I’ve spent the last few days scouting novel locations and building out the beats for a larger project about the Sibylline. One of the big holes was an ancient, mystical location in Ukraine. Scouting story locations is one of the most fun parts of writing. It inevitably leads me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole…
My husband keeps telling me that I need to take a mental break, maybe think about new book WIP aesthetics. After the last couple of months working my face off to get The Maiden of Gevaudan in the shape it needs to be for contests and querying, I’m a little beat. I took that break from the…
Now that I am well into the third act of Vol. 1 of The Sibylline Chronicles, my map-making process is ramping up at the same time it winds down. The map of ancient Sufetula (see below) is the last in the series of location maps for the novel. Sufetula – its temples, monastery and stunning high-plateau…
Hand-drawn maps are life-savers. One of the most daunting parts of writing historical fiction based in times thousands of years in the past is a very limited public historical record. It’s one thing to recount history in a reference book. Something entirely different to create the intimate relationship to place required for a novel. I’ve…