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

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!

Guest post from Sandra Worth, author THE KING'S DAUGHTER

New month, new book! My friend and fellow historical novelist Sandra Worth recently published her second historical novel with NAL, Penguin. THE KING'S DAUGHTER is the untold account of Elizabeth of York, whose dynastic union with Henry VII founded the Tudor dynasty and brought an end to the bloody York-Lancaster conflict known as the War of the Roses. Sumptuous and elegantly written, Elizabeth comes to life in this tale of intrigue, betrayal, passion and sacrifice; while the Tudors have been very well covered in fiction, Elizabeth remains a shadowy figure, largely passed over for her more glamorous counterparts; and Sandra has unearthed a wealth of research in order to portray this valiant queen and her importance in history. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Sandra Worth!

First, thank you, Christopher, for hosting me again on Historical Boys!

The last time I posted was for LADY OF THE ROSES, my novel on John Lord Montagu and his beloved Isobel— lovers who bear a remarkable resemblance to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. But unlike their fictional counterparts, John and Isobel’s love affair ended happily, and they did marry and have children together—lucky for us! I say that because they’re the direct medieval ancestors of both FDR and Churchill, who saved our world from Hitler’s tyranny.

In this way, they’ve touched us all intimately, whether we know it or not—and just a few days ago, to my great delight, I was honored to learn that they touched a chord with reviewers as well. LADY OF THE ROSES was awarded the 2008 CataNetwork Reviewers Choice Award as one of the best books reviewed by Single Titles last year! This brings my total number of awards to thirteen, but it’s my first for LADY OF THE ROSES, and I’m very happy—not only for myself, but also for John and Isobel, whose dramatic life story has never been told before.

But I digress. My invitation here is to talk about my latest novel, THE KING’S DAUGHTER: A NOVEL OF THE FIRST TUDOR QUEEN, so let me plunge right into the heart of the thing.

The infamous Tudors are a well-known family, and reams have been written about Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I, et al. But the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, “Elizabeth the Good,” is neither well-known nor infamous. In fact she remains a mystery. Five hundred years later, the smattering of facts on her would be hard-pressed to fill a page or two. There is only one biography, and the author, by her own admission, was forced for dearth of information to resort to novelistic techniques.

Some of you are familiar with Elizabeth of York from the last book of my ROSE OF YORK trilogy, where she made a cameo appearance and closed out the book in an epilogue. Frankly, I didn’t think there was much more to relate about her, and certainly I had no thoughts of writing a book on her life. When I was picked up by Penguin for LADY OF THE ROSES in a two book deal, I had to make a decision on the subject of my next book, and something her biographer said resonated with me. That she “brought hope to those in despair, comfort to those in pain, and restraint to those in power.” If there’s one thing I admire, it’s integrity, and this was a woman of great compassion and integrity.

Hoping to learn more, I perused every major account of Henry VII’s reign—Gairdner, Storey, Temperley, Simons, Griffiths, Bacon, Chrimes, Lockyer—to mention a few. And always I came across references to Elizabeth as “invisible,” holding a “shadow” court, where access was near “impossible” to attain. When she was seen in public, it was always with her mother-in-law at her side—usually dressed exactly like Elizabeth!

Francis Bacon reports that her mother, Bess Woodville, thought her daughter “not advanced but depressed,” meaning she considered Elizabeth not a true queen, but a puppet. I was intrigued. How could this be? Why was so little known about her when so much is known about her son, Henry VIII, her husband Henry VII, and even her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort?

It was a mystery, and in the course of unraveling it, I found my answers. Gathering them together, they make quite a story of greed, lust, ambition, betrayal, and blood –altogether a very dramatic life indeed! For example, Tudor propaganda has always claimed that Richard III murdered her brothers, the Princes in the Tower—but did he? Was Elizabeth in love with her uncle, Richard III? Did the Tudors keep her captive, and why should she be a threat to them? Did she believe the Pretender, Perkin Warbeck, was really her lost brother, the younger prince in the Tower, Richard Duke of York? Was Henry VII in love with the Pretender’s wife, and what was behind his incredibly brutal treatment of the young man?

In my novel, crafted in long discussions with a Ph.D. medievalist friend, and based in part on Ann Wroe’s THE PERFECT PRINCE, Elizabeth reveals her shocking story, from her turbulent childhood during the Wars of the Roses to her reluctant, but courageous, marriage to Henry Tudor that made the Tudor dynasty. Historians agree that she exercised much influence over her Henry VII for good, since, after she died, his character began to degenerate and his actions grew more violent, debased and vile. Through these thousands of pages of academic texts, like her biographer I had a sense of Elizabeth hovering behind Henry, gently advising him, restraining his hand when she could, and praying for him when she couldn’t.

And as I wrote this book, I have to tell you—Elizabeth won my heart, too. I turn her over to you with affection, admiration, and deep respect for her great courage, compassion, faith and sacrifice. I hope you'll find THE KING’S DAUGHTER worth reading (excuse the pun!).

