Meet the Cleves sisters and the people who made their lives. If you’ve read the Three Graces Trilogy, you’ll find several familiar names Youngest sister, Marie, is the Princess de Conde. While the title may sound impressive, the marriage (and the husband who came with it) was not. Marie tries valiantly to keep her arraigned
Blog
Where would a good Renaissance era Catholic be without a good prayer book, also known as a Book of Hours? I’ve looked at Henry IV of France’s prayer book earlier, but let’s not forget his illustrious predecessor, Francis I. The British and French began fighting over it (of course they did) as soon as it
I’m addicted to Francois Clouet’s work, probably because I’ve seen it so often that it seems “normal” to me. The last time I went to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, I almost had a panic attack until I got to the Renaissance era paintings. (hashtag: “sad”). You can spend hours doing a Google search
ETA: The heart has been recovered! Just when you thought people had run out of inappropriate things to steal from museums, news comes from Nantes, France, that Anne of Brittany’s heart is missing. Specifically, a reliquary containing Anne’s heart is now missing from the Thomas-Dobrée Museum. Anne, who became Queen of France twice in
I wanted to give you all a quick update on what’s been going on in my life. My Mother and I were involved in a car accident three days ago. We’re thankful that we both were able to walk away from it. I think that a combination of luck and the four weeks of yoga
While Francis’ library began at the Chateau de Blois, by 1544, it was on the move once again. Determined to expand his literary reputation, Francis made an effort to start a separate collection at the Chateau de Fontainebleau. On May 22, 1544, he ordered in inventory of the library at Blois to prepare them for
Once Francis I ascended the throne of France, he immediately began creating a legacy of culture and power for his new dynasty. A large part of that legacy involved creating a royal library. As he carried on the tradition of warfare across Italy, he spent a large part of his time collecting books that soon
Prayer books are one of the most common forms of art that survives from the Renaissance and mideaval eras. Although most ladies knew the scriptures contained in them by heart, they carried these books with them daily as they went about their regular routine. Generally speaking, a prayer book, sometimes referred to as a Book
I’ve been ensconced in the editing cave for a couple of months now. The Valois Mistress is my first full-length novel and I’m still in the process of learning how to get it right. Once I finish fiddling with the edits, I get to send it to my editor. I’ve published a series of novellas
This month, I finally broke down and bought Scrivener for editing The Valois Mistress. To be honest, I still hadn’t found out how to edit a 4 page scene from a 133 page manuscript without losing my mind to a copy and paste nightmare. Editing novellas and short stories has been one thing, a full