There are a small number of people in the world who will overlook–much less appreciate–the glazed, distracted, off-putting self-absorption of an author whose eyes are still gleaming with the euphoria of having just finished a book. Kate Quinn is apparently one of those people. After finishing a piece late last night before collapsing in a heap, it occurred to me this morning that I had a lunch date with the smart, sassy, bestselling historical author. Given the stature of my lunch-date, it behooved me to drag myself into the shower, brush my teeth, and make some attempt at forcing my hair into a style. (Having failed at the latter, I adopted a furry white hat instead.)

We decided to meet at a local B&N, where we were hailed like conquering war heroes treated to the awkward apathy that so often accompanies a stock signing. After some creative Shelf-O-Mancy on Kate’s part, we got down to the more serious business of food. We visited an Amish Market where we were taunted and tempted by every wholesome heart-clogging delicacy known to man, chatted over traditional fare, then–as goat was not available on the menu–we decided to risk it all on the throw of a dice and have a vanilla pie. (Which was awesome.)

What was more awesome, of course, was the details of Kate’s upcoming work that I got out of her. (And cannot share. But would really like to, because you historical fiction fans are going to die!)  Another awesome thing was the way Kate let me be not at my best. I rambled on about my forthcoming projects without ever once catching the inevitable glaze of boredom fall over her eyes. (She’s just that good.) Even better, she instinctively understood what the story was about, where it should go, and the challenges of shaping it.

Ahh, kindred spirits. This is why I’ve been trying to spearhead the local Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Historical Novel Society. Because how many people can you really tell, with full enthusiasm, about the sexual ramifications of a World War I fighter-plane technique, juxtaposed with ancient Rome and unsung tales of American revolution history, all in the same conversation? Not many, I promise you!

And apparently I’ve been starved for historical novel conversations. Starved! I practically stalked Kate to her car after she treated me for lunch. So, if you’re ever lucky enough to be invited out to lunch by a historical novelists (or, if you’re super lucky, by Kate Quinn), then go.

Next time, Kate, the treat’s on me!

Guest Post by J. L. Oakley

It might come as a surprise, but in the depth of the Great Depression people did enjoy parties and food and no less than at the hundreds of forestry camps around the country and in Alaska and Hawaii run by the Civilian Conservation Corps. A popular program in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal it put hundreds of thousands of young men to work planting trees, building bridges and park facilities, reclaiming land and fighting fires.

Food for Hungry Young Men

The CCC camps were run by the Army (unless it was a smaller side or spike camp which was run by the Forest Serivice for remote projects). Typically, it held up to 200 enrollees ages 18-25 years and laid out like a military camp. Wooden buildings or large tents housed the young men, but the mess hall generally was a permanent structure. As you can see, it came in all styles.

The kitchens varied in size, but many kept impressive pantries of can goods. Often local farmers provided fresh food for the tables, another aim of helping the local economy in this difficult econonic time.

Feeding such an army of hungry young men was an important function of the CCC camp and from my interviews with former CCC boys, one of the highlights of their time in the program. Meals were three times a day, the mid-day meal often a sack lunch or in some cases, a hot meal provided by a bull cook – all out in the field. The kitchen was run by both staff made up of a paid head and enrollees. Kitchen Patrol (KP), a legend in the WW II Army, was part of the CCC life, though boys could get certificates in sanitation and cooking work for their futures.

The Bull Cook

In my novel, Tree Soldier, protag Park Hardesty is recovering from a broken collarbone and is given the assignment of bull cook before he can get back to the hard work of planting trees and road work. He fishes for fresh trout and then prepares it in a skillet over a wood fire, something an interviewee told me he did when he was bull cook for a time. Trucks carrying hot soup and other foods also went out to the work sites. Generally projects were no more than 3 1/2 miles from the camp or spike camp for that reason.

Holiday Fun

The 3 Cs, as the program was sometimes called, was a home away from home for many of boys. As many of the projects were in the West and the most number of enrollees to work them from the back East and Chicago, celebrating holidays was a favorite passtime. Menus and decorations were made up, bringing a homey feeling to the season.

Recipe for logger coffee:

Fill a coffee pot with water and add a freshly cut chip of alder to it.
Bring to boil. Add coffee and return to fire.
Let boil for one minute.
Add cold water to settle the grounds and serve.

This coffee is delicious. I made it regularly while working the woods with a loal school district. Recipe came from an old time Forest Service veteran who knew the CCCs well.

Enjoy!

Most authors are nervous about their debut novels. It’s your first offering to the world and you have no idea if the world will embrace it or spit on it. But what most people don’t know is that it’s the second book that can make or break your career. If your first novel received a collective yawn, your second effort has to make up for it. If your first novel received critical acclaim, readers expectations are set high and critics are easier to disappoint the second time around. Also, if sales were strong for your first book but drop off sharply for the second–as all your friends and family feel beleaguered after plunking down hard cash and by god, when will it ever stop?!–your fate may be sealed.

So, in short, there’s a lot riding on that sophomore novel.

To add to the toxic stew of anxiety is the fact that while most authors get to tinker and toil for years over their first novel, the second one is likely to have been contracted right away, sometimes with a brutal deadline. A debut author may be talented, but does she have the skill to shine under pressure? While she’s writing the second book, she’s also entered the wild and wooly world of promotion. Maybe she’s a great writer, but can she manage her time like a pro?

These and other stressors contribute to many bad second books. It’s a phenomenon so prevalent that it’s even got its own moniker. The Sophomore Slump.

Every time I hear that phrase, I twitch. Because I don’t want it to happen to me, and yet, a lot of it is beyond my control.

