Faith and Honor by Robin Maderich

About the Author:

Although published in various genres of romance, both in print and electronic format, Robin Maderich's first novel was historical, released by Warner Books (before the big merger with Time) in 1989. Faith and Honor hs since been reprinted and the second in the trilogy released. Most recently Robin is enjoying an association with New Concepts Publishing and had a brief but satisfying association with Inara Press. She has also illustrated a children's e-book which was released last year.

The rural village in Pennsylvania where Robin resides with her husband and multiple pets has provided much of her recent inspiration. The fact her three sons are all grown has allowed her more time to pursue writing. As one might expect, Robin's feelings regarding that circumstance are mixed.

Robin's love of history, research, the intricacies of detail and stretching her imagination have aided her immensely through the ever-expanding process of learning her craft.

For more information please visit http://www.robinmaderich.com/

About the Book:

Rescued from the harrassment of British officers in Colonial Boston by handsome, secretive Fletcher Irons, Faith Ashley's slumbering passions are ignited, until the discovery that Fletcher himself is an officer of the army she has come to despise, a man who is the enemy. Yet with persistence, Fletcher wins the fiery Faith's love. When the colonies erupt in Revolution, Faith refuses to choose between her loyalty to the cause and her love for the man who is far more than the color of his uniform. Will her honor be her undoing?

I was lucky enough to get the author to agree to an interview. Here are the answers to the questions I asked her:

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

Certainly. Faith and Honor is set in Boston just prior to and during the War for Independence. Faith Ashley is, by today’s standards, a young widow, headstrong, independent, passionate about the patriot cause. After her initial meeting Fletcher Irons, she discovers he is not a Boston merchant, but a Lieutenant in the British Infantry. The name of the book reflects the content, and is not just a play on Faith Ashley’s name, although a certain intent did exist. The story is somewhat epic in that it spans quite a few years, and also a moving tale of two honorable people torn between duty and love.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?

What happened to prompt this book was a request by the editor of Warner (the first publisher of Faith and Honor) that I write a romance. She had originally read a fantasy novel of mine. As unfamiliar as I was with the mechanics of writing romance, I jumped at the chance to prove myself. Possessing a love of history, with the Colonial period of American history in particular, I spent somewhat more than a month performing background research and the story grew out of what I learned. When I write contemporary romance, the story comes first, but historical romance always sprouts from my research.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

The birth of America, as starry-eyed as that might seem. I have a definite affinity for that time period. I sometimes joke that if I lived a prior life, I lived it then. I am constantly moved by the efforts of our forefathers, even though those efforts weren’t always or truly altruistic. Even so, a great many men and women suffered for the sake of their beliefs, on both sides, a source of conflict and emotion which comes to play in Faith and Honor, not just between the main characters but as an underlying theme throughout the book.

Who is your biggest supporter?

Hmm. I don’t know who that might be. I have a very emotionally generous support system, and cannot think of one over any other who is most supportive. I must say, though, that my former agent, Denise Marcil, might fit the bill, since her perspective was that of a professional in the industry rather than a family member or friend (who, therefore, might be a little biased).

Your biggest critic?

I don’t really have one. It could be my husband, based merely on the fact that he doesn’t read a single thing I write. In his words, he “doesn’t read, so don’t get insulted”. Enough said.

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?

I have, though not precisely writing skills. I’ve learned how to use Flash and have made a couple of book videos. Keeping descriptions concise in these videos has helped me with the “blurb”, something that used to trouble me. The ability to create the one-liner without pulling my hair out also used to be too elusive for my sanity, but I think I’m getting better at it.

Do you have any rituals you follow when finishing a piece of work?

Besides breathing the sigh of relief and feeling a momentary depression at saying goodbye to the story and the characters that have consumed me? Um, I do take a break and watch a couple of movies. While writing I don’t spend much time in front of the big screen, or even the television screen. Just the computer monitor. No wonder my eyes are starting to give out.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

Still my kids, my three men. They’re all grown now, but their well-being will always come first and foremost. Don’t let the dear hubby see this, as I don’t think he’d like that answer. However, I think this is probably the way most mothers feel. I hesitate to say all, considering certain events that have made their way to the media, and those that haven’t, but which unfortunately exist in this world.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on three projects, although one takes precedence over the others. I am writing a piece of contemporary women’s fiction, a love story with a legal aspect, based on something that definitely could happen if someone was of a mind to follow through. I won’t say any more, but hopefully you’ll be able to read it some day. The other two projects, which I am squeezing in here and there until such time as this first project is completed, are a paranormal romance involving werewolves set in a small village similar to my own in Pennsylvania (which is the setting for a great many of my contemporary novels) and a screenplay.

