Q and A with Michelle Moran

Be sure to check in periodically and read the comment trail on the previous post, where Michelle Moran is answering questions posed by our contest entrants. You'll learn many interesting things about Michelle's books and research.

And please don't feel as though you need enter the drawing in order to ask a question--I'm sure Michelle wouldn't mind fielding questions from anyone, even (especially?) if you've already read her books!

Thanks, Michelle, for checking in so often.

New Releases from Michelle Moran (GIVEAWAYS!)

To celebrate today's paperback release of bestselling historical fiction author Michelle Moran's second Egyptian novel, THE HERETIC QUEEN, Michelle has written a guest post to share with you. In it, she reveals how she became entranced by the daughter of Cleopatra--the subject of her third book, on sale September 15.

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Why Cleopatra’s daughter? by Michelle Moran

It began with a dive. Not the kind of dive that people take into swimming pools, but the kind where you squeeze yourself into a wetsuit and wonder just how tasty your rump must appear to passing sharks now that it looks exactly like an elephant seal. My husband and I had taken a trip to Egypt, and at the suggestion of a friend, we decided to go to Alexandria and do a dive to see the remains of Cleopatra’s underwater city. Let it be known that I had never done an underwater dive before, so after four days with an instructor (and countless questions like, Will there be sharks? How about jellyfish? If there is an earthquake, what happens underwater?) we were ready for the real thing.

We drove to the Eastern Harbor in Alexandria. Dozens of other divers were already there, waiting to see what sort of magic lay beneath the waves. I wondered if the real thing could possibly live up to all of the guides and brochures selling this underwater city, lost for thousands of years until now. Then we did the dive, and it was every bit as magical as everyone had promised. You can see the rocks which once formed Marc Antony’s summer palace, come face to face with Cleopatra’s towering sphinx, and take your time floating above ten thousand ancient artifacts, including obelisks, statues, and countless amphorae. By the time we had surfaced, I was Cleopatra-obsessed. I wanted to know what had happened to her city once she and Marc Antony had committed suicide. Where did all of its people go? Were they allowed to remain or were they killed by the Romans? What about her four children?

It was this last question which surprised me the most. I had always believed that all of Cleopatra’s children had been murdered. But the Roman conqueror Octavian had actually spared the three she bore to Marc Antony: her six-year-old son, Ptolemy, and her ten-year-old twins, Alexander and Selene. As soon as I learned that Octavian had taken the three of them for his Triumph in Rome, I knew at once I had my next book. This is how all of my novels seem to begin – with a journey, then an adventure, and finally, enormous amounts of research for what I hope is an exciting story.

CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER: a novel

The death of Cleopatra was only the beginning...

Visit CleopatrasDaughter.com
Check out Michelle's blog at michellemoran.blogspot.com

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Like its best-selling predecessors NEFERTITI and THE HERETIC QUEEN, CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER is bound to be an enthralling read. The Library Journal, in a starred review, proclaimed: "Dramatic, engrossing, and beautifully written, this is essential reading, and Moran is definitely an author to watch."

Michelle has generously offered to provide books to two lucky winners: the first winner will receive a signed copy of the paperback edition of THE HERETIC QUEEN, the second a signed copy of the hardback release of CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER.

To enter the contest, leave a question for Michelle in the comments section. You could ask about any of her books, her extensive travels, her writing habits, or her insights on historical fiction or publishing in general. Only those entries that contain a question will be considered for the drawing. Please include with your question an indication of which of the two books you would like to receive. Entries must be posted by 11 pm PST on Sunday, September 13. The winner of each book will be chosen at random and names posted on Monday morning, September 14.

In the meantime, Michelle, who loves to interact with her readers, will stop by each day to answer your questions. (Please note: Michelle's responses and the drawing for the books are completely independent events.) It's an opportunity for Michelle to address what's on your mind and for you to pose those questions you've been dying to ask.

