The Young Adulting First Page Feature is a chance for emerging writers to feature the first page of their works-in-progress on our website and in our monthly newsletter. Getting featured includes the opportunity for emerging writers to publicize themselves and their work, as well as answer three interview questions to share their creative process and writing journey.
For more info, see the FPF guidelines here, and submit here!
Unfortunate Stars by Galadriel Watson
With every intake of breath, my ribs strain against my corset. My chest heaves. My heart quickens. Despite my modest appearance, I flutter.
Maman, head bent across from me, weaves a needle and thread up and down, up and down. She is bound to this room and this place, whereas I am beyond, captured in an alternate world. Beneath the layers of fabric covering my lap, my legs twitch. I wish to pull them up, to tuck myself into a ball. I long to reduce my existence to this end of the jacquard-upholstered canapé, to this book in my grasp, to the sensations coursing through my limbs and the shivers sparking in my spine.
I turn the page. It offers mere marks on paper, but it transports me. Romeo is veiled in darkness beneath a balcony. Juliet is bemoaning his name. He reveals himself, grasping at vines to climb to her. She reaches down. They swear their love, a love that blazes like lightening. Oh, when will this happen to me? I wish—
“Caroline, put the book away.” Maman snaps me back into our grand but tedious parlour, to the arrangement of fine seating, the mahogany table where I tune out my tutors’ lectures, the exquisite piano where I dabble. “You have finished the edging?”
My chest deflates.
“I thought not. Put your reading down. No husband will admire you for your ability to disappear elsewhere. He will admire a well-embellished pillowcase.”
When a husband enters my bedchamber, I pray it is not the pillowcase he admires. Depending on whom that husband is…
I close the book and place it on the side table. I pick up the hoop that traps the off-white pillowcase. I grip the dainty needle. I stab and I push and I pull and the fabric resists, then gives in. The burgundy thread glides through.
The clock ticks.
Juliet is in rapture, and I am embroidering. Outside, 1827’s Paris clatters by. I cannot see it from this vantage, other than the occasional tip of a carriage-driver’s head, but I hear hooves on wet cobblestone. Under a sliver of chilly grey sky, the limestone townhomes across the wide boulevard look as sedate as ours. Inside, do servants giggle, children squeal as they slide down banisters, lovers caress lovers? More likely, servants scrub silver, children squirm during studies, men toil elsewhere at work and women tackle silk flowers, like us. How well-stocked all linen closets must be.
I sigh.
There is a knock. Someone is at the front door, likely hoping to see Papa—as a Comte and Minister of Commerce for King Charles X, he is often in demand. Nonetheless, Maman straightens, although her posture is already impossibly straight. Her lace-bound neck grows an inch. I do not bother to budge.
What drew you to writing for younger audiences?
I love the fact that I can be totally creative. I also write for adults and the outputs are usually more sedate. It’s fun to be fun! And the variety of topics that appeal to younger audiences also keeps me engaged with my work. As for writing YA novels, I adore pulling on heartstrings as the young characters navigate difficult situations and find first love.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
I’m a solid researcher, so enjoy getting the facts straight before I actually dive into writing. Subsequently, I love writing the first draft of a fiction project. I do this early in the morning, before my brain is fully awake; in this way, I’m not editing my work as I go along and end up with more creative scribblings. I’m not very keen on editing the completed first draft, though, into something more cohesive. That’s hard work!
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
I think two pieces of advice have been important. First, to sit down and write and not wait for the muse to come; make it a regularly scheduled activity and you’ll get used to having to produce at least something during that time. Second, to be persistent. It’s not easy to get published, so keep plugging away. It certainly won’t happen if you give up, but it might if you keep trying!
Galadriel Watson is dedicated to writing fascinating stories that engage readers while they learn more about themselves, the world and their connections within it. She has published 24 non-fiction books for children, plus articles for children in outlets like The New York Times for Kids and The Washington Post’s KidsPost. She also writes for adults, with credits in outlets like The Globe and Mail, Time and Discover. She has penned several novel manuscripts and is waiting for the right publisher to come along. Learn more at www.galadrielwatson.com.
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