Christy English

Galleys Arrive for The Queen’s Pawn

Friday, January 29th, 2010 | Once It Is Sold, The Queen's Pawn, The Writing Life | 2 Comments

As I smooth and polish TO BE QUEEN for Claire (due next week…yikes!!), my galleys arrived for THE QUEEN’S PAWN.

For the non-publishing folks out there, galleys are copies of the novel that have not been corrected yet. But they are bound, sometimes with cover art. My galleys don’t have cover art, but my words are in there when I open the pages…which I find myself doing a lot, savoring the novel and the result of all the hard work of the last four years.

It is a thrill to hold a proto-type of my finished novel in my hand. In March, I get to see the real thing.

Praise for THE QUEEN’S PAWN from C.W. Gortner

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Christy in the Hall of Louis VII, Princess Alais’ Father

Monday, January 25th, 2010 | The Queen's Pawn, The Writing Life, Video Blog Entries | No Comments

As you may have read earlier on my blog, I was fortunate enough to go to Paris last April to celebrate the sale of THE QUEEN’S PAWN. While I was there, I shot a video diary for myself and for my future readers. Here is the second entry.

Atfter visiting Notre Dame, I went to the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette met her fate. But before it was a prison, in the time of Princess Alais and her father Louis VII, it was the Palace of the City. That palace has changed a great deal since Louis VII’s time, but I took some video of the old great hall, so you can see it. The Parisians use it an as art gallery now; the architecture is really beautiful.

Please pardon my hair in this episode. It is the worst comb job of all the video blog entries. I was so excited when I got there that I simply turned the camera on and started talking. And when I had finished, I was so in love with all I’d filmed, that I figured, my bad hair was second banana. As usual, the places to do with Eleanor and Alais, Louis and Philippe Auguste, are the stars of my show. I hope you enjoy.

Eleanor: The Captive Queen

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine | 5 Comments

I am excited! There is more Eleanor coming in July 2010… as I mentioned before, Alison Weir has written a novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine. She wrote a novel I love about Lady Jane Gray called INNOCENT TRAITOR, and she wrote a lovely biography of Eleanor as well. So I am anxious to get my hands on this one.

Passages to the Past has a great write up about it…just follow this link to the post  for January 13, 2010.

http://www.passagestothepast.com/2010/01/new-alison-weir.html

Never Too Much Eleanor

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Writing Life | 2 Comments

There are more books besides my own coming out about Eleanor of Aquitaine in 2010.  I am thrilled to see Eleanor is on everybody’s mind. Allison Weir is putting out a novel about Eleanor’s imprisonment by Henry II, and Cecelia Holland is writing about Eleanor’s life from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read these novels. I can never get enough of her.

So, the Eleanor books coming out in the next year and some (that I know of) are:

THE QUEEN’S PAWN in April 2010

THE CAPTIVE QUEEN by Allison Weir in July 2010

ELEANOR THE QUEEN by Cecelia Holland in August 2010

TO BE QUEEN by me in April 2011

And of course, no list of Eleanor novels would be complete without including Sharon Kay Penman’s Angevin Trilogy: WHEN CHRIST AND HIS SAINTS SLEPT, TIME AND CHANCE, and DEVILS’ BROOD. Though these novels are about Henry II, his rise to power, and his brilliant kingship, no story or Henry would be complete without copious amounts of Eleanor.

I am no doubt forgetting some…if anyone knows of other Eleanor books to recommend, please comment here.