HISTORICAL BOYS: Historical Fiction for Men and Women

Review of THE WINTER PALACE by Eva Stachniak

2012-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

In the crowded historical fiction marketplace, THE WINTER PALACE stands out for being a book set in mid-eighteenth century Russia, an unusual setting. But what makes this novel unique is its perspective. Told from the viewpoint of Varvara, a young Polish woman who rises to influence in the Russian Court of Tsarina Elizabeth as a spy, we are swept into a tumultuous era when the fortunes of an entire empire hovered on the often incomprehensible whims of the aging tsarina, and where an enterprising servant could rise high, if she was willing to sacrifice enough to achieve her goals. Varvara is more than up to the task— a book binder’s daughter with little to recommend her save her ingenuity, she enters service as a secret “tongue”, ferreting out petty secrets to amuse her employers, until the young German princess Sophie arrives to wed the Tsarina's nephew.

In lovely, maligned Sophie, Varvara finds the perfect ploy to both succeed in her quest for independence and play a pivotal role in the future shaping of a ruler. But as Sophie grows from naive pawn to expert manipulator of circumstance, her own fight for survival in the ruthlessness of the court unravels Varvara's carefully constructed plans. Sophie will, in time, seize fame as Catherine the Great; Varvara’s destiny, however, becomes less certain as she begins to realize the price her intrigues and trust in the fickle nature of power could cost her— and those around her.

Elegantly written and gilded with details of the flamboyant decadence of the Russian court, THE WINTER PALACE is a compelling and vivid novel that is sure to please fans of historical and literary fiction alike.

Please check back for an exciting Q&A with Eva, coming soon!

Happy Holidays 2011!

2011-12-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers and Friends,
Wow! It seems as if this year went by really fast. I can't believe it's almost 2012. Looking back, however, I realize this is because it was such a jam-packed year for me, one I've been lucky to share with many of you. Here are some of the highlights:

February 2011 saw the publication of THE TUDOR SECRET, the first novel in my Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles - a wonderful achievement for me, as this is my little-novel-that-could. After years of rejection, I decided to independently publish this novel as The Secret Lion. That version's success helped me regain the confidence that the bruising cycle of submission and rejection had sapped; more importantly, it eventually gained me the attention I needed to catch my agent's eye. In an ironic twist of fate, it was sold, along with the next two in the series, to the same editor who read my very first novel, submitted by my very first agent, 13 years previously. All in all, proof that persistence is everything. To date, THE TUDOR SECRET has been sold in 7 countries and is poised for a massive bestseller campaign in Italy in February, 2012. Apparently, February is turning out to be a good luck month for me!

May 2011 saw publication of the paperback edition of THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI, another novel that underwent a long period of gestation, challenge, and change. From its original 798 pages, it was edited down during various submissions before it finally found its home, and transformed in the process from an epic recounting of 16th century France under Catherine's reign into a far more intimate story of this often vilified and misunderstood woman. The hardcover edition made several Top Reads of 2010 lists and sold out; I like to think that wherever Catherine is today, she's smiling :)

June 2011 brought the gathering of the historical fiction tribe in San Diego for the 4th US Historical Novel Society Conference. Beside the sparkling bay, readers, writers, bloggers, and fans of the genre congregated for two and a half days of panels, dinners and lunches, impromptu meetings, outings, and much laughter and celebration. Some of the highlights for me were lunch with my fellow authors of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency; C.C. Humphreys in blue velvet, playing the libidinous earl of Rochester in the late-night sex scene reading from Gillian Bagwell's The Darling Strumpet; seeing my agent at the podium, receiving the accolade she so richly deserves for all of her and the agency's hard work representing some of our genre's most celebrated authors; drinking wine with my editor; sharing time on panels with fellow authors, and of course fun with friends.

July through September saw me hard at work on THE QUEEN'S VOW, my novel about Isabella of Castile, which will be published on June 12, 2012. I loved returning to early Renaissance Spain and re-discovering Isabella, who'd played such a significant supporting role in my first book, The Last Queen. One of my continuing joys in writing historical fiction is recognizing my own prejudices and preconceived notions, and seeing how my research has influenced these beliefs. Like Catherine de Medici and Juana la Loca (who was Isabella's daughter) Isabella of Castile has suffered from history's verdict, her reign one of great accomplishment but also dark controversy. I hope this novel about her early years and tumultuous rise to the throne, as well as her struggles as a young bride and queen, will help to humanize her for readers. For in the end, that is what historical fiction does best: it helps us to see these long-gone characters from the past as people, first and foremost.

As the year comes to a close, I'm currently at work on the editorial revision of my second Spymaster book, tentatively titled The Tudor Deception. I plan to finish the revision by the start of 2012 and then turn my full attention to my next stand-alone novel, Borgia's Daughter, about the early years of another infamous woman I find fascinating: Lucrezia Borgia.

It's been an incredibly busy and productive year, one which certainly could not have been possible without your ongoing support. Every reader who bought my book; every book club who invited me to chat; every blogger who reviewed my work, interviewed me, or posted a guest post; every recommendation, criticism, or mention - these are integral to my success. I owe it all to you and I want to extend my most heartfelt appreciation.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season, filled with health and love. May we find better ways to live together as a community; to treat our fellow beings, animal and human, with love and respect; to find peace and restore harmony to our much beleaguered planet.

And may we always tell and read stories, for story is the universal tie that binds us.

Want to travel with me?

2011-11-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Academic Travel is considering doing an author-led tour with me to France or Spain, a traveling book group where we will retrace the footsteps of either Catherine de Medici, or Isabella of Castile and Juana la Loca. If you're interested, please click on the survey and let us know! Your input is most important at this stage, as we gauge interest. Thanks!

Guest post from Pam Jenoff, author of THE THINGS WE CHERISHED

2011-11-01T09:45:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Pam Jenoff, bestselling author of THE THINGS WE CHERISHED, which tells the story of Charlotte Gold and Jack Harrington, two fiercely independent attorneys who find themselves slowly falling for one another while working to defend the brother of a Holocaust hero against allegations of World War II–era war crimes. Pam has garnered international acclaim for her first novel The Kommandant's Girl, as well as its sequel The Diplomat's Wife. In her guest post, Pam offers us an intriguing look at historical accuracy and a glimpse into the struggles that many of us who write historical fiction face. Please join me in welcoming Pam Jenoff.

Historical Fiction: How Real? How True?
by Pam Jenoff
I grew up an avid reader of historical fiction, devouring stories as far away as medieval England and as near as the 20th century. Yet I cannot recall asking myself the top questions my readers now seem to want to know: how much of the story is true? How accurate is it?

I suppose on some level I too was asking those questions, at least subconsciously. I became excited each time a “real” historical figure entered the story and always loved traveling to a place where a story I’d read had been set. But it was not until becoming an author that I seriously considered the matter. How much history and how much fiction and how to combine the two? In some sense, the two go hand in hand – it is history that provides the setting and milieu, and historical events can serve as a powerful inspiration and catalyst for fictional characters. But they can also be in tension with one another – history can slow down a story and make the plot drag.

Readers have very strong views. For example, when my first novel, The Kommandant’s Girl, was released, I braced myself for the backlash that would inevitably come from writing about a Jewish woman (Emma) who becomes involved with a Nazi. To my surprise, no one seemed bothered by that. Instead, the readers took issue with my portrayal of various historical details: an Orthodox Jewish family would never have named their daughter Emma, one wrote. A secular Jew like Emma’s husband Jacob would not have worn a yarmulke, insisted another. There were others too, but you get the idea.

Nowhere is the passion for reality and accuracy more intense than with readers of novels set during World War II and the Holocaust. Everyone has his or her own world view of these events. Some readers think I’m too hard on the Poles and their role in the war and others say I’m too nice. One reader took issue with a Polish character commenting that the west had taken too long to join the war effort, although that was surely the point of view of a woman trapped in an occupied country. I have found editors to be similarly sensitive to historical detail – with my second novel, The Diplomat’s Wife, we spent much time debating whether a bus would have had doors in 1946 London and would it have cost a two pence or five pence to ride? Wrestling with the historical/fiction balance was particularly challenging in my latest novel, The Things We Cherished, because it jumps between a number of historical periods.

It is an issue that I continually wrestle with as a writer. Sometimes, I choose to stay accurate (keeping the geography of a city intact tends to be particularly important to me.) Other times the needs of plot and narrative thrust dictate that history be bent, such as reducing the approximately eighteen months between the German invasion and the creation of the Krakow ghetto to six weeks. (I felt better upon reading recently that the true story of the Von Trapp family was similarly cut from twelve years to a few months in The Sound of Music.)

I’m mixed about the intensity readers seem to place on “real life” details. I’m not saying that historical writers should not be diligent in their research with the goal of creating a realistic time and place. But this is fiction, not memoir. And I worry sometimes that it becomes a game of “gotcha” where readers, armed with the questionable accuracy of Wikipedia, try to spot mistakes in what is essentially supposed to be a fictional world. It can at times feel, well, a tad adversarial and perhaps take away from the author-reader connection. I wish that I could create a world and as long as my characters followed the rules of that world, I wouldn’t be held accountable to any external standard. I need a little latitude to make the story work (she whines). But then, I suppose, I should write fantasy, shouldn’t I?

Ultimately, though, I do think a degree of accuracy is important to create a believable story and keep the trust that is necessary between the author and reader. I’m glad that my readers are intelligent and pay attention and care as much as I do about the past.

Thank you, Pam. We wish you much success with your latest book. The Things We Cherished is published by Sphere in the UK on November 10 as a paperback original, £6.99. To learn more about Pam and her work, please visit her website.

My Favorite Scary Novels

2011-10-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

In celebration of upcoming All Hallow’s Eve, I want to share a few of my favorite scary novels. These are the books that freaked me out; that sent me running through the house turning on lights and locking doors, or left me paralyzed in bed, staring at the closet waiting for the bogeyman to jump out.

THE EXORCIST by William Peter Blatty
I discovered it in my adolescence, not a good time to read a novel about a child possessed by a demon. It scared me so bad that for months afterwards I felt my bed rocking. In fact, it scared me so much I wouldn’t see the movie until I was in my mid-twenties and guess what? It freaked me out all over again. Written in stark, often obscenity-laden prose, the premise provokes major writer envy. Blatty struck a raw universal nerve, and hit major pay-gold, with his masterful ability to make us believe in the unthinkable.

THE SHINING by Stephen King
I read it while on vacation at the seaside and I couldn’t use the hotel bathroom because I was afraid of the dead lady in the tub. King had already blazed an enviable path with his Carrie and Salem’s Lot, but in The Shining he surpasses himself. Again, the premise provokes envy: a recovering alcoholic author takes a caretaker job in a snow-bound, haunted hotel with his wife and psychic son and starts to unravel. What elevates the story to classicism is its scythe-like insight into the dark recesses of the mind: no writer has ever portrayed the haunting of another writer as King does, and no one has ever been able to scare so many people by putting us in an allegedly empty hotel room.

THE WITCHING HOUR by Anne Rice
She’d already garnered super-star bestseller status with her Vampire Chronicles when Rice turned her velvet-and-blood attention to the world of the hereditary Mayfair witches and the vengeful spirit who haunts them. The series faltered but, oh, the first entry is perfection. From modern day San Francisco and New Orleans to the highlands of 16th century Scotland, Rice plunges us into a historically lush maelstrom of evil and redemption. The writing is drenched in allegory, feverish as only Rice at her best can be; and the moment when Lasher appears will make you shiver.

IMAJICA by Clive Barker
Known as a modern-day master of horror, the disturbed mind behind such film classic demons as Pinhead, Barker has written a number of frightening novels, but in this one, arguably his most ambitious, he delivers a vast, mythological tale of an alternate and often horrific world beyond our own, where assassins and gods and monsters engage in an elaborate chess-board game of power and destruction, offering us a breathtaking, unforgettable elegy for our times. It needs to be read twice.

FEVRE DREAM by George R.R. Martin
He’s world-famous for those fantasy door-stoppers but in this early novel about a mid-nineteenth century steamboat in New Orleans where a race of vampires clash is truly awesome. Martin takes the genre clichés and redefines them; he also makes us both long to be, and conversely dread ever encountering, the now overdone undead.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Read something scary.

The Bad Review

2011-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

I got a really bad review a few days ago. No, let me re-phrase that. Not merely bad. Rotten. Dreadful. As in, this reviewer said everything I imagine someone saying in my worst nightmares about my book. I wasn’t expecting it -writers rarely do - and at first I sat there, stunned. I couldn’t believe anyone could take such offense to what is, in the final say, fiction. A novel. Entertainment. It didn’t help that as I re-read the review, with that weird bewilderment which sets in as you realize someone out there really dislikes your work, I found the reviewer had put an enormous spoiler in the review and evidently thought nothing of it.

Bad reviews are, of course, part and parcel of being published; it comes with the territory and there’s no handbook to teach you how to deal with the emotional impact. Some authors cry. Others get drunk. Some call a friend to gripe. Most get mad. A few take it in stride, or at least pretend to. After all, it’s your book someone just skewered—the tangible fruit of years of labor. You’ve sacrificed valuable time with family and friends; forgone movies, restaurants, sex; you’ve walked the dog aimlessly in circles, muttering like an indigent to yourself; burned or forgotten meals; lost sleep; tussled and agonized over a single word, even screamed at your computer when no one was looking. The hard truth is writing is tough and writing a novel is the epitome of toughness. It takes perseverance, ego, and more than a touch of insanity. I mean, you spend all this time by yourself, locked in your head in a room staring at a screen or piece of paper, conjuring imaginary things, and hoping, praying, someone else will care enough to want to read it, let alone publish it. Then, insomniac, battered and badly in need of a shower, you turn the manuscript in and have to deal with everyone else’s opinion of it— your agent, your editor, the marketing team, the booksellers. In their own ways, they will each shape your work into something that can be packaged and sold to the public. Sentences you slaved over will be cut without mercy; scenes shifted here or re-crafted there; a character will be eliminated and another, to your astonishment, will attempt to hijack the plot. You’ll go back over the same lines time and time again, until you can recite them from memory and your spouse or significant other will look at you furtively as you sit hunched at your desk, crab-handed over those first-pass pages, and remark perhaps it’s time for us to start thinking of taking that oft-delayed vacation.

In the end, the idea that started as a seed in your febrile brain, was nurtured on imagination and the internal chug-a-lug of I-think-I-can, I-think-I-can will become a cooperative project, a team effort. A Book.

And then, it gets sent out. To anonymous people and places you’ve never seen. Newspapers (though these are less and less); trade magazines; online sites; bloggers—hundreds of eyes will peruse your painstakingly crafted prose and, within a few lines, maybe a few chapters, if you’re lucky, pass judgment. To review or not review; to like or not like. After all, this person who will now review your book has no stake in your well-being, particularly. They don’t know if you’re a nice person or a mean one; if you talk on your cell phone when you should be driving; if you donate to an animal shelter or spend too much money on shoes. All they care about is that visceral, subjective moment which you have no control over, when they read your words for the very first time and had a reaction. Or didn’t. So, those words you hoped and prayed were worthy of attention will now, finally, garner words of their own, for better or worse.

In some cases, as in bad reviews, you’ll almost wish they hadn’t. Almost, but not quite. Because in the end, even a bad review is still a review. It means someone cared enough to take the time to say: Hey, this sucks. Don’t bother. Buy a DVD instead. Check out the latest Ikea catalog. Collect stamps. Browse online for new underwear. Do anything but purchase this lousy book.

Yes, someone cared. And isn’t that what every writer dreams of? I know I do. So, how did I deal with the bad review? How else? I cried. I got mad. I pretended not to care. I poured myself a stiff drink and called a friend to complain.

And so it goes.

Guest post from Stephanie Dray, author of THE SONG OF THE NILE

2011-10-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Stephanie Dray, author of Lily of the Nile and its recently published sequel, SONG OF THE NILE (Berkeley Trade paperback, October 2011) charting the middle part of the fascinating, dramatic, and always intrigue-laden story of Cleopatra's surviving daughter, Cleopatra-Selene. Filled with vivid details of the ancient world, as well as its depravity and mysticism, in SONG OF THE NILE, Selene has survived her perilous childhood only to be forced to marry a man chosen for her by the emperor; with the magic of Isis, she rules her realm and wins the love of her new subjects, beguiling her way to the very precipice of power. She has never forgotten her birthright but will the price of her mother’s throne be more than she’s willing to pay?

Please join me in welcoming Stephanie Dray!

Livia: Wicked or Wonderful? by Stephanie Dray

I’m delighted to be here because I’m a C.W. Gortner fan and I share his love of history’s bad girls. In my case, I love the bad girls of the ancient world. Let’s face it. Powerful women got a bad rap. This was especially the case for Rome’s first empress, Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus Caesar. She comes down to us as a sort of wicked step-monster of the Julio-Claudian family-one who murders, manipulates and maligns everyone who gets in her way. The ancient writers didn’t much like her. Modern writers don’t like her either.

Played to perfection by Siân Phillips in the mini-series of Robert Graves’ famous I, Claudius, Livia emerges as a delicious villainess. She makes Cruella de Vil rather civilized for merely wanting to turn spotted puppies into fur coats. Personally, I found the lure of such extravagant evil too hard to resist. When writing about my heroine, the orphaned daughter of Cleopatra, who was taken as a prisoner of war at the age of nine and marched through the streets in chains, there were plenty of villains for me to choose from. But my novels aren’t about the the tragedies this real life princess lived through; my novels are ultimately about Cleopatra Selene’s triumphs. So I wanted an antagonist who could show the darker sides of my heroine’s ambitions.

Livia fit the bill.

It’s true that in my novels, Cleopatra Selene plays a dangerous and twisted game with the ruthless Emperor Augustus, who was obsessed with her mother and is now obsessed with her, too. But I wanted to show the other side of the coin--a woman who was nothing whatsoever like Cleopatra of Egypt, but almost as powerful. That’s where Livia came in.

Unlike the seductive Queen of the Nile, Livia was known for chaste and modest public behavior. (At least, after she married Augustus.) She always dressed in voluminous garments that practically covered her from neck to ankle, and of course, her husband would brag that she spun the wool and wove the cloth to make those baggy clothes as well. She was a veritable goddess of domesticity, our Livia. And one who supposedly eschewed expensive jewelry, claiming that her children were the only jewels she needed. In spite of all this puritanical posturing, Livia was, nonetheless, associated with sexual scandal. Suetonius reports that she was rumored to procure young virgin girls for her husband’s bed. That made me wonder if such girls came from within the emperor’s own household and included vulnerable orphans like Cleopatra Selene.

Livia was also rumored to be a poisoner. She’s known to have concocted tonics and elixirs that she said accounted for her extraordinarily good health and long life, but if you were supping at the imperial palace, you might be better off not drinking the wine. At various points, she’s been accused of murdering Marcellus, Drusus, Germanicus, Postumus and even Augustus himself. In my novel, she offers Cleopatra Selene a poisoned cup.

But was Livia really such a she-devil?

Her biographer, Anthony Barrett, paints a picture of a much maligned mother of the empire. She had a documented record of altruism against which her detractors could only conjure up rumor and innuendo. She went to the emperor on behalf of the citizens of the Isle of Samos to return them to independence. She is known to have intervened on behalf of one woman accused of witchcraft; she also saved the life of a man who accidentally appeared naked before her, saying that to chaste women, to look at a naked man was like looking at a statue. Known to advise her husband on political matters, Livia enjoyed a marriage with him of more than fifty years. Especially tricky, considering that she never gave him a child and he rather desperately needed an heir.

I can’t point to a single documented event in which Livia did an evil deed. Her worst crime, it seems, was to have lived for so long and exerted such power over the empire as the wife or ancestress of every Julio-Claudian emperor, that the only way to explain her political success was to make her a monster. In the end, Livia was deified, and worshiped, as a goddess, so maybe she’ll have the last laugh. Certainly, the one regret about my own novels is that I so enjoyed exploiting her bad reputation.

Expect lots of wickedness and depravity in Song of the Nile, but in the third and final book of the trilogy, I hope to redeem myself by giving Livia a little bit of empathy. So, what about you? Are there women in history that you love to hate?

Thank you, Stephanie! We wish you much success and I, for one, am really looking forward to the third part of this amazing story! To find out more about Stephanie and her work, please visit her at her website.

Review of BECOMING MARIE ANTOINETTE by Juliet Grey

2011-10-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Marie Antoinette is without a doubt one of the most famous women in history— the allegedly vapid queen of France, she of the powdery towering coiffure, so ridiculously overdressed and out of touch that when told that her people were starving because of lack of bread, she supposedly replied, “Let them eat cake.” Of course, as we all know, history rarely tells us the truth and in the last decade or so, there has been a concerted effort by historical novelists— myself included – to restore the reputations and lives of these long-dead and maligned women to a semblance of reality via the art of historical fiction.

BECOMING MARIE ANTOINETTE by Juliet Grey is a prime example of how well this art can both replenish our opinion of a famous personage while at the same time, reinforce the factual record. In this first installment of a trilogy, we meet a young and impetuous Maria Antonia – her given Hapsburg name – one of the brood which Empress Maria Teresa produced with tireless regularity during her astonishing 40-year reign. Unlike the coveted princess-brides of the Renaissance, however, these mid-eighteenth century Hapsburg daughters are woefully under-educated, pretty to look at, yes, but designed to be strictly ornamental, rather than functional, royal wives. Maria Antonia in particular dislikes studying and reading, and prefers to fritter away her time with her sisters chasing butterflies in the garden, though she’s designated to become the wife of none other than King Louis XV’s grandson, the Dauphin Louis Auguste.

One of the delights of reading this novel is meeting our vapid, bubble-headed legend head-on in her preteen years. She starts out in true cup-cake fashion; though not blond (Marie Antoinette was actually closer to strawberry-blonde, as the book points out) she is nevertheless almost everything we’d imagine she would be: undeniably charming and effervescent, quick to point out the frills of her latest gown and how she looks in it; and utterly clueless to the realities of the world around her. Raised in a crème-macaroon world of protective Imperial ostentation, our little Maria Antonia has no idea of the fate awaiting her; and it’s the literary equivalent of watching a slow-motion train wreck as we read of her excruciating Eliza Doolittle-makeover, reinforced by her steel-hearted mother and the ambassadors, all of whom work in concert to turn Hapsburg straw into Bourbon gold. Poor Mari Antonia suffers both physical and emotional humiliations before she’s shipped off to France to be plunged into the corrupt cauldron of stultifying protocol and vicious intrigue of the court of Versailles.

And it’s precisely here, when we least expect it, where the legend ends. Our Maria Antonia is now Marie Antoinette, dauphine of France, and all her giddy optimism and adolescent fears are put abruptly to the test by the jaded splendors of Louis XV’s waning reign. Her husband refuses to consummate their marriage, though physically, he seems able; her father-in-law’s mistress is a jealous and competitive rival; her aunts-by-marriage are a trio of Macbethian spinsters, eager to exploit her; and the advice she receives from her advisers is contradictory, to say the least. Marie Antoinette finds herself the prey of a host of lavishly dressed predators and we cringe as we anticipate them making her their next meal. How she prevails; how she, in fact, ‘becomes Marie Antoinette’, constitutes the best part of this novel.

Ms Grey is a marvelous wordsmith and she doesn’t spare us the realities of life in Versailles, from the urine-drenched corners to the beggars sleeping in the hallways to the lavish excess of dinner parties and salons. A subtle air of rot emanates from just under the sheen of velvet; and we know, as we watch Marie Antoinette steer her way to fame, that she cannot escape it, no matter how valiantly she tries. Yet as she herself tells us her story in her breathy, witty, and often keenly observant voice, we find ourselves captivated by this young girl, unwittingly thrust into a role she must embody if she is to survive. Though very few of us are unaware of the terrors that await her, it is testament to Ms Grey’s skill that we actually forget as we root for Marie Antoinette’s success and finish the novel in eager anticipation of its impending sequel.

Review of THE SLEEPWALKERS by Paul Grossman

2011-09-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite periods in 20th century history is pre-Nazi Berlin; a fragile time before the rise of an era of unspeakable darkness, when the city was a fabled cosmopolitan smorgasbord full of vibrancy- an international magnet for artists, bohemians, eccentrics, and the curious. The Berlin we know today is very different from the Berlin of before World War II and Paul Grossman’s THE SLEEPWALKERS offers us a superb evocation of that city’s pathos and tragic hedonism in the weeks leading up to Hitler’s ascendancy, even as a resolute Jewish detective hunts for a killer.

