Blogger Review Opportunity for CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI

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!

Blog Tour Day 17 and 18

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

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!

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: Days 11, 12 and 13

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:

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

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

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

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!

THE TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Day 5

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!

Blog Tour Continues: Day 2, 3 and 4

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

TUDOR SECRET Blog Tour Starts Today!

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

New reviews for THE TUDOR SECRET

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

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!

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

**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.

Thank you to all the Bloggers!

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