Thank you, Sandra! We wish the best of success with this new novel. To learn more about Sandra and her work, please visit her at: http://www.sandraworth.com/

Interview with Sandra Worth, author of LADY OF THE ROSES

I am honored to welcome Sandra Worth, author of the recently published LADY OF THE ROSES. Sandra has won ten awards for her Rose of York trilogy, including the First Place Prize in the 2003 Francis Ford Coppola-sponsored New Century Writers Award. Her work has been translated for publication in Spain and Russia and she recently signed a two-book deal with Berkeley (Penguin.) A dedicated researcher and writer who brilliantly evokes the complexity of Plantagenet England, she lives in Texas with her husband and their new German Shepard puppy.

1. Congratulations on the publication of LADY OF THE ROSES. It's a delight to have you with us. Set in 15th century England during the terrible years of the Wars of the Roses, LADY OF THE ROSES is a vividly dramatic and romantic account of the lifelong love affair between Isobel Ingoldesthorpe and Sir John Neville, brother of the famous Yorkist leader Warwick, the Kingmaker. Though this period in history is amply covered in fiction, these characters have not been, and the intensity of their relationship offers a compelling contrast with the violence raging around them. You yourself have written about the later years of the Wars in your Rose of York trilogy. What inspires you about this era and why did you choose to write about these characters?

Thank you. It's my pleasure to be your guest. You are correct. I began my career by writing about the later period of the Wars of the Roses. This story takes place earlier, in 1456, six years before the setting of my debut novel, Rose of York: Love & War. It is, in a way, a sort of "prologue." The reason I chose to go to go back in time for this book is that I received quite a few inquiries about John, Lord Montagu, after my debut novel came out. It seems he had touched my readers' hearts and they wanted to know if I was going to do a book on him. At the time, I had no plans since I was occupied with moving forward in the period. However, when the trilogy was completed, I decided to tell John and Isobel's fabulous, untold love story.

2. LADY OF THE ROSES offers meticulous attention to detail, including the daily household management of a manor, as well as a complex series of alliances. What challenges did you encounter while researching this book? What surprising or interesting facts did you discover about your characters and their place in history?

My greatest challenge was unearthing information about John and Isobel. Though he was the greatest military figure of his time and played an enormous role in the events that changed history, he has never been the subject of a biography. As for Isobel, there is even less information about her, simply because women were not really noted by contemporary chroniclers unless they were queens or princesses and played a significant role in politics. I had to creatively fill in the blanks in order to connect the complex historical events that took place. The most surprising-- and hopefully interesting-- fact I uncovered was that John and Isobel are the medieval ancestors of both President FDR and Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill! When you consider they were from the enemy camps of York and Lancaster, it seems a miracle that they were able to wed. It gives me pause to consider the terrible possibilities if FDR and Churchill hadn't been here to defeat Hitler. Our modern world might be a very different, and perhaps quite terrifying place. But Destiny seems to be have worked on our behalf.

3. An interesting storyline within the novel is Isobel’s relationship with Marguerite of Anjou, the Lancastrian queen who became a byword for evil. Is there any evidence to support Isobel's relationship with the queen and why do you think Marguerite of Anjou has been judged so harshly by history?

There is no evidence to support the relationship between Isobel and Marguerite d'Anjou because virtually nothing is known about Isobel. This has been my creative invention. As to why Marguerite d'Anjou has been judged so harshy by history, we merely need to look at her actions. As they say "Actions speak louder than words" even across the chasm of centuries.

5. LADY OF THE ROSES is unique in that your lovers are not star-crossed, but rather often the only anchor in each other's lives during severe tumult and the loss of family members and loved ones. Yet you admit in your afterword that almost nothing is known about Isobel, in particular. Why do you think she has been largely ignored by history?

It's not that Isobel was ignored in particular-- just that women were ignored in general during this time frame of history. Unless they were princesses or queens, and had some impact on policy, no one really bothered to record much about them. Other records that migh illuminate Isobel over the divide of centuries, like letters she wrote, or the will she left, have not survived. Even her tomb is lost.

6. Can you tell us about any methods that you employ to give your characters authenticity?

Research, and more research! What they did, what they said, all these throw light on their character. When such information is missing, as in Isobel's case, I take the events of the period and try to view them from the standpoint of the person I'm writing about and the situation they find themselves in at that moment in time.

7. How do you think your novel speaks to today’s reader or how do the events you evoke resonate for today’s world?

Interesting question! A reviewer wrote that Isobel's story has a contemporary feel. With your indulgence, I quote: "Readers will relate to the highs and lows of the relationship between John and Isobel, the forces beyond their control that act to determine their destinies, and their everyday struggles (including money problems and long periods of single parenthood) in a world divided between Lancaster and York."

8. Please tell us about your next project.

My next novel is entitled THE KING'S DAUGHTER: A NOVEL OF THE FIRST TUDOR QUEEN, coming December 2008 on Elizabeth of York. A remarkable women who was the daughter, sister, niece, wife, and mother of English kings, she led a dramatic life that took her through four reigns. As Richard III's niece, she witnessed the disappearance of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, and as Henry VII's queen, she was privy to the possible re-emergence of her younger brother in the Pretender. Did she, or didn't she believe the Pretender to be her brother, Richard, Duke of York? And if she believed he was, how did she deal with his execution by her husband, Henry VII? It's quite a tale. I hope you'll read more about her on my website http://www.sandraworth.com/

Thank you, Sandra. We're looking forward to reading your next book!