As the title suggests, this is more than a novel about a series of bizarre murders that Grossman’s hero, Detective Willi Krauss, is trying to solve. All of Berlin appears to be sleep-walking, seemingly oblivious to the endemic violence lurking under the surface, epitomized by Nazi thugs and opportunistic politicians scheming to rescue Germany from decades of penury and shame. Krauss, however, senses these fearsome undercurrents, even as he is swept up in a labyrinthine quest to discover why a young woman pulled from the river was subjected to horrific medical experiments. Revered for his recent capture of an infamous serial killer yet haunted by personal loss, Krauss is now beginning to experience a subtle but pervasive fraying of his impermeability. His keen observations of the shifting world around him anchor the novel’s dark, fascinating trajectory into both the high-ranking offices of a crumbling government and Berlin's seamy underworld.

The supporting cast of characters includes an enigmatic prostitute, an extravagant hypnotist, an earnest cadet, a jaded aristocrat, and a street hustler. While some of the characters conform to established cliches, Grossman handles them with sensitivity and style, while his villains— including a terrifying, buck-toothed Josef Mengele—display the sociopathic tendencies which became a Nazi blueprint and are all the more unsettling because they are not fictional. Fast-paced action sequences interspersed with Krauss’s uneasy awareness that the life he’s always believed in is turning to quicksand under his feet give the novel a brooding, unstoppable feel that kept me reading far into the night. Though Krauss fights with every part of his being to halt the shadow sweeping over him, and everyone he loves, we know the inevitable outcome; it is a testament to Mr Grossman's talent that despite this, we still find ourselves rooting for his idealistic, damaged hero, caught up in circumstances far beyond his control, like so many thousands of Germany's inhabitants.

THE SLEEPWALKERS is now available in paperback from St Martin's Press.

Guest post from Mark Mustian, author of THE GENDARME

2011-09-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Mark Mustian, author of THE GENDARME. Highly praised and reviewed, this is a haunting, elegant novel about how the ghosts of our unresolved past return to us, as told through the eyes of an old, ailing man who suddenly re-visits his World War I experiences as a gendarme, escorting Armenian women and children from war-torn Turkey. Among the refugees is a young woman whose mismatched gaze captivates him but they are separated by the conflict; decades later, he finds himself embarking on a journey of forgiveness. Now available in paperback, this is a remarkable and unforgettable novel. Please join me in welcoming Mark Mustian.

Guest post by Mark Mustian:

I’ve never met anyone with mismatched eyes. I mean, I know they exist, and I’ve seen pictures and heard tell of them, but I haven’t met them. And yet the woman at the center of my novel The Gendarme, and whose picture adorns the cover, has one eye darker, the other lighter. At book signings and book club events and even by e-mail, people ask me, “Why did you do this?” And I reply, in typical author fashion, that they’ll have to read the book.

Actually, there are several reasons. The Gendarme is the story of 92 year-old Emmett Conn (then Ahmet Khan), who fought for the Turks in World War I, was injured during the war and lost much of his memory, and only later in life, and after emigrating to the U.S., begins to recall things from the beginning of the war, including his serving as a gendarme and escorting Armenian women and children out of Turkey into Syria. Among his charges is a young woman, hidden under cap and billowy clothing, whose beauty astonishes him when he sets sight upon her. She is young, maybe early teens. She has mismatched eyes.

Most Americans, I’ve discovered, know very little about the Turks and Armenians. The Armenians were a large Christian sect living in eastern Turkey, Iran and the areas near the Black Sea, descendants of an earlier Armenian kingdom, and one of the oldest of Christian peoples. There is an Armenian quarter in Jerusalem, an Armenian Orthodox Church. A small country of Armenia exists today, sandwiched between Turkey and some of the other former Soviet states in the Caucasus. At the beginning of World War I, the Turks were at war with, among others, the (Christian) Russians. Fearing collusion among their large Armenian minority, they rounded up and killed most of the Armenian men, and sent the women and children and old people on an overland trek across the desert to Syria.

When I first started researching the book, I found myself trying to understand how this could have happened. What were the Turks thinking? What circumstances led to this horror? I decided to try and write the book from the point of view of a Turk—a gendarme—escorting these people away from their homeland. In my novel Ahmet first views these deportees as having sewn the seeds of their fate, what with their clannishness and divided loyalty, but as the march goes on, and after he meets the young woman, Araxie, he begins to view the group with greater compassion, to actually see them as displaced, suffering, sympathetic people.

The mismatched eyes are part of the exotica that attracts him to her, but they also reflect the duality lying at the book’s heart—the capacity of everyone to do good and evil. As one character says at the end, there is no blood test that defines us as either bad or good, saint or sinner, Turk or Armenian. The other side of love is hate, and what greater hate is there than apathy? Turkey today, one of the most modern countries in the Middle East, denies responsibility for what happened, turning a blind eye (if you will) to the past. One can only hope that one day things will be different, that wrongs will be righted or, at the very least, acknowledged. A difference as great as, say, light eyes and dark, and all of the combinations that can be evidenced in between.

Guest post from Elizabeth Chadwick, author of LADY OF THE ENGLISH

2011-09-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Elizabeth Chadwick, author of numerous marvelous historical novels. Her latest is LADY OF THE ENGLISH, the dramatic tale of Matilda, daughter of Henry I, and Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen. Both Adeliza and Matilda are strong women in a tumultous age, prepared to stand firm for what they know is right. But in a world where a man's word is law, how can Adeliza obey her husband while supporting Matilda, the rightful queen? And for Matilda, what price must she pay to win the crown she believes is hers?

Please join me in welcoming Elizabeth Chadwick!

Getting out the dressing up box, 12th-century style
by Elizabeth Chadwick.
Hello and thank you to the brilliant C.W. Gortner for inviting me to guest post on Historical Boys! I thought it might be interesting to answer the question. What did a 12th century woman wear? Let’s take a look at how a lady living at the time of Lady of the English would have dressed.

Underwear:The answer to this is that no one knows what mediaeval women wore under their dresses when it came to covering their most intimate areas. There is very little evidence and historians are still arguing among themselves. So with sensible speculation, what might a 12th century lady have worn? She might have used a similar arrangement to that employed by men, which basically consisted of a pair of very baggy underpants, a bit like very oversized boxer shorts, to which were attached hose by means of straps or ties. he might have worn some form of loincloth, or she might have worn nothing at all. We don't even know what kind of arrangements women made at certain times of the month because no one wrote about it at the time. Most chroniclers were men of a clerical persuasion and such subjects would have been totally inappropriate. Not even the medical treatises deal with the practicalities of menstruation. There are very vague hints about linen cloths that might have been used – presumably attached to a belt, but there is no full and concrete evidence.

Covering her from neck to toe, the lady would wear a chemise. This is a sort of petticoat come under-dress that would usually be made out of linen. In the 12th century very fine linen was made for chemises and wimples in Flanders and imported to Britain. The chemise was a garment loose on the body but was often tight on the sleeves from elbow to forearm. It was fastened with ties or a brooch at the neck, but never a drawstring in this period. Buttons were known, but used as decorations to be sewn on dresses. In the 12th century, they were not used as fasteners.

Legs: On her legs and feet the lady may have worn stockings made out of wool, linen or silk, held in place by pretty garters made out of ribbon or braid. http://www.flickr.com/photos/claning/3673629562/ She might also have worn in winter, thick woolly socks. Both socks and stockings could be made by a technique that the Vikings called naalbinding. It's a form of knitting done with one needle. You can see an archaeological find here. http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/artefacts/sock1.htm
And here is an example of a replica pair of socks. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3lL358s5Eyw/TSIQRe2vITI/AAAAAAAAAnY/BpsvfBPLJiI/s1600/elsashukka1.jpg
Feet: Her shoes would have been made from leather – cowhide and goatskin usually, and came in a variety of styles, but without heels at this date, and frequently made by what is called the turn shoe method - where the shoe is stitched inside out and then turn the right way when it's done. This is a photo of a pair of my shoes. (add photo titled My medieval shoes). The vamp strips down the middle are made of silk and dyed with woad.

Dress: The dress in this period follow several styles, but generally speaking if one was high status, the gown would involve plenty of fabric to show you were rich enough to afford cloth which was labour intensive to make, and it would be made of a top quality wool, dyed in expensive colours such as dark red or dark blue. Deep colours cost more because the dying process was more involved – a garment might have to be dyed more than once to acquire the correct shade, and dyes such as woad involved lengthy preparation processes.

As well as having yards of material in the skirt, the high status gown might have extravagant hanging sleeves. This wasn't always the case, but it was a fashion option. Often the gown was decorated with jewels, jetons and embroidery. For the extremely wealthy there was silk, which was imported from the Middle and Far East. After the 12th century silk began to be manufactured in Europe in Italy and the price dropped slightly but it was still a luxury item and only the rich could afford to wear it. Only royalty and the highest magnates in the land could afford to wear purple silk. This dye was more expensive than gold and was made from Mediterranean sea snails. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple
The Treasury of Roger of Palermo in Sicily boasts a surviving purple silk gown from the empress’s period and you can see it here: http://medieval.webcon.net.au/extant_holy_roman_tunicella.html%22%3Ehttp://medieval.webcon.net.au/extant_holy_roman_tunicella.html

Dresses were often laced at the sides to enable them to cling to the figure. Back lacing, often seen in modern illustrations and dramas on TV appear to be a lot less likely. Dresses of ordinary people used less fabric and were of coarser cloth (usually wool), and cheaper dyes. In essence they were less sumptuous relations to the garments of the aristocracy.

Cloak: The aristocratic noble lady of the 12th century would usually wear a circular floorlength cloak fastened either with clasps or a brooch. Very high status ladies would have cloaks lined with animal fur such as Russian squirrels (vair), red squirrel and sable. Royalty would wear ermine, which was the winter fur of the stoat. Lesser folk made do with linings of cat and lambskin. There was also a garment called a mantle which was similar to a poncho in shape with a hole in the middle for the head and full sides to cover the body. Rectangular cloaks were known too.

Headdress: Generally, all married women wore head coverings. They would wear a linen cap, with a wimple over the top. The wimple was a large rectangular piece of linen that was draped over the head and pinned into place. There is a great deal of speculation and experimentation still ongoing among historians and practical archaeologists as to how wimples were arranged. Wimples tended to cover head and throat. When just the head was covered, then the garment is often called a veil. Sometimes for the high status lady, the wimples were made of silk.

Accessories: Accessories were used to accentuate certain aspects of the female body in attractive ways. Finger rings were popular at this period and a great show made the hands and hand gestures. Ornate and decorated belts drew the attention to the waistline and hips, and the side lacing is where the chemise might just poke through the gaps and give a man a thrill! The rich used magnificent brooches and clasps to pin cloaks and mantles. The poor use less ostentatious decoration but again of similar type.

So, there you have it. The everyday outfit of a 12th century woman at the time of the Empress Matilda. Would you like to dress like this?

Quick update

2011-08-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

Summer is going by so fast, I thought I'd offer a quick update before autumn arrives.

On the book release front, in case you missed it, THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI is out in paperback with a beautiful new cover. I'm enjoying hearing from people who have read it and am always available to chat with book groups. Like THE LAST QUEEN before it, this novel has generated some marvelous book group chats so far, with readers expressing strong opinions of who Catherine was and what she did. For me, it is the highest praise to be among readers who care enough to debate the life of a woman who lived and died so long ago.

My novel on Isabella of Castile is finished and currently with my editor. Various titles are being mulled over, so as soon as I know the official title, I'll tell you. Title changes can be difficult for a writer to cope with; if we have a working title we really love and have become attached to, it's hard to re-adjust our thinking and think of something new, but between my agent, editor, and I, we've come up with some great alternatives. The novel is scheduled to be published in the US on June 12, 2012. When I have a UK date, I'll make sure to let you know.

I'm still writing SPYMASTER 2. It does have a working title, which I won't reveal, because as circumstances have shown, who knows what it'll end up being? However, I'm enjoying returning to Brendan and his dark, Tudor world. This time, he's on a mission in Mary Tudor's court and must overcome the lethal Imperial ambassador, scheming earl of Devonshire, and another, unexpected opponent. Elizabeth is once again in peril, and Brendan must set aside much of what he thinks he knows about her to safeguard her life. Oh, and of course he gets to match wits again with Robert Dudley, now imprisoned in the Tower with his brothers. THE TUDOR SECRET has generated a lot of new fans for me - which I love - but it also increases my desire to give you a worthy sequel. I've had to do some significant plot revisions, so I'm not sure about publication dates at this time. Most likely, it will hit stores sometime in 2013.

Lastly, I signed a contract with Ballantine Books for my fourth stand-alone historical novel, this time about the infamous Lucrezia Borgia. I'll be exploring her Vatican years, when she found herself being used as a marriage pawn by her father, Pope Alexander, and her tumultuous, dangerous relationship with her seductive brother, Cesare. I love the Italian Renaissance and the Borgias, who hailed from Spain, are the perfect family for journeying into the cutthroat politics, elaborate pageantry and power-plays of papal Rome. I'm researching the novel now and am finding Lucrezia as interesting, and misinterpreted, as my previous Italian-born heroine, Catherine de Medici. I'm excited to bring her to life, as I've had a fascination with her since I was a child. The chance to work with her is a dream come true.

I hope you're all having a wonderful summer and thank you for reading!

Guest post by Carson Morton, author of STEALING MONA LISA

2011-07-31T19:00:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Carson Morton, author of the debut historical mystery STEALING MONA LISA. Set in 1911, this novel is based on the real-life theft of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece from the Louvre in Paris - an event I knew nothing about and was fascinated to discover. This is a sophisticated, suspense-laden evocation of a thrilling crime, with enough twists and turns to keep you reading well past bedtime. Elegantly written, it features a wonderful, diverse cast of characters, including a charming master thief, a street orphan, a volatile forger, a beautiful pickpocket, and of course the priceless painting and Art Deco-era Paris herself - which Mr Morton has recreated in all her elegant, dangerous and irresistible contradictions. Please join me in welcoming Carson Morton.

Boots (well, sneakers) on the Ground

by Carson Morton

Until a few years ago, the closest I had ever come to Paris was as an eleven year old boy, emigrating with my family from England to the United States. The Queen Mary steamed out of Southampton and docked for the night in Cherbourg to take on more passengers. I slept through the whole thing. So I found myself, many years later, working with my first editor, Marie, on the manuscript to my novel, STEALING MONA LISA, set, naturally enough, in Paris. She casually asked if I had ever been to France. Does being fast asleep in Cherbourg count? She gave me a look, turned back to the manuscript , and simply said, “Well, you need to go.” Six months later, I checked into my hotel in the Marais district, bleary-eyed but excited after sleeping a good twenty minutes on the flight over. Immediately I hit the streets to head for the Seine. Within minutes I was totally lost in the meandering, medieval streets of the Marais, one of the oldest sections of Paris, loving every minute of it. Eventually, I walked out onto the Pont Neuf for my first sight of the Seine, Notre Dame, and in the distance, standing proudly above the mansard roofs of the city, the Eiffel Tower. It’s an experience that everyone needs to have at least once in their life, preferably twice.

The thing was that my novel was already finished. I had chosen the locations of my story through careful research online and in books, and I felt fairly confident I had made all the right choices. I was soon to discover, however, that was not necessarily the case. The plan was simple: walk through my story to make sure all the pieces fit. My first stop was a sequestered series of courtyards, known collectively as the Cour du Rohan, just of the bustling Boulevard St. Germain in the St. Germain des Pres area. It was a bit tricky to find at first but, armed with my handy-dandy Moleskin Paris City Notebook, I soon found myself walking across the cobblestones of the first courtyard. Barely minutes from a major boulevard, the Cour du Rohan’s cloistered serenity was a welcome respite from the bustling city. I had chosen the courtyard as the location of the boarding house of Madame Charneau where the mastermind and his cohorts plan the heist of the century. I found the location in a “Paris – Then and Now” book and was encouraged by the fact that it had been used for some of the exterior shots in the movie, Gigi. I had gotten it a 100 percent right. The atmosphere, location, and physical layout were perfect. At this rate, I wasn’t going to have to make any changes at all!

Next stop was the Louvre Museum. Armed with my trusty Paris museum pass, I strolled in and made a beeline for the Salon Carré, the original home of the Mona Lisa. The painting was moved in 2005 to the Salle des Etats where it resides in its own free-standing wall hiding behind bullet-proof glass. It’s typically awash in a sea of tourists but instead of the songs of seabirds, one hears the phrase, “I didn’t realize it was so small,” spoken in dozens of languages. Much nicer to stand by myself in the Salon Carre before the spot where, a hundred years ago, Vincenzo Peruggia walked up, took it off the wall, and stuck it up his blouse. So far so good, but then came the dawn. I had the thieves making their way out through the wrong side of the museum. There’s no way they would go all the way over to the Passage Richeleiu on the rue de Rivoli when all they had to do was descend a maintenance stairwell to the Quai des Tuileries to make their escape across the Seine. This part I had gotten dead wrong and couldn’t wait to get home to my computer to make the necessary changes. Well, actually I was in Paris for another five days, so I definitely could wait.

Now, there was only one piece missing, the location of the house of the Marquis de Valfierno, the mastermind behind the plan to sell six copies of The Mona Lisa to unsuspecting American Robber Barons. I pondered this as I made my way through the meandering streets of the Marais and turned into rue Picardie, a street barely wide enough for one vehicle, and made my way back to my small hotel, the hotel du Vieux Saule which had obviously once been a grand house…. wait a minute! This was perfect. A house tucked away on a small side street, hidden deep within the labyrinth of streets that make up the Marais.

Not only did I spend a wonderful week in the world’s most beautiful city, but my book would be greatly improved. And, with any luck, next time I stay in that hotel I’ll bring along a copy of the book and maybe they’ll give me a special rate!

Thank you, Carson. We wish you the best of success! To learn more about Carson and his work, please visit his website.

Guest post from Melanie McDonald, author of EROMENOS

2011-07-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Roman emperor Hadrian has always fascinated me. I love Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian and devour any other book on him I can find. Unfortunately, there aren't that many, so I was delighted to hear about Melanie McDonald's EROMENOS, about the Greek youth Antinous of Bithynia's affair with the emperor during the second century CE—a relationship far more intimate than Hadrian’s sanctioned political marriage. I'm also very pleased to welcome Melanie here on the first league of her virtual tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Tours.

Please join me in welcoming Melanie McDonald!

In Eromenos, my debut novel, the Greek youth Antinous of Bithynia recounts his affair with the Roman emperor Hadrian during the second century CE—a relationship far more intimate than Hadrian’s sanctioned political marriage, though it lasted only seven years. Readers have asked why I decided to write about Antinous and Hadrian. Although I knew a little about Hadrian, because of the wall he had built on the border between present-day Scotland and England to keep barbarian tribes out of Roman Britain, I had not heard of Antinous until I read the novel Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar.

These two were real people, not fictional characters, yet their story involves the same eternal verities—sex, love, death, loss, power, transformation—as classic love stories found throughout mythology, literature and the arts, in works like Orpheus and Eurydice, Romeo and Juliet and Aïda. Even after two thousand years, the story of Antinous and Hadrian remains too complex, sad and beautiful ever to be lost to the dust of antiquity (or, for that matter, to the sludge of homophobia). I began to read non-fiction historical works about Antinous and Hadrian, and was struck by how none of these sources ever revealed any thoughts or words attributed to Antinous, although his beautiful image still may be found in works of art in museums around the world. History had silenced Antinous. I hoped that another version of their story, told this time from his point of view, might be able to give back a voice to this young Greek, the beloved of Hadrian, who seemed to have none.

I enjoyed doing the research for Eromenos. At first, I just wanted to know enough about life in Rome in the second century CE to make the story believable for those readers who happen to be knowledgeable about the era. The deeper I dug into life at Hadrian’s court, however, the more I discovered about the many other interesting individuals who had surrounded Antinous there. I knew they would make wonderful characters in a novel. Take Favorinus of Gaul: A hermaphrodite once accused of cuckolding a powerful Roman citizen, a “barbarian” who spoke perfect Greek (his accent was better than Hadrian’s), he kept up a running feud with Polemo of Smyrna, another philosopher of Hadrian’s retinue. Only Favorinus, though, was nervy enough to contradict even the emperor on occasion.

Another court member who fascinated me was a physician, Marcellus Sidetes, who wrote about the symptoms of and possible treatments for lycanthropy. Yes, werewolves, in ancient Rome. Marcellus notes that those afflicted: ". . .go out by night in the month of February, hanging about tombs and behaving like dogs or wolves until morning returns, leaving them hollow-eyed, dry-tongued, listless, and thirsty."*

Marcellus writes as well about his own experiments in treating injured gladiators. The battlefield always has provided gruesome inspiration for the surgeon. New weapons inflict terrible new wounds upon human flesh, and this in turn calls for the healers to devise new techniques in the sometimes futile attempt to treat these injuries.

Given the accomplishments of such individuals, why not play around with the idea that Antinous, the famous beauty, also serves as a source of inspiration for others at court, not just for Hadrian? So the novel also explores the idea of Antinous as muse, and shows how he may have listened to this physician about his theories, or encouraged that philosopher to gather his thoughts in book form, or suggested that a fellow Bithynian, Arrian, write down those stories he told about hunting and hounds. Beauty and power often have found themselves bedfellows—and beauty has a power all its own, albeit one more fleeting and fragile than other kinds of power.

Once the actual writing got underway, I gave myself permission to take some liberties—to make up interactions between Antinous and other individuals at court, and even to make up characters, such as the servant girl Calliria, to serve the story. Eromenos is a work of fiction, after all, not a factual account of history. And although it’s a story with a tragic ending, I tried to incorporate scenes of humor and discovery, as well. The court of Hadrian included the most brilliant minds to be found in the empire, and Hadrian himself was extremely intelligent and well educated, engaged in many areas of study, including architecture, literature, art, poetry, and philosophy. The imperial court of Hadrian, fourteenth emperor of Rome, must have been an amazing place in which to come of age for a bright, educated, beautiful young man like Antinous.

Eromenos was a pleasure to write, and I hope it proves a pleasure for readers, too. Thanks very much, Christopher, and happy ear-rubs for Paris the Corgi from me!

Thank you, Melanie! For more information about Melanie and her work, please see her website.

*Marcellus Sidetes, translated by Daniel Ogden in Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002. Quoted in Eromenos, p. 113, by permission.

Guest post from Donna Russo Morin, author of TO SERVE A KING

2011-07-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted and honored to welcome Donna Russo Morin, author of several adventurous historical novels set in Italy and France, including her latest novel, TO SERVE A KING. Donna always offers exciting fresh settings and intriguing plots; this marvelous guest post from her offers a glimpse into Donna's creative process.

Please join me in welcoming Donna Russo Morin.

I consider myself extraordinarily blessed that my profession allows me the indulgence of historical research. Self-confessed nerd, I happily spend hours, days, weeks, months with my nose stuck firmly in centuries old public records, estate accounts, and paper-and-ink-pungent text books, pouring over account after account of any one man or woman’s life. A sketch is rendered, it’s given dates of birth and death and momentous moments, its clothed in activities and choices and consequence. But it is a flat translation, so like the paper dolls I played with as a child, with little consideration of emotional motivation. Perhaps it is my own sensitive nature, perhaps it is the psychology degree I obtained by accident, but as I lay the clunky antiseptic tomes aside, lean my head back, and close my eyes, my mind—and my muse—ruminate on the emotions—the elation and the torment—that is the true essence of any human life.

In my first book, The Courtier’s Secret (2009) it was the Sun King, Louis XIV, who intrigued me the most. The charismatic, libidinous man dedicated his life to the puppet-master manipulation of his nobles, creating ritual after ritual, requirement heaped upon requirement—many of such convolution that few could wade through the depths and succeed in finding his favor. In truth, none would ever truly have it, for the man who would be the longest ruling sovereign in France’s history hated all nobles with caustic venom. His life would be forever imprinted by the fear such nobles had infused in him when, as a child, they threatened his life and that of his mother in the rebellion known as the Fronde. It was a childhood trauma—as devastating and long-lasting as any abuse. Heedless of the child in their midst, the blue-bloods of the age came at his home with weapons and anger, vicious hate upon their tongues. From the moment he reached his majority, from beneath the guise of rule, Louis would make them pay for their violent disloyalty for the rest of his life. And yet it was these very actions—his dedication to be the most privileged king of all—which would lead to the destruction of his progeny, a heart-rending vicious circle of emotional flotsam, the thick, gooey stuff that pronounces us as humans, not just a compendium of dates.

