Witness Steubenville

I hardly know where to begin.  I'm not normally political on my blog.  I write about history and writing and other writers.  But every once in a while, something occurs that I just can't keep quiet about.  For a while I thought I should.  "It's not my business," I said to myself.

But it is my business.  In my first book, GILT, my narrator, Kitty Tylney witnesses a rape.  And does nothing.  She's afraid--for her safety, for her position, for her life.  She has reasons.  To her, they seem like good reasons.  And she continues to allow things to happen without acting.  Until her own inaction comes back to haunt her.

The idea came to me after a case in a California high school where students witnessed a rape and did nothing.  I wanted to explore the psychology of a young person who experienced that and suffered the consequences.  Near the end of the book, Kitty has an argument with a young man named Edmund, who also witnessed (perhaps even abetted) the rape.

"I did nothing wrong!" Edmund tells her.  After all, he didn't rape the girl.  (He didn't hold her down.  He didn't post pictures on Facebook or take a video.)

"No, Edmund," Kitty replies. "You did nothing.  And that's not the same thing."

Everything about the Steubenville case makes me wonder what we've learned in the past four hundred years.  In 1539, Henry VIII pardoned Thomas Culpepper for raping an unknown girl.  Because Culpepper had a "promising future" at court.  There were other men present at the scene of the crime.  They are not named in the historical record.  They did not face prosecution.  They did not suffer consequences. (You might say that karma eventually got Culpepper and the king, when Henry had Culpepper beheaded for committing adultery with the queen, but that's another story altogether.)

What kind of world have we created where a girl can be sexually assaulted and it becomes entertainment?  First via text and YouTube and then via media that turn the case into a global morality tale--about social networking.  Outcry should not be about how young people display their entire lives for everyone to see.

Outcry should be about two young men who took advantage of a girl who could not say no.  (incapacitation through alcohol is no different from incapacitation by force.  Culpepper had his friends hold his victim down.  The Steubenville boys had their friends take pictures).

Outcry should be about what our children learn.  It's not OK to take advantage of someone who can't defend herself.  It's not OK to excuse yourself from your actions because "she was drunk" or because you have a "promising future".  It's not OK to take or process or pass around or publish photographs of humiliating, violent actions.  Ever.

Outcry should be that rape is illegal.  It is morally reprehensible.  It is emotionally corrupt.

It is wrong.

And it's not OK just to let it happen.  To watch, to witness and not take action.  Because sometimes doing nothing is still doing something wrong.

Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the UK celebration giveaway!  Thank you to everyone for entering, and for telling me all the reasons you love British history.  I love that so many people share my passion for it!

The winners are:

The ARC of TARNISH goes to Kelly Grabowski!

The UK paperback and English treats go to Rachael Hanson!

And the final UK paperback goes to Petra @SafariPoet!

Congratulations and thank you all!

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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10 Reasons Why I Love British History

My first novel, GILT, will be published in the UK and Commonwealth on the 28th of February, and I'm celebrating this week with my love of Britain and British history.  And on Thursday, I'll be hosting a little blog party and giveaway (including chances to win the British paperback of GILT and an ARC of TARNISH!)

But today, I have to tell you why I'm such a history geek (though the reasons are countless, I've managed to nail down a few...)

10.  Blackadder.  History and quirky, irreverent British humor all rolled up into a sneering anti-hero, written by some of the funniest writers working today (Richard Curtis of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Rowan Atkinson, Ben Elton) and Britain’s best comedic actors (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and the fabulous Tony Robinson of Time Team).  I have a cunning plan to write a book starring Elizabeth I, just so I can have her say, “Who’s Queen?”

9.  Errol Flynn.  I know he’s Australian.  But my first introduction to history was through Robin Hood and Captain Blood and for years I expected history to be populated by handsome rogues. 

8.  Castles.  Crenellated walls, stone towers, clammy dungeons.  From motte and bailey structures of Norman England to the pretty, showy palaces of the Tudors.  I especially love the ruins—like Corfe Castle, destroyed by Parliament during the English Civil War.  There’s real history in those walls, my friends.

7.  British television costume dramas.  Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey, Vanity Fair, Call the Midwife…I could to on and on and on.  But that will have to be a blog post of its own.

6.  Archaeology.  After seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark as a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist (but ended up studying cultural anthropology instead).  I totally dig Time Team.  And the recent discovery of Richard III’s bones in a Leicester car park?  Made.  My.  Year.

