Thursday, November 5, 2015

Major announcement forthcoming! But first, a little history lesson

Many people in literary circles have heard of Henry James, a famous nineteenth century writer with credits not limited to, Turn of the Screw, Portrait of a Lady, Daisy Miller and The Wings of a Dove. But few know one of his equals during his lifetime, a Miss Constance Fenimore Woolson, a writer with a list nearly as long of well-publicized novels in her time. In fact, many, including James himself, agreed that in the late nineteenth century Miss Woolson was a greater success than Henry. So what made her nearly obsolete while Henry went on to become one of America's most respected writers?

I first learned about Constance while researching on beautiful Mackinac Island in Michigan. She not only had lived on this island as a girl, but had based one of her first major successful novels, Anne there. I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I dug deeper into the history of Miss Woolson and learned of her close friendship with Henry James. I grew more curious as to why I'd never heard of her only to come across an article explaining her suicide in 1894 from a third story window in Venice.  I went on to read that after her death Henry tried to drown her dresses, and I knew that I had to write about this person. 

So that's what I did. 

Yes, my third novel, Becoming Fenimore, a paranormal historical romance, will soon be published! I am so excited for you to read it. While not strictly about Woolson or James, their story is important to the main character so I wanted to give you a little history lesson and a couple pictures.

Henry James

Constance Fenimore Woolson

Stay tuned for a cover reveal, and publishing date! I'm so excited!!!