Sophie Perinot's Blog
October 25, 2018
Cunning, Cruelty and Things that Go Bump in the Night ;)
So, I've gotten into making book videos. And I wanted to share my 2018 Halloween Edition trailer for MEDICIS DAUGHTER . . . It's premise is simple: if you are looking for a dark read this wicked time of year, Médicis Daughter has cunning, cruelty, bloodshed, betrayal & plenty of things that go bump in the night.
Check out the trailer and let me know what you think!
Halloween Trailer
Check out the trailer and let me know what you think!
Halloween Trailer
January 1, 2016
Been Waiting to Use Your Holiday Amazon Gift Cards?
Been waiting to use that Amazon gift card? There is a temporary price drop on Medicis Daughter hardback to below $18. I do NOT know how long it will last . . .
http://www.amazon.com/M%C3%A9dicis-Da...
http://www.amazon.com/M%C3%A9dicis-Da...
December 24, 2014
HOLIDAY SALE!!!
I am delighted to share that my latest--the collaborative novel in six parts A DAY OF FIRE about the final days and moments of a doomed Pompeii--is on Kindle special right now for only $ 0.99! http://www.amazon.com/A-Day-Fire-nove...
If you are fan of Roman-era historical fiction or any one of my terrific collaborators (Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, Eliza Knight, Kate Quinn and Vicky Alvear Shecter) then this is a holiday treat you owe yourself. It would also make a great last-minute gift for a reader on your holiday list.
If you are fan of Roman-era historical fiction or any one of my terrific collaborators (Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, Eliza Knight, Kate Quinn and Vicky Alvear Shecter) then this is a holiday treat you owe yourself. It would also make a great last-minute gift for a reader on your holiday list.
February 3, 2014
Inside the Writers Studio
Very pleased to be the guest of the fantastic fellow writer Donna Russo Morin as part of her "Inside the Writers' Study" Series. Based on "Inside the Actor's Studio," Donna's feature seeks short (one word or one sentence) answers to some unusual questions designed to over insights into creative minds. Pop over and discover my favorite curse word. Then browse backwards and learn more about a number of fascinating writers of historical fiction. http://donnarussomorin.blogspot.com/2...
August 14, 2013
For Those with THE SISTER QUEENS on Their "To Read" List
Hi All -- Just an FYI for those who've got THE SISTER QUEENS on their virtual TBR pile but haven't picked up a copy yet. As of this morning the Kindle version is deal priced at $3.99. Not sure how long this will last.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sister-Quee...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sister-Quee...
July 3, 2012
Win THE SISTER QUEENS
I have an international giveaway for The Sister Queens going on at my blog right now, in celebration of the 4-month anniversary of its publication and all the wonderful critical attention it has received during that time. Come on over and enter :) http://www.sophieperinot.com/blog/201...
May 15, 2012
A Ten-Week Thank You :)
It’s the 10 week anniversary of the launch of my novel. WHERE did that time go? So many happy memories of the early weeks, mostly (and perhaps not surprisingly) involving good friends and food. Look at me. . .getting all nostalgic ;) A VERY HEARTY THANK YOU to all the Goodreads members who have added The Sister Queens to your “to read shelf” and to those who have finished and rated it.
May 2, 2012
Why I Want Books For Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is a “brunch holiday.” I detest brunch. There is something so very non-committal about it. Besides, all the best food (not to mention the alcohol to go with it) comes out after dark. In the early years of being a mother I devoted considerable time and energy in the month of April to oh-so-subtly delivering my anti-brunch message (my husband comes from a Mother’s-Day-Brunch family). By the time we had two toddlers I’d given up on subtle and had “Sophie hates brunch” tattooed on hubby’s arm. Let’s face it there is NOTHING relaxing or celebratory about trying to consume a meal in a nice restaurant with two toddlers. And, crazy as it may seem, I’ve always been under the impression that a gift is supposed to delight and relax its recipient.
Motherhood is not, generally speaking, a relaxing occupation. Everything is prone to interruption. Everything. If you are a mother and you’ve been drawn, shampoo-still-in-hair, from the shower by disturbing sounds from elsewhere in your house—sounds suggesting that either furniture or children are being broken—then you know precisely what I mean. The TRULY perfect Mother’s Day gift would be an exotic getaway. A weekend on a beach in Bali. Shopping in Paris. A day at the spa. Heck, I drive past a Dominican retreat on my appointed motherly rounds, and lately I’ve been thinking a day with the nuns would do wonders for me. Please note, I am not even Catholic.
The truth is, for many of us, an actually physical getaway is pipe dream. There are kids to be delivered to and from a myriad of activities (anyone who’s had a “oh my god I forgot to pick up [insert child’s name here]” moment, raise your hand), homework to help with, etc. And can you just imagine the size of the laundry pile that would await a mother’s return should she actually manage to slip away to Bali?
But being a mom is a joy and an avocation. It’s taught me a lot of things including how to live in the moment. After two decades of motherhood I know that I need to both treasure and expect my “me time” in small increments. You have perhaps heard of the twenty-minute power nap? Well, I have become the master of the eleven-minute sitting-in-the-car-getaway. And that leads me to books.
Books offer the perfect, portable, getaway. I may look like I am in the carpool line, waiting for the man with the whistle to call a hundred car engines to life, but I am not. I am in ancient Rome thanks to Kate Quinn’s Empress of the Seven Hills. I am in regency England watching a confirmed bachelor-dandy fall head-over-heels thanks to Miranda Neville. I am spending an afternoon with Catherine de Medici thanks to biographer R. J. Knecht. I am attending festivities at the Valois court with Philippe Erlanger. I am discovering a set of sisters from Provence in a secondary research source on Notre Dame de Paris—sisters who will lead me on an adventure ultimately resulting in the publication of my debut novel, The Sister Queens .
