It's Just Historical

Margaret and I have books coming out within days of each other and are having a joint Zoom launch party! On September 21, at 7pm Eastern. Please join us (you have to register first). Our books both take place in the Middle Ages. The Red Fletch is Margaret's inventive and compelling retelling of the Robin Hood legend, with a feisty heroine who is an expert archer. We had a fun conversation about research and characters and witchcraft and Tarot!

You'll find Margaret's book here, and mine here!

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Author and Smith College professor of literature Naomi Miller and I geek out about historical research, women authors of the past, and the magic of writing historical fiction! You can get her lovely book here.

I had a great conversation with my friend and superb author, Mitchell James Kaplan, about his bookRhapsody, which explores the relationship of musician and songwriter Kay Swift with George Gershwin. Mitchell has some fascinating insights about music, especially the nature and genesis of American music, and the story of what inspired him to write this book is especially moving! Check him out at https://www.mitchelljameskaplan.com.

Such a fascinating discussion with Margaret about her lovely book,Finding Napoleon, published by She Writes Press earlier this month! It's about Napoleon's time during his final exile on the remote island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic—and the romance novel he partially wrote when he was a young soldier. That's the thing about historical fiction—you read beautiful stories, and you learn stuff!

I was delighted to talk to Mary about her gorgeous book,Revelations, a biographical historical novel about the 15th century English mystic, Margery Kempe. I was captivated from page 1—following Margery's brushes with religious persecution and her adventures on pilgrimage. It's out on April 27th!

And Mary has lots of events coming up. See the all at her website: https://marysharratt.com/main/upcoming-events/

For all those who read and loved the first two books in the Emma of Normandy Trilogy—Shadow on the Crown and The Price of Blood by Patricia Bracewell, go and snap up the third volume, The Steel Beneath the Silk—available at last! And of course, listen to my conversation with Patricia about how she discovered Emma, what inspired her to write her trilogy, and her long and frustrating journey to getting this final volume published.

I had a great chat with Erika Robuck about her fabulous new book. We talked a little while ago, but I've been having computer issues (waiting for my laptop to come back from having a new battery installed, grrrr) so I just finally got to edit this conversation today.

I can only say that Virginia Hall was a wonderful subject for a historical novel, and you'll be on the edge of your seat as you read it!

I had a really wonderful chat with two of my favorite historical novelists! Anne Easter Smith, most recently author of This Son of York, along with five other books that take place in England during the Wars of the Roses; and Patricia Bracewell, author of the Emma of Normandy trilogy about Anglo Saxon Britain. The third volume, The Steel Beneath the Silk is out March 2! Both are published by Bellastoria Press.

So here's the thing: We all agree that Hilary Mantel is a remarkable writer, but one of us didn't love The Mirror and the Light, the final book in the trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. The first two books were Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, which have been made into wonderful TV series starring Mark Rylance as Cromwell. Want to find out who thinks what? Listen!

A truly eye-opening interview with this smart, generous author! Lauren is a joy to talk to, and a writer whose work should be on everyone's historical novel reading list. You can purchase Band of Sisters here, or anywhere you prefer to shop for books.

The other book I mentioned, The Trouble with Women, is by Jacky Fleming.

Hello historical fiction fans! In this episode, I make a few feeble attempts to explain why I haven't published a podcast since December 17, and I talk about the four interviews I have coming up!

I promised I'd include links to order their books, so here they are:

Lauren Willig,Band of Sisters
Mary Sharratt,Revelations
Erika Shepard Robuck,The Invisible Woman
Patricia Bracewell,The Steel Beneath the Silk