Beta Reader Group discussion
Covers, Blurbs, 1st Line, Query
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Historical novel set in medieval France, query the first.
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What is this? Use that awesome blurb in your query.
Hi Scott, I can't help myself. The standard advice I've seen for a query is to say more than a blurb. But I guess I piled it on a little thick.Still, I'd like to keep the Joan of Arc reference, especially since your zeugma ("brought hope to France . . . brought France to its knees") is too good to pass up.
Best, Tim
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Jeanne de Belleville has it all: wealth, a title, and the rarest thing among the medieval aristocracy: a happy marriage. While her husband Oliver is off fighting on behalf of the French crown, Jeanne is content to stay home, raise their four children and manage the family’s business.
Then her world comes apart. Her husband is unjustly executed for treason by the king he had loyally served, and who now comes after Jeanne’s own property. She joins a rebel army allied with France’s eternal enemy, England. Her brilliance, her charisma and the sheer force of her rage make her the leader of that army. She dispatches the courtiers and corrupt judges who sent her husband to the scaffold. But this doesn’t satisfy her. France as a nation must burn to the ground.
Declaring No More Ms. Nice Girl, Jeanne does what any demure, self-effacing medieval noblewoman would do in her poulaines: she becomes a pirate.
Her murderous rampage has caught the attention of King Edward of England, who recruits her as a privateer. He gives her three ships. Their hulls are painted black and their sails are blood-red. The ship she commands is called Vengeance.
The conflict between France and England that became known as the Hundred Years’ War was marked by two women we know as Joan. Jeanne d’Arc, who became a saint, brought hope to France. A century earlier Jeanne de Belleville, who was anything but a saint, brought France to its knees. Her exploits earned her the name The Tigress. But unlike her more famous counterpart, Jeanne de Belleville and her story have remained obscure for centuries. Until now.
THE TIGRESS is an 85,000 word historical novel, written in a realistic style. It is based on a person who actually lived and who was connected to well-known actors of 14th century France. But it has some elements of magic: a savant child, an amazing bird (hawk, not parrot), and a bevy of 1000-year-old Druid priestesses. THE TIGRESS is a meld of history and adventure, with a bit of fantasy thrown in to give it some lift.