Category: lesfic

C H Cleppit : Magic Mirror Collection

I’m really chuffed to welcome C H Cleppit to the blog today, to answer my nosy questions and talk about her new release, Eye of the Beholder!

Take it away, Claire!

1. First, tell us why you are doing this interview?

I like to get about a bit. Also, I’ve recently started a new series of queer fairy tale retellings which I’m calling my “Magic Mirror Collection” and I’d also like to shamelessly plug the first one of those. It’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I have set it in 1930s France and fixed all the problematic bits. If you like slow burn lesbians (not actual fire, slow burn is what they call it if they don’t jump each other right off the bat, apparently) with magic and acceptance, give it a go and see what you think.

2. What started you writing?

I’ve always written. Even when I was tiny I used to record stories on cassette tapes! I don’t know what happened to those, which is probably for the best.

3. Where do you write?

For drafting I write wherever is comfortable. I have an app on my phone that allows me to write on the move, too, so wherever inspiration hits, I can get it down. Once I’m editing/formatting I have a grown up desk.

4. What do you like to read? 

I like to read anything where the characters are well developed enough to be plausible and the pace is decent. If you describe a woman by how she feels about her own breasts, or spend three pages on what a wall looks like, you’ve lost me as a reader.

5. What are the three books you’d take to a desert island? Why would you choose them?

Hmm. Good question. I do comfort reread things sometimes, so if we’re talking about that, maybe His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and the complete Sherlock Holmes. I like them because they are totally immersive, and you can really see the worlds within them. But I think if I was going to be on a desert island I’d like to take something I haven’t read yet so I’d have something to look forward to. 

6. Writing is an intrinsically solo occupation. Do you belong to any groups or associations, either online or in the ‘real’ world? How does that work for you?

Nah. I’m not a huge fan of humans! That’s not true, I am in a couple of online groups that discuss writing and marketing, but they aren’t hugely active. If anyone has any recommendations for groups they enjoy that aren’t all spammy or dead on the inside then give me a shout. Bonus points if they focus on Lesfic.

7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Quarantine has pretty much limited me to binge watching, sketching and LOTS of home decorating. I have basically turned my kitchen into a comic book… But before that when I was passing for human I would love going to the gym, meeting friends for food and cinema and playing netball.

8.  Tell me a little bit about your most recent release. What gave you the idea for it? How long did it take to write? What did you enjoy about writing it? What did you hate?

Eye of the Beholder is a queer retelling of Beauty and the Beast (with lesbians). It took me much longer to write than it should have done because lockdown threw my brain into a terrible unproductive spiral of not focusing on anything but Twitter, which was super healthy… I am proud I managed to finish and launch it in spite of myself, though. I enjoyed being able to turn a fairy tale around and remove problematic elements and make a story of mutual respect, love and support and I’m glad it’s been so well received. The only thing I hated was how hard I found it to focus and get it done.

Eye of the Beholder

When pressure from his materialistic children turns Claude into a thief, it is down to his youngest daughter to set things right. Angelique agrees to take her father’s place as prisoner to what she is told is a hideous beast.

Angelique soon discovers that the so called beast is nothing more than Rosalie, a princess cursed to remain trapped in a castle, unless the curse can be broken, something she assures her is impossible.

Angelique does not believe in the impossible, and sets about trying to find a way to save her new friend, who she is rapidly growing to love.

Eye of the Beholder is the first in a series of queer fairy tale retellings in C H Clepitt’s Magic Mirror Collection.

Buy here : 99c!

Stalk C. H. Cleppit!

release day! The Flowers of Time

Today is the book-birthday of The Flowers of Time!

You can find the buy-link and read all about the book here…there’s an excerpt and a clip of me reading it.

Plus, to celebrate the launch I am off on a blog-tour over the next ten days. You can see the schedule below and the things I’ll be talking about.

I’m also hosting some lovely people here on own site to talk about magic, gender and journeys (not necessarily all at once!) in their own books. I’ll be putting a post up introducing them tomorrow.

Today though, I am over at Queer Sci-Fi, answering questions about my writing process. And other things. Because otherwise that would make for a short interview! Thank you so much to the QSF guys for hosting me.

