Writing The Witchland Regency Romantasy Series.
My gorgeous paperback.
The WITCHLAND Regency Romantasy series began with my idea of writing gender-flipped Romantasy retellings of Jane Austen’s books. Quite soon into writing WITCHLAND, I realised that the story wasn’t going to be a retelling, more loosely inspired by ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ Eliza did begin as a Darcy-like character, severe and dutiful but deeply loyal behind her cold façade. Will started out as playful and mischievous as Elizabeth Bennet. Both characters, as characters do, developed and changed across many drafts, becoming more than that initial inspiration.
The story grew away from my original plan to do retellings. Some of the other elements – like the tragedy of the reincarnating Merlin and his immortal lover Lord Morgan Le Fae – became strands that would span the next book too, becoming setup for Book Three.
The changes meant I had to rethink the series. There would still be characters and elements from Jane Austen’s books, but the plots wouldn’t be identical. I will write more WITCHLAND novels inspired by Jane Austen, but other books in this series won’t use Austen as a starting point.
Book Two is inspired by Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion.’ It’s called TIDES OF THE HEART, named after a soulmate dance, a big turning point for the main characters. This is Anne’s story, a Second Chances Romance set against the backdrop of the increasing threat from the Druid-ruled Flamelands. Like her namesake in Austen’s ‘Persuasion,’ Anne gave up her great love for what she considered valid reasons, only to bitterly regret it.
Some of Anne’s backstory was originally in WITCHLAND, because I’m a big fan of Romance series with interesting side characters who take centre stage in the next novel. WITCHLAND originally had a chapter with Eliza travelling the ley lines and arriving at her best friend’s home. When Anne brings Eliza into her sunshine yellow parlour, the portrait of Anne’s ex-husband Frederick (presumed dead) is still on display. Anne’s mourned him three years. Whilst Eliza understands her friend’s pain, it just strengthens Eliza’s resolve to marry a disagreeable husband whom she won’t mourn.
Whilst I loved this chapter, it got cut because I needed to get Eliza and Will on the page together as soon as possible. And that was the right decision for the book’s pacing. Anne’s past got moved to the beginning of Book Two.
I’d started writing Book Two (originally titled A WITCHLAND PERSUASION) before I got my first Agent. The world of WITCHLAND was fresh in my mind from Book One edits, and I wanted to get as far ahead as I could to avoid the dreaded ‘Second Book’ stress that often strikes authors. After spending years working on Book One, there can be immense pressure learning to write to deadlines to deliver Book Two to a publisher. If I ever got traditionally published, I didn’t want that to happen to me. And if/when I decided to self-publish, I wanted to be able to release my books within a few months of each other, so readers didn’t have to wait years.
With my brain fog and Chronic Fatigue, the first draft is the most difficult part of the writing process for me. I need to allow plenty of time because I don’t/can’t write fast. When I began Anne’s book, I was also developing other series in case WITCHLAND didn’t sell.
My progress was slow, but it helped that ‘Persuasion’ is my favourite Austen. I think that’s because the book has an older heroine, a quiet understated woman, and holds up the promise of moving beyond past mistakes/sadness to a happier future. I was also listening to one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs ‘This Love’ before* each writing session, which felt perfect for Anne’s story.
*Because of my brain fog/concentration issues, I can’t listen to music with lyrics whilst writing.
Several years on, written around Book One edits, TIDES OF THE HEART is nearly ready. I’ve been through several drafts, had critques from my wonderful, insightful writer friends, and feedback from The Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme. I’ve just started another read through (three months after I last worked on TIDES) and once I’ve dealt with minor tweaks the book will be done.
This series has my heart. I love the characters, the world, the mashup of Tudor-Regency with a splash of Arthurian legend. I have plans for many more books, and for a short story collection ‘WITCHLAND FOR ALL SEASONS’ themed around the seasonal festivals, so the reader will experience a whole year in this world. But more on that in future blog posts.