Anne's Blog

 I have been doing some interviews with fellow Historical Novel Society authors who are launching a new book for more than a year now. Protagonist Anne Askew in Prize for the Fire sparked a lively 75-minute conversation with Rilla, which had to be reduced to 1,000 words for the article. I hope I captured Rilla's passion for her subject. https:// historicalnovelsociety.org/ launch-rilla-askews-prize-for- the-fire/

 I have had about a year and a half of getting excited about the possibility of a film about Richard III and now the release date of October 7th has been announced!  The Lost King will be premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, and how I would dearly love to be there with a boatload of my books to peddle outside the theater! The film is billed as a "comedy-drama" about one woman's quest to unearth the burial site of Richard after his mutilated body was ignominiously tied over the back of a horse and ordered buried "somewhere" in the Greyfriars monastery grounds in Leicester following the Battle of Bosworth. As soon as I heard that Sally Hawkins was cast to play the bones' discoverer, Philippa Langley, I took the liberty of sending my new book, This Son of York, to her publicist in the hopes it would reach her as she did her research for the movie. Sadly, I never heard if she received it. But I tried! Here's all you need to know! https://www....

  A s many of you who prefer listening to a reading have probably noticed, the narrator can make or break a book. The narrator for my first books was the award-winning former actor Rosalyn Landor. She made my characters come alive so well that I was pleased and proud of her work.  The same cannot be said for Royal Mistress! Despite my agent's insistence that the contract with Audible included hiring Roz Landor again, they ignored her and me and the result was not as pleasing IMHO. When it came to This Son of York 's publishing process, as many of you know, I was on my own; like so many of my fellow writers subject to the vagaries of traditional publishers, I was left out to dry. The result was contracting with Bellastoria Press , a small independent publisher, who did a beautiful job on creating and distributing the print and ebook versions, albeit leaving me alone to do marketing. But when it came to an audiobook, my husband and I thought long and hard as to whether to invest...

This Son of York is finally audible! I am delighted to announce that the most talented author/actor Chris (C.C.) Humphreys http://www.authorchrishumphreys.com/ has finished laying down the tracks--all 19 hours--of what I believe is my most important book. And I couldn't be happier with the result. Chris and I met at a Historical Novel Society conference when we were asked by Diana Gabaldon to read sex scenes from our books. What I loved about Chris's scene was the humor he brought to his reading, and together with obvious stage experience and a rich resonant voice, I think I must have known one day he would be my narrator: he is a native Brit, trained for the stage at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and--he admitted sheepishly--has been a Ricardian (Richard III fan!) since the age of seventeen. How perfect was that? We have kept in touch over the years, even visiting each other's homes once, and he gave me a quote for the back jacket of This Son ...

  I have somehow never been invited to join a book club, although I have spoken at many across the country. Perhaps having an author in their midst would make members nervous? I don't know why; I am a lover of books every bit as much as they are. I am thus not used to deconstructing books with others on a regular basis, and only leave reviews on my Goodreads account on occasion. It was with trepidation that I agreed to be part of this podcast discussion about the legendary, double Booker prize-winning Hilary Mantel's third book of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and The Light. But I could not resist Susanne Dunlap's offer, because she and Patricia Bracewell are respected colleagues and good friends. You could say I was "shamed" into reading at least this one of the trilogy as my enthusiasm to participate overcame my worry about tackling the tome (it's 759 pages, in case you hadn't heard!).  I needn't have worried about the discussion; it was mo...

Which of these doctors would you prefer to come to your bedside as you writhe around in pain, the one in 21st century PPE or the 17th century masked man? Why the beak, you ask? It was both a way to identify him as a plague doctor and into which he could cram the herbs that were supposed to ward off the poisonous miasma people believed carried the disease. Surprisingly, his historical garb, a gown of waxed leather and a long stick with which to social distance himself, isn't that different from today's! How are you coping with the strangeness of our new pandemic normal? I would argue that it is tougher for us now to take all these weeks of trying to avoid COVID-19 than it was for those who went through the Black Death in 1340s and the Great Plague in London in 1665. Here are my theories, whacky though they may be! Disease was a way of life back then, and it was why when you look at the statistics of life expectancy in, say, medieval times, it is much lower than today...

I was lucky enough to be on a panel with Margaret George and Sharon Kay Penman at the 2015 Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver when we discussed writing about the "bad boys" of history!) The great Sharon Kay Penman has graciously posted a Q&A with me on her blog! You have no idea how special it is to have the author of one of my favorite books give "This Son of York" such support. http://sharonkaypenman.com/ blog/?p=709 Sharon's own new book "The Land Beyond the Sea" comes out in March, so be sure to check out your favorite bookstore or library!