Getting it all out there

Getting the sister novel out

Exciting times.  Well actually, it’s sister novel, The House on Schellberg Street, that has been accepted. So far, I’ve had some encouraging noises form the main editor. The nitty-gritty is yet to come.

Now, though, I’m working on all sorts of things – getting the web site up and running, thinking about a launch, approaching people who might sell it and getting a few school visits organised.

Links

Somehow, Clara’s Story becomes part and parcel of this.

As do the two blogs – this and the one about The House on Schellberg Street.

School visits and workshops  

I’m particularly interested in doing school visits and talks about these two slightly different Holocaust stories. I’m also preparing an interactive workshop about The House on Schellberg Street and as soon as Clara’s Story is ready, there’ll be one about that also.

Lecture on Representing the Holocaust  

I’m also busily preparing a couple of lectures for a course I’ll be teaching on at the University of Salford next year. I’ll be dealing with how I did my research and the ethical issues I’ve had to face in dealing with this material. The content for just one lecture and seminar might make a substantial part of a secondary book to go with this material. Rather like this blog now has almost 11,000 words.      

Meanwhile the editing continues

I’m almost at the end of the first rewrite. Literally just one scene to go, albeit a rather tricky one. Then I’ll be on to Edit 2.    

Interested in finding out more about a school visit? Contact me here.        

The real dilemma

We’re moving rapidly into the Holocaust part of the story. The Hilfsklasse class has now received a second visit. Clara has her marching orders. She will now move to Rexingen. She will live amongst Jews even though she no longer considers herself Jewish. She loses her name and becomes Klara Sarah. She has to leave her home.   

Now I’m facing the real crux of this story. How can I make it palatable? If I do make it palatable am I in danger of sanitizing it?

I’m actually gradually discovering that there is an explanation as to why Clara did not escape. The story is uncovering what stopped her reacting to her situation in a more predictable way. Undoubtedly she had a great sense of loyalty towards the Hilfsklasse. She has a lot of faith in human nature. She is extremely optimistic. Surely it can’t get any worse. It has got to start getting better soon. She isn’t really Jewish. She has a sound religious faith.  

So now I give her a setting in Rexingen. Some of this still crosses over with The House on Schellberg Street. After that, though, it gets more challenging.  

Stories Crossing Over – where “Clara’s Story” meets “The House on Schellberg Street”

I’m at the point now where these two stories meet. I’m actually going to recreate many of the “Hani” thread scenes in The House on Schellberg Street from Clara’s point of view. I’ve also got to build up more of the background to that. So I’m revisiting much of the research I did for the first novel.

I’ve been unsure about when to introduce Hitler. I know Clara will see through him and dislike him. She will also understand why people want him in power, however. I have to remember there wouldn’t be so many photos around in those days though there may be the wireless so she may hear his voice.      

I now have to handle Clara’s Jewishness carefully. I must also remember that the identity conflict she feels is a big part of the story. Clara is not particularly religious and anyway the whole family have become Lutheran Protestants. She will resist being labelled Jewish. She will see many Jewish friends being humiliated. She has kept cultural links with her roots. The “Blutschutz” rules introduced in 1935 firmly define her as Jewish. She will recognise the threat for herself, her children and her grandchild. A belief in the ultimate goodness of humanity and her care for the children of the special class will keep her at Schellberg Street until she is forced to move to Rexingen.

I’m currently doing a little more research into the exact timings of events leading up to the Holocaust, deciding which to include and also deciding which episodes from The House on Schellberg Street to use and about how best to integrate them.

Up until now I’ve been mainly building up Clara’s character. There have been hints of what is to come. I’ve put a few of them in deliberately but many of them slipped in without me noticing. One of the joys of writing?