tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56946039153966693962024-03-15T21:09:20.608-04:00Writing Fiction & Nonfiction Set in the PastOfficial blog for historical novelist Nancy Bilyeau, author of the Joanna Stafford trilogy, Dreamland, The Blue, and The Orchid HourNancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-92077203730901573342023-12-15T10:58:00.003-05:002023-12-16T10:48:12.617-05:00A Gilded Age Christmas Ghost Story<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Inspired by my lifelong love of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and my more recent interest in the Morgan Library in New York, I wrote <i>The Ghost of Madison Avenue</i>, a novella set in 1912 NYC.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBv1RWInx6eG_C3mqRnrD3Xce3uHv1lOBFmXmPwfT43ud9y-d8b6Y4hVll4PWWA-NurfeL5rHLemvT-hnuVQHxkv74zqKemil__wdNFmxJlQMcYfdTa2C4tJxRi1VlSUsFzNI2-wYfVJzGP2V7QmXs5Yowi33uJd1Z_kvXCzd6CFVWh-kpVkQyVI4bY8/s1000/ghostsmadisonave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBv1RWInx6eG_C3mqRnrD3Xce3uHv1lOBFmXmPwfT43ud9y-d8b6Y4hVll4PWWA-NurfeL5rHLemvT-hnuVQHxkv74zqKemil__wdNFmxJlQMcYfdTa2C4tJxRi1VlSUsFzNI2-wYfVJzGP2V7QmXs5Yowi33uJd1Z_kvXCzd6CFVWh-kpVkQyVI4bY8/s320/ghostsmadisonave.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />I'd always loved a Christmas ghost story. Much of the novella takes place at J. P. Morgan’s Library, at Madison and 36th Street, one of my favorite haunts (so to speak!) in New York City. In 1912, it was not a museum — it was where financier Morgan spent much of his time, as did his brilliant head librarian, Belle da Costa Greene. After I wrote this in 2019, I was excited to see an explosion of interest in Belle, such as the 2021 historical novel <i>The Personal Librarian.</i></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />But one of my other chief motivations was to tell the story of an Irish-American family. My main character, Helen O'Neill, is a young widow with certain gifts that she herself doesn't understand. I've dedicated this novella to my mother, whose maiden name was Mary Elizabeth O'Neill. She grew up in Chicago, not New York. But in both places, the Irish experience is a rich, textured, dramatic one. It was wonderful to write about it!</span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mariah Fredericks, author of <i>The Lindbergh Nanny</i> and the upcoming <i>The Wharton Plot</i>, said about the novella:</span></p><blockquote>"The Gilded Age splendors of the Morgan Library come to life in this wonderful, warm-hearted tale of Christmases past, present, and future. Bilyeau weaves a wealth of gorgeous period detail into her ghost story of old New York, delivering genuine chills, family drama, and poignant romance with equal skill. A gorgeous holiday treat!"</blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">So if you're in the mood to read a Christmas ghost story, think of mine!</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">You can order it as an ebook or as a paperback on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Madison-Avenue-Novella-ebook/dp/B082LXJ8X8/">Amazon</a>. It is also available through <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ghost-of-madison-avenue-nancy-bilyeau/1135668661">Barnes & Noble</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ghost-of-madison-avenue-a-novella-nancy-bilyeau/13793914?ean=9781674496436">Bookshop.org</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are some photos of the Morgan Library today. Isn't it the perfect place to set a story?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kX5LeTKI99tCaquXQN_t0FeaF_JLfhp9U1LlTMzB8POOZl8gTFYXurlFDRKoOAYcOGbrwNn0lqMLC3p6DCerOxdq7sA4GHdKAUOm1ExJ21KnCccfDuAmLxBWwCSdo91_J4WNN57FNpPlcdrWfx08u2FPFr2QVFsx9A3zDF3rizEZfGZsCwgc_SoMlKI/s1461/5-Pierpont-Morgans-Library_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1461" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kX5LeTKI99tCaquXQN_t0FeaF_JLfhp9U1LlTMzB8POOZl8gTFYXurlFDRKoOAYcOGbrwNn0lqMLC3p6DCerOxdq7sA4GHdKAUOm1ExJ21KnCccfDuAmLxBWwCSdo91_J4WNN57FNpPlcdrWfx08u2FPFr2QVFsx9A3zDF3rizEZfGZsCwgc_SoMlKI/s320/5-Pierpont-Morgans-Library_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrE0zc6x42vp1zIO-dXH_3pNThKRNe1Uj1xmzOrdq12867jQ92rg7jaoViEA6ppYCjeLkTkhGzk4wVbdfBT8V7kgbADOgifVj9zKpnJQnkm8qT-PMjfq29geQZYNiQsbhD81Gyw-ce9btiAogEQQyGfMEBPJHxu7uY-j7Hyv9nOKnaJuAz5WWYKpwd-k/s1000/1-Pierpont-Morgans-Study_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="708" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrE0zc6x42vp1zIO-dXH_3pNThKRNe1Uj1xmzOrdq12867jQ92rg7jaoViEA6ppYCjeLkTkhGzk4wVbdfBT8V7kgbADOgifVj9zKpnJQnkm8qT-PMjfq29geQZYNiQsbhD81Gyw-ce9btiAogEQQyGfMEBPJHxu7uY-j7Hyv9nOKnaJuAz5WWYKpwd-k/s320/1-Pierpont-Morgans-Study_2.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Have a wonderful holiday...</span></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-54721451876952488842023-10-17T18:48:00.006-04:002023-10-18T16:36:46.245-04:00My Tudor Novels The Crown and The Chalice, Part Two!By Nancy Bilyeau<div><br />My 2012 debut novel, <i>The Crown</i>, was set in Tudor-era England with a Dominican novice, Joanna Stafford, as the protagonist. The historical thriller found readers in the United States and United Kingdom as well as other markets worldwide, from Germany to Spain to Russia. I followed it with <i>The Chalice</i> and, finally, <i>The Tapestry</i>.<br /><br />I'm pleased to report that <a href="https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/">Orion Publishing</a>, the respected house that put out my Joanna Stafford novels in the UK and Australia, is publishing <i>The Crown</i> and <i>The Chalice</i> with new covers to bring them to the attention of readers who might not have discovered the novels the first time.<div><br /></div><div>Aren't these covers fantastic?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7yoVtUjQ8qqVEs4hHZatJav1YyXLCTQtVi00579SfiOmH4MCkdhMxHuBBDdV8d3EtsKyWMCjANIMe0b9fmhv4LguakP2flx5hmm1vZtayI9mdfSq25O5lE6UzPP45mWeQz72Ok9hHwMxiIIE0boYMaGxL8DezL6LZfbeqZmrbScQRQ5q-O4yyCnDwJw/s2000/N.%20Bilyeau%20Blog%20Post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="2000" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7yoVtUjQ8qqVEs4hHZatJav1YyXLCTQtVi00579SfiOmH4MCkdhMxHuBBDdV8d3EtsKyWMCjANIMe0b9fmhv4LguakP2flx5hmm1vZtayI9mdfSq25O5lE6UzPP45mWeQz72Ok9hHwMxiIIE0boYMaGxL8DezL6LZfbeqZmrbScQRQ5q-O4yyCnDwJw/s320/N.%20Bilyeau%20Blog%20Post.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><p>When <i>The Crown</i> first came out, it was dubbed by <i>Oprah</i> magazine "the Page-Turner You'll Tear Through." The review said: "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: museo_slab;">Bilyeau deftly weaves extensive historical detail throughout, but the real draw of this suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy, and betrayal."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: museo_slab;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Authors who endorsed the book included:</p><br />Alison Weir: “A stunning debut. One of the best historical novels I have ever read.”<br /><br />Deborah Harkness: "Nancy Bilyeau's polished, inventive debut has all the ingredients of the best historical fiction: a broad cast of characters, well-imagined settings, and vivid story-telling. . . . In Joanna Stafford, Bilyeau has given us a memorable character who is prepared to risk her life to save what she most values, while Stafford's desperate search for a lost religious relic will satisfy even the most ardent mystery fans."<br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;">As for <i>The Chalice</i>, it won the Romantic Times Award for Best Historical Mystery in 2013.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>The Chalice</i> won praise from:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Elizabeth Fremantle: "THE CHALICE is a gripping, tightly-plotted mystery, with a beguiling heroine at its heart, that vividly conjures up the complex dangers of Reformation England. Bilyeau's deftness of touch and complete control over her complex material make for a truly exciting and compelling read."</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Parade:</i> “English history buffs and mystery fans alike will revel in Nancy Bilyeau's richly detailed sequel to The Crown.”</p><p style="text-align: left;">Historical Novel Society: "Bilyeau continues from her first novel the subtle, complex development of Joanna's character and combines that with a fast-paced, unexpected plot to hold the reader's interest on every page."</p><p style="text-align: left;"> <br />You can pre-order <i>The Crown </i>as a paperback<i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crown-Nancy-Bilyeau/dp/1398718300/ref=sr_1_1?crid=248G6ZWZL4OXN&keywords=the+crown+bilyeau&qid=1697579481&sprefix=the+crown+bilyeau%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-1"> here</a></i> and <i>The Chalice </i>paperback <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chalice-Nancy-Bilyeau/dp/1398718319/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37UF9L84RJC1O&keywords=the+chalice+bilyeau&qid=1697579538&sprefix=the+chalice+bilyeau%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1">here</a>.</i> This is for the UK market only.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">In America, the novels with their original covers are very much on sale. I still get royalties every year for <i>The Crown</i>! You can find the trilogy in audiobook, paperback, hardback, and ebook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crown-Joanna-Stafford-Book-ebook/dp/B004U7GIQO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QZIF5G2ALPCA&keywords=the+crown+bilyeau&qid=1697579389&sprefix=the+crown+bilyeau%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1">here</a>.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I loved writing these books and hope new readers will discover Sister Joanna...</p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-56765771503283425612023-09-22T09:11:00.011-04:002023-09-22T09:22:08.642-04:00Publisher Discount for The Orchid Hour<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For the next week, my historical novel <i>The Orchid Hour </i>will be priced at 99 cents for the ebook in the United States and the United Kingdom.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To order it, click <a href="http://geni.us/TheOrchidHourNB">here</a>.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibAh0zS7QqMaUo9nVeGJNoHqZORwmzyH2EzAn93A6NncwzoApN5OK8dg7WTa-w7cJYN1_A1W6aG98NUXc-kGxHkzbNH9JRWd7C5Jj45is_8ji8-h0Sd2q5tsf6nnHXVRcC0Wak7V1ofzRolGOcjxq76ag_AE32Flj2II1zZQ5q7jR8Fo9g3d5Mwb2lrs/s1080/Final%20Orchid%20Hour%20IG%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibAh0zS7QqMaUo9nVeGJNoHqZORwmzyH2EzAn93A6NncwzoApN5OK8dg7WTa-w7cJYN1_A1W6aG98NUXc-kGxHkzbNH9JRWd7C5Jj45is_8ji8-h0Sd2q5tsf6nnHXVRcC0Wak7V1ofzRolGOcjxq76ag_AE32Flj2II1zZQ5q7jR8Fo9g3d5Mwb2lrs/s320/Final%20Orchid%20Hour%20IG%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />I'm thrilled with the response to my novel!<br /><br /><i>Publishers Weekly</i> gave it a starred review and said: "Bilyeau paints a vivid portrait of 1923 New York City—particularly its insular Italian community, alluring speakeasies, and Prohibition-fueled organized crime—in this impeccably researched historical mystery...brilliantly evokes the intoxicating grit and glamour of Jazz Age Manhattan and layers a smooth blend of suspense and romance on top. Historical mystery fans will find this irresistible."<br /><br />On Amazon, <i>The Orchid Hour</i> has a 4.4 rating among readers.<br /><br />The endorsements from other authors include:</span><br /><br />"With a heroine you can’t help rooting for, a fascinating cast of characters, and a tense, high-<br />stakes mystery at its heart, this is a book you can’t stop reading." -- Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of <i>One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow</i><br /><br /><br />“Nancy Bilyeau draws you effortlessly into a layered story, rich in historical detail, with a strong, intelligent, determined heroine at its center. I loved Zia from page one.” – Barbara Claypole White, author of <i>The Perfect Son</i><br /><br /><br />“The structure of the story races you through it at breakneck speed. It is a hard book to put down, and all the time, there are so many threads binding the story together that the story is like an orchid and its roots.” – Griff Hosker, author of <i>Hastings</i>, <i>Flodden</i>, and <i>Lord Edward’s Archer </i>series<br /><br /><br />“Nancy Bilyeau has created a beautifully layered and utterly seductive tale of a young woman’s emotional awakening and search for justice, set against the dangerous criminal world of the 1920s New York City underground. The past comes thrillingly alive as Bilyeau lifts the veil on immigrant communities, speakeasies, gangsters, corruption at the highest levels of city government, and, at its living, tender heart, a strong-willed and magnetic heroine.”<br />—Emilya Naymark, author of <i>Behind the Lie</i>, finalist for the 2023 Sue Grafton Award<br /><br /><br /><div>"The Orchid Hour... reeks with the smell of lasagna in Little Italy, the smell of cheap gin in a 1920s speakeasy, and most importantly and most delicately with the scent of orchids at midnight... her best by far, and she'd already set a high bar." - Timothy Miller, author of <i>The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle</i><div><br /><br />"Nancy Bilyeau has become my go-to author for brilliantly written historical suspense... Read it and be seduced." - Kris Waldherr, author of <i>Unnatural Creatures </i>and <i>The Lost History of Dreams</i><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p>It has a 4.4 reader rating right now on Amazon. </p></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-45889823119449154282023-09-12T07:59:00.001-04:002023-09-12T07:59:23.601-04:00Guest Post: Crystal King's Renaissance Recipe & Book Giveaway<div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background: white; color: #202020;">Crystal King, a talented historical novelist who also
published with my former imprint, Touchstone, wrote an exclusive article for my
newsletter subscribers that shares a recipe! Crystal’s historical fiction is
set in Italy. 'The Chef’s Secret' unfolds during the
Renaissance. As my new novel 'The Orchid Hour' revolves around
an Italian-American heroine, I was thrilled at the prospect of her writing up a
recipe for an Italian ring-shaped cake </span><span style="background: white; color: #202020;">😊My newsletter went out to my subscribers on 9/11. And today I'm sharing this as a guest post on my blog.</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background: white; color: #202020;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background: white; color: #202020;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gL3YB3DRSzu3aR9bqnB9INxumVjFyoyQoyugxVqZl31KUWsm--MaltRbHjuxz65G1bH1fQ2Yk09_mAQYbX0ZCW57ESxafToLRlGkzx5KJCMvtKCNu2iTlB0RVdmYz02k413hTHK0VdyT7s43_gH_ARgR0lac24RgdMAOnzpdIVH5hg50ignZWaiGIII/s225/crystal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gL3YB3DRSzu3aR9bqnB9INxumVjFyoyQoyugxVqZl31KUWsm--MaltRbHjuxz65G1bH1fQ2Yk09_mAQYbX0ZCW57ESxafToLRlGkzx5KJCMvtKCNu2iTlB0RVdmYz02k413hTHK0VdyT7s43_gH_ARgR0lac24RgdMAOnzpdIVH5hg50ignZWaiGIII/s1600/crystal.jpg" width="225" /></a></div></span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>Hi all! </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="background: white;">Like Nancy, I also write historical fiction. I
have focused on historical chefs and Italian culinary figures who left behind
cookbooks or manuals of stewardship that laid the foundation of the Italian
cuisine we know and love today. My most recent novel, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://geni.us/TheChefsSecret"><i><span style="background: white; color: #007c89; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;">The Chef’s Secret</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">, is about the first celebrity chef, Bartolomeo Scappi,
known throughout Italy and possibly all of Europe for his grand banquets. His
cookbook, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://geni.us/GQhZi"><i><span style="background: white; color: #007c89; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;">L’Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">, contains over 1,000 recipes, including some of the first
pasta dishes, hundreds of meat and fish recipes, and dozens upon dozens of
delicious recipes for pies and pastries. It was published in 1577 and was a
bestseller for nearly two centuries. </span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background: white;">I love writing about Italian culinary figures
(my first novel, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://geni.us/FeastOfSorrow"><i><span style="background: white; color: #007c89; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;">Feast
of Sorrow</span></i></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">, was about Apicius, an ancient Roman
gourmand), and with that comes the opportunity to dive deep into these
