C.W. Gortner's Blog, page 2

My Favorite Books of 2014

It's that time of year again: my redoubtable best reads of the year. I didn't quite make my goal of 50 novels, but I also read a lot of research books for my own writing, so managing to read half of my goal is an accomplishment. I had many great reads, too, so deciding on 8 titles to highlight was tough. In the end, it came down to the books that stayed with me, whose stories and language lingered.

Without further ado, here they are, not listed in order of preference. Please also note that some of these titles were not published this year.

1. Russian Winter A masterful tale of loss and redemption, set in Stalinist Russia and interweaving two connected stories. Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction and for those of us who are entranced by the rigors and ethereal beauty of ballet.

2. The Way I Found Her This wonderful, poignant coming-of-age story about a young English boy captivated by a romance novelist in Paris is both an ode to the nascent passions of an adolescent heart and the shifting sands of memory.

3.Plague Restoration England, often portrayed as a licentious romp, gets a decidedly darker, thrilling interpretation in this vivid story about a highwayman's quest for revenge. The author is at the top of his game here.

4.Hotel de Dream This deceptively slim novel re-imagines the last days of literary phenomenon Stephen Crane, who is wasting away from tuberculosis as he dictates his final work - an elegiac tale of a boy prostitute in 1890s New York and the married banker obsessed with him. A masterpiece by one of our finest living writers.

5. Sashenka A sweeping epic whose flaws are redeemed by its encompassing view of the blood-soaked Russian Revolution and terrors under Stalin, featuring a wealthy Jewish girl who forsakes her heritage only to discover that the egalitarian freedom she has fought for will exact a tragic price.

6. The Last Nude Razor-sharp and unsentimental, this gorgeous novel depicts 1920s Paris and the tumultuous love affair between Art Deco painter, Tamara Lempicka, and her American-born teenage muse. The prose is sexy, haunting, and unforgettable.

7.Mrs. Poe A sensitive, tragic, and often eerie depiction of a pivotal time in Edgar Allan Poe's life, when he found unwelcome fame with the publication of "The Raven." Told through the voice of the poet Frances Osgood, the gilded hypocrisies of New York are as much a character as its inhabitants, while the titular Mrs Poe offers a chilling portrayal of desperation.

8.The Mask Carver's Son With consummate elegance and deep understanding of artistic sacrifice, this novel depicts Japan and Paris in the late 1800s through the eyes of the titular son of a gifted, tormented mask carver, who finds himself trapped between his seemingly impossible dreams and the rigid traditions of the past.

THE TUDOR VENDETTA out on Tuesday, October 21

The Tudor Vendetta

Fall is an exciting time in publishing, as we near the holiday season and many of us escape the stress of shopping and parties by curling up with a book. I'm delighted to announce that The Tudor Vendetta , my third and final book in The Elizabeth I Spymaster Trilogy (Elizabeth's Spymaster in the UK) will be released by St Martin's Press in the US on October 21 and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK on October 23, with several foreign-language editions scheduled to follow.

It is November, 1558. Elizabeth I has claimed the throne, but the first days of her reign are already fraught with turmoil, the realm weakened by strife and her ability to rule uncertain. When Brendan Prescott, her intimate spy, returns to court at her behest, he soon finds himself thrust into a deadly gambit against his foe, Robert Dudley. But the new queen has an even more perilous assignation for him when her trusted lady-in-waiting, Lady Parry, vanishes in Yorkshire. Sent from court to a crumbling manor that may hold the key to Lady Parry's disappearance, Brendan becomes the quarry of an elusive stranger with a vendetta - one that could expose both Brendan's secret and a long-hidden mystery that will bring about Elizabeth's doom.

Booklist calls The Tudor Vendetta "action-packed palace intrigue at its best" and Romantic Times praises its evocation of "Elizabeth's England in all its glory." I've loved taking this journey into Tudor England, which began nearly fourteen years ago when I first had the idea to write about a fictional squire with a secret past, who finds himself plunged into momentous events preceding the reign of the Tudor dynasty's most accomplished and enigmatic sovereign. The Spymaster Trilogy is as much about Elizabeth's early struggles and canny ability to wield power even when she had none, as it is about the young man who devotes himself to her service, risking everything to see her triumph. Exploring many vibrant personalities of the time - William Cecil, Francis Walsingham, Robert Dudley, and Mary I - as well as Brendan's fictional friends and foes has been a true delight. I hope you enjoy this final installment as much as I have writing it, and I thank you from my heart for your support and enthusiasm during this three-volume adventure into England's tumultuous Renaissance past.

