Candace Robb's Blog, page 6
January 1, 2020
A Year in Reading, 2019
December 19, 2019
Happy Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, & New Year, dear readers!
July 9, 2019
York as Inspiration
June 3, 2019
Kirkus Review for A Conspiracy of Wolves
April 30, 2019
In the beginning, Lucie & Bess
April 25, 2019
Moving!
I’ve been working hard on a new website that includes this blog. And just in time for the return of Owen Archer & Co (30 April is around the corner), my new website is live! Come check it out!
[image error]If you are a follower of this blog, you’ll want to click follow on the new site. Still powered by WordPress, so it’s easy to do. You’ll find all the old posts there, and from now on in that’s where you’ll find fresh material.
I must say I’m pretty proud of myself. And many thanks as ever to my intrepid spouse, who is the guru of figuring out how to size photos to fit the theme template.
[image error]And remember, preorders are wonderful ways to support your favorite authors–and your favorite series!
https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-poetry/a-conspiracy-of-wolves,candace-robb-9781780291154
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-conspiracy-of-wolves/candace-robb/9781780291154
March 23, 2019
A Conspiracy of Wolves the Editor’s Pick for April! (August in the US)
I am so excited that my new publisher, Severn House, has chosen A Conspiracy of Wolves, the 11th Owen Archer, as their Editor’s Pick for April in the UK! They have some wonderful things to say about it, too.
[image error]“With A CONSPIRACY OF WOLVES, Severn House is delighted to welcome to the list the highly-acclaimed historical mystery writer Candace Robb who, after a 10-year gap, has chosen to return to the bestselling medieval mystery series that made her name….
“Wonderfully atmospheric and impeccably researched, A CONSPIRACY OF WOLVES reintroduces readers to Robb’s eclectic cast of much-loved characters, including the enigmatic healer Magda, the fastidious Brother Michaelo, and not least the upright, fairminded Owen Archer himself, as he doggedly pursues the truth behind the shocking deaths of Bartolf and Hoban Swann. Real historical figures mingle seamlessly with fictitious: I particularly liked Robb’s portrayal of the garrulous, gossipy Geoffrey Chaucer, who makes for a brilliantly contrasting sidekick to the more sober, taciturn Owen.”
You can read the entire blog post here!
And just in case you haven’t check out my appearances/events page, here’s where you can find me in the UK in May!
UK events in May–I look forward to seeing you!
16 May, Thursday, 6:30-8:00 pm, I’ll be at the Leeds Library, Commercial St., Leeds, in conversation with Chris Nickson and Sara Porter (editor, Severn House)
18 May, Saturday, 2:00-3:00 pm, I’ll be giving a talk at Pontefract Castle: Kings, Wolves, & Coroners (£3–tickets here) More details here. I look forward to seeing you!
21 May, Tuesday, 6:00-8:00 pm, I’ll be in York! De Grey Lecture Theatre, York St. John University, in conversation with Chris Nickson and Kate Lyall Grant (publisher, Severn House)
Of course I’ll also rush around York signing all copies of my books everywhere. So stock up!
First signing date for the US is:
17 August 2019, Saturday, noon-1:00pm Come chat with me while I sign copies of A Conspiracy of Wolves (and many other books!) at the wonderful Edmonds Bookshop
(111 Fifth Ave South Edmonds, WA 98020) Make a day of it and explore this beautiful town on the Sound!
March 13, 2019
Danièle Cybulskie Interviews Me for the Medievalist Podcast!
A week ago Danièle Cybulskie and I chatted about creating the worlds of my medieval novels. Here’s a link! She’s an Owen Archer fan, so we talk about how it [image error]all began with The Apothecary Rose and go on from there, eventually bringing in Kate Clifford and how those books differ [image error]from the Owen Archers.
Sorry about how my voice cuts out–my mistake. Never, ever forget the earbuds and mike, folks. Nuff said. But Danièle (aka 5 Minute Medievalist) is a pro and we covered a lot of ground.
If the Medievalist podcast is new to you, be sure to listen to all the other installments. You will learn so much! It’s one of my favorite podcasts. And explore their website.
Now I’m diving back into Owen Archer #12, a scene with Lucie and Magda. Two of my favorite companions.
PS. Early in the podcast I make a subtle mistake in a name. Did you catch it?
March 1, 2019
Edmonds Bookshop Signing 2 March noon-1:00 pm! Plus…
I’m delighted to be signing copies of the Kate Clifford series, (first face to face booksigning for A[image error] Murdered Peace!), at the Edmonds Bookshop in Edmonds, WA, on Saturday, 2 March, from noon till 1:00 pm. It will be SUNNY! Edmonds is on Puget Soundm and tomorrow the view will be spectacular across the Sound to the Olympics. Sparkle on the water! But first, come chat with me.
Attending events such as this show your support for local authors and keep independent bookshops in business. Watch for them and make an event out of your attendance–you’ll make authors and bookshop owners so happy.
[image error]My inspiration for this blog post was a Twitter thread by Joanne Harris, an author I admire (and enjoy). She regularly invites requests for 10 post threads, many of them writing tips. This particular one was #TenWaysToSupportWriters. It wasn’t just about the increasing importance of following your favorite authors on amazon and goodreads (those algorithms) and writing short reviews on amazon and goodreads (again, algorithms) and pre-ordering their books (at all on-line bookshops). (HINT! A Conspiracy of Wolves is available for preorder now!) It was also about authors supporting each other. My favorites from Joanne Harris’s list:
1. Writers need support at all levels, whether they’re just starting out or whether they’re well-established veterans. We often feel isolated in our work. We can – and should – try to help each other.
