Sharon Kay Penman: A Celebration of Her Life and Legacy

Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 7pm EDT

Free  · Facebook Live

Join author Stephanie Churchill as she hosts a Facebook Live celebration of her dear friend and fellow author Sharon Kay Penman. We’ll celebrate the literary heritage Sharon left behind as we weave together memories of her life and work along with a time for questions.

To donate in Sharon’s memory, contact Beason Animal Rescue: https://beaconanimalrescue.org/

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Anne Easter Smith is the award-winning author of The King’s Grace and the best-selling A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, Queen By Right, and Royal Mistress.  She is an expert on Richard III, having studied the king and his times for five decades. Her sixth book, This Son of York, will be published soon. She grew up in England, Germany and Egypt, and has been a resident/citizen of the US since 1968. Anne was the Features Editor at a daily newpaper in northern New York State for ten years, and her writing has been published in several national magazines. She lives in Newburyport, MA with her husband, Scott.

Sharon: This Son of York is the sixth book in your series about the York family during the Wars of the Roses, Anne. I thought A Rose for the Crown was your Richard III book. Why have you chosen to write another about him?

Anne: As a matter of fact, Sharon, I thought Rose was my Richard book, too! I thought I had nicely tied up the series with Royal Mistress, and in fact had embarked upon a totally new project—a Portuguese prince and his lady-in-waiting lover—when Richard’s grave was uncovered in the car park in Leicester in 2012. It was then that my “first reader/editor” reminded me that Rose was Kate Haute’s book, not Richard’s and that this was the moment to retell Richard’s story. “But Sharon Kay Penman wrote the definitive Richard book, Sunne in Splendour,” I protested. She pointed out that with the discovery of Richard’s bones, surely there was now more to add to Richard’s story that Sharon couldn’t possibly have known in 1983. I knew she was right. And so poor Pedro was put aside, and I plunged back into the period I know better than my own in some ways. When I talked to you at the Denver Historical Novel Conference, Sharon, and you convinced me I was the right person to retell Richard’s story, it rekindled my passion for writing about this much maligned king.

SKP:  I am so pleased to have this opportunity to interview one of my favorite authors, Bernard Cornwell—and to thank him for making my annual Christmas shopping so easy.  As soon as I get word that he has a new book out in his superb Saxon series, I know exactly what family and friends are getting, for they love his novels as much as I do.

SKP:Bernard, thank you so much for agreeing to discuss Sword of Kings, your twelfth novel about Uhtred of Bebbanburg, who is surely one of historical fiction’s most memorable characters.I’d like to begin with your Australian interview in which you confided that there is probably only one more book in the Saxon series.This really is your game plan?I do understand your reasoning; time is the one foe that even Uhtred cannot defeat.But if I may speak for your legions of fans, we are not ready to let Uhtred go.Have you given any thought to writing flashbacks of his earlier life, as you did with Sharpe’s adventures in India?Between your imagination and Uhtred’s penchant for finding trouble wherever he goes, I am sure you’d not lack for ideas or plot lines!

I am happy to announce the winners of Stephanie Churchill’s book giveaway, which we held on my blog when I interviewed her for her latest book, The King’s Furies.  She generously offered to give the first two books in her trilogy to the winners, The Scribe’s Daughter and The King’s Daughter.  I enjoyed all three of the novels very much and I am sure the lucky winners will enjoy them, too.  Drum roll…..the winners are Lin Heiberger, Nancy F Lambert, and Eric Pratt.  You can contact me via my website or on Facebook or Stephanie on Facebook to provide your contact information.

The guest on my blog today is my friend, Judith Starkston, who writes fiction set in the ancient world of the Greeks and Hittites. I met Judith several years ago at the Tucson Festival of Books. We talked books and writing over a long dinner, but today’s conversation had to happen online with only virtual company, so, unfortunately, no good food could be shared. Judith is, however, offering a book giveaway and to be eligible, readers need only post a comment on this blog. Two winners will each receive a free copy of Priestess of Ishana. The books will be in e-book format and the contest is global, not limited to American readers.

Yes, this is actually a new blog by me; will wonders never cease?  But the good thing about being in Writer Limbo—between books—is that I actually have time to do some things I enjoy, and one of them is focusing attention upon books I think my readers will like.  The King’s Furies is such a book, with the added bonus that its author, Stephanie Churchill, is a friend as well as a fellow writer, so it is always fun to hang around with her.  Besides, Holly, my spaniel, may not worship Stephanie, but she is overly fond of the ground upon which she walks.

I can enthusiastically recommend The King’s Furies, the final book in Stephanie’s trilogy, The Crowns of Destiny.  Like me, I am sure that readers of the trilogy have come to care about the characters, and I think they will be pleased by the resolution of the series.   Casmir is a very appealing character in his own right, and it is interesting to get his perspective after seeing their world through the eyes of the sisters, Kassia and Irisa.

I can think of no better way to end the year than to do an interview with my fellow writer, David Blixt, about his latest novel and whatever subjects that come up in the course of our conversation; with David, you never know.

