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.

This wonderful novel has also been made into a film starring Frank Langella.  I love the movie, which finds its own poetry, but the novel is truly stunning. I first read it during months before I had a contract with NAL, at a time when I had been writing for almost ten years and was not sure whether or not my own work would ever see the light of day. As I read STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, I asked myself the same questions that Leonard Schiller asks: Why do I write? Will I ever stop? Even without success as the outer world sees it, is it worth it?

I am grateful for THE QUEEN’S PAWN  and am excited that people will be able to read my work in a couple of weeks. I am grateful that TO BE QUEEN will be released next year, and I hope that it will find readers.  But the question: Is writing worth it, whether anyone ever reads or appreciates your work or not? is still a question every writer must ask herself. For me, the answer is yes.

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.

I have been re-reading THE LAST OF THE WINE and THE PRAISE SINGER this week…I re-read at least one of her novels every year…her work is an old friend that always welcomes me. Always, she manages to transport me to the world she created, and always, I am grateful to be there.

It is difficult to explain why I love her.  She is why I am writing today, which I suppose is reason enough.  Mary Renault has shown me what fiction can be, that even within the confines of a genre, it is possible to reach beautiful heights. She inspires me to keep reaching.

The lyricism of her prose is unmatched. Here is a quote from THE MASK OF APOLLO, in which she writes from an Athenian actor’s point of view about EuripIdes’ THE BACCHAE:

"Take that play anywhere, even to men unborn, who worship other gods or none, and it will teach them to know themseleves."

Perhaps that is why I love her: with each reading, she teaches me to know myself. She died in 1983, but wherever she is now, I hope whatever gods may be have blessed her.