It's always fun when Sophia Rose puts on her chaps and and cowboy hat and reviews one of the king of the west's classic titles. Today she's reviewing Lost Treasures Volume Two. Enjoy!
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Volume Two by Louis and Beau
L’Amour
More unpublished works from the archives of Louis
L'Amour: complete short stories, partial novels, treatments, and notes that
will transport readers from the Western frontier to India, China, and even the
future.
Exploring the creative process of an American original, the Louis L'Amour's
Lost Treasures series will uncover the hidden history behind the author's best
known novels . . . and his most mysterious and ambitious unfinished works.
In this second volume, Beau L'Amour examines how his father made the transition
from struggling pulp writer to successful novelist and uses his father's notes,
journal entries, and correspondence to continue the process of seeking out how
and why many of these never-before-seen manuscripts were written as well as
speculating about the ways they might have ended.
These selections include the beginnings of a post-apocalyptic science fiction
tale, a proposal for a nonfiction project based on the life of Renaissance era
traveler Ibn Batuta, and two chapters of a historical novel set in India about
the origin of L'Amour's well-known Talon family.
At the other end of the spectrum are classic adventures, such as "In the
Measure of Time," a chance encounter set on the high seas, and a science
fiction film treatment set in Mexico, as well as seventeen chapters of a novel
that reappears throughout Louis's journals and letters and speaks to his fascination
with post-revolutionary 1950s China, leading him so far as to correspond with
the Dalai Lama.
With rare photographs and commentary, this book further maps the journey
L'Amour embarked upon to become one of our greatest storytellers and the
diverse realms to which his imagination traveled, making him a true American
pioneer.
Today on The Reading Frenzy I'm so pleased to bring you an interview by a personal favorite author of mine, her debut novel Saving Max received well deserved rave reviews and this her second novel is an exceptional piece of literary historical fiction in her latest just released yesterday The Tulip Eaters. Sit back and enjoy our interview then RUN don't walk to pick up a copy of your own.
ISBN-13: 9780778313885
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication date: 10/29/2013
Edition description: Original
Pages: 368
Overview: In a riveting exploration of
the power the past wields over the present, critically acclaimed author
Antoinette van Heugten writes the story of a woman whose child's life hangs in
the balance, forcing her to confront the roots of her family's troubled history
in the dark days of World War II. It's the stuff of nightmares: Nora de Jong
returns home from work one ordinary day to find her mother has been murdered.
Her infant daughter is missing
Praise for Saving
Max: "A high-speed chase of
a novel, Saving Max is like the best of John Grisham with a feminine
twist."-New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge
"Antoinette van Heugten combines the tender, unshakable bond between
mother and son with an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller." -
International bestselling author Diane Chamberlain
"Parents of children with serious behavior problems will find their worst
nightmares come alive in van Heugten's debut murder thriller...[with] more than
one harrowing twist toward the end..."-Publishers Weekly
This is one of those reads that I personally wish and don’t
wish to be over. The content is so excruciatingly hard to read yet Jon made it
so; well readable and enjoyable even.
I’m eager to hear what you thought about part two and the entire novel.
So let’s get right to it.
Jon makes a point of telling Max’s story in between the chapters and he gave us a great clue in a response from week one when he says “One more note about Max: there's a very good reason that he comes back every fifteen pages or so...”
So give us your take on the Max of today.
And what was the reason we saw him every 15 pages or so?
Was there any one scene/part that spoke to you or that
you’ll remember more than others?
Please welcome author Kate Quinn who's historical novels take us from ancient Rome to the beginning of the rein of the Borgia's in her newest release and the first in her Borgia series The Serpent And The Pearl read below for her answers when I asked what type of social media her characters would have used if they'd had Facebook and Twitter available to them.