Genius, fanatical curiosity, profound religious beliefs crashing against scientific fervor…all this and much more percolated beneath the surface of Galileo Galilei. But perhaps the most formidable undercurrent of his life was the haunting command of survivor’s guilt. As portrayed in my 2010 release, The Secret of the Glass, Galileo was the only man to survive a bizarre encounter from which others were not so fortunate. While on a walking tour of the Tuscan region, thirty-eight-year-old Galileo and a few of his migliori amici, his most beloved friends, were inadvertently exposed to the noxious vapors festering from out of the Caves of Costozza. Each one died, save Galileo. Though he too was stricken with illness, an auto-immune-like condition that would plague him the rest of his days, it was his guilt as the sole survivor that impelled him to make his life—the only spared on that fatal day—worthy of the gift. It kept him resolute, even as the Vatican itself did its utmost to grind him and his heretical scientific work to a halt. Galileo’s deep and abiding need, one too powerful to be denied, coupled with his beliefs, would allow no such obstruction, no matter the cost.

My latest release, To Serve a King, is based on nothing if not the proposition that with true remorse, one may find true redemption. It is true of my main fictional character; it is true of the king that haunts her so. François I is forever portrayed as a cruel and lecherous hedonist, and justifiably so. But little is said of him in his years of decline. When writing François I, I was not unmindful or blind to his brutish youth, however I was deeply aware of the personal hardships he had encountered—the loss of spouse, the loss of beloved children, the slow torture of watching his own power diminish as he aged. In the major biographies read during my research, I found a great dichotomy between his early years and those of his latter days. I was struck by the notion, and the hope, that we have the ability to become truly conscious beings and in the clarity of vision such consciousness affords, we can look back and see the road behind us with all its potholes and wrong turns. It is distasteful to have regrets—the acidity sticks in the craw and repeats offensively—but if conscious of their power, the enlightened can use them to find remorse, and it is in remorse that we are redeemed. Thus was how I found François; it is how I wrote him. I can say with certainty there was a wish in such a rendering.

I’ve lately just finished my next book, the first where I base a main character on the life of an actual person. But in this, The King’s Agent, as in my others, the true question will not be what he did—the illegal procurement of precious works of art—but why he did it.

I was recently asked in an interview what it was that most intrigued me about historical fiction and I answered…the human experience, that which is found deep within every one that shares this existence… human experiences that are unchanged whether ten days or ten centuries apart. It is that resounding repetition that I seek to uncover as I immerse myself—happily, readily—to those hours, days, weeks, and months of research.

Thank you, Donna! To learn more about Donna and her work, please visit her website.

Guest post from Helen Hollick, author of SEA WITCH

2011-07-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm honored to welcome Helen Hollick as part of her 2011 tour for the re-release of her exciting SEA WITCH series. I've been a fan of Helen's work since her debut Arthurian-themed novel, The Kingmaking; her pirate books featuring the rakish, sexy, unpredictable Captain Jesamiah offer a galleon-load of adventure, danger, and fun, and are now available in brand-new beautiful editions from Silverwood Books.

Please join me in welcoming Helen Hollick.

The setting sail of my Sea Witch series of pirate-based historical adventure fantasy books has not been all calm seas and fair winds. But it has been fun and immensely exciting! When historical fiction was foundering on the rocks of unpopularity a few years ago, my (ex) agent suggested I write something more “sellable”. “What about Harry Potter?” she said.
“Well I don’t really write teenage or fantasy do I?”I grimaced back. This was the Bespectacled Wizard period – prior to the Twinkly Vampire phase. It was also the opening manoeuvres of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, though. And a pirate novel appealed…Enjoying the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl, I had become intrigued by the facts of the Golden Age of Piracy – a short-lived period in history, from the late 17th – early 18th Century.
Soon after my dispiriting chat with my agent, the entire plot and most of the characters came to me one afternoon in late October, while on vacation in Dorset, England. I remember the afternoon well.

It was drizzling with rain and I had the entire beach to myself. I looked out at the grey English Channel and saw instead the sparkling blue of the Caribbean (proves I have a fertile imagination!) I started writing as soon as I got back to the hotel, and didn’t stop for the next three months, except for Christmas Day when I took pity on my family who had almost forgotten what I looked like. My agent hated the result. “This isn’t for boys!” she exclaimed.
Er, no. I don’t write for children. I write adult fiction. I specifically wrote Sea Witch for the many adults (especially us swooning ladies) who enjoyed the movie, loved Jack Sparrow even more, and were desperate for similar pirate-based fiction to read.

There are plenty of nautical fiction books around; Hornblower, Patrick O’Brian – the fabulous Frenchman’s Creek… but nothing that came even remotely close to the excitement, humour, fantasy - and sex-appeal, of Captain Sparrow. As a writer the solution had seemed simple and obvious. Write the book I wanted to read. My agent did not believe me when I told her adults wanted to read pirate adventures, and historical adventure fantasy. She told me to write it for teenage boys. I stuck to my 9lb pirate guns and refused. I knew I had a good story. I knew my main character - Jesamiah Acorne - had the potential to, one day, become a winner.
So my agent and I parted company, and I was simultaneously informed that my UK publisher had decided to not re-publish my back list.

It looked like my writing career was finished. I sobbed for two weeks, then pulled myself together and found a small independent UK company who offered to take me on with their even smaller mainstream imprint. There were a few hiccups, and the books were not as well produced as I would have liked – but at least Sea Witch, and my backlist - having regained the rights, were in print. I went on to write two more Jesamiah stories and Sourcebooks Inc in the US picked up my serious historical fiction – the Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy, Forever Queen (entitled A Hollow Crown here in the UK) and I am the Chosen King (Harold the King in the UK) I was back in business again – plus I am co-scriptwriter for a planned movie 1066. Everything was looking good. Fate has a habit of bursting your bubble doesn’t it?

In early spring, my UK publisher hit financial problems and I found myself, once again, on the verge of being out of print here in the UK. I was not going to let that happen. I adore my characters and value my readers too much, so using a small legacy inherited from my Mum, I took my books to a UK assisted publishing house – SilverWood Books. Not having my files I have undertaken a mammoth re-edit of all my books. The Arthurian Trilogy is to be completed but Harold the King, Sea Witch, Pirate Code and Bring It Close are in print here in the UK, with the Sea Witch Voyages out very soon via Amazon.com (and hopefully in bookstores, although it is hard for UK writers to get books into US stores, even if I am officially a Bestselling Author with Forever Queen!)

I have faith in my charmer of a rogue pirate, so as soon as Amazon manages to list the books Jesamiah will be making full sail with all guns cleared for action! I describe him as Sharpe, Hornblower, Indiana Jones and Jack Sparrow all rolled into one; and the books as a “sailors yarn”. They are based on historical fact – although I do bend accuracy a little (liberties are clarified in my author’s note.) My nautical scenes are as accurate as I can get them, thanks to editing by US maritime author James L. Nelson, and the fantasy elements are more akin to the Star Wars Force, not Harry Potter wizardry, for all that Jesamiah’s woman, Tiola Oldstagh, is a white witch!

There are storms at sea, pirate chases; fighting, humour and romance – the goddess of the sea, who wants Jesamiah for herself and Jesamiah’s ghost of a father - everything expected in an adventure series! As Elizabeth Chadwick kindly endorses (she loves the books, I am delighted to say): "A wonderful swash-buckler of a novel. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will love this to pieces of eight! Prepare to be abducted by a devil-may-care pirate and enchanted by a white witch. Helen Hollick has written a fabulous historical adventure that will have you reading into the small hours!" I hope so!

To learn more about Helen and her work, please visit her website
or visit the Sea Witch page

Guest post from Colin Falconer, author of WHEN WE WERE GODS

2011-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted and honored to welcome Colin Falconer, acclaimed author of several historical novels, including the sumptuous The Sultan's Harem and one of my favorites on the infamous Cleopatra, WHEN WE WERE GODS. Years ago, before I was published and I was slogging through the submission/rejection/nervous breakdown cycle, Colin was one of my inspirations - a male historical fiction author who wrote gorgeous novels from both male, and female, points of view. In celebration of the recent release of When We Were Gods on Kindle, for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy, Colin has offered this marvelous guest post on the story behind his evocation of Egypt's last pharaoh.

Please join me in welcoming Colin Falconer!

I recently re-released a new edition of WHEN WE WERE GODS, my novel about Cleopatra, on Kindle. In revising and tightening the manuscript I was struck again by two things: first, what a fantastic story it is. If it wasn’t all true, it would be hard to believe: thirty years before Jesus, an eighteen year old princess tries to take over the world? Outrageous. Cleopatra was a woman with real cojones. She took on Roman military and political power at the apogee of its power. If she had succeeded – and she very nearly did – we can only speculate what the world would be like today. Because, contrary to popular belief, she didn’t spend all her time bathing in asses' milk, cozying up to Richard Burton and having her hair bobbed. The real Cleopatra was a consummate political animal, with extraordinary ambition, a rare talent for what we would today call spin and the instincts of a street fighter.

The other thing that struck me – yet again - was what a tricky thing it is writing history. Like most historical fiction authors I have copped some criticism over the years for ‘getting it all wrong.’ From time to time a reviewer has criticised my research when in fact what they are criticising is my choice. Anyone who has done any sort of reading of the past will have found that most historians can never agree on anything. (It only takes one classical scholar in an empty room to start an argument.) What authors often have to do is make a best guess between two conflicting sets of theories. For example: for all her notoriety, we do not even know what Cleopatra really looked like.But surely, you say – she looked like Elizabeth Taylor?Well, no.

Some historians even speculate that Cleopatra may have been blonde. As she was part Macedonian, there's a fair chance, so to speak. I toyed with the idea of having Cleopatra as a blonde in WHEN WE WERE GODS, to show that I had done my research and to distance myself from the movie. (Also so that Scarlett Johanssen could play the role in my film. Or, at least, in my fantasies.) But my publisher said to me: you can't do that. (Have a blonde Cleopatra, not have fantasies about Scarlett Johanssen.) They said: Cleopatra is now far too deeply ingrained in our consciousness as Elizabeth Taylor in a bob, it will jar in a reader's imagination. A strange point, but a valid one. Cleopatra is now forever a brunette in the same way that Richard the Third will always be hunchbacked, thanks to Shakespeare.

Let’s look at the evidence, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Exhibit A: there are few existing likenesses of the lady extant. A coin from the period shows her in profile, and it’s a pretty terrifying image too, not unlike Mike Tyson. Exhibit B: two extremely ambiguous accounts from her contemporaries; Plutarch was at pains to describe her 'pleasing personality'. Only Cassius Dio said she was beautiful; but did he say that because he had to?So the evidence either way is sketchy, at best.

So I have imagined her in the book as she may have looked; her mother, after all, could have been a Syrian princess (we don't know that for sure either) and Syrian women were, and are, noted for exceptional beauty. But I didn’t play on it; in the context of the story, as in history, it was her spirit not her looks that really mattered. The woman had wit, fire and ambition to burn. She also ruled Egypt. If you were Caesar or Mark Antony, what’s not to like?But one thing even minimal research can do is quickly dispense with some of the more outrageous myths about her. She was not the sexual virago of legend; she did not copulate with crocodiles, (it's dangerous) or with her slaves (beneath her dignity). In fact, it seems she only slept with two men all her life, and both of them were husbands. Well, not her husbands, admittedly - but in all fairness, she did marry them later.

Dying by an asp bite to the breast? For those of you are contemplating it, suicide by this means is not advised. The breast is basically fatty tissue. It would be best to find a vein – the wrist, for example - which she may well have done - although other forms of poison cannot be ruled out. And finally let me assure you - and the scholars are pretty much one hundred per cent on this one - that she did not have a bob and a beauty spot; and Mark Antony did not talk with a Welsh accent and have a drinking problem. The truth - as far that can ever be ascertained - is far more interesting, no matter how you read it. And choosing how to write it - that's the joy of being a writer.WHEN WE WERE GODS, is now available on Kindle at $5.99.

Thank you, Colin! To learn more about Colin Falconer and his work, please visit his website and his blog at http://www.colinfalconer.net/the-man-with-the-past.html

Guest post from Sarah Bryant, author of SERENDIPITY

2011-06-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Sarah Bryant, author of SERENDIPITY. I had the incredible good fortune to read and review Sarah's past novels Sand Daughter and The Other Eden; she's an amazing, diverse writer who doesn't stick to conventions, and her post will be of great interest to those who both write and read eclectically.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah Bryant!

“Where do you get your ideas?” is the most common question people ask me when I tell them that I’m a writer, and it’s the most difficult to answer. It’s not so much that I don’t know (although flash-in-the-pan inspiration is always a factor) but that the origins of my books are usually so distant, so mundane, or so apparently unrelated to the finished product, that people either don’t believe me, or are disillusioned by the banality of the truth.

Serendipity is no exception. Its point of origin is seventeen years ago, my second year of university, when I was a competitive dinghy sailor. I woke up one morning from a dream about an old white wooden sailboat wanting to write about it, about sailing’s addictive quality and (being a rose-tinted twenty year old) about love. The result was an abysmal short story about a girl who loved sailboats, and a boy who loved her, which languished in my “stories” folder until the following year, when my first real relationship broke up.

Among other fallout, I quit sailing. I had to, if I didn’t want to see the boy in question every day. I missed it at least as much as I missed him, but there was no question of going back to either one. So what to do with the sudden, gaping hole in my life? Write about it, of course! I dusted off the sailboat story, trashed most of it, but kept the two characters. Then I started listening. The guy was silent. But the girl, Meredith, had a lot to say about love and loss and disillusionment. I started writing. It wasn’t until the following summer that Meredith’s pages of rumination began to take shape as a novel. But it had nothing at all to do with Meredith, or even sailboats. I was working that summer on a small teaching farm – a nineteenth century holdover, marooned in the Massachusetts suburbs. Before I knew it, an imaginary world was forming around that farm, and out of it, unexpectedly, the silent man began to speak.

He was intelligent and wry and somehow damaged. I put Meredith aside, and started writing Silence. The more I wrote, though, the more I worried. There seemed to be no middle ground between the heartbroken sailing prodigy and the disillusioned farmer. The answer came out of left field, as writing answers so often seem to. My friend Adam, a fellow farm-worker, informed me one morning, “My new favourite word is ‘serendipity’. Serendipity explains everything.” I said, “Right, whatever,” but I found the word knocking around my head over the next few days as I demonstrated the joys of cow milking and composting to a lot of hot, bored suburban children. And then Adam took me to see his family’s farm – another fabulous bit of anachronistic Americana. It had a huge old red barn, bigger even than the house, and intriguingly empty. It was big enough to hold a boat. And that was it, the flash in the pan: Silence was building a boat in his barn! And sooner or later he was going to need help: enter Meredith. Serendipity, indeed.

I’d like to say it all went smoothly from there, but novels never do. I took Serendipity with me onto a masters program, where the tutor hated it, and did her level best to fail me. A year later, I was lucky enough to find an agent who loved it, and I thought I was sorted. Wrong again: the agent couldn’t sell it, and ultimately gave up on it. So did I.

I wrote other books, found publishers for them, realized that historical was my thing. Then something strange happened. I was bogged down writing what should have been my fourth novel, with two small children and too little time to do the research it required. As I slogged away at 19th century Edinburgh, though, two familiar voices started speaking to me. And they were saying, “When are you ever going to figure it out? Our story belongs here!”
So I took Serendipity back out, re-set the first section in the 1890s, re-read it. At long last, it all made perfect sense. I emailed my editor: “Um, about that book you’re expecting…is it okay if I write a completely different one?”

The rest, so to speak, is history.

Thank you, Sarah! We wish you much success! To find out more about Sarah and her work, please visit her website.

Historical Novel Society Conference 2011

2011-06-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, at 7:34 p.m., I staggered home after a whirlwind weekend at the Historical Novel Society's 4th USA Conference, held in beautiful San Diego. What an event! For readers, writers, bloggers and anyone else who loves historical fiction, this was the place to be - two overstuffed days of panels, banquets, late-night sex scene readings, fight reenactments, and more chatter than a switchboard on meth.

I've attended two of the previous HNS conferences - Salt Lake City and Schaumburg - first as a self-published author seeking to sell my next manuscript and second as a first-time traditionally published novelist seeking to network. This time, I went as a speaker and as a writer, first and foremost, as well as to support my agent, Jennifer Weltz of the Jean V Naggar Literary Agency, and my St Martin's Press editor, Charlie Spicer. It's always great to socialize with people who work in publishing; unlike other jobs I've had, those in publishing by and large like to party. So, evidently, do historical fiction writers and aficionados. In between panels on everything from Fact vs Fiction to Are Marquee Names Necessary? the hotel facing the sparkling harbor crackled with energy and wine as writers exchanged ideas, business cards, advice, and stories. I would have had to stay five days to meet and talk to everyone I wanted to.

There were many memorable moments - Diana Gabaldon joyously reading a gay sex scene from her upcoming novel; C.C. Humphreys in blue velvet acting the role of the earl of Rochester in a risque enactment from Gillian Bagwell's Darling Strumpet; the generous advice and caution doled out by the editors during their panel; Kate Quinn's red leather stilettos; the lovely reader who brought me a postcard with a picture of a Catherine de Medici lily; gossiping with Allie of Hist-Fic Chick and Heather of Maiden's Court; Karleen Koen explaining how she gets around "inconvenient" facts - but it was Jennifer Weltz's rousing, all-encompassing keynote speech on building community that symbolized the entire nature of the occasion.

Community is what the Historical Novel Society is truly all about. There were no "stars" at this conference; rather, everyone was a star. From the unpublished writer pitching for the first time to an agent or editor; to the impossibly young and enthusiastic blogger to the veteran author with numerous titles under her belt, everyone was there to help, support, and encourage one another; to rally around a genre that in the past has suffered more than its share of denigration, and to rejoice in its current explosive popularity. Not that there weren't stars - oh, no! The roster was peppered with the brightest names in the business, jaw-droppingly so; but unlike other organizations, HNS has never been about celebrity or exclusiveness.

On the contrary. It's all about celebration.

The Historical Novel Society's next conference will be held in 2012 in London. I hope to see you there!

Guest Post from Evan Ostryzniuk, author of OF FAITH AND FIDELITY

2011-06-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

OF FAITH AND FIDELITY: Geoffrey Hotspur and the War for St. Peter’s Throne is the first book in the English Free Company series set in the late Middle Ages, by Evan Ostryzniuk. The English Free Company is led by Geoffrey Hotspur, an orphan-squire and ward of the mighty Duke of Lancaster, whose driving ambition is to become a knight and serve a great lord. Of Faith and Fidelity takes place in 1394, at the height of the key to winning the throne of St. Peter was control of the Patrimonschism of the Western Church when the throne of St. Peter was contested by rival claimants in Rome and Avignon. Unable to settle the dispute peacefully, both sides resorted to war, and the y, a band of territory stretching the breadth of Italy that owes fealty to whichever pope who can rule it. Before Henry V won his miraculous victory at Agincourt, before the Borgias had done their infamous deeds, there was Geoffrey Hotspur, a man as tall as Charlemagne and armed with a sword that rivals Excalibur. Thrown off the established path to knighthood, the ambitious and hot-tempered Geoffrey finds himself caught up in the war between the two popes, where he must adapt his beliefs and apply his training as a squire in order to survive.

Please join me in welcoming Evan Ostryzniuk!

Imagining the setting one step at a time
by Evan Ostryzniuk
One of the most difficult tasks for the writer of historical novels is reconciling the fictional setting between what it looks like today, what you want it to be, and how contemporaries saw it. This acquires greater importance when spatial relations have to make key contributions to the plot. Because Of Faith and Fidelity features a number of castles, cities and battlefields, I had to make sure that I understood the physical relationships of urban and rural topographies if I was to offer a convincing portrayal of the challenges my characters face when negotiating them. If I can’t run up a set of stone steps to reach a parapet without huffing and puffing, then I cannot in good conscience have my man-at-arms, weighted down with a sword and armor, probably suffering from some sort of chronic ailment, racing aloft and confronting his opponent in full readiness, no matter how much his medieval adrenalin is pumping. Finding the logical range of action for a (non-superheroic) character is the duty of every historical fiction author.

Wandering around a medieval castle today can be a sullen experience because of how thoroughly so many of them have been hollowed out, leaving the author with a negative impression of castle life. At the northern Italian city of Marostica, which is famous for its chessboard main square, the medieval curtain walls and gatehouses survive intact, although they are worn and barren but for a small museum. At first glance, the fortifications look dull, and they are practically isolated from the town proper, as though today’s residents are embarrassed by them. If I were to transpose these initial impressions to the fictional page, I would be misrepresenting their true relationship with the objects of its protection. On close examination I found that the main gatehouse was full of holes – not from the impact of cannon fire, but rather from the insertion of timber. Studying how these mysterious apertures were aligned, I discovered that the beams that were once there must have supported extensive terraces of several levels that projected well into the city. These terraces, I assume, were rented by merchants, patrolled by sentries, and used by the town fathers for important announcements. Building on this knowledge, I imagined canopies, balconies, curtains, and all sorts of decoration that eventually adorned the naked walls with rich and dynamic structures. The fortifications not only protected Marostica – they were well integrated into the life of the great city.

All authors need to imagine their settings in great detail, of course, but the physical presence of him or her at these locations, regardless of changing uses and structural alterations, can do wonders for building that fictional environment, supporting its veracity, and offering opportunities for discoveries that deepen the narrative. It’s the little things that matter, and more to the point, the things that are left out by contemporaries. Cities are a major challenge in this regard. We live in an age of the metropolis, where everything – simply put – is bigger. On my tour of medieval Italy I was astounded by just how compact and isolated even the great cities were. Their former citizens must have felt this. Siena, for example, is a marvel of form and function, with an enormous cathedral, magnificent main square (which is round) and enough houses for the city to be divided into competing districts. It was one of the centers of banking and a stop along the great pilgrim route, yet at a casual pace I crossed the breadth of Siena in an hour! Even considering Siena’s modest urban sprawl, I can’t help but be convinced that the average medieval citizen felt dwarfed and isolated from the endless forests and fields that would have surrounded his or her city. As a writer of historical fiction, I feel compelled to emphasize this essential distance, for it affected contemporaries’ worldview, and from that how they interacted with city and country.

The author of historical fiction has to take especial care when reimagining battlefields because he or she has to consider so many factors and conditions. Few medieval battlefields are preserved in any meaningful sense, and contemporary chroniclers tended to focus on the deeds of great knights, unless the conditions had a critical impact on the battle, like the mud at Agincourt or the heat at Hattin. Every reader wonders what it must have been like to be laden with armor, packed in dense ranks and brandish a heavy weapon in the face of an enemy. I know what fascinates me is the intensity of the combat experience. Understanding strategy is fine, but what I want to know is how much did the men-at-arms sweat as he stood for hours on an open field, what kind of traction did he have, or how difficult it was for him to move in full harness. When I walked around the fields of Anghiari, I tested the resilience of the ground, hazarded the distance to the surrounding hills and the town itself, and I tried to create for myself the perspective of a Florentine foot soldier who might have stood in 1440 where I was standing in 2010, awaiting the charge of the Milanese on that fateful June day.

Evan Ostryzniuk was born and raised in western Canada, where he attended the University of Saskatchewan. After graduating with a B.A. in History and Modern Languages and an M.A. in Modern History, Evan did post-graduate work at the University of Cambridge, concluding five years of research with a doctoral thesis on the Russian Revolution. He eventually found his way to eastern Europe, where he took up positions as a magazine editor, university lecturer and analyst in the financial services sector before finally settling on writing as a career. He currently resides in Kyiv, Ukraine. Of Faith and Fidelity: Geoffrey Hotspur and the War for St. Peter’s Throne is his first novel.

TUDOR SECRET debuts in the UK and blogger giveaway

2011-06-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

THE TUDOR SECRET debuts today in mass market paperback in the UK! The UK's mass-market is a larger-sized paperback than our US mass market editions, and it looks lovely. The book is also discounted at Waterstones and WH Smith. To all my UK readers, I hope you enjoy it and thank you for your support!

In honor of the book's release, I'm offering TWO free copies to UK-based bloggers for review. If you are a UK-based blogger and would like to review The Tudor Secret on your blog, please leave me a comment below. Giveaway ends June 20.

For the love of a feral cat

2011-06-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, my partner and I lost our oldest cat, Rosie, unexpectedly. She'd been sitting on the low wood fence between our house and our neighbor's, as she did almost every night after dinner. We had checked on her earlier in the evening from our living room window before settling down for a movie, and she eyed us with her usual nonchalance. Half way through the film, we heard a loud scuffle; our dog Paris started barking in agitation and throwing herself at the door. We ran outside. A pitbull-mix dog that lived a few doors down and we always worried about had evidently gotten loose and came upon her. Rosie was half-blind in one eye and her hearing had diminished significantly; she had sat on that fence every night for years and either didn't see the dog or didn't think it posed a danger, until it was too late. Though we ran out and fought it off, stopping it from mauling her to death, her back leg had sustained severe injuries. It would have required amputation and difficult follow-up. So, at 1:45 a.m., in the emergency hospital, as we petted her and murmured our love, she was euthanized. She'd already been heavily sedated, and she left us quietly, without further pain.

