Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 73

Taylor Swift and Henry VIII---yes, really.

This was already posted on my Facebook fan club page, but I wanted to be sure you all saw it. Taylor Swift and Henry VIII--talk about the Odd Couple. http://www.buzzfeed.com/…/if-taylor-s...…

Man without car walks 21 miles to work

Many of you may have heard this story about a man who has walked 21 miles to and from work every day for the past ten years after his car died and he couldn’t afford to repair it. It understandably got a lot of attention and a college student set up an on-line fund to raise money to buy him a car. As often happens on the Internet, the response was very generous. At last report, it was up to over $300,000, plus a new Ford Taurus donated by a local car company. Here is the video of him getting his new car and also the original vidoe. It is a nice way for us all to start the day.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/02/...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02...

The worst royal brother ever

February 7th, 1102 was the birthdate of the Empress Maude, AKA Matilda, the almost-queen of England. She failed, of course, to claim her father’s crown, but her son Henry succeeded where she had not, becoming king at 21 and forging the dynasty so much more interesting than those upstart Tudors.:-)
Also, on February 7th, this time in 1478, George, Duke of Clarence, was found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death after a trial presided over by his brother, Edward. Legend has it he was drowned in a butt of malmsey, but that is rather unlikely. George is probably the worst brother ever inflicted upon a medieval king. Yes, worse than John. True, John did his best to see that Big Brother Richard rotted in a German or French dungeon, but he did have some redeeming qualities. He was intelligent, for one, and seems to have been genuinely interested in governing; he also shared the Angevin sardonic sense of humor. I honestly can’t think of any virtues that George possessed. He was shallow, selfish, showed no aptitude for anything other than causing trouble, and had no more understanding of loyalty than a hungry shark. I need to get inside the heads of my characters in order to bring them to life on the printed page and I can tell you all that being inside George’s head was not something I’d ever recommend.

Interview with Priscilla Royal for Satan's Lullaby

I've a new blog up, an interview with Priscilla Royal about her newest mystery, Satan's Lullaby. It is also a book giveaway, with a free signed copy going to the winner. Goodreads readers will need to post on the blog itself, as posting here won't enter you in the contest. http://sharonkaypenman.com/blog/?p=496

INTERVIEW WITH PRISCILLA ROYAL

I am delighted to be able to interview my friend and fellow historical novelist, Priscilla Royal, whose newest mystery, Satan’s Lullaby, is now available for sale on-line and in brick and mortar bookstores, assuming you can find one; you can buy it in hardcover or paperback and it will be out as an e-book, too, very soon.    This is the eleventh novel in Priscilla’s series set in 13th century England, so for any of you who have not yet read one of her books, you have a book-lover’s blessing awaiting you; what is more fun than finding a new, wonderful author and then discovering that they have an extensive backlist waiting patiently for you?   I have been reading Priscilla’s books since the first one, Wine of Violence, but I remember how excited I was when I read the fifth book in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon series, Death of Kings, and then realized I could read the first four books without having to endure those interminable delays between books.

One of the joys of a historical series is that we get to escape into a fictional world that is both familiar and foreign.  We have come to care about Prioress Eleanor, highborn and high principled, Brother Thomas, the kind-hearted, conflicted monk, Sister Anne the healer, the prickly crowner, Ralf, and his new wife, Gytha, the cocky Arthur, the feline king of the convent.    But there is much about the thirteenth century that is alien to us; we never forget for a moment that these are men and women of another age, and better than any other author I know, Priscilla is able to demonstrate how important religion was to medieval people, how closely their faith was integrated into their daily lives—even the sinners, and every mystery has sinners.

I am also pleased to announce that Priscilla has generously agreed to donate a signed copy of Satan’s Lullaby to one fortunate reader.  As with past book drawings, anyone who posts a comment on this blog is eligible to win.  Good luck!

But it is always better to let authors speak for themselves.   And so here is Priscilla Royal, a kindred spirit who shares our fascination with the past.

Tell us about your newest book.

