Eleanor of Aquitaine

Missing Eleanor

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 | Book Clubs, Eleanor of Aquitaine | 5 Comments

Over the last few months, I have spent a lot of time reading and writing about Regency England as I begin my romance series Shakespeare in Love.  I adore the time I’ve spent with those characters. They are funny and insightful, and I have learned as much about myself as about them as I write their stories. I look forward to spending more time in their world, exploring their lives and their choices, giving myself over to true love in its myriad forms.

That said, I have been missing Eleanor.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, as I may have mentioned, was a patient woman. She waited over 50 years to bring the county of Toulouse back under her control. After sending both Louis VII and Henry II after it, when both of her husbands failed to retrieve that land for her, she waited until she could marry her daughter Joanna to the Count of Toulouse. Joanna’s son, Eleanor’s grandson, eventually became the ruler of Toulouse, and that great city was brought back into her family. She waited for as long as was necessary.

I believe she feels the same way about the book we are working on. I have had to put off finishing it while I work on other projects. So once again, Eleanor is biding her time. And I am happy to say that today I get to spend time with Eleanor.

Today, I have the privilege of speaking to a book club about TO BE QUEEN. I’ll get to explore Eleanor’s early life with a whole new group of people, some of whom may never have met her before. It is always exciting to talk to book clubs, and even more so when we are discussing Eleanor and her life, and my vision of that life. We authors hold up a mirror to the past, just as we hold up a mirror to our own souls. Some things we see clearly, and some things we do not. But today, once again, we will honor her. I hope, wherever she is now,  she knows it.

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English Historical Fiction Authors: Alais, Forgotten Princess

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 | English Historical Fiction Authors, Princess Alais, The Queen's Pawn | No Comments

I have been fortunate enough to join a fabulous group, the English Historical Fiction Authors. This week, THE QUEEN’S PAWN is featured on our site both as a give away and in today’s blog post. Once more, I write these things for Alais.

The dead live on when we remember them, no matter how imperfectly.

My post about Princess Alais:

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2011/11/alais-of-france-forgotten-princess-by.html

This week’s give away of THE QUEEN’S PAWN

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html

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Aquitaine and Beautiful Music

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 | Eleanor and Music | 1 Comment

I found this beautiful chant on You Tube and had to share it.

YouTube Preview Image

Polyphonic chant of Aquitaine of the High Middle Ages (12th century AD).
Title: “Benedicamus Domino”
Composer: Saint-Martin de Limoges

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The Leap into the Void

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, First Drafts, The Writing Life | 2 Comments

The blank page that lies before us every time we sit down to write is the void. Unformed and unknown, it is a brave new world where we hope to find our characters, our plots, and our ideas waiting for us. Of course, when we write historical fiction, we’ve got a map. The facts as we know them give us an outline for the world we are going to build. But questions remains even then: what facts about our protagonist do we include in this book? What do we leave out? No life has the shape of a narrative arc. Even biographical fiction, like the work I do with Eleanor of Aquitaine, must be shaped and shifted to build an entertaining story.

This search for the things we will need to fill the void is even more profound for a work of pure fiction. When we are building a world literally out of nothing but our own imaginations, we rely on our characters, a plot we’ve developed before we begin,  perhaps an outline, and inspiration. All of these tools, along with our skills as writers and our hope that we will be able to tell a story that others will want to read are our companions as we sit down to begin. The blank page is before us. We are voyagers in the Void. Scary sometimes, often intimidating, the Void is where we writers live. We return from there with our stories in hand, hoping that they will be as meaningful to someone else as they are to us. I for one would not want to live anywhere else.

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Shakespeare in Love: Eleanor Gives Me Time Off

Monday, August 29th, 2011 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Regency Romance, Shakespeare in Love, The Taming | 5 Comments

I am used to asking Eleanor of Aquitaine for a day off. Sometimes even a weekend if I’m traveling. And my lady and muse is always very generous and allows me the time I need, because she knows that when I come back to the chair, I will work even harder for her. But lately, Eleanor has granted me a few months off to work on a new project.

I have signed a three book deal to write a romance series for Sourcebooks Casablanca called Shakespeare in Love. I’ll be re-telling Shakespearean comedies and setting them in Regency England. The first novel in this series comes out in the fall of 2012 and is called The Taming, a re-telling of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. Needless to say, bodice ripping will ensue and each book will have a happy ending. After the machinations of the Plantagenets, where betrayal runs rampant, a happy ending is a wonderful thing.

Of course, I have not stopped writing about Eleanor. I’ll continue to work on our latest project as the winter months roll in. But for now, Eleanor has given me a bit of a vacation from the intrigues of her world, and from the politics with which she lives and breathes. I know that when I come back to her after my time in Regency England, I will savor those politics and those intrigues, as well as Eleanor’s amazing presence. I’ve loved Shakespeare all my life, and I love Eleanor with a grand passion. So in the next year, I will savor both.

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