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Thursday, January 31, 2013

HFVBT: Interview with D.L. Bogdan + Giveaway of The Forgotten Queen

GIVEAWAY WINNER--ANGELA HOLLAND KIM CREE (winner has been emailed)


D.L., I appreciate you stopping by today to answer a few questions! 

 Thank you so much for having me!

Being a student of history, I can pretty much guess what originally inspired you to write historical fiction, but is there anything specific about the genre that made you want to write historical novels? 

I feel history gives us anything we need—fascinating figures with lives rich in drama and conflict, perfect for storytelling, and events we can use to illustrate themes, thoughts, and ideas of the times.

Your books all involve the Tudors? What is it about that illustrious family that so captivates the world, even after all these years? 

Their dysfunction. At times they seem larger than life, but when broken down, they’re not much different than any family. Okay, maybe the beheadings and world powers at their fingertips make them a little different . . .

Who is your favorite historical personage among the Tudors? 

I have to say of the immediate family, probably Margaret, Henry VIII’s older sister. She was so tragically flawed, but there was something endearing about her open vulnerability.

Do you have a process when you're doing research for your books? 

I try to find any materials I can that involve my subject matter—books, articles on the web (which are difficult at times to prove the legitimacy of, so I have to use caution there), original sources such as letters and records, and documentaries. After gathering as much as I can, I try to sift through and decide what is most important for what I want to convey and build from there. 

For aspiring writers of historical fiction, what would be some key advice for them? 

Write for yourself first. If you have an event or a figure that is your passion, delve into it as deeply as you can, then go for it. A wonderful author once told me that characters/stories summon us and I believe her. They want to be told. So follow your gut and tell them!

Are you currently reading any historical fiction? If so, which one(s)? 

Unfortunately right now I’m not reading much fiction of any kind, as I’m back in school and am reading several texts at once. When at school or working on a project, I have to sever all pleasure-reading, otherwise I won’t want to do anything else!

What is your favorite historical fiction book and/or your favorite historical author? 

There are so many! I’m not quite sure if this constitutes, but my favorite author is John Steinbeck and my favorite historical fiction novel would be East of Eden

Do you have your next project in the works and can we get a hint? 

I must play mysterious on this one. But I will tell you that though it is historical, it will not be what people expect from me. 

Thanks again for stopping by and chatting today!


D.L. Bogdan is an ongoing student of history, musician, and avid reader who enjoys travel, the outdoors, and time with her family and friends. She is a proud wife and mother who makes her home in central Wisconsin. She is the author of Secrets of the Tudor Court, Rivals in the Tudor Court and The Sumerton Women.

For more information on D.L. Bogdan and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE. You can also find her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.


Publication Date: January 29, 2013 | Kensington Publishing | 384p

From her earliest days, Margaret Tudor knows she will not have the luxury of choosing a husband. Her duty is to gain alliances for England. Barely out of girlhood, Margaret is married by proxy to James IV and travels to Edinburgh to become Queen of Scotland.

Despite her doubts, Margaret falls under the spell of her adopted home. But while Jamie is an affectionate husband, he is not a faithful one. And nothing can guarantee Margaret’s safety when Jamie leads an army against her own brother, Henry VIII. In the wake of loss she falls prey to an ambitious earl and brings Scotland to the brink of anarchy. Beset by betrayal and secret alliances, Margaret has one aim—to preserve the crown of Scotland for her son, no matter what the cost…

Read my REVIEW!

Giveaway: One copy of The Forgotten Queen, open internationally! To enter, you must leave a comment on this post telling me who is your favorite Tudor.  Don't forget to include your email address so I can contact the winner.  Giveaway will end on Friday, February 15 at 11:59pm CST.  Good luck!

This is a book tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.  To visit other stops on the tour, visit the schedule HERE.  Twitter Hashtag: #ForgottenQueenVirtualTour

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Cat Thursday: Cats love Jane Austen too!


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

In honor of the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, I present to you.... 





And check out this lovely book I came across....Pride and Prejudice and Kitties! Click the image to read all about it on Amazon.



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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A Reading Life with Mailbox Monday


This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and also by The Sunday Salon.

Listening To:  No audio books right now because the CD player doesn't work in mom's car and I don't want to listen to my CD player with headphones (driving hazard...eek) so I've been just listening to the radio and now I know why I like listening to audio books while driving.  Radio is SO frustrating.  I have three stations that I toggle between and it always seems they're on commercial at the same time.  Ugh!

Book finished: Sadly, I have not finished a book yet in the new year.  I am halfway done with Les Mis and almost finished with Persuasion.  I still have to finish The Waste Lands by Stephen King and I have a review book for a post on Thursday.  Help!

