Hello, friends. My last post for the History Girls is now live! In it, I interview the wonderful debut author Arushi Raina about When Morning Comes, her novel about the Soweto Uprising of 1976. Please do read it! … [Read more...]
Two Worlds
Hello, friends! Tomorrow, I have the joy of moderating a talk with two profoundly talented writers, Lynne Kutsukake and Michael Prior. We'll be at Kingston's WritersFest and the title of our session is "Two Worlds: Who Am I When Cultures Clash?" I read Kutsukake's and Prior's debut books - an historical novel set in 1947 Tokyo and a collection of poems, respectively - over the summer and they're … [Read more...]
An interview with Stephanie Burgis
Hello, there! Are you here because it's Wednesday? If so, thank you for being extremely consistent! Here, have a dreamy library image: On Thursday, September 15, I'll be interviewing Stephanie Burgis over at the History Girls. We'll talk opera, revolution, and castrati as romantic heroes - just some of the elements in her recent historical fantasy novel, Masks and Shadows. I hope you'll … [Read more...]
Arrogance and folly
Hello, friends. Earlier this month, I started writing Part 3 of Monsoon Season. I'm trying to be less secretive about my work-in-progress, so today I'm posting an excerpt from this week's work. It might make the final cut; it might not. The speaker is Chen Liling, a young Chinese Communist guerrilla in Japanese-occupied Malaya. April 18, 1945 Here is a measure of how long we’ve been in the … [Read more...]
Keep going, never end
Hello, friends! A couple of months ago I was browsing our local indie bookshop and noticed that William Boyd has a new novel out. As you might know, I'm a longtime fan of his and I immediately bought the book. When I got home, I was startled to discover that it's called Sweet Caress. Um. It's a good thing I'm already a superfan, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have glanced twice, let alone plucked … [Read more...]
A Tyranny of Petticoats
Hello, friends. This week, I am tremendously excited to share with you the absolutely glorious cover of Jessica Spotswood's historical anthology, A Tyranny of Petticoats. Behold! My friend Cat taught me the phrase "on fleek", and now I just want to walk around now yelling, "It's SO ON FLEEK!" Here's a bit more about the collection, which combines historical realist and historical fantasy … [Read more...]