Short list story ideas
While I mustn’t forget Cairndhu and Oakhaven, as far as historical novels are concerned, I have been through the periods of interest and must start a short list. There are:-
1) The Leprechaun – the story set in ancient times about the family from the Middle East travelling to Britain and on to Ireland where the Leprechaun are in charge.
2) The (short) story about the Romans trying to find Cornwall and the source of tin.
3) The Stuarts – The village I live in was an outpost of Oxford during the Civil War.
4) Kimberley in the early days and the political wrangling over who owned the land.
5) 1914 in South Africa and the Namibia and Tanzania campaigns introducing the Cape Corps.
6) The sequel to the second drover tale.
I have outlines for all but the best developed is the English Civil War tale. It and the Leprechaun are family tales and stand alone. The Kimberley and the South African and Cape Corps stories are each a series and need a bit more research. The second novel involving the drover from the north of Scotland, Bubbles in the Cauldron, is due in a month or so and the sequel to that is little more than an idea.
So, top of the list is the Civil War story and I will expand the other ideas until one insists on being written up. Winston Churchill said something like, a book is a mistress, then a companion, and in the end, a master. I would add it is a flirtation to begin with and is sometimes just a ship in the night. I must agree however that once a story sets its claws in a writer, it demands to be written, rewritten, edited, aerated, floodlit, rewritten ad nauseam until it permits itself to be set out in the sunlight. That’s why I agonise over each one.