Is there an author that inspired you to write?

Mary Stewart. I read a great deal of Mary Stewart when I was growing up. Additionally, there is an author by the name of Grace Richardson who lived, I believe, in Canada. I don’t know if she’s still alive, but I hope she is. I wrote to her after reading (for probably the tenth time) her book Apples Every Day when I was in the fifth grade. She wrote back to me, a long, wonderful letter on plain stationery, answering all my questions, including how she came to write the book and even a promise that if she wrote a sequel she would have Gabby, one of the characters, get a horse, just because I’d told her how much I loved horses. I’ll never forget that she took the time to write to me. Now that I’ve talked about this, I’m going to check the Internet to see if she ever did write that sequel. When you’re a child your interests change quickly as you grow, and I went on to voraciously read Mary Stewart after that.

What are some of your long-term goals?

I would like to finish the screenplay. More importantly, I would like to expand my career to a point where I am satisfied I am achieving my potential (which pretty much guarantees I’ll keep right on working, as I don’t know I’ll ever reach that point). And I would also like to write and/or illustrate more children’s books.

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author?

Just getting here. Knowing that all my hard work stringing words together has managed to create cohesive, entertaining, and moving stories. Or perhaps it has been learning not to let rejection fester in my heart, just circulate through the ol’ gray matter in my head where it does the most good. A supremely difficult lesson.

What do you feel is your biggest strength?

My optimism.

Biggest weakness?

My optimism.

You know the scenario – you’re stuck on an island. What book would you bring with you and why?

Apples Every Day. I’m suddenly getting the urge to read it again. Think I’ll go check out the Internet as soon as we’re through with this interview.

If you could go back and change one day, what would it be?

This is very upsetting to me, but I’m going to be honest. The one day I would think about changing was the day I agreed to let my children go live with their father, my first husband. They were no longer little and had been asking me to do so, and I finally suggested to them it might be time. I really thought they’d come back. I missed out on a lot of what took place in their teenaged years. I missed them. However, if I hadn’t done the missing, then their father would have, and that wouldn’t have been fair either. I really think between us I am the stronger of the two and better able to live with the decision I made. So, would I change that day? Maybe not, for the reason stated above. But the pain of that decision will always be with me.

Are you a different person now than you were 5 years ago? In what way/s?

My rose-colored glasses are now bi-focals. Not really. I don’t even wear glasses yet, although I suspect I will one day. It’s just my eyeballs that are rose-colored, because despite getting older and, yes, somewhat jaded, I still trust in the essential goodness of people.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from life so far?

Be kind to others. Even if it doesn’t come back to you, it doesn’t matter. Kindness means so much in this world and really, it takes so little effort to speak patiently, say good-morning to a stranger, hold a door, help a neighbor, hug your kids, kiss your husband instead of losing your cool.

What is your favorite past-time?

My favorite past-time is laughing. A simple pleasure, but oh, so good for the soul! And your body’s health. And the exercise of those aging facial muscles…

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Um, let’s see. I’d like to tell you how happy I am that you asked me to do this interview! Also, I invite readers to my website, to read about upcoming events, books, news, the occasional contest, write to me. (pssst… it’s http://www.robinmaderich.com/) Other than that, I think I’ve talked about myself long enough. Thanks!

WIN PRIZES!!!

FAITH AND HONOR VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on April 1 and end on April 30. You can visit Robin's blog stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in March to find out more about this great book and talented author!As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Axe of Iron: The Settlers by J.A. Hunsinger

About the Author:

J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, Flight Into Danger, in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/.

About the Book:

The first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.

Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.

I was lucky enough to be able to ask the author some questions. Here is what he had to say:

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

Axe of Iron: The Settlers is the first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.
Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.
Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.

Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.
Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.

See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?