historical cookbooks to recreate the meals of the past. </span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Today I’m sharing a recipe from Book V.148
of <i>L’Opera di Bartolomeo Scappi. </i>You may have heard that
bagels originated with Polish Jews in the 17th century, but in Italy, <i>ciambelle</i> had
been around for at least a century or two before. A <i>ciambella </i>is
essentially a form of what we know as a bagel, dough that is boiled and then
baked, and, by the 1600s, <i>ciambelle</i> vendors were common on the
streets of many Italian cities. <i>Ciambelle </i>are still popular in
Italy today, and many Italian American households will recognize a version of
this recipe or the very similar but much harder, <i>taralli, </i>as a
staple at their table. You’ll also see the term <i>ciambelle</i> to
refer to sweet ring-shaped cookies or cakes, which emerged over the
centuries. </span><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background: white;">It was common to see <i>ciambelle venditore</i> on
foot, such as this seller, who carried the crunchy but soft rounds of bread on
sticks in his basket. </span><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhyx8-fzqC_n-WWYQTSXp9B_AWsS7CMpkKsrQ15JXNHgX7Cq4TnBCifZndOz_10eGSCRB1NlV4_-Is6qwCQU-mrIfHkrHax7bLS375K2R_sn3eaU_VQP_9rtWOM5LHSwcbNJzCY6MHLjC7qXBBdF_qONqrS58k4FH-qiCYMY55UXGOURL_N3K8mo7GJ8/s270/renaissance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="187" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhyx8-fzqC_n-WWYQTSXp9B_AWsS7CMpkKsrQ15JXNHgX7Cq4TnBCifZndOz_10eGSCRB1NlV4_-Is6qwCQU-mrIfHkrHax7bLS375K2R_sn3eaU_VQP_9rtWOM5LHSwcbNJzCY6MHLjC7qXBBdF_qONqrS58k4FH-qiCYMY55UXGOURL_N3K8mo7GJ8/s1600/renaissance.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">This recipe tries to stay true to Scappi’s but,
to give it a little oomph, I did include yeast. If you’re not a fan or can’t
find any, you can leave out the rosewater and use plain water, but you’ll lose
the distinct Renaissance flavor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 20.65pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />
<i>Ciambelle</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">Note:</span></b><span style="background: white;"> When
buying rose water, make sure that you are not buying rose essence, which might
be labeled as rose water but comes in a brown bottle. Buy clear tall bottles of
rose water such as Cortas or Al Wadi. </span><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span><br />
<i><span style="background: white;">Makes 8 large (6 inch) ciambelle</span></i><br />
<span style="background: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background: white;">4 c. flour</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">1 packet of active dry yeast </span><br />
<span style="background: white;">¼ cup and 1 tbsp sugar</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">2 tsp rosewater</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">1 ¼ cup goat milk (or substitute whole
milk)</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">2 beaten eggs</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">1 tbsp anise or fennel seeds</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">1/2 tsp salt</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Warm goat milk to room temperature (use a microwave or stovetop if
you like but do not let it get too hot), add the sugar and yeast, and let
it sit till bubbly.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Mix rosewater and eggs together then add the bubbly yeast mixture
and combine. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Mix fennel seeds into the flour, then form a well on the countertop.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Add egg and yeast mixture to the center of the flour well, then
slowly mix the edges of the flour into the liquid, combining with your
fingers until a dough is formed. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Knead well, then set aside the dough, covered with a clean towel, to
rise for 20 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Divide the dough into 8 even parts. You don’t want the dough to rise
again, so work with the dough immediately, do not set aside.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Roll the 8 dough sections into ropes, twist them, and form into
large rings, approximately 5-6 inches wide, pinching the ends together. If
you like, you can divide each section in half, form two ropes and then
twist the ropes together before forming a ring, but you’ll need to roll
the ropes much thinner. Lay the rings on a clean towel or a heavily
floured surface to prevent them from sticking while you make additional
rings.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Put the rings one or two at a time into the pot of boiling water.
Make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. They will rise to the top right
away. Flip them over and let them boil for one minute. Remove them from
the water with a slotted spoon and place on an oiled baking sheet.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Sprinkle with additional anise or fennel seeds if desired.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #202020; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Bake in a 375-degree oven for 40-50 minutes or until golden
brown. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> These are best eaten right away but will keep in an
airtight container for a week, or you can freeze them and they will keep for a
month.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltB_iMAaXI7IWL-CGn3nDf4gHYC2qo2PC6Dz6bvas4M3PufyGkoU3ojrW6lABLS0qQXxpLUzmgy6-a-47vrQ9fjUVfn-BzpMWuIcdzejpnSBVPGW2Z9dWBLBXnlF4IsAwrBfGJtB7qDdEIEa1Aonxua4NA1VcZ_Xap-WrDpkbQiDaIJUCsVMDLSPwYbA/s400/the-chefs-secret-9781501196423_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltB_iMAaXI7IWL-CGn3nDf4gHYC2qo2PC6Dz6bvas4M3PufyGkoU3ojrW6lABLS0qQXxpLUzmgy6-a-47vrQ9fjUVfn-BzpMWuIcdzejpnSBVPGW2Z9dWBLBXnlF4IsAwrBfGJtB7qDdEIEa1Aonxua4NA1VcZ_Xap-WrDpkbQiDaIJUCsVMDLSPwYbA/s320/the-chefs-secret-9781501196423_lg.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Doesn’t this sound scrumptious? If you would
like a giveaway paperback of <i>The Chef’s Secret</i>, please email me at </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="mailto:tudorscribe@gmail.com"><span style="background: white; color: #007c89; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;">tudorscribe@gmail.com</span></a>,</span><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> and I will pick a winner.
Crystal will mail the book to your home. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And put Crystal's next novel on
your radar: <i>In the Garden of Monsters</i>, pitched as a Gothic
retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone, coming in 2024.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-44063848181913078762023-08-10T07:19:00.007-04:002023-08-10T07:44:33.912-04:00My Jazz Age Novel Is on Sale Today!<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The Orchid Hour finds its place in the world today, and I feel proud and happy. Not that there haven't been bumps and setbacks on the road to publication. There have. And I expect more to come. But I worked hard on writing the book while taking great pleasure in doing the research. It was difficult and fun at the same time. What more can you ask for in writing fiction?</span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljs2FDnyxvHishlhrB37cItbArBRJ4huegqQdcZ8l5dqlEjdCLeeR-Bv1ueSUCoVr_eN4aYnr7MqVCeHcW9HW7C9LTtSklWV_r0wcQhAQVTZJwCjwYtXlLBWPWKIMbiJbLbSrAw2AkpsckNzsXK8KxxfOi-1Jv6V_6Ip9JmlV0aKE6y5TnnypOGCogjw/s1080/PUB%20DATE%20PB%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljs2FDnyxvHishlhrB37cItbArBRJ4huegqQdcZ8l5dqlEjdCLeeR-Bv1ueSUCoVr_eN4aYnr7MqVCeHcW9HW7C9LTtSklWV_r0wcQhAQVTZJwCjwYtXlLBWPWKIMbiJbLbSrAw2AkpsckNzsXK8KxxfOi-1Jv6V_6Ip9JmlV0aKE6y5TnnypOGCogjw/s320/PUB%20DATE%20PB%20.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Now the story can be enjoyed as a paperback, an ebook, or an audiobook in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The Amazon link is <a href="https://geni.us/TheOrchidHourNB">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">For other links, go <a href="https://nancybilyeau.com/novels/the-orchid-hour/">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);">“Bilyeau brilliantly evokes the intoxicating grit and glamour of Jazz Age Manhattan and layers a smooth blend of suspense and romance on top. Historical mystery fans will find this irresistible.”</span><br style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);">—</span><em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); box-sizing: inherit;">Publishers Weekly</em><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);">, Starred Review </span><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">"A gloriously heady and intimate tale of love, loss, and family, set within one of the most fascinating periods of the 20th century." -- LoveReadingUK</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><p style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Featured in <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Town and Country</em>‘s “Must-Read Books of Summer 2023”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">"From the family shops of Little Italy to the bright lights of Dreamland, Nancy Bilyeau takes you on a glittering tour of a bygone New York… " </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">– Mariah Fredericks, author of </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic;">The Lindbergh Nanny</span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">"This is a novel redolent with sensuality, intrigue, and suspense. If you like Agatha Christie, you will love The Orchid Hour." -- Paulette Kennedy, author of </span>Parting the Veil <span style="font-style: normal;">and </span>The Witch of Tin Mountain</span></span></em></p><p style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: normal;">'Nancy Bilyeau has created a beautifully layered and utterly seductive tale… and, at its living, tender heart, a strong-willed and magnetic heroine.'</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: normal;"> – Emilya Naymark, author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Behind the Lie</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: normal;">, finalist for the 2023 Sue Grafton Award<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></span></em></p><p style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: normal;">"Evokes the Jazz Age at its hottest" --Richie Narvaez, author of </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Hipster Death Rattle</span></span></em></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">"Nancy Bilyeau has become my go-to author for brilliantly written historical suspense... Read it and be seduced." - Kris Waldherr, author of </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Unnatural Creatures</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> and </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Lost History of Dreams</span></span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">With a heroine you can’t help rooting for, a fascinating cast of characters, and a tense, high-stakes mystery at its heart, this is a book you can’t stop reading.' </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">– Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic;">One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow</span></span></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><span style="color: #1e1915;">"Nancy Bilyeau draws you effortlessly into a layered story, rich in historical detail, with a strong, intelligent, determined heroine at its center. </span><span style="color: #1e1915;">I loved Zia from page one."--Barbara Claypole White, author of <i>The Perfect Son</i></span></span></span></div><p><span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></span><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">'</span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-style: italic;">The Orchid Hour</span><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">… reeks with the smell of lasagna in Little Italy, the smell of cheap gin in a 1920s speakeasy, and most importantly and most delicately with the scent of orchids at midnight… her best by far, and she’d already set a high bar.' </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">– Timothy Miller, author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-style: italic;">The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle</span></span></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-33446948358572407162023-08-09T08:21:00.005-04:002023-08-09T13:10:26.048-04:00The Hidden Street I Chose for The Orchid Hour<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">And now I’d like to take you behind the scenes of my writing process and explain my choice of a location for my fictional nightclub, The Orchid Hour. Some of the best-known clubs of the Roaring Twenties were either in midtown (The El Fey Club) or Harlem (The Cotton Club). I contributed a guest post to author Tony Riche’s blog on Times Square of the 1920s. <a href="https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/2023/08/special-guest-post-by-nancy-bilyeau.html" style="color: #007c89; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">Read it here.</a><br /><br />But in certain ways, I wanted to model my nightclub on Chumley’s, a real-life speakeasy in the West Village. While it was favored by literary stars like Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Eugene O’Neill, it was carefully hidden. Its Barrow Street entrance was located at the end of a nondescript courtyard, and the Bedford Street entrance to Chumley’s was an unmarked door. After all, the whole point was to hide their drinking from the police!<br /><br />For <em>The Orchid Hour</em>, I wanted to pick a place closer to the main part of Greenwich Village but on a little-known street. So I settled on MacDougal Alley. It’s a cul-de-sac that runs east off MacDougal Street in the block between West 8th Street and Waverly Place. People who love Greenwich Village history cherish MacDougal Alley.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnImageBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnImageBlockInner" style="padding: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnImageContent" style="padding: 0px 9px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><img align="center" alt="" class="mcnImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/90e5e01d8ab171760071be77b/images/964b8a3a-5ba7-453a-29e3-d29cab6647aa.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 500px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="420" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top">Named after a Scotsman who was a hero of the Revolutionary War, the alley was home to the stables for the great townhouses along Washington Square North beginning in the 1830s. Despite its proximity to people who would have felt comfortable in a Henry James novel, the alley was in an area considered unsafe. The newspapers complained that this part of the city was “in the nighttime infested with base and unprincipled persons, who take advantage of the darkness in consequence of the dense foliage of the trees and the dimness of the ordinary street oil lamps to perpetrate acts of violence.” When gas lamps were installed in 1849, there was some relief.<br /><br />MacDougal Alley is technically a “mews,” which means it’s a row or street of houses or apartments that have been converted from stables. Around the time that horses were replaced by automobiles, MacDougal Alley became a beacon to artists, perhaps drawn by the ivy-covered brick walls and the gas lamps. Many of the buildings were turned into artists’ studios.<br /><br /> Here are just a few of the people who lived off MacDougal Alley:<ul><li style="text-size-adjust: 100%;">Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who founded the Whitney Museum of American Art, had a studio on the alley, prompting horrified headlines such as "Daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt Will Live in Dingy New York Alley.”</li><li style="text-size-adjust: 100%;">A beautiful artist’s model and silent film actress named Audrey Marie Munson dubbed “American Venus” lived there around 1915. As one newspaper put it: “ ‘Venus of MacDougal Alley,’ Whose Beauty Is Embalmed in a Thousand Sculptures.” Later a man would murder his wife in hopes of marrying Munson and that dimmed her career.</li><li style="text-size-adjust: 100%;">Isamu Noguchi, after a stay in a Japanese internment camp in Arizona, moved to a home and studio number 33. Some of his best-known works, a series of interlocking sculptures begun in 1944, were created here. </li><li style="text-size-adjust: 100%;">From 1949 to 1950, Jackson Pollock lived at number 9.