Questions and Answers From Christi Phillips

Miss Phillips has been kind enought to answer a few questons about her great book, "The Devlin Diary".

Q & A for Christi Phillips, Author of The Devlin Diary
1. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? Was there some specific incident that inspired you?
There wasn’t a specific incident that I can recall. I began reading early, before I started grade school, and had my nose in a book throughout my entire childhood. I knew that I wanted to be a writer when I was quite young, at ten or eleven. I simply loved reading so much that I started writing—I suppose I wanted to recreate something that brought me so much pleasure. By the time I was twelve or thirteen, I carried around a notebook in which I wrote poetry, and I kept a journal. In time, I wrote short stories, then screenplays, and finally a novel. The poetry and most of the short stories were terrible, by the way. I was highly motivated, but I didn’t show any early promise. Mine is a story of determination triumphing over lack of talent.

2. Why did you choose the medium of historical fiction? How do you pick what time/place to focus on? Are these periods you have always been interested in?
I chose it in a very round-about fashion, actually. Originally I had planned The Rossetti Letter as a comedy of manners (à la Forster or Austen) about a woman who chaperones a teen-age girl to Venice. I decided that the dramatic set-up would be stronger if the woman had a reason to go to Venice—so she became a historian on her way to an academic conference. Then, of course, I needed to know what her dissertation was about. I began researching Venetian history, and almost at once came across a mention of the 1618 Spanish Conspiracy. As I read further—not just about the conspiracy, the real event upon which The Rossetti Letter is based, but about Venetian history in general—I was inspired to write scenes set in the past and to make the historical portion of the story a major part of the book instead of background.

I set The Rossetti Letter and The Devlin Diary in the Early Modern era because I found that period of history fascinating. The Early Modern era, a 250-300 year time span which is generally agreed to begin around the end of the Renaissance (c. 1500) and end with the advent of the Industrial Revolution (c. 1750), was an incredibly vibrant and important period in European history. It’s the time of the Reformation, of the exploration of the New World, and the beginning of scientific inquiry. People began questioning authority and began to observe the world objectively, without the blinders of religious dogma. Although The Devlin Diary takes place fifty-four years later than The Rossetti Letter, both books are set within the Early Modern era, and the characters in both novels reflect their time.

3. Why do you choose to interweave the past and present, rather than writing straight historical fiction?
As I mentioned above, it wasn’t exactly planned that way! It happened organically. Once I started doing research, I realized that I didn’t have to keep the past “in the past,” but could bring it forward and make it part of the story.

4. Is the character of Claire based on your own experiences?
Claire is based on experiences I would like to have. She’s a kind of alter-ego who allows me to do something I love doing—historical research—and to vicariously live out the fantasy of being an academic. Being almost entirely self-taught, academia—especially the ivy-covered, hallowed-hall sort that Claire inhabits—holds a fascination for me. After visiting Trinity College and learning about its history degree program, I was convinced that if I had another life to live I would choose to spend it there, getting a doctorate in Early Modern History and spending the rest of my years cloistered in a cozy set. In spite of the many terrible (fictional) things that happen at Trinity College during the course of The Devlin Diary, I found it (and the people therein) absolutely charming. Cambridge is at least as lovely as I have described it. It’s the ultimate college town (although residents of Oxford might disagree).

The Christi Phillips Web Site

My thanks to Christi for taking the time to give us all some insight as to what inspires her! See the contest to win a FREE copy of "The Devlin Diary" in the previous post.

Free Book, "The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

My First Giveaway!

My review of The “Devlin Diary” by Christi Phillips will be posted at the Pick of the Literate on June 29, 2009.

The Question and Answers for Christi Phillips, author of the “Devlin Diary” will be posted on June 30, 2009 at Pick of the Literate.

Drop by, read the review, make your comment and sit back and hope you win. Contest will begin on June 29, 2009 and end on July 6, 2009.