There are those of us who contend that the settlers of Norse Greenland assimilated with the pre-historical natives of North America. My novels are dedicated, in part, to them, the four thousand settlers who disappeared. I believe that they did not disappear; rather they assimilated over the course of the five hundred year history of the Norse Greenland settlements. I show this assimilation process, in my five book Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of my characters, from both a Norse and pre-historical native perspective. You will note that I do not refer to them as Indians, for the time that I depict is five hundred years before Columbus erroneously called the natives of the islands of Hispaniola, Indians.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

My Swedish/German heritage gave me a lifelong interest in the Vikings. My studies and research on the subject opened a window to the many opportunities for a writer to craft a story using fiction to convey topics of a historical nature. My writing focus is exclusively on the Norse people who voyaged west of Iceland in 986, settling Greenland and portions of North America in the tenth and eleventh centuries. In my character-driven novels, I combine the scant history of the medieval Greenland Norse people that we have, along with my own imagination, to craft a plausible story about their still unexplained disappearance.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My wife, Phyllis. Without her love and advocacy, I never would have finished the first book, Axe of Iron: The Settlers.

Your biggest critic?

Myself! It is difficult to remain positive. Writing and publication are the most difficult undertakings of my life.

What cause are you most passionate about and why?

I am most passionate about telling the story of the disappearance of Greenland Norse people. Nobody knows what happened to them. I try to tell their story from my own perspective, as my research has indicated.

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?

I have learned the publishing business and my writing continues to improve because of daily exposure.

Do you have any rituals you follow when finishing a piece of work?

For success, everything must be ritualistic. I read the manuscript through for content, making certain there are no anomalies. If you are talking about the first draft, I then transmit the ms to my editor. I do all editing online. When the manuscript is as good as it can be I send it electronically to my printer for the composition/format phase of the publication process. This phase is backed up with a hardcopy and disk of the ms, a hardcopy and disk of the graphics, and a complete hardcopy of the order of the book’s contents, all FedEx’d to my account executive at BookMasters

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

I want to finish the task of telling my tale as I have always believed it happened.

What are you currently working on?

The second book of the continuing series, Axe of Iron: Confrontation is in the edit process.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?

Do your homework on the submission guidelines for any query. All will have their own guidelines; adhere to them absolutely. Do not ever send a manuscript unless it is requested. Hire professional editors to edit everything that another person will read, especially the final draft of your manuscript. An English teacher is not an editor and you cannot edit your own work, so hire someone. Your professionalism will determine whether you ever make the grade. A shabby cover letter on your submission packet will guarantee its demise. Agents and publishers are busy people and they have no time to waste on people who do not follow the submission guidelines.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

I tell the story of the Greenland Norse people, in a fictional sense, through their eyes, to give their individual lives, their very existence, a meaning in a manner that no novelist has ever undertaken.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Of course, I am a writer. J
Axe of Iron: The Settlers is available on my website:
http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/
from my distributor: http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/02175.htm, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and other major booksellers nationwide and in Canada at: chapters.indigo.ca
e-Books are available at http://theebooksale.com/, The-Plot-Thickens, Amazon Kindle, and several other outlets nationwide.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
Jerry

WIN PRIZES!!!

AXE OF IRON VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on March 2 and end on April 30. You can visit J.A's blog stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in March and April to find out more about this talented author!As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (July 29, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345501845
ISBN-13: 978-0345501844

About the book:

Daughter of Isabel of Castile and sister of Catherine of Aragon. Married at sixteen and a queen at twenty-five. Declared mad by history. Juana of Castile, the last true queen of Spain. Ruled by her passions, Juana’s arranged marriage to Philip the Fair of Flanders begins as a fairytale romance when despite never having met before their betrothal, they fall violently in love. Juana is never meant to be more than his consort and mother to his heirs until she finds herself heiress to the throne of Spain after tragedy decimates her family. Suddenly she is plunged into a ruthless battle of ambition and treachery, with the future of Spain and her own freedom at stake. Told in Juana's voice, The Last Queen is a powerful and moving portrait of a woman ahead of her time, a queen fought fiercely for her birthright in the face of an unimaginable betrayal. Juana's story is one of history's darkest secrets, brought vividly to life in this exhilarating novel.

This is an excellent book, and I was fortunate enough to be able to ask the author some questions.

Did you ever speak to your Grandmother about her portrayal of Juana onstage? If so, what were her feelings on the subject and did they influence this book in any way?

