bsky hilarybaudelaire / writeblr / musician / currently redrafting my first "Violins and Violets" book, podcasting @thewhimsicallifepodcast and occasionally writing "The Archers" fanfiction @ambridge-autumn.
1784: Katharina Schmidt and her brother Hans grew up composing and performing music for royalty all over Europe. Now they are adults, only Hans is allowed to pursue his music, while Katharina's father tells her it's time to find a husband and settle down. Katharina's attempts to do as she's told only convince her that it's not what she wants to do, and she must decide how far she's willing to go to keep making music.
Hello, friends! It's been a minute since I updated the links on my blog, and I have just seen that I still have the "Beta Readers Wanted" post linked to the "Violins and Violets (WIP)" button... from the draft I finished and started querying in 2019 / 2020!
Things have... changed somewhat since then...
"Violins and Violets" is now a series, of (I expect) five books. None of them have titles yet, so I'm just referring to them as "Violins and Violets 1," etc. I thought it was time to make a new WIP page.
Book 1 tag - WIP page - first draft completed in December 2023, second draft in May 2024. Third draft finished in May 2026, currently halfway through fourth draft. (Earlier titled "Ladies Don't Write Music" - but this may be a better name for Book 2.)
Book 2 tag - WIP page - first draft completed in January 2024, second draft in June and July 2024.
Book 3 tag - early planning stages, hoping to create outline in 2026, to draft in 2026/2027.
Book 4 tag - hoping to plan and draft in 2027.
Book 5 tag - hoping to plan and draft in 2028.
Series tag - all posts made about "Violins and Violets" since I realised it needed to be a series, no matter what book I'm talking about.
Everything "Violins and Violets" - the whole story, right from the beginning, when I started writing the first draft of a single book for Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2018.
One-Shots - short stories that I've written for the "Violins and Violets" world.
"Vogeltje" - another novel that takes place in the same world, and features some of the same characters.
I'm trying to bring each book in somewhere around 75,000 words, taking three months to write a first draft, and two months for each subsequent draft. I find it easier to focus on the story proper when I write quickly and regularly, so when I have a draft on the go, I try to write every day. Between drafts, I am trying to take whole months off writing, so that I can rest my creative muscles, as it were.
You can follow my progress here on my writeblr, and on the NaNoWriMo website.
Characters:
Katharina Schmidt - musical prodigy and composer who performed for royalty as a child, but is no longer allowed, because she's a woman. Disguises herself as "Sebastien", and flees Salzburg to start a composing career in Prague
Hans Schmidt - brother of Katharina, who is also a musical prodigy and composer, but is allowed to pursue his music as an adult.
Franz Schmidt - solicitor; father of Katharina and Hans, who wants to see his daughter married well enough to put silly ideas of music out of her head.
Julia Schmidt - lady of leisure; mother of Katharina and Hans; wife of Franz, who loves to make tapestries and knitted garments; wants the best for her children and is willing to let Franz decide what this is.
Barbara Kirkmann - housemaid to the Schmidts, Katharina's closest friend and confidante.
Elisabeth Meyer - daughter of Franz' boss, Katharina's first "acceptable" friend, and the oldest sister of many siblings; keen to get married and start a life of her own.
Miléna von Tritten - Elisabeth's best friend, and daughter of one of the Meyer firm's wealthiest clients, Baron von Tritten; expected to marry a noble, but totally absorbed in Johann Schneider.
Johann Schneider - training to be a magistrate, under pressure to get married, but totally uninterested in... anyone? All the ladies want him; none of them can catch him. Absolutely tone-deaf, but loves to watch musicians play; friends with Katharina.
Louisa Schneider - Johann's younger sister, also tone-deaf, but keen to become a musician under Katharina's tutelage.
Magdalena Fialová - an opera singer who wants to get more young women into music; one of "Sebastien's" first and best friends in Prague.
Miklós Kovács - a fellow violinist who persuades the management of the Malá Strana Opera House to give "Sebastien" an audition. Best friend of Magdalena, and very close with "Sebastien".
Background:
Yes, Katharina Schmidt is based on Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart, who deserved a much better life than she got. I have always wondered what would have happened if she had defied her father when he told her to stop composing. Would she have known as much fame as her brother?
Yes, Katharina Schmidt is a lesbian. That's because she's only based on a real person; she isn't actually Maria Anna Mozart. I have no idea what Ms Mozart would have called herself, or how she felt, and I think it would be rude for me to try to guess. This part of Katharina's character is inspired less by history than by my own experiences and desire to see more representation of Queer people in historical fiction. (She's not the only person in the series who isn't straight! Who are the others? You'll have to read the books to find out... or just follow here; I'm yappy about it.)
I've been getting to know my bread machine, and experimenting with the ratios of bread to flour.
Has anyone else noticed that the dough seems wetter / gloopier than it used to be, even when it's made with the exact same amounts of flour and water as you've used for the last twenty years? I have, and so has my Mum, and we're on a mission to work out the right ratio to use in this exciting new world where the recipes don't work as they once did.
