book is published. My series is a different matter. Because the books have to be finished in about six weeks, the editor works as hard as me to get everything ready. Even weekends and evenings.

This is the cover for our new book. Looks nice, doesn't it?

 

From the back-cover: (excuse the translation - it's done in rather a hurry)

Iben and Shoki witness a woman being dragged into a car. Tony, her 10 year old son, is left behind. When it turns out that the father of Tony disappeared without a trace, Iben and Shoki realise that they must help him. Then follows two fast-paced days on the bike, looking for a Jaguar and a van. The clues lead them to the Indian Embassy in Oslo. Who exactly are Tony and his parents? Why do they move so often? And what are they so afraid of?

"Hunted" is the first book in a new action series for children.

Teaser Tuesday - An Echo in the Bone

An Echo in the Bone is the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon's wonderful series Outlander. I've been reading these books for the last month, and right now I'm trying to make this one last for as long as possible. Thankfully  there will be a seventh book this year ...
I'm reading it on Kindle, so have no idea about page numbers.

My teaser:

The British reconnaissance had a double purpose: not only to see exactly where the Americans were - for general Burgoyne had no real idea: American deserters had stopped coming in long since -

It's a great series, well-written and very  original.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizxB of Should be Reading
 Anyone can join. These are the rules:
Share two teaser sentences from your current book. Don't include spoilers!
Share the title and Author, too so that other participants can add the book to their reading lists if they like your teaser.

Kick-start

I just realized this blog hasn't been updated since November. What have I been doing with my time? There was a deadline just before Christmas, den there was a holiday in London, followed by three weeks of the flu, and then, because I had been slacking in my holidays and semi-comatose during the flu, as soon as the feber cleared, I had to work twice as fast as normal. I'm still not up to date with everything, but I'm getting there. And for a freelance writer, what pays now, gets worked on first.
No time for lounging on the sofa, I'm afraid ...

My little Kindle - Pros and cons ...

What I like about my little Kindle:
- It's easy to carry.
- It never gets to heavy in my backpack.
- It's comfortable on the eyes.
- I get the books I buy in seconds.
- I can read heavy books without getting a strain in my neck.
- I can lay on my abck and hold it in front of my nose without dropping it on my face.
- There's free access to loads of free classics I haven't read before.
- I can buy a book in the middle of the night if I want to.

What I miss about my Kindle:
- It doesn't smell as good as a book.
- I can't flip back and forth the way I can with a book.
- I can't make what we call "donkey ears" - that is, I can't fold down the upper corner on pages when I find something I'd like to read again, or just to remember where I left off.
- I can't spill anything on it without ruining it. (My most cherised books are spotted with jam and coffee stains, and spills from whatever dinner I'm cooking while reading).
- It has boring covers - or sleeves. Even though the cover I have now makes it look like a fine, old leather bound book. (I like colours!).
- I can't lend books (at least not until I've figured out how. And anything technical that takes more than three minutes, is something I never bother to use time on).
- I can't give away books.
- It's too easy to buy books, only to discover I don't like it!

And most important of all:
 I can no longer read the first chapter, browse through pages, get a feel of the book and read the ending before I decide to buy it. I can't walk around Amazon and read a little here, check out a book there, sit down on the floor and pull out a stack off books - and really enjoy myself before I buy a book - or ten.
That's why I will never give up books for good. And also because bookstores are the only stores I can stand being in more then five minutes. I can stay in there for hours without getting bored to death ... anyshopping mall or High Street without a bookstore has no interest for me.

What do you think?

From a Serial Writer's Diary ...

I signed a new contract yesterday - on Halloween - and I'm not sure if that's good or ... or not good. The contract was a standard contract with one of my current publishers (yes, I have two). It basically says that they will pay me a certain amount of money so that we - the publisher and me - can develop my idea and when and if it actually turns into a new series, then we'll write a new contract.
Sounds easy, doesn't it?
It's standard. It's the kind of contract you get when you have written a proposal and three chapters, and they think its good enough to invest an editors time into it.
I put the contract in my backpack (Norwegians rarely have handbags, we have backpacks - after all, we do have manuscripts to carry, books and pencils and whatnot), and because I had preperations for a 50th birthday to prepare for, I forgot it there.
Now I like contracts, I celebrate each and everyone - not with champagne, I'm not much of a drinker - but there are rituals to follow even so. Usually I don't forget them like this.
So when I pulled out my notebook from the backpack, it got me thinking. Writing romance series like I do, is hard work. I haven't been to a movie in almost two years (Yeah, really), and it occupies my mind a lot. I make sure I write other things too - there's a children's book coming in March 2013 - but it's hard to get enough time. And also thinking time. (My writing muscles are the only muscles I train on a regular basis ...)
It takes  a year or two, to go from an idea to a finished first book, then there's the at least six or seven books that has to be finished before publishing the first, so that you can write without "deadline-panic". So this new idea might hit the stores in late 2014 or early 2015.
That's what got me thinking. It's still 2012.
Planning my life that far ahead is a new experience.
It's okay, I'm not regretting the contract. My idea is good, very good actually, so I'm not worried about that. I can do the work.
But so far ahead is spooky. Usually I have problems thinking ahead to tomorrow ...

An update ...

I suddenly realized it's been almost 3 months since I posted anything on this blog. That's no good. So I am hereby "waking it up".

We have had a very busy summer. Thankfully it was a cold and rainy summer, so the weather favoured work. In July we finished first draft of a new childrens book - more to come about that later. We've written four so far, and they have been very short and easy to write (because they were short). They were also part of an in-house series concisting of easy-to-read books. The new one is different  because we are no longer part of a series where more than on writer contributes with books, we are now to write our own series! Also this book is about 2-3 times longer than the previoues books. A real challenge. The next draft is due in November. We are very excited about the new project, it's been so fun to work on it, still is. The book will be published in March, and then the next before Christmas.

I'm hard a work at my new series, the sixth book was just published, one more to go before Christmas. I have the most wonderful illustrator for the series. The picture is from book 5: Dreams and Lies.