Next Big Thing post coming soon!

Things are a bit behind here in Nell Gwynn land, but shortly I'll post my leg of the Next Big Thing blog marathon!

A plug from Diana Gabaldon!

There's nothing about Diana Gabaldon that I don't like. I love her books, her humor, how she became such a successful author after a career in science. And I love her generosity. Yesterday she posted on her Facebook page an little story about how we came to read a scene from The Darling Strumpet at the Historical Novel Society Conference last June - and a link to the video on You Tube, which is now up to more than 11,500 hits!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorDianaGabaldon

Interviews with RWA RITA finalists

I'm so pleased that The Darling Strumpet is a finalist for a RITA award for Best First Book from Romance Writers of America! The winners of the RITA awards will be announced at the national conference on September 28.

http://www.rwa.org/cs/conferences_and_events

Meanwhile, here are the links to two very nice features about the finalists:

http://dearauthor.com/features/interviews/rita-best-first-book-2012-interviews-historical/

http://getlostinastory.blogspot.com

Nell coming in mass market paperback!

I'm very pleased that Berkley has decided they will reissue Darling Strumpet as a mass market paperback next year, about a month before my novel about Bess of Hardwick comes out!

The cover will be more like a romance cover.  I'm hoping Charles will look something like Johnny Depp in The Libertine! What do you think?

Nell a RITA finalist!

I'm thrilled to say that I got a call this morning from the Romance Writers of America to let me know that "The Darling Strumpet" is a finalist in the Best First Novel category for the RITA awards! The final winners will be announced at the national conference in Anaheim in July.  I'll be there, and teaching a workshop on giving effective readings!

http://www.rwa.org/cs/about_the_conference

Ironic anniversaries of Charles II

On February 6, 1649, a week after Charles I was executed in London, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed his son Charles King of Great Britain and Ireland in Edinburgh. The English Parliament passed a statute that made any such proclamation unlawful and outlawed the monarchy. Charles II's formal accession to the English throne would have to wait until 1660, when General Monck, who controlled the army, engineered Charles's Restoration.
Charles died on February 6, 1685. Almost his last words, to his brother James the Duke of York, soon to succeed him as James II, were "Let not poor Nelly starve." He knew that of all his mistresses, Nell Gwynn was the one who truly relied on his support for survival.

"Darling Strumpet" named No. 1 of 2011!

I'm thrilled to say that The Darling Strumpet has been named No. 1 in the 10 Best Historical Novels of 2011 by Kayla Posney of the Pittsburgh Historical Fiction Examiner!

Here's the link to the list, which has links to Kayla's original reviews of The Darling Strumpet and The September Queen:

http://www.examiner.com/historical-fiction-in-pittsburgh/the-10-best-historical-fiction-novels-of-2011?mid=579512