Many thanks to Michelle for her presence here and best wishes for a successful launch!

Starred review for SUNFLOWERS

Just want to point out that my friend Sheramy Bundrick's novel about Vincent Van Gogh, SUNFLOWERS (Avon A, October 2009), received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly! Sheramy gave me an ARC of the book and I was completely drawn into this story of Vincent's years in Provence, told from the viewpoint of Rachel, the prostitute to whom he presented his ear. I'll post a review and hopefully an interview with Sheramy closer to the release date. In the meantime, mark your calendars for October 13.

Way to go, Sheramy! Félicitations!

A Novel Enterprise

Although I write novels set in sixteenth century France, the novel, as a genre, was unknown during this period. The Middle Ages had witnessed the flowering of narrative poetry--epics like the Chanson de Roland or Les quatre fils Aymon, romances like Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain ou le Chevalier au lion--and the development of the historical chronicle, such as those of Froissart, but the form of the novel--a long fictional work of prose depicting characters, settings, and events imagined by the author--would not develop until the seventeenth century.

Of course, people have always told stories, especially in pre-literate times when individuals would gather and tell tales to entertain themselves. During the Renaissance, humanist scholars began to transcribe such tales, often setting them in a mimetic framework. A prime example, which served as the model for countless other works, is Boccaccio's Decameron, composed in the early 1350's in the Italian vernacular. The frame story of the Decameron depicts ten young people taking refuge in the Italian countryside from the plague; each day, for ten days, the characters each recount a tale to while away the hours. The first example of such a structure in French is Les Cent nouvelles nouvelles, or "One Hundred New Tales" compiled by Antoine de la Sale around 1456 at the court of Philippe le Bon. Numerous noblemen contributed tales to the collection, although many are borrowed directly from Boccaccio and other Italian conteurs. These often bawdy tales give tantalizing glimpses into the lives of fifteenth-century noble and middle classes.

While the Cent nouvelles nouvelles lacks a frame story, the importance of the mimetic context grew during the sixteenth century. At mid-century, Noël du Fail, a rural aristocrat from Brittany, penned three collections of tales, Les Propos rustiques (1547), Les Baliverneries d'Eutrapel (1548) and the Contes et propos d'Eutrapel (1585). In these works, the frame story depicts in realistic detail the social milieu of the rural peasantry as well as that of the upper classes. Du Fail focuses on the linguistic habits of each group; his tales have been called "dialogue tales" because they strive to recreate the speech patterns of each social group in a conversational way. In their expanding situational context and attention to realistic detail, Du Fail's tales prefigure the larger narrative and pyschological scope of the novel.

Of course, the most well-known of the French tale collections is that of Marguerite de Navarre, L'Heptaméron, published posthumously in 1558, although it had circulated in manuscript form for years. In this collection of seventy-two tales, the interplay between the tales and the tellers is critical. Following Boccaccio's lead, Marguerite strands a group of travelers in an abbey during a torrential storm; each day, the members of the group tell tales to pass the time until the bridge is rebuilt. However, in Marguerite's collection, the characters' commentary on the tales and the relationships that blossom during the conversations that link the tales together became just as, if not more, important than the tales themselves. Marguerite develops a distinct personality for each of her tellers and manipulates their interaction with great psychological insight. Her attention to the psychology of the characters heralds the birth of the novel, which is traditionally attributed, in the French tradition, to Madame de Lafayette's La Princesse de Clèves (1678), a novel set, ironically, in the sixteenth century at the end of the reign of Henri II.

I love the fact that the first French novel is an historical one.

And the Winners Are...

Robinbird and Stuart MacAllister! Each of you has won a copy of Philippa Gregory's new novel, THE WHITE QUEEN, courtesy of Touchstone Books. Please send an email to juliannedouglas05 [at] sbcglobal [dot] net with your mailing information. Many thanks to all who entered and to all the new followers of the blog. I hope you'll return often and join in our discussions.

