History is a Bitch - a weblog by Jeanne Kalogridistag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://12008-08-25T16:14:07ZMovable Type 3.33Earth-Pulverizing Announcementtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.1042008-08-25T15:49:16Z2008-08-25T16:14:07ZRemember that book called THE BLOODIEST QUEEN? That became THE MEDICI QUEEN when it was pointed out that my UK and Australian readers would guffaw at the "Bloodiest" bit? Well, after much deliberation, I came up with another title with...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
Remember that book called THE BLOODIEST QUEEN? That became THE MEDICI QUEEN when it was pointed out that my UK and Australian readers would guffaw at the "Bloodiest" bit?
Well, after much deliberation, I came up with another title with a bit more pizzazz than THE MEDICI QUEEN -- one which shows Catherine's deep involvement with evil forces. The result?
THE DEVIL'S QUEEN. It'll be out spring/summer 2009, and I'll give an update as soon as I know the month.
P.S. That, plus I've heard my dear friend John Allen is running for President. I'm anxiously awaiting his text message to learn which lucky soul he's chosen as his running mate.
Still More Recommended Readingtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.1022008-05-02T14:27:50Z2008-05-02T14:33:17ZWhen my agent, Russ, first suggested that I try my hand at a historical, he mentioned that I ought to study an author who happened to be represented by my foreign agent, Danny. That author was Noah Gordon, who wrote...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
THE PHYSICIAN, set in the 11th century. THE PHYSICIAN is the story of young Rob Cole, a Londoner who is determined – after the loss of his mother – to learn all he can about healing. It’s a richly detailed look at the healing arts in the early middle ages. I highly recommend Gordon’s books.]]>
Reads, Eats & Sleepstag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.1012008-04-29T15:06:06Z2008-04-29T15:30:11ZI’ve finally gotten around to reading my favorite blogs again (I took a no-blogs, no-Sudoku, no- crossword-or-logic-puzzles vow for the last several months of writing THE MEDICI QUEEN), and Notes from the Copy Editor mentioned the following upcoming title: LITERALLY,...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
Notes from the Copy Editor mentioned the following upcoming title:
LITERALLY, THE BEST LANGUAGE BOOK EVER: ANNOYING WORDS AND ABUSED PHRASES YOU SHOULD NEVER USE AGAIN by Paul Yeager
Well. I suppose I’ll have to preorder it, as it’s due out the first week in May. It follows in the trail blazed by Lynne Truss’ magnificent Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Whereas Truss’ book focuses on punctuation, this one is for aficionados and protectors of the proper use of specific words.
If you – as I do – find joy in passionate discussions of the semi-colon or connotations, this one might be for you. ]]>
Book of the Monthtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.1002008-04-21T13:42:09Z2008-04-21T13:48:18Z Speaking of Dan Simmons, I just finished his novel, THE TERROR. The title suggests a horror novel – and the story is indeed very dark. But it is wrapped in an elegant historical novel, titled after the name of...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
Speaking of Dan Simmons, I just finished his novel, THE TERROR. The title suggests a horror novel – and the story is indeed very dark. But it is wrapped in an elegant historical novel, titled after the name of a nineteenth-century British ship which became trapped in frozen polar waters. Simmons’ ability to capture the sights, sounds and smells of the Arctic and the ships and crews that braved its seas is breath-taking. I was completely absorbed by the story, the setting, the characters, and the precise, stunning details.
His next novel, DROOD, focuses on Charles Dickens’ friendship with Wilkie Collins, the nineteenth-century author whose mystery THE WOMAN IN WHITE is considered a classic. His website states DROOD will be published in January 2009, although publication dates sometimes shift. I’ll be waiting…]]>
One of my favorite authorstag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.992008-04-17T14:13:47Z2008-04-17T14:21:18ZRecently, I had the pleasure of stumbling onto Dan Simmon’s website. It includes the usual list of the author’s works, as well as a forum and a series of essays called Writing Well. The latter are so well-written and entertaining...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
Dan Simmon’s website. It includes the usual list of the author’s works, as well as a forum and a series of essays called Writing Well. The latter are so well-written and entertaining that I’ve linked to them for you here.
One of my favorite passages from Simmon’s essays includes the theory of developing a story (I think it’s a perfect description of what occurs when I write a novel):]]>
Harlan Ellison once described to me his idea for the gestation period for a story – or any piece of writing: Harlan suggests that it’s like having this little motor, flashing-light thingee that you’ve created, but rather than putting it on show, you just pitch it into the swamp of the unconscious that every real writer depends upon. Down there under the algae scum in that swamp, the little idea-machine – useless by itself – begins to connect to other things already already lying in the dark. Writers are the ultimate scavengers. As Henry James (a friend of Harlan’s from the old days, I think) once said – “A writer is a man on whom nothing is lost.” Walking along the boggy shore, the writer finds new things to toss in – a human skeleton, a 1948 Buick V-8 engine, a worn Stetson, a 3-gallon vat of carbolic acid, part of the wooden case for a 1932 Philco floor console radio, some used junkie hypodermics, a chewed-red deer’s leg separated from the carcass, iPod earbuds – and all the time your original flashing, blinking thingee-idea is down there melding, joining, connecting, growing. Finally, often when you least expect it, this . . . THING . . . pulls itself up out of the swamp scum and comes lurching and dragging its parts and killing blades through the primordial ooze and onto dry land.