Reading: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Persuasion by Jane Austen, The Waste LandsThe Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan

On the Nightstand:  Oh, I don't know! For sure, Dune by Frank Herbert.  Oh yeah, The Shining by Stephen King and Crime and Punishment (read-a-longs).

Watching:  Okay, is anyone else just completely pissed at "Downton Abbey"?  Because I am! Rant over. I saw "Silver Linings Playbook" over the weekend.  Outstanding film! It is definitely a must-see and I'm pretty sure we're going to have some OSCAR winners there.  I also saw a free screening of "Warm Bodies" on Thursday.  What a fun and sweet movie! I have such a crush on Nicholas Hault now (yeah, I know he's 20 years younger than me...lol).  On TV, I'm loving "Ripper Street" on BBC America, "The Following" on FOX, and "Shakespeare Uncovered" on PBS.

Making:  My nightly cooking is still going well.  I think I mentioned that my older son is a picky eater. Well, he has liked the last several meals I've made so I consider that a win.  Tonight I made something called Fast Food Mexican with Tamales, chili, cheese and onions.  Not totally healthy, but it was delicious! Tomorrow, I'm making a crab casserole and sauteed broccoli so a little bit more healthy.

Grateful for:  Everyone who participated in my read-a-thon last week.  I have such lovely regulars and then had some awesome newbies this time.  It was a success, as usual! Can't wait until Spring into Horror in April!

Looking forward to:  Almost done getting my books shelved so I'm looking forward to that finally being finished.  It has been a big job, but I did cull some of my non-fiction (self-help, decorating books, etc.).  Three boxes worth! Yay! Also, just found out the Nyx and Vicky are hosting the Review Copy Clean-up again in February so I'm going to give that a shot again.  Oh, and I'm hoping to do a few things during the Mini-Bloggiesta this weekend!

Picture:  I saw this on Facebook last night and I just have to share it (from the Words to Inspire the Soul Facebook page)


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Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is being hosted by Lori's Reading Corner this month.  (You can click the book covers in the BookBox to view the book(s) on Amazon)

BookBox: embed book widget, share book list

BookBox: embed book widget, share book list

LIBRARY SALE:
Angels and Insects by A.S. Byatt
The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March
The Mystic Rose by Stephen R. Lawhead
Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn by Persia Wooley
Darker Jewels by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
Katharine of Aragon by Jean Plaidy
Mina by Jonatha Ceely
The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan
Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

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Monday, January 28, 2013

A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon: My Updates #WintersRespite


In case you haven't heard, I'm hosting my winter read-a-thon, A Winter's Respite, over at my Seasons of Reading read-a-thon blog.  If you haven't already, why not sign-up and join us this week?  I'm hoping I will have time to get some good reading in this week.  Seems like the last few read-a-thons have been a total bust for me.  I say it's time for a game change!

WRAP-UP
As you can see below, I only updated once and that was because I didn't get shit read. *frown*  Well, I did manage to finish the first half of Les Mis...400 some odd pages.  But nowhere near what I had hoped.  Oh well, I enjoyed it anyway.  Interacting with all of my lovely participants is enough reward in itself! Looking forward to Spring into Horror in April!

UPDATES
for 1/21 and 1/22:


Book I’m reading: Currently reading Persuasion
Number of pages I’ve read: 200 in Les Miserables
Total number of pages I’ve read:  200
Notes: I've got off to a slow start, but hoping to pick up momentum starting today!


Here's what I'm hoping to get read this week:

Read-a-Long catch up
Les Miserables--Victor Hugo
Persuasion--Jane Austen
The Night Circus--Erin Morgenstern
The Waste Lands (Dark Tower #3)--Stephen King

Let's Read Plays catch up
Shakespeare's plays
Coriolanus
The Tempest
Richard III

Others
Under the Snow--Kerstin Ekman
Dune--Frank Herbert
????

I will update in this format:

Book I’m reading: 
Number of pages I’ve read: 
Total number of pages I’ve read:  
Notes: 


Updates will appear at the top of this post, just below the introduction.

Happy Reading!

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Cat Thursday: Cats reading


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

In honor of my read-a-thon, I present to you cats reading...and one who is very afraid of captions.  LOL!




Yup, that would be me, especially during read-a-thons...go figure!

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

My Yearly Remembrance--Heath Ledger


I'm one day late in my yearly remembrance of actor, Heath Ledger.  Every year, on January 22, I take a moment to remember and recognize one of my favorite actors, who was taken from us much too soon on January 22, 2008.  I now pause for a moment of silence for Heath.  I hope you are happy, wherever you are, dear man.  Please know that you are missed and will never be forgotten.

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Cat Thursday: I got this...


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

Random funnies today with a touch of cute!







