Category: Uncategorized
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The Tangled Web We Weave: The Royal Houses of France and England in The Gourd and the Stars
“Henry was eighteen when we met, and I was queen of France. He came down from the north to Paris with a mind like Aristotle’s and a form like mortal sin. We shattered the Commandments on the spot.” – The Lion in Winter “Marguerite and Alys [are Constance of Castile’s daughters], but you shouldn’t worry…
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Angling for the Fisher King: Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Constructing Characters in Historical Fiction
“Amalric died in the same year, succeeded by perhaps the most gallant figure of the whole Frankish venture, the leper king, Baldwin IV ([reign] 1174-85), who inherited the throne at thirteen, a year after his leprosy had been discovered [sic]. He literally dropped to pieces during his reign, a via dolorosa on which he showed,…
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*Release Day for THE GOURD AND THE STARS*
By the staff of St. James, everyone, we have made it (with your encouragement) to another publication day! My latest novel, THE GOURD AND THE STARS, is available TODAY (1/12/2024) in paperback and ebook on virtually all major platforms (Hoopla, as always, is late). Join me for a classic Crusades romance with knights, ladies, adventure,…
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📚Join me and my editor for discussion about writing and publishing (and my next book)!📚
Hello all, I wanted to let you know that I am (excitedly!) doing a live guest spot on my editor Jessica Hatch’s Stubstack podcast, Comp Title Book Club, this Saturday, January 13th, 2024 at 2pm EST! Jessica is veteran editor and author with experience in both traditional and indie publishing, and she is using all…
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Destination Unexpected: A Trip Into Forensic Book Ownership
Listen, dear readers, my book-buying problem is no secret. I buy a lot of books every year, and apparently I’m not able to curb this addiction in any meaningful way—even as I fight an increasingly lost battle with where I’m going to put all of those books. That said, I’m not one to entirely throw…
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My Best Books of 2023
Here we are, folks, at the end of another year, and I thought we’d keep a new tradition going by doing a round up of my favorite books I read this year. Like last year, this list will be my favorite books that I read this year, not necessarily ones published this year (though I…
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Original Chick Lit: 19th Century American Women Writers, Readers, and the Little House that Millbank Built
“Ma spread the between-meals red-checked cloth on the table, and on it she set the shining-clean lamp. She laid there the paper-covered Bible, the big green Wonders of the Animal World, and the novel named Millbank.” – On the Banks of Plum Creek, chapter 17 “Every window and shutter at Millbank was closed. Knots of…
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The Fifth Horse-Man: Apocalypse and Allegory in the Roman de Fauvel
“Le jugement contre Fauvel est déjà prêt, et il sera jugé; lorsqu’il aura été condamné, il subira le châtiment éternel avec le prince des démons.” [“The judgment of Fauvel has already been set, and he will be judged. When he is condemned, he will undergo eternal punishment with the Devil.”] – le Roman de Fauvel…
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Renos and Revamps: Updates From the CMOA and CMNH
I am up to my eyeballs in pre-publication work for The Gourd and the Stars, so I’m afraid I don’t have a super substantial post for this week. But I did take a much-needed mental break trip to the Carnegie museums last week, and since there were a number of changes to exhibits and situations…
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Caught in a Bad Roman-ce Again: Medieval Myth- Making and the Octavian Romances
Somtym byffell ane aventure,In Rome ther was ane Emperoure,Als men in romance rede.He was a man of grete favoureAnd levede in joye and grete honoureAnd doghety was of dede.In tornament nor in no fyghteIn the werlde ther ne was a better knyghte,No worthier undir wede.Octovyane was his name thrughowte;Everylke man hade of hym dowteWhen he…
Sarah Holz 