Satan’s Lullaby was born of a discussion I had with another reader at an author’s tea at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale AZ. She asked if I had ever read the 13th century Archbishop Eudes Rigaud of Rouen. He recorded his tours of monastic houses in Normandy where he examined the state of their infrastructure as well as their obedience to vows and rules. I knew I had to put Prioress Eleanor through this wonderfully annoying investigative review. She has won great repute, not only as a solver of crimes, but also as a successful priory business manager. This was bound to make someone jealous enough to want to damage her reputation. In addition, she always traveled with Brother Thomas. The question might be asked: was she sleeping with him? Oh, joy, I thought, she will be so miserable and have to solve murders too! There was a difference between most Orders and the Order of Fontevraud, however. Fontevraud was under the authority of Rome so no local archbishop would do this investigation. The Abbess was allowed to arrange them herself, which meant, if the few surviving records are correct, not many were done. This fact made it even more troubling when Abbess Isabeau sends her own brother, soon to be a bishop, to do the review. I also threw in that Crowner Ralf and his wife, Gytha, are expecting the imminent birth of their first child; Gracia is settling into her role as maid to the prioress; and Eleanor’s nemesis, Sub-Prioress Ruth, is suffering from gout. If anyone wants to kill in this book, it should be the latter, but I promise she doesn’t.

You have written eleven books in your series. Some authors begin to get bored with their characters. I hope you aren’t.

None of my characters, major or minor, have begun to bore me. But authors are always concerned that the characters are starting to bore readers. Long series can remain fresh. I don’t think anyone ever found Brother Cadfael boring, and Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks is as exciting today as he was 23 books ago. But I have read series books where the main character has become a talking shell. Successfully or not, I try to make sure my characters change with their experiences and as they get older. That may bother some readers, for example, who liked Prioress Eleanor as a 20 year old, falling passionately in love with Brother Thomas, but don’t like how she is learning to deal with this love. Others enjoy the evolution. But no one stays exactly the same, and, if the person is a dear friend, we love them just as much (if not more) at 60 than we did at 20. So I have chosen to replicate real life in the series and hope there are others who find the evolution just as much fun as I do.

Have you considered where you might end the series?

I am trying to come up with a contract arrangement with some attorney, specializing in afterlife rights, so I can continue these books after my death. If I am successful, I would like to take Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas into, perhaps just through, the reign of Edward II. They would be in their late 70s at that time, but monastics often lived longer than seculars and in pretty good health. But I suspect both would want to retire from murder and mayhem after that! In the meantime, I have many more ideas on what to put my two beloved sleuths through.

You often include medical issues in your books. In Forsaken Soul you have an older woman with osteoporosis. In The Killing Season, it was leprosy. Sanctity of Hate has a description of a difficult childbirth. Now you talk about gout. Is there a reason?

I love medicine. At one point in my naïve youth, I considered becoming a doctor or a medical researcher, then realized in high school that I would never pass the classes required for any of that. So now I devour books by such authors as Professor Carole Rawcliffe. It is fun debunking some of the assumptions about medieval medicine, although I do show how people suffered without the treatments available today to those who can afford care. Medieval medicine was often barbaric and they knew nothing about sterilizing or bacteria, but careful observation produced some surprising results. The accurate diagnosis rate by physicians for leprosy surprised me. There was a remedy for gout, although it was dangerous to use. Battlefield physicians learned a lot about wound treatment, and Christian doctors gained much from the Muslims during the crusades. Were it not for curious medieval men and, yes, women who bucked entrenched ignorance and rampant prohibitions to seek facts, we would not be benefiting now from our greater knowledge of illness.

What are you working on next?

This new book, Land of Shadows, takes place in early 1279 and involves a generational change. Until now, Eleanor and her eldest brother, Hugh, have been defined as the children of Baron Adam, who was a close friend and advisor to Henry III. But Edward I has been king for seven years. It is time for Hugh to take on his own hereditary responsibility, a change that will also increase Eleanor’s influence as a baron’s sister, not his child. My other sub-plot is the coin-clipping pogrom against the Jewish community. For a king called “the lawyer king” or “the English Justinian”, this episode points out the flaws of such marketing. When it came to hanging members of the Jewish community, Edward showed little interest in fair trials or the likelihood of false accusations. Needless to say, other murders happen in this story and at the worst possible time for my prioress. She is beginning to hate me…

How can readers contact you?

Should anyone have questions about my books, they can reach me through my website at www.priscillaroyal.com. It has just been redone, and I am delighted with it. I am also one of several mystery writers blogging on The Lady Killers at www.theladykillers.typepad.com.

Thank you so much, Sharon, for so generously inviting me to post on your blog. Had it not been for your beautifully written and well-researched books, I would not have been inspired to try historical fiction.

