Christy English's Blog, page 63

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

BY FIRE, BY WATER has been sitting in my TBR pile for over two months now. Finally, I have picked it up and am ready to begin. A story of the Inquisition, this novel is going to take me to southern Spain, one of the many places I have always wanted to travel. No doubt [...]

Technology and the Modern Writer

Does anyone else have this problem? You get up early, ready to work on the latest project, but before you start, you think, "Oh, I'll just check my email." Two hours later you look up and realize that you are no longer setting out to work on your novel/short story/poem early at all.
God knows, I [...]

Quote from The Book of Air and Shadows

I have happily discovered Michael Gruber, the author of The Book of Air and Shadows, as well as other thrillers looking back into the past…In his bestseller, Mr. Gruber writes, "…there are three kinds of history. The first is what really happened, and that is forever lost. The second is what most people thought happened, and [...:]

The Cave: A Place to Write

I think writers need not just physical space in which to work…a desk, a chair, a table, a computer, hopefully a quiet room…we also need space in our own minds to clear the path for our stories to come to us. How we clear room in our lives for that space is different for everyone. [...:]

Out of the Darkness

As much as I love quotes from Eleanor, like Monday's blog, today I find myself delving into a new world brought by characters I do not know very well yet. It is fascinating, because when I started working with Eleanor, she had been a character in my novels for years. So I already knew a [...:]

Eleanor Quote: God & Death

Eleanor is a very quotable woman. In TO BE QUEEN, when reassuring her sister that she is well, she says:
"I am too strong for even God to kill."

When New Characters Come Knocking

I wonder how other writers feel when they are deep into a project, fully commited as I am to Eleanor, and as they work, a new set of characters show up like refugees from a burning building who want to tell their story. A new idea has arrived, and I am listening, making notes and thinking through [...:]

The Queen's Pawn at WHQR: Prologue

 
Can you tell I'm dramatic from my look in the opening shot? Wilmington, NC's public radio station, WHQR and Ben Steelman of The Star News were kind enough to invite me to participate in their monthly book club, Prologue. Ben and I talked at length last night and took questions from the folks who were [...:]

Book Clubs and The Queen's Pawn

I had a great time this morning talking about Eleanor and Alais with a lovely book club in Wilmington, NC. Thank you Lynette, Phyllis and all the other ladies for hosting me and for asking such interesting questions about The Queen's Pawn. Alais and Eleanor live on again whenever we remember them…thank you for remembering [...:]

The Cloisters: Where I Outlined The Queen's Pawn

I love this place…I have more than a few videos on my blog of The Cloisters in New York. I just can't get enough…