I happily confess that I am a big fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books. Her plots are intricate and clever, her historical context is fascinating, her dialogue is realistic and witty, and her characters are vividly drawn. Then there is the love story of Jamie and Claire; theirs is surely
In my latest book, Masquerade, I describe Luz’s home as follows: The sun was benevolent today so she seated herself comfortably on the veranda. A particularly fecund crop of orange and lemon trees hung like illuminated lanterns on one side of the terrace, backed by the whitewashed walls of the
Recently, writer Kevin Pickard wrote an article for Electric Literature entitled ‘Should Fiction Be Timeless? Pop Culture References in Contemporary Novels’. In it, he explored the enduring debate in literary circles over whether it is acceptable – preferable, even – to interweave popular culture references in a novel, or whether
It’s a February Fiesta! For your chance to win one of my novels in paperback or a £100/$150 Amazon gift card, follow the tour: 1 February dot-scribbles.blogspot.co.uk 2 February silvybooksaremylife.wordpress.com 3 February cosmochicklitan.com & readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.com 4 February oh-my-books.blogspot.co.uk & glowsnoveladdiction.blogspot.co.uk 5 February jeanzbookreadnreview.blogspot.co.uk & roomwithbooks.com
In 1987 a new American film studio released a movie shot on a low budget and with no major stars. Expectations were not high. And yet that movie would prove to be a sensational box office hit, and would become one of the most enduring and iconic romance movies of
Once upon a time… those four simple words evoke such wonderful memories for me. I remember being a little girl, bathed and ready for bed, sitting by my governess, Zula, as she read to me the tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm. ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘The Nightingale’,
In my latest novel, Masquerade, the heroine Luz receives a dark warning from a gypsy woman: Gemini, Gemini … Deceptive Gemini. You think you know them, blinded by their wit and charm, Today they love you, tomorrow they may harm. Chameleons of the Zodiac, they’ll lead your mind astray, Into
Recently, a friend asked: ‘Have you read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon?’ I thought for a moment and then replied, ‘No, I haven’t.’ ‘Oh,’ she said at once, ‘you must! You’ll love them.’ I trust my friend; she knows my reading tastes well.So I bought the first book and
Thank you for visiting my blog as part of the Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop. I’m giving away the Literary Listography reading journal – ideal for keeping track of your reading past, present and future, and sharing recommendations with friends. Good luck with your entry: a Rafflecopter giveaway <!– end
My new trilogy, spanning Indiscretion, Masquerade and the forthcoming Legacy, is set in Andalusia, Spain. Wherever I set my stories, it is important to me that I convey a sense of the history, culture and personality of a place, and for Andalusia, that meant horses simply had to feature! Have
Regular readers of my blog will know that I like to keep up to date with writing, publishing and reading-related news. This week, my favourite story relates to George RR Martin, author of the wildly popular ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ series, on which the equally successful Game of
One of my favourite sites for online window-shopping is The Literary Gift Company at www.theliterarygiftcompany.com. They sell all sorts of essentials, luxuries and quirky delights for the book lover. And their latest is wonderfully innovative: This ‘fictional map of London’ is described as: A navigable plan of London streets, parks,
For many countries, Christmas is but a distant memory (have you taken down your decorations by now? I expect so). But not for the Spanish, for whom today, 6th January, is the most important day in the Christmas festivities. While researching my romantic series Andalucian Nights, I read a lot
From the blurb: Elizabeth Bennet never imagined her own parents would force her to marry a virtual stranger. But when Mrs. Bennet accuses Fitzwilliam Darcy of compromising her daughter, that is exactly the outcome. Trapped in a seemingly loveless marriage and far from home, she grows suspicious of her new
Happy New Year! I wish you good cheer, hope, success, good health and, above all, love in 2016 – all of which are so beautifully encapsulated in this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. New Year: A Dialogue MORTAL: “The night is cold, the hour is late, the world is bleak
What does the name ‘Don Juan’ mean to you? No doubt you can think of various characters with the name and attributes of Juan, the archetypal womaniser. Given that the heroes in my Andalucían Nights series are all strong, virile, handsome Spanish men, the legend of Don Juan resonated with