For those who didn't win, Ms. Gregory's book releases today and will be easy to find in most bookstores. I have a copy that I plan to review in September, so check back then and share your thoughts.

Many thanks to Ms. Gregory and Kelly at Touchstone for making this contest possible!

In the coming weeks, you'll find here on the blog: an interview with author Jules Watson and review of her latest book, THE SWAN MAIDEN; a guest post, giveaway and reader question-and-answer with bestselling author Michelle Moran; the last segment in the story of King François's captivity; a post about his first mistress, the elegant Françoise de Foix; and an Italian ambassador's scathing critique of François's showcase, the château of Fontainebleau. Come back soon!

Book Giveaway: THE WHITE QUEEN by Philippa Gregory

I am pleased to announce that I will be giving away two copies of Philippa Gregory's new novel, THE WHITE QUEEN. The novel, the first in a series set in fifteenth-century England during the Wars of the Roses, focuses on Edward Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort of King Edward IV.

Amazon describes the book: "THE WHITE QUEEN tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills." The website includes a Conversation with Philippa Gregory which explores, among other things, Ms. Gregory's switch to this new period in British history and the appeal of Elizabeth Woodville.

To enter the contest to win one of the books, please leave a comment telling me how many of Philippa Gregory's novels you have read. Become a follower of this blog and receive an additional entry! Contest closes at 11 pm PST on Monday, August 17; winners names will be posted on the novel's official release date, August 18. Check back to see if your name was drawn and if so, to provide me your mailing address. Copies will be sent directly from Touchstone, which graciously offered the books for giveaway. Good luck!

I hope to post a review of the book some time in September.

Fire and Ice

There's an interesting guest post over at the blog 1st Books by Kate Maloy, author of Every Last Cuckoo. I haven't read Ms. Maloy's book, but I found her discussion of the degree to which authors identify with their characters' emotions as they write, and the comment trail that follows the post, fascinating. Some writers, claims Maloy, have a "splinter of ice" at their core, which allows them to keep their characters at a distance. Maloy characterizes herself as this sort of writer: "I never cried when I was writing, no matter how sad the scene or how intense the anguish of my beloved character, 75-year-old Sarah Lucas." She contrasts this aloofness to writers like Joan Wilder of Romancing the Stone fame, who fully inhabit their characters, crying when they cry, laughing when they laugh, sharing fully in their discomforts and joys. Maloy views her "splinter of ice" as a valuable tool which allows her to focus on craft issues in order to create characters and stories that resonate fully with her readers. "If I had given myself over to Sarah, I'd have been like a surgeon trying to operate on her own child, unable to wield the scalpel for the trembling of her hands."

Commenters on Maloy's post seem split fifty-fifty between the two types of writers. I myself am like Maloy; I've never cried nor become too emotionally involved with my characters. I find this ironic, actually, because in real life I tear up easily and frequently. I think, for me, being in control of my characters and their destinies, choosing what happens to them, removes the sense of injustice or helplessness that causes me to cry in real life when I hear about a person's misfortunes. Like Maloy, I view writing a book as more of an intellectual than an emotional exercise, although, like her, I am striving to create an emotional experience for my readers. I am different from many of my writer friends as far as emotional identification goes; I have a friend who told me she did cry while writing the scene where her main character died, and I've heard of writers who find it difficult to write when a scene becomes too painful. I'm not at all claiming one way is better than the other, just different. It would be interesting to investigate to what degree the sense of author identification with the characters influences the speed or flow of the writing. I can see it working both ways: too much identification could make writing scenes where bad things happen to the character more difficult, yet identifying with the character otherwise might make the act of writing more engrossing and the writer more eager to write.

What are your thoughts on this matter? What kind of writer are you? If anyone's read Every Last Cuckoo, I'd love to hear how caught up you became in the lives of Maloy's characters. Her book, a top five BookSense and an Indiebound pick, won the American Library Association's Readers List Award for Women's Fiction, so she's obviously doing something right!