ISBN-13: 9780425259467
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: 8/6/2013
Series: A Novel of the Borgias Series , #1
Pages: 432
Overview: One powerful family holds a
city, a faith, and a woman in its grasp—from the national bestselling author
of Daughters of Rome and Mistress of Rome. Rome, 1492. The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous—or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into ..
What folks are saying about Kate Quinn:
“A masterful
storyteller.” —Margaret George
The novels of Kate Quinn are…
“Full of great characters.”—Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York
Times bestselling author
“Epic, sexy.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Deeply passionate.”—Kate Furnivall, author of The White Pearl
“A riveting plunge into an ancient world.”—C. W. Gortner, author of The
Queen’s Vow
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Kate hi welcome to The Reading Frenzy
Tell us about The Serpent and The Pearl
There's a lot of sumptuous food in this book, so forgive me for using a recipe metaphor: Take one vivacious blonde with floor-length hair, one cynical dwarf on the hunt for a serial killer, and one fiery female cook with a dangerous secret. Add a French army, a mummified saint's hand, a Borgia pope who is head-over-heels in love, and enough delicious banquets to throw anybody off their diet. Stir to a boil, light on fire, and serve for a fun, fast-paced Renaissance romp.
Kate, we have something in common. My daughter also
has a Masters in vocal performance, classical voice and in fact performs
locally in an opera company. So
how did a nice opera singer like you come to write historical fiction?
I always had dual interests—ever since I was about ten years old, the extroverted part of me sang and the introverted part wrote books. I wrote my first real historical novel over my freshman-year weekends in Boston University's basement computer lab, while during the week I took voice lessons and studied music. My book-writing side eventually won out over my singing side when it came to a career, but I still sing opera in the car!
Will it forever be only historical for you or do you
see another genre calling you in the future?
I've taken various stabs at other genres—under my bed I've got rough drafts of a thriller, a sci-fi novel, and a YA adventure. If you saw any of those books, you'd know I should really stick to writing historical fiction. But maybe I'll try my hand at more light-hearted HF someday. So far I've written big power-play books around the movements of armies and the coups of Empires, but I love Jane Austen and “Downton Abbey” too – it would be refreshing to write a book whose big climax is a ball and not a battle or an assassination!
Is it difficult to research historical fiction? What resources do you use? Do you travel for research?
I read voraciously, everything I can find on my historical
periods. I'd love to travel
more—for this book, I was hoping to get to Rome to see the Borgia Apartments in
the Vatican—but sometimes money and time constraints get in the way. In the end, though, the research
is never done. No matter how much
you know, you're always learning something new.
If you could choose any era past, present or future to
live in which would it be and why?
I've written books set in the Renaissance and in ancient Rome, and ancient Rome wins hands down if I was picking a home. Well-to-do Renaissance women didn't get to go anywhere except church; otherwise it was all sticking to the household and raising the children. Roman women had much greater freedom socially, and they had legal rights that Renaissance women couldn't dream of, like the right to keep some control over their property, and the right to initiate a divorce if they were unhappily married. Plus, if you're living in Italy either way, I'd rather be comfortable in a flowing Roman stola than trussed into a long-sleeved heavy-skirted Renaissance gown (as gorgeous as they look on Showtime's “The Borgias” . . .)
What and who do you like to read for pleasure?
Bernard Cornwell and Judith Merkle Riley are my all-time favorites for historical fiction, though currently I'm fascinated by C.W. Gortner and Nancy Bilyeau—their respective “Tudor Conspiracy” and “The Chalice” were my last purchases. I enjoy jumping to other genres, too: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files have me salivating like a crack addict, Robert B. Parker is my go-to guy to make a long plane flight zip past, and Richelle Mead's “Vampire Academy” series is my guilty pleasure.
If
characters like the Borgias were able to utilize social media would they
prefer Facebook or Twitter and why?