My grandmother played Juana on stage years before I was born; and unfortunately she died long before I began writing this book, so I never got her impressions on Juana. But she was a storyteller, as well, as are most of the women in my family; and when I was growing up she used to tell stories about our family past. My maternal bloodline goes all the way back to the 13th century, which is rather amazing when you think about! History was therefore a big part of storytelling in my house; in many ways, I believe this intimate connection to the past helped to forge my interest in history and in historical characters. The ways my grandmother, and my mother, talked about family members who’d literally lived hundreds of years before us made the past seem quite accessible to me. I was never intimidated by it. And of course Juana was known to me even then; she’s quite a legendary figure in Spain.

What kind of research was involved in writing this book, and was there conflicting reports you had to sift through in order to reach a point where you could describe things accurately?

It took six years to research and write THE LAST QUEEN, including several trips to Spain, Flanders and England, where I visited most of the extant sites associated with Juana’s life. I read every document from the period that I could find, as well as over fifty books and biographies. The challenge after so much research was to sort through a variety of reports, none of which were flattering to Juana either as a person or a queen. As Juana herself left almost nothing in her own hand, much of what she said and did was recorded by men whose prejudices reflect the era and the version they were hired to tell (most historians were paid by the current ruler). Therefore, I had to always keep in mind that what I read was, in essence, an interpretation of Juana by someone who was not her confidante or even friend, and may have made her look worse than she was. In addition, while today we understand the effects of prolonged stress on the human psyche, in Juana’s era no one would have considered this as a possible cause for her alleged erratic behavior. When I carefully examined each of those erratic events within the context of her circumstances at the time, her behavior became not only reasonable but often justifiable. Juana fought against the role thrust upon her as a woman and refused to surrender her rights. Put simply, she was a threat to the men who above all else sought to depose her from her throne.

What drove you to write a book about Juana, and to write it giving a different point of view?

I’ve always been fascinated by Juana’s legend. In Spain, I grew up hearing about her, and was never fully convinced by the official story of the bereft widow dragging her husband’s coffin with her all over the country. Still, I initially approached her as an unbalanced woman thrust into a role she should never have faced. It wasn’t until I started researching that I was struck by the impression that almost no one seemed to challenge the myth that she was insane. That sent up a red flag for me. It seemed conspiratorial that there was no reasonable explanation for how such a well-educated, lively princess chosen by her mother Queen Isabel to fulfill a vital dynastic union should have descended into such pathos, other than a supposed obsessive sexual desire for her husband. This sounded misogynistic and set me on a six-year long path of discovery. In the end, I found a woman of passion, courage and complexity, one who is actually quite contemporary in her struggle to balance life and duty, love and betrayal. Juana speaks to the drama of her times but she also speaks to each of us in her humanity.

Was it hard to write this book from the vantage point of a woman?

I didn’t start out writing Juana’s story in first person. My first drafts were all in third person but I kept feeling something elusive was missing. I did several revisions before I cautiously approached the idea of changing to first person. It wasn’t something I undertook lightly, first because I am a man and second, because parts of Juana’s personality are very different from my own. Still, once I started writing in first person the struggles I’d been experiencing went away and I began to understand her emotional complexity. My challenge was to allow Juana to speak through me. It’s an acting method: by suppressing your ego, you find the essence of someone else’s emotions, even if you’ve never experienced them. There were of course aspects of being a sixteenth century woman I needed to learn about, so I spoke with my women friends about pregnancy and giving birth; tried on a period gown to get a feeling for the weight of the clothing and how to move in it, and of course paid close attention to the psychology of life in an era vastly different from ours. Still, the writing itself proved instinctual and in the end I found it far easier to write from Juana’s point of view. As for capturing the perspective of a woman, I guess it’s up to readers to decide how successful I’ve been.

Do you have any other historical fiction books in the works?

Yes. I’ve just completed a novel about Catherine de Medici, slated for publication by Ballantine Books in 2009. Catherine is another maligned historical woman, whose life was both tumultuous and dramatic.

Was writing something you always wanted to pursue, or were you passionate about something else growing up?