Sidebar Reorg

Just wanted to draw your attention to the newly organized sidebar. I've divided the links into more descriptive categories and added some sites of historic and literary interest, with more on the way. Next up, the "Labels" list, which has grown rather unwieldy. I hope you enjoy some of the newer sites, and please don't hesitate to suggest anything you know of that might be of interest!

Fiction and the Academe

As a graduate alumna of an Ivy League university who just went through the college application process with my daughter and will soon to embark on it again with my son, I was intrigued when I saw Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel, Admission (Grand Central 2009), on the New Fiction shelf in the bookstore. The story explores the moral dilemma of a Princeton University admissions officer, Portia Nathan, whose encounter with a brilliant but atypical Princeton applicant forces her confront a difficult secret she has carried, alone, since her own college days at Dartmouth. Having served as an outside reader for the Princeton University Office of Admission for several seasons, Korelitz fills her novel with behind-the scenes details that help demystify what admissions officers do as they struggle to put together an incoming class. I must admit I enjoyed this book immensely. After spending so many months reading college guides and application manuals, it was fascinating to see the entire process fictionalized and tied to broader societal issues. The novel's opening sentence has become one of my all-time favorites: "The flight from Newark to Hartford took no more than fifty-eight minutes, but she still managed to get her heart broken three times." If you're looking for some good non-historical reading, give Admission a try. I will definitely be looking into more of Jean Hanff Korelitz's work.

"Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill" at the Tower of London

Catherine Delors reminded me about the fascinating exhibit being held at the Tower of London through January, 2010. "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill" gathers together some of the world's rarest arms and armor to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Henry's accession to the throne. The exhibit displays complete sets of armor crafted for specific events, including the spectacular meeting of Henry and François I at the Field of Cloth of Gold in June 1520. If you can't visit in person, be sure to check out the exhibition website, which features slideshows, descriptions of various pieces, articles on armor and historic battles, even interactive games! This is one exhibition I'm sad I won't be able to see.

Milestone

Woo hoo, just hit 100 pages on the WIP! There's no turning back now. Forward, march! :)

The Captive King

Last we saw of King François, he had been taken prisoner by imperial forces at the disastrous Battle of Pavia (24 February 1525). French troops, fighting to recapture the duchy of Milan that François's predecessor Louis XII had lost, were surrounded and roundly defeated by Charles V's army. The King of France's captivity at the hand of the Holy Roman Emperor would last a little over a year and color the two monarchs' relationship for the duration of their reigns.

After the battle, François was taken to the Castle of Pizighettone near Cremona, where he remained for three months in the custody of the Spanish captain. Captured companions accompanied him, including his childhood friend Anne de Montmorency (who would remain François's most trusted counselor and eventually rise to the most powerful political position in France). These men were eventually given safe-conducts that enabled them to travel back and forth between Italy and France to negotiate the king's release. François appointed his mother, Louise de Savoye, regent during his absence. Louise established her court at Lyons, near the Italian border, to facilitate communications with her son and the emperor.

If François and his mother had hoped that Charles would quickly release him for a cash ransom, they were mistaken. Charles presented a long list of demands that included paying Charles's debts to Henry VIII, abandoning French claims to Milan and Genoa, and most importantly, ceding the duchy of Burgundy. The emperor planned to seal the settlement through the marriage of his niece, Mary of Portugal, to the Dauphin. Although François appeared amenable to some of the terms, he refused to negotiate as long as he continued to be held prisoner. He forwarded Charles's terms to Louise, who rejected them outright.

Hoping to cut short negotiations made all the lengthier by the distance separating the two courts, François begged for a face-to-face meeting with Charles. In June, he was taken to Spain on a fleet of galleys decorated in his honor, given a royal welcome in Barcelona, then moved to Valencia. He asked that his sister Marguerite be given safe-conduct to negotiate a peace, that he be moved closer to the site of negotiations for easier consultation, and that a truce be declared while the talks were in progress. Charles agreed to all three requests, yet continued to avoid meeting with François in person.

