Friday, April 27, 2012

A Fantasy Novel

My favorite sights at last year's Renaissance Pleasure Faire were the behind-the-scenes campsites. Many Faire workers live in these tents (maybe only on weekends?), living out a mediaeval fantasy.

I have my own fantasies. One has become a completed novel called Camelot & Vine. It's about Casey Clemens, a minor Hollywood actress who falls through a gap in time, accidentally saves King Arthur's life, lies to him about magical powers she doesn't have and must face death and forgiveness to redeem herself.

I loved the process of writing the book. Now it's time to get it published. I'm not going to post about it every day (how many suits of armor and Avalon Funeral Homes can there be in the Dena, anyway?) but I might ask your indulgence from time to time and of course I'll update you when there's news. Today's post is by way of warning: next Thursday, May 3rd, my blog post will be a contest entry. I'll be posting my query letter (a sales pitch to potential literary agents) and the first 250 words of my novel as part of "The Writer's Voice" contest. There won't be any other explanation, so I hope you'll play along and not just say, "WTF?"

The contest is sponsored by four different book bloggers. Have a look:
Cupid's Literary Connection
Brenda Drake Writes
Love YA
Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
Nose around their fine blogs and see what's what. They've all got a lot going on. Maybe you've got a potential contest entry, too.

So this is a heads up. Next Thursday I'll be my own Guest Author. Feel free to comment and we'll see how it goes. And wish me luck! Some fantasies do become reality.

19 comments:

dive said...

Oooh, I can't wait! Good luck in the contest, Petrea.

Your photo today looks like a slightly tidier version of the Occupy camp in Norwich.

Book Dragon said...

I wish you luck in your publishing quest, can hardly wait to read it!

Dina said...

Good luck, Lady Petrea. It is all very exciting, your quest and the tents.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks for your good luck wishes, everyone. Though I've spent ages writing the book, I have a feeling that's only the beginning!

Adele said...

Best of luck! Looking forward to the sneak peek!

Petrea Burchard said...

You will be a tough crowd, I expect.
Dive will be nice because he's my friend, but he's hard to please, and since I've set much of the book in England I take my chances.
Book Dragon is a book blogger, for heaven's sake, she's read everything!
Dina reads worldly literature, though she'll understand that archaeology is one of the things that sparked my idea.
Jean--I don't know what you read, Jean.
Adele is an Anglophile like me so I stand a chance with Adele!

Kalei's Best Friend said...

I read your excerpt... very nice, it definitely holds attention and I like the details... the last line is definitely an attention getter!. lol... Only in Hollyweird, eh? lol

Bellis said...

Now I'm looking forward to May 3rd. What category will you enter? Your book seems to span several.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Kalei. My heroine is...imperfect. She has a few lessons to learn.

Bellis, I'm entering the Adult Fantasy category. Although my book is a genre-straddler (commercial, historic, women's, fantasy), of the categories in the contest that's actually the only one it fits.

Kalei's Best Friend said...

Imperfect is perfect... otherwise she'd be boring and predictable.. :-)

BaysideLife said...

Huge fan of all things King Arthur. Faithful fan of "Merlin" and am currently reading 'Love in the Time of King Arthur.' Can't wait to read your book. Best of luck.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Kalei--I'm shooting for satisfying without being predictable.

Bayside, that's good to know! What is "Love in the time of King Arthur"? I Googled and don't find it. It kind of pleases me to find out that Google doesn't know everything.

Margaret said...

I can't wait, and I can't wait to hear about your progress.

Katie said...

Wonderful photo. What fun that the Faire campsites are in period dress as well. Speaking of dresses, I'd love to wear a Guinevere dress on the 3rd to help wish you luck in the contest, but I'll probably just be wearing my usual Thursday casual. Best of luck in the contest and finding a publisher!

Petrea Burchard said...

Oh thank you, Margaret. I hope there's progress to tell you about one of these days.

Thanks for your good wishes, Katie, I can use them!

Ms M said...

I like your photo, too. I haven't been to a Faire in a long time; it'd be fun.
I read the excerpt of your book and it is delightful and makes me want to read more, to learn more about this character and what's going to happen to her. Best of luck! And keep us posted....

Petrea Burchard said...

Never fear, Ms. M. I will try not to keep you over-posted.

Dina said...

Re your comment--OK, I'll appreciate the archaeology in your book. But I don't read "worldly literature"; I hardly even read world literature. LOL

Petrea Burchard said...

Dina, the research is one of my favorite parts of writing. In this case, I got to read legend, history and archaeology. Big thrills for me!