Tuesday 5 January 2016

Who? A Question That Needs To Be Answered.


 

Whether you are writing non fiction or fiction, at the beginning it is necessary to engage a reader in the story by establishing who it is about as soon as possible.

In Tangled Love, set in Hertfordshire, in 1693, the unpopular King James, brother of Charles IInd has fled England and his daughter Mary and her husband William now sit on the throne. In the prologue, nine year-old Richelda’s father explains his dilemma.

     With a sigh, Father lifted her onto his knee. ‘Richelda, I must follow His Majesty for I swore an oath of allegiance to him. Tell me, child, while King James lives how can I, with honour, swear allegiance to his disloyal daughter and her husband?’

Unable to think of a reply, she lowered her head breathing in his spicy perfume.

Father held her closer. ‘Your mother pleads with me to declare myself for William and Mary. She begs me not to return to France, but I am obliged to serve King James. Do you understand?’
 
Rosemary Morris
Romantic Historical Novelist