When the French ambassadors met with Charles in Toledo, the emperor continued to dismiss any discussion of a ransom. He was willing to make some concessions in his original demands, but claimed there could be no lasting peace as long as Burgundy remained in French hands. France, however, refused to consider surrendering the region; in fact, François, now in Madrid, made a secret declaration to the French ambassadors that he would never surrender Burgundy freely and that, if forced to do so, his action would be null and void.

Charles almost lost his opportunity to profit from the situation when François nearly died in September from a combination of acute depression, anorexia and a nasal abscess. The French king ran a fever for twenty-three straight days and lapsed into a semi-coma after Charles did, finally, come to see him. Later in the month, the abscess burst and François unexpectedly recovered. Peace talks resumed, this time facilitated by Marguerite, who had arrived during her brother's illness, but were suspended once again when Charles found the proposals unacceptable.

By the end of the year, the strain of the king's absence was growing too great for the kingdom. Louise de Savoye decided to abandon Burgundy and convinced François to accept Charles's terms. On January 14, 1526, the parties signed the Treaty of Madrid. In return for his freedom, François ceded Burgundy and abandoned his claims to Italy. He also agreed to hand over his two oldest sons as hostages until the terms of the treaty were fulfilled. In return, he demanded the hand of Charles's sister Eléonore in marriage, in order to keep her from marrying Charles de Bourbon, the prince of the blood who had sided with Charles during the war. Charles, swayed by advisors who believed the French king could be trusted, agreed. Little did he know that two days before the French king signed the treaty, he had made another secret declaration nullifying the surrender of Burgundy.

Betrothed by proxy to Eléonore in January, François remained in Madrid until mid-February, possibly for health reasons. Charles arrived, and together they traveled to meet Eléonore. A few days later, Charles set off to Seville to marry Isabella of Portugal, and François began the long journey back to France with his Spanish escort. The heartrending exchange of the monarch for his two young sons, which deserves a post of its own, was set for March 17 on the river Bidassoa.

[Source: The material for this post was condensed from R. J. Knecht's account in Renaissance Warrior and Patron, pp. 216-48.]

François's Collections

I'm so excited. Through interlibrary loan, I just received a gigantic tome entitled The Collections of Francis I: Royal Treasures by Janet Cox-Rearick (Antwerp 1995). It catalogues all the paintings, sculptures, "curiosities," manuscripts, tapestries and casts that François collected, as well as discussing his architectural projects and his relationships with various artists throughout his reign. I happened to open to a lovely portrait of a French woman that would make a perfect cover for my first novel! I'm sure I'll have lots of interesting things to share as I work my way through it.

I also received a small book called the Guide de Fontainebleau mystérieux (Tchou, 1967). It contains odd facts and ghost stories about the château--prime fodder for an historical novel.

Hang with me a little longer, I've almost completed a history post. If you remember, we left poor François mouldering in a Spanish prison many months ago. He's more than ready to come home by now, le pauvre.

HNS Conference Recap

The Historical Novel Society Conference is over, and what a wonderful event it was! It's hard to get back to reality after spending three days immersed in the world of authors, books, and best of all, new friends.

The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield, a beautiful hotel in the Chicago suburbs eight miles from O'Hare airport (although with the traffic, it might have been eighty miles!). The ultramodern setting--huge open spaces, kidney-shaped tables, low couches, free standing columns, pyramidal topiaries, a soothing brown and aqua color scheme--made a curious contrast to the conference topic, especially since the setting for the previous gathering had been a hotel decorated with antique furniture and colonial shop signs. The Woodfield staff were efficient, the food delicious, and the space perfect for our various sessions. If there were any snafus with the facilities, they weren't at all noticeable from the participants' point of view.

