One of the first things I did was to replace the k at the end of Fanatick. This was the most common spelling during Arden’s time of the derogatory slang for members of illegal, radical Protestant sects. I just feel this gives more seventeenth century flavor to the story. I also adjusted word choices, and tried to get rid of any analogies, metaphors, or figures of speech that might be anachronisms. I found more than a few to fix, and of course I found the odd typo. I broke up long words so that the lines of text would be more regular. I added words to clarify meaning, because the initial manuscript I submitted to Keith Publications had been stripped to its barest essentials in order to make sure it came in under 110,000 words. It still does, unless I get really verbose with the rest of this Afterword.
The saddest change I had to make was adding “late” to Professor Winn’s name in the dedication section. Seeing his name as I started re-formatting things, I decided to do an internet search to see if he’d written any interesting new books lately—he is considered the authoritative critical biographer of Restoration poet and playwright John Dryden. Thus I found that he had passed away over a year ago from pancreatic cancer.
I was privileged to have James A. Winn teach the Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature classes I took at the University of Michigan, both undergraduate and graduate levels. I had the even greater privilege of assisting him with research and proofreading the manuscript of John Dryden and His World. I still take great pride in his telling me that of the three research assistants he had while writing the book, I was the best. He was that valuable professor who is able to transmit his enthusiasm for his subject matter to his students along with the facts. He strongly believed, especially when it came to the English writing of the 1600s and 1700s, that the history of that period was key to understanding and appreciating it. He grabbed my attention immediately by informing the class that James I of England (Charles II’s grandfather) signed his letters to his gay lover “your very dog and slave” (which I couldn’t wait to try out in a letter to a high school friend who went to a rival school), and that England in this period was a lot like “a banana republic.” Later, when we moved to the works of Pope, Swift, and their circle, he compared Addison and Steele of The Spectator to John Lennon and Paul McCartney; Professor Winn also published scholarly work on the Beatles.
He was the first to tell me some of the stories about Charles II that I feel enrich Arden’s Act—the escape after the battle of Worcester in disguise, the inattentive babysitting of Dr. Harvey, and the King’s love of little spaniels. The love of the royals and writers of this period that I caught from James A. Winn will also have a great influence on another novel I will write, God willing. This is tentatively titled, Vanessa: An Eighteenth/Twentieth Century Romance. The prologue to this future novel has already been published as a short story in the online magazine Mytholog. For another hint, consider that the last paper I wrote for Professor Winn was on the subject of coffee as a metaphor for sex in the work of Jonathan Swift. True to my usual academic performance, I finished it at the last minute, staying up most of the night and frequently playing Squeeze’s “Black Coffee in Bed” for energy and inspiration. In short, Arden’s Act will not be my last novel to mention James A. Winn in the dedication.
Though I’ve had reasonably decent writing teachers along the way, Professor Winn also taught me a great deal about the craft. (Not that last-minute thing; that one’s all mine.) At the very least, I hope I’m not an embarrassment to his memory. At best, I hope to create work of sufficient value to make up for his disappointment that I did not follow his footsteps into academia.
Other Titles by Elizabeth Thomas
The Circle (full-length play)
Lot's Daughter (e-short)
Confessions of a Mixed-Up Weasel Hater (YA novel)
Coming soon: Crossings (short story collection)
For more information,
https://www.facebook.com/elizabeththomaswriter
Arden's Act Page 35