5.  Costumes.  I spent part of my college career studying costume design for the theater.  I love those flat Renaissance bodices, 1920’s dropped-waist dresses, the elegant lines of Edwardian fashions (think Mary in Downton Abbey), Marie Antoinette’s hair, Joan of Arc’s armor…

4.  Shakespeare.  Richard III is my favorite history play, though old Will put a lot of fiction into his historical fiction.

3.  Murder and mayhem.  Why does this entice us so?  The Gunpowder Plot.  The execution of Anne Boleyn and all of the men accused of treason with her.  The Blitz.  I think it’s because in the midst of all the violence and injustice, we see who we really are and what side we’d take.

2.  Romance.  Not necessarily in the Romeo and Juliet, boy-meets-girl sense, though I love that, too.  But in the chivalry of King Arthur, the beauty and humanism of the Renaissance, the way Windsor Castle looks from the far end of the Great Park.  Blake’s vision of romance.

1.  Characters.  Kings and queens and commoners.  Matilda, Henry V, Francis Drake, T. E. Lawrence, Emmeline Pankhurst, Oliver Cromwell, and, of course, Anne Boleyn.  Fascinating people who lived in fascinating times.  I love to find the story in history, and story is all about the characters.

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.

It's Really Richard!

Most of you know I'm a bit of a Ricardian at heart.  Last week, I posted about history's bad boys over on Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks.  I'm smitten.

By Richard III.

So I've been following the archaeological dig at Greyfriars in Leicester with avidity.  I paid more attention to the British news articles on it than the Superbowl yesterday.  I almost work myself up in the middle of the night to watch the press conference live.

But this morning, I hesitated to turn on the computer and find out.  I love a good mystery.  I love an underdog--and poor Richard has been vilified for centuries.  I knew I would never be able to avoid knowing altogether, but I kept my eyes closed for a minute or two longer than I normally would.

And it's him.  The fatal wounds found on the skeleton describe a warrior who went down fighting.  The scoliosis in the spine describe a man with a physical challenge, but certainly not the twisted and withered monster Shakespeare gives us.  He was not a big man--the news article I read described his build as "almost feminine".  But they're sure it's him.  Hastily buried in a church that Henry VIII had demolished, so the location was forgotten for centuries.

Now, I'm sure I'm not the only one who hopes that they also find a way to test the bones they have in Westminster Cathedral.  The ones that are claimed to be those of the Princes in the Tower--Richard's nephews, whom he is reputed to have murdered.  And perhaps another mystery can be laid to rest.

Then again, maybe I don't want to know....

If you want to know more, check out this excellent article on the BBC News website.

And this is a fascinating article on archaeological facial reconstruction and an image of what Richard may really have looked like.

ALA Amazingness

Last weekend, I went to Seattle.  I adore Seattle.  I spent a year almost living there (ask me about this sometime, and I'll tell you about it) and always assumed I'd moved there.  But then moved to England instead.  (hey, the weather is the same!)

The Washington State Conference Center hosted the American Library Association mid-winter conference.  My Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks sister, Cat Winters was going to be signing.  My editor and agent sibling (and now good friend) Stasia Ward Kehoe, offered a place to sleep in her wonderful home where I got to meet her delightful family.  And my editor arranged a pass.  So of course I jumped at the chance.

For two days, I was surrounded by books and book people.    Publishers, agents, writers, sales reps, and, of course, librarians.  Lots of librarians.  (And you know, I love librarians).  My Class of 2k12 sibling, Jennifer Shaw Wolf, author of BREAKING BEAUTIFUL, picked me up at the airport, showed me some Seattle sights, wandered the exhibits with me and we both killed our feet in our fancy boots.  I picked up galleys of some fabulous spring and summer books.  I attended book buzz panels to see what publishers are interested in.  Stasia and I met the Penguin sales rep (the delightful Colleen Conway) for coffee.  I went to a session where I learned which books of 2012 the local teens loved the most (and the least).  My favorite quote?  "Scarlet (from AC Gaughen's Robin Hood retelling, SCARLET) is the best female character since Hermione Granger."  I couldn't have put it better myself.

And I met writers.

I had dinner with several authors, including Allyson Valentine, author of the forthcoming HOW (NOT) TO FIND A BOYFRIEND, Helen Landalf, who wrote FLYAWAY, Karen Finneyfrock (another editor sibling) whose THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR is coming out this month.  We were joined by J. Anderson Coats, author of the fabulous THE WICKED AND THE JUST, and another 2k12 sib.  And also the lovely book blogger, Jean Vallesteros.

This weekend, I'm catching up on my revision for Book 3.