For me, choosing the title of a book is one of the most fun parts of the writing process. But it is also one of the most important elements when it comes to book marketing. Working with publishers for my fiction, I have come to understand that the title is
Happy Christmas! I hope you are celebrating today with someone special. Here is one of my favourite seasonal poems, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (The three kings Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar will feature again on my blog soon, for La Fiesta de Los Tres Reyes Mages.) The Three Kings Three
The novelist Jean Rhys declared: ‘All of a writer that matters is in the book or books. It is idiotic to be curious about the person.’ I understand her viewpoint entirely. It is a noble and beautiful sentiment that what matters is the art, not the artist. When I was
In my new novel Masquerade, the heroine Luz is a writer. She works on commission, writing biographies of notable figures. A Cambridge graduate, her first commission was penning the biography of an ancestor for one of the great families in the Highlands of Scotland. With that book now complete, she
Welcome to my stop on the Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop. I am giving away a $10/£10 Amazon gift card to put towards your Christmas festivities. Entry is open to US and UK residents. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway There are plenty more prizes to win. Enjoy your hopping! <!– end
I was brought up in a house in which books were ever-present. As a little girl, it did not occur to me to question the books in just about every room of the house, and the fact that my family members were always reading. Books were a part of our
My latest book, Masquerade, is set in and around Cadiz, one of the eight provinces that constitute the autonomous community of Andalusia. The city of Cadiz, as depicted on the cover of the book, is known as the city of light. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe (founded by
From the blurb: In this new novel from the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life, two women working in Hollywood during its Golden Age discover the joy and heartbreak of true friendship. Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the
Welcome, and thanks for visiting. I am giving away a paperback copy of The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading this year (see my review at https://hannahfielding.net/staging/1129/the-other-daughter-by-lauren-willig/). Entry is open to all; I will post internationally. a Rafflecopter giveaway There are plenty more prizes to
What springs to mind when you read the word gallant? For me, the word is from a time gone by, when social norms were very different. The adjective can be used to describe bravery and heroism; but it is mostly used to describe a male, not a female, who is
A great group of authors and bloggers have joined with me to bring you a fabulous prize! We’re giving away $300 in Paypal cash or an Amazon.com eGift Code. Sponsor List I Am A Reader eBooks for Review Lori’s Reading Corner Kimber Leigh Wheaton Author Inger Iversen D.E. Haggerty – author Author Ednah
Regular readers of my blog may remember my dalliance with word art and word-frequency checkers with my books Burning Embers and The Echoes of Love. I find it a fun and illuminating exercise to break down my books and see which keywords encapsulate the heart of the story. For my
Today I’m inviting you to take a musical interlude, and step back in time with a version of ‘This Masquerade’ by the Carpenters, which dates to the era of my novel Masquerade. It’s such a haunting and melancholic song; I thought of it while writing my new novel – of
Plenty of actors famously declare that they don’t watch their own movies. Johnny Depp told David Letterman on The Late Show: ‘In a way, once my job is done on a film, it’s really none of my business. I stay as far away as I possibly can… I don’t like
Last week on my blog, I introduced you to Lake Como, the main setting for my new novel, Concerto. Part of the charm of Lake Como is the many beautiful villas that have been built on its shores – grand, impressive dwellings constructed for the wealthy and influential in times
Advance copies of my new novel, Concerto, are now available for book reviewers, and can be downloaded via NetGalley: http://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/161897. I’m excited to be sharing this book with readers. I very much hope they will enjoy visiting beautiful Lake Como and being immersed in a symphony of emotions as they follow the story of
‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’ So wrote the great American poet and author Maya Angelou. Her contemporary Toni Morrison advised: ‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ The untold story must be told.
My latest novel, Concerto, which will be published in August of this year, is set on Lake Como, in the Lombardy region of Italy. There, in a grand Palladian mansion, lives Umberto Monteverdi, a once-great composer who has lost his way since a car accident robbed him of his sight.
