You may be familiar with the story of Gabrielle d’Estrees, the woman who Henry IV loved so much that he eventually agreed to her despite the fact that she had little political clout outside of France and she was already his Baby Mama thrice over. If Gabrielle is an unknown figure to you, there’s quite
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The Valois Mistress is my first full length novel, and I’m very excited to share it with you. The book’s still in the editing stage, but I’m hoping to get it out this December. If you want to get an advanced copy, click here. While you’re waiting, get to know the people of the French
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 her lifetime, is a folk hero for
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
Today might be my birthday but I’m feeling generous. I have a present for you: an excerpt from The Valois Mistress, coming in 2018 As I walked across the courtyard, I barely caught myself before I tripped over a pair of muddy boots. “Going somewhere, Mademoiselle?” a jaunty voice called out at my
Making a final decision on the cover design for The Valois Mistress is driving me around the bend these days. I think that I’m just too attached to Charlotte de Sauve to be partial. The finalists: These are the ones that made the final cut. Why not use her actual portrait? I really wish that
It’s hard to imagine the world of the Cleves sisters, so I’ve given you a pictorial guide. You know you love a good Printerest board. I’ve assembled images of the sisters, mostly their portraits by Clouet, along with images of their homes, what remains of the landscape from 16th century France, and the people who