{"id":1379,"date":"2019-06-29T12:08:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-29T16:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2023-08-15T18:44:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T18:44:51","slug":"about-writing-what-you-know-part-2-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/29\/about-writing-what-you-know-part-2-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"About: Writing What You Know, Part 2 – The End"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the other hand, the suspense\nplot on The Book of Hours<\/em> revolves\nentirely upon Gabriela\u2019s recreation of a medieval manuscript. After catching a\nglimpse of her work, an unscrupulous arts dealer, Arnold Wickeham, becomes obsessed.\nHe would do anything, ANYTHING, to get his hands on Gabriela\u2019s work before it\ngoes live at the children\u2019s charity auction. And he will stop at nothing to get\nwhat he wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt from Chapter Two:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time was of the essence. Ever\nsince setting eyes on her exquisite creation, he knew he could not allow it to\ngo to auction. That manuscript could not go to anyone else. And, bugger it, he\nwanted\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanted<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that was a rather tame\ndescription of the emotions evoked within his psyche. The moment his contact at\nChristie\u2019s had shown him two of her folio pages, his need for Mrs. Martinez\u2019s\nwork had ratcheted up beyond wanting. He rummaged through the glossary in his\nbrain. Ah, yes. He coveted<\/em>. He craved<\/em>. And that Book of Hours<\/em> would be his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wet his lips. To possess\nuniqueness was a dangerous compulsion, he knew. According to his ex-shrink akin\nto an aberration. Wickeham didn\u2019t experience this compulsion frequently, but,\nupon rare occasions, artifacts would surface which called to him, drew him to\nsuch extent his need to possess hurt. And rarity\u2026now, rarity was something for\nwhich he would go to extremes. Her manuscript was such. No. Worse. It was one\nof a kind. He simply could not allow anyone else to have it. Could not allow\nher to create a facsimile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And THAT is the premise of the\nthriller. From that moment, the cat-and-mouse game is on, and Richard will be\nhard-pressed to keep Gabriela safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the plot unfolds throughout the\nnovel, I give more glimpses of manuscript references. In Chapter Three, a\nflashback reminds the reader of what Richard had seen in Gabriela\u2019s workspace\nin France (a reference back to The Coin<\/em>).\nIn Chapter Seven, we see Gabriela choosing frames for another of her medieval\nillustrations recreations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt Chapter Three:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slides of memories flashed across\nRichard\u2019s brain. The lapis lazuli background, a one-dimensional figurine of a\nMadonna, gold paint accents, gorgeously convoluted script. He had seen the\nsketches on the desk in her workroom four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo she finally finished it,\u201d\nRichard whispered, more to himself than to the priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when the problems began.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt Chapter Seven:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out on the terrace Gabriela placed her latest work, a Byzantine-like rendition of a Madonna and Child, beside the picture frame Jean-Louis had uncovered moments ago. The Madonna stared solemnly back at them with eyes reflecting patience, holiness, wisdom, and a weary, painful acceptance of a destiny that rent at the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I left the details of the\nmanuscript folios for Chapter Nineteen, when Gabriela and Richard are at the\npre-auction party at Christie\u2019s. After a small confrontation, Richard asks her\nto describe the work displayed there. However, and this was a conscious choice,\nI purposely didn\u2019t overwhelm the narrative with detail because I did not want\nto detract from the suspense. It\u2019s a pacing thing, as many experienced authors\nknow. Novice authors, on the other hand, can\u2019t help but over-share what they\nknow about a craft or a topic they\u2019ve researched or are familiar with. That can\n(and will) diminish a reader\u2019s interest\u2026a death knell to a suspense\/thriller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is what I decided to show,\nand the photos attached complement that description. The medieval Psalter, The Visconti Hours<\/em>, on which I base my\ndescriptions, is a true masterpiece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt Chapter Nineteen:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill you show me your work?\u201d He\npaused. \u201cForgive me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriela\u2019s heart melted. She\nturned, trying not to show how her eyes spoke of her emotions, trying not to\nmake things too easy for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis vellum copy,\u201d she began, \u201cis\nmy reproduction of a psalm page on the original Visconti Hours manuscript.\u201d She\nexpanded her descriptions, explaining the Latin script, the allusions of the\nfalcons perched on stylized oaks. She glossed over the embellishments and the\ntrefoil, what method she\u2019d applied in creating the colors, the gilding of the\npage, and how Julien had pitched in by obtaining the vellum. All the while\nRichard\u2019s hand, warm against her back, moved in wide, concentric circles,\nroaming from her waist to underneath her hair, and back down again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was about to explain another\nexhibit when a voice floated over her shoulders like bad news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recognized it, to her\ndetriment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La p\u00e9tasse<\/em>. The bitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there it is\u2026my fascination\nwith all things medieval used to create the plot of my novel, The Book of Hours<\/em>. Guess I did what many\nauthors know\u2014write what you know.\n\nHope you enjoyed reading\nthis bit of my novels\u2019 trivia. Until the next time.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the other hand, the suspense plot on The Book of Hours revolves entirely upon Gabriela\u2019s recreation of a medieval manuscript. After catching a glimpse of her work, an unscrupulous arts dealer, Arnold Wickeham, becomes obsessed. He would do anything, ANYTHING, to get his hands on Gabriela\u2019s work before it goes live at the children\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-auction","tag-book","tag-london","tag-romantic-suspense","tag-second-choices","tag-suspense","tag-thriller","tag-what-you-know","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaelenawrites.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}