I'll be on virtual tour for The Tudor Vendetta from October 20 to November 28. To catch up with me, please go to http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/categor...

When Authors Say Stupid Things

I'm no stranger to putting my foot in my mouth on occasion. As a published writer, the demands on me, like all my ilk, have increased exponentially with the advent of social media. Facebook, Twitter, etc. are now required tools in a writer's arsenal, where we're expected to post interesting quips and book announcements on a regular basis, regardless of our ability to even hold a coherent conversation in public, let alone our willingness to do so.

It may seem strange to the rest of the non-writing world, but publishers actually audit our social media and website presence. This incipient intrusion into how we present ourselves is now an integral part of our publishing strategy; I've heard twice now during marketing discussions that my website has been "audited" and been offered suggestions as to how to improve it. Publishers don't do this to frustrate or irritate us; in fact, they have the best of intentions. Media attention has become inescapable, fundamental to any author who wishes to survive. As marketing budgets shrink and books compete amid a smorgasbord of other entertainment options, writers must keep up, expected now to not only entertain with words in their books, but also with their extraneous minutia.

It can therefore come as no surprise that like everyone else out there posting kittens, skateboard videos, pictures of recent vacations, and memes declaring everything from political affiliation to sexual preference and religious belief, authors can now and then find themselves screwing up. After all, we've all seen our share of "OMG!!! No, he didn't!" on non-writing people's posts. We've all cringed at that celebrity's faux-pas on twitter or that politician's asinine comment on Facebook. No one is immune. We all put our foot in our mouths - or in our posts, as the case may be. And in this day and age of intense social scrutiny and viral spread, when we do, everyone else notices.

Writers are, by and large, a solitary breed. We have to be. It's not a choice; it's an occupational hazard most of us embrace. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "What a life you lead, sitting at home all day making up stories," I'd be sitting at home on my yacht in Cannes. People think we are privileged - and we are, because we get paid to make up stuff - but the day-to-day grind is hardly glamorous. Unless your idea of glamour is endless months of toil over a keyboard, trying to wrestle into words that brilliant idea in your head; eating pretty much the same sandwich every day, and looking up in a red-eyed haze at 5:30 when your partner comes home from work and comments, wryly, "No shower yet?" or the obsessive checking on the ranking of your most recent opus at various online sites, followed by crippling doubt when said ranking fails to hit the single digits and you just know you're headed on the bullet train to failure and that day-job in a fast-food chain. Glamour has no part in it. To be a writer, you must have buns of steel to keep them glued to the chair every day and an excellent exercise regimen to avoid permanent carpal tunnel. We hunker down in our dens like mole people because that's where our stories are born. We eschew social outings that other folk spontaneously engage in - impromptu lunches or jaunts to the movies - because we're "under deadline" but more honestly, because we live in constant dread that if we deviate too much from the work-in-progress, the muse will desert us and then we'll really be on that train to fast-food hell. We don't mean to hide from the world, but we must. If we didn't, we'd never write another word. The world is too tempting. There is too much distraction, too many reasons to avoid the screen or page, and skip outside to play like a normal person.

But now, we are expected - no, required - to have a public presence. The more savvy among us elect to create an alternate persona that exalts our best qualities while concealing our less amenable ones. Because while readers may want to meet us, to exchange confidences, praise or criticism, they shouldn't know too much. It's not healthy or wise to show the world who we are in our entirety, because like any other industry that relies on another person's imagination and investment, writers need to disappear when someone is reading our book.