Now on to the exciting stuff--the incredible authors and publishing professionals who were in attendance. Margaret George, author of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII and HELEN OF TROY, gave the opening address on Friday night. Declaring that historical fiction authors are time travelers who take their readers with them, Margaret described the various methods she uses to create the atmosphere of the era she is writing about. To get in the proper mindset when she writes, she surrounds herself with the music, objects, smells and tastes of the past, trying her best to block out the modern world. Her methods must work, given her books' success! Trish Todd, the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster's imprint Touchstone/Fireside who has brought us the novels of Philippa Gregory, Kathleen McGowan, and Anne Easter Smith, described during a lunchtime address the economic difficulties facing publishers today and the thrill she continues to find in her work despite them. She foresees many changes in the way publishers do business, but feels this is not a cause for alarm--good books will continue to find their way into readers' hands and hearts. The prolific Sharon Kay Penman spoke during the final banquet and regaled her listeners with little-known facts about women's lives during the Middle Ages, particularly in Wales. Women there had many more rights than they did in England--for example, a woman could initiate a divorce if her husband had bad breath or if he added a live-in concubine to the household! It was an amazing experience to hear these talented women share their wisdom and artistic lives with us.

The panel sessions I attended were equally enlightening. On Saturday morning, I listened to Michelle Moran, Christopher Gortner, and Karen Essex talk about "Breaking In and Staying in the Historical Fiction Game"; they shared their experiences as first-time authors and emphasized the importance of authors actively working alongside their publishers to market their books. The panelists suggested a plethora of practical marketing ideas and strategies. In the session "Debut Novels," Catherine Delors, Kamran Pasha, Barbara Corrado Pope and Ann Weisgarber spoke about the genesis of their first books and recounted their paths to publication, which varied widely. Mr. Pasha, an enthusiastic speaker who has written a novel about Mohammed's wife Aisha, encouraged us writers not to give up; we all have something important to share, a message the world needs to hear that only we can impart. His inspiring words provided me much food for thought, as did the other panelists' stories of dedication and determination.

On Friday afternoon, I attended the Editors' Panel, in which Shana Drehs (Sourcebooks), Barbara Peters (Poisoned Pen Press), and Trish Todd (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) spoke about selling historical fiction. It was quite interesting to hear how the three presses, medium, small, and large, each go about acquiring new work and how they were adapting to the difficulties of the present market. In "Talking the Talk: Historical Fiction Dialogue," Christine Blevins, Kate Forsyth, Margaret George, Nancy Hull and Mary Sharratt addressed the use of dialogue to establish character, narrative, and setting in their works. They spent a good deal of time on the appropriate use of dialect, as well as the importance of choosing the proper level of diction. They even shared the curse words characters in their novels use in anger! On Sunday morning, I attended only one panel: "Query Letters that Worked." Three authors, Catherine Delors, Barbara Corrado Pope, and moderator Joyce Moore shared their query letters;  two agents, Stephanie Cabot and Pam Strickler, discussed what they liked about the letters and why they had garnered requests. The agents shared additional letters from their authors and opened the floor to questions from the audience. Listeners came away with excellent advice on what agents look for in a query letter--a brief, to-the-point description of the story--and how to address issues such as multiple novels and target audiences.

Saturday evening was devoted to fun. First came the group book signing, in which over seventy authors chatted with attendees and signed copies of their books purchased from the well-stocked conference book shop. The cash-bar reception then preceded the sumptuous banquet, which was itself followed by a historical costume fashion show. Twenty or so attendees paraded costumes ranging from medieval gowns and wimples to eighteenth-century pirate hats and spyglasses to twentieth-century suffragette sashes and placards. Finally, the hardiest attendees ignored their fatigue to listen to five authors--Eileen Charbonneau, Margaret Frazer, Jade Lee, Anne Easter Smith, and Diana Gabaldon--share titillating sex scenes from their novels. The bartenders and wait-staff got more than they bargained for working this gig!