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

The Devlin Diary is historic fiction at its best. The story vacillates between the 1670s and the present. The mysteries of King Charles’ court and the experiences of a young American scholar at Trinity College in England provide the background of the mystery. How murders in 1670 can possibly influence a murder in the present underlie the mystery.

Phillips did a masterful job in characterization. She painted solid portraits of the main characters providing the necessary information for the reader to develop strong feelings on each individual. Her portrayal of the sordidness of the English Court contrasts dramatically with the rose tinted perceptions commonly held about English Court life. If you have read any of my other reviews, you are aware I am fond of strong female characters. Phillips crafted two women that I would be proud to know and hope that my granddaughter would emulate.

I felt the plot was intricate without being confusing. I particularly liked not being able to pre-determine the true villain. Being a romantic at heart, I also liked the final conclusion. Any loose ends were neatly bundled at the climax of the story.

I would recommend the book to those who enjoy mystery, romance and history and gentlemen don’t be put off by the comment on romance, it isn’t a romance novel, it is an excellent mystery novel that includes romance. I am going out to get her previous book, The Rossetti Letter. I don't give five dragons very often but this book demanded them.

Body of work of Christi Phillips

Review: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=7315

Web site: http://www.christi-phillips.com/

Coming tomorrow, questions and answers from the author, Christi Phillips!

When the Devil Dances by John Ringo

The action keeps on coming. I am reminded of and will paraphrase the Joker from one of the Batman movies, “where does he get all these marvelous toys?”. The SheVa is a multistory tank that does not defy the imagination as much as tickle it. Once again, Ringo shows he is not adverse to knocking off characters, even if they are highly likeable. The Posleen are learing and thusly more dangerous. In all their conquests, no one any where has successfully fought them, until now. The action is non stop, the characters angst is often palatable. Through it all, Ringo shows he has an undeniable faith in the willingness of man to fight on, regardless of the odds. I recommend it.


Body of work of John Ringo

Review: http://www.scifidimensions.com/Apr02/devildances.htm

Web site: http://www.johnringo.com/Home/tabid/1574/ctl/Terms/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Lack of Love Hurts

Maybe I have been reviewing too many books that have relationships instead of swords, sorcery, lasers and space shuttles. I was talking to a friend recently who was bemoaning her social life. She is an attractive, intelligent, divorced mother of three. She is a registered nurse; she does volunteer work and wants to find somebody to love. She has concluded that our community is overrun with swine of many stripes. Her biggest outrage are the married swine who assume she is ripe for the picking. Trust me, she may be ripe but the picking will be done by her. From my perspective, some of the reasons she is still alone is she is not compliant, easy, stupid or needy. There are a lot of guys out there who are afraid of strong, self confident women. They want to be doted on rather than have a mutually satisfactory relationship.

Looking outside of our community has been tiresome. Taking a run to New York or Philadelphia is both time consuming and expensive it you are planning on looking for a mate. Plus, she has found the bar scene is hardly conducive to meeting someone looking for a commitment. She has talked about trying one of the online dating services but doesn’t know which one. The number of services and their claims are overwhelming.

There is hope for her and others. There is a site called Prime Dating Sites that has evaluated and reviewed a wealth of choice for the lovelorn. I checked out Friend Finder, Chemistry.com and eHarmony. There was a good review of each site and links to ten different matchmaking sites. Frankly I was surprised I hadn’t heard of a couple of them. I use Yahoo all the time and didn’t have any idea they had a matchmaking site called Yahoo Personals. I guess being happily married I haven’t paid a lot of attention to these kinds of sites. The TV ads that promote many of the sites are slick and well done but don’t tell you much. Prime Dating Sites, at least gives you some points to ponder and may help you narrow your search to a service that makes sense for you.

Being lonely truly hurts; frankly I can’t imagine life without my mate. There are a huge number of lonely people out there trying to find someone. Maybe these sites might help. If you have had experience with them, please comment on this blog. You too, might help someone find the person they can love.