Forthcoming Books: 2009 edition

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat March 28th, 2009, 3:02 am

Sounds like there is a lot goingon in that story. I like my plots simple.

Anna Elliott · Post by **Anna Elliott** » Mon March 30th, 2009, 11:32 am

The Swan Maiden, by Jules Watson, Bantam (February 24, 2009)

Silent On The Moor (A Lady Julia Grey Novel), by Deanna Raybourn, Mira (March 1, 2009)

And, well, my book!

The title is Twilight of Avalon, and it's a retelling of the Trystan and Isolde legend. It will be published on May 5, 2009 by Touchstone (Simon and Schuster).

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Mon March 30th, 2009, 9:25 pm

[quote=""Anna Elliott""]The title is Twilight of Avalon, and it's a retelling of the Trystan and Isolde legend. It will be published on May 5, 2009 by Touchstone (Simon and Schuster).[/quote]
Are you familiar with Rosalind Miles? She wrote a trilogy about Isolde based on the original Irish legend.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Mon March 30th, 2009, 10:11 pm

I have twilight of Avalon on my TBR pile(when it comes out). I'll have to check out Silent On The Moor

Anna Elliott · Post by **Anna Elliott** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 12:26 am

[quote=""princess garnet""]Are you familiar with Rosalind Miles? She wrote a trilogy about Isolde based on the original Irish legend.[/quote]

I have heard of Rosalind Miles' trilogy, but I haven't wanted to read it while working on my own for fear of "cross-pollinating," so to speak. But I'm really looking forward to it once I finish my own Trystan and Isolde books! She's a lovely author and has offered to give a blurb for book 2 of my trilogy, Dark Moon of Avalon, out in 2010.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 3:01 am

[quote=""EC2""]I CW, Michelle, I know your titles have 'Queen' in them and you were probably more towards the forefront of this trend which is now virulent. How do you feel about it? Does having 'Queen' in the title or other empowering rankage lead readers to pick up as a matter of course?[/quote]

Originally my book was going to be called "Dark Embrace" but the publisher felt it was too 50s B-movie (they had a point

) I then came up with "Queen of Shadows" but when Edith Felber's book came out, that title was scrapped. I literally thought of "The Last Queen" on a whim, under deadline, recalling that Juana in fact was the last queen of her medieval bloodline. So, having 'queen' in my title wasn't planned. It just morphed into that.

I'm not sure if it helped sell the book, though I think it did, as I know as a reader I'm often drawn to the words 'queen' and 'mistress.' Not sure why. I do think it's overused now, though. However, titles are conceived sometimes by publishers, just like cover art. I'm actually a bit anxious that my next book's title might get changed, and I really like "The Confessions of Catherine de Medici." It's the original working title and fits the book perfectly.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 3:09 am

[quote=""Ariadne""]I read the review in Romantic Times last week. They describe it as a vampire romance set in Tudor England.[/quote]

It was only a matter of time until these two genres merged. Darn. There goes my Essex-as-lovelorn-vampire tale!

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 3:44 am

Sewer bears? How could I not want to read about sewer bears?

It sounds a bit like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I loved (though I had to take a second whack at it after setting it aside the first time I picked it up).[/QUOTE]

This sounds interesting to me, too. I loved Jonathan Strange, though few of my friends shared my enthusiasm for it.

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 3:54 am

[quote=""princess garnet""]Are you familiar with Rosalind Miles? She wrote a trilogy about Isolde based on the original Irish legend.[/quote]

Yes, I have read that series a while ago.

Looking forward to this new series too.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Wed April 1st, 2009, 3:34 am

[quote=""Anna Elliott""]I have heard of Rosalind Miles' trilogy, but I haven't wanted to read it while working on my own for fear of "cross-pollinating," so to speak. But I'm really looking forward to it once I finish my own Trystan and Isolde books! She's a lovely author and has offered to give a blurb for book 2 of my trilogy, Dark Moon of Avalon, out in 2010.[/quote]

Rosalind was at the first HNS Conference and she was so much fun! Your book sounds very interesting, Anna. I told a friend who loves anything with the word "Avalon" in the title about it and she was thrilled. She promptly put it on her Best of Historical Fiction 2009 list at amazon. She gets huge hits on her lists. She pre-ordered it, as well. So have I. I'm not a big Arthurian fiction fan but I do like Tristan and Isolde stories. Also, we have the same release dates: May 5!