HF Virtual Book Tours has another exciting virtual tour for you!
Author Nancy Bilyeau will be touring the blogosphere for the release of
her novel, THE CROWN, from January 5th through March 19th and to start
the festivities Passages to the Past is happy to bring you an interview
with the lovely Nancy Bilyeau and a giveaway of THE CROWN!
THE CROWN will be released on January 10th from Touchstone Publishing.
To follow THE CROWN Virtual Book Tour, please check out the tour schedule HERE. There are some fabulous blogs on the tour, you won't want to miss the fun!
And now, I bring you an interview with Nancy Bilyeau...
Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer? And did you always want to write historical fiction?
A: I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old. My third grade teacher liked a report I did after a field trip and wrote a little sign saying, “Have you heard of Nancy Bilyeau, the World Famous Writer?” and hung it on the wall. Teachers make such a huge difference.
I always liked reading historical fiction, and when I decided to try to write a novel I thought I would attempt a book that was part historical fiction and part mystery/thriller.
Q: Can you please tell us a bit about The Crown and the inspiration behind writing it?
A: I wanted to tell an exciting story revolving around a female main character of that time but I didn’t want to write about a royal or a lady-in-waiting. I’ve always been intrigued by nuns. I thought of telling the story of a novice in a priory just when the monasteries were being toppled as Henry VIII tore the country away from Rome.
Q: What type of research did you undertake for the writing of The Crown?
A: I’d been reading nonfiction about the 16th century my whole life so I had a foundation to build on. I read a great many books about the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries and religious life—my bibliography has more than forty books. I contacted experts to help me, such as the curators of the Dartford Borough Museum, experts on the Tower of London and Malmesbury Abbey. I’ve been to Dartford and seen the remains of the stone wall of the priory, which was of course demolished during the Dissolution. It wasn’t easy to “create” the priory—to decide where the various buildings and gardens would be. I worked hard on that, and ended up with a rough model on my kitchen table, moving the characters around!
Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process? What do you find the most difficult?
A: I love it when the momentum is strong and I’m at my computer, the words flying from my fingers. At those moments, the characters are telling ME what they will do and say. Of course it’s not always like that—in fact, it’s often not like that. Writing is most difficult when you are sitting there knowing what you want a chapter to do but every sentence comes hard. I’ve learned at those times not to be too hard on myself but to get a first pass down and know that I can revise.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
A: Workshop your writing, take classes. Listen to other people; you don’t have to change things but do listen. Show, don’t tell. Be sure the story contains surprises. And work hard on your query letter to agents.
Q: What are you working on next?
A: I just finished the sequel to “The Crown.” It’s called “The Chalice,” and it follows Joanna and most of the primary characters from the first book but I add a LOT of new ones. Joanna “encounters” Thomas Cromwell in “The Chalice.” She has a new quest, one more dangerous than that of the first book.
Q: If you could read any book again for the first time, what would it be and why?
A: Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca.” I just think it’s a masterpiece of psychological suspense. The twist near the end—why Rebecca sought death—is in a class all by itself. And every time I read it, I am more impressed by du Maurier’s use of first person perspective.
Q: What authors have inspired you?
A: Besides Daphne de Maurier, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, A.S. Byatt, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Norah Lofts, P.D. James, Mary Renault, Kate Mosse, Katherine Neville, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson, and George RR Martin.
About The Crown...
SYNOPSIS
An aristocratic young nun must find a
legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic
faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537...
Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns
that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned
at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the
priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the
king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of
London.
The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of
Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for
him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so
powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied
by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in
secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King
Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.
But Dartford Priory has become a
dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna
departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere
for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms
to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King
Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if
they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the
crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince,
Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband,
Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm
and it must not fall into the wrong hands.
With Cromwell’s troops threatening to
shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can
trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her
family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds
heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the
poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in
England’s past.
About Nancy Bilyeau
Nancy Bilyeau has worked on the staffs
of Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. Most
recently, she served as deputy editor at InStyle magazine. Her
screenplays have placed in several prominent industry competitions. Two
scripts reached the semi-finalist round of the Nicholl Fellowships of
the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her screenplay "Loving
Marys" reached the finalist stage with Page International Screenwriting
Awards and Scriptapalooza. A native of the Midwest, she earned a
bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. The Crown is her
first novel.
Some earlier milestones: In 1661, Nancy's ancestor,
Pierre Billiou, emigrated from France to what was then New Amsterdam
when he and his family sailed on the St. Jean de Baptiste to escape
persecution for their Protestant beliefs. Pierre built the first stone
house on Staten Island and is considered the borough's founder. His
little white house is on the national register of historic homes and is
still standing to this day.
Nancy lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
For more information, please visit Nancy Bilyeau's WEBSITE.
Giveaway Information
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Giveaway ends on January 15th.
Good luck to you all and enjoy the tour!
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