Sharon: Here we are again, David.

David: Thanks for inviting me. Though I’m not sure why you had me lay out a plastic drop cloth before I could sit down…

Sharon: Oh, you never know how these interviews will turn out.

David: Ominous. Have you been watching Dexter?

Sharon: Possibly. So David, you have a new novel out. Tell me about it.

David: It’s about the woman who basically invented undercover reporting, Nellie Bly.

Sharon: The title is “What Girls Are Good For”. Provocative, especially today.

No you all are not hallucinating.  My blog is no longer covered with cyber-space cobwebs; I have a brand-new blog up and ready to read.  Who says the Age of Miracles is over?     I was fortunate enough to lure Margaret George here to discuss her new novel.  But before we begin the interview, I have news about my own new novel, THE LAND BEYOND THE SEA.  It is finally done and is currently in the care of my editors at Putnam’s and Macmillan’s.  While there are some loose ends to tie up and the Author’s Note still to finish, the Deadline Dragon has been defeated at long last.  Of course he is still hanging around the house, blowing smoke rings and sneering.  It is not easy to evict a dragon, but at least he can be ignored for now.  I do not know when THE LAND BEYOND THE SEA will be published, will spread the word as soon as it reaches me.

I am so pleased to have Margaret George here.  She is one of my favorite writers and a friend and wherever he is in the Hereafter, Nero must be thanking his lucky stars that she chose to tell his amazing, improbable story.    Welcome, Margaret.   Shall we get started?   I suspect that patience is not one of Nero’s virtues.  In fact, many people probably assume he had no virtues at all, so your novel is going to be a revelation for them.

I have been gone for so long that I feel as if I ought to re-introduce myself, or at least thank you all for being so patient with my prolonged absences.   I hope that life will get back to normal once I’ve been able to evict the Deadline Dragon, though I would not bet money on that.  I only have three chapters left to do in The Land Beyond the Sea, but since one of them will have me fighting one of the most momentous battles of the Middle Ages, please send me lots of positive vibes; I suspect I’ll need them.

With apologies again for the long delay, Stephanie Churchill and I are happy to announce that the winner of her book giveaway for her new novel, The King’s Daughter, is Colleen MacDonald.  Colleen, congratulations.   Please contact either Stephanie or me to arrange to receive your personalized copy.    I am sure you will love it.   I know I did!

INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE CHURCHILL, AUTHOR OF THE KING’S DAUGHTER

I need to start with an apology for the long, long delay since my last blog was posted.  You are getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a writer’s life when that writer is cornered by a voracious Deadline Dragon; survival takes first priority and all else falls by the wayside.  But since I only have four more chapters now to do, I feel that I can afford to surface for air.
I am delighted to relaunch my blog with this interview with my friend and fellow writer, Stephanie Churchill.  Those of you who visit my blog and Facebook pages on a regular basis know how much I enjoyed Stephanie’s first novel, The Scribe’s Daughter.  I tease Stephanie that she has created a new genre—fantasy that reads like historical fiction.  My readers will feel very comfortable in Stephanie’s fictional world, for her novels are rooted in a gritty medieval reality.  They are considered fantasy because you cannot find this kingdom on any map, just in Stephanie’s head.  But there are no supernatural elements; no vampires or ghosts or monsters, although I personally would not have minded a dragon or two.     Her novels are character-driven, but they offer action and suspense, too.
I was hooked from the first sentence of The Scribe’s Daughter: “I never imagined my life would end this way.”    Kassia is an intriguing character and so well-drawn that readers immediately care about her.   For those of you who have not yet read The Scribe’s Daughter, the e-book is being offered on Amazon at a bargain price, just $2.99.   It is also available in paperback, but I confess I have become addicted to e-books for pleasure reading, seduced by the convenience, the ability to increase the font size, and the instant gratification, of course.

We have a winner in our drawing for a copy of Priscilla Royal’s new medieval mystery, The Proud Sinner.  In fact, because of Priscilla’s generosity, we have two winners—Pat K. and Margaret Skea.  Pat and Margaret, congratulations.  I am sure you’ll really enjoy The Proud Sinner; I know I did.  You can contact Priscilla via her Facebook page or website or me via the Contact Sharon option on my website.  Margaret is a writer, too, author of two novels set in sixteenth century Scotland, Turn of the Tide and A House Divided.  She is also the recipient of a grant by Creative Scotland, and is currently in Germany researching her next book, a novel about Katharina Luther.  Here is a link to her website.   https://margaretskea.com/

Priscilla’s publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, has just brought out a new edition of her first medieval mystery, Wine of Violence.   I was very pleased when they asked me to write a new forward for it, as this gave me an opportunity to explain why I think this is such an excellent series.   I have gotten permission from Poisoned Pen Press to post the first chapter of Wine of Violence on my blog.   If you have not read Wine yet, I am sure you’ll want to do so after reading this chapter.  Enjoy!