Christy English's Blog, page 57
March 11, 2011
Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas?
I know that as a writer, I have heard this question asked since I was small. "How on Earth did you come up with that?" It's a popular question at writers' conferences and luncheons. Since I have entered the ranks of published authors, I often get this question myself. And it is a tough one [...]
March 9, 2011
Eleanor and William: Never Give Up
The Flag of Aquitaine Though he had many enemies in the Church, after abasing himself to Bernard de Clairvaux, William X, Duke of Aquitaine did not stay humbly in the background but worked with factions in Rome to help his ally become Pope. That bid for papal power failed, and a man from an enemy faction won the battle [...]
March 7, 2011
Mary Renault and THE PRAISE SINGER
My favorite author of all time never wrote a word about Eleanor. She wrote of ancient Greece, and the way men lived there, the magic of a time that never would have lived for me had she not written of it. I am revisiting Mary Renault's THE PRAISE SINGER now, and I find myself as [...]
March 4, 2011
Beautiful Website: Labyrinths
I was fortunate enough to discover this beautiful site, full of images and information about labyrinths around the world…here is a link to some of its lovely photographs. I can't make my way to Europe at the moment, so this website is a lovely way to reflect from a distance on one of my [...]
March 2, 2011
To Be Read Pile
I am delighted whenever I look at my To Be Read pile. I feel a little like a dragon sitting on a moutain of gold. The next book I will be reading is Ella March Chase's novel about the Grey sisters called THREE MAIDS FOR A CROWN. This one does not officially come out until August 2, [...]
February 28, 2011
Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
I am halfway through the novel MADAME TUSSAUD and I find myself completely gripped by it. Though Michelle Moran brings the horrors of the French Revolution to life, she also has given life to the courageous woman Marie Grosholtz, aka Madame Tussaud. I know from history that Marie survives the Revolution, but I am drawn [...]
February 25, 2011
Princess Alais of France
Most of this blog is devoted to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and for good reason. She is an amazing woman. But someone I have rarely written about makes up the other half of my novel, THE QUEEN'S PAWN: Princess Alais of France. We actually know very little about Alais, not even what her real name was. She is [...]
February 23, 2011
Fiction Addiction
Fiction Addiction…is that a great name for a bookstore or what? I am fortunate enough to have been invited to speak at a luncheon for this lovely store in Greenville, SC in April. I have never been to Greenville before so I am really looking forward to this trip. I am a huge fan of [...]
February 21, 2011
Eleanor and Her Husband Kings
At two very different times in her life, Eleanor of Aquitaine married two very different men. Her first husband, Louis VII of France, had become heir to the French throne only after his older brother fell from a horse and was killed. Louis was brought out of the cathedral school at Notre Dame de St. [...]
February 18, 2011
The Joy of a Full Mailbox
My TBR pile just keeps growing as more wonderful books find their way into my mailbox. I am deep in the throes of reading REBEL PURITAN, the first in the series about Herodias Long and her life in the New World. And yesterday, Michelle Moran's MADAME TUSSAUD arrived along with C.W. Gortner's THE TUDOR SECRET [...]
