Christy English

Two Amazing Moments in One Day

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | 3 Comments

I had the most amazing experience today. Last night, after working into the evening on my latest draft of THE QUEEN’S PAWN, I turned my computer off, my task completed. I sent the book back to Claire via email, thinking that it still might need another pass. I have learned throughout this process that when Claire asks a question, she has always found a problem that needs to be addressed, something that I never would have found on my own. My book will be world’s better for her input. I never knew how valuable an editor was until I met Claire.

At any rate, I went to my day job today preparing to receive an email from her, asking me to make a few more adjustments. Instead, she wrote and said “It’s done! Congratulations!”

After months of working with Claire on making this novel the best I possibly could, it was transcendent to hear her say that it was done. I knew without a doubt that if she said it was ready, it was. What a relief to trust my editor! She has more than earned that trust from the moment we sat down to lunch in the West Village to discuss the current concept of the book.

So Amazing Moment #1: My manuscript got locked!

Not a minute after I received Claire’s email I got a call from my agent, Margaret. She had called to congratulate me on locking the manuscript. But there was more…Claire had also made an offer on my next novel, TO BE QUEEN. (This book will be about Eleanor of Aquitaine’s early life and her time as Queen of France. Can you tell I am obsessed with this woman? Hopefully, after you’ve read my first book, you will be, too.)

Amazing Moment # 2: My Second Book Got Sold!

I was still stunned from the joy of locking THE QUEEN”S PAWN. I am stunned and thrilled at the sale of my second book. Things can seem to be moving so slowly, at an almost glacial pace, and then suddenly, in less than one hour, everything changes; things don’t just move, they soar. One of the many difficult things about publishing a novel is that it takes so much time. But then everything comes together, and I am reminded that I am on the right path. My work is going forward, into the future, hopefully to make a difference to my readers once they open the pages of my book. That’s my job: to transport my readers to another time and place, to allow them to experience the lives of my characters, to offer them a different way to view the world.

And now it looks like I will get to do it again. As hard as this work is, I still love it.

The Queen’s Pawn on Amazon

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, Selling Your Work, The Writing Life | 4 Comments

I was so happy to find my novel available for Pre-Sales on Amazon. Though the cover art is not up yet, it is still exciting to see my book out in the world…one step closer to seeing it in print…

Here once more is a description of my novel and the link to find it on Amazon. I am working on getting a grass roots movement going…the more pre-sales, the better. So if my ladies interest you, hit that link.

The Queen’s Pawn by Christy English

Princess Alais of France travels to England to marry Richard the Lionhearted, the son of King Henry II, armed only with her dowry, the valuable Vexin. When Alais arrives in the land of her father’s enemies, she is welcomed by the beautiful and powerful queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, the richest and most influential woman in Europe, sees a kindred soul in the young French princess. Intrigued by the girl’s strength and fire, Eleanor adopts Alais as her protégée, teaching the girl what it takes to be a woman of power in a world of men. But Eleanor and Alais’ love for each other is threatened when the capricious and imperious King Henry meets the lovely young princess. Fascination with the king draws Alais deep into political intrigue, and she soon discovers what Eleanor is prepared to do to retain her position as queen. Alais, the one-time pawn, takes ruthless action of her own, as the two women become rivals both for the king’s love and the throne of England itself.

The Victory of a Finished Draft

Saturday, May 16th, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, The Writing Life | No Comments

Finally, I have implemented all the notes my editor gave me. Finally, I have completed the newest draft.

I have no doubt that once my editor goes over it, The Queen’s Pawn will need a few more changes. I am meticulous, but out of a 510 page novel, I may have missed something. Also, I am so close to this novel, after having worked on it for almost three years, that something may yet be unclear to the reader. If there are flaws left,  my editor will catch them on her next pass. And when she does, I will fix them.

But I adore this book. I have loved it from the first moment I began the first draft in June of 2006. Fresh to New York, not yet at a day job, I sat in the garden of The Cloisters museum in New York City and outlined that novel. The novel has changed and grown in ways I never anticipated that day, but as I look back on all the time I spent refining and polishing, throwing scenes out and starting all over again, I am filled with nothing but triumph, an almost complete sense of victory. 

Monday, I will be back in the chair once more, beginning the outline of my next novel To Be Queen, about the early life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. But for a day, I am going to sit on my laurels, and enjoy the knowledge that I have served Eleanor and Alais well.

Patience is a Virtue and Irony is a Hoot

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, The Writing Life | 1 Comment

Ironic. The same day I wrote my last post, wondering where my notes were from my editor, she sent the manuscript to me, with notes attached. I have spent the last weeks working on my novel, and I am very happy with my progress. I have a new deadline, and it is good to know that The Queen’s Pawn is going to be worlds better for all the wonderful notes Claire has given me.

I have not mentioned her name before, but my editor is Claire Zion, and she is a genius.

So please be patient, and stay tuned to my blog. I have stories to tell you about my trip to Paris, where I looked at Philippe Auguste’s Louvre and Louis VII’s Notre Dame.

Waiting on The Editor

Friday, April 10th, 2009 | Once It Is Sold, The Writing Life | No Comments

There are many things I did not know when I started the process of trying to sell my work, and still more about the process of publishing after my book was sold. One of those things is that it’s hard to wait for notes.

Now that’s obvious, right? But for some reason, it never occured to me that I would find it difficult to be patient and wait to hear what changes need to be made on the manuscript that I turned in to my editor.

I am fortunate. My editor is brilliant and quick, so I should be getting the changes in the next few weeks. But in spite of the fact that I know that, the wait is still hard. In part, it’s hard to wait because I am addicted to my characters. I want to dive back into the novel and make the changes, because then I get to live in their world again for a few more weeks. But it is also hard because I respect my editor’s opinion. I want to know what she thinks. She has an eye, honed over time and experience, that I simply do not have. I know that whatever notes she gives me, they’re going to make the book better. And that is my quest. It has been my quest for the last three years: to make this book better.

So I wait. I read something someone else has written. I bat around ideas for books to come. But essentially, I gather my energy, and look forward to the day when I get the email from my editor, giving me the notes and the go-ahead so that I can to get to work again.