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdee7D7z5x9jxXEHKSoIhveoPAnVKRSs_OIeP1DwY63nj8NdUfnII4fQWV6x74NFRweH98mUYxAPMxheXABuiv2WWEODicqlMFRje1UAAVMnWZpEPgPcVgNrPQJ5edVZW_8XetpuV3eOZirjvB3GTDIMo1eyOHaEZgzEQY_w2yYVsKNpN3TRTWhpNRVRU/s9128/Munson,_Audrey,_Miss,_with_Buzzer_the_cat,_portrait_photograph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="9128" data-original-width="6948" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdee7D7z5x9jxXEHKSoIhveoPAnVKRSs_OIeP1DwY63nj8NdUfnII4fQWV6x74NFRweH98mUYxAPMxheXABuiv2WWEODicqlMFRje1UAAVMnWZpEPgPcVgNrPQJ5edVZW_8XetpuV3eOZirjvB3GTDIMo1eyOHaEZgzEQY_w2yYVsKNpN3TRTWhpNRVRU/w153-h200/Munson,_Audrey,_Miss,_with_Buzzer_the_cat,_portrait_photograph.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey Marie Munson</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReLgxHXsRsbyA2MMdPF2YsenAPMbhExE5lxJFYBFEeWKqlWYY5NzMFKZ332KjWZ_OYU97o5Zc5cmK6i0CdM595kQR34yDSkzes4QyGUzEHiDhIdLLh6JwYYzpwR_gMN2e_uIM6Gm-lxinOwJSWSW2RHYGjWgLrwSWtlX44nUuOIA_dC37Z153FzjONMU/s252/Gertrude_Vanderbilt_Whitney_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="205" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReLgxHXsRsbyA2MMdPF2YsenAPMbhExE5lxJFYBFEeWKqlWYY5NzMFKZ332KjWZ_OYU97o5Zc5cmK6i0CdM595kQR34yDSkzes4QyGUzEHiDhIdLLh6JwYYzpwR_gMN2e_uIM6Gm-lxinOwJSWSW2RHYGjWgLrwSWtlX44nUuOIA_dC37Z153FzjONMU/w163-h200/Gertrude_Vanderbilt_Whitney_1920.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gertrude Whitney in studio</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>What’s MacDougal Alley like now? The cobblestones were paved over, and at some point it became a private street, locked to the public, although you can peer through the gates and see its charm. The homes are very expensive. One of the properties sold for $5 million in 2009. I must admit that whenever I wander past, I hope that someone will take note of my interest and beckon.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">My novel </span><a href="https://geni.us/TheOrchidHourNB " style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">The Orchid Hour</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"> will be published on August 10th.</span></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnImageBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnImageBlockInner" style="padding: 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img align="center" alt="" class="mcnImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/90e5e01d8ab171760071be77b/images/429c3dd5-8cbc-7870-6f49-3b468cf5bb59.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 350px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="287" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stopped for a peek March 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjU6FZ9p185ehdiP_NJSDcda7CrcX_nIouL9-C7GQSakogiHm3pFsWOp6Qdnr-fYIgSOeILLeXDR1niro8jL5e8vOFkna6E3oo6He5WG9vtBXiOxpUuhu58LA8VzZRTTSuQ1B3IJ-wr19zIN_Y0y7oKYsufHSqZVRnf8m26G-RT9c2TGjgIElrjKO754/s754/NYC.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="658" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjU6FZ9p185ehdiP_NJSDcda7CrcX_nIouL9-C7GQSakogiHm3pFsWOp6Qdnr-fYIgSOeILLeXDR1niro8jL5e8vOFkna6E3oo6He5WG9vtBXiOxpUuhu58LA8VzZRTTSuQ1B3IJ-wr19zIN_Y0y7oKYsufHSqZVRnf8m26G-RT9c2TGjgIElrjKO754/w279-h395/NYC.png" width="279" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MacDougal Alley</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"></tbody></table>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-40357773273591639272023-08-02T11:18:00.007-04:002023-08-02T11:19:45.882-04:00Review of the Medieval Historical Novel "Hastings"<p><span style="font-size: large;">Hastings, by Griff Hosker</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Review by Nancy Bilyeau</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like many other people, I have always perceived
William the Conqueror and his Norman army as a menacing and relentless invading
force that squashed the Saxons through overwhelming brute force rather than following
up on a legal right to succession.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Griff Hosker’s novel <i>Hastings </i>at first glance, may
look like an interesting take on the traditional view of 1066. It is subtitled “Conquest:
Book 1” with the cover message “The Battle That Changed Everything.” This is a
book coming to 1066 from a Norman perspective.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I knew that with Hosker, I would get a deeply researched and
authentic medieval-age story. He has written historical novels spanning the
Roman era to World War II, with my favorite series being the Lord Edward’s
Archer books set in 13th-century Wales and England.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I wasn’t ready for in <i>Hastings</i> were the emotional
stakes of the story, which soon captured me. The protagonist, Richard fitz
Malet, is a man with a complicated family background living in a complicated time of constantly shifting alliances. His father was a Norman
knight, Lord Robert Malet, but his mother was English. She was the young daughter
of an English housecarl, a bodyguard who served Lord Robert when he came to
England. Seduced and swiftly discarded, she gave birth to an illegitimate son
that the Norman family reluctantly raises, but at a distance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7DOEw1VzTT6H-VltCz_o5KpdEElKx_0D_c1h4Yd-Gfs73mStFwKIKNy6L4MkMzQbzHuJJnX_wMc3FNeH2I3IDSCG6QMrcTvBUt-jRjhCD2gbX1KHv1WO5zlFValtgG_UyWU_vDD834ZLyhdxBtpmGCCG4y80shNozyVks8LbmdmudBZn0VAZ0QgTCkU/s275/hastings.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7DOEw1VzTT6H-VltCz_o5KpdEElKx_0D_c1h4Yd-Gfs73mStFwKIKNy6L4MkMzQbzHuJJnX_wMc3FNeH2I3IDSCG6QMrcTvBUt-jRjhCD2gbX1KHv1WO5zlFValtgG_UyWU_vDD834ZLyhdxBtpmGCCG4y80shNozyVks8LbmdmudBZn0VAZ0QgTCkU/w266-h400/hastings.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are enormous tensions springing from the circumstances
of Richard’s birth. His grandfather resents the seduction of his daughter,
which ruined her for marriage and broke her health, leading to an early death.
Richard learns conversational English from his grandfather, the only loving
family he has, which will prove crucial in later chapters. As his grandfather is
responsible for teaching warrior skills and weaponry handling to the boys of
the large household, he pays special attention to the training of his grandson.
As he tells Richard, the Normans see the English as inferior and Richard is
intended to live as a bodyguard of his half-brothers, inherently disposable. He
needs the finest warrior skills obtainable in order to stay alive.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Thanks to my grandfather, I never felt myself a Norman,”
Richard tells the reader. But throughout his childhood and young manhood, he absorbs
Norman standards of manhood and strengths in warfare. He respects those strengths,
which made the Normans a feared group throughout Europe. However, his emotional
loyalty is to his grandfather and the friends he makes himself, and later to
warriors who go out of their way to look out for him, as opposed to seeing him
as nothing but a human shield.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is a great deal of tense and absorbing drama in
Richard’s changing position as he slowly transforms from ignored bastard son
of an obscure English girl to a formidable warrior. The Malet family is not wholly
proud of those skills, especially his nasty half-brother Durand. Because Richard
is not one of the “important” legitimate brothers, and these knights, squires,
and housecarls often plunge into deadly conflicts, it’s by no means a certainty
to the reader that Richard will escape from any encounter unscathed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In these encounters, Hosker’s ability to describe battles--both
the “big picture” and the reality of up-close fighting between men grimly trying
to kill each other—really shines. He knows every detail of the weapons and
armory. Those curious about William the Conqueror will find fascinating
descriptions of his court and his trips to England with Richard in his retinue.
These trips were diplomatic for the most part, and I was surprised by how close
he was to the childless King Edward. Duke William’s claim to succeed to the
English throne is outlined well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Richard fitz Malet is more than a proficient warrior and a feared athletic combatant in a time of fierce war. He is someone of deep loyalty.
While he has a good heart, there is a simmering bitterness inside Richard. I am
eager to see where the next novels in Hosker’s series take this engaging
protagonist.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To learn more about Hosker, go here: <a href="https://www.griffhosker.com/">https://www.griffhosker.com/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hastings on amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hastings-Conquest-Book-Griff-Hosker-ebook/dp/B0C1NMYX78/">https://www.amazon.com/Hastings-Conquest-Book-Griff-Hosker-ebook/dp/B0C1NMYX78/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-76717703486775244482023-07-24T08:41:00.002-04:002023-07-24T08:41:57.334-04:00A Goodreads Giveaway of The Orchid Hour<p> From July 15 to July 31, Goodreads is offering a giveaway of my historical novel, THE ORCHID HOUR. Twenty ebooks will be given away to the winners.</p><p>To enter the Goodreads giveaway, click <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/369156-the-orchid-hour">here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx4cY-PqZG4eak_V6pqNbs93S1e6vh4BQDwE799MkA9ca0iJGl2UlBZemXfL4Mn8UYrfayCye4qcUSXmAv_Opmd5TJK8L4M3BfUFdkXJxcSZ-Q0Nuv1MRwKg8vJ45Nn_6f_OOdSDvVL0u-tTz6Q0oKSnRMmHFl2N7q1sMg52qscTALcGdJGoNxfQrErg/s2338/The%20Orchid%20Hour%20cover%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx4cY-PqZG4eak_V6pqNbs93S1e6vh4BQDwE799MkA9ca0iJGl2UlBZemXfL4Mn8UYrfayCye4qcUSXmAv_Opmd5TJK8L4M3BfUFdkXJxcSZ-Q0Nuv1MRwKg8vJ45Nn_6f_OOdSDvVL0u-tTz6Q0oKSnRMmHFl2N7q1sMg52qscTALcGdJGoNxfQrErg/s320/The%20Orchid%20Hour%20cover%20(1).jpg" width="209" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">The early reviews of my novel are in!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700;">'With a heroine you can’t help rooting for, a fascinating cast of characters, and a tense, high-stakes mystery at its heart, this is a book you can’t stop reading.' </span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">– Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700;">'From the family shops of Little Italy to the bright lights of Dreamland, Nancy Bilyeau takes you on a glittering tour of a bygone New York…' </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal;">– Mariah Fredericks, author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Lindbergh Nanny</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span>And <i>Publishers Weekly</i> gave the novel a starred review:</div><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"></span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";">Bilyeau (</span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";">The Fugitive Colors</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";">) paints a vivid portrait of 1923 New York City—particularly its insular Italian community, alluring speakeasies, and Prohibition-fueled organized crime—in this impeccably researched historical mystery. Zia De Luca, a 26-year-old widow, lives a dreary life with her in-laws and young son in Little Italy while working as a translator for a branch of the New York Public Library. Shortly after she’s asked by deputy mayor Miles G. Watkins to translate a play by Sicilian author Luigi Pirandello, Watkins is gunned down on the library steps. Due to her recent contact with the politician, Zia becomes NYPD Lt. Frank Hudgins’s primary person of interest in the murder. After a second killing much closer to her home, Zia begins to suspect that the crimes are connected to a mysterious Greenwich Village speakeasy called the Orchid Hour. Seeking answers, she starts hanging around the establishment, eventually falling in love with an employee and tasting her first morsels of happiness since her husband died. Alternating perspectives between Zia, Hudgins, and a mob stooge named Louis, Bilyeau brilliantly evokes the intoxicating grit and glamour of Jazz Age Manhattan and layers a smooth blend of suspense and romance on top. Historical mystery fans will find this irresistible. </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";">(Aug.)</em></blockquote><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #171219; font-family: "Source Serif Pro";"></em><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The Orchid Hour will be published on August 10th!</p><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-78201727813990735832023-03-08T08:55:00.004-05:002023-03-08T08:55:48.765-05:00'The Orchid Hour' Can Be Read on NetGalley<div style="text-align: left;">If you have an account on NetGalley, you can read my summer novel 'The Orchid Hour' now. NetGalley helps book advocates and industry professionals discover and recommend books to their audiences. If you are a bookseller, book trade professional, educator, librarian, reviewer, blogger, journalist or in the media, you can join NetGalley.</div><p>You can find The Orchid Hour <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/283083">here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYnF_y7xUANhCwltUCrzsDMKLAo6c-xJSOPH6_VFMgGSB-KdXW5ZvGmL6MTQtG3DpNnK_hdO-_KPOM-WW_MFb1sC1SyyXEXN6oDTpVqZG1a3jv3d9hzVyQllgu3jOxHAxWSPcggnORzx8ybpxUQ8dT0ZZQo1dwQYuIjG0JhEkjHWt_nK1yMSL2eg2/s1080/Orchid%20Hour_flat%20(square).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYnF_y7xUANhCwltUCrzsDMKLAo6c-xJSOPH6_VFMgGSB-KdXW5ZvGmL6MTQtG3DpNnK_hdO-_KPOM-WW_MFb1sC1SyyXEXN6oDTpVqZG1a3jv3d9hzVyQllgu3jOxHAxWSPcggnORzx8ybpxUQ8dT0ZZQo1dwQYuIjG0JhEkjHWt_nK1yMSL2eg2/s320/Orchid%20Hour_flat%20(square).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Here's the latest review:</p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 14.4px;">"I needed this book as a New Yorker in this post-pandemic world because NYC was, and always will be, heaven on earth. Five out of five stars, as a NYC, murder mystery, and historical fiction lover. From a New Yorker’s perspective, this book is spot on when describing New York City and its famous neighborhoods, love that! The roaring jazz age of the 20’s feels like a fresh timeline when reading historical fiction. I fell in love with the main character Audenzia, right from the start. And I love libraries! So these four things made the book unputdownable for me! It was a slow burn for the first 3 chapters, and by chapter four, the tension was fast-building. My heart was in my throat as the danger got worse, but the book made me smile too, as the Italian accents were perfect. It made the story suspenseful and fun at the same time. I didn’t know what it was like to live in NYC in the 20’s, so I learned a bit as well. The danger and racism at that time was captivating to read about. Watkin’s and Audenzia’s friendship was a joy (and sad) to see develop. The book really pulled together all the many, many details about this murder mystery at the end, it left me very sad when the book was finished, not because of the ending (which was awesome!) but because I wanted the story to go on and on. For me, it was a perfect historical mystery with excellent character development. Thanks to Lume Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I volunteered to read it and give my honest opinions. #TheOrchidHour #NetGalley"</span></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-29468769928905017102023-02-15T07:52:00.003-05:002023-02-15T07:52:17.967-05:00My Historical Novel "The Orchid Hour": On Pre-Order Now<p>I'm happy to present the cover of my new historical novel, THE ORCHID HOUR. It will be published in ebook and original paperback on August 10, 2023. It can be pre-ordered on amazon now. Click <a href="https://geni.us/TOHPre-Order">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPnfDLYZMg2fIpNspVVBIo8SQht_rx6YgZwJy5MF9DiLWvwjgsF4TnpSiP5tCfk-ydhl1pJM-a0klm2cas_fKaYh1pvybTVPp70SiVHkkhPD7VJb2tRLdBXfq_9FiexhSLSWAVSDfcjmpOeYXA5_giK5N4T0PT03XfvouZgfDWc0IGppYB4oVlKW7/s2338/The%20Orchid%20Hour%20cover%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1524" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPnfDLYZMg2fIpNspVVBIo8SQht_rx6YgZwJy5MF9DiLWvwjgsF4TnpSiP5tCfk-ydhl1pJM-a0klm2cas_fKaYh1pvybTVPp70SiVHkkhPD7VJb2tRLdBXfq_9FiexhSLSWAVSDfcjmpOeYXA5_giK5N4T0PT03XfvouZgfDWc0IGppYB4oVlKW7/w261-h400/The%20Orchid%20Hour%20cover%20(1).jpg" width="261" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: 700 !important;">There is a certain hour, in the dead of night, when the orchid’s scent can put you under a spell…</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700 !important;">"Nancy Bilyeau has created a beautifully layered and utterly seductive tale… and, at its living, tender heart, a strong-willed and magnetic heroine."