Buzz

Giveaway of Four Exciting Summer Novels

July 22, 2014, Events, News

Random House is giving away four super summer novels. The contest runs until the end of July at Retreat by Random House and the giveaway includes Kate Pullinger’s prize-winning Mistress of Nothing, Jo Baker’s Longbourn, the Pride and Prejudice spinoff, the first volume in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, and my new beach-size Muse. Outlander has a new cover to promote the TV series… Read More

The Blog Hop – A Writer’s Brainwaves

July 7, 2014, Blogs

Today, I’m participating in a blog tour at the invitation of writer Karen Dodd, who also lives on what Vancouverites call the North Shore. This usually means that we have to drive over to Vancouver to visit friends, who are reluctant to travel to our side of town. Karen lives even further west than I do, in Lions Bay, where she often sees dolphins… Read More

Goodreads Discussion of Muse

June 18, 2014, Blogs, Events

Have you ever checked out www.goodreads.com? Goodreads has some very dedicated groups and one of my favourites, Imprinted Lives, which focusses on biography, is currently engaged in reading my novel Muse. The discussion runs from June 1 to 30, 2014 and is moderated by the amazing Asma. She is commenting enthusiastically on Muse, section by section, and is linking to some very interesting websites… Read More

Another Publication Day for Muse, May 27, 2014

May 4, 2014, Blogs, News

I’m really pleased that Anchor Canada is publishing a new edition of my novel, Muse, on May 27, 2014, only nine months after the original. Thanks, Random House, for the vote of confidence in my novel! The new edition is a smaller paperback, so will cost less, and they’ve given the book an attractive new look with a redesigned cover.… Read More

Getting Into Mindset of Solange

April 16, 2014, Blogs

Getting into the mind of a literary character is a gradual process, just as it is with real people. My biggest wow moment in my understanding of Solange Le Blanc in Muse came when I was on the secret tour of the popes’ palace in Avignon. I stared at the bare walls of a basement chamber trying to imagine the décor of the Pope’s bathing room as the guide was describing it . . . read more Read more

Tribute to Mary Novik: Petrarchan Sonnet by Joan Boxall

April 15, 2014, Blogs

Before I spoke at the North Shore Writers’ Association meeting, clever poet Joan Boxall introduced me by singing (Joan is also the member of a Vancouver choir!) a Petrarchan sonnet she’d composed for the occasion. Here it is, courtesy of Joan. She also took the photo of me signing books for the members. Thank you so much, Joan!    … Read More

Lunar Eclipses: Canada 2014 & Avignon 1343

April 15, 2014, Blogs

Last night, I spoke at the monthly meeting of the North Shore Writers Association, and read a passage from my novel Muse in which a lunar eclipse takes place. Around 1 am, I rose from bed to look out the window. The moon, high in the sky, was dramatically eclipsed. We see the diagrams in the newspapers and know the… Read More

Solange & Role of Women in Medieval Avignon

April 10, 2014, Blogs

Late-medieval Avignon was a city of men. A vast number of clerics were employed by the Pope and cardinals, and foreign merchants, craftsmen, and artisans swelled the ranks of local people providing services to the church. The city was a cultural and economic magnet, an attractive place to set up shop. It was also notoriously corrupt . . . read more Read more

Social Status & Food People Ate in 14th-century Avignon

April 2, 2014, Backstory for Muse, Blogs

Seven hundred years after the popes lived in Avignon, we can read reports about their banquets and gain insight into their luxurious life style. The type of food people ate depended on their rank. Although there was a vast difference between the diet of a pope and a peasant, the poor did not starve, because the Pope gave out 6,000 loaves of bread daily. The staples of a peasant’s diet were grains, legumes, onions, garlic, vegetables, coarse dark bread, eggs, and milk products, with a little fish, meat, or poultry . . . read more Read more

Spring Events 2014

March 27, 2014, Events, News

I’m honoured to be part of the lineup at the North Shore Writers’ Fest again this year. From 2:30-3:30 Saturday, April 12, I will be on the panel Enlivening the Past with historical fiction writers Sandra Gulland, Daniel Kalla, and Roberta Rich. CBC’s Jen Sookfong Lee will be the moderator. The North Shore Writers’ Fest takes place at the North Vancouver City… Read More