Which brings me in my long-winded way to the point of this post. Having watched in slack-jawed horror the debacle caused by bestselling author John Grisham's insensitive remarks during a recent interview, where he extolled his opinions of old white men who watch child porn and the unnecessary harshness of their jail sentences, I realized this is a perfect case of writer's foot-in-mouth. As rich and popular as Mr. Grisham is, and a lawyer to boot, so he really should have known better, he's still a writer. He doesn't get out much, or at least not as much as he probably should. He might actually believe what he said (writers are under no requirement to be pleasant, though it would behoove them to at least try) or he might have been handed a microphone and completely lost it. Whatever the case, he screwed up. Within hours, his mini-rant went viral; his Facebook and twitter accounts flooded with outraged remarks and avowals to boycott him evermore. His hard-working publicist no doubt had to flee to the nearest bathroom stall to hurl up his or her lunch before launching into full damage-control mode, because, you see, Mr. Grisham has a book dropping next week and well . . . to behave like a cretin at such a time is simply not done.

Will it affect his book's sales? I doubt it. In today's age of burn-fast-and-forget-it, by next week some other author, celebrity, or politician will utter a string of garbage and the blast of the white-hot spotlight will swerve on them. After all, Orson Scott-Card's unabashed cretinishness hasn't exactly hurt him, though the producers of the film made from his bestselling novel went to lengths to distance themselves from his racist, homophobic stance. Still, he has survived, and to my knowledge, his book sales have not taken a significant hit.

The simple truth is, most writers aren't designed for the world. We're built like special cars, fueled by the power of our visions, with high mileage in our particular neighborhood but poor efficiency on the highway, necessitating frequent coffee re-fills and fortifying pep-talks from our agents. We're not supposed to be touted into the arena to regale the public, because while we may be interesting in our own right, most of what we want to say, or should say, is in our books.

Then of course, there is that undeniable alternative: Some writers are not nice. They're rude, self-absorbed people whose opinions make 98% of the rest of the planet shudder. They are the dangerous ones, the feral in our breed, because you never know when they're let out of their den if they'll smile at you or bite.

So, publishers beware.

My Favorite 10 Books of 2013

It seems like those “Best of” lists are ubiquitous this time of year. They always drive me a bit crazy, because to me, most, if not all, books have merits. After all, somebody took the time to sit down and write it, and someone else took the time to edit and publish it. Each book carries a bit of the author’s soul in it and therefore deserves respect. That said, not every book is for everyone, and that's okay. Infinite variety is the spice of reading.

So, for a little something different, here is a list of my 10 favorite reads of 2013. Only a few of these books were published this year; I tend to buy far more books than I can read in any given time and have piles everywhere. Having written three manuscripts this year, I decided to read more widely outside my particular genre, though each book listed here has history within its pages.

Without further ado, here are just 10 of the 31 books I read this year which I absolutely loved and recommend:

1. Christopher Rice Light Before Day: Yes, he is the son of a certain very famous writer, but don’t let that dissuade you. Mr. Rice is a master of the craft in his own right, and this book is one of his finest, a dark tale of a gay journalist with addiction issues who finds himself drawn into the dangerous search for a missing lover among the sordid, often lethal undercurrents of West Hollywood and the central valley of California. Taut, insightful, decidedly unglamorous, it had me on the edge of my seat.

2. Andrew Pyper The Demonologist: I love a good supernatural-themed scare and Mr. Pyper delivers a spine-tingling dose of it in this quiet, hauntingly creepy tale of a Milton scholar who accepts a mysterious invitation to travel to Venice with his daughter, only to discover that demons may exist and his child is part of their plan. The possession scene alone in a house on the Venetian canal is well worth the price of admission.

3. Brendan Rickman Vantrease The Heretic's Wife: The final book in her historical trilogy about the persecution of, and sacrifices made by the brave women and men who sought to bring the English Bible to the masses may sound too preachy for readers like me. It is not. Ms. Vantrese is not only a gorgeously gifted writer, but one who imbues her stories with a keen sensitivity for the era and frailties of her characters. This book can be read alone, yet is best appreciated after reading the previous two, “The Illuminator” and “The Mercy Seller.”

