FAQ
Q: Who is the next character you will write about?
A: If I could live a thousand years... I'd do them all. The one at I'm most likely to do in the near future is Boudicca, especially if I do Nero. She lived at the same time and was Rome's enemy, so there can be a sharp conflict between them. Plus, I think she's really cool. (The original Xena.)
Q: When will the Spanish version of Helen of Troy be available?
A: It will be available but I'm not sure when. Mary Magdalene, Cleopatra, and Mary Queen of Scots are already available in Spanish.
Q: When will Elizabeth I be available?
A: Probably sometime in 2010. (I know; it sounds so far away.)
Q: There's been an explosion of interest in the ancient world lately, in books, movies—Troy, 300, the new Greek and Roman gallery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the news, with art objects being returned to their countries of origin. How does Helen of Troy fit into this?
A: Way back when I proposed a book set in the ancient world, I was told: ancient doesn't sell. No more! I am amazed and excited to have had my instinct proved right. Increased interest and research will hopefully lead to our discovering more about the historical Helen of Troy and about the Trojans themselves, who are still somewhat of a mystery. Was there a 'real' Helen? Will we find the tomb of Cleopatra? What about the scrolls from the Library of Alexandria? Stay tuned.
Q: What do you think of The Tudors miniseries on Showtime TV?
A: So far I have seen only the first three episodes. While I'm all in favor of a Henry VIII who is (finally!) shown as young, athletic and sexy, I'd like to see some of his brilliant mind exposed as well as his abs. To hear him tell his own story, I'm delighted that the original unabridged audiotapes of my Autobiography of Henry VIII are now available as digital downloads from www.audible.com. And for the old-fashioned, there's the novel itself.
Q: Do you use the Internet for research?
A: Earlier I did not, but now there are so many things available on it. I like to save files as PDFs so I can have them always available. And the 'image' search on Google is wonderful, allowing for maps, paintings, statues, coins, and so on.
Q: Mary Magdalene has been so much in the news lately. I saw a big article in TIME magazine in which your book was mentioned. But it also talked about other interpretations of Mary Magdalene, such as that she was Jesus's wife. What do you think of that idea?
A: The Jesus-and-Mary-Magdalene-were-lovers/married idea is one that pops up every now and then but it has never really had much in favor of the argument, at least not by serious scholars. I think there was some sort of special relationship between them but that it was spiritual; after all he chose her to appear to in the garden on Easter morning.
My old great-aunt, who knew the Bible inside out, had her theory that it was Mary of Bethany whom Jesus was in love with, and if you read the passages where Mary of Bethany is sitting at his feet, I think she's right---there seem to be more 'vibes' there than with Mary Magdalene. Of course with so little material, it's hard to interpret.
You can read the TIME article in the August 11th issue. It covers many theories about the mysterious Mary Magdalene. You may purchase the article from their archives here as TIME's Internet content is only free for two weeks. www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030811-472868,00.html
Q: The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown has at its heart a premise that the truth about Mary Magdalene and Jesus (including their marriage and child) has been suppressed by the Church because it did not want any trace of the 'human' Jesus to remain.
A:I have read the Da Vinci Code and enjoyed its ingenious plot, but the part about the church trying to suppress the human aspect of Jesus was a bit confused. The church, on the contrary, has always struggled to try to claim that Jesus was both 'fully human and fully divine,' which has led to a lot of odd theological juggling. There was one school that thought that Jesus was just a god disguised as a man (that his human body was just an illusion---of course this led to the problem that his crucifixion wouldn't be real); another school that said the two natures existed in one body side by side but didn't blend; another that he was completely human until the crucifixion, when he 'proved' himself and got granted the divine aspect. (The latter is the theory in St. Paul, which is why Paul has no virgin birth stories.) Paul is the earliest Christian doctrinal writing we have, so presumably this was the original belief.
People really have a hard time trying to visualize something that's both human and divine and so it was more popular practice that turned Jesus into a god than a theological dictate. Christians also, although they dutifully recite the creeds in church saying he was fully human and fully divine, really don't like the human part. I found that out firsthand, as people have attacked my interpretation for being 'too human.' And think of the furor about "The Last Temptation of Christ," which showed him merely longing for a normal human life.
Q: Who are your favorite authors/influences?
A: Ray Bradbury has had enormous influence over me. My father gave me "The Martian Chronicles" to read when I was nine. I must know it by heart by now. With all due respect to Poe and Stephen King, I think Bradbury's "The Third Expedition" is the scariest story I've ever read.