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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Reading Life with Mailbox Monday


I have done away with TTBA Weekly News and started a new weekly reading post which I'm calling A Reading Life.  This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and also by The Sunday Salon.

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last wrote a weekly post.  A lot has happened in my life since then which was what I told you about at my last weekly post HERE.  I've settled into a new life (pretty much) and I thought it was time for a change...a fresh start with this new Monday post.  Yay!


Listening To:  I was going to start listening to The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, but then I remembered that I bought The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness at the library sale so I may start listening to it.

Book finished: The last book I finished was a Christmas book.  Yeah, I know...

Reading: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Persuasion by Jane Austen.  

On the Nightstand:  Under the Snow by Kerstin Ekman, The Night Circus by Erin Morgentstern, and Dune by Frank Herbert

Watching:  Tonight was a big TV night for me.  Bones had two new episodes and then three shows had their season premiere tonight on SyFy--Being Human, Continuum, and Lost Girl.  And then I missed Downton Abbey last night because I was watching the Golden Globes so I'll catch that later (yes, I'm a night owl).  I saw "Cloud Atlas" over the weekend.  I thought it was pretty amazing.  I have GOT to get my hands on the book!

Making:  I'm doing a lot more cooking now.  Before we separated, my husband did a lot of the cooking, but I'm enjoying getting back into it again.  I made a sausage casserole tonight with sausage, spicy pinto beans and tomatoes with a corn muffin crust on top.  My older son is usually pretty picky about what I cook, but he really liked it.  That seal of approval was all I needed!

Grateful for:  My mom, who has been trying so hard to adjust to us living with her.  It's hard for someone who has lived alone for so long.  Also, for my sons.  They are my pride and joy.  Just found out last night that Reece was accepted under the sibling preference at the Magnet school his brother attends.  Woot! A great school and I won't have to drive them to two different schools next year.  What a relief!

Looking forward to:  finally getting all of my books put away from the move.  We should be done by the end of January at the latest.  Also, the Brentwood library sale this coming weekend and we're going to see "Mama" this weekend.  I LOVE scary movies!

Picture:  Reece's 10th birthday party...new tennis shoes (with Gabe)!



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Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is being hosted by Lori's Reading Corner this month.  (You can click the book covers in the BookBox to view the book(s) on Amazon)

BookBox: embed book widget, share book list

FOR REVIEW:

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours:
The Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan
A Tainted Dawn by B.N. Peacock

CHRISTMAS GIFT:
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

LIBRARY SALE:
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
The Courage Consort by Michel Faber
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Figures in Silk by Vanora Bennett
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje
Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
Mozart's Blood by Louise Marley
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Dark Angels by Karleen Koen
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
Water Witches by Chris Bohjahlian
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (audio)

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Monday, January 14, 2013

Bout of Books 6.0--Goals and Updates

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

-From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

Wrap-Up

See below because that's about all the reading I was able to do. *frown*  Between being sick, my son's birthday on Thursday and getting ready for his party on Sunday, and work...I just did not have time to read.  I'm so disappointed.  I hope I will have more time to read during my read-a-thon next week.  *fingers crossed*

Thanks to Amanda and Kelly for hosting.  Looking forward to the next one!

Updates and Mini-Challenges
1/7 and 1/8 
The book(s) I’ve been reading: Les Miserables and Persuasion
Number of pages I’ve read on the above dates: Les Mis--27 Persuasion--23
Total number of pages I’ve read:  50
Notes:  Oh yes, sucking royally so far.  Am I surprised?  No.  Of course, I have to be sick.  When it rains it pours.

 1/9/13--Mini-Challenge

Page 48 Challenge, hosted by Booking in Heels

Original sentence:
There are moments when nature appears hostile.

Mine:
There are moments when nature appears hostile.  At other times, nature is calm.  One cannot predict the outcome with nature.  I knew one thing for sure.  The zombies didn't care if nature was hostile or calm; they kept coming.

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I need this read-a-thon...badly! I have a TON of reading to do this month.  Unfortunately, I also have to work and deal with the kids (Reece's birthday is Thursday and his party is next weekend) and we're still working on shelving my books.  Hey, we're up to the Js! But we still have K-Z and non-fiction, Christmas, writing books, etc., etc.  All of this and I'm also battling an upper respiratory illness.  Oy Vay! Anyway, I'm still going to squeeze in as much reading as I can this week.

Here's what I'm reading:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (this week's section for TuesBookTalk)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (sections for read-a-long)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (section for read-a-long)
Under the Snow by Kerstin Ekman
Dune by Frank Herbert

I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to be reading this month, but I'm sure there probably is something else (I'll add it when I remember).

My updates will appear at the top of this post under the read-a-thon blurb.

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