The hardest thing as a writer is to keep writing. Agents, anticipating publishers’ wishes, are risk averse and despite all that their blurb says about supporting writers they have a very narrow definition of what they are willing to commit too. The ongoing disappointment of being either ignored or rejected is a constant. Friends who have read my book or part thereof have been impressed by the quality of writing and the story. Several agents have said that it’s not for them but haven’t been negative. The vast majority are simply mute.
It is hard to keep the confidence and maintain the will to keep writing. I have drafted the first book and started the second continuing the story line from the first. I am also plotting subsequent books to tell the story of the Britons after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire and how that period of history has shaped the Britain we know today and the roots of it’s culture.
There is much more to tell. The early medieval period is poorly documented with unreliable sources and some archaeology. The is plenty of room for conjecture. Common sense and the historical facts about Britain’s place in that world before and after the Romans show that Rome adapted to Britain rather than dominating culturally and that influence declined from the 3rd Century, vanishing in the early 5th. These so called ‘Dark Ages’ are fascinating to me because much of what we understand about the United Kingdom depends on these events. The arrival and incremental conquest of much of the country took centuries. The Cornish, Welsh, Scottish and Irish identities are rooted in this time and reflect the inability of the English to be fully accepted or to dominate. (‘English’ is the Britons’ term for foreigner or stranger – the equivalent English term was ‘Welsh’).
The time has such a stake in our world today which is what keeps me interested and inspires my research, understanding and writing. I hope to be able to share my vision and understanding but until a literary agent can see that, I have to continue to manage the disappointment and lack of recognition.
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