Oooh, good question. I think Pope Alexander VI would be a Twitter guy—he was energetic, decisive, and busy-busy-busy, so I can see him thumb-tapping out “The College of Cardinals has no idea what just hit them” to his #IamPope handle as he strides through the Vatican between meetings. Cesare Borgia would never do social because he wants to keep everybody guessing what he's really thinking. Lucrezia Borgia is just a teenage girl during “The Serpent and the Pearl,” so she'd be a Facebook junkie: “OMG, just saw portrait of Prince of Aragon; he's like Henry Cavill gorge!!! Fingers crossed this betrothal goes through!!!” And my heroine Giulia Farnese, papal mistress and the most fashionable woman of the Renaissance, would be a Pintarest girl: “`Here's the hairstyle I wore to Mass last Sunday; you need six strands of pearls and five feet of hair.' 300,000 women have repinned this!” media
Kate I’ve heard some funny/weird stories from
signing/author events. Do you have
one you could share with us?
I was once contacted, via a 6-point-font, 9-page email, by an
individual who used a great many capital letters to inform me that I was both
racist and hell-bound. Paragraphs
from my latest book were re-typed and underlined as supporting arguments for
this claim, followed by a demand that the offending passages be removed from
the book. I didn't really see how
I could do that, considering the book had already been printed, and decided not
to answer the email. Whereupon I
got another email from the same individual, asking me for money.
But these kinds of things are few and far between. Almost all the readers who contact me
are delightful.
Kate, you offer reading group guides on your website. What’s the biggest benefit in your
opinion of discussing a novel as a group?
Stephen King once said that a good tale belongs to each
reader in its own particular way.
A book might be the same, but all its readers are different. Discussing a book with other readers
can open your eyes to entirely different ways of viewing the same story. I love book groups, which is why I have
a standing offer to drop in (usually via phone or Skype) to any book group who
is discussing one of my books.
Speaking of author events; do you have any where fans
could meet you in person?Yes! On Saturday
August 24th I'm coming to The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore for an author signing and event. I guarantee food and fun—The Ivy is a fabulous independent bookstore, just the kind we should all be supporting in this day and age of Amazon shopping and massive bookstore chains. Event details here: http://www.theivybookshop.com/upcomingevent/3847
Kate thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck with the new novel!
Starting Monday we'll begin the August featured read I hope you'll join us as Mary is a delightful guest author and will floor you with her incredible historical knowledge.
The reading schedule is as follows:
Reading Schedule: Week One August 5-11 Chapters1-5 Week Two August 12-18 Chapters 6-10 Week Three August 19-25 Chapters 11-end
Mary
welcome back to The Reading Frenzy. (I interviewed Mary when Illuminations was
released in October of 2012, you can read the interview here
which included my review of Illuminations)
I’m excited to be hosting the month long discussion of your latest novel
Illuminations.
Thank you, Debbie! I’m so excited to be here!
You
write historical fiction that features strong women protagonists.
Can you tell us why?
A lot of popular historical fiction is
focused on so called “marquee names,” such as Anne Boleyn, and other famous
figures in European royalty, but I do something completely different. I write
historical fiction to give voice to the voiceless, to tell the story of the
common people, especially the women who have been glossed over, ignored, and
relegated to the shadows and margins. My goal as a writer is “Writing Women
Back into History.” I want to bring women out of the shadows and into the
light, making them come alive in my fiction.
There were strong women all through history—I don’t actually have to make any of that up—but many of their stories have been lost or buried. Take Hildegard von Bingen. She was lost to obscurity for many years and it was even believed she wasn’t the author of her own work, that some anonymous monk had written it all while pretending to be a woman! It was actually two nuns at the Saint Hildegard Abbey in Germany, Marianna Schrader and Adelgundis
Führkötter, OSB, who in
1956 published a carefully documented study that proved the authenticity of
Hildegard’s authorship. Their research provides the foundation of all
subsequent Hildegard scholarship. The point is, we really have to work to
reclaim these stories.
