The Execution of Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham

One of the most exciting things about writing historical fiction based on real people and real circumstances is that the timelines are verifiable and the events in the novel can be attached to actual dates.

Four hundred seventy-two years ago today, Cat Howard caught a glimpse of her own future--and her own guilt--when Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham were executed for their disastrous relationships with her.  Not a happy occasion, to be sure, but in history pinpointed dates are often only set down for births, deaths and weddings, and sometimes not even then.  I have to take my precision where I can get it.

In honor of these two young men--one of whom may or may not have been as bad as I portrayed him, and one of whom may or may not have been as blameless--I'm going to let Kitty tell you how it happened...


In the next few weeks the Tower grew gluttonous on the incarceration of traitors.

They brought in the dowager duchess after she burned a coffer full of papers said to belong to Francis Dereham. The rest of the Coven came, too. The number of prisoners soon exceeded Tower capacity. Lower-ranking and obviously innocent members of the duchess’ household were shipped off to other prisons. But not I.

The duke stood outside the Tower gates, outside the prison, outside the very law itself and exclaimed loudly and constantly that he knew nothing of his slatternly niece’s dubious conduct. He vilified her. Condemned her. Stood free upon the back of her guilt.

The Howard men groveled at the feet of the king, swearing loyalty. And were allowed to go free.

And Edmund Standebanke continued in the king’s service.

Men, I thought. Even guilt can’t shackle them.

But then Francis and Culpepper were executed. Pulled from the Tower by an ox-drawn cart, met with the jeers and silent judgment of Londoners. Culpepper’s sentence was commuted to decapitation. 

Francis was not so lucky.

GILT Paperback!

GILT is now available in paperback, with a fabulous new design!  I love this cover, all silky and embossed.  What do you think?

If you want a chance to win a copy, check out my Top Ten Favorite YA Historical Reads on Read My Breath Away.

OR

Visit the very first Tudor Tuesdays tour stop at Emilie's Book World.

You can order the paperback of GILT here.

Cheers, Britannia! TARNISH and GILT Giveaway!

Today is a very, very special day for me, my friends, because today GILT makes its debut in the UK (and Commonwealth!!).  As you know, I am born and raised a California girl, but fell in love with England and embraced it as my adopted home many years ago.  I lived there for five years, go back as often as I can for research and cultural immersion and spend most of my days with characters from English history as my companions.

So it's a dream come true for my book to be on the shelves of British bookstores.  And thanks to Simon&Schuster UK, it has a gorgeous cover, as well.  I just love that Kitty gets a chance to shine.

I'm celebrating today with all of you, and wanted to share my joy by giving away copies of the UK publication.  One I will send internationally, the other to someone in the US or Canada along with fabulous British treats (Jammie Dodgers, McVities Digestives and Rowntree Fruit Gums--though I couldn't find any Hula Hoops or Walkers Crisps and refrained from including Mushy Peas or Marmite--you either love it or you hate it).

Also, because TARNISH will be published almost simultaneously in the UK and the US, I will be giving away an ARC internationally.

So please, help me celebrate!  Tell me why you love British history.  Help me tell the world how excited I am.  And let me thank you--for reading, for being history geeks and/or Anglophiles, for loving books.


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A Tale of Three Covers

My Tudor series has had a makeover.  Many of you saw that the fabulous Fallon Prinzivalli over at MTV's Hollywood Crush agreed to reveal the new cover of TARNISH, and said some lovely things about it, too.

GILT also got a revamp.  And there have been some interesting reactions to it.  Personally, I love looking at book covers.  I love the mood they set, the way they feel, what they suggest about what's inside.  It seems like most readers feel the same way--but not the same way about each cover.

As an author, it's interesting to hear what people say about the covers of my books.  It's one of the things that I have absolutely no control over.  And I find it fascinating what images come up in other people's minds when they read what I've written.  So getting several different cover treatments has been very eye-opening.  And kind of like Christmas on a regular basis.  Oooh!  A new cover!  Shiny!

The designers at Penguin are such a creative team, and I think each GILT cover has had a very distinct feel.  I think each of them beg to be picked up for a different reason.

This is the image on the hardcover that many of you are already familiar with.  I have always loved how different it is from just about every other YA novel out there.  I adore the font and am still looking for the perfect match to the lipstick.

This is the original paperback design and I hate to tell you it will never be printed.  Again, the gorgeous font, the lush imagery.  Though some were worried it might be a bit too suggestive for teen readers (or their parents!)

So my publisher decided on a redesign for both books.  No models.  No sexytimes.  But still elegant, luxurious and something that I, personally, would pick up in an instant.

What do you think?

The paperback of GILT will be released May 7.

GILT Paperback Cover Reveal!

I'm very excited to be able to share this!  And really, there's not much I can say, right?  Lush, sexy and just...wow.

Because of my recent break from daily social networking, I missed the post on the Gilt Novels Facebook page (oops!), so if you already saw it there, you saw it first!

The paperback will be available in May.

Online Launch Party!

Today GILT will be in bookstores.  And on Saturday, the Avid Reader in Davis will be hosting a party for the launch.  But I wanted to be able to celebrate with all the wonderful bloggers and writers and readers I've met online since I started this crazy journey.  So starting today, I'm having a GILT launch party right here on the blog!