</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"> – Emilya Naymark, author of </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important;">Behind the Lie</span></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: times;">, finalist for the 2023 Sue Grafton Award</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-family: Amazon Ember, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">__________</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-family: times;">In Little Italy, New York, during the heady atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties, a young widow named Zia De Luca finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. Searching for answers, Zia enters the shadowy underworld of speakeasy The Orchid Hour. But to bring the killer to justice, she’ll have to beat notorious racketeers Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano at their own game.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />__________<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700 !important;">Nancy Bilyeau, author of </span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: 700 !important;">The Blue</span><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700 !important;">, returns with a tantalizing novel about one woman caught up in a secret nightclub that one can only reach through a certain florist on a cobblestone street.</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia. After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of The Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now. She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia begins to wonder if she too could rewrite her life’s rules. As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Available in paperback and ebook in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. <a href="https://geni.us/TOHPre-Order.">Preorder here</a>.<br /></span></span></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-33481439243288802052022-12-21T17:11:00.001-05:002022-12-21T17:11:24.333-05:00When January 1st Wasn't the First Day of the Year<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">In less than two weeks it will be the first day of 2023. Time to hang your freshly bought calendars and write a new year on your checks.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> But strange as it may seem, January 1<sup>st</sup> did not always signal the beginning of a new calendar year. Up to 1752, the two were separate things in England and its colonies. Until that point, people began each calendar year on March 25, which was Annunciation Day—or Lady Day. This was the day the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she had conceived and would give birth to Jesus in nine months.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eMNPSoHNbZE/TwDVMhw37FI/AAAAAAAAAFI/C13ewEaywo8/s1600/annunciation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eMNPSoHNbZE/TwDVMhw37FI/AAAAAAAAAFI/C13ewEaywo8/s1600/annunciation.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">It took an 18th century act of Parliament for England to officially begin each new calendar year on January 1<sup>st</sup>. The centuries of discrepancy caused lots of headaches for historians and genealogists. There’s no question that it’s strange, not least because England lagged behind much of the rest of Western Europe. Why did this Protestant nation cling to Annunciation Day—by its very definition a day revolving around the Virgin—as the time to change the calendar when most Catholic countries had already shifted to January 1<sup>st</sup> in the 16<sup>th</sup> century or 17<sup>th</sup> century?<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qg3UEsbrE1k/TwDVUi-Uw4I/AAAAAAAAAFU/7x03eqUH4Rw/s1600/HenryVIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qg3UEsbrE1k/TwDVUi-Uw4I/AAAAAAAAAFU/7x03eqUH4Rw/s320/HenryVIII.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="262" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> The reason for the January 1<sup>st</sup> controversy has a lot to do with England’s refusal to take orders from a pope after Henry VIII’s break from Rome in the 1530s. It was Pope Gregory XIII who replaced Julius Caesar’s calendar, devised in 45 BC, with a new one in 1582—and it’s the Gregorian calendar we all use today. Reform was unquestionably needed. There were too many days in the year; the equinoxes were out of whack; the Julian calendar had strayed 10 days from the solar calendar.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Among other things, the pope’s new calendar established that each calendar year begin on January 1<sup>st</sup>. Once it was issued, Italy, Spain and Portugal instantly adopted the Gregorian calendar, followed by France and the other Catholic countries of Europe. But England, Germany and the Netherlands refused. So for centuries, there were <i>two </i>calendars in Western Europe. It wasn't a strictly religious-led decision either. In Protestant Scotland, they changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1600. But England stubbornly refused.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-imPsY38hWdE/TwDVa7fcj_I/AAAAAAAAAFg/X5nJ2PcevaI/s1600/gregory+XIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-imPsY38hWdE/TwDVa7fcj_I/AAAAAAAAAFg/X5nJ2PcevaI/s1600/gregory+XIII.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> The first step to understanding this furor is to realize that Pope Gregory XIII was not simply someone who cared about calendars. Born in Bologna as </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">Ugo Buoncompagno, he was a transitional pope. Certainly not as venal and corrupt as the Borgias a century earlier, he was a gifted teacher and administrative talent who nonetheless had an illegitimate son before marrying and really liked to spend money. </span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Once he became Gregory XIII, he spent huge sums on not only Catholic colleges but also displays such as the Gregorian Chapel in St. Peter’s. To pay for all this, he resorted to papal confiscation. Most relevant to our story, he</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> supported the overthrow of Henry VIII’s Protestant daughter with Queen Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I.</span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lkDE5m6e1ipvJwrOVMK5ia53cvySOD5nBXcUTszuht1S-K1frtjkT4fxBnxNZYVw0B17ENLR1wGcWeXzBqckn53L_Lu8U_hOIQ6MMa86grrouz6GWBYPmC4JlZURjN6uWnD-1GcPDXw/s1600/elizabeth+I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lkDE5m6e1ipvJwrOVMK5ia53cvySOD5nBXcUTszuht1S-K1frtjkT4fxBnxNZYVw0B17ENLR1wGcWeXzBqckn53L_Lu8U_hOIQ6MMa86grrouz6GWBYPmC4JlZURjN6uWnD-1GcPDXw/s320/elizabeth+I.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="218" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Gregory’s predecessor, Pope Pius V, had already excommunicated Elizabeth and declared her a usurper in 1570. During his papal office, Gregory put intense pressure on the Spanish king, Philip II, to invade and dethrone England’s queen. Gregory personally financed an armed force of 800 men to land in Ireland to join a Catholic rebellion against Elizabeth (it fizzled). Moreover, a Jesuit led the papal commission to devise the Gregorian calendar—and the Jesuits were the religious order specifically created to fight the Protestant Reformation. This all fueled Elizabethan England’s refusal to accept <i>anything</i> that originated in the Vatican.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> The fierce clashes between Catholic and Protestant in the 16<sup>th</sup> century are the tumultuous background of my historical thrillers. The heroine of my novels, <i>The Crown,</i> <i>The Chalice, </i>and <i>The Tapestry, </i>is a novice in the Dominican Order at Dartford Priory, outside London. But it’s not just the Christian splintering in early modern Europe that fascinates me. I also love studying what came long before the Renaissance.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> One October, as Halloween approached, I researched the roots of the holiday’s celebration in Tudor England and made some discoveries. I learned that the roots of Halloween reach back to the Dark Ages Celtic festival of Samhain (“summer’s end”), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">when people lit bonfires and put on costumes to scare away the spirits of the unfriendly dead. All-Hallows-Even, which was shortened to “Halloween” in the 16<sup>th</sup> century, was a complex blend of Celtic and Catholic customs. After all, the holiday was the run-up to All Saints’ Day on November 1<sup>st</sup>, an occasion to venerate all the Catholic martyrs. Not surprisingly, the Protestant Reformers took a dim view of Halloween, but its popularity was so great that they were unable to stamp it out.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2011/10/truth-about-halloween-and-tudor-england.html">My blog post on Halloween</a> stirred up so much attention that it made me want to keep reading about the distant and complex roots of what we celebrate today.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> I began thinking about the origins of Christmas and New Year’s Day the morning of December 20th one year, when I stood outside my apartment building with my son, waiting for his school bus to arrive. Although it was 7:15 a.m., dawn had barely broken; the Christmas lights that the superintendent had strung over the bushes glowed yellow in the purplish-gray light. A hazy fullness hung in the air—and it seemed to carry a strange potency. Almost like something magical. I had no idea as I stood there that what I sensed would connect to January 1<sup>st</sup> and the fascinating furor over when to begin the calendar year.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NSKFMctvYSE/TwDVsR2a2lI/AAAAAAAAAFs/LtQbVQjfILE/s1600/solstice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NSKFMctvYSE/TwDVsR2a2lI/AAAAAAAAAFs/LtQbVQjfILE/s320/solstice.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> I snapped a photo and posted it on my Facebook page, along with sharing a description of the strange feeling all around me. A high school friend, D.K. Carlson, offered an explanation: “The solstice is almost here.” It made me shiver to think it was the power of the winter solstice that touched me that morning: the approach of the shortest day of the year, the moment when the </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">earth is in a point of its orbit farthest away from the sun. I find it very interesting that Julius Caesar established December 25<sup>th</sup> as the date of the winter solstice. It was—you guessed it—Pope Gregory XIII who made the adjustment to December 21<sup>st</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Long before the time of Julius Caesar, man honored the solstice. Bronze Age archaeologists have uncovered symbols and signs that reveal awareness of the shortest day of the year. The monuments of Stonehenge and Newgrange in Ireland are believed to have solstice alignments. In 2000 BC, people may have gathered at Stonehenge in mid-December to pray for the sun to return again, the source of all life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kd-xiYMzlA/TwDV0C3mphI/AAAAAAAAAF4/MJyLuJkfVx8/s1600/stonehenge-in-the-winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kd-xiYMzlA/TwDV0C3mphI/AAAAAAAAAF4/MJyLuJkfVx8/s320/stonehenge-in-the-winter.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Again and again, in many societies and religions, the solstice has great meaning. For the Druids, it was <i>Alban Arthuan</i>, the Light of Winter. As part of the celebration, priests cut the mistletoe that grew on winter oaks and blessed it. Germanic pagans launched the tradition of burning the Yule log and decorating a home with clippings of evergreen trees.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> In Rome, not surprisingly, the celebrations became more debauched. Saturnalia, which took place in mid-December, ran the gamut from heavy drinking to gambling to reversing society norms, with masters waiting on slaves. Lighting candles was very important. So was the tradition of children going house to house, offering small gifts, such as wrapped fruit, in exchange for other tokens.</span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">Saturnalia was so popular that not even the Fall of Rome could kill it. It morphed into the Feast of Fools, celebrated from the Fifth Century until the Renaissance in much of Western Europe on January 1st. The servants became the masters, with a lower-echelon “Lord of Misrule” chosen to preside over all drunken festivities beginning in late December and concluding on the first of January.</span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Not surprisingly, the early Catholic Church did not look kindly on the parties--stimulated by the winter solstice--that marked January 1<sup>st</sup>. The church leaders didn’t want something as important as beginning a new year to take place on that same day. In 567 AD, a Council of Tours decreed that the first of January was abolished and the bla</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">meless </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;">Annunciation Day was chosen. It took a while for this to be accepted, but by medieval times, people in England looked on March 25<sup>th</sup> as the beginning of the year. And this tradition stuck through the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, and into the time of the Hanoverians.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy26PeA45Rg/TwDV8qroHNI/AAAAAAAAAGE/dhKDqmv2EDg/s1600/George+II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy26PeA45Rg/TwDV8qroHNI/AAAAAAAAAGE/dhKDqmv2EDg/s1600/George+II.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14pt;"> Until finally, in 1751, in the reign of George II, England—and its colonies in the Americas—gave in and made the change, moving from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian. Parliament passed </span><i>An Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use. </i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 18.66px;">To make this work, 16 days were dropped from 1751, and January 1, 1752 was officially deemed the beginning of the year</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">.</span></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-59823170495660669612022-05-31T20:19:00.010-04:002022-11-28T09:23:08.158-05:00'The Blue' Ebook Is .99 cents for Cyber Monday<p>Update: My novel THE BLUE, set in the 18th century and following a Huguenot painter's secret mission to discover the formula for the most beautiful shade of blue ever created, is discounted as an ebook in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+blue+bilyeau&qid=1608558602&sr=8-1" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;">United States</a> and the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+blue+bilyeau&qid=1608558853&sr=8-1" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;">United Kingdom</a>.</p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8640982311472515710" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 536px;"><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvajZmZfHJrr8wZUtpIj5OdHZlUqgRct97ntUe1d3TrrQU4k0TUODYfH6_FIqh8eU8ljLlUWl22c3xQ5GEbxF-CdX2en_R1PHKR7A957QwC2StRScrIn7_c_BCodAFtTGPYhtdsfwl4U/s1600/The+Blue+cover.jpg" style="color: #3778cd; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1143" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvajZmZfHJrr8wZUtpIj5OdHZlUqgRct97ntUe1d3TrrQU4k0TUODYfH6_FIqh8eU8ljLlUWl22c3xQ5GEbxF-CdX2en_R1PHKR7A957QwC2StRScrIn7_c_BCodAFtTGPYhtdsfwl4U/s400/The+Blue+cover.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="285" /></a></div><div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">I was fortunate enough to win endorsements for THE BLUE from some wonderful authors:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">'Definitely a winner!' -- Kate Quinn, author of <i>The Alice Network</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">'Fascinating' -- Ian Rankin, author of the top-selling Rebus mystery series<br /></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">‘...transports the reader into the heart of the 18th-century porcelain trade—where the price of beauty was death.’ - E.M. Powell, author of the <i>Stanton & Barling</i> medieval mystery series.<br /><br />'Bilyeau is an impressive talent who brings to life a heart-stopping story of adventure, art and espionage.' - Stephanie Dray, author of <i>My Dear Hamilton.</i></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />'With rich writing, surprising twists, and a riveting sense of 'you are there,' The Blue is spine-tingling entertainment.' – Gayle Lynds, <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author of <i>The Assassins</i></span><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "amazon ember", arial, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></em></b></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">To download an ebook in the US, go <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+blue+bilyeau&qid=1608558602&sr=8-1">here</a>.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">To download an ebook in the UK, go <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27QHQEYJUP5GB&keywords=the+blue+bilyeau&qid=1654280986&sprefix=the+blue+bilyeau%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-83154750352043887652022-05-11T20:28:00.005-04:002022-05-11T20:28:46.815-04:00'The Fugitive Colours' Is HereMy sixth historical novel, <i>The Fugitive Colours</i>, is officially on sale!