Richard the Lionhearted

Richard the Lionhearted and His Holy Grail

Friday, December 9th, 2011 | Richard the Lionhearted | No Comments

Today I am fortunate to be featured on English Historical Fiction Authors for a post about one of my favorite Plantagenets, Richard the Lionhearted.  Lionheart and the Third Crusade…come and check it out…

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2011/12/richard-lionhearted-and-his-holy-grail.html

Tags: , , , , ,

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of the English

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Give Away, Henry II, Richard the Lionhearted | 2 Comments

My obsession with Eleanor of Aquitaine knows no bounds, and this week is no exception to that. I want to thank Debra Brown of English Historical Fiction Authors and English Epochs 101 for hosting me this week on her blog. Once more, I delve into Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life, this time celebrating her triumphant crowning as England’s queen in 1154. I do love those moments when Eleanor wins…

http://englishepochs.blogspot.com/2011/12/eleanor-of-aquitane-queen-of-english.html

We are offering a give away of TO BE QUEEN at the end of this post…one more way in which I am celebrating Eleanor…

Crusading: For the Holy Land or For the Crown

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Guest Posts, Richard the Lionhearted, The Writing Life, To Be Queen | 1 Comment

In medieval fiction, someone is always crusading for something. Cecily Neville supports husband and her son as they struggle to gain the crown in the War of the Roses (QUEEN BY RIGHT by Anne Easter Smith). Eleanor of Aquitaine crusades first to be Queen of France and then to free herself from the noose of  her first marriage in TO BE QUEEN.  Richard the Lionhearted leads his troops and brother kings on the Third Crusade to set Jerusalem free in LIONHEART, Sharon Kay Penman’s latest tour de force, and Elisabeth rides on Crusade in Nan Hawthorne’s novel BELOVED PILGRIM.

As a writer, I feel as if I am always crusading for my characters, either on the page, helping them in their struggles against their foes, struggles they do not always win, or as I work to get the word out about my own particular vision of Eleanor. I wonder if it is simply human nature to strive for what we do not yet have: Eleanor, for the Crown of France and then freedom from it, Cecily, for the crown of England for her husband and later her son, Elisabeth, for the freedom to live her life as she chooses, even in the confines of medieval Europe. I suppose that is one of the great joys of fiction and of story-telling…we get to suffer and triumph along with the characters we read about, and to think in turn of  our own lives, and what we are crusading for.

Please join us on Friday for an excerpt from Nan Hawthorne’s medieval novel, BELOVED PILGRIM.

And on Monday, I have the honor of hosting an interview with Anne Easter Smith about her new novel, QUEEN BY RIGHT.

  • “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot ,
  • “There are only two ways to live your life... as though nothing is a miracle [or] as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein ,

Categories