Thanks so much for all your comments re Janna’s love life and also for your good wishes for future publication – no news on that front yet. But I’m blown away by all your suggestions for how the last two books should go – maybe I should just retire and leave it to all of you to finish the series!! Some really good plot ideas there. In fact I’m enjoying the rewriting process and the mss are going to be a lot more interesting as a result of this new input!
Thought I should also mention that Random House has recently rejacketed and reissued The Road to Camelot. This is an anthology of short stories written by numerous well-known authors who were invited to each take a character from Arthurian legend and write about him/her at a crucial moment of their lives when they intersect somehow with Camelot and King Arthur. I chose to write about ‘Elaine of Astolat’, who was the inspiration behind Tennyson’s poem, The Lady of Shalott – which in turn was the inspiration behind my Shalott trilogy. For those of you not familiar with that series (which I absolutely LOVED writing!) this is a story about 5 Australian teenagers who, through virtual reality, go back in time to the court of King Arthur on a quest to save the life of ‘the Lady of Shalott’ and so save Camelot. And it changes their lives because they have to come to terms with life in medieval England, confronting danger and death, learning to trust – and finding love. (eg What if you fell desperately in love with a legendary character who lived almost a thousand years ago – if he ever lived at all? Or: What if you realised that you loved someone – but dared not confess it to anyone, including the person you love?) Because of what happens to the five teenagers in Camelot they end up not only trying to change the legend, they’re actually rewriting their own destiny at the same time.
Writing this trilogy is what ignited my interest in finding out more about medieval time but I also loved exploring Arthurian legends and Celtic myth and writing about ‘the otherworld’. Random House have now reprinted and reissued the Shalott trilogy so, if you’re interested, have a look out for it! And also for The Road to Camelot. And if they’re not in the bookshops, ask your local bookseller to order them in for you.

6 Comments

  1. So have you actually finished the 5 & 6 Janna Mysteries books…because you say you've sent it off then you say your writing it still, which is it im so confused.

  2. Hi Yael (and anyone else who might be confused) Yes, I've been doing some rewriting on #5 & 6 of the Janna Mysteries (and that's still ongoing cos I had some new ideas about things – thanks to all the comments!) At the moment I'm waiting for news from an agent overseas. The publishing process is long and complicated, but the first approach is usually a letter and then, if the agent (or publisher) is interested you send the manuscript for them to read. And that's what I'm hoping will happen – fingers crossed!

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