4. M.J. Rose Seduction: A book by M.J. Rose is always an experience. No one combines passion and the search for meaning, along with a unique supernatural theme, than Ms. Rose. “Seduction” is arguably her best work to date. When her heroine, Jac, travels to remote Jersey Island to heal from a devastating loss, her encounters with two equally enigmatic brothers plunge her into a frightening quest to unravel a deadly secret entwined with famed writer Victor Hugo’s (“Les Miserables”) previous seances to contact the spirit of his dead daughter. A Gothic infused with modern sensibility, it heralds Ms. Rose as a successor to Daphne Du Maurier.

5. Kate Forsyth Bitter Greens: I read this book after my beloved dog passed away and at times it was the only thing that kept me from falling apart. Ms. Forsyth is an accomplished writer of adult and children’s titles, with many successes under her belt, but she breaks her own mold in this wildly imaginative and sublime interpretation of the Rapunzel legend. Moving between three interlinked eras and women – the 17th century author of the original fairy tale, a haunted courtesan in 16th century Venice, and the girl who became Rapunzel—the writing is so exquisite, the characters so unforgettable, and the message of how storytelling can save our lives so resonant, you’ll find yourself swooning.

6. Janice Lee The Piano Teacher: This slim volume is deceptive. With spare unflinching prose, Ms. Lee delivers a moving tale of how the betrayals of the past seep into the present, shifting between 1951 and 1945, while illuminating for me a period in history I knew little about it: The occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese. You often hear about books with a cinematic feel. This one begs to be adapted for the screen, with its scintillating cast of characters led by the quixotic Eurasian socialite, Trudy Liang, whose echoes of Sally Bowles from “Cabaret”— another devil-may-care woman caught between opposing forces – are unmistakable and yet utterly nuanced to fit the milieu in which Trudy must survive.

7. Danielle Trussoni Angelopolis: As a devoted fan of “Angelology”, the first volume in Trussoni’s magnificent, complex saga of fallen angels and angel hunters, I eagerly awaited her next installment. Imagine my surprise to discover that while retaining the flavor of the previous work, this one moves in an entirely new direction—a taut, fast-paced and vivid chase through Europe led by the hunter, Verlaine, who is mesmerized by his passion for one of the very creatures he is dedicated to kill. The daring versatility shown by Ms. Trussoni's amping of her tale to dizzying adrenaline heights is admirable, and while I missed some of the first book’s meditative qualities, I still could not put this one down.

8. Jude Morgan The Taste of Sorrow: I am ashamed to admit I had never read this author before now, despite numerous recommendations by friends. I approached this book warily, fearing a dreary recounting of the unfortunate Bronte family. Instead, I found myself utterly swept away by Mr. Morgan’s overwhelming mastery of language and imagery, his disregard for rules surrounding point of view creating kaleidoscopic insight into his characters’ souls. The Brontes did not have easy lives, and under Mr. Morgan’s pen their tragedies and triumphs are wrought with such piercing intimacy, it will break your heart. (Published in the US as Charlotte and Emily: A Novel of the Brontes)

9. Clive Barker Coldheart Canyon: Mr. Barker is renowned as a master of horror, the creator of the gruesome Pinhead and assortment of cinematic demons. He’s also one of the most versatile writers working in any genre; and this book showcases everything he does well: The tale of a haunted house in an unexplored canyon above Sunset Boulevard, where a maimed modern movie idol seeks refuge and encounters a former star who has harnessed the secret to immortality, wreaking havoc and despair in her wake. Though not for sensitive readers, as Mr. Barker does not shy away from perversity and dismemberment, this book is one of the best I have read about the consuming, often destructive hunger for fame and the price we pay to have everything we think we desire.

10.Elizabeth Freemantle Queen's Gambit: I write Tudor-era mysteries but have become, as many other readers are, I suspect, a bit weary of the deluge of novels set in the foibles of Henry VIII’s court. When this title was sent to me for review, I sighed. Yet another book on Kate Parr? However, as familiar as the tale of Henry’s last, ill-fated wife is to me, Ms. Freemantle kept me fully engaged by interspersing Queen Kat’s doomed love affair with the vivacious, observant and candid struggles of her intimate servant, who must not only navigate the shoals of her mistress’s misfortunes but also survive them on her own. This not “Wolf Hall”, as the publisher suggests, nor does it deserve to be relegated to comparison with that much-vaunted work. This book stands strong on its own merits and I realized after I finished it that in the right hands, the Tudor court can still be as exciting, unpredictable, and shatteringly frightening as ever.