It was the first time in 11 years we had touched her.

Like our other five cats, who depend on us for food, care, and shelter in our garden and in our garage, where we've designed a cat-friendly environment, Rosie was feral. We think she was probably 11 or 12 years old; but we were never sure. She came to us as a young cat, hungry, thin, and wary, as so many cats born outside do. Together with our next door neighbors, both of whom love cats, we gained her trust and respected the boundaries she determined for interaction. In time, she was caught and spayed, but she was never tamed. Still, she stayed. She dwelled in our and our neighbors' gardens and accepted the other ferals who drifted into our lives over the years and were likewise neutered or spayed, and released; she and they even developed a hierarchy. When feeding time came and Rosie was there, the other cats always deferred to her. She ate first. Same when it came to the wheelbarrow in the garden; it was her special daytime sleeping spot and woe was any other cat who tried to take it from her. She even developed a relationship of sorts with Paris; our dog didn't chase her and she deigned to tolerate Paris sharing the garden on occasion.

Rosie was a wanderer, at first. We fretted over her days-long disappearances, only for her to suddenly show up at our kitchen door, face pressed to the glass, wanting food. As she aged, she stopped leaving. In the last 8 years, she never went far. She ate every day in the morning and evening (and, as her chewing abilities decreased, had her own special dish of wet food); took her morning groom on our deck, her afternoon nap in the wheelbarrow, and at night . . . well, she went onto the fence, to watch the traffic or bask in the moonlight and whatever other allure the night holds for cats.

Her loss - both for how it happened and that it happened to her - has left us bereft. However when I mentioned to a well-meaning friend that we'd decided to have her privately cremated and her ashes returned to us, this friend said, "But why? I mean, it's not as if she was your pet. She was just a wild cat you fed." This got me to thinking about the complex, sometimes intangible bond we can develop with animals, particularly feral cats. People who don't care for them cannot understand that while we may not touch these cats, curl up with them in our beds or play with them, they are still an integral part of our family. We saw Rosie every day for all those years; we watched over her, ensured she would be as safe and comfortable as possible, and always respected she was not, and would never be, a fully domesticated cat. This doesn't mean we didn't love her or she didn't love us. I saw it in her eyes, sometimes, when I paused to whisper silly things at her as I set down her food or went to clean her box in the garage. She would tilt her head, regarding me with those big amber eyes, and she would narrow her gaze, as if to tell me, she understood. She understood and she appreciated it. She thanked us.

We already miss Rosie terribly. We find ourselves looking out the window for her, toward the now-empty wheelbarrow which for today at least, none of the other cats have claimed. Tonight, when we went down into the garden to feed them, all five were sitting there, waiting. They rarely show up like that, all at once; they tend to feed in shifts. Yet as my partner and I gazed upon their solemn faces, they returned our look and I could have sworn, they knew. They realized Rosie was gone and we were grieving for her.

And in their silent way, they thanked us.

CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI in trade paperback!

2011-05-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

The trade paperback edition of THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI is in stores tomorrow, with a gorgeous new cover and bonus reader material!

I'll be on tour most of June. My first tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Tours starts tomorrow and ends June 6; you can follow my schedule here.

My second tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion starts on June 13 and ends on June 24; the schedule is here.

In addition, I'll be appearing at the Historical Novel Society Conference in San Diego, June 17 - 19. To find out more about this one-of-a-kind gathering of the tribe, click here.

For my UK-based readers, the mass market paperback edition of THE TUDOR SECRET, hits stores on June 9. The new edition is beautiful, with a slightly re-designed cover. I'm excited about it and hope my UK readers enjoy the book!

As you can see, I'm going to be busy, so this blog may be quiet for a while. In the past, I've posted my daily tour appearances here, as they happen, but this time, they'll be posted on my Facebook page instead, so as to not clutter up this blog's feed. If you want to follow along, please do so at Facebook.

Thanks for all your support, as always. I hope to be back soon with more exciting author interviews, giveaways, and news!

Blogger Review Opportunity for CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI

2011-05-06T08:39:00.001-07:00

THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI releases on May 24 in trade paperback in the U.S. (Random House Readers Circle edition). I currently have two virtual tours scheduled, the first one with Historical Fiction Virtual Tours on May 24 through June 4 and then with Pump Up Your Book Promotion on June 13 through June 24. As always, I'll be offering guest posts and giveaways.

I have a few extra copies for US-only bloggers who would like to feature and review the book. If you have not signed for one of my tours and are interested in reviewing the book on your blog, please send an e-mail at cwgortner [at] earthlink.net and I'll do my best to accomodate your request. Thank you in advance for all your support!

Guest post from Paul Elwork, author of THE GIRL WHO WOULD SPEAK FOR THE DEAD

2011-05-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Paul Elwork, author of THE GIRL WHO WOULD SPEAK FOR THE DEAD, a debut novel set in 1925 and based on the powerful spiritualist revival of that era. Thirteen year old Emily Stewart and her brother Michael gather the neighborhood children to fool them with “spirit knockings.” But soon their game of contacting the dead creeps into a world of adults still reeling from the after effects of World War I. When the twins find themselves dabbling in the uncertain territory of human grief and family secrets, their game spins wildly out of control. A layered, multigenerational story, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is a novel about our desperate need to contact the departed, and what we ultimately will do for forgiveness.

Please join me in welcoming Paul Elwork!

Historical Accuracy and the Make-Believe of Fiction
Historical reality is a funny thing in fiction. To begin with, being fiction, it’s not supposed to faithfully replicate reality, but to reinvent, recombine, and recast it. Fiction writers should try to infuse their make-believe stories (whether set in realistic, familiar settings or in places where dragons fly) with larger truth as they best understand it. Truth about the experience of being human, about what it means to exist in the divided and complicated consciousness of an entity we call a person, conducted through all of the filters and personal history of a writer typing or scribbling away. But of course we’re playing with the materials to serve our stories, and I fail to see why we can’t play with history if it’s considered proper for us to make up people who were never born.

Okay, as far as that goes, but how much playing with historical reality is acceptable in fiction? And just for a second, let’s consider the whole notion of “historical fiction.” When we use this term, are we referring strictly to a genre with an internal logic and expectations imposed by both writers and readers? My novel, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead (Amy Einhorn Books/Penguin Group), is set in the 1920s, but I wouldn’t place it in any specific genre, including historical fiction. I think genre labels have a limited value for broad sorting purposes, but that as readers we should ditch them when approaching any piece of fiction and its performance on the page. This is not anti-genre snobbery; it’s anti-anti-genre snobbery. I say rejoice when we find literary value, whatever the style or setting.

Obviously, the questions above invoke all sorts of eye-of-the-beholder responses, and I have no interest in arguing for any specific metrics on the matter. Just like any other aspect of a novel, adherence to historical accuracy or lack of it is something for each reader to take or leave, to buy into or set aside. Still, I’m sort of fascinated by the kind of reader who demands a strict fidelity to historical facts in works of fiction. (A further complication is that such facts are often not as set in stone as the word implies, but never mind that.) They seem to treat any departure from historical accuracy as a kind of writer offense, something like the questions about truthfulness that seem to follow the megasuccess of memoirs in publishing just now. All of this is not to say that I don’t respect writers who do endless research to best capture moments and places in time. Even though my novel isn’t a slice of life taken from urban Philadelphia in the 1920s, even though the action takes place on the outskirts and in a much more insular place, I still did careful research to set my characters on a stage corresponding with history as best I could—except for one omission, as I explain below.

When my novel was released in an earlier edition by a small press a few years ago, I had an encounter with a strict-history reader on the night of my first public appearance as a writer, at a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The book—in its old form and new, expanded version—is about a twin brother and sister who pretend to contact the dead during the summer of 1925. Emily Stewart, the sister in this set of twins, makes a cracking noise with her ankle that she and her brother Michael convince others are the sounds of the departed knocking from the other side. The book takes place in 1925 and draws much of its thematic energy from being in the shadow of World War I, but it plays with history in borrowing the true story of the Fox sisters of upstate New York, who did the same thing, with a different scope and outcomes, in the mid-nineteenth century. There’s even an author’s note in the beginning of the book acknowledging all of this: Anyone familiar with the birth of the Spiritualist movement in the mid-nineteenth century will recognize the story of the Fox sisters as the inspiration of this novel. And anyone who recognizes the Fox sisters floating behind the narrative will also see the flaw in the novel’s attempt to mimic historical reality (such as it is)—namely, that the occult-minded people in this book, who would certainly be familiar with the sisters from upstate New York, treat the Stewart twins as a new and exciting phenomenon. For this indiscretion, I ask the reader’s forgiveness and a suspension of disbelief. History suggested the novel’s basis and theme; its specific events and characters are the responsibility of my own imagination.

At my first public reading, the person determined to depants me on this point was a former editor of a well-known magazine of fantasy and horror fiction. He raised his hand and proceeded, like a lawyer for the prosecution, to scornfully outline his problem with my novel’s premise. I acknowledged that he was right about the chronological rearrangement, mentioned the author’s note, but he wasn’t impressed. He had raised his hand to expose me as an ignorant charlatan and he wasn’t going to hit the brakes at that point.

I could have said so many withering things, but I didn’t. A voice in my head said I shouldn’t eviscerate this guy at my first public appearance, even if most of the attendees were the students of a friend’s high-school class. It still tickles me that a man who had invested himself for years as an editor and writer in fantasy and science fiction would take such an unflinching, orthodox stance on historical accuracy. I tried to move on, having let him have his say and answered him. He wasn’t going to let go. He started making suggestions that I should have set the story before the advent of radio, to make it plausible that this little neighborhood had no knowledge of such stuff, because in the 1920s they would have heard about Harry Houdini running around debunking the early-twentieth-century inheritors of the Fox sisters’ act.
The editor’s wife tried to be helpful. She asked—with a hopeful note in her voice—if the book was a work of alternative history. I told her I don’t think in terms of genre when I write. She really was trying to be nice, and I still appreciate it.

By this point, I was responding to her husband in somewhat condescending tones. I’m only human. I explained that I wasn’t trying to mince around the Fox sisters as a historical issue in my novel. I was simply removing them from the equation, something I thought wouldn’t be such a big deal, considering that most people aren’t familiar with the first Spiritualists, anyway. And even at that, I felt it was worth mentioning in a note before the story begins, to acknowledge the inspirational source of the novel and free me to fictionalize at will. I would have been less comfortable writing a story set in the 1920s that removed World War I from the equation, so I guess my personal line lies somewhere between the historical displacement of removing the Fox sisters and removing the first full-scale industrial war of the modern age. Is that line stark, for me? Would I stand up before a writer who crossed it to huff and puff like the editor I’m having fun with here, even if that writer did so knowingly to serve his or her purposes as a storyteller?
No. I’d be bound by my own answer for the editor in the crowd, who protested me saying I had written about a world that had never known the Fox sisters. He said, “You can’t do that.”
I said, “Of course I can. I can do anything I want. It’s a novel.”
He raised his eyebrows and suddenly, finally, dropped it. I think that little line got more traction with him than my author’s note ever could.

Thank you, Paul. We wish you the best of luck with the novel! Paul lives in Philadelphia and is the father of two sons. His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Philadelphia Stories, Short Story America, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Word Riot. His novel The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead (Amy Einhorn Books/Penguin Group) is available online and in bookstores everywhere. For more information, please visit his website.

Happily Ever After?

2011-04-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Once in a while an event comes around that unites us— sometimes, unfortunately, it is an epic tragedy, such as the recent devastation in Japan; other times, it is a royal wedding, like the recent union of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

In the weeks leading up to the most anticipated royal event in decades, there’s been a lot of bombastic media gushing, with everything from Ms Middleton’s semi-nude catwalk to the prince’s previous dalliances touted out for our consumption. There has also been some rather vitriolic condemnation of our societal fascination with an institution that no longer seems relevant, much less in-touch, with today’s culture, and with a group of people who dwell in a rarified glass bubble of privilege that never reflects anything but the fantasies we cast upon it.

All of which is, to a certain extent, true. Monarchies have by and large become relics clinging to the crumbling edifice of past glory, even as the real world speeds up to pass them by. And past hyped-up royal marriages that ended up being personal and public calamities have certainly plagued the House of Windsor, with the celebrated marriage of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana being the most sobering example.

Nevertheless, this wedding seemed different right from the start. Oh, the bells and extravagance were all there; so were all the over-the-top hats and dowdy rituals and botoxed famous guests. And so were the inevitable comparisons to the union of Diana and Charles. But none of this managed to overshadow the actual sight of two radiant young people, who have had their own ups and downs in their journey to the altar, taking the first steps into marriage.

For those of us who watched Diana’s wedding and painful transformation from shy prey to suave cover model and crusader for the less fortunate, even as she weathered the blinding glare of her own celebrity and devastation wrought by it and the collapse of her marriage to Charles, there are marked differences to be noted. Diana entered the cathedral in an armorial frock garnished by enough tulle to conceal her very person— a symbolic representation of the life that awaited her as royal prisoner. She had to literally claw her way out of that gown to uncover, all too briefly, the stunning flesh-and-blood woman underneath who demanded the right to her own life.

In contrast, the new duchess of Cambridge glided over her red carpet in breathtaking elegance, sheathed in confidence and arm-hugging lace, unable to contain her smile, proof that no matter what the future may hold, she will be no princess-in-peril. And her groom, stalwart and blushing in his military order, gazed upon her with genuine awe, so that all that pomp surrounding them faded to insignificance. Unlike Charles and Diana, who even while standing on the palace balcony appeared to be strangers, this was a couple in love, celebrating their union before the world— and it showed.

Weddings are by their very nature ephemeral. After months of frenetic planning and dieting and expense, they burst upon us and for a few hours rivet our attention with their glamour and endless possibilities, only to be captured as if in amber through videos and photographs, while the couple itself embarks on the challenging road of daily togetherness. As evidenced by Diana's experience, royal marriage can turn catastrophic, much like ordinary marriages all over the world. In essence, there is therefore nothing different between her wedding and her eldest son’s –swathed in gigantic expectations and witnessed by millions, there is still no guarantee of success.

Except for the hope that this time, William and Kate have found the elusive happily ever-after.

M.J. Rose's THE HYPNOTIST now in trade paperback!

2011-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

M.J. Rose's elegant and mysterious THE HYPNOTIST is now out in trade paperback! This was one of my favorite novels of last year, and in celebration of its new release, I'm re-posting my review of the book. If you like thrilling, literary suspense, you're going to love this novel!

A priceless sculpture that hides an ancient secret; an FBI investigator haunted by the past; and a terrorist plot involving the theft of magnificent works of art all combine to create THE HYPNOTIST, the unputdownable thriller and third entry in M.J.Rose's superb Reincarnationist series (The Reincarnationist and The Memorist).

No author currently writing in the suspense/thriller category does quite what M.J. Rose does; underpinning her novels is the haunting premise that all of us have past lives that connect us to the present, and within this framework she's conjured a high-stakes world of treacherous business dealings, international intrigue, and the often lethal search for the elusive Memory Tools - objects that can assist people to access their pasts and which, if found and harnessed, could provide their owner with unimaginable power. At the center of this web is Dr Malachi Samuels of the Phoenix Foundation, a gifted yet amoral reincarnation expert who allegedly will stop at nothing to possess the Memory Tools.

These entwined themes are spun throughout the series; however, each novel can be enjoyed on its own merits and The Hypnotist is no exception. When Lucian Glass, FBI criminal art investigator, is called in by the Metropolitan Museum in New York City to investigate the horrific mutilation of a stolen painting, he is plunged into a search for the man who, years ago, destroyed his youth and aspiring career as an artist. His investigation leads him back into the elegant, dangerous milieu of the Phoenix Foundation, where a young girl is being treated for nightmarish visions, and the presence of a mysterious woman who might hold the key to his quest. As Lucian begins to uncover a plot centered around a millennial-old sculpture that has surfaced after years of neglect, he finds himself caught up in an intricately linked conspiracy of art smuggling, terrorism, and the race to claim a coveted Memory Tool.

The Hypnotist stands out from the other entries in the series for its lyricism and the timely question: Who truly owns art? In this novel, which is replete with Ms Rose's trademark moments of breathtaking suspense and secrets-within-secrets, Rose has gone deeper into her mythology, detailing the subtle ways in which senseless tragedy shifts and defines us, and the hallowed effect that art exerts on our beings. While her previous novels have all featured lost souls seeking redemption, in The Hypnotist something of Rose's own complex soul comes into display, and it is a fascinating glimpse into a writer who, with this novel, has both matured and exceeded the very high expectations she has set for herself and her readers.

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of over nine novels, including the acclaimed Reincarnationist series. Her new novel, THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES, will be published in 2012. To learn more about her and her work, please visit her website.

Guest post by Laurel Corona, author of FINDING EMILIE

2011-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Laurel Corona (THE FOUR SEASONS, PENELOPE'S DAUGHTER) has become well-recognized for her vivid fiction about women and the forgotten or undervalued roles they played in their societies; in her new novel FINDING EMILIE, released on April 12, she offers us the evocative and poignant story of Lili du Chatelet, daughter of the free-thinking Emilie du Chatelet, who liveds in the crumbling world of pre-revolutionary France. Abandoned as a baby, Lili seeks to uncover the startling legacy of her mother, as life in aristocratic society constricts around her like the excruciating corsets she is forced to wear. But she is soon compelled to discover much more than where she comes from and gain the courage to fashion her on life as the world around her undergoes cataclysmic upheaval.

In celebration of FINDING EMILIE's release, Laurel has offered us this guest post. Please join me in welcoming Laurel Corona. Voltaire: Bad Boy of the Enlightenmentby Laurel Corona "The ungodly arch-villain has died like a dog,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is reputed to have said upon hearing of Voltaire’s death in Paris in 1778. Undoubtedly, similar sentiments were expressed over much of France at the news. Voltaire’s death was consistent with his life. Toothless and bald, the octogenarian hypochondriac had finally caught a real illness, and he used his little remaining strength to turn his back on a priest who had come to hear his confession and give him communion. “Just let me die in peace,” he growled. Those were his last words. Peace was not something Voltaire had offered the church in return--or any of the entrenched institutions in France.

With his passionate convictions about intellectual and political honesty and social justice, Voltaire’s acid wit cut a wide swath, sparing no one he considered a hypocrite or liar. Poet, historian, playwright, philosopher, essayist, and satirist, Voltaire used his prodigious talent to combat what he called “l’infame”--the infamy of using a position of authority to take advantage of others. The church lied and abused power to instill fear, the state to foster obedience. No one, it seemed, in Voltaire’s words, “dared to think.” Think for yourself. That’s all Voltaire asked, but whenever he thought for himself he could count on trouble.

He was imprisoned a number of times for problems with the censors, was banished to England, and later was sequestered for fifteen years under loose house arrest at the home of the Marquis du Châtelet, Voltaire’s lover Emilie du Châtelet’s tolerant husband. Throughout his life numerous lettres de cachet, arrest warrants granted as royal favors, were taken out against him by powerful individuals with a grudge. With what amounted to a bull’s eye painted on his back and arrows in the hands of most of the powerful forces in France, after Emilie’s death he lived out his life as a landed gentleman in Ferney, close enough to the Swiss border to escape on horseback at a moment’s notice. He was on that horse more than once. His books were routinely published abroad and smuggled into France, while Voltaire threw up his hands as if this were beyond his control. It was his popularity with a restive public that brought the books to France, not he himself--or so he would have it. Those books include his Philosophical Dictionary, an alphabetized collection of essays skewering one or another pretension. Church teachings were his primary target, but he also took aim at the monarchy and government, and at common people who ought to know better than to believe anything authorities say.

My favorite entry is the one on Adam, where Voltaire pretends not to understand how Adam could be the father of all humankind and yet no one in China seems to have heard of him. Not heard of their original forefather? Voltaire suggests that it must have been a very effective campaign indeed to have so thoroughly destroyed all the monuments that must once have been erected to him, and all the writings other than the Bible that told the same story. Fellow philosophers did not escape his pen, the most notable being Leibniz, whose philosophy of optimism is dismantled by the adventures of Voltaire’s most famous character, Candide. Anecdotes about Voltaire reveal that he practiced in his life the same disdain for authority and illogic.

Stories abound, such as the one Voltaire recounts to my protagonist, Lili, in Finding Emilie. He tells her he once told a police officer searching his room for contraband writing, that he threw the materials down the privy. The officer probed the excrement-filled privy with such enthusiasm that sewage ended up spraying the tavern downstairs when a pipe burst. Voltaire never discarded any papers at all. He just wanted a fit punishment for someone who did not dare to think, and who made his living enforcing censorship laws. Voltaire was rich, having gotten his initial wealth from a successful strategy to manipulate a glitch in the French lottery and win the grand prize.

By the time he needed a new retreat near the Swiss border, he had enough money to purchase not just the chateau at Ferney but the entire town. The tiny town’s church spoiled the view from the chateau, so Voltaire tore it down without church permission, intending to build another in a new location. The church went on the attack, demanding he rebuild on the hallowed ground where it once stood. Voltaire had no choice but to go along. A Deist, he believed that God created and ran the universe through natural law, and that the church distorted that reality through ludicrous doctrines and stories. Above the new church door Voltaire had a different kind of dedication carved: Deo Erexit Voltaire, “Voltaire erected this church to God.” The church in his town would not be named for a saint, based on the foolish notion that some heavenly being would intercede for the people of Ferney. It would honor the God of the Deists, and nothing further. The inscription and the pyramid-shaped tomb he had built to be his final resting place, half in and half out of the church, can be seen by visitors to the Chateau at Ferney today. The town itself was renamed Ferney-Voltaire in his honor. Voltaire is actually entombed in the Pantheon in Paris, but like all the great men honored there, he had painful shortcomings. Many of his writing are painfully anti-Semitic, and he took credit that really belonged to Emilie du Châtelet for scientific work they undertook together. His plays and poetry, for which he was best known at the time, are so dated they are hardly ever read. Still, there is no question Voltaire led one of the great lives of his, or any era, and that he is indeed the undisputed bad boy of the Enlightenment.

Thank you, Laurel. We wish you the best of success with FINDING EMILIE! To find out more about Laurel and her work, please visit her website.

Guest post from Nan Hawthorne, author of BELOVED PILGRIM

2011-04-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Nan Hawthorne, author of AN INVOLUNTARY KING and her latest novel, BELOVED PILGRIM. Set during the disastrous Crusade of 1101, this is the tale of a discontented Bavarian noblewoman who dons her late twin brother's armor and identity and sets out to forge a new life for herself. In midst of adventure and tragedy she discovers honor is not always where one expects it and that true love can come in the form of another woman. Nan has graciously offered us this guest post celebrating her new book's release.

Please join me in welcoming Nan Hawthorne!

Women Fighters in the Crusades
By Nan Hawthorne

One of the challenges an author has in writing historically accurate novels about the Middle Ages is whether sources from that time can be trusted. A combination of alternate sources, archeological evidence, and just plain common sense over and over has put what clerical chroniclers set down as fact in doubt. Perhaps one of the most notable examples of this fact is writing about the Crusades. Another is any writing at all about women. If you take what the Church writers record as the sole evidence, there were no women at the Crusades. They were certainly discouraged from going, though in fact as the mass of pilgrims were not military, coupled with the fact that both soldiers and other pilgrims brought their families, it is clear that in fact plenty of women were present. There are, of course, famous examples of noble women who went to the Crusades, most notably Eleanor of Aquitaine when she traveled with her first husband, the King of France. But for all her play-acting at being an Amazon warrior, she did not in fact fight.

What constitutes fighting? We have a tendency to interpret the fighter as the knight, or at least, a man at arms. There were documented female knights, but they were not necessarily fighters. More likely a woman knight would be the mistress of lands under fealty to an overlord, obligated to provide armed men for his use. But the mounted knight and even the man at arms is not the whole picture of a Crusader. Women could and did use bows and could participate in many aspects of siege warfare, part and parcel of the Crusades. It is a sort of classism and sexism that makes us see the woman’s involvement as lesser and therefore not credit it as fighting.

Recent consideration of Moslem sources and points of view offers alternate evidence of women in battle. The role of women in a siege is a perfect example. At Acre Moslem chroniclers describe in detail the women’s remains found afterward on the battlefield, women who wore some armor and carried weapons. The Church chroniclers do not admit to this, but the Moslem writers dispassionately acknowledge that Christian women fought alongside their husbands and brothers. The fact is that the question is not whether women fought but whether their participation in fighting was recorded. Christians were just one side of the conflict. Islam has numerous female warriors in its tradition. Though not specifically involved in the Crusades Nusaybah Bint k’ab Al Maziniyyah was a female fighter who fought at the Battle of Uhud with the army of Muhammad. Sharifa Fatima was a Zaydi chief in 15th century Yemen, and conquered San'a.

