Sunday 20 March 2011

Fragrance of Violets


I started my third novel while I was waiting for decisions from publishers about the first two.  My first attempt reached about 12 chapters before I decided it simply wasn’t working.  There was too much introspection and not enough action, or conflict between the hero/heroine, or external conflict(s).

I put it on one side for a time while I concentrated on the revisions my critique partners were suggesting for His Leading Lady.  By the time I came back to it, I’d worked out just what the various conflicts were going to be. 

One was the same as the original – the heroine had never forgiven the hero for destroying their friendship as teenagers.  But now, in addition to that, Abbey has an unresolved conflict with her father who deserted his family when he was young, and Jack blames himself for the accident which killed his fiancée.

The external conflict comes from the Lakeland village where I decided to set the story.  People in the village haven’t forgiven Jack for a newspaper article he wrote several years previously.

The forgiveness theme gave me my title – Fragrance of Violets.  This is based on a quotation from Mark Twain – ‘Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet bestows on the heel which has crushed it.”

The village in the Lake District is a real village.  I’ve given it a different name but anyone who knows that area will probably be able to recognise it. It’s a place I know well as I’ve visited it frequently.  My parents had a caravan at a farm just outside the village, I later took over the caravan and my daughters have happy memories of their time there when they were children and in their teens.

Fragrance of Violets was accepted by Whiskey Creek Press at the end of January and will probably be released in early 2012.      

10 comments:

  1. Hi Paula- popping in from SweettoSensual loop.
    I love this title. Definitely have to have lots of good conflict. Congratulations on the contract acceptance! Good luck on your writing.

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  2. Hi Paula,
    I love your site and as I browsed your blog I decided to award you the Best of Romance Blog Award.

    Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
    ~Deirdra

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  3. Hi Martha
    Thanks for visiting me! Agree about conflicts- I enjoy the way my characters have to sort their way through or over them!
    Paula

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  4. Deidra - I'm proud and honoured to receive your award. Many thanks!
    Paula

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  5. Hi,

    Lovely title: Fragrance of Violets. It sounds very promising and extremely romantic. ;)

    Congrats on award!

    best
    F

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  6. Thanks, Francine.
    As soon as I found the Mark Twain quote, I knew I had got my title!

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  7. What a lovley blog you have, Paula. I'm a Lake District fan too :)

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  8. Thanks so much, Deborah. I'm sure you would recognise the village in my novel - the church on the hill, white-washed cottages and the small squares, nooks and crannies.

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  9. Adrienne (adpacaus)24 March 2011 at 21:00

    so you are still writing J/A fiction. LOL. Good work. :-)

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  10. LOL, Adrienne - Abbey in Fragrance of Violets does bear a resemblance, if not to Abbey B, then to a younger version of the actress who played her :-) Not sure who Jack is based on - more like my own imagination than the other J!

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