Happy holidays to all of you! And happy reading.

Mary and Elizabeth: Sisters and Rivals

There is something fascinating, and disturbing, about family members who turn on one another. The Tudor dynasty is no exception. Though Henry VIII did not sire many children, considering how often he wed, history has perhaps no sisters more famous for their rivalry than his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.

Born of the king’s marriages to his first and second wives, respectively, Mary and Elizabeth were both declared bastards in turn after Henry divorced Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon, and had Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, beheaded. The rivalry between the two mothers, each determined to hold onto their crown and defend their child, set the stage for a legacy of mistrust between the daughters, who were as different in temperament as any sisters could be.

The eldest by seventeen years, Mary went from an adored childhood to a horrifying adolescence in which she saw her beloved mother supplanted by another. Humiliated and relegated to the status of a servant in her baby sister Elizabeth’s household, the scars of Mary’s teenage years can’t be underestimated.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was barely three when her mother died and she was made illegitimate. A famous quip from this time is attributed to her when informed of her new status: “How is that yesterday I was Princess Elizabeth and today only Lady Elizabeth?” Young as she was, Elizabeth had a keen grasp of her situation. She grew into womanhood surrounded by danger and became adept at the rules of survival, aware that one misstep could lead to her doom, her mother’s example always before her.

Both sisters understood the perils intrinsic to royal life, but while Elizabeth learned to play the cards dealt to her, Mary remained steadfast in her right to stand above the crowd. They both had courage but their experiences couldn’t have been more disparate. Elizabeth was born into, and raised, in the Protestant Faith; like their brother Edward, she embraced it. Mary resisted, both from a deep-seated belief inculcated in her as by the rigidity of her own character, which was not given to change even when circumstances called for it. In the end, whatever rapprochement the sisters found as outsiders uncertain of their place, denigrated into savage rivalry when Mary became queen against all odds and they found themselves pitted against each other.

Mary could not forgive the insults tendered to her by Anne Boleyn and in time, she came to see Elizabeth as the very incarnation of her late mother. In turn, Elizabeth began to recognize the stony threat that Mary’s hatred posed to her and her fragile position as the sole hope for the Protestant cause in England.

Their pasts had made them who they were; and their struggle for supremacy would divide the country, sisters and rivals unto death.This rivalry is the core of my new novel, THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY.

Behind The Queen’s Vow: Isabella of Castile and her Myth

Isabella of Castile is one of those historical characters who generate strong reactions. When I began to tell my friends that I was writing about her, I heard everything from, “Ooh, you’re so brave to tackle her” to “Didn’t she burn everyone?” to a flat-out: “She was a monster.”

I’ve always been fascinated by famous women with controversial reputations, as evidenced by my previous novels about Catherine de Medici and Juana la Loca, who, coincidentally, is Isabella’s daughter. But I must admit, while growing up in Spain all I heard about Isabella (in Spain, she’s properly known as Isabel) was that she was this near-saintly queen who united Aragón and Castile through her marriage to King Ferdinand, conquered Granada, sent Columbus to find the New World, and . . . well, that was about it. I’d also visited her tomb in Granada several times as a child, but I was more taken by the lurid fate of her willful daughter, Juana, the queen who went mad out of love— a fascination that eventually resulted in my first novel, The Last Queen.

It was while writing that book that I first did significant research into Isabella’s life. I focused mainly on her later years and found myself deeply affected by her struggles. She outlived two of her beloved children only to die at the age of fifty-three, leaving behind a bereaved nation and uncertain future.

No one could argue that she was both stoic and indefatigable in her commitment to her country. But, who was she before she became queen? How did becoming the first female ruler of a united Spain define and shape those later years? I was fascinated by these questions, and evidently so were many of the readers of The Last Queen, who sent e-mails and letters asking me to write more about Isabella.

