Author of Historical Fiction and Mysteries
Guest post by Desiree Villena It’s been half a year since the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency following the appearance of a novel coronavirus. Since then, COVID-19 has profoundly changed how we live and how we work — and the publishing industry is no exception. The book trade might be stereotyped as sluggish and... Continue Reading →
The Borgia dynasty of Renaissance Rome continues to fascinate 500 years later. Much has been written about them - fiction and non-fiction alike - but The Borgia Confessions offers a rare perspective - that of a servant to the famous papal family. Maddalena Moretti is a young widow from the rural Romagna region who arrives in Rome in... Continue Reading →
I have been reading back issues of Writer's Digest and found an astonishing article in the March/April 2019 issue. "Page Master" by Laura Zats talks about reasons manuscripts are rejected by agents. This potentially interesting article was unfortunately greatly disappointing. Let me explain. I was hoping for a fresh and insightful look into the confusing... Continue Reading →
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 →
My second historical fiction conference, HNS North America, came and went, and it was quite a ride. It was held at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just across the Potomac from Washington, DC from June 20-22, 2019. With over 70 sessions, the panels ranged from discussions of craft to the... Continue Reading →
Part of being an indie author - in effect your own publisher - is doing your own marketing in order to get your book(s) into readers' hands. If you're like me, you're not too crazy about that part, and it's OK. The good news is there is a multitude of ways in which you can... Continue Reading →
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 →
So many historical novels set in the 16th century focus on Tudor England (and sometimes also France, with a smattering of Italy) that I get very excited whenever a story is set in other parts of Europe. C.P. Lesley is on one of the few historical fiction authors that I know of whose work brings... Continue Reading →
Prologue Bari, Kingdom of Naples March 1560 The nightmares did not start until my old age, when sleep becomes elusive for some, while for others it is burdened with images from their past they would rather not remember. The stone cellar, dank and malodorous; the glint of a blade; the killer’s cold eyes; the victim’s... Continue Reading →
Artist Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera is one of the most celebrated artworks of the Italian Renaissance. Breaking with many conventions of the past, it askewed religious imagery in favor of a secular theme of spring awakening. As such it garnered a great deal of criticism from Church authorities when it was painted in the late... Continue Reading →
P.K. Adams 