<br /><br />London 1764. Genevieve Planché, from a family of Huguenot refugees, struggles to keep her silk-weaving business, her family, and her own nearly-crushed dreams of being an artist alive. An invitation to the house of leading painter Joshua Reynolds raises hopes that at last an art career is in reach. Genevieve soon learns that for the portrait painters ruling over the wealthy in London society, fame and fortune are there for the taking. But such high stakes spur rivalries that darken to sabotage and blackmail—and even murder. And watching from the shadows are ruthless spies who wish harm to all of England.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbSvJBcWOm03Dy_sJRnEKvuXq_74aBBaqKk13ZvbihUJwhUtdxto2wuS64nJaYkoLDV1EIzCqPgFpsZETSUzjv92fXfNT0vRbK10lpT59QanNr6dUGp6tVxO6IVyMqylSe-rvY7lTWk3fyBjbiI3AQnKwUMcBf1oUwLUgP52a11BIUjqbHLitspM2/s2338/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbSvJBcWOm03Dy_sJRnEKvuXq_74aBBaqKk13ZvbihUJwhUtdxto2wuS64nJaYkoLDV1EIzCqPgFpsZETSUzjv92fXfNT0vRbK10lpT59QanNr6dUGp6tVxO6IVyMqylSe-rvY7lTWk3fyBjbiI3AQnKwUMcBf1oUwLUgP52a11BIUjqbHLitspM2/s320/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div><br />"Nancy Bilyeau's sequel to her breakout hit <i>The Blue</i> is a riveting read in its own right: a woman of ambition, and the net that weaves to take her down. Resourceful Genevieve Sturbridge struggles to keep her silk-weaving business, her family, and her own nearly-crushed dreams of being an artist alive in the stifling constraints of eighteenth century London, only to find herself embroiled in a web of plotting portraitists, seething courtiers, and international spies. Deftly written and deeply atmospheric, T<i>he Fugitive Colours </i>is a book you'll have trouble putting down!" Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of <i>The Diamond Eye</i><br /><br />"A worthy successor to Nancy Bilyeau's excellent <i>The Blue</i>. Genevieve Planché is back with another edge-of-your-seat mystery, packed with fascinating characters and rich, well-researched historical detail. <i>The Fugitive Colours</i> proves that Bilyeau is one of the best authors of historical thrillers working today." - Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of <i>One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow</i><br /><br />"The Best Books to Read in May": The Fugitive Colours -- <i>Town & Country</i> magazine.<br /><br />"A cracking historical spy thriller."- Historical Novel Society<br /><div><br /></div></div><div>To order the novel:</div><div><br /></div><div><p>In the U.S., the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XWS5RVF255L1&keywords=the+fugitive+colours+bilyeau&qid=1651228745&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fugitive-colours-nancy-bilyeau/1140795862">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-fugitive-colours/9781839014666">Bookshop.org</a>, <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Fugitive-Colours-Paperback-9781839014666/470061025?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0">Walmart</a>, <a href="https://goldennotebook.indielite.org/book/9781839014666">The Golden Notebook</a>, and other retailers.</p><p>In the UK, the book is on <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QJCIKUD6KZ7Q&keywords=the+fugitive+colours+nancy+bilyeau&qid=1651229088&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-fugitive-colours/nancy-bilyeau/9781839014666">Waterstones</a> and other retailers.</p><p>In Canada, the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O6DNX5IJVVZR&keywords=the+fugitive+colours&qid=1651315676&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C67&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>. </p><p>In Australia, the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19N45XYQN9R0N&keywords=the+fugitive+colours&qid=1651315842&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-fugitive-colours-by-nancy-bilyeau-9781839014666">Dymocks Books and Gifts</a></p><p> </p></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-64503130696816857882022-05-09T11:29:00.003-04:002022-05-10T11:10:57.938-04:00Join Me on May 12th at One of My Fun Online Events I'm launching my novel THE FUGITIVE COLOURS with an in-person event in Woodstock, NY, on May 14th.<div><br /></div><div>But also I am doing two exciting online events on Thursday, May 12th, and I'd love to include you at one--or both!<br /> </div><div>The first event is an online panel on historical fiction. I'll be joined by superb novelists Finola Austin (Bronte's Mistress), EM Powell (Canterbury Murder), Eva Stachniak (The School of Mirrors), and Cristina Loggia (Lucifer's Game).<br /><br />The event is from 7 to 8 BST (GMT), which means that it's perfect for people in the UK. But anyone from all over the world can attend. (That's beginning at 2 pm EST and 11 am PST)<br /><br />To register for the free event, click <a href=" https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-historical-fiction-a-live-discussion-tickets-320692308327">here</a>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWd1l5-W_49V7Tt0zpFjQD5unk14uXa0jOpSWQ1T_g5L3hAPQCOkHuOZIr-BWa-axRL616jbeb0wrsW99elhXeAoOawQtICA_cF4rtfLChDebUJhpyLuarazwD1BvF49qKHuXshkFUyFUyrzj7z0yUMFvtr_4ezIX9SR-zP282EyCaoVdPIMQMbu4t/s1600/TW_FB_Asset%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWd1l5-W_49V7Tt0zpFjQD5unk14uXa0jOpSWQ1T_g5L3hAPQCOkHuOZIr-BWa-axRL616jbeb0wrsW99elhXeAoOawQtICA_cF4rtfLChDebUJhpyLuarazwD1BvF49qKHuXshkFUyFUyrzj7z0yUMFvtr_4ezIX9SR-zP282EyCaoVdPIMQMbu4t/w400-h225/TW_FB_Asset%20(1).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />The second event is a Facebook party from 5 pm to 7 pm EST, organized by Amy Bruno of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I'll read a little, announce the giveaway winners, and do an interview with fellow author Peter Andrews, who is an acclaimed writing coach. I plan to be on the front porch of my 1908 farmhouse in the Catskills. And I've asked four talented authors of new or upcoming books to stop by:<div><br /></div><div>Evie Hawtrey (Sophie Perinot) on 'And By Fire'<br />Mariah Fredericks on 'The Lindbergh Nanny'<br />Ellen Marie Wiseman on 'The Lost Girls of Willowbrook'<br />Kris Waldherr on 'Unnatural Creatures'<br /><br /></div><div>You are all officially invited. I'd love to see you drop by. Click here to sign up and get the reminder: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1180762386069959/?__cft__[0]=AZWG5FJWucC1xzpUBFo03kAgAiCWA-rnIADP2U7WFxno0di9klMQQg5HTRi2gvbCo_bKbCBpGyFHI_RtT132L-ATHnAFO4XfkBRE_ApzT8lyC6pmIFB_Wu_k02M7HcodH0WBdAvqqFgkm4UpJHomNU1M&__tn__=-UK-R">https://www.facebook.com/events/1180762386069959</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ho4HPSyUCEWR9yDOckyXPdERs9tExCnp1ohCNEdrrB7rHXPy4UI7Yke3Q-VynicklplZhz00Q-ucbx2sFIsAMJlvNoqhzd4bbb6aFWdo6vajs6RHD1wqT9fYm0d6WXwvT1iMiFy7Oto2m7DN9VYnF1y3g6vM216E69FsJndT9O4QB3m-LqTGEJ2N/s5461/GridArt_20220504_211731244.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5461" data-original-width="4096" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ho4HPSyUCEWR9yDOckyXPdERs9tExCnp1ohCNEdrrB7rHXPy4UI7Yke3Q-VynicklplZhz00Q-ucbx2sFIsAMJlvNoqhzd4bbb6aFWdo6vajs6RHD1wqT9fYm0d6WXwvT1iMiFy7Oto2m7DN9VYnF1y3g6vM216E69FsJndT9O4QB3m-LqTGEJ2N/w300-h400/GridArt_20220504_211731244.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p><p>And if you ARE local and would like to come to the Woodstock event on the 14th, you can get more information <a href="https://goldennotebook.indielite.org/event/nancy-bilyeau-fugitive-colours">here.</a></p></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-80386906552070758282022-04-29T06:49:00.006-04:002022-05-07T12:28:42.378-04:00Pre-Order 'The Fugitive Colours'<p>My historical novel <i>'The Fugitive Colours'</i> goes on sale May 12th in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. It comes in ebook and paperback formats and will be an audiobook too. </p><p>London 1764: Huguenot painter Genevieve Planche accepts an invitation to the Leicester Fields home of Joshua Reynolds. She may think that this is her chance for an art career at last, but instead she is pulled ever deeper into conspiracies weaving together the worlds of art, science, and international espionage. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7l6vlMpdL6qwjWrIxT2Tv2LaOnItWw47i7dr4mHr2RJXXPzg6btevyT2NcwNJu5TCUpb3crIqw3i0P-Tj2Bs7f5ibVJVJdv98tdLyrK_mrZ_19Hsv7JNSFwueLke5zCanokQgTpQu9hCdq9sMsE69rNO7RHqO-DUCy1tIUFfLg38_evjiquE-Vog/s2338/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7l6vlMpdL6qwjWrIxT2Tv2LaOnItWw47i7dr4mHr2RJXXPzg6btevyT2NcwNJu5TCUpb3crIqw3i0P-Tj2Bs7f5ibVJVJdv98tdLyrK_mrZ_19Hsv7JNSFwueLke5zCanokQgTpQu9hCdq9sMsE69rNO7RHqO-DUCy1tIUFfLg38_evjiquE-Vog/s320/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><b style="font-style: italic;">"Set in Georgian-era London, </b><b>The Fugitive Colours</b><b style="font-style: italic;"> is an immersive historical mystery full of surprising twists." - Foreword Reviews</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">A worthy successor to Nancy Bilyeau’s excellent </span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">The Blue</span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">. Genevieve Planché is back with another edge-of-your-seat mystery, packed with fascinating characters and rich, well-researched historical detail. </span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">The Fugitive Colours</span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"> proves that Bilyeau is one of the best authors of historical thrillers working today."</span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;"> - Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of </span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow</span><b><i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></i></b><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><b><i>"</i></b></span><b><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">Nancy Bilyeau's sequel to her breakout hit </span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The Blue</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"> is a riveting read in its own right: a woman of ambition, and the net that weaves to take her down. Resourceful Genevieve Sturbridge struggles to keep her silk-weaving business, her family, and her own nearly-crushed dreams of being an artist alive in the stifling constraints of eighteenth century London, only to find herself embroiled in a web of plotting portraitists, seething courtiers, and international spies. Deftly written and deeply atmospheric, </span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The Fugitive Colour<i>s</i></span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"> is a book you'll have trouble putting down!" Kate Quinn, </span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">New York Times</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"> Bestselling Author of</span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"> </span><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The Diamond Eye</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>In the U.S., the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XWS5RVF255L1&keywords=the+fugitive+colours+bilyeau&qid=1651228745&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fugitive-colours-nancy-bilyeau/1140795862">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-fugitive-colours/9781839014666">Bookshop.org</a>, <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Fugitive-Colours-Paperback-9781839014666/470061025?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0">Walmart</a> and other retailers.</p><p>In the UK, the book is on <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QJCIKUD6KZ7Q&keywords=the+fugitive+colours+nancy+bilyeau&qid=1651229088&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-fugitive-colours/nancy-bilyeau/9781839014666">Waterstones</a> and other retailers.</p><p>In Canada, the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O6DNX5IJVVZR&keywords=the+fugitive+colours&qid=1651315676&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C67&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>. </p><p>In Australia, the book is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19N45XYQN9R0N&keywords=the+fugitive+colours&qid=1651315842&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-fugitive-colours-by-nancy-bilyeau-9781839014666">Dymocks Books and Gifts</a></p><p> </p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-79982252730219492062022-03-17T08:58:00.005-04:002022-03-21T17:50:51.501-04:00Head's Up: A Discount for THE BLUEMy novel THE BLUE, set in the 18th century and following a Huguenot painter's secret mission to discover the formula for the most beautiful shade of blue ever created, is discounted to .99 for the ebook in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647897482&sr=1-1">United States</a> and the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647868300&sr=1-1">United Kingdom</a>. The sale lasts until March 24th.<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVvDoPrPsq2RQ_brPCPantnAkP7rdjAAqhxMHUTr_DIg9XSDkN9PxF8uA0MIHpGX-OhNbWcCtYW5LWDq48-zDoO6V2su6Pmb2572wiL2xQI5YFboTG4P1rGq_4sqnStqi9ixoYTkDAhAcFqSjASQ1CtfXwPFbF201x33lxGbxZ3h2hr_FGPT02CTpr=s1024" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVvDoPrPsq2RQ_brPCPantnAkP7rdjAAqhxMHUTr_DIg9XSDkN9PxF8uA0MIHpGX-OhNbWcCtYW5LWDq48-zDoO6V2su6Pmb2572wiL2xQI5YFboTG4P1rGq_4sqnStqi9ixoYTkDAhAcFqSjASQ1CtfXwPFbF201x33lxGbxZ3h2hr_FGPT02CTpr=w640-h320" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I was fortunate enough to win endorsements for THE BLUE from some wonderful authors:<div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>'Definitely a winner!' -- Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network<br /><br /><br />‘...transports the reader into the heart of the 18th-century porcelain trade—where the price of beauty was death.’ - E.M. Powell, author of the Stanton & Barling medieval mystery series.<br /><br />'Bilyeau is an impressive talent who brings to life a heart-stopping story of adventure, art and espionage.' - Stephanie Dray, author of My Dear Hamilton.<div><br />'With rich writing, surprising twists, and a riveting sense of 'you are there,' The Blue is spine-tingling entertainment.' – Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Assassins<br /><br /><br />For the U.S. ebook, click<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647897482&sr=1-1"> here.</a> For the UK ebook, click <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647868300&sr=1-1">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you're looking for a source of good fiction, at low prices sign up for the My Next Read newsletter <a href="https://www.mynextread.co.uk/">here</a>.</div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-37444373133651641992022-02-03T10:43:00.000-05:002022-02-03T10:43:15.148-05:00Enter the Goodreads Giveaway<p>Good news!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6QCjQcjkTf0kCq3U-vpEGsoS4DFHb8WHG8POinJIAN43OewQ7WU8O8cRxV9KgeMb2T8GdbWCGp41UlvTAEnghlgLBtP6tAHxFvwpvcobMtrK2aKzOo2WazUE1n4_3NImWdLrf58IWlv5sfq6CchY9E_ggRHjtA4oy6QwhaOTJjFajKlj55uP1KWtY=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6QCjQcjkTf0kCq3U-vpEGsoS4DFHb8WHG8POinJIAN43OewQ7WU8O8cRxV9KgeMb2T8GdbWCGp41UlvTAEnghlgLBtP6tAHxFvwpvcobMtrK2aKzOo2WazUE1n4_3NImWdLrf58IWlv5sfq6CchY9E_ggRHjtA4oy6QwhaOTJjFajKlj55uP1KWtY=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>My publisher is giving away 10 copies of 'The Fugitive Colours.' The book will be published in May, but you can read it much sooner :)</p><p>To enter the giveaway competition, go <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/338936-the-fugitive-colours">here</a>.</p><p>Here's an early review from a reader:</p><div class="reviewHeader uitext stacked" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="user" href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28788977-debra-schoenberger" itemprop="url" name="Debra Schoenberger" style="color: #00635d; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Debra Schoenberger">Debra Schoenberger</a> </span>rated it <span class=" staticStars notranslate" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 15px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 75px;" title="it was amazing"><span class="staticStar p10" size="15x15" style="background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,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"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 15px; float: left; height: 15px; width: 15px;">it was amazing</span><span class="staticStar p10" size="15x15" style="background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,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"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 15px; float: left; height: 15px; width: 15px;"></span><span class="staticStar p10" size="15x15" style="background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,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"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 15px; float: left; height: 15px; width: 15px;"></span><span class="staticStar p10" size="15x15" style="background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,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"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 15px; float: left; height: 15px; width: 15px;"></span><span class="staticStar p10" size="15x15" style="background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,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"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 15px; float: left; height: 15px; width: 15px;"></span></span></div><div class="reviewText stacked" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer4464525939" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">"The Fugitive Colours is a sequel to Blue, a fascinating glimpse into the world of colour and porcelain painting in France before the revolution. I would highly recommend reading the first book as the background is important to fully understand the events taking place in the second book.