Monday, February 18, 2013

Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer (Mod Podge Book Tours)



Today is the first time I've ever taken part in a book tour by Mod Podge book tours. It's a blog post from the author this time, and I think it's really interesting. 

The book is called Victoria Rebels and about the life of Queen Victoria. Sounds like a fascinating book doesn't it? (Hidden history nerd alert!)


Enjoy the guest post!

Why Did You Choose A Diary Format For Victoria Rebels? 

In fact, VICTORIA REBELS is not written as a diary; it's written in first person. That may not seem much different to the reader, but it made a huge difference in the way I conceived the story. When the story is told in the form of diary entries, the narrator, the "I" of the story, has no foreknowledge of what's going to happen down the road--years in the future or even the next day. She can only record what is happening in the present, or reflect on what has happened in the past. The challenge to the author is to set up the foreshadowing that leads the reader along. Several years ago I wrote three books for Scholastic's Royal Diaries series and discovered just how tricky that can be. In ANASTASIA: THE LAST GRAND DUCHESS, the young Russian princess enjoys her privileged life as storm clouds gather, with no inkling of the tragic end she faces. It's a much more confining storytelling format, and I struggled with it. In CLEOPATRA CONFESSES, I chose to write in present tense, which gives the narration a much different feel, and I considered doing the same with Victoria. But after experimenting with that for a while, I abandoned the idea and went back to the more conventional past tense. Somehow it seemed to suit her voice better.

In VICTORIA REBELS, Victoria is looking back at her early years as an unhappy young princess dominated by a man she hated, at the changes brought about when she became queen at the age of eighteen and was finally free of his domination, at her struggles to adjust to her new role, and at the arrival of love in her life. She tells her story from the vantage point of knowing the outcome in terms of her relationship with Sir John Conroy, her mother, and the man she marries. Chapter titles with the place and sometimes a date help to keep the reader oriented.

All the books in this post sound interesting don't they? Well, hopefully this is the start of more tours from Mod Podge stopping by here!

Also, there's a tour wide giveaway! Make sure to enter!

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1 comment :

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