Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 27

Return from the twelfth century

As many of you know, I have not been well lately, and I’ve had to severely cut back on my Facebook and blog time. I hope to be able to resume contact once Land Beyond the Sea is finished and turned over to my publishers’ tender mercies. Thanks for your patience and for not turning my Facebook pages into cyberspace ghost towns while I’m off-stage.
I hope that those of you caught, as I was, in the frigid blast of Grayson have thawed out by now. I don’t object to the new trend of naming winter storms, but couldn’t they have done better than Grayson? That sounds like a butler on Downton Abby, not a blizzard that paralyzed almost half of the US. Let’s pray for an early spring or, Down Under, for an early autumn since Sydney has been suffering under the sort of soaring temperatures normally found in Death Valley. And I am sure my readers share my sympathy for the miseries that have been inflicted upon California recently; first the worst wildfires in the state’s history and now those horrific mud-slides. So many of us had hoped the new year would be an improvement over 2017, which too often felt like penance for our sins. Speaking just for myself, I’m not overly impressed with 2018 so far.
Before I fade away into the shadows again, I wanted to offer a progress report on Land Beyond the Sea. I finally finished fighting the battle of Hattin. Battle chapters are never easy to write even though I’ve spilled enough fictional blood to turn the Dead Sea crimson. But Hattin was particularly challenging, for the contemporary sources were often contradictory or muddled and I had to spend a lot of time pouring over maps and photos since the topography of the area played a major role in the outcome. While I’ve always tried to visit the battlefields I’ve written about, assuming they still survived, it was usually not an absolute necessity, more like a reason to take a tax-deductible trip to England or France. With Hattin, being able to see the battlefield for myself was a huge help, for I did not need to rely upon imagination to conjure up images of the desolate, barren hills and stark rock-strewn slopes. I could draw upon memories and my own photographs, thanks to my Israeli friend, Valerie Ben David, who so generously offered to be our guide. I did have to make active use of my imagination in one aspect of the battle, though. It was fought on a brutally hot day in early July, with men and horses suffering greatly from thirst and the unrelenting heat. Whereas if I looked out the window, all I saw was a blinding swirl of snow and it was so cold that I half-expected to find polar bears in my back yard. But the battle is over at long last, I have begun to wash all that blood off my hands, and now there are just two more chapters to go!
Thanks again for all the understanding and support. I shall return!

Fools and Mortals

A quick bulletin from the battlefield. First of all, I belatedly want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends and readers. And congratulations to my fellow football fans who will be lucky enough to have their teams advance to the playoffs. Now I have good news for all those who share my admiration and appreciation of Bernard Cornwell’s writing. He has a new book about to come out, to be published in the US in January. For lucky readers in the UK, it is already out. No, this is not another entry in his superb Saxon series. In an intriguing change of pace, this one revolves around the younger brother of one William Shakespeare, a rather successful playwright. The title is Fools and Mortals and I am looking forward very much to reading it.

Another of my favorite writers

I hope that my Facebook friends and readers living in California have been spared those terrifying wildfires that are once again devastating the state. I heard it described as a “hell-storm,” and that says it all. Those who would like to help can contact the Red Cross.
This is a sad day for me and my fellow Eagles fans, for we lost our star QB yesterday when Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury, a torn ACL. Also, on a personal level, I am still being harassed night and day by that pesky Deadline Dragon, and will likely remain MIA until I manage to get rid of this unwelcome houseguest.
I do have some good news, though, about a series that I absolutely love, David Blixt’s imaginative and suspenseful and just plain fun to read Starcross’d novels. They are set in fourteenth century Italy, with a major character who has impressive bloodlines—he is the son of the celebrated poet, Dante. When I first discovered David’s books a few years ago, he wreaked havoc with my routines and deadlines, for real life came to a screeching halt while I lost myself in his world. So I am very pleased to announce that there is a revised edition of the first book in this riveting, swashbuckling series, Master of Verona, available in print and e-book format and, for the first time, as an audio-book. I feel as if I am giving new readers an early Christmas present! Here is the link to David’s website, where you can learn more about the Starcross’d series and about some of David’s other books. https://www.davidblixt.com

New blog--yes, really

I finally have a new blog up! Here is the link. For some diabolic reason, the links within the blog text are not working correctly, so I will try to resolve that problem. I'd wager that the great majority of my grey hairs are computer-related. http://sharonkaypenman.com/blog/?p=680

WINNER OF BOOK DRAWING FOR THE KING’S DAUGHTER AND INTERVIEW WITH DANA STABENOW

I have been gone for so long that I feel as if I ought to re-introduce myself, or at least thank you all for being so patient with my prolonged absences.   I hope that life will get back to normal once I’ve been able to evict the Deadline Dragon, though I would not bet money on that.  I only have three chapters left to do in The Land Beyond the Sea, but since one of them will have me fighting one of the most momentous battles of the Middle Ages, please send me lots of positive vibes; I suspect I’ll need them.

