Visitors to Covent Garden, London, in the next month can stand right at the heart of art. French artist Charles Petillon has filled the South Hall with 100,000 balloons, in a work named ‘Heartbeat’, as reported in the Daily Mail: Petillon, a visual artist, has until now only exhibited photographs
Art features prominently in my new novel, Masquerade. The heroine, Luz, is a writer, and she has been commissioned to write a biography of artist Count Eduardo Raphael Ruiz de Salazar, by his nephew, Andres de Calderón. Securing the job requires Luz to have a great deal of knowledge of
From the blurb: Katherine has been let down by men before. Can she trust the man who captures her? England, Summer 1132 Valens is an arrow-maker and spy for Lord Sebastian (the hero of Sebastian the Alchemist and his Captive, Medieval Captives 1). His beloved sister Julia has died, leaving an
Home is most certainly where my heart is. In the summer, I’m to be found at my French mas on the Riviera, writing in the garden overlooking views like these: In the winter, I nest down in our family home in Kent, a converted rectory surrounded by woodland and gardens
Imagine a world in which books matter a great deal, but authors – their creators – do not. Imagine a world in which the author of the Next Best Thing is unknown; the words alone are what influence and inspire and transform. In our modern era of celebrity culture, such
When I was a little girl, nothing was more exciting than a trip to the theatre. Dressing up in my Sunday best, travelling across town with my parents, gazing up at the architecture of the theatre, mingling with the crowds, taking my seat and then… the lights, the music, the
Today’s the day: Masquerade, Book 2 in the Andalucian Nights trilogy, is available to buy. Here is a short description of the story: A young writer becomes entangled in an illicit gypsy love affair, pulling her into a world of secrets, deception and dark desire. Summer, 1976. Luz de Rueda
I’m delighted to introduce a new monthly giveaway for readers and followers of my fiction around the world. Each month I’ll be giving away one of my novels in paperback, plus Amazon gift vouchers and a prize relating to my story worlds. Today I’m launching a giveaway in which you
Recently, I was browsing in a bookstore when I came across a hardback, clothbound edition of my favourite work of English literature: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The book was beautiful to the eye and to the touch, with stunning colours and exquisite workmanship and – best of all for
Every hero and heroine in fiction needs a compelling motive for the journey they are taking. For Alexandra in my novel Indiscretion, that motive is a strong need to understand her roots and, in doing so, herself. For Alexandra, roots are complicated. Her father, Alonso, is Spanish born and bred.
It is a perfect example of the power of the internet: a self-publishing author has hit the headlines for her petition on Change.org for Amazon to change its review policy. Posted just two weeks ago, the petition has now been signed by more than 13,000 authors. Here is the issue:
‘Jerez de la Frontera, the capital of horsemanship, sherry and flamenco.’ That is how I describe Jerez in my novel Indiscretion. The heroine, Alexandra, has come to Spain to learn about her Spanish roots, and that involves spending time with her family – the feisty and complicated de Fallas, whose
From the blurb: Pennfleet might be a small town, but there’s never a dull moment in its narrow winding streets… Kate has only planned a flying visit to clear out the family home after the death of her mother. When she finds an anonymous letter, she is drawn back into
Followers of my Twitter account (@FieldingHannah) will know that I love proverbs: simple sayings that contain stark truth and wisdom. For each of my novels, I research proverbs that are particular to the setting, and for Indiscretion, that meant a fascinating exploration of the many and varied Spanish proverbs. I
All authors began as readers. We were the toddlers begging our parents for one more bedtime story; we were the children nose-deep in a book while our friends played. Our devotion to writing was born of a passion for books. Looking back, I can so easily trace the seeds of
How do you characterise your favourite books? The emotional impact of the book and your enjoyment while reading it are no doubt important. So is your desire to share the book; as John Green put it in The Fault in Our Stars: Sometimes, you read a book and it fills
Subscription is very much in vogue. Rather than create a collection of audiobooks, you can subscribe to Audible and take your pick. Rather than stack DVDs high on your shelves, you can subscribe to NetFlix and work your way through boxsets. Rather than build a library of books, you can
My latest novel, Indiscretion, is set in Andalusia, Spain, in the 1950s. There, the Spaniards live still under the long shadow cast by the civil war from 1936 to 1939, and under the control of the dictator Franco. I characterise it in the book as a conservative country, not to
My new novel, Indiscretion, is set in 1950s Spain.The story of love and families, lies and indiscretions, is steeped in the culture of Andalusia. Of course I could not write a book set in that time and place without weaving in the most emblematic and masterful of Spanish archetypes, the
My favourite work of English literature is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. For the Gothic feel, the Byronic hero, the mystery and suspense, the poetic writing style, but above all the passion: Do you think I am an automaton? – a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my
From the blurb: Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous. And there
I’m delighted to be able to share with you today the cover for my new book, Masquerade. It is available for preorder now from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Before the digital revolution, book buying was a business requiring thought and commitment. When you bought a book, you were serious about reading that book, because it had cost you a fair amount of money. In addition, it was a physical object that existed in your home as evidence of
… and you won’t end with a whimper. Common writing advice, based on the final stanza of TS Eliot’s poem ‘The Hollow Men’: This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. Interviewers often ask me what part of the writing process I find the
A long-time subscriber to Mslexia magazine, ‘for women who write’, I always find its surveys really interesting reading. Not only do they help me find common ground with other writers, but they also offer up new ideas and ways of thinking. This month, the survey in questions is ‘How do
With 30 published books translated into 80 languages and a total of 175 million copies sold across 170 countries, Paulo Coelho without a doubt knows writing and publishing extremely well. So when Coelho has a new idea, the publishing world listens. And his latest idea could be ground-breaking. Here is the