Nevertheless, when I finally decided to do so, I knew I’d set myself a formidable task. For though she has all the hallmarks of a formidable heroine, Isabella is also shrouded by historical condemnation, often seen as the narrow-minded fanatic who gave rise to the Inquisition and callously evicted the Moors and Jews from Spain. Infamy clings to her, and as history has been revised by more enlightened times, she’s taken the brunt of it. I’d confronted historical calumny before with my characters, however, and my task as a writer is not to judge what happened but rather to reveal why. I also try my utmost to not view the past through the prism of the present. The world which Isabella of Castile knew was vastly different from our own, and its contradictions shaped her in unexpected ways.

First and foremost, Isabella was exceptional for her era. Publicly and privately, she fought against the dictates of society and its prohibitive limitations on women, intent on forging her own path. She also faced a unique set of circumstances that had been the bane of her predecessors—a fractured kingdom weakened by centuries of strife, overlaid by an uneasy religious amalgam that made Spain both uniquely tolerant, and conversely, rife with divisiveness. Isabella inherited a land that was literally falling apart, in desperate need of unity if it was to survive the hostile encroachments of neighboring powers. Destined to become Spain’s architect, who would guide her new-born country into a new age, Isabella achieved the impossible. Yet, like so many rulers before and after her, she also made tragic mistakes.

The Queen’s Vow portrays the extraordinarily complex and fallible woman behind Isabella’s legend. From her forgotten youth when no one believed she was destined for greatness, to her frightening plunge into the cesspool of her half-brother’s court and the unexpected loss that propelled her into a dramatic fight for her throne, as well as her passion for a prince she was forbidden to wed and her courage as a neophyte ruler, which molded her into the queen who irrevocably changed the world, this is a story of grandeur and passion, triumph and sacrifice. It is a story of a princess who defied every odd and took to battle, of a devoted wife and mother who endured heartbreaking betrayal, and of a devout woman secretly torn between faith and country. It is a story most of us have never heard.

I sincerely hope you enjoy The Queen’s Vow.

Goodreads Giveaway of THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY

I'm excited to announce that my next novel in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles is coming out July 16. This time, Brendan must become a double-agent in the court of Bloody Mary to unravel a dark conspiracy that could make Elizabeth queen - or send her to her death.

My publisher is offering 30 advance reading copies here on Goodreads. Good luck to everyone who enters and I hope you enjoy the book!

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...The Tudor Conspiracy

C.W. Gortner May - June News

Hello Friends and Readers,
As many of you know, on June 12 Ballantine Books will publish my new novel THE QUEEN'S VOW about Isabella of Castile. This novel explores the rarely told story of Isabella's dramatic and tumultuous rise to power, which transformed her and the world forever.

Booklist says, "Gortner avoids romanticizing. A believable account of a woman determined to control her own fate and shape Spain into a great country."

Library Journal says, "The fiery Spanish queen best remembered for funding the voyages of Columbus begins as a pawn [until] tenacity and ruthlessness allow her to seize the throne. Should have strong appeal for historical fiction fans."

THE QUEEN'S VOW will be published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton. Rights have already been sold to Germany, Czech Republic, and Norway, with audio book rights to Blackstone.

To celebrate my new book, I'll be on a virtual blog tour starting June 12, visiting 55 of the web's most popular blogs. There'll be guest posts, interviews and exciting giveaways. Please join me on my tour by checking daily stops on my blog Historical Boys.

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have a number of fun events coming up, including the book launch party at Bookshop West Portal in SF on June 14 at 7pm.

I'll also be speaking at the SF Commonwealth Club on June 18 at 6pm.

To find out about my other appearances, please visit my website at http://www.cwgortner.com and click News.

Thank you from the heart for your support and ongoing enthusiasm for my books. Though I don't know many of you in person, I feel as though I have a community of friends here at Goodreads and I am very grateful. Happy reading!The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile

Goodreads Giveaway of THE QUEEN'S VOW

Goodreads is offering a 15-ARC giveaway of my new book, THE QUEEN'S VOW: A Novel of Isabella of Castile. Go here to enter and best of luck!

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
The Queen's Vow: A Novel Of Isabella Of Castile

Interested in traveling with me?

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 link below and let us know! Your input is most important at this stage, as we gauge interest. Thanks!

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22...