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Secrets of the Avignon Popes

March 15, 2014, Backstory for Muse, Blogs

Muse is set in medieval Avignon during the period when the popes resided there, rather than in Rome. Writers such as Francesco Petrarch flocked to the city to seek patronage from the Pope and cardinals. The city was bursting with craftsmen, merchants, goldsmiths, and money lenders as well as the architects, master masons, and artists who worked on the Pope’s immense palace. Under Clement VI, who appears in Muse, the palais des papes became the most celebrated court in Europe, a salon for the artists, musicians, and intellectuals who were the avant-garde of the Renaissance . . . read more Read more

Muse & Woman Hero’s Journey

March 1, 2014, Backstory for Muse, Blogs

My novel Muse arrived, imaginatively speaking, when I was teaching a literature course in which we were exploring Joseph Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey. We were riffing on that, looking at ways of describing a woman hero’s journey, when a student told me about Veronica Franco, an “intellectual courtesan” of 16th-century Venice. This discovery was one of the triggering ideas for Muse. From the poet Veronica Franco, who had unfortunately been written about, I made the leap to the walled city of Avignon, which I had recently visited, guessing that courtesans, as well as popes, had lived there in the 14th century . . . read more Read more

The UNESCO World Heritage City of Avignon

February 15, 2014, Blogs

Attractively situated on the southern Rhône in France, Avignon is a walled city with spectacular medieval sights. The historic centre has many charms to offer the tourist. Today Avignon is a UNESCO world heritage site, where tourists, not 14th-century clerics, throng the narrow, winding streets and visit the grand palace of the Avignon popes. The towers of the palais des papes are visible for miles as you approach on the fast train, the TGV from Paris. You must enter the wall through one of the twelve gates where medieval travellers were likely to be greeted by a traitor’s rotting torso or severed leg to warn against committing treason. Today, the main artery running north to the palace is as mercantile as during the time of the popes . . . read more Read more

January-March 2014 News & Events

February 13, 2014, Events, News

My first review for 2014, by Susan Fish in the Guelph Mercury, ended with these lovely words, “Muse is a treat to read and would be a terrific book for a book club to feast upon”. In February, I had great fun being guest author at my first Muse book club and look forward to being invited to visit other Vancouver… Read More

Balancing Fact & Fiction in Muse

January 20, 2014, Blogs

The inspiration behind my novel Muse is the amazing town of Avignon in France, where the popes resided in the 14th century. I visited it five times to explore the popes’ palace, the city wall, the rivers and canals, and the surviving medieval streets and buildings. I went there to soak up the atmosphere and walk in Solange’s shoes . . . read more Read more

Where Do Ideas Come From? My Apprenticeship as a Novelist

January 12, 2014, Blogs

I often get asked “Where do you get your ideas from?” Actually, I waited for years for my first good idea to come along. Finally, when I was about fifty, I stumbled across the story of Veronica Franco, a poet and “intellectual courtesan” in 16th-century Venice . . . Were there any courtesans in papal Avignon, a city equal in splendour to Venice? . . . read more Read more

November-December News & Reviews

December 13, 2013, Blogs, Events, News

On All Saints’ Eve, I flew to Toronto for my first appearance in the International Festival of Authors, buoyed up by an interview in the groovy on-line mag, Hazlitt. Once settled in the authors’ hotel, I walked over to the festival site to check it out, then back to the hospitality suite, where authors unwound every night from the day’s activities. One of… Read More

L’amante del Papa, the Italian Muse

November 23, 2013, Blogs, News

A box of copies of L’amante del Papa (the Italian Muse) has just arrived. Happy days! Heartfelt thanks to all the people who made this happen: Newton Compton Editori, The Cooke Agency, The Cooke Agency International, Dean Cooke, Suzanne Brandreth, Ron Eckel, Antonella Pappalardo, Elisabetta Colombo, Monica Ricci, Marco Vigevani Agenzia Letteraria, and Emanuele Sana. The roses were a gift… Read More

October News, Reviews, & Interviews

November 20, 2013, Blogs, Events, Interviews, News

October was a busy month. I travelled with Random House on its Fall Preview tour in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, and made new friends amongst the guests from Indigo, Chapters, and Coles. On the eve of the Vancouver Writers Fest, L’amante del papa was reviewed at mangialibri.com and Erin McPhee’s lovely profile of me was published in the North Shore… Read More

November 2013 Events

October 28, 2013, Events

I am delighted to be making my first appearance in the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. I will be in a Reading with Catherine Bush, Rodge Glass, and Meg Wolitzer on the Lakeside Terrace on Friday, November 1 at 8:00 pm, and in Ahead by a Century, a discussion with Justin Cartwright and Elizabeth Ruth in the Studio Theatre on Sunday, November 3 at 3:00 pm. It… Read More