Whenever I write a new book, I immerse myself in the history and culture of the country in which the story is set. Legends are among my favourite aspects to research, because they say so much about the people and their philosophies and beliefs, both now and in the
Recently on this blog I wrote about books as a legacy, reflecting on the story of a writer who realised after his mother’s death how important her books were for him and the generations of his family to come (‘Passing on books’). With this concept in mind, have you heard
Would you buy a romance novel written in the perspective of the male protagonist, so the entire story is told through his eyes? Traditionally, the answer is ‘no’ – romance is rooted in the female gaze. Here’s the thinking behind that: 1. Most romance readers are female. 2. The
The culture of Spain has many influences and nuances (see, for example, my blog post on the Moors of Spain), and in my new novel, Indiscretion, I wanted to go beyond the traditional archetypes of the flamenco dancer and the toreador. So, for example, to attend a masked ball
It’s no secret that there is a stigma attached to romance novels. They’re unrealistic, they’re cheesy, they’re silly, they’re cringe-worthy, they’re formulaic, they’re not ‘proper’ literature… these, and many more, accusations are levelled at romance books. For the reader, this means having to push through any sense of embarrassment or
‘Pride comes before a fall,’ we say. ‘Honesty is the best policy… and look before you leap.’ Have you ever considered where these little axioms of wisdom originated? The answer is: the stories of a man named Aesop who lived in Ancient Greece. I grew up with a governess who
Over the past couple of years in the UK, loneliness has become a topic for discussion. The Duke of Cambridge’s campaigning on mental health is bringing such social issues into the open. We’re worrying about elderly people who are too isolated and alone. But we’re also worrying about other groups
At the heart of every romance novel is a love story: two people meeting and falling in love. But of course, the unfolding of that love is never simple; ‘The course of true love never did run smooth,’ as Lysander put it in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The heroines and heroes
‘A room without books is like a body without a soul.’ So said the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. If a room without books lacks soul, imagine an entire home without books. To me, that’s a bleak vision. Empty. Lonely. How many books do you own? Books on shelves, in bookcases
One of my earliest memories is of a party at my home in Alexandria, Egypt. My younger sister and I hid on the upstairs landing and peeked through the balustrades at the guests as they arrived – in such exquisite, astonishing costumes! The kaleidoscope of colours, the incarnations of fantastical
Over the past six months, American readers have been voting for their favourite novels as part of The Great American Read. An advisory panel of literary industry professionals chose a shortlist of 100 books following a poll of 7,200 Americans who were invited to nominate their favourite novel. The 100-book
My novel Aphrodite’s Tears is set on a small Greek island near the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is an island where tradition is deeply respected and ancient customs and rituals are still part of life. One ritual is regarded as especially important: that of appeasing Typhoeus, the island’s volcano.
November is an exciting month for me. My novel Indiscretion, which won a Gold Medal for Romance at the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards and Best Romance at the USA Best Book Awards, has already been translated into Macedonian, and this month the Arabic edition of the book is being launched
‘We have a saying in Greek: To dis examartein ouk andros sophou, to commit the same sin twice is not a sign of a wise man.’ So says Damian to Oriel in my book Aphrodite’s Tears. Both the hero and the heroine of my novel have been shaped by what
When I was a teenager growing up in Alexandria, I became very interesting in cooking. I read cookbooks, I tried my hand at recipes and I badgered anyone who could cook for lessons. At the time, we had a Greek lady called Kyria Marika helping in our kitchen, and she
Once upon a time, being an author meant reading a lot of books, writing some books, and perhaps doing a book signing or reading tour now and again. Nowadays… well, there is a lot more to the job, and included in the list of myriad tasks the author must perform
One of my favourite times of the year has just passed: Les Voiles de St Tropez. This sailing regatta is held in the gulf of St Tropez each year in late September/early October, and the view of the sailboats from my garden is just beautiful: I love sailing. It brings
On this day in history, the Roman poet Virgil was born (19 BC), as was the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844). Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier made the first human ascent into the sky, in a hot-air balloon (1783); Queen Marie Antoinette of France was sentenced to death (1793); the first ever episode of I
The leaves outside the window of my writing room are a riot of colours, and as LM Montgomery wrote in Anne of Green Gables, ‘I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.’ ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ (Keats): this is the time of the harvest.
I love writing my novels, being immersed in the story world; but I also love the work that comes before I write: the research. For my new novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, this was especially fascinating, not only because the story, set in the Greek islands, is rich with Ancient Greek mythology,
When the nights are long and the days short, when sadness beckons and hope is hard to grasp, when spring seems a long time away… there’s always solace to be found in music.
In this long winter, we must contend with isolation, loneliness, feeling cutting off from community and friends. Could the answer be a book club?
It’s cold outside. Time to curl up and lose yourself in a good book – but where is your cosy corner?
New Year’s Eve is a cause for celebration in many cultures: the end of the old and the start of the new; a clean slate; a time of hope. What traditions do you follow?
Christmastime, for me, will always be inextricably linked with ballet. It was at this time of the year that my parents took my sister and me to our first ballet production: The Nutcracker.
Happy Christmas, dear reader! Wherever you are today, whatever you are doing, whoever you are spending time with – or missing – you are in my thoughts. I have made a Christmas wish for you.
Did you know that many of our Christmas traditions, and indeed the very spirit of the holiday, have their roots in a little novella published in 1843?
‘I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library,’ wrote Jorge Luis Borges. But, as John Lennon suggested, imagine that there is no heaven, no Paradise – no library…
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