With apologies again for the long delay, Stephanie Churchill and I are happy to announce that the winner of her book giveaway for her new novel, The King’s Daughter, is Colleen MacDonald.  Colleen, congratulations.   Please contact either Stephanie or me to arrange to receive your personalized copy.    I am sure you will love it.   I know I did!

Now, I am delighted to welcome one of my favorite writers to my blog.  My Facebook friends and readers know how much I love Dana Stabenow’s superb Kate Shugak Alaskan mystery series.   Dana’s books have it all—suspense and surprises and colorful locales and fascinating characters, leavened with lots of humor.    Dana is remarkably versatile, for in addition to her acclaimed Kate Shugak series, she has another series set in Alaska, a number of riveting stand-alone thrillers, and she has made a highly successful foray into the world of historical fiction with her Silk and Song saga.  In her trilogy about Johanna, the grand-daughter of the celebrated Marco Polo, she introduces readers to an unfamiliar and exotic world, taking us from Cambaluc, today’s Beijing, to the legendary lagoon city of Venice, fabled Queen of the Adriatic.     I cannot imagine anyone reading that last sentence without wanting to read the books, too, and Dana’s British publisher, Head of Zeus, has made that easy for new readers, publishing an omnibus edition which contains all three of the Silk and Song novels: Everything under the Heavens, By the Shores of the Middle Sea, and The Land Beyond.   It can be ordered from my all-time favorite bookstore, the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona, with signed copies available.  Here is the link. 

https://store.poisonedpen.com/?q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qsb=keyword&so=oh&searchtype=keyword&qs=9781784979522&qs_file=

And for my British readers, here is the link to Amazon.co.uk, where it will be published on December 14th.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silk-Song-Dana-Stabenow/dp/178497952X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512535145&sr=1-1&keywords=silk+and+song

Now, without further delay, I’ll let Dana speak for herself.

Where did the idea for Silk and Song come from?

I read The Adventures of Marco Polo and by his own account he loved

the ladies. He was all over eastern Asia for twenty years in service to Kublai Khan

and he had to have scattered some seed around.

I wondered what happened to those kids.

Silk and Song is the story of one of them.

What did you do in the way of research?

One of the joys of writing is research.

It can also be the perfect excuse for travel (if you need one).

I went to China in 2005 specifically to do research for Silk and Song.

Trips to Turkey and Morocco also found their way into the books.

I spent a week in Venice, another in Paris, and a third in London.

Only Venice made it into the book. That’s one thing about research;

inevitably you only use about 10 percent of what you research in the work.

I also read fa-aaar too much in the way of historical studies.

After a while you wonder what on earth historians are thinking,

because they all contradict each other,

and the farther back in time you go the worse they get.

Why a female protagonist?

Whenever I’m asked that question I’m tempted to say “Why not?”

and leave it at that, but seriously folks.

At about the same time as I was reading Marco, I stumbled across

a Book of Days (basically a daily diary) in a bookstore.

It was illustrated with drawings from medieval manuscripts,

and each illustration featured a medieval woman doing a job

—a baker, a shoemaker, a carpenter, a stone mason (yes, really!)

And then I read Margery Kempe’s autobiography.

Those two works thoroughly disabused me of the notion,

A, that medieval women only worked in the home,

and, B, that in the Middle Ages nobody ever traveled a mile from their homes.

Both of which notions teachers had worked hard to beat into my head in high school.

I determined from the beginning that the child was going to be a girl,

and that she was going to have a real job.

And of course coming from China she could wear pants. Heh.

Why publish the books separately at first?

No one wanted me to write Silk and Song. For sure no one wanted me to publish it.

“We don’t want to have to re-invent the Stabenow brand,” quoth my editor,

and suggested I write another five Kate Shugak novels instead.

So I wrote SAS anyway and self-published it in the US in three e and TP volumes.

And then lightning struck!

My UK publisher, Nic Cheetham at Head of Zeus

read it and loved it and now he’s publishing it in a single volume

in the most beautiful edition that has ever had my name spelled correctly

on the cover (gold leaf on the title! squee!).

What’s next?

