I recently read a magnificent novel, The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau, which deals with the fate of some English Dominican nuns during Henry VIII’s “reform.” I was delighted and honored when Nancy agreed to be interviewed. I will be reviewing the book as well in a future post. To quote […]
Researching Medieval France
Acclaimed historical novelist Catherine Delors once interviewed me about the research for my novel The Night’s Dark Shade and the joys of self-publishing. Here is the interview, which may be of interest to other writers: Elena, your third novel, The Night’s Dark Shade takes place during the Albigensian Crusade, in […]
Publishing My First Historical Novel
Nothing is impossible. In 1995 I wrote a novel about Marie-Antoinette and called it Trianon. I had been fascinated by Marie-Antoinette since the age of nine. By the time I was a grad student I had visited Versailles twice, but it was not until I saw a picture of Petit […]
Controversial Historical Characters
How do we write about controversial Catholic historical characters? I think that the key to dealing with controversial characters and situations in Catholic historical fiction is to be faithful to the facts. The more research you do, the more information you will have, and the clearer your picture of the […]
Blogging Historical Fiction
My historical fiction blog is called Tea at Trianon. I post daily on matters of faith, culture and history, with an emphasis on the French Revolution. The blog has about 65,000 hits a month, with roughly 20,000 unique visitors a month. It has led me to meet fascinating people from […]
The Importance of Catholic Historical Fiction
Why do we need Catholic historical fiction? As Pope Benedict XVI said in his 2009 “Address to Artists“: “Art, in all its forms, at the point where it encounters the great questions of our existence, the fundamental themes that give life its meaning, can take on a religious quality, thereby […]