Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411)

As part of my final edit for “Shaping Fate” I’m doing a wee bit more research on the Black Death to fine tune my manuscript. I’ve been told repeatedly that more little details will help really make everything come together.

So for your enjoyment, er, something, I’ve pulled together some fun facts about the plague.

1. Besides the bubonic plague (the most common), there were actually two other strains going around Europe during the Black Death. One was pneumoic, this was spread by breathing and spread much more quickly and was more lethal than the bubonic variety. The third form was the septicemic version and attacked the blood system.

2. During the Black Death in the 1300′s, the plague claimed approximately 50 million people in Europe, Asia and Africa.

3. Because they couldn’t figure out what was causing the spread of the disease, several sources were blamed, including an angry God, astrological sources and the Jewish community (even though they were dying just as quickly as everybody else).

4. Some common ‘cures’ for the plague included, washing oneself with vinegar and rose water, cutting open the sores or ‘buboes’ and applying a mixture of tree resin, white lily root and dried human excrement to the cuts. (Can’t imagine why that didn’t work.)

5. The good news about the Black Death, (yes, there is good news) is this: Without it, we most likely never would have had the Renaissance. During the plague, people and commerce died, but eventually, a new middle class was born.  Having descended from people who knew nothing but death and limited means, this new generation wanted more.  They also had more free time to pursue interests unrelated to their trades. These interests included reading for pleasure or learning how to play a musical instrument. They spent their money on things like larger, more lavish homes, exotic foods and nice clothes. It was these wants and their willingness to spend money on them, that led to the ultimate economic stimulus. Before too long, cities picked back up and voila! The Renaissance was born.

For more info on The Black Death, here are a few resources.

The Black Death: A Personal History by John Hatcher

HowStuffWorks.com  – How the Black Death Worked

People get into writing in all different ways. Some people know from the day they’re born (or so they claim) that they wanted to be a writer or artist. Some people don’t figure it out until much later.

In school, I always enjoyed reading and writing, but “writer” was never a career path I ever thought of seriously. Even if I had, I’m fairly certain it’s one that most parents wouldn’t encourage. It ranks right up there with “actor.” So, I went to college, got a degree in communications, taking a heavy load of English and Literature classes, mostly because they were interesting and counted toward my major credits.

During my last year in college, I came up with an idea for a story. Not on purpose, it just sort of popped into my head. It was a melodramatic, poorly written story, which I for the better, ended up losing most of in a floppy disk tragedy that was just about as tragic as the story itself.

Still, other stories and characters came into my head and before too long, William and Gabriel came along, and “Shaping Fate” was born. At that point I started taking the writing seriously. Took some classes, read more how-to books, joined critique groups, etc.

So when was your turning point, or did you have one? Did you always know you wanted to write or paint or be a professional artist or was it something that grew over time?

When writing fiction, one of the key elements is location and setting. Setting is more than just the city. It’s the environment, the weather, smells, sounds, etc. This has always been one of my weak points, but I’m working on it.

My work in progress, “Shaping Fate,” takes place in London, 1349. At this time, London was gripped by the Black Plague. Believe it or not, it took me a while to figure out “when” to set the story. I knew my protagonist, William, was English, I also knew he wouldn’t be in England for a long time, but I couldn’t figure out the best era in London’s history to tell the story. Two of the themes in “Shaping Fate” are death and rebirth, but the plague still didn’t come to my mind.

One day, I had the good fortune to be watching the BBC’s “A History of Britain” series on the History Channel and there it was! The plague! It decimated Europe, especially the cities, where it was passed quickly from person to person, but from the ashes rose a new breed of Europeans who helped to usher in the Renaissance. The setting for my story was made and I never looked back.

There are tons of great books out there too about this specific period of time and what things were like for these people. It’s a fascinating period and has proven to be a wonderful backdrop for my story.

How do you pick setting? Is it one of the first things that come to you or do you try and find one that fits into your story?

November 1 marked the start of NaNoWriMo. This quirky acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month and for the uninitiated, it’s a “fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.”

I participated a few years back and have to say, it was loads of fun. Unfortunately, I’m not participating this year but have a number of friends who are and I wish them the best of luck!

There are a few new things surrounding this year’s writing marathon and one of them is Scrivener’s NaNoWriMo 2009 Special Trial Edition. Scrivener describes their product as “a word processor and project management tool created specifically for writers of long texts such as novels and research papers. It won’t try to tell you how to write – it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application.”

One of the great things about the NaNoWriMo trial edition is for those participants who finish their 50,000 words, they’ll get 50% off of the regular license fee for Scrivener. Even better, if you don’t finish your 50,000, you can still get 20% off for just participating.

So, have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo? If so, what were your experiences?

When I did it, the thing I found most useful was the freedom to turn off my inner editor. The rules clearly state, DO NOT GO BACK AND EDIT! And for me, that’s one of the hardest parts of writing. That urge to go back and go over it again before I can press on. Could be why it took me around two years to finish my first draft of “Shaping Fate.”

If you are participating this year, please let me know how it’s going! I’d love to get updates!

I’m always interested in people’s inspiration, what leads them to do the things that they do. What is the force that drives writers to write, inventors to invent? What is the force that drives people of all walks of life to do the things they do?

Some people get inspiration from pretty amazing places. When blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd was seven years old, he saw Stevie Ray Vaughan in concert. During the show, Stevie pulled the kid up on stage and sat him on an equipment case on the side of the stage so he could have a better view. It’s no small wonder that that seven year old was inspired to play guitar and would eventually draw comparisons to the legendary Vaughan himself.

Most of us don’t have those kind of “smack-you-in-the-face-AHA-moments.” Most of us have smaller moments, but they’re no less powerful.

I started writing seriously back in 2001 when two characters entered my head and refused to leave. Yes, you could say I have voices in my head…most writers do. Those two characters became the basis for my book, “Shaping Fate.”

Nowadays, I find inspiration for my writing just about anywhere. Almost anything in the world can inspire me in some way. The way the sun highlights the autumn leaves, an interesting news story, a snippet of a conversation I overhear…all these can be the inspiration of a new story. I just have to be open to them.

So, what inspires you?

Ok, so this is my official blog. As you’ll see, I’m a writer. Right now, I am doing the final edit on my historical fantasy novel, “Shaping Fate.” I started writing it in 2001 and finished the first draft in 2003. Since then I’ve edited. LOTS. And I’ve learned and grown immensely as a writer and I feel it’s time to send my baby out into the big scary world.

Won’t you join me?