After Silk and Song I wrote the 21st Kate Shugak novel,

Less Than a Treason.

Now I’m working on what I hope will be the first of a series of novels set in

Alexandria in the time of Cleopatra featuring Cleopatra’s fixer, job title the Eye of Isis.

And then follows the 22nd Kate Shugak novel.

Like much of the western world, I am fascinated by Cleopatra, so I am already looking forward to Eye of Isis!     Thank you, Dana, for agreeing to this interview and for giving us so many hours of reading pleasure.

December 6, 2017

A Thanksgiving story

I hope all of my American friends and readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was well-nigh perfect, a three-day celebration that has left me (and Holly) so well stuffed with turkey and assorted goodies that we could not move unless the house caught on fire. As my Thanksgiving gift, here is a heart-warning story that spotlights the goodness of the human spirit.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/24/us/coup...
And I naturally have to include something medieval in my posts, so here is a brief commentary about the significance of November 23rd on the Yorkist calendar. On November 23rd, 1499, Perkin Warbeck was hanged for an alleged “escape” from the Tower. I personally don’t believe he was Richard of York, but many others do. And on November 23rd, 1503, the Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret of York died at age fifty-seven. Some point to her support of Perkin Warbeck as proof he was one of the Princes in the Tower, but I think Margaret would have thrown her support to any reasonably plausible pretender if she thought it would give Henry Tudor some grief. (One of the reasons why I like her so much.) Anne Easter Smith has written a novel about Margaret, Daughter of York; she definitely deserved her own book.

A dark day for Wales

Today is Veteran’s Day, a time to honor all the men and women who have fought and died for their countries. I’ve been doing extensive research for a major medieval battle, so I’ve been even more aware than usual of the brutal cost of war—so much bloodshed, so many promising young lives extinguished, so much suffering.
Occasionally battles stretched out over days—Waterloo, Gettysburg. Although July 4th is the official date for the battle of Hattin, it could be argued that it actually began on July 3rd after Guy de Lusignan made his fateful and fatal decision to march to the relief of Tiberias and almost at once came under attack by Saladin’s skirmishers. I have no idea how long it will take me to fight the battle of Hattin for I am still researching. A battle like this would always be a challenge, but it is especially so because it occurs toward the end of the book. I will keep surfacing whenever I can, just hope that when you guys eventually read this chapter, you’ll remember all the blood, sweat, and tears it cost me!
Below is a post from a few years ago—long enough for most of you to have forgotten it, I hope.
November 10th, 1177 was a dark day in the history of medieval Wales, for it was on that date that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd made a forced peace with the English king, Edward I. Not surprisingly—for Edward was not known for showing mercy to a defeated foe—his terms were harsh ones. Llywelyn had to yield the four cantrefs east of the River Conwy and all land already seized by Edward. He was allowed to retain control of the island of Mon, but only as a vassal, compelled to pay a thousand marks a year to the royal coffers and if he died without an heir of his body, it would revert to the Crown. He had to pay a staggering fine of fifty thousand pounds (later remitted by Edward in an act of calculated generosity) and yield ten highborn hostages, free his brother Owain and the man who’d plotted to assassinate him. He must swear homage and fealty to Edward and forfeit the homage of all but five lords of Gwynedd, all others to owe homage only to the English king.
The Reckoning, page 259.
* * *
Llywelyn was permitted to retain the title that was now only a courtesy, Prince of Wales, a hollow mockery that seemed to him the cruelest kindness of all.
On November 9th, Llywelyn came to Aberconwy Abbey to accept Edward’s terms, feeling like a man asked to preside over his own execution. A remembered scrap of Scriptures kept echoing in his ears like a funeral dirge: “Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen.” Gwynedd had been gutted by a pen, just as surely as any sword thrust. He’d lost more than the lands listed upon parchment; he’d lost the last thirty years of his life, for Gwynedd had been reduced to the boundaries imposed upon the Welsh by the Treaty of Woodstock in 1247. Llywelyn had been just nineteen then, new to power and to defeat. That had been his first loss to England, and his last—until now, until the Treaty of Aberconwy, which destroyed a lifetime’s labor in the time it took to affix his great seal to the accord. Never had he known such despair. And the worst was still to come, for on the morrow he must ride to Rhuddlan Castle, there make a formal and public surrender to the English king.
* * *
Edward had one final surprise for Llywelyn when they met on November 10th at Rhuddlan Castle. Llywelyn had been assured that his wife, Ellen de Montfort, held hostage by Edward for the past two years, would be released, but Edward reneged, insisting that Ellen would not be freed until Llywelyn had proved his good faith and loyalty. Since Ken John is working (diligently, we hope) on a novel about Othon de Grandison (known as Otto in The Reckoning), I could not resist quoting one more paragraph of the chapter, for Othon/Otto was just as shocked as Llywelyn by Edward’s surprise; he’d been the one to deliver the king’s assurances to the Welsh prince. Again, from the Reckoning, pages 266-267.
* * *
The tension did not subside. One spark and the air itself might kindle, Otto de Grandison thought morosely, not at all happy with this unexpected turn of events. Had he so misread Edward, ignored the strings trailing from the offer to restore the prince’s lady? Had it truly been his mistake? He thought not, but it was now, for kings did not err. He gave Llywelyn an apologetic look, then turned at the sound of a muffled shout. Striding to the window, he unlatched the shutters. “My liege, the Welsh prisoners have just ridden into the bailey.”
* * *
It was never easy to serve a king, especially for a man of honor.