Looking at other conflicts in history one finds instances of women fighting along with men. Even in the Middle Ages there are numerous examples of women who fought, not only Joan of Arc, but also Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians and other warrior queens. Of the common soldier there is ample evidence of women fighting in, for example, the American Civil War. In that conflict women not only fought, but they joined the army and passed as men in order to do so. There are dozens of such accounts, revealing that it is not impossible for a woman to get away with passing as a man. They not only could, they did. If this happened in earlier wars, they simply would not have been counted as women fighters but included among the men.

When I was first working on Beloved Pilgrim someone asserted to me that swords were huge and heavy and no woman’s wrist was strong enough to wield one. Then how does one account for the many women who did in fact wield swords? As author Brandy Purdy quipped, “Joan of Arc did not go into battle wielding an embroidery needle.” There are strong men and weak men, and there are strong women and weak women. With the right physique and training a woman most certainly can wield any number of weapons. This is clearly not evidence none did.

It is a novelist’s job to speculate, for instance, what it would take for a woman to be accepted as a knight in order to construct a credible story. My heroine, Elisabeth, grows up training alongside her brother. She is the essential tomboy, and she is not a pretty little slip of a thing but tall, squarely built, and strong. If female Civil War soldiers could be accepted as men, then, I reasoned, so could she. Her motivation for this is complex, a mix of not wanting the role she is expected to fulfill of the passive wife of a baron, plus a positive wish to live with the freedom of a man in her social class and time. As a character, she fulfills a revelatory role. Being female she was not brought up with the values her brother was expected to adopt, making her a more objective observer of life as part of a crusading army, so I was able to illustrate the journey more fully with her unique point of view.

Did women fight in the Crusades? The answer is yes, but it is also “Why not?” I firmly believe women have always been part of armies and fought alongside men, and I believe as well that I created a character who fits what such a woman must be.
For the sake of brevity I have not listed my references here, but I will be happy to supply them on request to hawthorne@nanhawthorne.com.

Thank you, Nan. BELOVED PILGRIM is now available in print at Amazon.com and as an ebook on Smashwords.com. To learn more about Nan and her work please visit her at her at www,nanhawthrone.com

Winner of Margaret George's ELIZABETH I

2011-04-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

According to random number generator, Colleen Turner is the winner of ELIZABETH I!
Congratulations, Colleen. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest; Margaret and I wish we had more copies to giveaway.

Guest post by Kate Quinn, author of DAUGHTERS OF ROME

2011-04-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I'm a sucker for almost anything set in ancient Rome. The tumult, the marble, the breastplates, the decadence - it all fascinates me. And when I started reading Kate Quinn's DAUGHTERS OF ROME, I expected to be drawn right in; after all, it doesn't take much for me. But I did not expect to be as enthralled as I am; not only does Ms Quinn's second novel (her first is the bestselling MISTRESS OF ROME) brim with witty dialogue and marvelous descriptions, but her four women protagonists - cousins, all, and each immersed in the deadly struggles of the epoch known as the Year of the Four Emperors - are vivid, true to their time, yet very much identifiable to us. It's sexy, transporting, addictive fiction and I'm thrilled that Ms Quinn has accepted my invitation to visit with this guest post.

Please join me in welcoming Kate Quinn!

The Woman Behind The Throne

by Kate Quinn

I was already thrilled when C.W. Gortner invited me to be a guest on his blog, but I was even more thrilled when he suggested “women in power” as a topic. Powerful women in historical settings have long been a fascination of mine – and I suspect for Christopher too, considering his splendid book on Catherine de'Medici (which I adored, by the way).

The idea of the woman behind the throne has existed as long as there have been men to sit on thrones in the first place. The beautiful woman whispering into the ear of a powerful man – whether the image makes you envious or just profoundly uneasy, it's irresistible. Of course, some women managed to sit on thrones in their own right, usually through some combination of birth, brains, and luck. But a great many more women had to wield power covertly: wives or mistresses who acted as advisors and sometimes puppet-masters for kings. These are the women I find especially interesting. It's one thing to issue directives from a throne – but a woman who is coming up with the directives and pulling the strings of the man who gets to do the issuing? What a tiring job. They deserve credit, if nothing else, for pulling double duty.

Ancient Rome never had an independent empress, but it was supplied with many influential emperors' wives. Augustus's wife Livia is probably the most famous powerful empress – everyone remembers her from the “I, Claudius” miniseries; wheeling, dealing, blithely murdering family members right and left to see her husband promoted and her son chosen to succeed him. Who knows if the historical Livia was really that ruthless, but certainly Augustus relied heavily on her advice and respected her opinions. No matter what kind of power she wielded behind the scenes, Livia was smart enough to present herself publicly as a simple Roman matron; Augustus was constantly bragging that his wife wasn't too proud to weave his tunics with her own hands, Empress or no. (I always picture Livia getting up from her desk full of official dispatches when she heard guests coming, weaving exactly two bands of cloth until they went away again, and then going right back to work while the servants finish the weaving.)

Livia was the first empress to work actively for the throne, but certainly not the last – a quartet of later Empresses known as “the four Julias” were so influential that no one bothered with the emperors themselves but simply went straight to the Mrs.

Other empresses were less influential. Sometimes this was by choice, but sometimes not – because it's no use trying to pull the strings of a powerful man unless he lets you pull them. Emperors like Augustus were happy to listen to their wives. Others like Nero were content to take orders from them. But others declined to take either orders or advice from their wives, and a woman might find herself trapped in a paradox: the most powerful and elevated woman in the empire, with no control over anything but the daily shopping list.

My novel Daughters of Rome is about the Year of Four Emperors, and thus presents a variety of men who wear the crown – along with my heroine Marcella, who has a talent for dropping the right word in the Imperial ear to produce the desired result. Emperor Galba was cranky but easy to lead around; just tell him it would save money and he was all yours. Charming Emperor Otho who succeeded him was much smarter, but he liked amusing women – present your advice well wrapped in witticisms over a good wine, and he'd be sold. Third Emperor Vitellius didn't care about much beyond his dinner and the chariot races; as long as you caught him in a good mood after his beloved Blues team won, he'd sign anything. But what happens when another emperor comes along whom Marcella can't manipulate? What's a smart girl to do then – keep trying, or give up and resign herself to weaving her husband's tunics?

That's why I love empresses. These crowned women standing behind their Imperial husbands and smiling, much like modern political wives – who's to tell what category they fell into? Did they whisper diplomacy over the pillow or keep their mouths shut when asked for political advice? Did they receive petitioners and sign Imperial documents on behalf of their husbands, or fume and rant as they were firmly shut out of the halls of power? You never know, looking at them. They all look so serene, just like their marble busts which survived them by a few millennia and reside in museums today. I like standing in front of those busts, looking at these women behind the throne and wondering, “What really went on in your head?”

None of them have given me an answer yet. But it doesn't stop me asking.

Thank you, Kate, and we wish all the best of success! To learn more about Kate and her work, please visit her website.

Winner of BLOODWORK!

2011-04-06T11:54:00.001-07:00

The winner of BLOODWORK by Holly Tucker is Amy!! Please contact me at cwgortner [at] earthlink.net with your mailing address so I can alert the publicist.

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. I wish we'd had more copies to giveaway but I hope you'll go ahead and buy one, as it's a fascinating read!

Q&A with Margaret George, author of ELIZABETH I

2011-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the publication day for Margaret George's epic new novel, ELIZABETH I. Margaret graciously agreed to this interview, and in celebration of her book Historical Boys is offering a signed first edition of ELIZABETH I. See below the interview for entry details. Please join me in welcoming Margaret George again! HB: Congratulations on the publication of ELIZABETH I. It's an honor to have you with us. This is a vivid and compelling novel detailing the later years of Elizabeth I's reign and her long, often tumultuous relationship with Lettice Knollys. Elizabeth I is such an iconic figure, and she exerts endless fascination. What inspired you to write about this portion of her life, as opposed to, say, her younger years?
MG:I identified more with Elizabeth at the height of her power than with the ‘princess in peril’ of her youth. Also, I wanted to explore a time that is strangely neglected by writers---the years following the Armada. In many ways those were the most interesting, and certainly the most “Elizabethan”, since many of the big names come into their own then, such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, Raleigh, Donne, Francis Bacon, and Robert Cecil. At the same time Elizabeth was grappling with her own issues of mortality and what would become of England after her death. This rich period is looked back on as the golden age of England.

HB: Lettice Knollys is often treated as either the ambitious lady who snagged Robert Dudley from under Elizabeth's unsuspecting nose or as the hapless object of the queen's ruthless jealousy. What interesting facts did you discover about Lettice? How is she different or similar to the myths surrounding her? Why do you think she presents such an intriguing counterfoil to the queen’s voice?
MG: Lettice was in many ways Elizabeth’s doppelganger. They shared similar coloring, intelligence, and personality, as well as being cousins. It must have been difficult for Lettice to see someone so like herself be given so much, while she, Lettice, had to fight for everything, and face setback after setback. It was almost a Cain and Abel story. On the other hand, Elizabeth could envy Lettice’s freedom. Just before I started writing, new evidence about Lettice’s age came to light in a family record, revealing Lettice as younger than previously thought---almost a decade younger than Elizabeth. Also, her time abroad in Basel as a young girl, when her staunch Puritan father had to flee England from “Bloody Mary”, must have stamped her in ways that Elizabeth had never experienced. Lettice knew what it was to be exiled, and to be a foreigner. If that taught her to be grasping, greedy, and calculating, still, I found her a sympathetic character. She reminded me of Scarlett O’Hara, vowing to never be hungry again, and with good reason.

HG: You are well known for your biographical novels of historical figures, from Henry VIII to Cleopatra to Mary Magdalene. What advantages or disadvantages did you find in terms of researching this particular novel? What decisions and/or compromises did you find yourself making as a writer when it came to telling Elizabeth’s story?
MG: Although Elizabeth is a familiar icon, and the nearest to our own time of anyone I’ve written about, she was a great mystery. She has a shell, a public persona that we all know and can see (there are more portraits of her than any other English monarch, but they may not really look like her at all, as she managed her image so carefully), and an inner self that is utterly guarded. We feel that she is hiding a secret of some sort, but we can’t guess what it is. She left no diary, no memoirs (in spite of many novelists writing them for her), very few personal letters. The poetry attributed to her is doubtful, and the anecdotes---usually illustrating her wit---are also of questionable authenticity. So I had to read between the lines and make educated guesses about what went on in her head. Since she didn’t want people to know what she was thinking, this was a challenge. A French ambassador said, “ She is a princess who knows how to transform herself as suits her best.” By limiting myself to one period of her life, I was able to cut down on the number of different facets I had to deal with. In the end I had to construct motivations that seemed the most likely to me, but as with everything connected with Elizabeth, I was taking a leap of faith---in my own ability to decipher her secret code.

HB: Elizabeth’s relationship with Essex was complex and is often misunderstood. What do you think motivated Essex to act as he did?
MG: Essex is a fascinating character but not a mysterious one like Elizabeth. He was a man born out of his time---he belonged in an earlier era when chivalry was in full flower, not in the cynical age he actually lived in. His gestures--- duels to settle matters of honor, his need for extravagant adventure and derring-do, and harking to military glory as a way to power---all point to that. He had outsized charm and much talent, and Elizabeth was drawn to that. She probably thought she could ‘tame’ him as she had his stepfather, Robert Dudley, and make him into a useful courtier. But, besides the Miniver Cheevy-like aspects of his personality, Essex seems to have suffered from a bipolar disorder that made him increasingly cut off from reality. It is dangerous to make a medical diagnosis on a historical character but his behavior---mood swings and grandiosity alternating with collapses and remorseful asceticism, point in that direction. That meant that sooner or later, since he was given huge public responsibilities he could not retire from, he was going to come to doom. Perhaps he just saw no way out and this was his way of ending it.

HB: Please tell us about methods that you employ to give your characters authenticity.
MG: I start by trying to find out everything about them---an ambitious undertaking! I feel that the more I know of hard facts, the more I will be able to connect the dots for the areas that are more shadowy. You know how they use sonar to make a grid on the ocean floor when looking for objects; that’s what I try to do with the facts. I record each month of a character’s life on one page of a spiral notebook, and every time I get a firm date for something I write it down, the big and the little alike. So, for May 1936 in Henry VIII’s life, I might write on the 19th: Anne Boleyn executed. On May 26th, I might record, “Henry is measured for a new green cape.” It becomes a sort of live-streaming video of his life. That gives me a feeling that I was really there and I know what happened. (Even if this is most likely not so as there were plenty of things he did in May 1536 that obviously weren’t recorded.)

I also, whenever I can, try to find someone I know, or know of, who may share traits with that character, so I can ‘see’ them in action. Often the historical character is a composite of real people I use for reference. Essex reminded me a bit of Jim Morrison---not that I actually ever met Jim Morrison. Of course Morrison’s personality and behavior was fueled by drugs and alcohol, whereas Essex’s was natural. Both were handsome, young, and self-destructive.

HB: How do you think this novel speaks to today’s reader or how do the events you evoke resonate for today’s world?
MG: I was struck by the similarities between Obama and Elizabeth. “No drama Obama” has an echo in Elizabeth, who was profoundly grounded in Realpolitik and was a cautious, clear-sighted realist. Knowing that a cool head was the best way to survive a crisis, she always kept steady on course. In some ways she seems very modern to us, and the problems she faced are still ones we face. How to maintain command of a situation? What does it take to be a successful world leader? She didn’t sponsor any great building programs, sign any significant laws such as the Magna Carta, or conquer any territory---all the standard things a successful ruler should do. Yet she gave her name to an age. What she gave her people was what everyone still wants, and now demand of their world leaders: stability, peace, and pride in themselves and their country.

HB: If you can, please tell us about your next project.
MG: I’d like to do a novel about the conflict between Boudica, the warrior queen of Britain, and the emperor Nero, her ultimate adversary. With her enormous ‘people’s army’ and wheeled chariots, Boudica took the occupying Romans by surprise and destroyed Colchester, St Albans, and London itself. This all happened during the time in Nero’s rule when he had just finished getting rid of his bothersome mother and was turning into the Nero of legend. What outsized personalities, and what an interesting corner of history! I will probably do it as alternating first person accounts.

To enter to win a copy of ELIZABETH I, please leave a comment below telling us which of Margaret's previous novels is your favorite. You must be a follower of this blog; unfortunately, this contest is open to US residents only due to publisher territory restrictions. Contest ends on April 15..

Guest Post from Margaret George, author of ELIZABETH I

2011-04-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, April 5, is the release day of my friend Margaret George's astonishing, epic account of the latter years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign: ELIZABETH I. The novel is told through the eyes of the queen herself and her longtime nemesis, Lettice Knollys, whose rivalry with Elizabeth carves a path of tragic destruction through both women's lives. Filled with Margaret's trademark penchant for detail, this is a vivid, sweeping look at the fabled Gloriana, from the invasion of the Armada in 1588 to Elizabeth's struggle to keep her final foes at bay.

A release by Margaret George is always an event, and this is the first of two posts I'll be posting in celebration of her new novel. Check back tomorrow for a Q&A with Margaret, along with the chance to win a signed first edition of ELIZABETH I.

Please join me in welcoming Margaret George.

Secrets of the Virgin Queen by Margaret George

Elizabeth Tudor, the second most famous virgin in the world, has been having a difficult time defending her virtue lately. People refuse to believe that she was a virgin. Since this question can never be definitively settled, the argument can go on forever - and it has. In her own day, opinions about the queen’s virginity had more to do with politics than with evidence. If you were Spanish or Italian or Portuguese and loyal to the pope, then you had to believe that she was an ‘incestuous bastard born of an infamous courtesan’ with the morals of her mother. The pope had issued declarations that she was not the rightful queen and that no one should recognize her as such. Her enemies spread stories about her immorality and lovers, showing how unfit she was for the throne. On the other hand, if you were a Protestant from Germany or Scandinavia or Scotland, the queen’s purity was fiercely defended. She was the guardian of the faith against the evil Armadas sent by the satanic forces of Spain, and God only protects the pure of heart and body. Elizabeth herself made no bones about her virginity. She claimed to have embraced it for the sake of her people, so that she could say, ‘I have been content to be a taper of pure virgin wax, to waste myself and spend my life that I might give light and comfort to those that live under me.’ She appropriated every symbol of virginity that she could - white dresses, selection of the eglantine rose as her emblem, paintings that featured herself with an ermine (a creature that would die rather than soil its white fur) and a sieve (a Roman test of virginity), the moon, and pearls.

But, did the lady protest too much? Was this all a coverup? And if so, who was her lover? Popular opinion, then and now, pointed to Robert Dudley as the chosen one. It’s certain that she came as close to being in love with him---if she was capable of being in love---as with anyone. He was a swashbuckling ladies man and known as a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. Clearly he had a lot to offer in that department. But did she take him up on it? Evidence would say not. There was no privacy at court, and her foreign enemies had spies everywhere who would have discovered this tasty tidbit, if it existed. More than that, even had there been an opportunity with ironclad privacy, her own psychology did not permit her to yield to anyone, not even for pleasure. “There will be but one mistress here and no master,” she warned Dudley. Hardly the thing you say to anyone you want to go to bed with. In those days the concept of the zipless f--- did not exist. In fact, being someone’s lover created a legal relationship with them, something she would have shunned. (At one time an obstacle to Henry VIII’s marriage with Anne Boleyn was that they were ‘related’ because Anne’s sister had been Henry’s mistress.) Safe in her marble tomb in Westminster Abbey, the queen kept her secret to the grave. We may never know the truth, and that’s exactly as she wanted it.

Thank you, Margaret. To learn more about Margaret and her work, please visit her website. Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of ELIZABETH I.

Guest Post from Christy English, author of TO BE QUEEN

2011-03-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

I'm honored to welcome Christy English, author of THE QUEEN'S PAWN and her new novel TO BE QUEEN (Pub date: April 5, 2011; NAL Trade, 400 pages, $15.00) about the tumultuous early years of that most fascinating of medieval queens, Eleanor of Aquitaine. It seems we never tire of this original independent lady, whose feisty attitude and zest for life, as well as enormous celebrity quotient, blazed a trail of scandal across her world; in other words, in today's world, she would have had paparazzi chasing her on motorcycles! Though she's most famous for her tempestuous marriage to Henry II, with whom she loved, battled and ended up imprisoned by, for a time, her early life is my favorite - full of the dramatic tumult that shaped her into the queen she became. Christy's novel promises a riveting, fresh account of how Eleanor grew into her crown.

Please join me in welcoming Christy English.

Eleanor of Aquitaine and The Search for Charlemagne by Christy English

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, King of the Franks, united all the lands of modern day France and Germany under his rule. His empire only lasted one generation after his death, but it lived on in the minds of the people he left behind. Eleanor’s Ancestor Charlemagne founded the Duchy of Aquitaine, which was passed down through the centuries in Eleanor’s family, finally coming through her father’s hands to her in 1137. Charlemagne and all he achieved loomed large in Eleanor’s imagination, and with her marriage to Louis VII of France, she saw how she might regain some of Charlemagne’s former glory by uniting France and the Aquitaine, as well as Gascony, Poitou and all of her other holdings.

Eleanor hoped to put her son on the throne after Louis and make him a second Charlemagne. Her unborn son would rule fairly under the law, would render justice, and all importantly, keep the power of the Church in check. Eleanor discovered only one problem with this plan. She and Louis did not have a son. Louis VII was perfectly happy to accept what he considered to be “God’s will” in his youth, to accept the fact that he and Eleanor did not have a son and would not until God sent the boy. Louis constantly prayed for such a son to come to them, but neglected Eleanor’s bed, the only way a son would ever be born to France. After the Crusade in 1148, Eleanor knew with all certainty that her dreams for a united France under her son’s rule were in vain. She worked for an annulment for her marriage in Rome, and once Abbot Suger, Louis’ spiritual father, the largest obstacle to their annulment, died in 1151, Louis began to work with her. Rome granted their annulment, and in March, 1152, Eleanor rode home to her capital at Poitiers.

Eleanor did not retire to her lands and marry one of her own barons. Instead, she united in alliance and in marriage to Henry, Duke of Normandy. Henry was a young man when she married him, nineteen years old, eleven years younger than herself. Eleanor and Henry were married for less than two years when Henry won the throne of England, and she and her new husband were crowned King and Queen of England. Eleanor and Henry’s first son, William, had already been born and she was pregnant with their second son, Henry the Younger, when they were crowned.

Their empire stretched from Scotland and Ireland to Wales and England, and in France they controlled the territories of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Aquitaine, Poitou and Gascony. Between Henry and Eleanor, both with their inheritances and with what Henry had re-conquered at the point of the sword, they ruled a larger empire than had been seen in France since the time of Charlemagne. Though time would divide Henry and Eleanor from each other, and their sons from their father in countless rebellions and struggles for power, at the time of her marriage to Henry, Eleanor had realized her dream of a large empire that she might one day pass on to her son. After Henry II’s death, her favorite son, Richard the Lionhearted, ruled all the lands of his father.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Christy. We wish you all the best of success! TO BE QUEEN: A Novel of The Early Years of Eleanor of Aquitaine is available for pre-order and will be in bookstores on April 5. If you want to learn more about Christy and Eleanor’s adventures, please find visit her at her website.

Farewell, Elizabeth

2011-03-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up in Spain during the last years of Franco’s regime, the local movie theatre in the seaside town where I lived played older movies. Censorship was part of Spain’s society in those days, even as Franco’s grip weakened. Films like The Exorcist were heavily edited or never shown; the result is that I grew up watching movies from the gilded age of Hollywood, like Young Bess; My Cousin Rachel; Rebecca; Scaramoche; Portrait of Jenny; and many others. The stars of the 1940s and '50s were as real to me as those of my own era, often more so, because theirs were the films I was most exposed to.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor. The town theatre showed it in its entirety, as they did Gone With The Wind, with 20-minute intermissions. Amidst the crunching of popcorn, perched on worn creaky seats, with the drone of the projector running in the background, I sat, mesmerized, as the screen revealed a world of hot sand and lustrous gold, the likes of which I’d never seen. And when she rolled out of the carpet, her white sheath clinging to those voluptuous curves, her arresting eyes sparking in defiance at Rex Harrison’s equally smitten Caesar, I was hers. I sat utterly still, captivated by the unique combination of beauty, ferocity, and fragility that made Ms Taylor the first true superstar.

Over the years I continued to follow her, even as I fell in thrall to other leading ladies, such as Jacqueline Bisset and Jane Fonda. But whenever I was sick, the first thing I’d do was brew a cup of hot tea, snuggle under the covers, and pop into my VCR my double-tape of Cleopatra. I must have seen that movie over a dozen times; I knew the dialogue by heart; I recognized the inaccuracies and bloated production values; yet I never tired of her. She of course made other wonderful films, of which I was a fan; films in which her acting earned her Oscars and her talent was channeled in unexpected ways, but in that one movie about Egypt’s last pharaoh, she appears as she never would again— a once-in-a-lifetime role for the perfect actress.

Perhaps it’s my memory of seeing it as a boy, the impact of watching it unfold in all its epic Technicolor glory on the big screen, cementing its iconic imagery in me. Whatever the case, my admiration for Ms Taylor never diminished. Indeed, it only grew as the dark days of the '80s exposed a terrifying foe which killed countless friends. As everyone but the afflicted and warriors fled, she stood up and proclaimed now was the time to join together, instead of seeking someone to blame. The AIDS pandemic changed my life and it changed hers: though we never met, I felt as though I knew her.

Of course, we all feel like that when it comes to movie stars. It’s what they do: they reflect our yearnings. But Elizabeth Taylor was more than a celebrity; in her tumultuous private life and bold humanitarian stance, she demonstrated a quest to live as she thought fit, even if it came at a price. She learned from her mistakes but wasn’t afraid to make them again. She once said, “I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me.”

For a boy who once struggled to find out who he was in the world, hers were words to live by.

Guest Post and Giveaway from Holly Tucker, author of BLOODWORK

2011-03-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Holly Tucker, whose debut BLOODWORK: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution [W.W. Norton & Company; $25.95] will be published on March 21. This non-fiction narrative account of the first transfusion experiments of 1665-68 reads like the best suspense, a riveting, often terrifying, tale of the fierce rivalries that erupted between scientists in Paris and London, including the notorious doctor, Jean Baptise Denis, who performed the first successful blood transfusion only to be framed for murder in a shocking case that scandalized Europe. Through Denis's case, Ms Tucker offers a portrait of a medical and scientific culture on the edge of history, yet overcome by superstition and fear; and in the process, holds up a mirror to our own modern-day research controversies.