2. If you’re an established, successful author, try to pass on some of your experience. You can do it at any level – on social media, or by mentoring an upcoming writer who needs help. If anyone helped you on the way up, try to pass it on someday.
3. On the other hand, think hard before making requests of a fellow-writer, especially if you don’t know them in real life. And never ask a writer to do something (editing, manuscript assessment, etc) that any other professional would charge for.
4. Like their book? Post a review. So much of marketing relies on algorithms nowadays, and reviews often mean greater visibility.
5. You may not be able to buy every one of their books. But you can order them from the library, which means another sale for your author friend.
6. If you do buy a book, try to either pre-order, or buy during the first week of the book’s release. Pre-orders do a lot to ensure that publishers continue with a series. And the first week is especially important for placement in the book charts.
8. Support under-represented groups of writers. If you have a platform, by all means use it to help; but most of all try to listen, and to amplify their voices.
10. Understand that supporting other writers does not diminish your success. Quite the opposite: any support that you can give that makes the community of writers stronger, also benefits you.
Hm… I eliminated only two, and only because I’m still pondering them. What do you think of these?
Do follow Joanne on Twitter–she’s so inspiring. Oh, that’s another one–follow your favorite writers on twitter and facebook! HINT! (Instagram as well, I’m sure, though I haven’t added that to my time killers.)
See you tomorrow in Edmonds!
February 14, 2019
Joan of Leeds, or The Nun’s Tale
As the publication of A Conspiracy of Wolves (Owen Archer 11) approaches I have[image error] been meandering down memory lane, exploring the arc of what I think of as the first series, visiting characters confined to one or two books. One such character is Dame Joanna of Leeds, the mysterious woman at the center of my third Owen Archer mystery, The Nun’s Tale, whom I based on a woman I’d encountered in a monograph about Clementhorpe Nunnery in York. Though she was largely my creation, she challenged me–slippery, possibly mad, yet oddly compelling, she haunted me all the while I worked on the book. I still think of her whenever I see Antonello da [image error]Messina’s The Virgin Annunciate, which I stared at as I wrote. Those of you who have read the book will recognize the blue mantle, and remember its significance. I am so glad that my editor at St. Martin’s Press agreed to use it for the cover of the first US edition.
You can imagine my surprise when this past Monday I peeked at The Guardian online and discovered an article about “my” Joanna of Leeds!
As I wrote in the Author’s Note of The Nun’s Tale:
“Whence came Joanna? In The History of Clementhorpe Nunnery (R.B. Dobson & Sara Donaghey, York Archaeological Trust 1984, p. 15) is the following item:
“ ‘In 1318 there is mention of [an] apostate, Joanna of Leeds. Archbishop Melton ordered the dean of Beverley to return the nun to her convent… Apparently Joanna had defected from her religious order and left the nunnery. However, in order to make her defection credible, she had fabricated her death at Beverley and, with the aid of accomplices, even staged her own funeral there. The archbishop was prepared to take a lenient view of these excesses. He directed the dean of Beverley to warn Joanna of the nature of her sins and, if she recanted them within eight days, to allow her to return to Clementhorpe to undergo a penance. Melton further urged the dean to undertake a thorough investigation of the case, and to discover the names of Joanna’s accomplices so that he might then take suitable action.’
[image error]“The story intrigued me. Was Joanna discovered, betrayed, or did she request to return to St. Clement’s Nunnery? If it was her choice, why make such an about face? She had gone to great lengths to escape and make it permanent.
“I moved the incident to 1365-66, putting it in Archbishop Thoresby’s time, which provided me with a serendipitous relationship—Thoresby’s nephew, Richard de Ravenser, was a canon of Beverley at this time, as was William of Wykeham. Nicholas de Louth is also a real person. Because I moved Joanna’s story in time, none of the participants in the book had anything to do with the real story of Joanna of Leeds.”
Imagine my excitement when I read the article—more information!
“A marginal note written in Latin and buried deep within one of the 16 heavy registers used by to record the business of the archbishops of York between 1304 and 1405 first alerted archivists to the adventures of the runaway nun. ‘To warn Joan of Leeds, lately nun of the house of St Clement by York, that she should return to her house,’ runs the note written by archbishop William Melton and dated to 1318.
“Melton, writing to inform the Dean of Beverley about the ‘scandalous rumour’ he[image error] had heard about the arrival of the Benedictine nun Joan, claimed that Joan had ‘impudently cast aside the propriety of religion and the modesty of her sex’, and ‘out of a malicious mind simulating a bodily illness, she pretended to be dead, not dreading for the health of her soul, and with the help of numerous of her accomplices, evildoers, with malice aforethought, crafted a dummy in the likeness of her body in order to mislead the devoted faithful and she had no shame in procuring its burial in a sacred space amongst the religious of that place’.
“After faking her own death, he continued, ‘and, in a cunning, nefarious manner … having turned her back on decency and the good of religion, seduced by indecency, she involved herself irreverently and perverted her path of life arrogantly to the way of carnal lust and away from poverty and obedience, and, having broken her vows and discarded the religious habit, she now wanders at large to the notorious peril to her soul and to the scandal of all of her order.’”
Even better, the article announces that more material from the registers of the archbishops of York is to be translated and published! I can’t wait!
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