Medieval ghosts

What could be more timely for Halloween than a story about medieval ghosts? This one is found on my favorite website, www.medievalists.net http://www.medievalists.net/2017/10/m...

And here are two medieval deaths that occurred on Halloween.
On October 31st, 1147, Robert Fitz Roy, the Earl of Gloucester, brother and mainstay to the Empress Maude, died. He was an honorable man who probably would have been a much better ruler than either Stephen or Maude, but he was, of course, barred from the throne because he was born out of wedlock. I liked writing about Robert and I missed him after he died—definitely not the case with all of my characters.
On October 31st, 1214, Henry and Eleanor’s daughter Leonora, Queen of Castile, died, less than a month after her husband’s death. She was said to have been so devastated by his death that she’d been unable to attend his funeral and it is hard not to conclude that she died of a broken heart—for science now says there is indeed such an affliction. She was fifty-three, and only she and John outlived Eleanor.
Now back to the looming bloodshed at Hattin. Writing a battle scene is always challenging, but it can be therapeutic, too, a means for me to express my repressed anger at the sad state of the world. And Hattin’s outcome will serve as a reminder that life has never been easy. Even in those rare times when it seemed idyllic to some segments of society, that was an illusion—as in the halcyon days for England’s upper class before the outbreak of WW I, when a scarily prescient prediction was made by the British politician, Lord Grey: “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

Worst royal brother?

I feel as if I am trapped in that Groundhog Day film, for every day I wake up and start fending off the Deadline Dragon….sigh. But before the duel starts again, here are a few October 21st occurrences. In 1449, George of Clarence was born. What can we say about Brother George? I don’t know that he was the worst king’s brother in English history. I think that was John, for he not only attempted to steal Richard’s crown, he did his best to make sure that Richard ended up in a French dungeon, where death would have been a mercy. But George certainly made an unholy pest of himself and gave so much grief to his family and others in his 28 years that it may have been a blessing if he’d been one of those babies who did not survive the perils of a medieval childhood.

On October 21, 1204, Robert Beaumont, the fourth Earl of Leicester died. He was one of the heroes of the Third Crusade, a character in Lionheart and Ransom, who was very loyal to Richard and seems to have been well regarded by all but the French king. His marriage was childless, though, and upon his death, his earldom passed to his sisters, opening the door for a young French adventurer named de Montfort to stake a claim to it twenty-some years later.

October 21, 1221 was the day that Alix de Thouars, the Duchess of Brittany, died in childbirth. The daughter of Constance of Brittany and her third husband, Guy de Thouars, Alix was only twenty or twenty-one at the time of her death, there being some confusion about her birth date. The birthing chamber was as dangerous for medieval women as the battlefield was for their men.

Lastly—for my fellow football fans (American football to my readers in the UK and Down Under) Fly, Eagles, fly!

The hell-storms

At times this year it seems as if nature is at war with us. Extraordinarily powerful hurricanes in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico ,and the Caribbean. A devastating earthquake in Mexico. And now one of the worst fires in California history, with the death toll sure to mount. One of the most chilling descriptions of these infernos simply called them the “hell-storms.” Add to this litany of tragedies the massacre in Las Vegas and it is overwhelming. All we can do is to try to help where and when we can—and to give credit to the courage of the first responders. They save so many lives, often at the risk of their own. Here is a link to the California fires.
http://www.care2.com/causes/how-to-he...
I won’t keep apologizing for my frequent absences; how boring would that be? I miss being here and interacting with you all, and I am so looking forward to the day when the deadline dragon flies off to wherever evicted dragons go and life returns to normal.