You’ve all seen the fabulous cover for my April 1 release – Simmering Season. Not even the lovely Roberta and Larissa (Simon & Schuster) — responsible for the real thing — know about this ‘other’ cover.
When Dianne Blacklock and I were ‘talking’ on her blog recently about our planning/plotting process, I explained that part of my creative process includes making up titles and tag lines to get me into a story. In the early days I would go so far as to design a visual to stick on the wall. (I dug this pretend cover from the archives the other day and had a giggle.)
It seems Maggie/Magpie was always going to find her way into a story and she finally has – in Simmering Season.
Maggie’s story (a vague resemblance) began close to a decade ago. At the time I was toying with a book series using bird titles: magpie – the protector, bower bird – the collector, koel – the home wrecker, kookaburra – sadness behind the smile. Get the idea? (Hmm, you can see why that bird brain concept didn’t get me anywhere with a publisher!!!)
But I was stuck on the magpie idea. I love the birds and I knew there was some merit in a magpie storyline: territorial, maternal, desirous of human interaction, the magpie’s courtship tends to be devoid of all the drama that accompanies so many matings (dance, song, quirks). In fact, the female magpie will generally build her nest alone and often in the most exposed parts of the tree with full exposure to the sun and sky – a kind of bold strategy to prevent ambush. Mother magpies do it all.
Enter Simmering Season’s lead character – nicknamed Magpie – bold and protective: a devoted mother, daughter and wife grappling with her responsibilities as well as being the reluctant town publican and community event organiser for the town’s centenary and school reunion.
Lucky for me (and Maggie) my lovely publishers have a better idea about book covers which means I can now leave the visual creative stuff to them so I can focus entirely on the story telling (while finding new ways to procrastinate – namely Facebook and Twitter).
But I thought you might like to know a little about my Maggie.
As in House for all Seasons, my female leads don’t necessarily fit the fiction heroine mould. Maggie, in particular, is not strong or brave. She is not rescuing anyone or saving the day; Maggie Lindeman is lucky to save herself. She’s far from perfect, desperate, but proud, the kind of everyday woman I hope resonates with readers, much like Poppy, Sara, Amber and Caitlin in House for all Seasons.
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I think it’s perfect. What do you think?
It’s great to be taking part in this blog hop on The Writing Process in which different writers answer the same questions about their writing process.
Helene Young
Natasha Lester
Zena Shapter