Or
Book Club Friday guest to day is author Nancy Bilyeau, a magazine editor who
has worked on the staffs of Rolling Stone, Good Housekeeping and InStyle. Her first
novel, The Crown, was shortlisted for the Ellis Peters
Historical Dagger Award in 2012. Oprah Magazine said, "Bilyeau deftly
weaves extensive historical detail throughout, but the real draw of this
suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy, and betrayal.”
The Chalice, a sequel, will be released in March. Learn more about Nancy at her website.
Nancy
is offering two copies of The
Crown to readers who post
a comment. As always, please leave your email address or check back on Sunday
to see if you’ve won. -- AP
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| The Cloisters |
When crafting my novel, a
historical mystery thriller, I not only ignored “Write
what you know,” I went about as far into an unknown world as a person can go
and not be authoring science fiction. The
Crown is set in England; I’m American, living in New York City. The book
takes place in 1537-1538, during the reign of Henry VIII; not being a time
traveler (unfortunately), I’m of the modern era. My protagonist, Joanna
Stafford, is a novice in a Dominican Order; I was not raised in any religion,
unless you count a few Sunday-school classes at the Unitarian-Universalist
Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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| The Cloisters passageway |
I love research and I dove
into studies of Tudor personalities and daily life in Catholic monasteries. The
novelist leading the fiction workshop where I developed The Crown, Rosemarie Santini, urged me to “get in the mood” to
write, through listening to music or going to places that would inspire me.
Music helped, no question. But finding inspiration in New York City was a bit
of a challenge…until I re-visited The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
The Cloisters’ collection is
made up of 3,000 works of art from medieval Europe, and many of its rooms are
re-assembled French monasteries from the 9th to 16th
centuries. To get there requires an hour and a half trip, taking two subways,
but I haunted the Cloisters for quite some time (and still do). It definitely
helped me get into the head of a devout young Catholic novice. But spending
time in the Cloisters gave me actual ideas for important passages in my book,
too--even clues. I made use of the
stone chapter house, where nuns received correction from their superior; the
herb-filled cloister gardens; the famous Unicorn tapestries; the tombs
containing stone effigies; and the arched doorway with statues of kings on
either side.
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| Author Nancy Bilyeau in The Cloisters tomb |
Most thrilling of all, I was
making my way through a lower-floor room of precious medieval objects: cups,
plates, crosses, playing cards, devotional beads, silver, reliquaries, busts of
saints, stained glass,
candlesticks, framed miniatures, when I saw….my murder weapon.
Now that was a good day at The Cloisters!
Thanks so much for joining us today, Nancy. I love
The Cloisters! Readers, if you’d like a chance to win a copy of Nancy’s book,
leave a comment. -- AP
26 comments:
I'm in awe. Not only do I want to see the Cloisters, but you are one Great researcher!
Wow what a lot of research! Good luck on the book, sounds interesting!
lynn4503@comcast.net
Nancy...I love your ideas for research. I've used my vacation travels but have not thought enough about local resources for inspiration...thank you for pointing that out! Have you read Sandra Worth...she also writes about the Tudors. I wish you much success with your book and look forward to reading it.
karensueburns@gmail.com
Your novel sounds fascinating and the research wonderful. Best wishes. This story sounds compelling with all the great ingredients you mentioned.
The Cloisters are indeed a marvelous place. And now I wonder if I've seen the murder weapon....
Sandra
i enjoyed learning about your research and the background of this compelling book.
Loved your blog and the way you used surroundings to come up with scenes and murder in your story! I, too, think it's important to be able to do that so that all the senses can be involved, too. Good luck with the book!
I enjoyed reading about your research. The Cloisters is a wonderful museum, and it sounds like you really used it effectively! Good luck with the book sales.
Llyn
What a fine inspiration. I haven't seen The Cloisters yet, and this is a real incentive to fill that gap. I have, though, seen the Cluny Museum in Paris. Wonderful Unicorn tapestries ... but so very much was lost!
William
Thank you everyone! I do love research, I find it exciting. They do lovely tours at The Cloisters too--I went on one that was all about the tapestries, the woman who gave it was highly knowledgeable. The director of the entire Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas P Campbell, actually specializes in historical tapestries. He's written two books about them, including "Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court."
Nancy Bilyeau
This sounds like my cuppa tea. I love the history and I love England. I even have friends named Tudor. Thanks for all the research. Please put me in the draw for a copy. Just this blog makes me want to visit The Cloisters.
What a great post! The Cloisters has always amazed me. Fabulous place for research. Thanks for sharing!
Nany:
Your book is on my To Be Read list! Can't wait to do so and congrats on the award!
What a wonderful way to do research! You have mood, setting and details all in one place, plus the serenity of a Renasissance cloistered community. I want to go!
I'm eager to read your book. When I was younger (many moons ago) and still living in New York, I used to haunt the Cloisters. I loved the way the light would play across the stones in the early afternoon and I would take any opportunity to use the atmosphere there for inspiration—for drawing and poetry, sometimes even music!
That's one of the places I really miss, living up here in the great white north. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Love The Cloisters! Great ideas for research. Much success with the book and hope it does well.
Your novel sounds great. Look forward to reading it.
Katie Johnson (johnsonk133@yahoo.com)
I never made it uptown to the Cloisters, though I lived in NYC for many years. Such a journey! And I regret, still, not making it. Your book sounds fascinating!
rossel(at)fairpoint(dot)net
Sounds wonderful - both the place (Cloisters) and the book.
http://www.maryellenhughes.com
I love The Cloisters! I used it as a setting in my kids ghost mystery, The Knight in the Shadows (along with the MET). Lots of inspiration there, for research or a setting for action.
i cannot wait to read your book. it has been on my want list since i first saw it. your blog is so good. i read it whenever it pops up on my facebook page.
patrice m.
I'm sold! This is my favorite period of British history - and I can envision a novice during this time period. Congratulations on your nomination. I look forward to reading The Crown.
I'm thrilled by this interest in my novel. Thank you! There were so many years when I was working on it, weekends and "staycations" and then getting up at 5 am to write, when I thought to myself, "Why are you putting yourself through this to write the book? No one asked you to do this." I'm so grateful for your interest, and to "meet" other fans of The Cloisters.
This has been on my TBR list for months and I am fascinated by this time period. Which was more fun - researching or writing? :) Nancy wishing you success and nice to meet up as ITW Debut Authors at ThrillerFest this year. The Crown looks like its making a big splash!
donnasgalanti@comcast.net
Donna: For me, research is more lighthearted than writing, which is serious business, even if it's skulking around tombs.
The Cloisters sounds like a wonderful place to visit! And just reading about your visits there has put me in the mood to read an historical mystery :)
Would love to read your book!
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