<br /><br />We are transported to 1764 England, where Genevieve Sturbridge is mistress of her own silk design workshop. A talented painter in her own right, she employs two other painters who help her produce designs that are more beautiful and original that any other designer at the time.<br /><br />London is dirty, the air is foul and walking the streets is dangerous. Earning enough to support her household is becoming increasingly difficult. She has still not fully recovered from her traumatic experiences in France and she becomes alarmed when a serious of encounters with characters from her past begin to threaten the peace she has worked so hard for. Her experience as a former spy are crucial to her investigation of events unfolding around her as she feels her control slipping away, both with her work and her household.<br /><br />Beautifully descriptive with believable characters, this is another one of those absorbing stories that will keep you up late at night."</span></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-39550603744072501562021-12-31T11:58:00.002-05:002021-12-31T13:36:26.510-05:00Nancy's 2021 List: Historical Fiction and Suspense<p>I told a friend recently that I don't find enough time to read historical fiction, my favorite genre. The reason: I have a fulltime job, kids, and my own books to write. But after making this declaration, I took another look at my Kindle list and at the books stacked by my bed. And you know what? That statement is not in every respect accurate, as Ong Chi Seng said in one of my favorite films, Bette Davis's <i>The Letter</i>.</p><p>I've actually read quite a few historical novels in 2021! Now not all of them were published in this calendar year. But that's OK. People don't confine their reading to the year of publication.</p><p>So I decided to share my first-ever end-of-year reading list. And I have three reasons. </p><p>First, I want to shine the light on these amazing authors. Some are big bestsellers, and some are with small publishers and frankly need more attention paid. </p><p>The second reason is I realize that I walk a particular line in my reading. I like classic historical novels of queens and kings and soldiers and spies. But I also like murder mysteries and thrillers set in the past.</p><p>The third reason is I realize after examining my 2021 list that I read books set in "popular" eras: World War II and the Tudor era. But I enjoy stories in many, many other periods too, from 11th century England to 20th century Mexico and India. </p><p>So without further ado, here is my list of fiction set in the past that I read in 2021...</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNpg63nEHYPhmIuKpwaOJntcte-WJTNLw0N_YiZkiqDTbuLoiS-Fk90Gkg61ErT8HeFio-akmk8V561YOKosrt6DUdNzlC1iVOmVn52kBvXZ6Liekg8AeiP1uoiUU9EyHVTgIKzgqxfvMKMN2P0CQ1xLZpio14LLafQT35byYRGADg5ayELlYwXiw-=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNpg63nEHYPhmIuKpwaOJntcte-WJTNLw0N_YiZkiqDTbuLoiS-Fk90Gkg61ErT8HeFio-akmk8V561YOKosrt6DUdNzlC1iVOmVn52kBvXZ6Liekg8AeiP1uoiUU9EyHVTgIKzgqxfvMKMN2P0CQ1xLZpio14LLafQT35byYRGADg5ayELlYwXiw-=w320-h640" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><a href="http://ericaobey.com/writing/dazzlepaint/">Dazzlepaint<i>,</i></a> by Erica Obey. A layered murder mystery set in Woodstock in 1919 that draws on some deliciously eerie legends of the Catskills. </p><p><a href="https://www.sarahpenner.com/books">The Lost Apothecary</a>, by Sarah Penner. This page turner kept me up past 2 a.m. because I <i>had to know </i>what was going to happen to the characters in both 1791 London and the modern day city.</p><p><a href="https://sujatamassey.com/books/india/the-bombay-prince/">The Bombay Prince</a>, by Sujata Massey. The third book in one of my favorite historical mystery series being written today. Bombay solicitor (and Zorastrian) Perveen Mistry is a fantastic protagonist!</p><p><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anticipation/Melodie-Winawer/9781982113698">Anticipation</a>, by Melodie Winawer. I love it when science enters the story, and this thriller weaves medical mysteries and mystical possibilities into the rich history of Greece. </p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594461/the-women-of-chateau-lafayette-by-stephanie-dray/">The Women of Chateau Lafayette</a>, by Stephanie Dray. You just have to stand back and applaud the skill of a novel running on different time tracks that manages to pull you into characters' lives like this.</p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/577068/mexican-gothic-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/">Mexican Gothic</a>, by </span>Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I know I'm a little late to the party here, but I was blown away by the atmosphere and dark tension in this imaginative novel.</p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617760/the-hollywood-spy-by-susan-elia-macneal/">The Hollywood Spy</a>, by Susan Elia MacNeal. I don't miss a Maggie Hope mystery. And this installment took Maggie to one of my favorite settings of fiction and film: 1940s Los Angeles. Superb pacing.</p><p><a href="https://www.villagebooks.com/book/9781006977329">Cut From the Earth</a>, by Stephanie Renee Dos Santos. This novel really gets at the drive to create art--and what it could cost someone in past centuries. I loved the "trip" to 18th century Lisbon.</p><p><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Strange-Case-of-Eliza-Doolittle/Timothy-Miller/9781645060215">The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle,</a> by Timothy Miller. A delightful reimagining of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, this is the first in a new series. Lots of surprises here!</p><p><a href="https://watch.mhzchoice.com/nicolas-le-floch?utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4709475877&hsa_cam=13989780906&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAiA8bqOBhANEiwA-sIlNzFRNVIewc3QFaeT1FiMI3Io0qxiWw06umDwSmErdFHFLVd6dIetWxoC_ZgQAvD_BwE">The Nicholas le Floch Affair</a> by <a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/jean-francois-parot/">Jean-François Parot</a>. Yes, it was written in 2009. But I've just discovered this translated series set in pre-Revolutionary France thanks to the fantastic (and sexy) TV series running on MHz.</p><p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-stolen-lady-laura-morelli?variant=33031634255906">The Stolen Lady: A Novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa</a>, by Laura Morelli. If somehow you didn't realize that art could be at the heart of page-turning mystery and emotional turmoil, then drop everything and start reading.</p><p><a href="https://susannakearsley.com/books/the-vanished-days/">The Vanished Days</a>, by Susanna Kearsley. I'm a longtime fan of this author, who always manages to marry haunting stories of love and loss to magnificent history. Here it's Scotland in the late 17th and 18th centuries.</p><p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250210913/deathofashowman">Death of a Showman</a>, by Mariah Fredericks. Gilded Age mysteries don't get much better than this series featuring resourceful lady's maid Jane Prescott. Here Jane dives into Broadway misdeeds.</p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/530178/katharine-parr-the-sixth-wife-by-alison-weir/">Katharine Parr, the Sixth Wife</a>, by Alison Weir. One of my favorite historians writing a novel about my favorite wife of Henry VIII? Irresistible. Weir's series found fresh angles to The Six.</p><p><a href="http://www.katequinnauthor.com/books/the-rose-code/">The Rose Code</a>, by Kate Quinn. When I hear the words "Bletchley Park," I come running. But it turns into a sprint when the book is by Quinn, who pens such stirring and beautifully researched historical stories.</p><p><a href="https://www.fionadavisbooks.com/the-lions-of-fifth-avenue">The Lions of Fifth Avenue</a>, by Fiona Davis. How could I not devour a novel set in one of my favorite buildings in all New York City--the New York Public Library? I loved the strong female protagonist.</p><p><a href="http://www.patriciabracewell.com/2020/10/the-steel-beneath-the-silk/">The Steel Beneath the Silk</a>, by Patricia Bracewell. Any fan of <i>The Vikings</i> or <i>The Lost Kingdom</i> needs to read this amazing series about the 11th century's Emma of Normandy.</p><p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/sharpes-assassin-bernard-cornwell?variant=39254096674850">Sharpe's Assassin</a>, by Bernard Cornwell. Paris right after the Battle of Waterloo yields a fantastic setting for espionage and adventure. <a href="https://booktrib.com/2021/12/15/bernard-cornwell-is-as-sharp-and-entertaining-as-his-latest-novel-sharpes-assassin/">I interviewed Cornwell </a> for BookTrib on his writing career.</p><p><a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/kate-mosse/the-city-of-tears/9781509806874">The City of Tears</a> by Kate Mosse. An author who has deeply inspired me with her blend of suspense, historical atmosphere and richly drawn characters. And here she's writing about the Huguenots!</p><p><a href="http://www.chanelcleeton.com/next-year-in-havana">Next Year in Havana</a>, by Chanel Cleeton. I was late to discovering this 2018 novel, but wow, this author knows how to write compelling characters and ripped-from-the-pages history. (And romance.)</p><p>I fear I may have left someone out from my reading list of the year and for that I fervently apologize!!</p><p>Head's Up: There are so, so many historical novels and mysteries coming out in 2022. I'm already looking forward to<i> Garden of Sins</i> by Laura Joh Rowland, <i>The Strange Case of the Dutch Painter</i> by Timothy Miller, <i>The Next Ship Home</i> by Heather Webb, <i>And By Fire</i> by Evie Hawtrey, <i>The Prophet's Wife: A Novel of an American Faith </i>by Libby Grant, and <i>Unnatural Creatures</i> by Kris Waldherr.</p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-63798759502252811902021-12-22T10:12:00.006-05:002021-12-30T16:39:50.989-05:00Sharing the Cover: 'The Fugitive Colours'<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I'm thrilled to reveal the cover of my next novel, <i>The Fugitive Colours. </i>The book will be published in May 2022 in the U.S., the UK, Canada, and Australia.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It's a novel about art, silkweaving and espionage, set in London in 1764, and featuring as my main character <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">Genevieve Planché</span>, a Huguenot artist caught between her ambition and protecting those she loves most.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj56VSsa9JycGn_-xc1Rynd6TzddwHgyQP6_5wZDTQh1zTOWcwXO6Dxu_YKKDbIOwSgRmA_-of7b8KbGYfR4lQ76moKYk8RqEkiQhU26vWrUEEcQWn-5DMqPtTxp0Il2LrFQUzj7pTFGYHX9ioV4rvKKPYA40AEbu6Bsmh8TYWvnQLr2ASYvqU_MUWW=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj56VSsa9JycGn_-xc1Rynd6TzddwHgyQP6_5wZDTQh1zTOWcwXO6Dxu_YKKDbIOwSgRmA_-of7b8KbGYfR4lQ76moKYk8RqEkiQhU26vWrUEEcQWn-5DMqPtTxp0Il2LrFQUzj7pTFGYHX9ioV4rvKKPYA40AEbu6Bsmh8TYWvnQLr2ASYvqU_MUWW=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here's my publisher's description of the book and yours truly:</span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">‘The
Fugitive Colours’ reunites readers with Genevieve and again reveals the
dazzling world of glamour and treachery in Georgian England. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Now living
and working in Spitalfields, Genevieve is struggling to keep her silk business
afloat. When she one day receives a surprise invitation from an important
artist, Genevieve grasps at the promise of a better life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">But she soon
begins to suspect that her own secret past has more to do with her entrée into
London society than her talent. One wrong move could cost her not just her
artistic dreams but the love of those she holds dear. And watching from the
shadows are ruthless spies who wish harm to all of England.</span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #0f1111;">A sequel to Nancy Bilyeau’s </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">The Blue</i><span style="color: #0f1111;">, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">The Fugitive Colours</i><span style="color: #0f1111;"> again reveals a dazzling world of glamour and treachery in Georgian England, when beauty held more value than human life. She immerses readers in a fictionalized account of real lives and events whilst staying faithful to the historical and social context.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">Nancy Bilyeau</span><span style="color: #0f1111;">, a Michigan native, has worked as an editor on the staffs of </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">InStyle</i><span style="color: #0f1111;">, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Rolling Stone</i><span style="color: #0f1111;">, and </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Good Housekeeping</i><span style="color: #0f1111;">. Passionate about history and art, she wrote an award-winning trilogy set in Tudor England before creating a heroine, Genevieve Planché, who holds personal significance. Nancy is descended from a Huguenot settler who came to America in 1661 and draws on her fascination with French Protestant refugees when writing the character of Genevieve Planché, a Huguenot artist. Today Nancy lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">You can preorder the paperback or ebook on amazon: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/fugitivecolours?fbclid=IwAR03GJoNgwsWiN6bFPlgz5PaMsyqk4cvhMW2zcS4sZVT7lR_mZ6UzMfi6i0" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">https://tinyurl.com/fugitivecolours</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It's up on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59682540-the-fugitive-colours?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=P0fB5lLcWd&rank=1">Goodreads </a>if you could go there and click "want to read." The first advance reviews popped up this week!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">And if you're a blogger or reviewer, it's up on <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/?text=The+Fugitive+Colours">NetGalley</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I love the way it continues the visual look of The Blue:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_-1ifXpVKcBlmRTfcdB1oHM4Ey8eaaTwSigtmGsueihsvaP0Gg-V2X_2bGnJlpyqKMiQAmXaUK6Yn_WRlutfMz8UkSW1wARWvvBtp2-DGShwgaLjl3UKF4DA5CqYb94WwEN14NuZ5pKiyaywNGwT4Y_Pg2P8qlUSr6RO9oYD7aeaBBIdmat5n-NUY=s1054" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1054" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_-1ifXpVKcBlmRTfcdB1oHM4Ey8eaaTwSigtmGsueihsvaP0Gg-V2X_2bGnJlpyqKMiQAmXaUK6Yn_WRlutfMz8UkSW1wARWvvBtp2-DGShwgaLjl3UKF4DA5CqYb94WwEN14NuZ5pKiyaywNGwT4Y_Pg2P8qlUSr6RO9oYD7aeaBBIdmat5n-NUY=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-8214355905978338292021-09-16T15:15:00.005-04:002021-09-16T15:17:59.194-04:00Interview with Julieta Almeida Rodrigues<p class="MsoNormal"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A fellow member of the Historical Novel Society, Julieta Almeida Rodrigues, published a fascinating novel, <i>Eleonora and Joseph: Passion, Tragedy and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment.</i> I asked her recently about what's next in her writing plans.</span></b></p><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">JAR: Interesting that you should ask this question because
your novel<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>The Blue</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is still very much in my mind today, though
I read it in 2018. At the time, I wrote a very short Review that
read: </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What I most loved about The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau is the
idea! How art and money combine to form a magnificent 18th century tale of
international espionage. As the daughter of a Portuguese collector who did not
miss a porcelain sale in the famous Lisbon auction houses, I was brought up
with the notion that the blue to be found in exclusive pieces was invaluable.