Please join me in welcoming Holly Tucker!

Detective Work, 17th century style
by Holly Tucker

Blood Work is a nonfiction murder mystery set in the scientific revolution. It centers around the first blood transfusions, which were animal-to-human and which took place over 150 years before the discovery of anesthesia and antisepsis. In December 1667, the renegade doctor Jean-Baptiste Denis transfused several ounces of calf’s blood into the veins of the best known men in Paris: Antoine Mauroy. Mauroy, a mental ill man, regularly roamed the streets of the elite Marais quarter. The idea was that blood transfusion would cool the vapors that were rising to Mauroy’s brain—and thereby relieve him of his symptoms.

Denis’ experiments met with failure. Mauroy died. And in one of the history of medicine’s first malpractice cases, Denis was put on trial for the man’s murder. The courts eventually exonerated Denis of all charges—but they nonetheless ruled that Mauroy had been indeed murdered…by several other physicians. Blood transfusion was banned not long after and fell off the medical radar for nearly two more centuries.

To be honest, I felt a lot like Sherlock Holmes. I knew there had been a murder. But why? What was it about blood transfusion that would lead someone to kill? In the first year or two of research, I had my sights set on a single man. I can’t name him here—because he still figures prominently in the book. I spent weeks in the archives of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris pouring over case reports and experiment records. Nothing. I found nothing that would allow me to say with certainty that he did it.

I spent the months that followed feeling dejected. Maybe no one had ever revealed the names of the murderer or murderers because their identities were simply unrecoverable. Still, I refused to give up. I headed back to France, three more times. I worked in the archives of the Paris Faculty of Medicine and the French National Library, as well as in the special collections at the Méjanes Library in Aix-en-Provence. Nothing.

I was truly ready to throw in the towel and actually began to box up my research materials. One by one, I skimmed through the hundreds of documents and manuscript reproductions that I had collected. One by one, they went into the box.

The last days of any trip to archives are always frenzied. So many documents to look at—and no time left. I usually end up spending a fortune in reproduction fees just so I can keep working when I return back to the States. As I flipped through the documents, I recognized a stack of copies that I remembered from a much earlier trip to France. When they arrived by mail weeks after the trip, I had simply tossed them in with the rest.

A few turns of the pages, and there it was. The smoking gun: a single letter written by a lawyer who was not directly involved in the transfusion trial but who was apparently outraged by the conspiracy. He named the murderous physicians—and once I had those names, I was stunned by how many clues they had left out in the open just waiting, almost proudly it seemed, to be discovered.

I remember vividly the day I knew for sure who did it. I called my husband in tears. At first, he was worried that something was horribly wrong…until he heard me whisper: “I found them.” It only took a few 300 years, but I had found them.

GIVEAWAY! One lucky reader will win a free copy of Bloodwork! To qualify, you must be located in the US or Canada, and be a follower of this blog. Enter by leaving a comment below. The winner will be announced on April 5.

To learn more about Holly Tucker and her book, please visit her at her website.

Review of Elizabeth Redfern's THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

2011-03-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Published several years ago and recently re-issued in a brand new trade paperback format, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES is a thinking person's historical thriller, a vivid account of a man's search for his daughter's killer and the quest for a lost planet among refugees from the French Revolution.

The sights, sounds and smells of 18th century London permeate this tale of Jonathan Absey, a calcifying civil servant whose family and personal life have crumbled following the death of his daughter, who was strangled by a serial killer preying on red-haired prostitutes. While the premise sounds reminiscent of countless other thrillers, echoing the later horrors and panic of the infamous Ripper spree, this is where the similarities end.

Rather than settle for the usual stop-the-murderer-before-he-kills-again scenario, Ms Redfern instead has crafted a compelling rumination on the forces that our beliefs exert on us, and the effect of one seemingly random event upon an entire life. She adds to her lead character a fascinating cast of supporting roles, including Jonathan’s sensitive gay brother, Alexander, an amateur astronomy aficionado who falls in thrall to a tormented French refugee brother and sister. In a time when homosexuality was persecuted, Redfern’s choice to tell part of her story through Alexander’s eyes is a bold one, elevating the narrative into one of eloquent complexity.

While Jonathan chases clues that appear to link the enigmatic French refugee society to a renewed bout of murders horrifyingly similiar to his daughter's, and Alexander becomes increasingly involved with the mysterious and glamorous Comtesse Auguste and her beautiful, terminally ill brother— who may, in fact, be the very killer Jonathan Absey seeks— the world around them is being shaken by the ongoing war in France and ruthless suspicions of the English government, which avidly hunts down French spies. The descriptions of France’s struggles and the suffering of those forced to leave their country are poignant; rarely do we read about the ones who fled abroad, only to encounter another country’s hostility.

While the occasional digressions into battles abroad dilute the immediate plot, this is still a book rich in atmosphere and suspense— a heady excursion into an era when astronomy was a burgeoning, imperfect science; war was as haunting a presence as the murderer in London’s midst; and one man’s dogged search to bring a killer to justice unravels a myriad of deadly secrets.

SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA

2011-03-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the US trade paperback of my friend Sarah Bower's gorgeous novel, SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA, I'm re-posting a previous, wonderful guest post from Sarah on history, the importance of dogs, and that bad boy of Renaissance Italy, Cesare Borgia.

Set in early 16th century Italy during the dangerous reign of the Borgias, SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA tells the story of Esther, a young Jewess who escapes with her family from Isabel of Castile's Spain, only to find herself enraptured by, and ensnared in, the intrigues and lethal attractions of Cesare Borgia and his sister, Lucrezia. Readers will be enthralled by this mesmerizing tale of an innocent's journey into the dark secret heart of one of Italy's most infamous papal dynasties.

One Man and His Dog
by Sarah Bower

In the beginning of the Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death (1946), a wartime airman is washed up on a beach after his aircraft is shot down over the sea. He believes he is dead and has gone to heaven. As he walks up the beach, he encounters a black Labrador.
‘I always hoped there’d be dogs,’ he says as he pats the animal’s head.

The room where I write contains two desks, two computers, an inexplicably large number of books (do they breed, I wonder, while my back is turned? Should I worry about leaving my Freud next to my Austen..?), and two golden retrievers. These retrievers – Clarence and Floyd (named after two characters from the same movie) – are apparently inert. To the uninitiated they might seem to be rugs, moth-eaten leftovers from a golden age of big game hunting, or possibly evidence of a bizarre taste for taxidermy. Yet despite the fact that they sleep away my working hours, only snapping into a flurry of dancing, whimpering and tail wagging when I rise from my desk and intone the word, ‘walk’, or possibly, ‘tea’, they make an invaluable contribution to my fiction.Walking is itself a great spur to creativity, of course. Keats, it is said, composed verses in his head while walking on Hampstead Heath and committed them, fully formed, to paper when he arrived home.
He took
In his knapsack
A book
Full of vowels
And a shirt
With some towels –(From John Keats, A Song About Myself: The Complete Poems, Penguin Classics 3rd edition 1988)

You can almost hear the rhythm of his feet, can’t you? History does not relate ( I don’t think) if he walked with a dog, but I’m certain many authors do. Among the many memorable characters in J. G. Farrell’s novel, The Singapore Grip, set in the period just before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942, is a mangy, half-blind King Charles spaniel, nicknamed The Human Condition. The Human Condition survives bombing and shelling, several attempts to take him to the vet to be put down, and beats most of the human characters on to the last ship away from the island before the invading force arrives. He left me suspecting that Farrell, like me, wrote in the presence of dogs.

The decision to give Bishop Odo in The Needle in the Blood a favourite dog was straightforward. One of the themes of that book is – perversely – the Englishness of the Normans, the fact that William the Conqueror and those who accompanied him on his great adventure are as much the ancestors of P. G. Wodehouse’s Lord Emsworth as they are the proto-Nazis much beloved of the champions of Harold Godwinson and his Anglo Saxon kingdom. English gentlemen – just like Powell and Pressburger’s gallant bomber pilot, played by that quintessential English actor, David Niven – have dogs. Much as J. G. Farrell’s lamentable King Charles spaniel acquired his Human Condition, however, I found that Bishop Odo’s dog, Juno, developed a role and character of her own and began to make interventions in the narrative as a kind of interpreter of human emotions, a channel of communication between human characters bent on misunderstanding one another.

So, by the time I came to plan my latest book, Sins of the House of Borgia, which looks at the lives of Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia through the eyes of a young Jewish conversa, I was very conscious of the need to add dogs to the mix. There are two dogs of importance in the book - Alfonsino, a lap dog given to Lucrezia as a betrothal gift by her last husband, Alfonso d’Este, and Tiresias, a blind hound belonging to Cesare. A theme of the novel is doubling: Esther, the Jewess, and Lucrezia are very similar in appearance, a fact which has enormous consequences for Esther. One way in which I chose to signify this was to set up a rapport between Esther and the dog. She becomes its principal carer, and this in turn leads her into certain circumstances which change her life. Lucrezia begins by disliking the dog but shifts towards affection for it as she settles into a marriage which was, if not an idyllic love affair, a long and successful one which eventually enabled her to escape the lurid reputation she had acquired as a girl in Rome. In Ferrara, where the Este were the ruling family, she is remembered with great fondness for her cultivated court and her gallantry in defending the city during the War of the League of Cambrai.
Tiresias was a late addition to the novel. He didn’t appear in the first draft at all and it was only while I was proof reading The Needle in the Blood it occurred to me that Cesare Borgia needed a dog every bit as much as Bishop Odo, perhaps more so, as my initial motivation in giving him Tiresias was quite shamelessly manipulative. I wanted to make my readers like him more. Cesare Borgia has been fictionalised in many ways, from the wonderfully subtle portrayal by Nigel Balchin in The Borgia Testament, in my view the best of all novels about the Borgias, to the wicked and clever comedy of Somerset Maugham’s Then and Now to the gloriously predatory ogre of Gregory Maguire’s Mirror, Mirror. He is a godsend to the novelist in many ways, having led a life which his biographer, Sarah Bradford , describes as having all the ingredients of a Greek tragedy. He is also (and I suspect, wherever he is now, with or without dogs, this must be a source of great satisfaction to him) impossible. As many headed as the hydra that was his emblem, every time you think you’ve got a grasp on his character, he slips away. The atheist son of a Pope, the womaniser who took no account of any woman other than his mother and his sister, possibly the greatest military and political genius of his age who nevertheless ended in complete failure, the inspiration for Machiavelli’s Prince – but then we have to ask ourselves, what is The Prince? Is it a serious treatise on government or a deeply ironical joke levelled at the tyrannical Medici by a dyed-in-the-wool republican?

These contradictions, the evasiveness and trickery of the man even 500 years beyond the grave (he died in 1507), challenges the novelist to transform him into either hero or villain with any conviction. He forces her to do what, of course, she should be doing, to recreate out of the facts and the myths an authentic human being. All human beings have their loveable side, even if only their own mothers can see it. Unfortunately, my plot dictated that Cesare’s relationship with his mother would not show his best side. If we’re lucky, we get unconditional love from our mothers, but everyone gets unconditional love from their dog. How better to show Cesare to advantage than by giving him a dog? Of course, like any other gentleman of his age, he would have owned a lot of dogs, hounds of various kinds for hunting (though hunting with leopards was one of his favourite pastimes – how wonderfully over-the-top Renaissance of him) and would have put considerable resources into breeding them. What, then, would he do with a puppy born blind? Well, have it destroyed, of course.

An exercise I often set my students is to turn a convention on its head and see where it takes you. What, for example, happens to the story if you turn Cinderella into a boy or give Don Juan a conscience? With Tiresias, I did exactly the same thing – instead of putting him down, Cesare keeps him. He says it’s because, being blind, he will have a good nose for truffles, but you kind of know that’s just an excuse, a pragmatic front put up to shield the sentimental streak in his nature. So, Tiresias stands for the goodness in Cesare, for the side of him that is capable of love and loyalty and straight dealing. His lifespan is also exactly that of the papacy of Alexander VI, Cesare’s father, and thus, by his untimely, violent and avoidable death, he foreshadows his master’s own end. Oh, and he gives Cesare the idea for the chestnut orgy. Chestnut orgy? Well, if you want to know more, you’ll have to read Sins of the House of Borgia, which explores many different kinds of love, not least that of a man for his dog and vice versa.

Sarah Bower is the author of two historical novels. The Needle in the Blood was Susan Hill’s Book of the Year 2007. The Sins of the House of Borgia, first published as Book of Love, is now released in the US in trade paperback from SourceBooks. Thank you, Sarah. We wish you much success in your latest US debut!

Review of Karen Maitland's THE OWL KILLERS

2011-03-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

Karen Maitland's THE OWL KILLERS is a compelling and often unsettling exploration of the clash between the pagan undercurrents in medieval England and the growing strength of the Christian faith. Set in a backwater town plagued by a despotic overlord and group of masked men who call themselves the Owl Masters —dedicated to preserving their power at any costs by exacting tribute from the downtrodden villagers and enacting terrifying nightly rites— the novel follows a number of characters from their points of view, each of whom has his or her reasons for liking or resenting a group of foreign women who have come to settle outside in the village.

Part of a medieval phenomenon called a beguinage, these woman hail from different sections of society, united in their commitment to an ascetic lifestyle that includes caring for the less fortunate. However, not all is as it seems under the hard-working, disciplined exterior of the beguinage and it is precisely here where Ms Maitland deftly weaves the strands of discord, suspicion, resentment, and eventual fear that thrust the women into the heart of a horrific plot hatched by the Owl Masters.

The characters are finely wrought and include a vengeful priest with a secret; an ancient cunning woman who lives like a wild thing on the hill; her feral granddaughter; and various women of the beguinage, including the stalwart leader, Servant Martha, and an unbalanced acolyte, Beatrice. The arrival of the manor lord’s disgraced daughter, who has witnessed a terrifying rite in the forest where a demon allegedly was unleashed, sets off a chain of events that will ensnare each of these characters in a deadly struggle to preserve his or her way of life— a struggle that foreshadows the crumbling of the foundations of a much older, matriarchal system of belief under the onslaught of a virile and aggressive Church. While the changing viewpoints within Ms Maitland’s narrative may prove confounding to some readers, those who persist will find unexpected moments of transcendent beauty, as Ms Maitland excels in depicting not only the people of her savage, rarely explored world but also the shifting landscape which they inhabit.

From a catastrophic flood to the beatific sufferings of a starving anchorite to a heart-stopping chase through the forest as a winged beast flies overhead, THE OWL KILLERS is not for the faint of heart, evoking a medieval vision that offers stark contrast to our often overly-romantic imaginings. Ms Maitland's latest novel, THE GALLOW'S CURSE will be released this month. For more about her and her work, visit http://www.karenmaitland.com/

Blog Tour Day 17 and 18

2011-02-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

My blog tour is almost over and I had so much fun catching up with old blogger friends, meeting new ones, and of course interacting with my readers.

Yesterday and today, THE TUDOR SECRET was featured on the following sites:
Booking Mama (review)
Peeking Between the Pages (review)
By the Book (review)

Again, thanks so much to these bloggers for taking the time to host me on my tour!

TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Day 16

2011-02-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured at the following blogs:
Historically Obsessed (guest post)
Queen of Happy Endings (interview and giveaway)
Okbo Lover (review)
Acting Balanced (guest post and giveaway)
Book Faery (guest post)

Thank you so much to these marvelous bloggers who have taken the time to work with me!

Blog Tour Day 15: Happy President's Day!

2011-02-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

Happy President's Day to all. Abe Lincoln was always my favorite president growing up; I loved his mournful stare and lanky frame and his utter commitment to stop injustice.

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured on the following blogs:
Reading The Past (Guest post)
The Burton Review (Review)
Bookworm 2 Bookworm (Review)

A very warm thank you to these bloggers for taking time out of their busy weekend schedules to feature me.

Blog Tour Day 14 and 15

2011-02-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

THE TUDOR SECRET has been featured on the following sites:

Historically Obsessed (giveaway, with a gorgeous one-of-a-kind necklace by the talented Lizzy Johnson)

Book Drunkard (review)

My Reading Room (review)

Working Writers (review)

Thank you so much to all the bloggers who took the time to read and feature my book this week. I couldn't do this without you.

Audio version of THE TUDOR SECRET now available!

2011-02-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

The audio version of THE TUDOR SECRET, from Blackstone Audio, is now available. It features a marvelous narration by actor Steve West, who truly captures the voice of Brendan Prescott, the book's lead character. To purchase a download and/or CDs, plus hear a sample, click here. Thank you to Blackstone and to Mr West for bringing this book to life!

Plus, I just have to say: **love** this cover. It captures the book's feel perfectly.

Blog Tour: Days 11, 12 and 13

2011-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

THE TUDOR SECRET has been featured on the following blogs:
Historically Obsessed (review)
A Room Without Books is Empty (Review)
One Book Shy of A Full Shelf (Review, interview and giveaway)
My Reading Room (review)

A warm thank you to these bloggers for taking the time to host me on my tour - and a very special thank you to Lizzy at Historically Obsessed. Stay tuned to Lizzy's blog as we'll be hosting a giveaway as well.

Blog Tour Day 10 and 11:

2011-02-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured at the following blogs:
One Book Shy of a Full Shelf (interview, with review and giveaway tomorrow)
Books, Bags and Bon Jovi (review and giveaway)
My Friend Amy (review)

Thank you so much to the bloggers who took the time today to host me on my tour!

TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour: Day 9

2011-02-11T11:17:00.001-08:00

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured at:
Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews (review)
Historical-Fiction.com (giveaway)
The Maiden's Court (review and book plus Elizabeth I pendant giveaway) For giveaway, click here.

A warm thank you to these bloggers who took time out of their busy schedules for my tour.
And thank you to everyone who came to my book launch party yesterday in San Francisco; we had tons of fun! To see photos of the event, please visit me at Facebook.

Tudor Secret Blog Tour Day 8

2011-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured at:
Mom's Tree House (review)
Wendi's Book Corner (Guest post, review and giveaway)
And don't forget, there is another giveaway still going on at Book Reviews by Molly.

Thank you to these bloggers for taking the time out of their busy schedules to host me!

TUDOR SECRET Tour Day 7

2011-02-09T11:26:00.001-08:00

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured on the following blogs:
All Things Historical Fiction (Review)
Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books (Review)
Book Reviews by Molly (Review)

My fond appreciation to all the bloggers who took time out of their busy schedules to read the book and review it. Thank you!

Day 6: TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour

2011-02-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

Today, the TUDOR SECRET is reviewed and/or featured at the following sites:
The Anne Boleyn Files (Guest Post)
The Elizabeth I Files (Review)
Book Products and More (Excerpt)
Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books (Interview)

Thanks to the bloggers who have featured me today, and a special thank you to Claire of The Anne Boleyn Files.

THE TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Day 5

2011-02-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today, THE TUDOR SECRET is featured at:
Interview at Book Reviews by Molly
Review at Must Read Faster
Review at Teresa's Reading Corner (Teresa hasn't quite finished her review, as she's in the middle of reading the book and apparently really liking it :)

Thank you to all!

Two Interviews and the TUDOR SECRET book trailer

2011-02-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Today, you can read two interviews with me about THE TUDOR SECRET. A warm thank you to Gareth Russell of Confessions of a Ci-Devant and Kathryn of Historical Fiction Notebook for hosting me. Also, I'm very excited to offer you the official book trailer! Kris Waldherr of Arts and Words is responsible for creating this marvelous interpretation of the novel. You can view this video and others of mine by clicking on the thumbnails on the right hand side of this blog. THE TUDOR SECRET is the last thumbnail. Enjoy!

Blog Tour Continues: Day 2, 3 and 4

2011-02-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today, THE TUDOR SECRET has been reviewed at the following blogs. Thank you to the bloggers' for these marvelous reviews!

Broken Teepee
Always With A Book
Confessions of a Ci-Devant
And there is a guest blog and giveaway here:
A Cozy Reader's Corner

Book List weighs in!

2011-02-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

A wonderful review for THE TUDOR SECRET from Book List:

In 1553, England is a dangerous place to be. King Edward is on his deathbed. Vying for the crown are Elizabeth, her half sister Mary, and their cousin, Lady Jane Grey, who is manipulated by her powerful father-in-law. Into the midst of all this drama rides Brendan Prescott, a 20-year-old orphan raised by the servants at the Duke of Northumberland’s country home. Sent to court to serve the duke’s sons, one of his first tasks is to deliver a secret missive to Elizabeth. But Brendan is soon lured by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil, into working for Elizabeth instead, as Cecil promises to help Brendan decipher the mystery of his parentage. Amid crosses and double crosses, Brendan realizes he has to choose a side, for the issue of succession to the throne quickly becomes a matter of life and death—and not just for the potential monarch. An exciting, vividly rendered story of intrigue and espionage. - Hilary Hatton

TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Day 2

2011-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today, you can find a guest post on Elizabeth and Robert Dudey, and a giveaway, at A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews.

TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Starts Today!

2011-02-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

Today is publication day for THE TUDOR SECRET! And my official blog tour begins. I'm very excited to be visiting some new blogs as well as returning to some favorites; you can see my schedule on the right by clicking on my tour banner. In addition, I have a few unscheduled stops, so just check in here daily if you want to follow me. Thank you to all of you who have bought my books (or are thinking of buying:) I hope you enjoy my latest one as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Today, you can read an interview at:
As The Pages Turn
A guest post at:
Writing The Renaissance
And a review at:
The Musings of ALMYBNENR
For a giveaway of the book, visit:
The Tudor Book Blog

C.W. Gortner interviews Sandra Worth and vice-versa

2011-01-31T12:48:00.000-08:00

To celebrate tomorrow's release of THE TUDOR SECRET and of my friend Sandra Worth's new novel, PALE ROSE OF ENGLAND, I invited Sandra to be interviewed. Nothing is nicer on a release day than to take the pressure off by talking about someone else's book, but Sandra wanted to interview me, as well, so we decided to make this a joint celebration.

C.W. Gortner interviews Sandra Worth:
1) Congratulations on your new novel, PALE ROSE OF ENGLAND. Please tell us what inspired you to write this story.
Hi, Christopher! Thank you for having me here today.
Pale Rose of England relates the story of the Pretender that the Tudors called “Perkin Warbeck” and his love affair with the beautiful Scottish princess, Lady Catherine Gordon. I had written five previous novels on the Wars of the Roses, and never believed that Richard III had strangled his two nephews to death. I was one of those who thought he had smuggled the younger prince out of the country for his own safety—a narrative I presented in The Rose of York: Fall from Grace.

When a wonderful new book came out recently on the Pretender, I found a great deal of information there to confirm my sense that the Pretender really was King Edward’s younger son, Richard, Duke of York. So I asked myself, What would have been like for him?
Pale Rose of England was the result.

2) This book closes out your series of novels set in time of the Plantagenets. What do you find so fascinating about this particular era?
The Wars of the Roses is a colorful time of knights, and girls in long dresses, intrigue, and war. It has an Arthurian feel, maybe because Sir Thomas Malory who wrote Morte d’Arthur lived and wrote his tales of King Arthur’s court during this time. The love stories that populate the period bear amazing resemblance to those we cherish. There’s Romeo and Juliet, where young a pair of lovers are swept apart by the family feud and reunited through the power of love. And there’s Cinderella, where a handsome prince rescues the girl he loves from the kitchen where she has been enslaved. There’s also so much more. It’s hard to resist the allure of the Wars of the Roses!

3) Do you travel to see the sites you write about? If so, why do you find it important?
For me, travel is the best part of writing. I make it a point to visit the places I write about and find it vitally necessary to retrace my character’s footsteps. It gives me a feel for the lay of the land, the vegetation, the scent of the air, and what my characters may have seen and felt as they went about their lives. It never fails to help. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, standing there where they stood, and gazing on what they saw, a scene will leap into my mind. Those are the most rewarding moments.

For Pale Rose of England it was St. Michael’s Mount that proved invaluable. Climbing those massive stone steps hewn into the mountainside with the fierce wind from the sea blowing in my face, I was aware with every breath and every step I took that Catherine and Richard had climbed those same steps before me five hundred years earlier. I had the strongest sense of them in that place. Not only did I see what they saw as they looked around, but I felt what they might have felt as they made their way up to the fortress on the Mount with the dreams that lived in their hearts.

