The Idea for a Novel Comes From…
July 12, 2010 by ciji · Leave a Comment
I was originally drawn to the real life character of Jane Maxwell, the 4th Duchess of Gordon (seen with her son in a painting hanging in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) , because my aforementioned great- grandmother, Elfie McCullough–who lived to be 96–claimed that our McCulloughs from the Lowlands of Scotland were related to the Maxwells of Monreith through marriage a few generations before Jane Maxwell was born. Later I came across an article about her life as the “Match-making Duchess” and was very intrigued that I might be related to such a fascinating historical figure. Sadly, after five years of research, I was never able to prove I was her direct descendant, but the odd thing is, we look rather alike: dark hair, hazel eyes, and a similar bone structure! Read more
My Favorite Authors
July 5, 2010 by ciji · Leave a Comment
I’m often asked to name a selection of my favorite authors.
Well, anyone who knows me can tick them off quickly: Daphne du Maurier and Anya Seton, but I love Jane Austen, of course, along with Rosamund Pilcher, and a new novelist I’ve discovered who writes Regency mysteries, Tasha Alexander.
I also love Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series set in the early 20th century, and of course, I love the Sourcebooks/Landmark’s reissuing of the Georgette Heyer legacy. I have to read a lot of nonfiction for the work I do in that genre, so there is no greater pleasure in life, as far as I’m concerned, than to curl up with a juicy historical that sweeps me out of my ordinary day and into the past. I am so grateful that this genre appears to be experiencing a marked resurgence of reader interest! Read more
“Enchanted Cornwall”
June 28, 2010 by ciji · Leave a Comment
So far, in 2010, my new publisher, Sourcebooks/Landmark, has reprinted in beautiful new editions two of five historical novels they’re reissuing for me, plus have scheduled my first new historical in a decade for April of 2011. Over the years as these books were published, I’ve often been asked if I have a favorite setting that really gets my creative juices flowing. Read more
A new release of Cottage by the Sea
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If any of you historical readers love Cornwall, England, and are fascinated by the idea that events in the past are still impacting your life in ways you’d never imagine, you might enjoy A Cottage by the Sea that was published by Sourcebooks/Landmark in June of this year.
I’ve always been slightly obsessed by the linkages between areas in America that were settled fairly early and the regions in Europe from whence the settlers to our country came. In this case, many the Cornish tin miners ended up in the mines of Wyoming and Pennsylvania. Read more
Revisting Jane Maxwell
June 14, 2010 by ciji · 2 Comments
In revisiting something this writer penned two decades earlier, it was invigorating to think about the qualities of my heroine in Island of the Swans– Jane Maxwell, the 4th Duchess of Gordon—and the qualities in her that I so admired…and to evaluate whether my portrayal was truly a close characterization of her.
I think I portrayed her as near reality as a writer could while still remembering to be a “storyteller”—which is the first duty of historical novelists, in my view. Read more