That’s when you can start writing about it.
Exactly! I’ve been speaking to a lot of reading groups across the country, and am invariably asked whether I know, at the beginning of the novel, how it’s going to end.
The answer is sometimes yes, in a general sense – but always, along the way, I gain new insights into the story and see many connections I would have missed if I hadn’t been living with the characters and story events for so many months. I won’t put any spoilers here, but suffice it to say that I did not see the ending of THE BORGIA BRIDE coming, nor did I see the major plot twist at the very end of I, MONA LISA. I am always delightfully surprised by such insights – which seem to come, interestingly enough, after nine months spent with the material.
Ah, Welltag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.982008-04-15T23:16:23Z2008-04-15T23:28:51ZMy editor, Charlie, loved the book I turned in -- hooray! Just as delightfully, there are almost no editorial changes to be done -- double hooray! The title, however, has been changed from THE BLOODIEST QUEEN to THE MEDICI QUEEN...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
My editor, Charlie, loved the book I turned in -- hooray! Just as delightfully, there are almost no editorial changes to be done -- double hooray!
The title, however, has been changed from THE BLOODIEST QUEEN to THE MEDICI QUEEN because the marketing folks are frightened that my gory title might scare off prospective readers.
Gee whiz. It is, after all, a book about a massacre (the St. Bartholomew's Day one, to be exact). And I would have thought, by now, that my readers have figured out that I like things, um, dark.
But the marketing folks also insisted on changing my title from PAINTING MONA LISA to I, MONA LISA, and I've had a number of US readers tell me they preferred the latter title, because it was far more descriptive of the book's content.
Further update: THE MEDICI QUEEN will be released in hardcover first, instead of trade paperback (translation: They really, really like the book and have faith reviewers and readers will, too). This has pushed us back a bit from a Winter 2009 pub date to Spring/Summer 2009, so that lots of reviewers and distributors can get advance reading copies.
In the interim, the author is catching up on some long-deserved reading of her favorite authors -- one of whom is Dan Simmons. More about him soon...
I Can't Believe I Wrote the Whole Thingtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.972008-04-07T16:45:45Z2008-04-07T17:00:45ZIt's all over but the shouting, folks -- at least until I hear back from my editor, whom I utterly adore. I e-mailed the manuscript to him twenty minutes ago. As of this instant, THE BLOODIEST QUEEN (whose US title...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
It's all over but the shouting, folks -- at least until I hear back from my editor, whom I utterly adore. I e-mailed the manuscript to him twenty minutes ago.
As of this instant, THE BLOODIEST QUEEN (whose US title might change to the UK title of THE MEDICI QUEEN) is scheduled for publication by St. Martin's in Winter of 2009 -- as things progress, I'll learn whether that means January, February, or March '09.
More to come this week. Thanks to all of you for putting up with my long absence.
Still Not Deadtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.962008-03-26T00:13:51Z2008-03-26T00:23:11ZOkay, I said the book was due the fifteenth of March... but the finished manuscript runs very, very long -- 900 pages. I'm still working to cut *three hundred* of them. I'm blind, I'm crazed, but I'm almost done. Give...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
Okay, I said the book was due the fifteenth of March... but the finished manuscript runs very, very long -- 900 pages. I'm still working to cut *three hundred* of them.
I'm blind, I'm crazed, but I'm almost done.
Give me a week or two, my darlings, and I'll be back.
Not Deadtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.952008-02-22T16:00:44Z2008-02-22T16:11:34ZSorry for the lack of postings, dear friends. I'm in the frantic throes of finishing The Book That Would Not Leave, which is due the fifteenth of March. The not-quite-finished manuscript runs over 200,000 words and will be cut down...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
The Book That Would Not Leave, which is due the fifteenth of March.
The not-quite-finished manuscript runs over 200,000 words and will be cut down to 150,000. I'll check with the editor to find out whether the cut pages can be put up on the website for curious readers.]]>
To Be Readtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.932008-01-12T15:05:33Z2008-01-12T15:35:49ZOn my nightstand, waiting to be read: LAURA BLUNDY, a Victorian-era dark historical by Julie Myerson (a peek at the first page has already convinced me that I'll love it) ANGER, by Thich Nhat Hanh (I recommend all of his...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
On my nightstand, waiting to be read:
LAURA BLUNDY, a Victorian-era dark historical by Julie Myerson (a peek at the first page has already convinced me that I'll love it)
ANGER, by Thich Nhat Hanh (I recommend all of his books)
GOULD'S BOOK OF FISH, a historical novel by Richard Flanagan (recommended by the NY Times Book Review)
THE WISDOM OF YOGA, Stephen Cope
Since I'll have little time to read until March, these are currently gathering dust, but I've promised myself that this year, I'll read a lot more fiction.