4) What do you find most challenging about recreating the past in fiction?
Not changing the historical record to suit my convenience! Many times I’ve wished I didn’t have to jump the hurdles that facts put in my way, and many times I just wanted to change the ending. That’s an emotional reaction, because history can be so cruel, but I always stick with the facts as best I can. It’s just a question of taste and style. There are authors (and readers) who prefer stories where imagination predominates, and authors like me (and readers like mine) who prefer stories where accuracy prevails.

5) Can you give us a hint of what you're working on next?
I’m halfway through a novel set a long way from England—in a time of war, tumult, drama, upheaval and great passion. I can’t say more than that right now because I’m superstitious and don’t want to jinx my book. But it’s one amazing story and I’m having so much fun writing it!!
Thanks so much, Christopher, for having me here, and good luck with your Feb. 1st release!

Sandra Worth Interviews C.W. Gortner:

1) Congratulations on your new novel, THE TUDOR SECRET. This is a spy novel and quite a different genre from your historical fiction novels on Juana La Loca and Catherine de Medici. Can you tell us why you felt you wanted to try a new direction? What is the attraction of writing a political thriller set in Tudor times?
Hi Sandra, thanks for interviewing me!

I hadn’t planned to write a political thriller set in Tudor times. Actually, I was researching another character for a possible novel when I stumbled upon research about the birth of the Tudor intelligencer, or espionage, system. I was fascinated. I knew that Elizabeth I had been protected by one of the most sophisticated intelligence systems in the world but I’d never stopped to consider the details of what being a Tudor spy might entail, or what the seeds of that service might have looked like before Elizabeth assumed her throne. While the Tudors have been covered from nearly every angle, nothing I’d read explored the possibility that Elizabeth may have had her own intimate spy, someone devoted to her special interests— and someone who had his own deadly secret. I was so inspired that I started drafting the outline for THE TUDOR SECRET; while unsure about embarking on a new direction, once I began writing I realized that I really enjoyed some of the liberties working with purely fictional characters allowed. While my book interweaves factual people and storylines, I could also give rein to my imagination.

2) This book opens an entirely new series for you. How can you keep a spy series going when you are also doing research for another Historical Fiction novel? Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you ever confuse the characters?
I don't get the stories or characters confused because the books are so different. I also don’t work on them at the same time! Also, I try to keep my Tudor series separate from my stand-alone novels, in that I won’t write a stand-alone book set in the same time-frame as one of the Spymaster books. Earlier or later is fine, but not the same.

3) Do you visit the places you write about? If so, why do you feel it’s important, and what is the most memorable thing that happened to you during a research trip?
I always travel to the places I write about. For me, it’s vital to see the actual sites where my characters lived, no matter how much they may have changed. I often return from research trips revitalized; landscape, internal and external, is very important to me. The most memorable thing that happened to me during a research trip was at the Chateau of Chenonceau in the Loire valley. I was researching Catherine de Medici and the manuscript was not working at all for me. I kept feeling as if Catherine herself eluded me. But when I visited her chateau and saw for myself the uniquely feminine Renaissance spirit she had infused into it, it opened my mind. I realized I’d been seeing Catherine just as her legend described— unemotional, ruthless, devoted solely to the pursuit of power. Her chateau revealed a secret side of her to me, a Catherine I think very few got to see, and it inspired me to delve further beneath her exterior, to discover the woman she might have been.

4) What do you like most about- and dislike most - about recreating the past in fiction?
I like creating the sensation – sound, smell, taste, sight— of the past in fiction, to walk through Tudor London with my lead character, Brendan, and experience the city in all its squalor and glamour, just as he does. I dislike having to depict some of the harsher realities of the time, especially cruelty to women and animals. I often say that while I love visiting the past, I don’t want to reside there permanently.

5) Can you tell us what you're working on now?
I just finished a stand-alone novel about Isabella of Castile, which is currently with my editor at Ballantine Books. I’m now writing the second book in the Spymaster series, which takes Brendan back to court in the months before Mary Tudor’s marriage to Philip II and embroils him in another deadly plot against Elizabeth. This time, however, Brendan is savvier and believes he knows what he’s up against. He’s in for some very dark surprises.

Thank you, Sandra, and I wish you much success with your new book!

New reviews for THE TUDOR SECRET

2011-01-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

Three new reviews in for THE TUDOR SECRET, plus I just found out the Historical Novel Reviews has chosen the book as a February Editors' Choice title. Very exciting!

From Romantic Times: "Even Tudor fans who know the main players and historical backdrop will be captivated . . . [Gortner] juxtaposes his naive and loyal hero with the cruel Robert Dudley, enhancing the plot and grabbing reader interest as much as the quick pace and lush historical references. This novel is both entertaining and thoughtful." (Reviewer: Kathe Robin)

From Night Owl Reviews: "C.W. Gortner always does a wonderful job bringing historical characters to life, and The Tudor Secret is no less entertaining . . .filled with intrigue, danger and royal secrets, Gortner has created a book that will delight fans." (Reviewer: Danya)

From Biblioklept: "A tightly-plotted, quick-paced read, stuffed with animated historical characters buzzing around in a world of espionage and intrigue."

Only a few days left until publication! My schedule of blog tour stops are online here.

Q&A at Justin Aucoin.com

2011-01-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

Though my official blog tour for THE TUDOR SECRET starts February 1, fellow writer and historical thriller fan, Justin Aucoin, interviewed me recently on his blog. I hope you enjoy the interview, which offers a sneak peek into my reason for writing this new book as well as my thoughts on historical fiction and publishing. Justin had some very interesting questions that were fun to answer!

Thank you, Justin, for this opportunity. Coming from a reader, it's all the more special to me.

For Bloggers: If you want to review, let me know!

2011-01-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

The 10 free copies of THE TUDOR SECRET which I was offering via my previous post were snapped up in less than 24 hours! However, I'll be getting some more copies in, so if you are a blogger with more than 15 followers; are focused on book reviews; and are not taking part of my official blog tour, please do send me a request via this link.

While I can't guarantee to fulfill every request, I promise to do my utmost. Blogger support means a lot to me, and I really enjoy working with you and your readers. In most cases, I am also available for Q&A and/or chats with your readers.

Lastly, I'm always available for author chats with book groups via Skype or speaker phone. Book groups can contact me here.

Thanks again!

10 copies of THE TUDOR SECRET available for bloggers

2011-01-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE: Copies gone!!** It's almost here! February 1 is right around the corner, and in celebration of the upcoming release of THE TUDOR SECRET, I am offering 10 free review copies to bloggers who are not signed up for my official blog tour. In order to qualify, blogs must have at least 15 followers and carry a focus on book reviews. I'll ship internationally, of course, depending on the number of entries I get.

These free copies are courtsey of St Martin's Press and I will sign each one individually. In exchange, we do ask that reviews be posted in the months of February or March. I'm also available for Q&A, if you'd like, but it is not required :)

If you're interested, please contact me via my website here. Thank you to all of you who blog about books! I really am so grateful to you for everything you do.

UK Publications!

2011-01-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

Today is the publication date in the UK of THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI in paperback and THE TUDOR SECRET in hardcover. (In the US, CONFESSIONS will be released in trade paperback on May 24 and THE TUDOR SECRET on February 1.)

Thank you to my fabulous publisher in the UK, Hodder & Stoughton, for their incredible support and these gorgeous covers. My UK readers can purchase these books wherever books are sold; right now on amazon uk, CONFESSIONS is 50% off!!

Thank you to all the Bloggers!

2011-01-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

2010 was a great and very busy year for me, professionally. In May, Ballantine Books published my second novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, to excellent reviews. I also wrapped up the editorial polish on my forthcoming historical thriller, The Tudor Secret, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles, and finished my third stand-alone historical novel on Isabella of Castile, which is now with my editor at Ballantine. Toward the end of the year, I began writing the second book in the Spymaster series. Whew!

Along the way, bloggers were my champions. They supported my work, featuring me with interviews, reviews, guest posts, as well as a fabulous Historical Fiction Roundtable launch event. Bloggers have helped immensely to get the word out about my - and many other authors' - books, often in their spare time, between jobs, kids, crises, and responsabilities of their own. For me, bloggers are the unsung heroes and heroines of the book industry: they are making the difference for many writers in a time when review space at periodicals is vanishing and only the top bestsellers are getting much in the way of media attention.

Therefore, for me the Persons of the Year are bloggers. Each of you helped make 2010 a stellar year for me and I am so very grateful for your support. I hope to contine visiting your blogs and entertaining you and your readers for many years to come.

A very special thank you goes out as well to the following bloggers who've listed my book on their Best of 2010 Lists, as well as the incomparable Lizzy Johnson at Historically Obsessed and Allie Greenwald at Hist Fic Chick, for their friendship, enthusiasm, and laughter:
Passages to the Past
Historical Tapestry
The Eclectic Reader
Saavy Verse and Wit

Happy Holidays and an Update

2010-12-08T10:08:00.001-08:00

The holidays are almost upon us! Wow, this year seems to have flown by. I read some marvelous novels this year and hope to do a round-up of my favorites in January, before the TBR pile starts to build again with 2011's offerings.

On the writing front, I'm happy to report that I recently delivered the manuscript of my third historical novel (tentatively titled, I, ISABELLA OF CASTILE) to my editor at Ballantine Books. While she reads it and provides feedback, I'm hard at work on the second novel in my Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles. In this second installment, our lead character Brendan returns to court during the time of Mary I's betrothal to Philip II and matches wits with a deadly Spanish ambassador hell-bent on Elizabeth's destruction, as well as a seductive Englishwoman recently returned from exile, who may be an Imperial spy.

The first book in the series, THE TUDOR SECRET, will be in stores on February 1, 2011. I'm very excited about the novel's release, because I first independently published it years ago (under the title The Secret Lion) and because it has undergone a thorough revision, with a new scene added, under the guidance of my St Martin's Press editor. This is my little-book-that-could; and it's not ceased to astonish me with its tenacity. I recently learned that Target has selected The Tudor Secret as a Breakout title and Borders will feature it as part of a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) promotion! The news couldn't be better for the book's release.

I sincerely hope that you, my reader, enjoy it. Though some of us may be feeling a slight case of Tudor fatigue these days, please let me reassure you that the Spymaster books are an antidote. Featuring a fictional character with a deadly secret of his own, who becomes the intimate spymaster for Elizabeth Tudor, these novels are fast-paced tales of adventure, suspense, and intrigue. Some of the most famous (and infamous) characters in Tudor history, as well as some of the most controversial events, are re-interpreted through the eyes of a man who delves into the underbelly of Tudor life, promising a different slant on what we think we know about this remarkable, tumultuous era.

I'm planning a blog tour through PumpUpYourBook promotion in February, so if you're a blogger interested in hosting me and/or reviewing The Tudor Secret, please check here for when my listing appears. In addition, interested bloggers can always contact me via my website. Though review copies are limited, I promise to do my best to accommodate your requests. Please note that review copies should be ready to send in early January.

In closing, I want to thank you all of you who follow this blog and read my books, talk about them, befriend me on Facebook, LibraryThing, and Goodreads, and let me know through your comments, e-mails, and reviews how you feel about my work. You make this often hectic business of writing a true pleasure, and I hope to entertain you for many years to come.

Happy Holidays!! May the end of 2010 bring you much joy, laughter, and good health.

Mini-review of HERESY by S.J. Parris

2010-11-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

Giordano Bruno was one of the 16th century's most erudite visionaries, a Dominican monk who fled the Church after being accused of heresy. His cosmological theories went beyond Copernicus's heliocentric visions; Bruno was the first European to conceptualize the universe as a vast continuum populated by many galaxies. He was also a visionary writer on the concept of memory and avid scholar of mysticism.

Naturally, his curious mind made him very unpopular with Catholic authorities, struggling as they were with the catastrophic repercussions of the Reformation. In S.J. Parris's debut novel, aptly titled HERESY, we first meet Bruno as he is caught in the privy with a forbidden book. When the Inquisition is called in, Bruno flees the scene and ends up in Elizabeth I's London, where, as an associate of Philip Sidney's, he's invited to debate at Oxford. Bruno seeks a lost Heremetical manuscript; he's also been secretly hired by Francis Walsingham, the queen's ruthless spymaster, to investigate a possible Catholic cell operating at the famed university.

Bruno soon finds himself the target of xenophobic comments and suspicion, even as he is drawn to the university rector's lively daughter. A series of grisly murders reveal evidence that Oxford indeed harbors a hotbed of Catholic conspirators, drawing Bruno out of his intellectual comfort zone into a shadowy world where faith and persecution are inextricably entwined and killing in the name of God is a hallowed act. While Bruno’s much-vaunted accomplishments take a back seat to his skills as an amateur sleuth, the story offers some eerily discomfiting moments, depicting a far less tolerant Elizabethan era than we may imagine, as seen through the eyes of a man for whom science and reason are paramount. Secondary characters are skillfully drawn, including a sinister bookseller and the haunted son of an exiled Catholic fellow. HERESY offers an engrossing mystery, an unusual look at the ever-popular Tudor world, and a promising initiation into a new series featuring Giordano Bruno.

Publisher's Weekly reviews THE TUDOR SECRET

2010-11-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

The first review for THE TUDOR SECRET is in!

The Tudor Secret. C.W. Gortner, St. Martin's Griffin, $14.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-65850-2

In Gortner's latest riveting historical, the influential Dudley family sends orphan servant Brendan Prescott to serve their cruel son, Lord Robert, at King Edward's court, and the young man is soon caught up in intrigue, suspicion, and shifting loyalties. Young King Edward is under the thumb of the Dudleys, but illness is greatly affecting his influence. Then the lion-eyed Princess Elizabeth, whom the Dudleys view as a threat, arrives and Prescott becomes a spy for her protector, William Cecil. Deeper involvement in the conspiracies surrounding the throne makes Prescott increasingly uncertain of loyalties, including his own, and he begins to question his fate and identity. In Gortner's capable hands, Prescott is a believable and enjoyable hero, a man of strong loyalties but naïve enough to be exploited. And while the Dudleys are mostly broadly drawn villains, Robert has depth, and though readers familiar with the Tudor era will know the key players, they may be surprised by their depiction here. Gortner handles action with aplomb, adding a riveting, fast-paced thriller to the crowded genre of Tudor fiction. (Feb.)

THE QUEEN'S SORROW Mini Review

2010-11-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

Mary I of England - known as 'Bloody Mary' - has never evoked much sympathy, despite her fractured adolescence and horrible young adulthood, when she first suffered much of the deprivation and pain she later inflicted during her reign.

Nevertheless, her story is a fascinating one, and author Suzannah Dunn captures a fragment of it in her haunting novel, THE QUEEN'S SORROW. Focusing on the months after Mary's marriage to Philip II and her illusory pregnancy, Dunn has crafted an introspective account of longing and the price we can pay when we believe we know someone else's heart.

Dunn tells her beautifully etched story through the eyes of a Spaniard in Philip II's entourage, Rafael de Prado, who arrives in storm-drenched England bewildered and viewed with suspicion by the English, even as he is charged with the task of building a sundial for the queen. Only, no one really knows how Rafael will be paid or exactly where he is supposed to lodge; in the upheaval caused by the Spanish arrival, there is no room at court, and so Rafael and his apprentice are sent to a London manor. Here, Rafael - homesick, sensitive, and trapped in a shadowy world between two opposing faiths - meets Cecily, the manor's housekeeper, and her young son. A father himself, separated from his beloved boy, Rafael finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Englishwoman; as their attraction deepens, we learn more about Rafael and Cecily’s pasts, even as they each find themselves plunged into the tumult and terror of Bloody Mary’s persecution, their fates ultimately forever altered by the queen’s sorrow.

THE ASTRONOMER and EMPIRE: Mini-reviews

2010-10-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

THE ASTRONOMER by Lawrence Goldstone

This cerebral thriller plunges the reader into a treacherous world of strife in France on the eve of the brutal Wars of Religion. Amaury de Faverges, illegitimate son of the duke of Savoy, secretly yearns to learn more about scientific theories forbidden by the Church; when a beloved classmate of his is murdered, Amaury takes the dead boy's place to foil a heretical plot that could challenge the foundation of the Church. A taut, suspenseful and erudite look at the 16th century's struggle to reconcile science with faith, The Astronomer is a refreshing departure into the turmoil of an era at odds with itself. (I purchased this book. For my longer review, see here).

EMPIRE by Steven Saylor

In his sequel to the NYT bestseller Roma, Steven Saylor returns to depicting the fortunes and tragedies of his fictional Pinarius family, this time during the notorious reigns of the emperors. Mr. Saylor’s keen sense of detail and breadth of knowledge are on ample display, as is his ability to weave centuries of history into entertaining narrative. Because Saylor mines such a richly documented time in Rome’s history, Empire has some intense set-pieces, such as the horrific mass execution of Christians under Nero. Yet precisely because so much of interest occurs, at times Saylor’s fictional characters do not engage as much as their historical counterparts. Nevertheless, Empire is a magnificent feat of storytelling. (The publisher sent this book to me for review.)

Guest post by Laurel Corona, author of PENELOPE'S DAUGHTER

2010-10-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

I am honored to welcome Laurel Corona, whose new novel PENELOPE'S DAUGHTER was published this month. Laurel has adapted the legendary Greek epic The Odyssey from the point of view of Xanthe, a daughter whom Odysessus has not met and a potential heir in the struggle for the throne of Ithaca. Like her famous mother Penelope, Xanthe turns to the loom to weave the story of her life and keep danger at bay; her adventures include hiding with her beautiful cousin, Helen of Troy, and her initiation into the ecstasies of goddess worship. But when a bedraggled stranger appears at the doorway of the palace, Xanthe's entire life is thrown into tumult as she confronts a fateful decision on which hinges the very future of Ithaca itself. . .

This is a marvelously engaging novel even for those unfamiliar with Homer's tale, full of Laurel's trademark penchant for historical detail and the vibrant colors of a now-lost world, where gods moved men like pawns on the chessboard of fate. In celebration of her novel's release, Laurel has kindly offered this guest post. Please join me in welcoming Laurel Corona!

The Boys of the Odyssey by Laurel Corona.
It’s just a hunch, but I think if you were to ask people on the street to name a character from ancient history, at least some of them would come up with--you know, the guy with a boat, the one who had all those adventures. Odysseus—yeah, that’s the one. Put out the Cyclops’ eye, nearly drowned a few times. Had a wife at home and had to kill all these guys trying to marry her.

It’s a great story, but as I researched Penelope’s Daughter I was stunned by how much more there is to Odysseus’ adventures. It turns out that of all the storytellers about the Trojan War and its aftermath, only Homer unequivocally saw Odysseus as a hero. In fact, he comes off pretty badly everywhere else. There’s a body of fragmentary work collectively called the Greek Epic Cycle, which in addition to the Iliad and Odyssey contains other works dealing with the Trojan War. The works in the collection include the Cypria, the Aethiopis, the Iliupersis, the Nosti, and the Telegony. Hardly household words (and barely pronounceable ones at that!), these works contain several familiar stories either not included by Homer or only briefly alluded to. The first, from the Cypria, is the story of how, when a group of Greek warriors came to get Odysseus to join the troops going to war against Troy, Odysseus feigned madness because he didn’t want to leave his wife and young son. He babbled and acted crazy, including hitching a donkey and ox to the same plough, and sowing a field with salt--craziness indeed because the soil would have been spoiled for crops for a long time to come, and rocky Ithaca had no arable land to spare. He is found out, however, when his baby son is placed in the path of the plough and Odysseus turns it aside to save his child’s life. It’s a sweet story, I think, but not really consistent with the “willing warrior” stereotype.

It illustrates a quality in Odysseus that Homer calls wiliness or craftiness, but other sources see as downright sneakiness and moral laxity. For example, when Agamemnon, the Greek commander, is stranded in Aulis by lack of wind and cannot sail to Troy, Agamemnon decides that a sacrifice to the gods would be in order. He sends Odysseus to Mycenae, where Agamemnon’s wife and family live, to get Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, to bring their daughter to Aulis to be sacrificed. Of course no mother is going to agree to this plan, so Odysseus lies to her and tells her Iphigenia is going to Aulis to be married to Achilles. They pack up and goes, and voila!—she is led off to sacrifice wearing her wedding dress. And guess what? Right afterwards the winds come up, so Agamemnon ends up looking like quite a visionary. Homer doesn’t include stories of Odysseus’ cold-blooded murder of a rival, Palamedes, nor the children he sired, according to some sources, while held captive by the goddess Circe. Slick and devious, or creative and resourceful? Self-serving plunderer, or homesick family man? It depends on who’s telling the story.

Homer also ends the Odyssey a bit prematurely, avoiding plot complications that would show Odysseus as far less faithful to Penelope than she was to him. In the Telegony, Odysseus has scarcely left Penelope after his return to Ithaca, when he arrives in the land of the Thesprotians, promptly marries Callidice, their queen, and has a son by her. When Callidice dies, Odysseus leaves the kingdom to their son, and goes home only to discover—surprise, surprise!—that Penelope had in the interim borne him another son. (You can imagine how I felt when I discovered that a baby born during the father’s absence was already part of the story!) Years later, Telegonus, one of his sons by Circe, fails to recognize the father who had abandoned him and his mother as a child, and kills him in battle. When he discovers his error, Telegonus takes Telemachus and Penelope, along with Odysseus’ corpse, back home to Circe’s island. Once there, Telegonus marries Penelope, and Telemachus marries Circe. Perhaps it’s best that Homer stopped where he did!

One more crazy story does appear in Homer but it is so nonsensical I’m not surprised most people miss it. After Odysseus kills all the suitors and reclaims Penelope, he turns around and leaves immediately--after almost twenty years away!--saying he has to go find a place where people have never heard of the sea (not heard the sea, heard of it), which in the world of the ancient Greeks would have been hard to imagine. Why did he have to do this? So he could plant an oar and sacrifice some oxen. Then, he promises he will come and grow old in Ithaca. Okay, the gods told him to do it, but does anybody want to lay bets on how quickly he’ll be back?
A second boy in the Odyssey really is a boy, Odysseus’ and Penelope’s son Telemachus. A great deal of the epic revolves around Telemachus’ ineffective attempts to assert his manhood. He’s really a sorry excuse for a warrior king’s son.Though Homer uses the stock phrases of oral poetry, making Telemachus “discreet” in thought and “godlike” in appearance, it’s hard to see how even Homer could find much of merit in his incessant whining both directly to the suitors and to others about what bullies they are. “I’m just a helpless little kid,” he seems to be saying, “but just you wait until I grow up!”

Wait a minute—aren’t we in the twentieth year of Odysseus’ absence? Doesn’t Telemachus have to be at least twenty-one? Exactly what is his excuse? Even Homer explains Telemachus’ uncharacteristic courage in the battle with the suitors as resulting from a spell cast by Athena, so I doubt even the bard himself would take too much issue with what I think is a very well deserved although rather negative characterization of him in Penelope’s Daughter.

Despite Homer’s disinclination to think of women as more than helpless victims or terrible temptresses, I think the women are by far the most interesting characters in the story. It was wonderful to imagine how Penelope, a child bride still in her teens when Odysseus left, would handle the absence of her husband for twenty years. Surely she would do more than weave and weep, as Homer suggests. We see Helen briefly in the Odyssey when Telemachus goes to Sparta for news of his father. Helen was reputedly twelve when she was married and left behind an eight-year-old daughter when she ran off with Paris to Troy. Telemachus visits in the twentieth year of Odysseus’ absence, when Helen is forty, old by the standards of the day. With all she has seen and all the powers she has gained, I found it far more interesting to imagine her at that age, when in her teens no one seemed to be able to come up with much of anything to say about her except that she was very, very beautiful. Introducing a daughter into the Odyssey broke the story wide open for me, making the tale of those left behind every bit as exciting as battling monsters, gods and heroes.

I hope my readers agree.

Thank you, Laurel. To learn more about Laurel and her work, please visit her website.

Winners of the Elizabeth Chadwick Giveaway!!

2010-10-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry to be late posting these. The winners of FOR THE KING'S FAVOR are:
Amy
Audra
Please send your full mailing address to me at cwgortner AT earthlink DOT net and I will forward your information to Sourcebooks, which will mail out the books. If I do not hear from you by October 5, I will select a new winner from those who entered.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered! A special thank you as well to Elizabeth Chadwick for her fascinating guest post and to Sourcebooks for sponsoring this giveaway.

A tribute to my friend, Judith Merkle Riley

2010-09-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

I first met Judith Merkle Riley in a bookstore. I was searching for a new book to read and I came across novel, The Oracle Glass, set in 17th century France. Within days of purchasing that book, I’d rushed out to buy her other novels and she had a fan for life. Imagine my delight when years later, in 2004, I learned that Judith was going to be the guest of honor at the Historical Novel Society’s first US Conference in Salt Lake City.