This marble statue is based on one sculpted by Antonio Canova for Empress Josephine between 1813 and 1816. Called The Three Graces, it depicted the Graces, or Charities, of Ancient Greek mythology. The Graces were daughters of Zeus and Hera or Eurynome. Their raison d’être was pleasure – they were
Publishing my novels has been quite the adventure for me, and by far my favourite aspect has been connecting with readers. At first, my readers were in English-speaking countries like the USA and Britain and Australia, but now my stories are reaching people all over the world, thanks to the
I am thrilled to be able to share with you today the cover and description for my seventh novel, Concerto, which will be published in August! Over the coming months before the novel’s release, I will share the inspirations and background to my novel, which is set on Lake Como,
Readers of my fiction will easily notice a common theme in my writing: passion – between characters, of course, but I hope it is also apparent that I am deeply passionate about the writing itself. I have wanted to write for as long as I can remember, and writing romance
In my latest novel Aphrodite’s Tears, set on a Greek island, I draw extensively on the mythology of the Ancient Greeks. Here is my heroine’s impression of a hall in her home on the island: The sheer size of the room with its high, ornate domed ceiling, supported by delicately
The Ancient Greeks were a passionate people, as reflected in their colourful, dramatic myths. Love is a common theme in those stories – but so is tragedy. Last week, I shared with you the myth of the mountain nymph Echo, whose unrequited love for Narcissus caused her to fade away
Having written novels since my early twenties, I have long considered myself a novelist – a long-form writer. But earlier this week, I was hunting through my blog posts and it struck me suddenly how many I was searching through. Writing articles for this blog and sharing them each week
I read French literature at university, and am deeply inspired by the French romantic authors of the 19th century, like Stendhal, Musset, Theophile Gautier, Leconte de Lisle and Victor Hugo. But there is one author of English literature from this period who has also influenced my writing, and that is
I am fascinated by etymology: the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. The Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins is one of the most-well-thumbed books on my shelf. While I was writing my novel Aphrodite’s Tears, which draws upon
For many writers, the most important part of the ‘room with a view’ for their writing is the view. For Victor Hugo, whose writing space I visited in this series last week, it was a view over the sea to his beloved France. For many writers, though, what can be
In 2014, Svend Brinkmann, professor of psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark, published a book entitled Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze. In the book, Brinkmann applies the wisdom of the Stoics of Ancient Greece and Rome to counter the modern trend of challenging oneself to grow and develop. He advocates ‘standing
Happy St. Valentine’s Day! If there was ever a day to make a declaration of love, this is it. We do not need flowers, or chocolates, or champagne; we do not need moonlit strolls and candlelight (though these are lovely, of course!); what we need is words that convey all
One of the biggest and the oldest statues in the world, the Great Sphinx of Giza is renowned for its mystic look which speaks of eternal secrecy.
‘Mute witnesses to centuries of history, presiding over the graceful shadowy sand hillocks of the Arabian Desert and dark clusters of palm trees, towering up into the clear sky.’ The pyramids of Giza – what better backdrop for the first kiss of Aida and Phares in my novel Song of the Nile?
Is mutual understanding, respect and admiration enough to make a marriage work for Aida? Or does she need more – is love fundamental?
Beautiful Ancient Egyptian jewellery features in my new novel, Song of the Nile. Thanks to the gifts of her father, a keen archaeologist and Egyptologist, Aida has a huge collection of magnificent pieces: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, arm bands and headpieces dating back as far as the Hellenistic period.
‘Aida felt a familiar thrill of anticipation as she crossed the wide veranda and went through those hospitable doors; she’d enjoyed many happy times in this old hotel. Shepheard’s was an institution, holding its own unique place in the affections of all who knew and loved Egypt…’
‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.’ So declares the heroine of my favourite work of English literature. Jane Eyre was published in the 1840s, yet a century later still a woman has to assert her right to independence in a man’s world…
It’s publication day for my new novel, Song of the Nile,, in ebook format! The book will whisk you away from this long winter to the sultry heat of Egypt…
Egypt is synonymous with vast sand-strewn landscapes beneath vivid skies. Here, in the driest and sunniest country in the world, most of the land is desert – and such beautiful desert.
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