Christy English

The Queen’s Pawn in the Wilmington Star News

Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Reviews, The Queen's Pawn | No Comments

Ben Steelman has written about THE QUEEN’S PAWN in the Wilmington Star News online…a shorter version will run in this Sunday’s paper. Thank you, Ben!

http://books.blogs.starnewsonline.com/11645/she-loves-the-dark-ages-but-doesnt-want-to-live-there/

Starting Out in the Evening by Brian Morton

Monday, March 22nd, 2010 | Reviews, The Writing Life | 1 Comment

This wonderfully complex novel asks a lot of questions, but the one that concerns me here is: how important is success in a writer’s life? In the novel, we see an old man at the end of his life and his career, who still rises at the same time every morning, dons a jacket and tie, then sits and writes for his proscribed six hours a day on a novel that may never be seen by a reader. Two of his four published novels are now out of print, and none of his books ever garnered him acclaim or fanfare. And yet, every day, he rises and gets back to work.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 | Reviews, The Writing Life | 1 Comment

I finished FINGERSMITH by Sarah Waters last week, and it was fascinating. A Gothic tale set in Victorian England that takes the reader from a country home to a madhouse, switching direction and point of view a few more times before ending up in an expected place. I really enjoyed it.

A lot of other people enjoyed it, too, because it got shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2002…I am just a little behind the times, but then, I live most of my life in the 12th century, so that is to be expected, I guess.

First Review for The Queen’s Pawn

Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Reviews, The Queen's Pawn | No Comments

The first review for THE QUEEN’S PAWN came in…more to follow, but I am thrilled to see this one by Harriet Klausner

http://genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/queens-pawn-christy-english.html

Mary Renault: An Inspiration

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | Reviews, The Writing Life | No Comments

My favorite author of all time is Mary Renault. For those of you who have yet to discover her, during the mid 20th century, she wrote historical novels about ancient Greece. My favorite of her novels is THE PERSIAN BOY and THE MASK OF APOLLO, but I have never read one of her books that did not teach me more about being a writer, and about what it means to be a human being.