I got my feedback from my new tutor. She sounds like an absolute gem!! This what she had to say:
Dear Murielle
Thank you for your note and welcome to the course. I am really glad to be your tutor/mentor and am looking forward to working with you and hope you enjoy the experience and my feedback. I would also like to wish you a happy birthday for the 28th! I hope it proves to be a happy and healthy year for you.
Your profile was very inspiring as I admire your determination to succeed despite your health setbacks. My own mother had Multiple Sclerosis so I have every respect for anyone who copes with an illness and I fully understand how important good health is. You actually share the same birth date as her.
Should your health prove to be a problem to working through and completing the assignments as you would like to, please do not worry. Just enjoy completing them and submit them as and when you can. Put your wellbeing first.
I also read across genre and would recommend that writers do this as it gives them a broad appreciation for the different styles and techniques used. I also love the Georgian/Regency period in particular.
The French Revolution was a terribly violent time, yet because of the drama and intrigue a fascinating one to write about. Regarding your expectations simply aim to finish the manuscript initially. Then when you are satisfied with the result submit it and then see how far you can go regarding publication and success. You need a finished product first though.
You have based your story around a well known fictional character. This is brave because the story which results will need to be as convincing as the original, as there will be followers who know his story well. You also will have to make sure that any permission necessary to use that character is obtained. You can easily check this.
The setting of your novel is as fascinating as it is brutal. Terror and fear ruled and destroyed people's lives. You have chosen a very strong theme. Deception is something which is extremely hard to overcome, as is betrayal.
The prologue certainly has a very dramatic scene. Do we see it from the wife's perspective, if she is someone who will feature in the novel, or from the about to be executed husband - who obviously doesn't.
A punch in the face is definitely a distraction. The plot seems to have been thought through very carefully. I think it was Percy who it turns out has discovered the papers and not Esme. The ending is very satisfying. Endings do not need to be happy (personally I like a happy or hopeful ending) but it must satisfy the reader's expectations. This certainly does that.
I am very much looking forward to receiving your next assignment when it is ready for submission. Can I just ask that assignments are sent with all the parts of an assignment together? This makes the administration of the courses so much easier, and also reduces the risk that any part could go astray.
Best wishes
X
I blacked out a couple of things because they were private information.
She thinks I'm brave to tackle what I plan on tackling, which can be read two ways. Well, actually one really. I'm insane and I'm gonna have to be one hell of a writer to get around the fact that other people have read the books my characters are from. Incidently, those were the exact words my friend used when we started the project.
She also mentioned that I would have to look up if it's in the public domain or not. Thankfully it is, so that isn't a huge problem.
Now on to the next module.
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