Blog Tour - De Bohun’s Destiny
Book Spotlight
Except that I don’t choose them! If anything, they choose me, or choose my story to appear in. It’s a very strangething, being a novelist. You don’t – well, I don’t – exactly “think up” these people, they do just sort of emerge… Ithen give them life, sometimes to such an extent that they truly seem to become real people…
But, for the MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLES, I did initially want my principal characters, the ones who narrated the story,to be women, and the first two CHRONICLES, Fortune’s Wheel and A Woman’s Lot, do focus mostly on therelationships of women. Although we do hear the words of men, it was the women’s viewpoints that interested memost, if only because women in history often do not get much opportunity to “speak”. However, in the third CHRONICLE, De Bohun’s Destiny, my determination to have only women narrators was overturned! Yet in a sense I didn’t choose this, it was just what happened as the storyline developed in my mind – two men presented themselvesas having to have their say, and how could I deny them when it seemed so thoroughly appropriate to the nature of the story?
Anyway, the process of “choosing” and developing characters, for me, happens something like this… Once I have an
underlying premise, theme and setting for my story, a few characters somehow present themselves to me (though I’ve honestly no idea quite how). At first appearance, they’re often rather 2-D, not much rounded or fleshed out. So, alongside writing an outline of the story and also undertaking research into those aspects of the story or background I don’t yet know enough about, I try to flesh out those characters a little. I write a profile for each of them, or at least the principal ones, noting basic things such as appearance, occupation or status, where/how they live, their families,
friends and so on, but also recording my initial notions about their anxieties and motivations. I start writing the first
draft once I have a storyline with some sort of structure, I’ve done enough research to get me going and I feel I’ve made sufficient acquaintance with the characters. All this profiling is less necessary when writing the later books in a series, when I already know the characters quite well. However, for De Bohun’s Destiny, one of those men who
insisted on having a voice – an outsider to Meonbridge and the major antagonist – was so important that I did write a profile for him so that I could work out the rationale for his dastardly motivations.
As I write the draft, I consult the character profiles as often as necessary, adjusting them as my acquaintance with and
understanding of the characters develop. I put words into my characters’ mouths, and thoughts into their heads, and I move them about on the stage I’ve set, in the role I’ve planned for them. I don’t set out knowing all their innermost thoughts and feelings, but rather these emerge as the story proceeds. Just as you gradually learn about a real life
friend’s thoughts and feelings as your relationship with them develops… Gradually their “character” grows and you understand them more. Even when you are writing about a character you do already know quite well, the circumstances of the latest storyline might mean they behave differently from before. Just as people in real life change when the world about them changes…
I’ve written creatively on and off all my adult life. But it was only when I started writing seriously, in a more structured, conscious way, that I discovered how very “real” fictional characters can turn out to be. I don’t know if all novelists find this, but I imagine most of them do.
In my own case, the way I write my characters – or at least the main narrator characters – is very consciously intimate.
My narrative style demands that they sometimes talk to the reader about what they’re thinking and feeling, about their
anxieties and their dreams. There’s nothing unusual about this sort of “inner dialogue” – it’s a great way of developing fully-rounded, complex characters, and most writers use it.
What really interests me, though, is how characters evolve. They pop up from nowhere, get assigned a name and a set
of features and traits, then somehow turn into corporeal-seeming individuals with thoughts and feelings, worries and
aspirations. They become people that I care about, and of course I hope my readers will care about them too.
De Bohun’s Destiny
by Carolyn Hughes
On my blog today I have the pleasure of sharing with you.....
De Bohun’s Destiny
I would like to thank Rachel Random Resources and Carolyn Hughes for inviting me on the blog tour.
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Book Information
How can you uphold a lie when you know it might destroy your family?
It is 1356, seven years since the Black Death ravaged Meonbridge, turning society upside down. Margaret, Lady de Bohun, is horrified when her husband lies about their grandson Dickon’s entitlement to inherit Meonbridge. She knows that Richard lied for the very best of reasons – to safeguard his family and its future – but lying is a sin. Yet she has no option but to maintain her husband’s falsehood...
Margaret’s companion, Matilda Fletcher, decides that the truth about young Dickon’s birth really must be told, if only to Thorkell Boune, the man she’s set her heart on winning. But Matilda’s “honesty” serves only her own interests, and she’s oblivious to the potential for disaster.