In my fiction
my aim is to transform this kind of heady academic research into something
accessible and captivating for readers who might not pick up a big nonfiction
history book. Many of the Hildegard materials are very dense and difficult. So
hopefully my novel is a more accessible entrance point that will lead people to
go on and look at the historical sources.
How
long does it take you from first word on paper/screen to final edits finished?
That varies a lot from book to book. My first novel, Summit Avenue, took me ten years to
complete, probably because I was still learning my craft. Daughters of the Witching Hill took just over two years because the
Pendle Witches’ story literally unfolded in my back yard and the local library
had all the sources on hand that I needed for my research.
What’s
your favorite part about writing a novel?
When the story and characters come so alive that the story
is spinning in my head even when I’m not writing. I’ll be on a walk and ideas
and dialogue will come, so I have to run back to write everything down. I love
it when everything is in flow like that. Sometimes I also dream my characters
and scenes.
What’s
your least favorite part?
Getting angry emails from crazy rightwing religious people
who write one star Amazon reviews and who warn me that I’m going to burn in hell.
Mary
you call yourself an American ex-pat living in Pendle England.
If you moved today what would be your fondest memory of your life there?
Riding my horse through the bluebell wood. Nothing is more
beautiful than the forest when it’s full of bluebells that cover the ground
like a carpet. Spring is so lovely here. My Welsh mare is very fond of lambs,
also, and very concerned if a baby lamb can’t find its mother. She’ll go to the
lamb and give it a gentle snuffle.
Living there led to the writing of your last novel (which we discussed on my B&N forum) Daughter’s of The Witching Hill.
How did this happen?
When I first moved to the Pendle region in Lancashire, Northern England, I didn’t know anything about the Pendle Witches, but I saw images of witches everywhere. At first I thought they were folkloric figures, but when I learned they were real people—traditional village healers who were put to death in the frenzy of a witch craze—I knew I had to tell their story. A lot had already been written about them, both fiction and nonfiction, but never from their point of view. I wanted to put them into their correct historical context as cunning folk and wise women. I felt a particularly strong attachment to the “ringleader” of the so-called witches, a woman named Elizabeth Southerns, alias Old Demdike, who had worked all her life as a cunning woman before anyone dared to stop her or stand in her way. Too often the Pendle Witches are reduced to Halloween ghouls which is so unjust. They were real people and they suffered horribly on account of other people’s ignorance. It was really important for me to tell Mother Demdike’s story in first person, to give her back her voice.
Mary,
during our last chat you mentioned you were working on a novel about
Shakespeare’s Dark Lady of his sonnets.
How is that coming along?
It’s coming along beautifully. I’ve especially been enjoying the research on Aemilia Bassano Lanier’s life and work. This spring I went on a research tour which took me to Venice and Bassano, Italy, which is breathtakingly beautiful. Of course, I also went to Stratford upon Avon and toured the New Globe Theatre and Museum in London. They’ve build a reproduction of Shakespeare’s original Globe.
Is there a projected release date?
Probably Fall 2015.
You
also mentioned that you’d be traveling to Sri Lanka in the winter.
Can you tell us about that trip?
I actually went this past winter, over Christmas/New Year
2012/2013. It’s a gorgeous country with many ancient and beautiful temple
sites, both Hindu and Buddhist, and the people were very welcoming and lovely. They
have everything: mountains, beaches, cities, nature reserves, even an elephant
orphanage. We spent time in a tea plantation in the highlands and then a few
days at a yoga retreat. Sri Lanka has had a long civil war but now there’s
peace. I hope this peace will continue so that the people there can grow their
economy and experience the prosperity they deserve.
Mary,
who that you’ve written about would you most like to have met in real life?
I would love to meet Hildegard. I’m such a fan girl. I would
sit at her feet and listen to her all day! And listen to her and her sisters
sing.
Thanks for answering these questions.
We’ll see you for the conversation starting August 5th!