I’ve been writing for most of my life; even as a child I wrote stories and illustrated them. But I’ve also had a strong attraction to the world of the theater, as both my maternal grandparents were actors. I considered training to be an actor but found I didn’t have the passion for acting that is required for such a demanding profession. In my early twenties, I pursued a career in fashion marketing; to this day, I have an abiding fascination with clothing and haute couture. I’m also an amateur painter; like writing, I’ve drawn and painted most of my life. Painting in particular gives me space to both relax and reflect; but in truth writing has been my most abiding passion, and one I’ve never strayed from.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My partner of seventeen years, who has stood by me through the highs and lows of being a working writer and has never stopped encouraging me, though I’ve spent many, many hours of our life together immersed in another century!

Who do you go to when you want the truth about what you have written, good or bad?

My writing group of eleven years, a marvelous group led by Jean Taggart, who at more than eighty years of age has given me invaluable feedback and criticism. I also have a core group of readers I turn to when I’m done with a manuscript. Also, I now often rely on my marvelous agent, who has an uncanny ability to ferret out the weaknesses in my work.

What are you currently working on?

A novel set in 15th century Italy, in the time of the Borgias. It hasn’t been bought yet, so I’m embargoed by my agent from saying more, but it features a fascinating, little-known woman who went to war to protect her domains.

Do you have a favorite book or author?

There are many, many books and writers I revere, but if I had to pick one it would be Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice. I recently re-read it for the third time; the richness of her language and astonishing honesty of her story-telling are never more evident than in this dark, powerful novel about the pain and triumph of a 17th century castrato.

What words of wisdom do you offer to aspiring authors?

Learn your craft and persevere! This means being honest with yourself about what you do and don’t do well, and remembering that more than any other art-form writing can almost be improved. Also, it’s not just talent that is required to succeed in today’s extremely crowded and competitive publishing environment: you need tenacity and an unshakeable belief in your own work. Years ago, an editor told me, “Don’t give up. You have what it takes.” I never forgot those words, though in the thirteen years it took me to get published there were plenty of times when I doubted them. Write what you believe in, revise, edit, and revise some more; and most importantly, never give up, no matter where the journey might take you.

Thank you so much for taking this time with me. I hope you enjoy THE LAST QUEEN as much as I enjoyed writing it. You can find out more about me and my writing by visiting me at: http://www.cwgortner.com/.

About the author:

C.W. Gortner’s fascination with history is a lifetime pursuit. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Writing with an emphasis on Renaissance Studies from the New College of California and often travels to research his books. He has experienced life in a medieval Spanish castle and danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall; dug through library archives all over Europe; and tried to see and touch — or, at least, gaze at through impenetrable museum glass — as many artifacts of the era as he can find.

Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, will release his historical novel THE LAST QUEEN about Juana the Mad of Castile in June, 2008.

He lives in Northern California. Please visit him at: http://www.cwgortner.com/.

THE LAST QUEEN VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on September 2 and ends on September 26. You can visit C.W.'s tour stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in September to find out more about his latest book!As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com/ on September 30!

The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416532528
ISBN-13: 978-1416532521

About the book:

In a time of discovery and decadence, when the gold that poured endlessly into the port of Sevilla devalued money, marriage, and love itself, young Juan Tenorio was abandoned and raised by nuns. He grew up loving and worshipping all women, but a clandestine affair with one of the sisters forces him to leave the Church—and his plans for the priesthood—forever. Juan becomes a spy, as well as the world’s greatest libertine. But far from the heartless seducer that legend recounts, he seeks liberation and redemption as much as personal pleasure and gratification. He begins to keep a diary of his greatest adventures and the arts of passion he has mastered. The most dangerous adventure of all—the irresistible fall into the madness of love with the only woman who could ever make him forget all others—finally compels him to confess everything.

I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Douglas some questions. Here are his responses:



What made you decide to write about Don Juan?

One night I went to bed asking myself a question that I believe every married man or woman asks eventually: how could I stay happily and passionately married for the rest of my life? The next morning I awoke as if I had been shaken. It was then that I first thought of Don Juan, the universal symbol of passion. I wondered what if he had kept a diary. What secrets would it contain? What could we learn from him about the nature of passion? And ultimately, what might cause the world’s greatest seducer to forsake all women for one woman? I left my wife’s warm sleeping body, walked past our three sleeping children, and sat down at the dining room table. It was as if a voice was whispering the story in my ear.

What kind of research was involved?

