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The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

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michellemoran
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Post by michellemoran » Sun September 28th, 2008, 5:53 pm

Tanzanite, Divia - that's exactly it. I have been getting Lila's question (which is a good one) emailed to me a lot, and it's probably something my publishers will even ask in the Q&A at the back of the paperback version. Ultimately, I struggled a great deal in trying to find a title for this novel. As I mentioned on other blogs, a more appropriate title for the book would certainly have been The Warrior Queen, but that sounded too much like a fantasy novel, and with the ambiguous cover, I didn’t want to risk that. Even Nefertari would have been appropriate, but that sounded too much like Nefertiti. So ultimately, I chose The Heretic Queen because I wanted the book to focus on how the sins of the older generation can be visited upon the young, and the question of whether Nefertari would ever be able to overcome that.
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LCW
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Post by LCW » Mon September 29th, 2008, 2:33 pm

Maybe it could've been My Aunt: The Heretic Queen, lol! Kidding! I get what you're saying about the difficulty involved. All joking aside I think Nefertariwould've been a great title. Either way, the book was great! Whatcha workin' on next?
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Mon September 29th, 2008, 9:02 pm

The Warrior Queen makes me think of Buddica (sp) I can see why you wouldnt want that or Nefetari cause it does look a lot like Nefertiti
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Post by michellemoran » Mon September 29th, 2008, 11:26 pm

Lila: My next book will be Cleopatra's Daughter, and I'm really excited about it!!!!

A director named Brady Hall and I just finished making the book trailer for the novel (the process starts early and the book cover shown at the very end scene is a stand-in)! Hereare two of the versions he made.

Unfortunately, it was only after I saw the final cut that I realized my main character (Cleopatra's Daughter) is wearing a crocheted shawl in one the scenes!!!!! Sigh... I guess you can't have everything! ;)
Last edited by michellemoran on Tue September 30th, 2008, 2:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Carine
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Post by Carine » Tue September 30th, 2008, 5:53 am

Woaw, that is something to look forward to again Michelle !!!
But first I'm going to enjoy The Heretic Queen, which I'm about to start !!
Last edited by Carine on Tue September 30th, 2008, 11:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Vanessa
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Post by Vanessa » Tue September 30th, 2008, 6:50 am

Look forward to it, Michelle!
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Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Tue September 30th, 2008, 11:11 am

OMG that looks HOT!

I cannot wait!
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Post by LCW » Tue September 30th, 2008, 7:03 pm

Can't wait for the new novel! It looks great! Although I'm glad the cover that was shown is just a stand in. Look's a little too romancy and cheesy!

BTW, Cleopatra's daughter looks caucasion. If she was 1/2 Egyptian wouldn't she look more....African? What did the ancient Egyptians look like? I always thought they were dark but with maybe smaller lips and narrower noses than the more Southern African peoples. But I could be way off base. Today Egyptians look almost Arabic but do we know generally how they looked back then??
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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michellemoran
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Post by michellemoran » Tue September 30th, 2008, 8:30 pm

Thank you everyone who commented on the trailer! A lot of blood sweat and tears went into it (well, on the director's part ;) )

And Lila, great question! Queen Cleopatra (properly spelled with a "K") was Macedonian, and the Macedonians of the time, like the Greeks, had very light skin and light hair (many were blonde. The Greeks you see today are mixes). This was a topic I wanted to be sure to get right for the book, so I met with several biological anthropologists while in Greece who confirmed my research. Funny, isn't it? So Elizabeth Taylor wasn't too far off...

As for the Egyptians, there was great racial diversity. Microscopic analysis of Ramesses the Great's hair shows he was a red head, while other Pharaohs (such as Piye) were clearly from southern Africa.
Last edited by michellemoran on Tue September 30th, 2008, 8:46 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Carine
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Currently reading: Jonkvrouw - Jean-Claude Van Ryckeghem
Interest in HF: I love history
Favourite HF book: Can't pin that down to only 1 :-)
Preferred HF: Medieval, Tudor and Ancient Egyptian
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Contact:

Post by Carine » Wed October 8th, 2008, 5:47 am

I finished The Heretic Queen last night and enjoyed it very very much. I was sorry to finish it ! A superb novel ! I'm already looking forward to your next novel Michelle !!

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