Overview: "A unique and
enthralling style. . .flawless." —Baltimore Books Examiner In this mesmerizing new novel, Mingmei Yip draws readers deeper into the exotic world of 1930s Shanghai first explored in Skeleton Women, and into the lives of the unforgettable Camilla, Shadow, and Rainbow Chang.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hi Mingmei welcome back to The Reading Frenzy, I hosted you when your last novel Skeleton Women came out a year ago. (click link
for interview)
Thank you Debbie for having me back!
Tell us a little about your new novel The Nine Fold Heaven,
I loved it by the way.
I am pleased that you liked it! As you know, The Nine Fold Heaven is about three femmes fatales – referred to as “skeleton women,” in Chinese. They are the singer spy Camilla, the magician Shadow, and the gossip columnist Rainbow Chang. But the journey is mainly Camilla’s. She undertakes an emotional and dangerous trip
back to Shanghai to reunite with her lost lovers, to find the baby she was told was stillborn, and to discover
the secret of her parents’ murder.
Nine Fold Heaven is part of a series of Skeleton Women (femmes fatales) but can be read as a stand alone book.
This is a sequel to your last novel Skeleton Women staring
Camilla the spy.
Camilla is a rather dark or noir heroine and she doesn’t make many excuses for how she goes about her business. Why did you decide to paint her in this light?
As a woman writer, I am extremely intrigued by beautiful,
talented and scheming women. One may not want them as friends but as
characters, they are exciting. So I decided to explore this character type by
writing about them. Camilla the nightclub singer was trained to be a spy by her
gangster boss. Her mission: to seduce, then assassinate his arch rival,
gangster head Master Lung.
But there are obstacles on Camilla’s path to completing her assignment. She falls in love! Not only with Master Lung’s Harvard educated lawyer son, but also Lung’s rough, but loyal, bodyguard Gao. Worse, her arch rival, the magician Shadow, whose repertoire of tricks including jumping to her own disappearance and making a castle vanish, schemes for the heart of Camilla’s lover, Master Lung. Both women, however, realizing that they are both helpless women struggling to survive at the margins of society, decide to join to help each other.
Although
I am fortunate to have a far easier life than my characters, I can feel these
marginal women’s sufferings. Perhaps it is because I grew up in Hong Kong, a
city of great wealth, but also of many human tragedies. So I can see the
helplessness, and vulnerability behind thepretty faces and ruthless schemes. But despite their desperate
expediencies, my main characters also, have some good that shine through in the
ends.
If you had to describe Camilla in one word for our audience
what would it be?
self-reliant.
1930’s Shanghai is represented as a lawless and corrupt
time.
Is this the way it really was?
Why did you choose this particular time?
I love history, because it is like a mirror
reflecting all that’sgood and bad
in humanity. I think the 1930’s Shanghai is one of the sexiest eras in world
history, populated with larger than life characters: glamorous women, , cynical
politicians, and corrupt police. But also with idealists trying to help China
find its way in the modern world.
It was a
time of extremes – from sybaritic luxury to abject poverty. I have tried to
describe both from the indulgences of the rich to the miseries of the poor. But
even for the rich, life was full of dangers.
Few of the
rich came by their wealth honestly. There were always many ready to usurp their
place, by guile if possible, or by murder if necessary. Those without money
were expendable, particularly parentless children abandoned to orphanages. This
had been Camilla’s fate, and also two of my actually virtuous characters -- the
little blind girl and the baby she takes care of.
Nine Fold Heaven is a beautiful mix of cultures and traditions and it’s a true sequel to Skeleton Women.
As the author do you think it is beneficial to read the novels in order?
I wrote The Nine Fold Heaven in a way that it can be read as a stand alone book. But if readers like the three femmes fatales and want to learn more about them, then they will enjoyreading Skeleton Women as a prequel.Also, anyone out there who wants to know how a magician can make an
entire building disappear will learn how in this novel.