The best part of the conference, for me, was meeting many of the writers whom I've gotten to know over the internet during the last two years. I reconnected with Diana Gabaldon, Martha Terilli, Sarah Johnson, Tinney Heath and Marilyn Alm, whom I met at the last conference; Catherine Delors,  Sheramy Bundrick, Lucy Pick, C.W. Gortner, Michelle Moran, George Berger, Christine Blevins, Laurel Corona, Susanne Dunlap, Karen Essex, Amanda Orr, Donald Platt, Vanitha Sankaran I got to meet for the very first time. I was also very lucky to be able to spend time with my lovely agent, Stephanie Cabot, who up until now has only been a voice on the phone. 

Heartfelt thanks go to the Historical Novel Society and the conference organizers for putting together this amazing event. For readers who are considering attending the next conference, I have two words--DO IT! You'll make new friends and valuable connections and meet authors whose books you've read and raved about. Exposed to the wisdom and expertise of published authors and industry professionals, you'll come away exhilarated, inspired and determined to finish that book. The only disappointing thing is that the conference lasts only two and a half days, then you have to wait two years until the next one.

A Pre-Conference Snippet

Posts have been scant of late; I've been busying preparing for the Historical Novel Society Conference I will be attending in Chicago this coming weekend. I am excited on many counts: I will be meeting my agent in person, as well as many of the writing friends I've made over the internet during the last two years. The list of authors attending this year's conference is quite impressive: Edward Rutherford, Margaret George, Diana Gabaldon, Sharon Kay Penman, Michelle Moran, C.W. Gortner, Catherine Delors, to name only a few. It will be an amazing opportunity to learn from these writers' experiences and expertise; I'll be wandering around like a star-struck teenager. I will also be having two pitch sessions with editors. Since I've been rereading my first novel, The Measure of Silence, in preparation, I thought I'd share a snippet with you:

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Copyright 2009 by Julianne Douglas

She heard his tentative steps on the stairs, the stifled curse when he tripped on the landing. He eased open the chamber door, blinking like a startled mole when the light from her lamp fell upon his face. “Wife. You don’t sleep.” His cheek twitched, a telltale sign of his discomfort.

“Hush. Come in and shut the door.” He shuffled into the room, mouth slack and eyes bleary. “What happened? Did that fool of a farrier lighten your purse again?”

The hand he ran through his hair left a trail of haphazard spikes in its wake. “Had a bit of bad luck, is all. I’ll make it up tomorrow.” He loosened the thong of his smock and pulled the garment over his head, lingering long within its folds. His ribs strained against the pale skin of his chest.

Jollande turned back to the table and wiped her pen. “Remember the poem I’ve been working on? The one about Diana and her bow? I just finished it.” She hated the false brightness in her voice.

The bed creaked as he sat down. “Diana?” The unfamiliar name foundered on a ragged belch.

“The goddess of the moon. The virginal huntress.” She hesitated, then turned and held a sheet out towards him. “You may read it if you’d like.”

“Goddess? Could she help me win tomorrow?” Arnault chuckled, pleased at his own cleverness. He waved the paper away. “Show it to your friends in town. It’s wasted on me.” He yanked off a shoe and tossed it to the floor. The caged finches erupted in a paroxysm of frightened twitters when the wooden heel smacked the boards. Arnault groaned and covered his ears with his hands.

Jollande released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. As she swung around to return the paper to the desk, her elbow bumped the ink pot, overturning it. Channeled into grooves scored by her pen, the dark ink sketched a feathery web of half-formed letters and superimposed words as it spread across the tabletop.

Arnault’s voice rose to a pitiful wheedle. “Come to bed, wife. Perchance my luck will take a turn for the better.” He slumped back on the bolster, cheeks flushed, eyes watery slits. By the time Jollande wiped up the mess, Arnault had fallen asleep.

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I'll post about the conference as soon as I return. Say a prayer my work gets a better reception than poor Jollande's poem did!