As a child, I lived with these pieces around me. As an adult reader, I loved
going back to The Blue and see how, in retrospective, my father had been so
justified in his choice of what he sought to collect. </span></i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Three years later, I am starting a novel that incorporates
your idea: that art and money combine in ways that are set to pleasing the eye
and can lead to awe-inspiring plots. I am not going into details for the
moment; I will only mention that I found a narrative for a work of art that I
saw in Istanbul in 2013. It is an extraordinary piece, dating from the late
eighteenth century, that makes me shiver every time I look at its
reproductions. Two friends of mine from Columbia University wrote a
non-fiction book about it. I recall their surprise – and their encouragement - when
I said I would like to write a novel incorporating their work.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Anyway, I designed a plot that combines two settings that
are very dear to me: the area of Ajuda in Lisbon – where the attempted
assassination of King José of Portugal (1714-1777) took place - and
Constantinople (as Istanbul was known until the end of the Ottoman empire), where
the piece of art I am referring to was conceived. </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span>
</p><p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The way ideas travel is wondrous at times. I just finished
<b>The Museum of Innocence</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, the
novel by Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish Nobel Prize winner. I also read <b>The
Innocence of Objects</b>, the illustrated catalogue of the objects which are
part of the museum that Pamuk opened to bring the book alive. </span>Pamuk says
his idea for the novel and the museum came at the same time. His notion that
objects have a life of their own is rather intriguing. I enjoyed this ideia much
more than the love story; I found the romance tiresome at times. Pamuk says
some collectors are bashful – they have a wound hidden inside a broken heart –
and their collections are a consolation, a palliative for an invisible pain. I
had never thought about it this way, but this was certainly the case with my
father. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> Then he makes another challenging assertion. He says, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our museum has been built on the
contradictory desires to tell the stories of objects and to demonstrate
timeless innocence.”</i></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do objects have a timeless innocence? I find this view rather
poetic. Objects conjure up feelings; but are they more innocent than people, if
wittingly or unwittingly, we happen to compare them? The blue pigment of the porcelain
pieces in your novel,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>The Blue</b><span class="apple-converted-space">, </span>is far from innocent – and I love it that
way! </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Nancy, thank you very much for this opportunity; I
appreciate it. The beginning of a novel is a state of elation, and I feel very
much at that threshold!</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">You can find out more about her novel on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54406439-eleonora-and-joseph?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=gBzRj2eRBz&rank=1">Goodreads. </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMN-lmwkSz5Pfr5hKLzJfEwFe3fzwAvkt3IUGImXBj6oGvaGlr_r7pyONUKsQJ7y7pH3C4a65xF1w5jgB1rsVtIs1t1LgkkNvkN0sdcb1S4UviVbOniX1YqKuHO9lJDUFR0Jr8xFuX9pc/s2048/BEST+COVER+ELEONORA+AND+JOSEPH+highres.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1377" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMN-lmwkSz5Pfr5hKLzJfEwFe3fzwAvkt3IUGImXBj6oGvaGlr_r7pyONUKsQJ7y7pH3C4a65xF1w5jgB1rsVtIs1t1LgkkNvkN0sdcb1S4UviVbOniX1YqKuHO9lJDUFR0Jr8xFuX9pc/s320/BEST+COVER+ELEONORA+AND+JOSEPH+highres.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> To learn more about Julieta, go to <a href="https://www.julietaalmeidarodriguesauthor.com/">https://www.julietaalmeidarodriguesauthor.com/ </a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-55934612798882571452021-09-13T19:47:00.005-04:002021-09-13T19:47:55.728-04:00Talking About Crime Fiction<p> I'm honored to be among the authors on a library panel discussing the research and writing of crime fiction on Tuesday, September 14th. </p><p>Anyone can watch this panel--it's online and free. You just need to register ahead of time. To do so, go <a href="http://here.">here: https://newcity.librarycalendar.com/events/police-procedurals-cozies-and-historicals-writing-and-researching-crime-books</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1zjsasFQQP09RNWZGoJ4jVkt5EqCBiS5W4Hpf-GkUT7yvi5Acaoe3bmoUvd7vBxs1f-veBUQKTd0L9ZZH15GrtWpHgK6G0O0ne_2s162HUGW4wy9FISkyYQo3BBFcFrP1zvJUOU7ed8/s1080/new-city-library-mystery-event.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1zjsasFQQP09RNWZGoJ4jVkt5EqCBiS5W4Hpf-GkUT7yvi5Acaoe3bmoUvd7vBxs1f-veBUQKTd0L9ZZH15GrtWpHgK6G0O0ne_2s162HUGW4wy9FISkyYQo3BBFcFrP1zvJUOU7ed8/w400-h400/new-city-library-mystery-event.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-16232776001797600772021-08-21T15:58:00.008-04:002021-08-22T10:05:24.957-04:00Erica Obey Interview: A Mystery in Woodstock<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The New York town of Woodstock proves a perfect setting for the historical mystery <i>Dazzle Paint</i>, written by Erica Obey, a longtime resident. While many people think of the 1969 rock festival when you say "Woodstock," it's a place with a fascinating history that stretches much further back. There's mystery and magic in Woodstock, evocatively captured by Obey in her fifth novel.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlb_j4xNO5zthM-8o3E3q4Wkhllmb2BkUhZk8KwH8vHwp7aizlrfWaAfLkJNJIoiTXtnNpxCpJ6cP8DUKk25haKzc2W50kQsQGR4KD2DD5aqm-QQgeSf2tn9SH7xoxcD8MwO9vuJFfKk/s2016/Erica+Author+Close+Up+smaller.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlb_j4xNO5zthM-8o3E3q4Wkhllmb2BkUhZk8KwH8vHwp7aizlrfWaAfLkJNJIoiTXtnNpxCpJ6cP8DUKk25haKzc2W50kQsQGR4KD2DD5aqm-QQgeSf2tn9SH7xoxcD8MwO9vuJFfKk/s320/Erica+Author+Close+Up+smaller.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Erica Obey</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: times;">In its glowing review, <i>Publishers Weekly</i> described <i>Dazzle Paint</i> as a "sprightly paranormal mystery" with a plot set in 1919 "that involve Communists, Kaiser Wilhelm, Lord Kitchener, Masons, anti-Semites, artists, trade unionists, and all manner of 'bogies, bogles, boggarts, abbey lubbers and buttery spirits.' ” It seems clear that Obey's background--she holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and taught courses on Arthurian romance, fantasy and mystery fiction at various colleges, including Fordham--plays a role in crafting her novel. Also of note: She is the president of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America.<br /><br />The story of <i>Dazzle Paint:</i> Gavin Fellowes, a damaged WWI veteran turned cynical psychic investigator, arrives in Ker-Ys, a Utopian art colony in Woodstock, NY, to investigate a series of purported fairy kidnappings of Communist garment workers who have taken over the failed Overlook Mountain House above the village. He is rapidly confronted with the willful blind spots of the well-meaning artists and the burgeoning anti-Semitism of the Catskills. With the help of Kate Ames, an illustrator and dazzlepaint designer who once might have been kidnapped by the fairies herself, Gavin must dig beneath the myth and legend to uncover an all-too-real occult threat that looms over Europe in the aftermath of the Great War.</span></span><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXz9oyTOO5nM3SD4iTA6MQ-DQDuwsOPUK6cbbi05wMksWBCAIHt3iWNNX_dHRpG-Rb_3BApwzzLNDehtbmjx0r-OdCV55468o3XFx31RvAA6T4atMsqZITAZtRscY2Xd_vAt-KMdc8Bk/s2048/Dazzlepaint-COV.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXz9oyTOO5nM3SD4iTA6MQ-DQDuwsOPUK6cbbi05wMksWBCAIHt3iWNNX_dHRpG-Rb_3BApwzzLNDehtbmjx0r-OdCV55468o3XFx31RvAA6T4atMsqZITAZtRscY2Xd_vAt-KMdc8Bk/s320/Dazzlepaint-COV.jpg" width="202" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/dazzlepaint/9781940442365"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dazzle Paint</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I caught up with Obey to ask her about <i>Dazzle Paint</i> and its inspirations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Nancy Bilyeau: How much of a role did living in Woodstock play in
the creation of the plot in 'Dazzle Paint' and when did its various elements
come to you? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Erica Obey: Oh, I think everything! I’ve been living up here for
twenty years, but it hardly took that long to realize that you can’t live in
these woods without feeling the voices of those that came before you. The
colony where I live, Byrdcliffe, is truly a special place, which nurtured not
only Bob Dylan but also artists as diverse as Sara Teasdale and Isadora Duncan.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFQuQMtrRobdproip23tA4v2YpM8nQP1DMiRhNJISt7hZGcDbPLqmkj2jTK75MNQDdn-Cw6ReiEQPUegxkvWe-5rrukhqj3MK6wCtjj9tubg6B-n2XJi-y-k_648Xqs5BVWOPrrqrfaE/s1024/Byrdcliffe-White-Pines-porch-1024x844.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1024" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFQuQMtrRobdproip23tA4v2YpM8nQP1DMiRhNJISt7hZGcDbPLqmkj2jTK75MNQDdn-Cw6ReiEQPUegxkvWe-5rrukhqj3MK6wCtjj9tubg6B-n2XJi-y-k_648Xqs5BVWOPrrqrfaE/s320/Byrdcliffe-White-Pines-porch-1024x844.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the porch of "White Pines" at <a href="https://www.woodstockguild.org/">Byrdcliffe. </a>The arts colony was founded in 1902<br /> and is still offering residencies to artists and writers.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NB: Why did you pick the year you did to set the story in,
and do you think the effect of World War One on America is at all
misrepresented in our culture?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>EO: The aftermath of WWI crystallized attitudes and issues
that we are still grappling with today. As I’m sure indigenous Americans find
ironic, nativism has always been part of the American psyche, dating back to Astor
Place riot of 1849, which was over rival English and American actors performing
Macbeth. However, the massive immigrant
influx in the wake of WWI and the Russian Revolution irrevocably coupled
immigrants with criminality and Communism.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> NB: How did you research the religious and class tensions
that existed in the Hudson Valley in the 1910s and 1920s?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> <b>EO: </b></o:p><b>We are lucky to have a great historical society with
extensive archives here in Woodstock as well as many residents whose family
roots run very deep in this community. In fact, I lived in terror of a
long-time resident reading a detail and crying, “WRONG!” I had a great deal of
support from the <a href="http://www.historicalsocietyofwoodstock.org/">Historical Society of Woodstock</a>’s archivist, JoAnn Margolis,
as well as Richard Heppner, the Town Historian, and Fern Malkine-Falvey, who
fact-checked the book for me. I’m sure there remain many errors, but they are
entirely my own.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCqnn9U7I0HiBoDce66cpLsuVTPYVzmuBla4ncw6jkinxldjXkWU3Th5ChHyff4iP0zMQdXEeaX7m_VdNQ7pgIVPa_HhwlG6KKTSjVUcnjqULgt_Z3WU5HdGdFTXmFKYmRQwsymlqNoE/s750/Artist-at-Work-on-Green.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="750" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCqnn9U7I0HiBoDce66cpLsuVTPYVzmuBla4ncw6jkinxldjXkWU3Th5ChHyff4iP0zMQdXEeaX7m_VdNQ7pgIVPa_HhwlG6KKTSjVUcnjqULgt_Z3WU5HdGdFTXmFKYmRQwsymlqNoE/s320/Artist-at-Work-on-Green.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arists at work on the town's Green.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p>NB: </o:p>Is the character of Kate Ames based on a real person?
What inspired her?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> <b>EO: </b></o:p><b>Kate and Melisandre’s origins lie in two pairs of girls who
captivated the turn-of-the-century imagination, only to be later exposed as
hoaxes. The Fox sisters were adolescent spiritualists famed for their table
rapping. Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths wittingly or unwittingly
perpetrated the Cottingley Fairy Hoax, which convinced even such an
arch-rationalist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have always been fascinated by the
question of whether these girls believed in what they were doing or whether
they were the victims of cynical adult manipulation. (Or both. It’s obviously
not an either/or question.)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> NB: </o:p>What about Gavin Fellowes? What was his genesis?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> EO: </b></o:p><b>There’s a lot of me in Kate – in particular her
reticence. However, because she is so self-contained, I wanted a second narrator
whose rational brain is at odds with his emotional/mystical one. The book is
intended to be poised between two explanations and I would hope Gavin’s epistemological
uncertainty would echo the reader’s.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">NB: How closely are the arts and political groups in your
novel to the real groups that came to Woodstock in the early 20th century?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> EO: </b></o:p><b>With the exception of the Byrdcliffe Colony, which I
fictionalized as Ker-Ys, all the groups and locations in the novel are
carefully researched and historically accurate. The American Communist Party
did hold a summit at the Overlook Hotel in 1920, and it was this, not the later
beatniks and hippies, that put Woodstock on Hoover’s watchlist. I did
deliberately fictionalize Byrdcliffe because its past sins are at once more venial
and far worse. In particular, the Whiteheads’ anti-Semitism is appalling and
undeniable. On the other hand, the more criminal behaviors I invented for Ker-Ys
never took place.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> NB: </o:p>Can you explain the term "dazzle paint" and
its importance in the early 20th century?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> EO: </b></o:p><b>Dazzlepaint is one of the most sophisticated forms of
camouflage ever invented. Attempts to conceal or disguise troops and weapons
are nothing new; think of <i>Macbeth</i>’s Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane.