The illustrations in your children’s books are beautiful, are they your own
illustrations?
Yes. I have written and
illustrated two children’s book, Chinese Children’s
Favorite Stories which
is one of Tuttle Publishing’s bestsellers and the new Grandma Panda’s China Storybook,
which has just come out this year.
Illustrations from my new children’s book Grandma Panda’s
China Storybook:
Grandma Panda teaching her grandchildren to write Chinese
Home coming celebration for Mulan the woman warrior
Here
are some samples of my other paintings:
White and green-robed Guanyin, Goddess of Compassion
Xiang Xiang, protagonist of my debut novel Peach Blossom
Pavilion, playing the qin.
Me doing calligraphy
My calligraphy workshop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2012
Do you have any art showings in the near future?
I teach calligraphy workshops
quite regularly. This year’s was at Lincoln Center, sponsored by the New York
Philharmonic, last year I did one for the lunar new year at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
Are you working on another novel?
Yes, my next and sixth novel is Needle of a Thousand Beauties, to be
published by Kensington Books in 2014.
It is about a young woman who escapes a ghost marriage to join a community of celebrate embroiderers. Soon, stifled by the rigid routines of the group, she helps herself to one of their treasures – an imperial robe. Chased by agents of a secret society, she makes her way to Beijing. There she finds work in an embroidery shop, only to be tricked into marrying the boss’ son. Escaping again, she falls in love with a revolutionary and lives an even more dangerous life. Despite all these distractions, she continues with her needlework and earns fame and respect.
Mingmei, many authors belong to writing or critique groups.
Do you?
I used to have a writing group but since it has dissolved I am now on my own. I rely on my husband Geoffrey Redmond, a medical doctor, butalso an excellent writer himself with six books to his credit and two
more on the way. He is the first one to read everything I write and always has
helpful feedback.
What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
I’m embarrassed to say that I
am a little crazy about containers, especially purses, wallets, thermos, and
boxes – tin biscuit boxes, lunch boxes, metal or ceramic tea boxes. So when I
take breaks from writing, I’ll go online to search for these. Somehow just
looking at them makes me very happy.
Here is a purse I bought in
San Francisco’s China Town, I added the jade myself.
Another prized possession is
a thermos that was a gift from the West Point Military Academy, after I gave a
lecture on Sunzi’s Art of War to their cadets in 2008. My great uncle studied
at West Point – he was a famous general in China. For myself, however, I have
noliking for military matters,
just mild curiosity.
Mingmei’s lecture at West Point Military Academy
Mingmei do you have any signings or events celebrating the release of Nine Fold Heaven?
I am planning to do a signing
at the Barnes and Noble in Honolulu this November and another one at the CUNY
Asian Asian American Research Institute in New York. Other venues are in the
works.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us about
your new novel, your art and your children’s books. Good luck with all your
endeavors.
The Songbird/spy Camilla’s escaped to Hong Kong after
successfully fulfilling her lifelong mission for her gangland boss. She’s left
behind her son, JinJin, who she was told was stillborn but who’s visits to her
dreams tell her otherwise and her son’s father, JinYing, whom she loves the
best. She has no choice but to return to Shanghai to try to solve the mysteries
of her son and lover but to do this she’ll need to resort to her “Skeleton
Woman” spy ways of manipulation and exploitation to get the information she
needs. She also must be wary of her enemies who still search for her and even
those she now befriends must be watched for they could turn on her at any
moment.
Mingmei brings us the sequel to her novel Skeleton Women
about the unscrupulous yet loveable spy Camilla. Camilla is a noir heroine who
readers will love to hate or hate to love. The author makes it clear she’s a
product of her environment and never apologizes for her behavior which she
shouldn’t. The narrative is colorful and an exotic mix of cultures and
traditions and will bring the sounds and flavors of a troubled lawless past
society to life. For ultimate understanding and enjoyment the two books should
be read in order.