The cost of these getaways is negligible (certainly not in the league of airline tickets to Bali). For the cost of a brunch I’d hate for the five of us, my family can get me a whole armload of books I’ll love and that will fit into my schedule. Yes, I may get snappish when I am forced to put down a novel at a climatic moment to help find a uniform skirt gone missing, or “check” on someone who has already been in bed for an hour but is still not asleep (you know who you are, son). But it’s a lot easier to settle back down on the couch and slip back into the French Revolution with Michelle Moran’s Madame Tussaud than it is to sop up all the water and suds from interrupted tub-time. When I travel by novel I can get back home from Paris for tuck-in time. Try doing that by airplane (especially in a TSA infested air-travel world).
So, husband dearest, books please. Mother’s Day is still more than a week away. Don’t make me tattoo this on your. . . oh, never mind.
Motherhood is not, generally speaking, a relaxing occupation. Everything is prone to interruption. Everything. If you are a mother and you’ve been drawn, shampoo-still-in-hair, from the shower by disturbing sounds from elsewhere in your house—sounds suggesting that either furniture or children are being broken—then you know precisely what I mean. The TRULY perfect Mother’s Day gift would be an exotic getaway. A weekend on a beach in Bali. Shopping in Paris. A day at the spa. Heck, I drive past a Dominican retreat on my appointed motherly rounds, and lately I’ve been thinking a day with the nuns would do wonders for me. Please note, I am not even Catholic.
The truth is, for many of us, an actually physical getaway is pipe dream. There are kids to be delivered to and from a myriad of activities (anyone who’s had a “oh my god I forgot to pick up [insert child’s name here]” moment, raise your hand), homework to help with, etc. And can you just imagine the size of the laundry pile that would await a mother’s return should she actually manage to slip away to Bali?
But being a mom is a joy and an avocation. It’s taught me a lot of things including how to live in the moment. After two decades of motherhood I know that I need to both treasure and expect my “me time” in small increments. You have perhaps heard of the twenty-minute power nap? Well, I have become the master of the eleven-minute sitting-in-the-car-getaway. And that leads me to books.
Books offer the perfect, portable, getaway. I may look like I am in the carpool line, waiting for the man with the whistle to call a hundred car engines to life, but I am not. I am in ancient Rome thanks to Kate Quinn’s Empress of the Seven Hills. I am in regency England watching a confirmed bachelor-dandy fall head-over-heels thanks to Miranda Neville. I am spending an afternoon with Catherine de Medici thanks to biographer R. J. Knecht. I am attending festivities at the Valois court with Philippe Erlanger. I am discovering a set of sisters from Provence in a secondary research source on Notre Dame de Paris—sisters who will lead me on an adventure ultimately resulting in the publication of my debut novel, The Sister Queens .
The cost of these getaways is negligible (certainly not in the league of airline tickets to Bali). For the cost of a brunch I’d hate for the five of us, my family can get me a whole armload of books I’ll love and that will fit into my schedule. Yes, I may get snappish when I am forced to put down a novel at a climatic moment to help find a uniform skirt gone missing, or “check” on someone who has already been in bed for an hour but is still not asleep (you know who you are, son). But it’s a lot easier to settle back down on the couch and slip back into the French Revolution with Michelle Moran’s Madame Tussaud than it is to sop up all the water and suds from interrupted tub-time. When I travel by novel I can get back home from Paris for tuck-in time. Try doing that by airplane (especially in a TSA infested air-travel world).
So, husband dearest, books please. Mother’s Day is still more than a week away. Don’t make me tattoo this on your. . . oh, never mind.
April 21, 2012
Calling all Washington, DC Area Historical Fiction Fans!
(dateline April 21, 2012)
Today’s the day :) Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray and I together for “Sex, Lies and History: A Literary Threesome.” Let me tell you, when we hangout together, it’s a wild time.
So, if you are in the metro DC area and looking for something to do this afternoon swing over to the Barnes & Noble in Reston VA (Spectrum Center, 1851 Fountain Drive, Reston, VA 20190) and join the fun. Ask a crazy question (or two) about our writing process or the fantastic historical women we feature in our novels.
Today’s the day :) Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray and I together for “Sex, Lies and History: A Literary Threesome.” Let me tell you, when we hangout together, it’s a wild time.
So, if you are in the metro DC area and looking for something to do this afternoon swing over to the Barnes & Noble in Reston VA (Spectrum Center, 1851 Fountain Drive, Reston, VA 20190) and join the fun. Ask a crazy question (or two) about our writing process or the fantastic historical women we feature in our novels.
April 11, 2012
The Sister Queens Spend a Day in the Renaissance
Today's review of The Sister Queens comes from a fellow historical writer, Julianne Douglas of Writing the Renaissance. My favorite quote:
They do indeed!
I am flattered that Julianne, a professor of literature, calls the novel:
I hope you will venture over to Writing the Renaissance today and read the rest of her review. Then stop by again tomorrow when I answer a series of questions generated by Julianne’s reading of the book.
"Congratulations to the author for finding a little-explored moment in history and bringing it to life for modern readers with verve, demonstrating how the bonds of sisterhood transcend not only distance, but time.”
They do indeed!
I am flattered that Julianne, a professor of literature, calls the novel:
"an admirable debut, well-written and richly imagined, peopled with unique characters and simmering with conflict. Despite its length, the story never bogs down with unnecessary detail; the politics of thirteenth-century France and England are sketched with just enough detail to support the dramatic action. The focus remains on the sisters’ relationship throughout, assuring thematic as well as structural cohesion.”
I hope you will venture over to Writing the Renaissance today and read the rest of her review. Then stop by again tomorrow when I answer a series of questions generated by Julianne’s reading of the book.
