Christy English

Susan Higginbotham and Web Fun

Monday, January 31st, 2011 | Princess Alais, Susan Higginbotham | 2 Comments

I had a lovely weekend visiting Emery Lee, author of historical romantic novel THE HIGHEST STAKES, at the Richland Literary Festival.  But last week was a good week for web fun…

My beloved Princess Alais won the “Hottest Princess 2010 Award” on the Historical Fiction Bloggers Roundtable…and I received the award for “Best Debut Author.” So many wonderful people wrote their first books last year that this really is an incredible honor.

http://historicalfictionroundtable.com/?p=840

And the incomparable Susan Higginbotham’s novel, THE STOLEN CROWN, won the award for “Most Mind Changing Book of 2010.” Kudos, Susan!

On that note, I am lucky enough to have Susan Higginbotham here on Wednesday, answering questions about her  latest novel, THE QUEEN OF LAST HOPES. So tune in here for more Susan, and more Margaret of Anjou…

RBR Books’ Video about Eleanor

Friday, January 28th, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Video Blog Entries | No Comments

Clif and Laura of RBR Books in Leland, NC were kind enough to make this video and post it…It is me, of course, in a chair, talking about my favorite woman of all time, Eleanor. I can never get enough of her…

I suspect if she had been there, she would have told me to loosen up a little, smile more, and bring a troubadour to play gentle music in the background. Ah well, we can’t all be as fabulous as she is…

Always a Writer

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 | The Writing Life | 2 Comments

I have always been a writer, since I was about eight years old. For most of my life I thought writing was just something I did, like breathing or drinking a Coke, something necessary to life, but something that only affected me. Then as time went on, I started offering my stories to friends to read. This was about the 7th and 8th grade…God help them, because the stuff was pure dreck. (Tammy, how did you stand it?) But they encouraged me…two of them are still first readers of mine today. (Thanks Laura and LaDonna!) AndI kept writing.

It didn’t occur to me to try and sell any of it until about 10 years ago. It’s two books later, and I’m still writing. As far as I know, I will keep writing for the rest of my life. This story is no surprise to my fellow writers who may be reading this. You are on the same path. You write because you have to. You know what I mean.

Before I knew how to read, I asked for a typewriter. For my fourth birthday, I got one. A bright, sunny yellow typewriter. I remember wondering why all the letters were out of order. I banged away on that thing for years until I broke it, whether there was paper in it or not, long before I learned to tell stories of my own. I guess I was practicing.

I’ve been through another typewriter since then, and I’ve graduated to a lap top, but I still love the sound of my fingers hitting the keys when I work. I have a feeling that the other writers who read this will know the sound I mean. The sound of new worlds being born. One of the best sounds in the world.

Becoming a Better Writer

Monday, January 24th, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Quotes, The Writing Life, Writing Process | 2 Comments

Like everyone who puts pen to paper, I am trying to become a better writer. I work hard and keep myself in my chair in the hopes that I will continue to improve, so that Eleanor and Henry and all the characters I will work with for the rest of my life will be honored more and more as my skills as a storyteller stretch and grow. Of course, I am not alone in this, but I love it when I find evidence of another writer who feels as I do, and openly admits it in an interview.

In the reader’s guide for her novel, WHERE THE GOD OF LOVE HANGS OUT, Amy Bloom made a comment that I want to repeat here. It resonated with me, that a writer as experienced and moving as she is would say it.  Once more I am reminded that while we all sit alone to do our work, there is a huge community of writers, a tribe one might say, who are all working in our own way toward the same goal.

Amy Bloom said, “I think I am a better writer and am more able to put the skills I have in the service of my characters.”

And I’m reminded that I want to keep becoming better, not just to serve my characters and the story, but  to serve my readers as well. We’re all connected by the love of story-telling, after all. Readers and writers are all part of the same tribe.

Labyrinth at Battery Park

Friday, January 21st, 2011 | Labyrinth Walks, The Writing Life | 1 Comment

http://www.caminodepaz.org/battery8-18-02.html

One of my favorite places in New York City, and there are many such places, is the labyrinth at Battery Park. I discovered that this labyrinth existed when my friend Audrey was visiting me in the city. And what a lovely unexpected surprise it was to find such a space of quiet green in the middle of the throngs of people heading to the ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. The Battery Park Labyrinth is almost hidden behind greenery that looks a little like weeds from a distance, tucked behind a cast iron fence that lies open to the adventurous. I thought as we approached that the internet had it wrong, that such a place could not possibly exist at the edge of the Financial District. But it is there.

The next time you go to New York, head downtown and check out the spiral path that lies beneath the skyscrapers. Step into one of the first five cars of the 1 Train and ride it to the end of the line. The spiral path of this labyrinth is worth the trek.