For Thorkell won’t scruple to pursue exactly what he wants, by whatever means are necessary, no matter who or what gets in his way…
If you enjoy well-researched, immersive historical fiction, with strong female characterisation and a real sense of authenticity, you’ll love De Bohun’s Destiny, the third Meonbridge Chronicle, set in the mid-14th century, in the turbulent and challenging years that followed the social devastation wrought by the Black Death. Discover for yourself if, in Meonbridge, it is Margaret or Matilda, right or might, truth or falsehood, that wins the day...
Purchase Links:
US - amzn.to/2UGpNOc
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Author Guest Post
The he strange business of “choosing” characters…
But, for the MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLES, I did initially want my principal characters, the ones who narrated the story,to be women, and the first two CHRONICLES, Fortune’s Wheel and A Woman’s Lot, do focus mostly on therelationships of women. Although we do hear the words of men, it was the women’s viewpoints that interested memost, if only because women in history often do not get much opportunity to “speak”. However, in the third CHRONICLE, De Bohun’s Destiny, my determination to have only women narrators was overturned! Yet in a sense I didn’t choose this, it was just what happened as the storyline developed in my mind – two men presented themselvesas having to have their say, and how could I deny them when it seemed so thoroughly appropriate to the nature of the story?
Anyway, the process of “choosing” and developing characters, for me, happens something like this… Once I have an
underlying premise, theme and setting for my story, a few characters somehow present themselves to me (though I’ve honestly no idea quite how). At first appearance, they’re often rather 2-D, not much rounded or fleshed out. So, alongside writing an outline of the story and also undertaking research into those aspects of the story or background I don’t yet know enough about, I try to flesh out those characters a little. I write a profile for each of them, or at least the principal ones, noting basic things such as appearance, occupation or status, where/how they live, their families,
friends and so on, but also recording my initial notions about their anxieties and motivations. I start writing the first
draft once I have a storyline with some sort of structure, I’ve done enough research to get me going and I feel I’ve made sufficient acquaintance with the characters. All this profiling is less necessary when writing the later books in a series, when I already know the characters quite well. However, for De Bohun’s Destiny, one of those men who
insisted on having a voice – an outsider to Meonbridge and the major antagonist – was so important that I did write a profile for him so that I could work out the rationale for his dastardly motivations.
As I write the draft, I consult the character profiles as often as necessary, adjusting them as my acquaintance with and
understanding of the characters develop. I put words into my characters’ mouths, and thoughts into their heads, and I move them about on the stage I’ve set, in the role I’ve planned for them. I don’t set out knowing all their innermost thoughts and feelings, but rather these emerge as the story proceeds. Just as you gradually learn about a real life
friend’s thoughts and feelings as your relationship with them develops… Gradually their “character” grows and you understand them more. Even when you are writing about a character you do already know quite well, the circumstances of the latest storyline might mean they behave differently from before. Just as people in real life change when the world about them changes…
I’ve written creatively on and off all my adult life. But it was only when I started writing seriously, in a more structured, conscious way, that I discovered how very “real” fictional characters can turn out to be. I don’t know if all novelists find this, but I imagine most of them do.
In my own case, the way I write my characters – or at least the main narrator characters – is very consciously intimate.
My narrative style demands that they sometimes talk to the reader about what they’re thinking and feeling, about their
anxieties and their dreams. There’s nothing unusual about this sort of “inner dialogue” – it’s a great way of developing fully-rounded, complex characters, and most writers use it.
What really interests me, though, is how characters evolve. They pop up from nowhere, get assigned a name and a set
of features and traits, then somehow turn into corporeal-seeming individuals with thoughts and feelings, worries and
aspirations. They become people that I care about, and of course I hope my readers will care about them too.
🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉
GIVEAWAY
Win a $15 / £15 / €15 Amazon Gift Card (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Author Bio
CAROLYN HUGHES was born in London, but has lived most of her life in Hampshire. After completing a degree in Classics and English, she started her working life as a computer programmer, in those days a very new profession. But it was when she discovered technical authoring that she knew she had found her vocation. She spent the next few decades writing and editing all sorts of material, some fascinating, some dull, for a wide variety of clients, including an international hotel group, medical instrument manufacturers and the government.
She has written creatively for most of her adult life, but it was not until her children grew up and flew the nest several years ago that writing historical fiction took centre stage in her life. She has a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Portsmouth University and a PhD from the University of Southampton.
De Bohun’s Destiny is the third novel in the MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLES series. A fourth novel is under way.
You can connect with Carolyn through her website www.carolynhughesauthor.com and social media:
Social Media Links –
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