Come in, grab a drink and a virtual cupcake and tell me all about your favorite kings and queens of English history!  Visit the YA Muses blog all week to read what my closest writing friends have to say about GILT.  Follow the Tudor Tuesdays blog tour to read about Henry's queens.  Head over to Goodreads for a chance to win one of 15 copies.  And get ready for door prizes.

I have three to give away internationally!

Each prize will include one of three fabulous ARCs of upcoming novels donated by Penguin:

NO SAFETY IN NUMBERS, by Dayna Lorentz
AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE by Kat Rosenfield
RIFT, by Andrea Cremer

First prize is a signed copy of GILT, all wrapped up in a limited edition GILT canvas tote (plus an ARC!):

Second prize is a signed copy of GILT, plus an ARC!

Third prize is a GILT swag pack, including a specially-selected Sephora lipstick that I carefully matched to the color on the cover. (PS - It looks great on!) Plus an ARC!

All you have to do is enter below:
Winners will be announced next week!

TWO WEEKS!

It's officially May, and only two weeks until GILT hits the stores.  I can't even begin to talk about the emotions that stirs up.  But what I can do is show is this:

A big box of finished copies that arrived on my doorstep.  There may have been tears.  And a little dancing.

I can also talk about the launch party, which will be held at the Avid Reader in Davis, CA on Saturday May 19 at 5:00 p.m.

There will be books.
There will be cupcakes.

There will be door prizes!  Penguin ARCs of awesome!

and

 All wrapped up in custom-made GILT canvas bags.  Plus Avid Reader gift cards.

There will be me thanking a hundred thousand people who contributed to GILT in some meaningful way.  There will be a reading.  There will probably be tears.  And maybe dancing.

So come prepared.  I can't wait to meet you!

Message in a Bottle

Anybody out there ever listen to the Police?  I had a thing about Sting in my twenties and seriously had a crush on a guy, despite his lack of interest or even knowledge of my existence, because someone once said he had Sting's nose.  Shallow much?  Fortunately, I've matured.

That said, I still love the music.  The references to Greek mythology and Nabokov.  The vaguely misogynistic creepiness of it all.  The cheerfulness with which they approach such heavy topics as suicide and pedophilia.

Lately, I've been thinking about "Message in a Bottle".  You know how it goes.


Just a castaway, an island lost at sea-oh,
Another lonely day, no one here but me-oh.


Sometimes social networking can feel like this.  Like every Facebook update, every tweet, every blog post is really that message in a bottle, sent out into the void.  Looking for some kind of response.

Woke up this morning, don't believe what I saw,
A hundred million bottles, washed up on the shore.


All those people out there tweeting and blogging and tumbling their little hearts out.  Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, reported in June that 100 million people use Twitter every day.  A hundred million bottles, my friends.  All trying to reach someone.

Why do I bring this up?  Because in a way, a novel is like a big note in a slightly bigger bottle in that ocean.  We all write for the same reasons, whether our messages contain 140 characters or 82,000 words.  We write to be read.  Not just to hear ourselves talk.  (though that can be fun, too, sometimes).  Because any kind of message can be scary to send out there into the world.  Whether you're posting photos of your cat or commenting on the guy next to you on the bus or sticking poems into the fork of a tree branch like Lennie in THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE.  Because you never know what's going to happen when that bottle reaches the sand.

So cheers to all you fearless people out there, sending out your thoughts and feelings and daily cravings.  Sting says, "Seems I'm not alone in being alone."  And I, for one, am glad of it.

Thank you all so much for your comments, for your follows, for your views and your silent readings.  For taking away whatever you find here, whether I know it or not.  But most of all, thank you for your support and enthusiasm for GILT.  That bottle seems like it is such a fragile thing for something that holds my heart and dreams.

3...2...1...HELP!

In exactly three months, GILT will be on bookstore shelves, ready to face the world.  I think I'm similar to all writers in feeling that this is a dream come true.  An event similar to a birth or a wedding.

Which calls for a party.

I love parties.  I spent nine months planning my own wedding -- not because I was bridezilla, but because I couldn't wait to celebrate with my husband, my family, and my friends.  I feel the same way with this launch.

The problem is, I haven't been to many launch parties.  In fact, I can count them on one finger.  So I'm  not entirely sure what to expect, what's expected of me, or what to plan.  I'm full of questions:

Do I have it on a weeknight?  A weekend afternoon?
Do I serve food?  Nibbles?  Cake?
Should I provide wine?  Sparkling cider?   Both?
Do I want to do a reading?  Give a speech?
Do I have door prizes?  Gift baskets?  Tons of swag?
Should my party have a theme?  Should I wear a costume? (please say no.)
Should we have decorations?
Do I have an after party?
Where?
Do I provide food there?  Themed food?  Open bar?
Invitations!  E-vites? Postcards?  Do I send them to local schools and libraries?


As you can see, I need your help.  Yes, yours.  Give me tips and anecdotes!  Ideas from launches you've attended or planned.  If you were me, what would your dream launch party look like?

Gift-Giving and Giveaway

I'm blogging over at the YA Muses today, even though it's Monday, because we are kicking off a week of discussing gifts for writers and I have a special wish on my list.

Drop by yamuses.blogspot.com to find out what it is, and a chance to win an Advance Reading Copy of GILT!