I can think of few better examples of this than the birth of one of my favorite books, Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.
Haven't heard of it? You are missing out! Imagine if this lady:
Got together with this lady:
You'd pretty much get:
And if THAT weren't enough to convince you about the awesomeness level in this book, check out the origin story that goes along with it!
"The correspondence between...New York Times bestselling authors [Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer] began first as a hobby: two writers writing to one another in character as two young girls in Regency-era England where magic is acceptable practice, but danger lies around every corner as a result. Their names are Kate and Cecy: Wrede as Cecy, and Stevermer as Kate.
After some time, Wrede and Stevermer’s letters accumulated to such an extent that a book was born."
-Open Road Media
Isn't that cool?! Sorcery and Cecelia is finally making its debut in e-format, and to help celebrate the release I'm allowed to share one of the original letters with you today!
This is Wrede's First move in the Letter Game she and Stevermer decided to start playing for fun back in April of 1986. There were no rules of the game, except the notion that each writer must remain in character for all the letters, and that no one is to reveal where they hope to see the story go: therefore fostering an authenticity behind the uniquely co-written story. So, when Wrede wrote this first letter as Cecy, she was completely unaware as to how Stevermer/Kate would reply.
-Open Road Media
Click on the picture below to make it larger to get a glimpse "behind the scenes" of the making of one of my favorite historical fantasies ever.
But wait, there's more!
Stay tuned next week when you can get another peek into the world of writing. This letter above is the unedited "game" edition, but next week I'll have the cleaned up version that appears in the book. I don't know about you, but I love seeing how a piece of writing changes and evolves. You'll also get the opportunity to weigh in on which version you prefer!
Do you know any cool writing "behind the scenes" stories?
Have you ever played a game like this? I'd love to, but I don't think I'm creative enough to pull it off!
Have you read Sorcery and Cecelia?
Have you ever played a game like this? I'd love to, but I don't think I'm creative enough to pull it off!
Have you read Sorcery and Cecelia?
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How cool! I'll have to spend some time thoroughly reading your post later. I've heard great things about Sorcery and Cecilia and always meant to read it.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I've totally done this with friends before! (Speaking of which...I need to pick that thread back up...) I'm so excited to read this book now! I love how you always make time to promote older books as well as new books. :)
ReplyDeleteSierra @ Yearning to Read
www.yearningtoread.blogspot.com
Really cool! I haven't picked up this book up but I know I should after reading your fangirly posts about it. I'll get there. :)
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to try this one! :) I love your little this married this comparison.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Jane Austen + JK Rowling = I'm SOLD.
ReplyDeleteI am interested because of the Austen/Rowling draw, but is the entire story going to be letters written back and forth? I don't know if I would enjoy that?
ReplyDeleteYes, the whole story is written in letters. Usually I don't love that style (it kills tension, I think), but I didn't mind it in this book.
DeleteOf course, you know how much I love Sorcery & Cecelia!! It's fun to see what the original letter looked like — I don't recall the exact wording of the edited version but some of the sentences are word-for-word the same, I think! I've played the Letter Game a couple times before with my sister, and so I can attest to the fact that it is an absolute blast. It's so much easier when you've got a writing partner - if you get stuck on a plot point or whatever you can let the other person try to figure it out! :D
ReplyDelete