Excerpt from Midnight Fire, Jagiellon Mystery #2 Increasingly bored, I was about to turn to Maria, when the volume of conversations suddenly abated and heads turned toward one corner of the hall. A sense of anticipation filled the air, as if the gathering awaited the beginning of a performance by a troupe of players, lowering... Continue Reading →
Tatar Attack
Excerpt from Midnight Fire, Jagiellon Mystery #2 (upcoming) After some moments, the surprise melted from his face, and his gaze turned inward. Silently, he stroked his chin, where a new reddish-blond beard was growing, and there was a sadness about him I had not seen before. He was revisiting something painful. “My father was a... Continue Reading →
Is There Room for Eastern European Historical Fiction?
If you are like me, you may be rolling your eyes at the fact that so much historical fiction focuses on Western Europe, especially England and France. There is not a month that another Tudor novel does not come out, and Marie Antoinette has been done to death (forgive the pun). I love my seven... Continue Reading →
Bona Sforza, Poland’s Rebellious Queen
Medieval and early modern queenship is a fascinating area of historical research. In European history, it focuses on such famous queens as Eleanor of Aquitaine (of France and later of England), Catherine de' Medici of France, or Elizabeth I of England. Indeed, western European queens seemed to have enjoyed a degree of freedom (by the... Continue Reading →