I was planning to attend the conference to promote my independently published novel; I’d spent the last ten years in the trenches seeking a publisher, without a bite from a commercial house, and I was excited to attend a conference dedicated to celebrating the readers and writers and of the genre I love, though I must admit I felt awkward even calling myself an author.

Then I met Judith. A tall woman with a ready smile dressed in flowing black, she had been wandering the lobby of the hotel, and I finally got up the guts to approach her. I told her how much I loved her work and how delighted I was to meet her; I sounded like a star-struck teenager yet within minutes we were talking about books, writing, history, the fact that we both love Spain (Judith danced flamenco, among her many other talents) and soon it was as if we had known each other forever.

She had that effect on people, an innate ability to make others feel at ease. There wasn’t an ounce of the prima donna in Judith, no bombastic grandeur or self-importance, though she was an internationally bestselling author. Judith cared deeply about writers and writing; she was passionate about research and history, but she always seemed a bit flummoxed by her success. She found it fascinating, and amusing, that she was regarded with such esteem. After all, she’d kept her teaching job, raised her kids, been through a divorce; she'd endured the triumphs and travails of everyone else. Though I think she secretly loved being told how much a reader liked her work, her pleasure derived from a genuine appreciation for the fact that her words had touched others, that someone had actually cared enough to read and like her book.

Over the course of that heady conference weekend, Judith and I became friends. We hung out together at dinner, giggled over drinks one night with the equally gracious and divinely funny Rosalind Miles, and not once did Judith ever treat me as anyone other than a fellow writer. She bought a copy of my self-published book; and on the shared ride we took to the airport, she mentioned she had started reading it and wanted to give me a referral to her literary agency for the book I’d been pitching to editors at the conference. Would I give her a few sample chapters? That book was The Last Queen and Judith’s enthusiastic referral got me my agent, Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, who eventually sold my work at auction to Ballantine Books.

No one was more thrilled for me than Judith. In the following years, we spoke often on the phone and she always wanted to hear about what was happening in my career, even as she embarked on her own valiant, often arduous struggle against an insidious illness. Once when I went to visit her at her home, she showed me the organic wheat grass she was growing and I learned that beyond that keen mind and delicious wit, which make her novels such original paeans to the resiliency and foibles of women who are swept up in extraordinary circumstances, Judith was in fact a multi-faceted and extraordinary woman herself, whose passion for life and spirit for adventure and discovery refused to be quenched.

When I last spoke to her, Judith's illness had taken a frightening turn for the worse. We had talked often of the challenges she faced, but never once, in all that time, did I ever hear her utter a single complaint. She expressed to me her gratitude for the ability to re-evaluate her priorities and embrace her life, for the many friends she’d made and the love she had received. If she knew she would never write another book, she made no mention of it. She spoke as if time would always be on her side. In a way, it is.

Though she’'ll be greatly missed by all of us who had the privilege to know her, Judith Merkle Riley lives on in her wonderful novels, all of which reflect her unique humor, her unending passion, and her grand and generous heart.

We can do her no greater honor than to read them.

To read another tribute to Judith, please visit Sarah Johnson’s Reading The Past.
To read an interview I did with Judith, please click here.

Guest post by Anna Elliott, author of DARK MOON OF AVALON

2010-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to welcome Anna Elliott, whose new book, Dark Moon of Avalon, Book 2 in her sensational Twilight of Avalon trilogy was published this month. Anna has taken the legendary tale of lovers Trystan and Isolde and cast it within an historically accurate time, refreshing their oft-told story with a unique and often dark look at the politics, intrigue, and treachery of the Dark Ages.

In Dark Moon of Avalon, the former High Queen, Isolde, and her friend and protector, Trystan, are reunited in a dangerous quest to keep the usurper, Lord Marche, and his Saxon allies from the throne of Britain. Using Isolde’s cunning wit and talent for healing and Trystan’s strength and bravery, they must persuade even enemy rulers that their allegiance to the High King is needed to keep Britain safe. Steeped in the magic and lore of Arthurian legend, Elliott paints a moving portrait of a timeless romance, fraught with danger, yet with the power to inspire heroism and transcend even the darkest age.

In celebration of her novel's release, Anna has kindly offered this guest post. Please join me in welcoming Anna Elliott!

From Politics to Potions: Writing Dark Age Arthurian Britain
by Anna Elliott

For me, the unique enchantment of the Arthurian legends lies in their blend of fantasy and history. The world of the King Arthur is a recognizably historical one, part of Britain's past, and in fact many scholars have explored the possibility of a real, historic Arthur--who, if he existed, was most likely a Celtic warlord of the mid fifth century, a warrior who led a triumphant stand against the incursions of Saxons onto British shores. Trystan, whose existence as a real historic figure is suggested by a memorial stone in Cornwall, was likely a roughly contemporary warrior, possibly the son of a Cornish petty king, whose cycle of tales were eventually absorbed into the legends growing up around Arthur and his war band.

And yet the world of the Arthur tales is one steeped in magic, as well. It's a world filled with the voices of prophecy, with enchanted swords and Otherworldly maidens and the magical Isle of Avalon, where Arthur lies in eternal sleep, healing of his wounds, waiting to ride once more in Britain’s greatest hour of need. That combination of historical truth with the wonderful potential for magic was what most of all drew me to the Arthur stories when I first studied them in college. And it was what delighted me about living in my own version of the Arthurian world while writing the Twilight of Avalon trilogy.

If Arthur did exist, he lived during the fifth century: a brutal, chaotic time in Britain. Roman Britain had crumbled; Rome's legions had been withdrawn from this far-flung outpost of the empire, leaving the country prey to invading Pictish and Irish tribes from the west and north and to Saxon invasions from the east. As brutal a time as it certainly was, though, this period was in many ways also a crucible in which the British identity and sense of place was forged.
I decided to set my story there, to make my particular Arthurian world grounded in what scraps of historical fact we know of Dark Age Britain. And I wanted to give that time period as accurate a portrayal as I could, 'warts and all' as the saying goes. Because that violence and chaos is at the root of the legends; it is against this particular backdrop that Arthur appears, a war hero who led a victorious campaign against the invaders and so inspiring the tales that still captures our imaginations today.

I wanted, too, to honor the magic of the original tales. Which is not as hard to fit in with historical fact as it may sound. The Dark Age worldview was a magical one, make no mistake. People in Dark Age Britain believed absolutely in magical forces in the same way we believe in the laws of gravity and that the world is round. Pre-Christian Celtic belief emphasizes the powers of trances and dreams that transcend physical boundaries and touch an Otherworld that is separated from our own by only the thinnest of veils. So my Isolde is the granddaughter of Morgan (sometimes known as Morgan le Fey in the original Arthur stories). Isolde is gifted through Morgan with both the knowledge of a healer and with the Sight, which enables her to receive visions and hear voices from the Otherworld.

And yet, there were those elements of the original Trystan and Isolde tale that were harder to fit in with any degree of historical verisimilitude. The second book of the trilogy, Dark Moon of Avalon, is the most romantic of the three books: the part of my own retelling in which I had to ask what treatment I was going to give the famous love potion, which in the original legend causes Trystan and Isolde to fall helplessly in love--but which is harder to make into a fact of a historically grounded Dark Age world! I decided on a more symbolic approach, which I've always felt is a way--though certainly not the only way--of reading the fantastical elements of the Arthurian tales. Dragons, for example, can be literal scaly monsters, but they can also be seen as a metaphor for the evil that exists outside the bounds of organized society. And a love potion like the one Trystan and Isolde accidentally imbibe can be viewed as a metaphor for the overwhelming, all-consuming nature of passionate romantic love.

In Dark Moon of Avalon, Trystan and Isolde journey together by boat, as in the original tale, and it is over the course of the journey that they deepen and develop their relationship, which again is true to the original legend. But the purpose of their journey is based on what scraps of historical fact we can gather about the shaky political situation of sixth-century Britain. And they don't need a literal draft of a magical potion to fall in love--only the magic of their own powerful emotional bond.

Anna Elliott is a longtime devotee of historical fiction and Arthurian legend. She lives in the Washington DC Metro area with her husband and 2 daughters. To learn more about Anna and her work, please visit her website.

Guest post from Elizabeth Chadwick, author of FOR THE KING'S FAVOR. Win TWO free copies!

2010-09-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Acclaimed historical fiction author Elizabeth Chadwick has carved a unique place for herself in the genre; not only does she command an intensely loyal following and an impressive list of books to her name, but she is distinguished by meticulous research and keen ability to convey the drama of the past with poignant immediacy, never resorting to anarchronisms. The London Times describes her as "an author who makes historical fiction come gloriously alive;" personally, I'm both a huge fan of her work and in awe of how effortless she makes it all seem.

In her new novel, FOR THE KING'S FAVOR , Ms Chadwick brings to compelling, bittersweet life the little-known story of Ida de Rosney, mistress to Henry II, whose passionate love for a young lord plunges her and her lover into a tumultous struggle. A captivating story, and testament to the power of sacrifice and the strength of love, this is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best. In celebration of the book's release, Elizabeth has kindly offered this guest post; in addition, her US publisher Sourcebooks is offering readers of this blog TWO free copies. Entries are available for US and Canada addresses only. Please see the bottom of this post for details to enter. Please join me in welcoming my friend, Elizabeth Chadwick, to Historical Boys.

Finding a Forgotten Royal Mistress

by Elizabeth Chadwick

What was it like to be the mistress of a king? To have the royal favour, bear the sovereign’s child and be at the hub of court life? What was it like to have power and yet be powerless when it came to the sovereign’s whim? And what happened to a mistress when she ceased to be the royal darling? For the King’s Favor tells the story of one such mistress. Her identity has only come to light in the last decade. Her name was Ida de Tosney or Toeni, and she was about fifteen years old when she caught the eye of King Henry II of England around the year 1176.

Initially I wanted to write about Ida because the firstborn son of her marriage with Roger Bigod, future Earl of Norfolk, went on to marry the eldest daughter of the great English knight, magnate and hero William Marshal whom I had written about in The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion.. Roger himself had a long and distinguished career and I was keen to follow up his family story to the point where it linked into the Marshal one. Before I began writing, I knew vaguely that he had married a former mistress of King Henry II, but once I made Ida my heroine, I had to hit the research trail and try to discover more about her.

She is elusive in the historical record. We only know her name from a few charters belonging to the time when she was married to Roger where she is referred to as “Comitisse Ida, uxoris mee,” or “Countess Ida, my wife.” We only know that she was a royal mistress before her marriage to Roger because of a French list of prisoners drawn up after the battle of Bouvines in 1214, where William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury, bastard son of King Henry II, refers to Ralph Bigod who was on the prison list, as his brother. In another charter of Bradenstoke Priory, Longespee mentions his mother, Countess Ida, but since there was more than one Countess Ida around at the time, the discovered prison list was vital in identifying the right one.

Ida was the daughter of Ralph de Tosney, lord of Flamstead, and his wife, Margaret Beaumont who was close kin to the earls of Leicester. Through various family marriages, Ida had kinship with the royal house of Scotland. When her father died, Ida became the King’s ward, with her marriage to be disposed of as he chose. Henry had a certain reputation with women and already had several bastard children by various unknown women. His long term affair with Rosamund de Clifford is notorious and has passed into legend. It would have begun when Rosamund was still very young – in her teens, and ended with her death at Godstow nunnery in 1176. By this date, Ida de Tosney would have been a nubile adolescent and she plainly caught Henry’s eye in the aftermath of his losing Rosamund. Sometime between 1177 and early 1181, she bore Henry a son who became William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, an adventurous soul and hero of the great sea victory at Damme against the French in 1213.

If Rosamund and Ida are any indication, Henry II seems to have harboured a preference for innocent young girls as his mistresses. Perhaps he found them refreshing after doing battle with his formidable queen Eleanor of Acquitaine. As an author I am led to speculate about what this attention was like for such young women who would have had little choice but to submit to the royal will. Mistresses of kings are often portrayed as sexy women with power to wield via their ability to reach the King’s ear (and other parts!), but for young, inexperienced girls, can there really have been any pleasure and real power in their role?

They were pawns to the royal lust. When a king had had his fill, they could be retired to a nunnery or sold off in marriage. We do not know if the latter is what happened to Ida, but certainly she wed Roger Bigod, future Earl of Norfolk in December 1181 about 5 years after Henry took up with her. Ida’s and Roger’s first son was born before the end of the following year and they went on to have another 3 boys and 2 girls at least, so it was certainly a fruitful match in the bedchamber. But what of Ida’s first child, William FitzRoy who became Longespée? His childhood is unknown, but by the early 1190’s as an adolescent, he was being given lands and duties to bring in an income and it seems that he was raised either at court, or in a household closely attached to the court. Certainly his mother did not bring him with her to her marriage. What she felt about this and what effect it had on her, I can only imagine – with a little help from my delvings. Ida’s reactions are a theme I explore in detail in For the King’s Favor. The same with her husband, Roger. What were his thoughts and feelings when he married a still very young woman who had shared the King’s bed and had borne a son of that liaison? How did it affect him, especially when he desperately needed to keep the king’s favor? There must have been some very tricky shoals to negotiate, both the diplomatic and the emotional, and for all concerned.

Authors of historical fiction know that the past is another country and that attitudes were often different, and very alien to the way society functions now, but I also take the view that it is us as we were then, and like clothes, while fashions and appearances change, people don’t. I hope that Ida de Tosney and Roger Bigod are people of their time, but I also hope that a modern audience will recognise their dilemmas and empathise.

Many thanks to C.W. for inviting me to post on his excellent blog!

Elizabeth Chadwick lives near Nottingham with her husband and two sons. She is the author of 18 historical novels, including The Greatest Knight, The Scarlet Lion, A Place Beyond Courage, Lords of the White Castle, Shadows and Strongholds, the Winter Mantle, and The Falcons of Montabard, four of which have been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Awards. Much of her research is carried out as a member of Regia Anglorum, an early medieval re-enactment society with the emphasis on accurately re-creating the past. She won a Betty Trask Award for The Wild Hunt, her first novel. To learn more about her and her work please visit her website.

To win one of two free copies of For The King's Favor: You must be a follower of this blog AND leave a comment below. Winners will be selected on September 30 and notified; you must have a valid postal address for the book to be mailed directly to you by the publisher. Good luck!

Guest Post from Jeri Westerson, author THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT

2010-08-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Jeri Westerson, my favorite historical 'noir' writer, is back with the sexy, troubled Crispin Guest in her third novel in the series, THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT. Fans of Crispin's previous adventures, Veil of Lies and Serpent in the Thorns, will be excited to know that in this latest installment, Crispin finds himself again in danger when he warily takes on his most recent client, Jacob of Provencal, a Jewish physician at court. Though all Jews were expelled from England nearly a century before, Jacob has hired Crispin to find stolen parchments that might be behind the recent savage murders of young boys -- parchments that someone might have used to bring forth a demon which now stalks the streets and alleys of London.

Jeri has kindly offered this guest blog post to celebrate the October 12 release of The Demon's Parchment. Please join me in welcoming her to Historical Boys!

The Four Humors
By Jeri Westerson

No, this is not about the Marx Brothers. We don’t mean humor as in “ha ha” but humors as in exhalations of the damp variety. We are talking, well, bodily fluids. So, erm, why are we talking bodily fluids on this nice, clean blog, you may be asking? Because we are talking about my medieval mystery series and you can’t talk about things medieval without talking about bodily fluids…um, I mean Humors.

This was an ancient theory of physiology concerning one’s health and character. Indeed, one’s very soul might be in trouble if these four humors were not in balance. The four humors are Blood, Yellow Bile, Phlegm, and Black Bile, which were also associated with the four elements: air, fire, water, and earth. You see, to the medieval mind, the spiritual was bound up with the earthly. It all worked together.

So each humor reflected a particular color, if you will, of the body and spirit, and represented a good or bad constitution. These humors gave off vapors that went right to the brain and changed the temperament of the person.

Blood, for example, was a hot and moist environment and was associated with the element air. If you had balanced blood you were “sanguine” and prone to an amorous and generous temperament. Too much and you might go overboard and needed bleeding. Not enough and they would fill you up with red wine, which looked like blood (they were big into stuff that looked like other stuff. It seemed to make sense to them.)
Yellow bile was hot and dry and associated with fire. Too much yellow bile and you were “choleric” and tended toward violence and vengeance. Phlegm was cold and moist and associated with water. You were “phlegmatic” if you had too much of this and were dull, pale, and cowardly.

Are you sensing a theme here? That some of the vocabulary we use all the time had its origins in medieval medicine? Yeah, you’d be right. Sort of. This theory of the humors or humorism came down to us from the Greeks, Hippocrates in fact, but the medievals didn’t see too much wrong with these ideas and continued with this form of diagnosis well into the Renaissance. Black bile was cold and dry and was associated with earth. Too much black bile made you “melancholic” and gluttonous, lazy, and sentimental.

It was a quick way to diagnose your problems. If you were easily angered, then it was too much yellow bile and meant your gall bladder (certain organs were also associated with each humor). The best way to help you out was to diagnose and treat. Bloodletting to keep the liver healthy. Emetics and purges for the other three. For a diagnoses, there was also a lot of sniffing, examining, and tasting of urine.

Ah, those were the days.

The Boston Globe has called Jeri Westerson's hero, “A medieval Sam Spade, a tough guy who operates according to his own moral compass.” Her 2008 debut from St. Martin’s Press, VEIL OF LIES, garnered nominations for the Macavity Award for historical mystery and the Shamus Award for Best First PI novel. Her second, SERPENT IN THE THORNS, is also a 2010 Macavity finalist and a finalist for the 2010 Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award. To learn more about Jeri and her work, please visit her website.

Review of THE SCARLET CONTESSA by Jeanne Kalogridis

2010-08-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Bestselling author Jeanne Kalogridis (The Borgia Bride and I, Mona Lisa) returns to Renaissance Italy in this vivid tale of one of the era's lesser known figures— the indomitable Caterina Sforza, illegitimate daughter of the duke of Milan, who married into the papal della Rovere family and ended up battling for her estates against the notorious Borgia.

Told through the eyes of Caterina's lady in waiting, Dea, the book sweeps the reader from the glamorous barbarism of the Sforza court to the vicious intrigues of Rome and insular savagery of rural Romagna. Dea is a strong narrator in her own right, her mysterious birth and determination to uncover the mystery behind her husband's murder propelling her into arcane magical knowledge linked to a secret society founded by the Medici.

Dea's compassion and loyalty to her mistress give the story its humanity; and while at times the supernatural dalliances can feel forced, Ms Kalogridis more than compensates with superb attention to details of the era and in her riveting depiction of the danger and ambition of a country broken into patchwork states, where families vying for power will do anything to ensure their success. Infamous Rodrigo Borgia, patriarch of the clan, strides across the stage as a magnetic master of seduction, terrifying in his resolve, and Caterina’s husband is a murderous giant with a weakness for gambling and appetite for mayhem. But in the end, the reader’s heart is captured by Caterina Sforza herself— a pampered, vain young girl married off to further Sforza influence in Rome, who grows into a shrewd and calculating wife possessed of a ferocious carnality, capable of intriguing with the best of the men to safeguard her dynasty; until finally she becomes the unrepentant virago of legend, resolved to protect her children and her lands from Borgia's marauding forces.

Ms Kalogridis has crafted a magnificent evocation of a tumultuous and complex era, where the ripple of silk hides a vial of poison, where the dagger in the sleeve is only a breath away, and where one bold woman dares to defy convention and live as she sees fit. Highly recommended!

Review of DRACULA IN LOVE by Karen Essex

2010-08-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, my good friend Karen Essex's latest novel, DRACULA IN LOVE, hits the stores! In celebration of its release, here's my review of this sumptuous and passionate interpretation of the immortal love story (this review first appeared on Loaded Questions):

Dracula Gets Sexy
He’s the enigmatic stranger in the black cape, a shape-shifting outcast who has given rise to some of literature’s - and Hollywood’s - most iconic imagery. When it was published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a critically acclaimed horror story; it did not send the shockwaves it should have through Victorian morality, excavating the repressed sexuality and decay of a fading empire while exalting the era's misogynistic flair. However, in subsequent years, as it garnered international bestselling status, Dracula began to reveal itself as a cautionary tale of unbridled desire.

Now, 113 years later, bestselling author Karen Essex, known for her lush prose and portraits of powerful women in Leonardo’s Swans, Stealing Athena, and a double-volume look at the quintessential femme fatale, Kleopatra and Pharaoh, takes on the Count in Dracula in Love. It’s a bold move. While Dracula has been revisited several times and in various incarnations, not all have been successful; and many of us have firm ideas of who he is, and, more importantly, who he is not. Nevertheless, Ms Essex serves up a sensual, unabashedly romantic approach to the fanged one, telling the tale through the voice of Mina herself, whose love affair with Dracula has become a byword for eternal obsession.

Building on framework established by Stoker, Essex vividly presents the true Victorian world inhabited by these characters—a world where a fledgling emancipation movement collides with the barbaric treatment of those deemed sexually neurotic; where marriage is still the ultimate goal for a woman; and virtue is prized more than fulfillment. While most of Stoker’s cast is present, they’ve been reshaped, with Lucy paying a terrifying price for her extra-betrothal liaison and Van Helsing as a righteous physician engaged in lethal experimentation. The Count takes his time before he appears, seen only in tantalizing glimpses; by then, Mina’s engaging, increasingly paranoid voice has captured our imagination, as she struggles to survive both her own recurring nightmares and a budding awareness that just beyond her tightly corseted existence lurks a tangled labyrinth of feral secrets.

Dracula in Love is not a standard vampire tale and purists may take issue with Ms Essex’s mythology-inspired take on the legend; however, for those who yearn for something more than adolescents pining over immortal boyfriends, this is the antidote—a luscious paean to forbidden longing.

To learn more about Karen Essex and her work, and to participate in the resurrection of our favorite Count, please visit Karen's website.

Review of THE SECRET ELEANOR by Cecelia Holland

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

Eleanor of Aquitaine is historical fiction's current "It" girl. Several recently published novels tackle various parts of her long, often tumultuous life, including Christy English's earnest The Queen's Pawn about Eleanor's challenging relationship with her rival, Alys, and Alison Weir's controversial Captive Queen. For many readers, Sharon Penman's magnificent Time and Chance and Devil's Brood are the defining novels, evoking Eleanor in both her youthful glory and mature rage; Margaret Ball's ethereal Duchess of Aquitaine likewise captures the magnetic younger Eleanor, a high-strung heiress who fascinated her contemporaries with her courage, zeal for life, and bold passion. Her alliance with Henry II electrified her world; to this day, she continues to exert the same power over us - fearless in her defiance and uncompromising in her refusal to submit to the gender bias of her era.

Now, highly acclaimed and prolific novelist Cecelia Holland - arguably the true queen of historical fiction, whose books cover everything from early Byzantium to early 18th century California - brings us a novel about that pivotal year in Eleanor's career, when she launched her quest to get her marriage to pious Louis of France annulled so she could marry fiery Henry Plantagenet. Written in Ms Holland's elegant style The Secret Eleanor is also the tale of her "secret" other half: her sister, Petronilla, an oft-neglected historical character who, in this novel, bears an uncanny resemblance to her famous sibling, and thus brings about remarkable deceit, lethal rivalry, and life-altering transformation.

One of Ms Holland's most impressive gifts is her ability to evoke the past with a few select words. Here, we can feel the moldering damp of Louis's palace on the Seine; the earthy aroma of Poitiers in spring; and icy fall of winter in a neglected roadside inn. Ms Holland is equally adept with characterization, offering us a regally impetuous Eleanor; her sedate yet covetous sister; an ambitious peasant maid who turns the tables on her abusers; a handsome troubador who is more than he seems; an emasculated royal advisor intent on Eleanor's downfall; and of course the randy, hotheaded, devilish Henry himself, who catches Eleanor's gaze from across a crowded hall and sets the world afire to possess her.

Those familiar with the facts of Eleanor's life will find much to revel in here, particularly as Ms Holland's choice to tell part of the story through Petronilla both freshens up more familiar historical events as well as offers a less fawning look at the legendary duchess. And for those who do not yet know Eleanor's story, you can do no better than to start with The Secret Eleanor.

If you'd like to read more about the writing of this novel, please visit Sarah Johnson's Reading The Past for an interview with Ms Holland herself.

Win a copy of CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI

2010-08-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

Want to win a personalized copy of my latest novel and visit a great blog? Please click over to History and Women and enter to win!

August 2 to 6 on http://www.historyandwomen.com/ and August 16 to 20 on http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com/

A very special thank you to the fantastic, talented Mirella Patzer for hosting me. Check out her own books while you're there!