Finally…scroll down to enter the Rafflecopter draw for a universal e-reader cover and a leather-bound notebook, not at all unlike the book in the story!

This week you can find me at:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

booktrailer: the flowers of time

I’m quite proud of this, actually!

The Flowers of Time has been a long time coming. I first started mulling the idea of writing about plant-collectors a couple of years ago when I read a newspaper article about Europeans stomping round the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ‘discovering’ new plants. I knew I wanted Ella Fortune (from Lost in Time) to have her own book and it seemed like the kind of thing she might do in the 1920s after she’d finished being an ambulance driver in France and started a newspaper. Initially I thought this might be it.

However…when I started writing, the characters didn’t want to be in the twentieth century at all, they wanted to be in the 1780s. This was a completely new era for me and cost me a lot of research-time. I relied heavily on ‘Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India‘ by Shashi Tharoor for background, plus ‘She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British women in India 1600 – 1900‘ by Katie Hickman about women in India and ‘The Honourable Company: a History of the English East India Company‘ by John Keay. I recommend these three as giving a reasonable overview of the pre-British Empire period. I also did a lot of reading about the Victorian flower-painter Marianne North ‘A Vision Of Eden: The Life And Work Of Marianne North‘ and found ‘Among the Tibetans‘ by Isabella Bird illuminating.

So then. Having dealt with the change in time-period, I started out with Jones, who I knew was non-binary and Edie, who’s sexuality can best be described as ‘pragmatic’. And as their journey over the mountains progressed it became clear that Jones was probably demi/gray asexual, as well. And then the paranormal intruded, which I find it often does once I start writing. And by the time I got to the end, I was in a real twist about how they were going to get their happy ending and be able to come back to England as a couple and both be settled in their own skin.

Anyway. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. You can buy it here.

the flowers of time

The Flowers of Time will be published by JMS Books at the end of February! Pre-order here! Or listen to me read an excerpt!

A non-binary explorer and a determined lady botanist make the long journey over the high Himalayan passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? It’s a trip fraught with dangers for both of them, not least those of the heart.

Jones is determined to find out what caused the unexpected death of her father whilst they were exploring ancient ruins in the Himalayas. She’s never been interested in the idea of the marriage bed, but along with a stack of books and coded journals he’s left her with the promise she’ll travel back to England for the first time since childhood and try being the lady she’s never been.

Edie and her brother are leaving soon on a journey to the Himalayas to document and collect plants for the new Kew Gardens when she befriends Miss Jones in London. She’s never left England before and is delighted to learn that the lady will be returning to the mountains she calls home at the same time they are planning their travels. When they meet again in Srinagar, Edie is surprised to find that here the Miss Jones of the London salons is ‘just Jones’ the explorer, clad in breeches and boots and unconcerned with the proprieties Edie has been brought up to respect.

A non-binary explorer and a determined botanist make the long journey over the high mountain passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? It’s a trip fraught with perils for both of them, not least those of the heart.

flowers of time is out to beta

So! The Flowers of Time has gone off for beta readers to run their eyes over and I’m left working on the blurb. This is the bit I hate the most. I don’t think I’m alone in that, but so far it’s a bit of a struggle.

Jones is determined to find out what caused the unexpected death of her father whilst they were exploring ancient ruins in the Himalayas. She’s never been interested in the idea of the marriage bed, but along with a stack of books and coded journals he’s left her with the promise she’ll travel back to England for the first time since childhood and try being the lady she’s never been.

Edie and her brother are leaving soon on a journey to the Himalayas to document and collect plants for the new Kew Gardens when she befriends Miss Jones in London. She’s never left England before and is delighted to learn that the lady will be returning to the mountains she calls home at the same time they are planning their travels. When they meet again in Srinegar, Edie is surprised to find that here the Miss Jones of the London salons is ‘just Jones’ the explorer, clad in breeches and boots and unconcerned with the proprieties Edie has been brought up to respect.

A non-binary explorer and a determined botanist make the long journey over the high mountains passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? It’s a trip fraught with dangers for both of them, not least those of the heart.

My issue now is what to work on next!