Today, in Canada, a simply gorgeous paperback edition of The Shadow Queen is out!
Frankly, it’s hard to settle down to work. It’s tough being so far away (we’re in Mexico still). I’ve yet to even get my hands on it.
Procrastination #1: I up-dated my paintings page.
Yesterday was a crazy day: I sent out a newsletter, the U.S. paperback edition of The Shadow Queen came out, and — quite by coincidence — my INK e-book edition of The Shadow Queen launched in the UK and beyond.
Any one of these requires quite a bit of on-line attention, but to have all three in one morning?
Too much!
By 11:00, I decided I needed a walk, so I went out to buy watercolour supplies for the class I’m taking this afternoon. Very therapeutic!
And soon … to the beach, where I will be reading the 4th draft of The Game of Hope with an editorial eye. I put the novel aside December 1. It will be interesting to read it afresh.
I’m reading:
Publishing 101 by Jane Friedman. Excellent. Highly recommended.
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. I’m only a few chapters in and I love it already. Will it last? I very rarely read speculative fiction. I suspect this one will hold me.
There are some wonderful reviews of The Shadow Queen on Amazon and Goodreads. Here is a quote from one review I like very much, by “Curtis” (otherwise known to me as @gariovich on Twitter):
Athénaïs wields such power over the king that she is referred to as The Shadow Queen. Some may think that the title of this novel is a reference to this, but I would argue the title refers to Claudette. She is the true queen of the novel. She emerges from a life riddled with strife to one of self-determination. In the end, it is Claudette who has emerged from the shadows of poverty and disadvantage to reign over her own destiny.
I especially like this because early reviews took exception to the title. Now reviewers are interpreting the title less literally, which is how it is intended. (I have written about the title here.)
A few review quotes:
JustOneMoreChapter.com: “I adored The Shadow Queen right from the first page.”
I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Margaret, the reviewer, at one of my readings.
A bookish affair: “My fellow historical fiction fans will eat it up!”
Trudy Morgan-Cole at Compulsive Overreader: “While the glimpses of court life are intriguing and, as always with Gulland, beautifully drawn, what really fascinated me in this book is the theatre world.”
I’ve been very pleased by the number of readers who love the theatre world of The Shadow Queen.
This post is going on too long … . As Mark Twain famously said, “If I had had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
I learned today that in Jane Austen’s England, the receiver of the letter paid according to how many pages the letter was, as well as by how far it had travelled. People put a very great deal onto one page by “cross” writing.
Imagine writing a novel this way … Actually, that rather fits.
Happy Mother’s day, one and all. May there be the gift of time for reading in your day.
Given the recent revelations about French President François Hollande’s personal life, I think future writers of historical fiction are fortunate. They will have so many details to go on, from photos of President Hollande arriving for a rendezvous on a scooter to tweets sent by the former First Lady, his live-in mistress Valerie Trierweiler.
In writing biographical historical fiction that involves a public figure, it’s often difficult to discover how an intimate relationship evolves.
While writing my newest novel, THE SHADOW QUEEN, it was easy enough to see how lovers met, but a little more difficult to sort out how, exactly, a more intimate relationship came about—for these lovers were all “in the family,” so to speak:
Athénaïs, Madame de Montespan (Mistress 2) was the good friend of Louise de la Vallière (Mistress 1)—or so Louise thought.
Madame de Maintenon (Mistress 3) worked for Athénaïs (Mistress 2), as governess of her children by the King.
Claudette des Oeillets—heroine of THE SHADOW QUEEN who has a child by the King (rather a Mistress 3.5)—also worked for Athénaïs (Mistress 3) as her lady’s maid, and one has to presume that this arrangement was with Athénaïs’s approval.
The Hollande family tree, however, will be as difficult for future historical novelists to sort out as in days of old, and in this respect I don’t envy them in the least. Ms Ségolène Royal, Hollande’s former common-law wife, is the unmarried mother of his four children. Ms Trierweiler, his second partner, has three children by her second husband. That’s a family-menage of seven children—way too many to manage in a scene.
Film actress Julie Gayet, the newest Other Woman, has two children by her first husband, but it’s up for grabs whether or not she will be moving into the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the President of the French Republic. If she does, the international Press, you can be sure, will be watching.
There is a general perception that it is not uncommon for French leaders to have a mistress. Is this, however, fair? In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, having a mistress was almost a requirement for a French, English, Spanish or German king. Understandably, in my view, given that royalty had to marry for political reasons, not love.
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a rather monogamous adulterer: he usually had only one mistress at a time. His cousin Charles II of England, however, had several mistresses at once. (The most famous was actress Nell Gwynn, who is reported to have once sabotaged a rival by putting laxatives in her food before her rendezvous with the King.)