I love Bradbury's use of language and his ability to convey a sense of being there. In an interview he wrote, "Why all this insistence on the senses? Because in order to convince the reader that he is there, you must assault each of his senses, in turn, with color, sound, taste, and texture. If your reader feels the sun on his flesh, the wind fluttering his shirt sleeves, half your fight is won. The most improbable tales can be made believable, if your reader, through his senses, feels certain that he stands at the middle of events." I took that to heart and that's what I try to do.
I also like Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Gore Vidal, F.Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Hardy. Hmmm, do you see a pattern here? Very few lighthearted writers in this grouping---only Oscar Wilde and his observations about human nature are funny but dark.
Q: Do you prefer to write by hand or use a computer?
A: I used to write everything out by hand and then copy it into the computer. The Autobiography of Henry VIII was written entirely by hand. But the time factor forced me to switch, halfway through Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles, to writing directly on the computer.
I still write important or emotional scenes by hand; the connections seem more real that way.
Q: Why have you written about so many women?
A: Just a coincidence, really. I started out with Henry VIII and since then have proposed other men as subjects, such as Judas and Alexander the Great and Nero. Publishers did not share my enthusiasm for these characters!
Q: Do you have any interest in writing about a modern person?
A: I assume by modern you mean since 1900? No; although there are scads of interesting subjects, the sheer amount of documentation available, far from making it easier, makes such a project daunting. In addition, there is the problem of getting permissions and meeting with resistance from friends and family. Ironically you can find out much more about people who died a long time ago---no one is guarding their secrets any longer, everything is in the public domain.
Q: Did you study history?
A: Only informally. My father was very interested in history and we lived in places rich in history while I was growing up; it was a part of our family life to explore Crusader castles or archaeological digs or visit old cemeteries, like other families went camping.
Q: How much of what you write is true and how much your own imagination? What is your rule for historical accuracy?
A: My own rule is that I never go against a known fact (even if that fact is inconvenient for plotting purposes). No dead people live an extra five years because I'd like them to meet someone so it would be a better story, for example. Playwrights and screenwriters have had Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots meet, but in real life the closest they ever came to one another was 44 miles, and so in my book, they do not, and cannot, meet.
However, one of the reasons we read historical novels is that, although we know what did happen, we don't always know why. The realm of the novel allows me to supply motivation and explanation of the character's psychology, and go where the straight biographer cannot go. In that arena I am free to use imagination and conjecture.
Q: Do you have writing rituals?
A: I can't write if anyone else is in the house! So I could never do what Jane Austen did, write at the desk and then just shove the paper in the drawer when anyone came into the room. Writers are very peculiar creatures!
I have a rule that I must sit at the writing for at least 2 hours or 5 pages (whichever comes first), and I have a two-hour timer that I start ticking when I sit down. Often I am so involved in the writing that by the time the alarm does go off I hardly hear it, but it's a good way to prod myself to get started when staring at the dreaded blank white screen.
I use background music when I write but each book has its own set of CDs and tapes and I associate them so completely with that particular book that I can't use them for the next. So I am always searching for new 'writing music.'
I can't work on two projects simultaneously, I'm a very bad multi-tasker. And I think each book is such a complete union between me and the subject that I can't divide my loyalties. I become so possessive about a subject that I feel I've created them and they are all mine. I can tell when a project is really over---my territorial feeling fades away and I don't feel compelled to 'protect and defend' them any longer. I don't fall all to pieces if a bad movie is made about them!
Q: What fact would a reader be most surprised to learn about you?
A: That as a hobby I've studied belly dancing for many years!
Q: Do your work/fantasy world and your real world ever interact?
A: They do in my entertaining. Obviously I like the idea of costumes and being someone else, and I've come to find that perfectly normal citizens seem to get a kick out of it, too. I share a birthday with Edgar Allan Poe and have always felt a real connection with him, so every Halloween I host a candlelight Poe-reading party where the guests dress either in black or as a character out of Poe.
I have also given Cleopatra parties where everyone dressed the part, and we've even had a snake on hand---not an asp, though. I have a model battleship prop from the miniseries that makes a great centerpiece, even with the oars sticking out, for the dining room table.
I have a collection of reproductions of "Titanic" (the movie) dresses, and I wear them to formal occasions, but always on dry land!