Over the course of more than four years and thirty drafts I revised The Lost Diary to try to get as close as I could to Don Juan’s world, to understand the decadence and the dangers of Golden Age Spain.As I researched, I came across a scholar from the 1800s who said Don Juan was a real man—and not just a literary character as most believe—and that he was murdered in the Convento de San Francisco. I traveled to Sevilla—the birthplace of the legend and perhaps the man—I felt like a detective exhuming clues that increasingly revealed who Don Juan really might have been and what really may have happened to him.

What was the most relevant piece of info you learned in researching?

I was surprised to find that Don Juan was not alone in his Sevilla. The world I found was an age of Don Juans, when all the gold and silver of the Americas poured into Sevilla, the city that ruled the world. But I also found a city that was emptied of men, who had left to fight in King Felipe’s endless wars and to colonize the New World. Historical census data revealed that 30% of the city’s women were widowed or abandoned and in some neighborhoods the number was as high as 50%. You can imagine that Don Juan had his work cut out for him.

What has been the most significant change in your life over the past year?

That would have to be seeing my lifelong dream of having a novel I’d written in print come to fruition and it having had the success it has had so far – from The Lost Diary of Don Juan being published in 30 languages to being it a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. I never thought I would travel to Seville, Spain to lead a group of journalists from around the world on a tour of Don Juan’s Sevilla.

What cause are you most passionate about, and why?

I don’t really have one particular cause, I am most passionate about helping make the world a wiser, healthier, and more just place to live. I have followed that passion as an editor, an agent, and a coauthor of non-fiction books and now by writing what I call “wisdom fiction.”

If you could change one thing about your personality, what would it be?

I am very self-critical. Like many writers, I am my own harshest critic, and I suffer from some of the manic depression endemic to the writer's life. I'd like to change this and realize that I'm just the scribe of the stories.

What is the most daring thing you've ever done?

I’m something of a thrill seeker and adrenaline junkie, so there are many things that would qualify: rafting on the Zambezi River, flying in an ultralight aircraft, walking with the lions in Africa, swimming with humpback whales in Tonga. One of the most daring things I’ve done recently was cage diving with great white sharks off the Farallon Islands as research for my next novel.

What is one thing you know for sure?

There is no Truth with a capital “T,” but I’m interested in all the other little truths.

What annoys you most about society?

Having grown up in New York City, I witnessed many people turning away from each other, like animals confined too closely in a zoo. The fact that we forget our connections, often because of our congestion, saddens me. Also, people who think they know the Truth and knock on your door to tell you, or try to hijack elections for their ideology.

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer? In what way?

Among many others, one of my biggest influences was Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes, who taught my high school writing class. His sense of humor and his faith in me and all his students have been a guiding presence for my career.

What are you currently working on?

Although quite different, all of my novels will attempt to tell dramatic stories that also convey some of the ancient insights about how we can live on this planet with greater joy and wisdom. However, my next novel is a contemporary diary. It is an ecological thriller and a mythic fiction about love, a love that is even more powerful than passionate love. I began with the question: can we survive as a species, and if so, how?

What advice would you give struggling writers?

First, learn your craft well. The best thing I ever did for my writing was to read Robert McKee’s book, Story. Also, find a good agent – you can find one that suits your work at www.publishersmarketplace.com. Your agent is ideally the next closest person to you after your spouse. They are guide, confidante, and taskmaster, so make sure you find the right match.

About the author:

Douglas Carlton Abrams is a former editor at the University of California Press and HarperSanFrancisco. He is the co-author of a number of books on love, sexuality, and spirituality, including books written with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, and Taoist Master Mantak Chia. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife and three children. In his life and work, he is interested in cultivating all aspects of our humanity —body, emotions, mind, and spirit. His goal in writing fiction is to create stories that not only entertain, but also attempt to question, enchant, and transform.

Doug’s desire in writing the book was not only to resurrect this greatest of historical lovers and to give voice to his true motives; he was also moved to write a book that would explore the tension between lust and love and that would confront the human question of how any man or woman can find lifelong satisfaction in one committed relationship. To find out more about the origins of The Lost Diary and the myth of Don Juan, and to learn about forthcoming novels, please visit www.LostDiaryofDonJuan.com or www.DouglasCarltonAbrams.com.

THE LOST DIARY OF DON JUAN VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on September 2, '08 and end on September 26, '08. You can visit the Douglas' tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in September to find out more about him and his new book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on September 26!

This virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.