LIVING THE HISTORY: New Short Story

Monday, April 13, 2009

New Short Story

I'm still on library tour for the next fortnight - Kensington Library on Wednesday with Katie Hickman, Wimbledon Library on Thursday 16th and then Knowle Library Solihull on Friday 17th. I'll be back to meatier blogging after that.
But dropping in to say that a while ago I was asked to write a short story for an anthology being produced to mark the Romantic Novelists' Association 50th anniversary. I was specifically asked for a historical short story and I obliged with one about a washerwoman - I'd been researching medieval laundry practices around the time the request came in. It's titled 'A Clean Start' and readers who are as fond as I am of John Marshal might enjoy a certain cameo appearance!
The book features stories from a range of authors who are all members of the RNA. Katie Fforde, Jill Mansell, Joanna Trollope etc. Also my friend Jan Jones who writes smashing Regency novels, although she tells me her story for this anthology is a contemporary.

url here to the full list.

http://www.rna-uk.org/index.php?page=article&id=158
Mine will be the only story played out in the 12th century, but there really is something for everyone!

6 comments:

Jan Jones said...: Gee, thanks, Elizabeth. I haven't read yours because it went straight through without the need for consultation and it wasn't in the quarter that I proof-read, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the finished volume enormously.

There are some fabulous stories included.; 6:38 am
Carla said...: Congratulations, and happy 50th birthday to the RNA!; 8:39 am
Izzy said...: Hooray for the John Marshal cameo! When will this anthology come out?; 3:22 pm
Elizabeth Chadwick said...: Izzy, I think it's early September for the hardcover and November for the paperback - I know I'm going to a launch party in London in November for it, so definitely by then!; 3:41 pm
Jan Jones said...: The C-format (trade paperback size) is out now!
Go to my blog and click on the book cover in the sidebar.

Have now read your story, Elizabeth and it is JUST PERFECT!; 4:11 pm
Elizabeth Chadwick said...: Thanks Jan - I know you'd know. I've got that many balls in the air (!) that I can't keep track of them all. I don't know about JUST PERFECT - LOL but it's kind of you to say so!; 4:25 pm

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

" Wow! I feel like someone used to watching movies in black and white but has just seen the first one in technicolor! " A personal letter from a reader.

"The Winter Crown ...will, I have no doubt, become the definitive fictional account of this remarkable woman.' ..." I’ve read a fair few fictional depictions of Henry II over the years and I must say that his portrait in The Winter Crown has the most authentic feel of them all."
Kate Atherton, author of For Winters Night blog.

"Eeanor’s life story has been told many times over in historical novels but rarely with such insight, emotional intensity and page-turning readability." Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Evening Post.

"In the world of the arts, the Black Legend and the Golden Myth still hold sway, as seen in novels, such as Alison Weir's, which seek to portray both the scandalous, adulterous queen of legend and the powerful female ruler. Historians may shake their heads at the perpetuation of such myths, but many historical novelists such as Sharon Kay Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick are seeking to apply modern scholarship to their fiction, and consequently avoid the most egregious of the legends that surround Eleanor."

Professor Michael R. Evans in Inventing Eleanor - Bloomsbury Academic.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE SUMMER QUEEN

"What I loved about this novel, and I have felt this way about all of Elizabeth’s novels that I have read, is that she does not pander to stereotypes or write scandal for the sake of it. The historical Eleanor is defamed beyond belief- a whore chasing anything in trousers, a woman who committed incest with her uncle, a woman who was ‘ahead of her time’, and so on. Elizabeth’s Alienor is none of these things. She is treated fairly, as a woman of her own time, written in a believable way. Elizabeth does not go for scandal because she does not need to- the writing in this novel makes that very clear. Her scene setting is lovely, her character development top notch, and the book is a compulsive page turner. I couldn’t put it down." Sarah Bell

."The Summer Queen is a fabulous novel based on the most up-to-date and meticulous research. This is historical fiction at its best and I loved every page of it." Kate Atherton, blogger.

"I have read just about everything I can about Eleanor and enjoyed both biographical and fictional accounts of her life but I must say that your creation of Eleanor is the most compelling." Reader from Australia

"I loved the story; I loved the way the author wrote Alienor as a woman of her times instead of a thoroughly modern independent woman, or a slut in chase of anything in pants. As with all Chadwick novels, there's also the added plus of being sucked into another century with the sights, smells and sounds that wrap up a darn-near perfect reading experience. I couldn't put it down, and very sorry I'm going to have to wait for the next installment. Reader from the USA

"Meticulous research and strong storytelling." Woman & Home
"A rich and compelling read. " Candis Magazine

"I often see the expressions, `fleshing out the history' and `making it real', and they more than apply here...the main aspect that made me keep turning the pages and burning the midnight oil? The things that I didn't know about Alienor.." Reader from Australia

"Chadwick has succeeded where many other novelists have failed by giving us not just the legend but the very human young woman – intelligent, determined, witty and sexy." Pam Norfolk. Lancashire Evening Post.