Ramblings from the Desk of J. Morgyn White
2024 has started off with lots of positivity. I’m glowing about the year ahead as I’m working on a fresh draft of my most beloved Valravyn. A new draft of the whole book I hope to have done by fall. Weirdly enough the literary world now has a genre again for it: Romantasy. We’ll see what the early readers think— If anyone wishes to read the new opening, let me know.
As I mentioned in my last missive, I’m querying By Their Rules, a 1950s suspense inspired by the true crime Ann Woodward case, with the hope of catching an agent’s eye. The book is in the hands of a few amazing agents so I’m sending wishes to the stars that one of them sees its potential and wants to work with me!
Meanwhile, in January, I’ve rewritten the opening to the 1810 Gothic Fantasy, The Black Cross and I’ll be workshopping it at Futurescapes in March with the fabulous S.T. (Saint) Gibson.
Projects in progress are on my February list. The plan is to finish up the Lalla Roohk, the 1839 Historical Suspense, the Contemporary Romance, Sexy Farmer, and the cozy bookstore fantasy, Fable & Fine—hopefully all by mid-Spring.
What I’m Reading?
I just finished Diva, by Daisy Goodwin (who wrote both the novel, Victoria and the BBC series about Queen Victoria). It is a fictional biography of the opera singer Maria Callas. While I don’t think it’s Daisy’s strongest work, I did appreciate knowing more about Maria Callas’s life and how Aristotle Onassis factored in.
My best read so far of 2024 was Rachel Hawkin’s The Heiress. I appreciated the use of different media (newspaper, journal, letters, etc.) and I loved the ending twist.
Don’t Miss
https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/feud
The F/X series about Truman Capote’s Swans : FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans which is about ten years after By Their Rules is set but features a similar world (although the F/X version is even more cutthroat!).
Look for my next update in the Spring!
Joanne
P.S. I mentioned my Abbey project on Instagram. I’m a long time collector of Victorian Bog Oak brooches and I have a vast collection now of exquisite carvings. Beyond of the beauty of the individual pieces I love the idea that they are all representative of a location. I’m imagining as a series or an Anthology of stories about the various places. To start here’s a little flash piece on Ross Abbey:
The Abbey
J. Morgyn White
The hallowed ground holds secrets and bones, which slip out of reality and hide beneath our feet waiting to be unearthed. Ross Abbey stood against fire and famine, wind and sleet, holding back the darkness for as long as there were people to shut its doors. Now, within, broken and destitute the cracked stone and fallen limbs of the ceiling, have rested alone—until last night.
“Are you coming?” I ask. The others have jet-lagged coffee driven bodies, slow to action, and dangerous in this moment of discovery, but every second of exposure is a risk that we might not come back from.
“Maybe if you were carrying the packs you’d walk slower too,” Casta snaps. We know each other too well to hold back, but the years apart have grafted resentments that are too likely to unravel as our minds come together to fix this. The damp chill cuts through my Kevlar like it has digging fingers.
Ross Abbey sits on a bluff surveying the turbulent waters of Loch Llayland fed by the North Sea. The sky is a shade lighter casting gloom over the skeleton of the abby walls. But those splintered walls now lend integrity or defense. Centuries of warriors and waifs have worshipped at the altar within. That is our concern. Their melded prayers overtime have intermingled creating a force that sinks into the ichor and now holds up the walls.
The sign at the road says do not disturb. The sign on the door reads Danger, in red letters; both Gaelic and English.
*** To Be Continued…
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