In modern history, Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 in order to be with his mistress, the divorcee Wallis Simpson. Prince Charles married his long-term mistress Camilla Parker Bowles. And then, of course, we have President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
In one respect, I venture to say that the French do take the cake. A number of French shadow queens were significantly powerful women.
Gabrielle d’Estrees, the Catholic mistress of Protestant Henri IV, helped end France’s religious wars.
King Henri II’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, imposed taxes, appointed ministers and made laws.
And, lest you think that the role of shadow queen is strictly sexual, consider Madame de Pompadour, who was King Louis XV’s mistress for almost two decades, despite—I’ve read—being unable to have intercourse. Instead, she provided the King with young women to sleep with.
I admire the French public for considering it none of the press’s business what their leaders do in their personal life … which makes me feel just a little trashy for even mentioning it all here. But then, I’m just thinking ahead, academically speaking. ;-)
Have you ever noticed how the word “courtesan” has the word “court” in it? From Wikipedia:
“In Renaissance usage, the Italian word cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano (“courtier”) came to refer to “the ruler’s mistress”, and then to a well-educated and independent woman of loose morals, essentially a trained artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for companionship.”
A friend just emailed: Is it as exciting as the first time?
Although there is nothing quite like the first time, I woke up this morning and thought, with a big grin, PUB DAY!
It’s such a miraculous thing!
I’m still in Mexico, so I can’t see it in bookstores in Canada and the U.S. If you see it, send me a photo (sgulland AT sandragulland DOT com) and I’ll post it here.
Here is the link to the newsletter I sent out yesterday: http://bit.ly/NewsletterApr72014
I’ve emailed the winner of THE SHADOW QUEEN (always fun).
Reviews—even brief ones—on Goodreads, Amazon.com or Amazon.ca are so very much appreciated now. If you’re not ready to review, give a “thumbs up” to a review you like.
And, as well, all that usual Social Media stuff: thumbs up, likes, re-tweets and tweets! It’s a noisy type of day.
But most of all, I hope you buy THE SHADOW QUEEN, or get it out of the library, or borrow it from a friend. In short: I hope you read it. And if you love Claudette and her eccentric tribe, chat it up. Word-of-mouth is still the most powerful promotion there is.
Perhaps one of the most heartening things for an author is when one’s work is understood. This review (see the link in @leaflette’s Tweet below) brought tears to my eyes.
At last! My review of THE SHADOW QUEEN by @Sandra_Gulland. I loved it a lot, guys. A LOT: http://t.co/FYmP8yTFS0 @doubledaypub— leeanna @ leeanna.me (@leaflette) April 3, 2014
I especially liked this from Leeanna’s review:
THE SHADOW QUEEN had just the right amount of historical detail to for me to perfectly imagine Claudette’s world, from the theatre to court. I’ve never had an interest in French plays or the history of them, but now I do, thanks to reading this book. Claudette’s parents are both actors, and so the beginning “acts” of the book take place in the theatre world. It was pretty cool to find out how plays were staged back then. Also, when Claudette moves to court, to be Athénaïs’ maid and companion, it was easy to draw allusions between both false worlds.
Thank you so much, Leeanna, whoever and wherever you are.
From the This ‘n That Department:
Have you noticed my new website design? I am very pleased.
Why I’ve been silent: so much to do. I am 4 days from pub date (OMG) and 6 days from heading north to Canada. (Yikes!)
My first event will be at the North Shore Writers Festival on Saturday, April 12, 2:30-3:30pm: Enlivening the Past, historical fiction writers’ panel featuring authors Sandra Gulland, Daniel Kalla, Mary Novik, and Roberta Rich is moderated by Jen Sookfong Lee. I am stoked to be seeing Roberta again, and am very much looking forward to meeting Daniel, Jen, and—especially, Mary, who I’ve long admired from afar.
If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, be sure to do so now. (http://www.sandragulland.com/contacts/) With every newsletter, a subscriber wins a book. (I’m loving doing this.)
I was a bit over the moon that Flipboard mentioned my magazine in a Tweet:
“On Writing & Publishing, & Everything In-Between” is author @Sandra_Gulland‘s mag about literary life: http://t.co/n4g6bRgcjU #MagsWeLove — Flipboard Magazines (@FlipboardMag) April 1, 2014
The subscription has increased by over 500 already.
And last, another Tweet I loved:
My #FridayReads is THE SHADOW QUEEN by @Sandra_Gulland; am just racing through it & can’t put it down, to detriment of work. Whoops…— Suzanne McGee (@SuzMcGeeNYC) April 3, 2014