Thank you, Priscilla, for agreeing to this interview and for giving so many of us so many hours of reading pleasure.   The Book Giveaway is now officially open.    And for those who want to read Satan’s Lullaby straightaway, here is a link to Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Satans-Lullaby-Medieval-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1464203563/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423250285&sr=1-1&keywords=priscilla+royal+medieval+mysteries

February 6, 2015

Petition on behalf of Richard III

It is hard to believe that it has been two years already since it was officially confirmed that the bones discovered in that Leicester car park were indeed those of Richard III. Yorkists and those who are fascinated by history owe a great debt to those intrepid souls who forged ahead in the search for Richard’s grave, defying the odds and overcoming so many obstacles and setbacks along the way. Like many, I believe that the most credit should go to Philippa Langley, for she truly was the moving force behind this project. Philippa just e-mailed me, asking me to post this petition on my Facebook pages, and I told her I would be happy to do so. We are attempting to have Richard’s remains moved from their current laboratory location to a church or chapel until he is reburied at Leicester Cathedral. That seems like a reasonable request to me. Here is the link. You can read the petition for yourself and if you agree with us, please consider signing it. Thank you. https://www.change.org/p/leicester-ca...

He did what?????

For my fellow football fans out there, who are still puzzling over Pete Carroll’s play calling on Sunday. http://www.cnn.com/videos/sports/2015... But I think the best response came from one of our Facebook friends, Kyung posting that not giving the ball to Lynch was the worst decision since the Lionheart didn’t bother to wear his hauberk at the siege of Chalus. How’s that for an inspired blend of our passion for football and our passion for history?

Eleanor at her best

This is what I posted two years ago and am repeating now since no one is likely to remember it and that saves me a lot of typing.:-) In Ransom, we see Eleanor at her best, fighting tooth and nail to save her son.
On February 4th, 1194, Richard Lionheart was finally freed from his German captivity after paying an astronomical ransom. He’d been held for one year, six weeks, and three days. But two days earlier, he’d been double-crossed by Heinrich, who announced to the assemblage of German and English lords and prelates that he’d had a new offer from the French king and Richard’s brother John and, with an utter lack of shame, invited Richard to better it.
From A King’s Ransom, Chapter Twenty
* * *
While Richard glanced down at the letters, the Archbishop of Rouen hastily translated Heinrich’s comments for Eleanor. The letters were indeed from Philippe and John and, as Richard read what was being offered and what it could mean for him, his numbed disbelief gave way to despair and then, murderous rage.
His fist clenched around the letters and he flung them to the floor at Heinrich’s feet. But before he could speak, his mother was beside him. “Wait, Richard, wait!” She was clinging to his arm with such urgency that she actually succeeded in pulling him back from the dais. “Look around you,” she said, her voice shaking, but her eyes blazing with green fire. “Look!”
He did and saw at once what she meant. Virtually every German in the hall was staring at Heinrich as if he’d suddenly revealed himself to be the Anti-Christ. Not a word had yet been said, but their expressions of horror and disgust left no doubt as to how they felt about their emperor’s eleventh-hour surprise. “Let them speak first,” Eleanor hissed. “Let the Germans handle this.”
* * *
The Germans did handle it; led by Richard’s friend, the Archbishop-elect of Cologne, they forced Heinrich to honor the original terms for Richard’s release. But Heinrich saved face by insisting that Richard would not be freed unless he did homage to the German emperor. Richard was outraged and refused, but again his mother interceded, convincing him that he had no choice. He was then freed on February 4th, although the forced act of homage left some deep psychic scars. But he’d not have regained his freedom if not for his mother, and to his credit, he realized that. How different the history of the Angevins would have been if Henry had been able to value his queen’s intelligence and political skills as their son did. Henry did not even allow her a say in the governing of her own Aquitaine and that would cost him dearly. Richard entrusted her with his kingdom and she saved it for him.

Dog thwarts kidnapper

The news has been horrible lately, showing the worst of mother nature and the worst of mankind. So I am going to try again to post stories that give us a brief respite from the ugly reality of 2015. Here is one about a Georgia teenager who was saved from a kidnapper by her small dog, who defended her fiercely when a man tried to drag her into his truck. We are not surprised when a hero dog is a German shepherd; my Cody would have taken the guy’s leg off. But we are often surprised when small dogs show they can be heroes, too. I still remember a similar story a few years ago in the Midwest; a ten year old girl was suddenly grabbed by a man in broad daylight, and as he started to run toward his car, holding the struggling child, her tiny Jack Russell terrier came to her rescue, biting the man until he dropped the girl and she could escape. Today of all days, I think we need stories like this. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/video/dog...

A tribute to Colleen McCullough

My editor at Head of Zeus, Nic Cheetham, recently published Colleen McCullough’s novels in the e-book format. Coincidentally, His father, Anthony Cheetham, first published Colleen in 1977 and he has written a beautiful tribute that I wanted to share with you all. The literary world lost a true star. http://headofzeus.com/ You might want to linger and browse the Zeus website, as it offer some very interesting articles.