Christy English

Amorous Birds of Prey

Monday, January 18th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Queen's Pawn | No Comments

There is a scene in THE QUEEN’S PAWN in which Richard the Lionhearted, Princess Alais, and Queen Eleanor go hunting with hawks and falcons. The following lines in Andrew Marvell’s poem (To His Coy Mistress) spoke to me for the first time this weekend, though I have read them over and over all my life.

For the first time, I saw in these words Eleanor’s point of view, and Henry’s, and Richard’s. These lines reflect they way they live their lives, and the way Alais tried to live, while she was with them.

“And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour…                                                                

Let us roll all our strength and all                                                            

Our sweetness up into one ball                                                                   

And tear our pleasures with rough strife                                              

Through the iron gates of life.

This, though we can not make our sun    

Stand still, yet we will make him run.”

Praise for THE QUEEN’S PAWN

Friday, January 15th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

“Treachery, betrayal, lust—and an unusual and compelling love story, beautifully told.”

—Karen Harper, Author of THE QUEEN’S GOVERNESS

Leslie Carroll on Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Divorce

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine | No Comments

On The Maiden’s Court,  Leslie Carroll, author of NOTORIOUS ROYAL MARRIAGES wrote a fabulous guest post on Eleanor’s marriage to and eventual divorce from Louis VII. If anyone wants some background on the book I’m currently working on, this post is a great place to find it.

Just follow this link, then check out the post for January 9, 2010

http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com//2010/01/leslie-carroll-guest-post-eleanor-of.html

Christy in Paris: Notre Dame

Monday, January 11th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Writing Life, Video Blog Entries | 4 Comments

Here’s the first video I took while in Paris, visiting Notre Dame cathedral. Please pardon my lack of a hair comb…that difficulty runs rampant throughout the videos I took during my travels.

I was fortunate enough to be able to celebrate the sale of my first novel by going to Paris this April. I had been there before, but never when spring was in full bloom.  I made a few videos of my time in France, as I visited different sites related to Eleanor’s life.

I went to Notre Dame first, my favorite building in Paris. It was an interesting experience to go there, and to see it from Eleanor’s point of view. I love that building, but she associates it with her first husband Louis and her rival for power, Abbot Suger.  To me, that church is a beautiful Gothic symbol of faith and light in a time of darkness. To Eleanor, cathedrals like Notre Dame were symbols of the Church’s power.

The whole time I was in Paris I had similar experiences. I reveled in the beauty of the place, the food, the architecture, the wine and the art.  But during this visit, I also saw all those things from Eleanor’s point of view. She never liked Paris and was always glad to leave the city I adore to return home to Poitiers.

Of course, the medieval Paris Eleanor knew was very different from the modern city I visit, but still, the differences in our perspectives is fun. When I am working, this kind of duality happens a good deal, especially with a character as strong and with a voice as powerful as Eleanor’s. She had divorced Louis by the time the cathedral that stands today was begun. But when I see that place now, and for the rest of my life, I will think not just of my own joy in the space, but of Eleanor’s more cyncial perspective. My life is richer for occasionally seeing things from her point of view.

Closing in on a First Draft

Friday, January 8th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Writing Life | 2 Comments

After months of delving into Eleanor’s early life, I am closing in on the first draft of TO BE QUEEN.  I find myself moving into high gear, as I always do this close to the end of a novel. Of course, once I have the draft completed, re-writes begin.

Re-writes are an adventure, too, but a different adventure altogether. Writing is hard. Staying in the chair with a deadline looming is harder.  But there is a special magic to a first draft, a kind of alchemy. Though I love each incarnation of my novels, in the first draft, I get to hear the story, unedited, from the lips of my characters. In re-writes I have to go back and fix all my mistakes, and the mistakes that my editor finds. With this first draft, there is only me and Eleanor, working together toward a shared goal: making her live again.

I have almost reached that goal once more. I am almost sorry to see this first draft completed. But along with a sense of accomplishment is the joy that, soon, I will sit in the chair again, and start on the second draft.