This beautiful loaf - I think I cracked the recipe the first time, yesterday - was made with the Basic programme, to the following recipe:
510 g strong flour (50 % wholemeal, 50 % white)
330 ml water
30 g butter
1½ tbsp salt
1 tsp easy-bake yeast
1 tsp sugar
Today, I had another go (the first loaf didn't last long), with a ratio closer to 25 % wholemeal, 75 % white flour. At first, I couldn't work out why the crust was blonder than I was expecting it to be, when it came out of the machine, and then I remembered that I'm used to bread containing a lot more wholemeal flour.
It's turned out just as beautifully, through, and I'm looking forward to gobbling it up tomorrow, with my friends and family.
If you fancy baking some bread of your own, just say aloud that you're thinking of buying a bread machine. Someone will call you within the week to offer you their bread machine. Nobody has ever bought a new bread machine; these creatures are acquired serendipitously, like stray cats who make your home their own. Just wait and see: it happened to me last week, and this is how my Mum acquired both her own bread machines.
WHEN A CHARACTER IS PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE THEY’RE NOT
REPOST!
Pretending isn’t just lying, no, it’s becoming a version of yourself that feels easier to manage (easier to love, or control, or survive inside.) It’s a mask that starts out as protection and slowly becomes a second skin. One that’s hard to take off, even when you want to.
✦ They mirror the people around them without meaning to. Their laugh, their phrasing, the way they sit, it all shifts depending on who they’re with. Like they’re constantly adjusting, matching the energy in the room, trying to be what they think people want.
✦ They’re vague when things get personal, and not because they’re secretive, but because they don’t know anymore. Ask them their favorite song, and they’ll pause too long. Ask about their past, and their answers are half-finished, polished at the edges, like they’ve been told too many times to keep it clean.
✦ They over-prepare for conversations. They run through the dialogue in their head ahead of time. Rehearse their jokes, their exits, their answers. Everything feels a little scripted, like they’re playing the role of “themselves” instead of just… being.
✦ They always look put-together, maybe almost too much. Their clothes, their hair, their whole vibe is carefully chosen. But there’s a difference between style and armor, and this is armor. A version of themselves they’ve curated, down to the last thread.
✦ They panic when the script slips. Catch them off guard, and it shows… like, they freeze and fumble. The real stuff, feels dangerous. Being authentic means being vulnerable, and they’ve learned the hard way how risky that is.
✦ They shift depending on the room. One version of them at home, another at school, another with friends, like flipping channels. It’s not manipulation, no guys, it’s muscle memory, and they’ve learned to survive by adapting, and now they can’t stop.
✦ They touch their face or hair when they’re uncomfortable, like they’re checking to make sure the mask is still in place. A nervous habit that’s half-grounding, half-ritual, as if letting their guard down even physically would let everything else fall apart, too.
✦ Their smile is always photo-ready. Perfect, pretty, practiced…But there’s something in the eyes that doesn’t match, like they’re smiling at you, not with you. Like they’ve learned what people want to see, and they’ve gotten very good at giving it.
✦ If someone tells them, “I like the real you,” they go quiet. Not because they’re shy, but because deep down, they don’t know who the “real” version even is anymore. They want to believe there’s someone underneath it all, they just don’t know how to find them.
Here are the central pair in my first Violins and Violets book, Barbara (left) and Katharina (right)!
I did the line art a couple of weeks ago, and did the colour today with alcohol markers. Then I went out to get a frame for it and some other pieces of art I bought at the Japan Matsuri Festival in 2023 (did that quickly, of course). Framed them this afternoon 💜
Here are the central pair in my first Violins and Violets book, Barbara (left) and Katharina (right)!
I did the line art a couple of weeks ago, and did the colour today with alcohol markers. Then I went out to get a frame for it and some other pieces of art I bought at the Japan Matsuri Festival in 2023 (did that quickly, of course). Framed them this afternoon 💜
Hello, friends! Today, I had the overwhelming urge to do some artwork, so I photocopied the line drawing I did on 6th July onto marker-friendly paper, and spent about an hour colouring it up.
Here are Barbara and Katharina, sitting in a tree, enjoying the dappled sunlight, and refusing to name their emotions.
I just wrote 8 pages when I haven't written in months and was beginning to think I'd never be able to again. Idk what it is, but I am sharing and manifesting this energy for every writer who sees this. May you write 8 quality pages effortlessly and find joy writing once more
I want you to write for pleasure—to play. Just listen to the sounds and rhythms of the sentences you write and play with them, like a kid with a kazoo. This isn’t “free writing,” but it’s similar in that you’re relaxing control: you’re encouraging the words themselves—the sounds of them, the beats and echoes—to lead you on. For the moment, forget all the good advice that says good style is invisible, good art conceals art. Show off! Use the whole orchestra our wonderful language offers us! Write it for children, if that’s the way you can give yourself permission to do it. Write it for your ancestors. Use any narrating voice you like. If you’re familiar with a dialect or accent, use it instead of vanilla English. Be very noisy, or be hushed. Try to reproduce the action in the jerky or flowing movement of the words. Make what happens happen in the sounds of the words, the rhythms of the sentences. Have fun, cut loose, play around, repeat, invent, feel free.