Reading recommendations, anyone? Comments?
Twain's Ten Rules of Writingtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2008://1.922008-01-07T00:00:53Z2008-01-07T00:39:14Z "I have been an author for twenty years and an ass for fifty-five." -- Mark Twain Mark Twain has always been one of my favorite authors; I got hooked on him back in tenth grade, when I played Twain...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
"I have been an author for twenty years and an ass for fifty-five." -- Mark Twain
Mark Twain has always been one of my favorite authors; I got hooked on him back in tenth grade, when I played Twain in a skit for Mrs. Dodamead's English class. (Alas, she wouldn't let me light that cigar, but I spent a year toying with Swisher Sweets...)
So for those of you who wish to know the rules I l write by, here they are, both large and small, as Twain designated them:
Large rules:
1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.]]>
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausibly set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
Little rules:
7. An author should say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
8. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
9. Eschew surplusage.
10. Not omit necessary details.
Most people know that Twain was an abolitionist, but most don't realize that he was also a vegetarian, paranormal research enthusiast (after having an eerily predictive dream about his brother Henry's death), and anti-imperialist.
I don't remember much about what I said in that impromptu English class skit, but I do recall one quip that stuck with me. When asked by an interviewer, "Mr. Twain, what did you find to be hardest about writing HUCKLEBERRY FINN?" I answered instantly, without flinching: "Selling it to a publisher."
Holiday Greetingstag:www.historyisabitch.com,2007://1.912007-12-26T22:32:30Z2007-12-26T22:42:02Z I thought I'd crawl out of my cave long enough to wish everyone a lovely holiday season and boffo New Year. We haven't taken new Christmas photos yet, so here's one from 2006, which omits young Django the wonder...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
I thought I'd crawl out of my cave long enough to wish everyone a lovely holiday season and boffo New Year. We haven't taken new Christmas photos yet, so here's one from 2006, which omits young Django the wonder pup and features our dear, departed Hershey. And George and Sweetie Pie and yours truly.
My New Year's resolution? Why, to post more often, of course.]]>
Happy Birthdaytag:www.historyisabitch.com,2007://1.902007-12-17T16:52:54Z2007-12-17T17:02:07ZTo me. Please send cake. (John, I *loved* the card.)...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
To me.
Please send cake.
(John, I *loved* the card.)]]>
Virtual Vacation, Pt. IItag:www.historyisabitch.com,2007://1.892007-12-16T23:50:37Z2007-12-16T23:49:56ZStill dreaming of Florence... Fun facts about the city: Modern Italian is considered the direct descendant of fiorentino, the Tuscan dialect spoken in Florence. The symbol of Florence is the fleur de lis, the French lily, and in fact, the...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
fiorentino, the Tuscan dialect spoken in Florence. The symbol of Florence is the fleur de lis, the French lily, and in fact, the great cathedral of Florence, Santa Maria della Fiore, means "Saint Mary of the flowers" (in this case, the lilies).
Florence was home to Dante, Boccaccio, Michelangelo, the Medici, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Galileo, and Florence Nightingale. (Betcha didn't know about that last one -- she was born in the city, hence her given name.)
No stay in Florence would be complete without a visit to the Uffizi Gallery (click to see some gorgeous pop-up art) or the Palazzo Medici, home of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
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A Virtual Vacationtag:www.historyisabitch.com,2007://1.882007-12-09T23:10:11Z2007-12-11T00:48:06ZForgive me, dear friends, for being remiss in posting. Time grows short and my book grows long... Spending the days cooped up with an overdue manuscript-in-progress takes its toll. I've got a bad case of cabin fever, and the only...Jeanne Kalogridis http://www.historyisabitch.com/
THE STONES OF FLORENCE, by Mary McCarthy, and FLORENCE: A PORTRAIT, by Michael Levey.
Speaking of whetting one's appetite, let me share with you my favorite Italian cookbook, Marcella Hazan's ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING; my copy is spattered and dog-eared. (I highly recommend the Sauce Bolognese and the Braised Pot Roast with Red Wine, a Florentine dish -- oh, and the lemon cream fettucine is to die for, but terribly rich.)
Of course, before we arrive in Florence, it would be good to brush up on our Italian. One fun, easy way is with Earworms' Rapid Italian, set to music. (To hear a demo, click to enter the site, then click on "courses/shop.") For those of you who are willing to spend the bucks, I highly recommend Rosetta Stone's Italian DVDs.
I'm also arming myself with the five-star rated FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO FLORENCE and THE CIVILIZED SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO FLORENCE.
More to come...]]>