Somewhat less successful attempts include a rather ambitious plan to disguise
horses as cows and haystacks to avoid aerial surveillance during WWI. But while
rowboats and small crafts could be easily disguised as logs or outcroppings
along the shore, it was impossible to use this approach to protect Allied ships
from the threat of Germany’s U-Boats on the open sea. Not that people didn’t
try: the first attempt to disguise a battleship as a floating island was so top-heavy, the camouflage fell off before the ship even left the harbor. In
contrast, dazzlepaint doesn’t try to hide the fact you’re seeing a ship; its
jagged lines and awkward angles are instead meant to confuse your perception of
the vessel’s direction, speed, and size, so that it is impossible to accurately
aim a weapon at it. Modern technology has reduced dazzlepaint to nothing but an
elegant artifact, but it remains a tribute to the artistic power of
misdirection (which in my mind is a central theme of this book).</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">NB: Do you think there is a magical element to this part of
the Hudson Valley that feeds your fiction and also feeds some of the artistic
and political groups that have been drawn here?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p><b>EO: </b></o:p><b>It’s very easy if you live in the Hudson Valley. Folklore
and mythology are part of the air we breathe. The tradition of legends and
hauntings stretches from Washington Irving and Sleepy Hollow all the way to the
twentieth-century Pine Grove UFO sightings. There are plenty of jokes about LSD
in the water in Woodstock, but many of my neighbors would agree that there is a
sense the boundaries between worlds have been lowered up here.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> NB: </o:p>How close is 2021 Woodstock to the popular stereotype of
the town? In other words: what is it with tie-dye?!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p><b> EO: </b></o:p><b>Despite its Bohemian reputation, Woodstock has always
been a small town, where everyone knows everyone and families have roots (and
feuds) going back centuries. The change over the last year has been seismic,
with the Hudson Valley becoming one of the hottest property grabs in the
country, and a lot of the long-time locals are (justifiably) feeling pushed out
by affluent newcomers who have caused housing prices to skyrocket. </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKXANaQsb8fxQV3hfLxLg5vyStqE8fbcAttGjOQwRLMkOTSU4ARJY8dMNinA14mcrh32vYlw7TU7q8Dz_W920pnkkqIPzx8pj0YOuUu5XnaAZid1ljOWqxVX4IOm3Db0K6tjdlAqUtlo/s225/maverick.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKXANaQsb8fxQV3hfLxLg5vyStqE8fbcAttGjOQwRLMkOTSU4ARJY8dMNinA14mcrh32vYlw7TU7q8Dz_W920pnkkqIPzx8pj0YOuUu5XnaAZid1ljOWqxVX4IOm3Db0K6tjdlAqUtlo/s0/maverick.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The radical Maverick Festival in Hurley was founded in 1915</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: times;"></span></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUsQwX2qidKEWT_BUw1S7zlbeTfsJ1GZMQBd7MXnzEasohO3HVcAFnKLsA1vZWOQl5BnF6rYhjh8U8qKZC1F9rtq0-0GDK-yUhjOij-r0dpKpux5S9TjbFuJhct738qGOCxfjw8YHyvI/s275/Hervey+White.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUsQwX2qidKEWT_BUw1S7zlbeTfsJ1GZMQBd7MXnzEasohO3HVcAFnKLsA1vZWOQl5BnF6rYhjh8U8qKZC1F9rtq0-0GDK-yUhjOij-r0dpKpux5S9TjbFuJhct738qGOCxfjw8YHyvI/s0/Hervey+White.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Novelist and poet Hervey White, Maverick's founder, </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Traditionally, Woodstock has always been a combination of
liberal and conservative, united by a stubborn individualism and a
constitutional resistance to being told what to do. So the same impulse that
drove Dylan to create some of the most iconic protest music in history also
drives the bikers and hunters with their “Live Free or Die” bumper stickers.</span></b></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;">NB: </span></o:p><span style="font-family: times;">In our time, "conspiracy theory" is a dirty word (or phrase). Do you have a view of conspiracies in history that surface in popular culture and how we can think of them differently?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"><b> EO: T</b></span></o:p><b><span style="font-family: times;">here have always been conspiracy theories and secret doctrines, going back far before the Eleusinian Mysteries. They flourished in the 19<sup>th</sup> century, when amateur antiquarianism was replaced by professional historiography, especially among the (entirely male) Edinburgh school of rationalists. But WWI was a hotbed of very real conspiracy theories, beginning with the Zimmerman telegram, which finally drew the United States into the war. It is well-documented how British Intelligence sought a way of conveying the telegram’s information to the United States without betraying that they had cracked the Axis codes. Despite the admittedly horrible uses conspiracy theories have been forced to serve, I would argue they have always had an anti-authoritarian, anti-rational bent that articulates the concerns of marginalized thinkers.</span></b></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> NB: </o:p>Do you have advice for other authors who want to
research an area for bits of history that can be woven into popular fiction?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> <b>EO: </b></o:p><b>Every historical novelist has to find their own ways of
engaging with the past. For me, it’s two very different sources: Landscape and
archives. I love ruins and old buildings and happily, the Hudson Valley is
replete with both. I love driving through old towns with either abandoned or
repurposed architecture and trying to envision the lives of those who originally
occupied those buildings.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b> </b><b>I’m also an archive junkie. Archives are a priceless
resource. I could cite a variety of
examples, but I’d like to shout out to Miss Stone, the Woodstock Social Studies
teacher who assigned her 7<sup>th</sup>-grade students the task of creating an oral
history of Woodstock life. The assignment dates back as far as 1963, but the
carefully hand-written copies remain in the archives of the Historical Society
of Woodstock to this day (in FAR better penmanship than my own. Grammar and
spelling counted too.)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> NB: </o:p>What's next for you? Will there be another book with
these characters?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p> <b>EO: </b></o:p><b>I’m moving on to a contemporary Hudson Valley series,
featuring a female programmer and the AI bot she taught to write (and solve)
mysteries. Each book is a classic traditional mystery, and the entire series is
a love letter to all the Golden Age mysteries I read growing up – as well as
the small-town way of life that is rapidly vanishing from the Hudson Valley.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Dazzle Paint</i> can be ordered through the bookstore <a href="https://goldennotebook.indielite.org/book/9781940442365">The Golden Notebook</a> and <a href=" https://bookshop.org/books/dazzlepaint/9781940442365">bookshop.org.</a></span></p><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-10473714984297042552020-12-08T22:28:00.007-05:002022-12-14T16:15:21.126-05:00My Christmas Ghost Story in Old New YorkSeveral years ago, I wrote a mystery set in New York City in December 1912 that revolves around a young Irish American widow named Helen O'Neill. It's a tale with a ghostly element, and that's something I've wanted to do for years--write a Christmas ghost story.<div><br /></div><div>I'd like to share some reviews of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Madison-Avenue-Novella-ebook/dp/B082LXJ8X8">The Ghost of Madison Avenue</a>:</div><div><br /></div>"The Gilded Age splendors of the Morgan Library come to life in this wonderful, warm-hearted tale of Christmases past, present, and future. Bilyeau weaves a wealth of gorgeous period detail into her ghost story of old New York, delivering genuine chills, family drama, and poignant romance with equal skill. A gorgeous holiday treat!"<br />—Mariah Fredericks, author of <i>Death of a New American</i><br /><br />"All the characters are poignantly human, and their social and cultural backgrounds add rich shadings to their actions. The warmhearted theme of second chances is well balanced with the mysteriousness of the woman’s identity, which Helen gets in trouble trying to uncover. Add a touch of Irish magic to the plot—Helen’s unusual dexterity with her hands reminded her late mother and husband of the aes sidhe—and you have an entrancing ghost story with a touching message."<div>--Sarah Johnson, Reading the Past</div><div><br /></div><div>"An enchanting story of the newly rising immigrants and the wealthy of old New York which you can read as quickly as you'd watch a film of <i>The Christmas Carol </i>and will also leave you feeling lovely. Has the author reinvented the much-adored annual Christmas novella? Curl up for an hour or so with a cup of something lovely and read <i>The Ghost of Madison Avenue</i> this season." -- Stephanie Cowell, author of <i>Marrying Mozart<br /></i><div><br /></div><div>The book is available as a paperback as well--making it an excellent stocking stuffer. You can order the book by clicking <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Madison-Avenue-Novella-ebook/dp/B082LXJ8X8/ref=zg_bs_7588812011_16?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NK86HKHHYPXC5AGKAM7K">here</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVjTPI1ALPZA6NLXKqTsVw5R56Lb0mU-_RgmLtoljrir-RiVEb6Kp_YO7sL6w5jhKZqzUfAYp02gbxco0b9G_-mdGKBZCWeQLeLsBVE_2Wxv0RUYa8X9dVzSrWfT0-y1J56vrCZIlxz4KY374MGChAUyRyFj_bPPhiY496iczpLpES7fcs8zCmxNv/s650/Pierpont-Morgans-Library-bs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="650" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVjTPI1ALPZA6NLXKqTsVw5R56Lb0mU-_RgmLtoljrir-RiVEb6Kp_YO7sL6w5jhKZqzUfAYp02gbxco0b9G_-mdGKBZCWeQLeLsBVE_2Wxv0RUYa8X9dVzSrWfT0-y1J56vrCZIlxz4KY374MGChAUyRyFj_bPPhiY496iczpLpES7fcs8zCmxNv/w400-h250/Pierpont-Morgans-Library-bs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dazzling Morgan Library</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh7ABHxgU_w_l2ZGN1xUHcD86kcExT_vNH_6A-RWDiU6ruiK40-qCwHqXNEmFmDtd5LajlGTbfYV7k-NE49_9VbLKVjfYMInCSvHA_gTgJSrdSzgi56dRIXmigAZF2ir1Ml6m5Rr8sWQ/s975/ghost+image.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div>
</div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-78775126932632178672020-11-24T12:26:00.003-05:002020-11-24T12:27:43.002-05:00Sharing My Research on Coney IslandI'm honored to be asked to be a guest of the "Ask the Expert" series at Coney Island Museum. It will be a zoom, the focus is Dreamland and turn-of-the century Coney Island. I have a whole batch of great vintage photos and postcards loaded up to show. It's tomorrow evening--I know it's the night before Thanksgiving. But I promise to make it interesting.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov0vPdPYu1cHQ0vZ0nHCfa8SFWVd6L6Vhk6D-y9rdD2wqGgM2VfOWsyjOZeo1O1Za991YE0fbljl72Bfrpetuo8JZX0FNVevElTTYexSUQBkn1h-RmFZ4UEvw59DOsUjpHeWr7ghyphenhyphenX_Q/s1840/2-+Dreamland+tower+and+chutes.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="1840" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov0vPdPYu1cHQ0vZ0nHCfa8SFWVd6L6Vhk6D-y9rdD2wqGgM2VfOWsyjOZeo1O1Za991YE0fbljl72Bfrpetuo8JZX0FNVevElTTYexSUQBkn1h-RmFZ4UEvw59DOsUjpHeWr7ghyphenhyphenX_Q/s320/2-+Dreamland+tower+and+chutes.jpg"/></a></div>
So if you'd like to escape to 1906 Coney Island for a bit, please stop in. 🙂 The $5 fee goes to the nonprofit Coney Island Museum, which has been closed since March and could really use our help! Register <a href="https://www.coneyisland.com/event/asktheexpertsnancybilyeau">here</a>:
Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694603915396669396.post-56423983286489643492020-11-07T11:10:00.002-05:002020-11-07T11:11:50.614-05:00A Special Promotion for My Tudor Thriller 'The Crown' <p> In 2012 I published my debut novel 'The Crown,' set in Henry VIII's England and featuring as a main character a Dominican novice. It was a pick of the month for Oprah Magazine and a finalist for the Crime Writers Association's Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award, and became a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGC8WWz1F4ks5LudsBJNGssEm17inM8Xf4XdSe9gaiBkOXtk50nG8P4OeLAOhP7XmCEm-l1kp0tHY-QGTfhPlHtGzhunxVbnO0kycdZXesIeLSEslp5sjixN_HWsYNAB0yeP-BX63ajg/s949/201201-omag-reading-room-bilyeau-949x534.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="949" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGC8WWz1F4ks5LudsBJNGssEm17inM8Xf4XdSe9gaiBkOXtk50nG8P4OeLAOhP7XmCEm-l1kp0tHY-QGTfhPlHtGzhunxVbnO0kycdZXesIeLSEslp5sjixN_HWsYNAB0yeP-BX63ajg/s320/201201-omag-reading-room-bilyeau-949x534.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>This month the publisher, Simon & Schuster, is running a promotion for the ebook: it costs $1.99 on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crown-Joanna-Stafford-Book-ebook/dp/B004U7GIQO/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+crown+bilyeau&qid=1604756600&sr=8-1">Amazon </a>and Barnes & Noble in the U.S. and Canada.</p><p>Reviews for the book:</p><br />"Bilyeau deftly weaves extensive historical detail throughout, but the real draw of this suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy, and betrayal." <i>- Oprah</i> magazine<br /><br />"In her debut, <i>The Crown</i>, Bilyeau delivers an engrossing thriller about a 16th-century Dominican novice caught up in royal intrigue. When Joanna Stafford leaves her priory to comfort a cousin who’s about to be burned at the stake, she ends up in the middle of the uproar surrounding Henry VIII’s decision to shut down England’s monasteries — and on a treasure hunt unlike any other, one that reveals secrets about her well-connected family and her faith." — <i>Entertainment Weekly </i>magazine<br /><br /><p>"Nancy Bilyeau's polished, inventive debut has all the ingredients of the best historical fiction: a broad cast of characters, well-imagined settings, and vivid storytelling . . . In Joanna Stafford, Bilyeau has given us a memorable character who is prepared to risk her life to save what she most values, while Stafford's desperate search for a lost religious relic will satisfy even the most ardent mystery fans.'' --Deborah Harkness, author of <i>A Discovery of Witches.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>To order it on Amazon, click<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crown-Joanna-Stafford-Book-ebook/dp/B004U7GIQO/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+crown+bilyeau&qid=1604756600&sr=8-1"> here.</a></p><p><br /></p>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0