Finola Austin's Blog: The Secret Victorianist, page 7
March 21, 2022
Neo-Victorian Voices: Libertie, Kaitlyn Greenidge (2021)
Most of the twenty-first century written, nineteenth century set novels I’ve read, which are centered on the Black experience in the United States, have focused on the horrors of slavery (see for example, my reviews of Sadeqa Johnson’s Yellow Wife, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings, Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Wench, and Valerie Martin’s Property). Freedom was presented as a goal, a dream, and a
March 9, 2022
Writers’ Questions: Do I need to be on social media to get published?
Welcome/Welcome back! Since the sale of my debut novel, Bronte’s Mistress, in 2019, I’ve been writing blog posts answering fellow authors’ burning questions about the writing and publication process. I’ve touched on the topic of social media before, in my post on the best writing hashtags to follow on Twitter and Instagram, but today I’m back answering one of the questions I’m asked most
February 16, 2022
Review: Walking the Invisible, Michael Stewart (2021)
I was working at digital media company Refinery29 when I first encountered Michael Stewart. The ARC (advance reader copy) of his 2018 novel, Ill Will, was up for grabs on the freebies table. Mixed in with other books, as well as lipsticks and leggings, sent to our editorial team, Ill Will caught my eye. It was the subtitle which captured my attention: The Untold Story of Heathcliff. Not only was
January 31, 2022
January 19, 2022
The Siren of Sussex: Belles of London (Book 1), Mimi Matthews (2022)—Part of The Siren of Sussex Virtual Book Tour
Last July, I was happy to be asked to be part of the virtual book tour for Mimi Matthews’s 2021 John Eyre (a gender swapped retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre—er, yes please!). And today, I’m back as part of another virtual book tour for a Mimi Matthews book—historical romance, The Siren of Sussex, which was released this month. Mimi, I’m in awe of your writerly productivity!The Siren of
January 14, 2022
2021: My Year in Reading—A Retrospect
Around this time a year ago, I published a retrospect on my 2020 reading. Now I’m back, a year on, with a similar post, looking back on the 60 books (10 more than the year before!) I read in 2021. In 2021, I read 45 novels and 15 works of non-fiction. I favored books by women writers, reading 49 books penned by women, 10 by men, and one mixed anthology. Ten of the books I read were by writers of
December 9, 2021
December 7, 2021
Writers’ Questions: How Should I Write a Sex Scene?
Welcome back to my Writers’ Questions series where I’m answering aspiring writers’ FAQs about craft, publishing, and the emotional journey of writing a book. Today, I’m tackling the type of chapter lots of writers are most anxious to write—the sex scene. Is this gross? Will my parents ever read this?! Do I even have sex right??? These are just some of the questions that might be running through
November 22, 2021
November 17, 2021
Neo-Victorian Voices: The Great Mistake, Jonathan Lee (2021)
Andrew Haswell Green (1821-1903) is the greatest New Yorker you might never have heard of. Often referred to as the “Father of Greater New York,” this self-made city planner and lawyer was instrumental in the creation of landmarks such as Central Park, the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Zoo, and the American Museum of Natural History. In his 2021 novel, The