The second novel in my series about Cleopatra’s Daughter has a darker and more adult tone because my heroine is growing older. I made some controversial choices in the novel that I knew would grab my core readership by the throat. But those choices, I knew, would also alienate some people who loved the more innocent vibe of my first novel. And I hate to alienate readers; I hate it. Still, I needed to stay true to the story I was trying to tell.

I suffered from an intense crisis of confidence while writing Song of the Nile not because of the controversial material, but because I was run down and convinced that I no longer knew how to write a metaphor. (Thankfully, beta readers helped talk me down off the ledge, and praised my prose as pretty. I’ve been very gratified by early reviews of Song of the Nile that say my writing is stronger and more polished than the first book–which just goes to show you that an author can’t judge her own work.) In the end, however, my own book made me cry, so I thought it was strong stuff. Off to the publisher it went.

As the release day drew nearer, I was better prepared for what to expect. Lots of hurry-up-and-wait. There were bookmarks to get printed up, blog tours to arrange in order to get word of mouth going, advertising to design and buy. Whereas, for Lily of the Nile, I flailed around blindly, this time I had a very focused battle plan. And one of my weapons against the creeping anxiety of “Oh My God, What If Everyone Hates My Book?” was a lunch date with bestselling historical fiction author Kate Quinn.

I’d read Kate Quinn’s excellent books, but I’d never met her before. I was super nervous to meet her for three reasons. The first reason is that I adored her gladiator-for-girls novel, Mistress of Rome. The second reason is that I’d asked her for an endorsement for Lily of the Nile and through a comedy of errors, that fell through. The third reason is that she eventually provided me with a fantastic endorsement for Song of the Nile, which I hug and treasure at night when nobody is looking.

You never know how it’s going to go when you meet an author whose work you admire. I’ve met authors whose books I love, but whose personality is enough to make me swear off ever buying another thing they write. I’ve met authors whose books I hate, but who are so friendly and wonderful that I question my judgment. I knew Kate was witty and brilliant, whereas I am a mess on a good day, so this was a meeting fraught with danger.

So why in the world would I make a lunch date with this woman on the day my book released? That’s easy. I needed to be more stressed about meeting Kate than I was about the Sophomore Slump.

Unfortunately, Kate wasn’t at all helpful in this endeavor. She was so warm and down-to-earth that I was immediately put at ease. We had a chatty lunch in an Indian restaurant at which we frequently burst into giggles at the man sitting at the table across the room, literally shouting into his cell phone. Then we decided to visit the local B&N to sign the stock. (It’s always good to let your local book sellers know you in person so that they’re more likely to recommend your work. They don’t have time to read everything in the store, so it’s helpful to tell them about your book, leave some bookmarks for them to give to customers, and make sure to autograph your books because signed books sell better. This is also an opportunity for you to surreptitiously turn your books facing out so that customers can see your covers.)

Anyway, we decided to go to B&N in one car. Kate offered to drive, so I climbed into her little red sports car. It wasn’t until she revved the engine that I remembered her heroine, Diana the charioteer, who had a mad love of racing. Now, I realize that authors don’t always resemble their characters. But when Kate Quinn punched the gas pedal to the floor, I started to remember just how many of her characters were wild berserkers. Like her fearless gladiator hero, Kate had the battle-lust in her as she drag-raced through the streets of suburban Baltimore. And like her dark and twisty heroine, Thea, I think she enjoyed making me squirm.

She’d just squealed around a turn, leaving a trail of burning rubber in her wake when I saw the whirring red lights of a police car behind us and …

Ok, so we didn’t get arrested. And I might be exaggerating a little about Kate’s driving. But she certainly took my mind off my fears and reminded me that life goes by in a flash. The only thing worse than making a mistake is not trying at all. Song of the Nile is now on bookshelves and, knock on wood, nobody has accused me of a Sophomore Slump.

At least not yet.

Today, I welcome fellow historical fiction author Anna Patricio to talk to us about a period of Egyptian history I don’t know as well as I’d like to. Anna is a fellow lover of ancient history, with a particular interest in Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome. Her recent novel, Asenath, delves into the biblical story of Joseph. Let’s hear what she has to say. Anna, take it away.

Two Destinies...One Journey of Love. In a humble fishing village on the shores of the Nile lives Asenath, a fisherman's daughter who has everything she could want. Until her perfect world is shattered. When a warring jungle tribe ransacks the village and kidnaps her, separating her from her parents, she is forced to live as a slave. And she begins a journey that will culminate in the meeting of a handsome and kind steward named Joseph. Like her, Joseph was taken away from his home, and it is in him that Asenath comes to find solace…and love. But just as they are beginning to form a bond, Joseph is betrayed by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. Is Asenath doomed to a lifetime of losing everything and everyone she loves?

My novel ‘Asenath’ is about the Egyptian priestess who marries Joseph of the multicoloured coat fame.

I love the story of Joseph, hence my novel on his little-known wife. When I began delving deeper into his story some years ago, I was amazed to come across comparisons made between his story and various tales from Egyptian mythology. I always thought I knew the Genesis account and Egyptian myths pretty well, but I never thought to draw parallels between the two. I found these to be really insightful. Plus, being a mythology aficionado, my interest was duly piqued.

Possibly the most widespread comparison made was that between the Potiphar’s wife episode and the story of the two brothers, Anubis and Bata. As we know, in the Biblical account, Joseph fled the advances of his master’s wife, yet suffered unjustly. In the Egyptian myth, Anubis’ wife too tries to seduce Bata while her husband was out. Like Joseph, Bata spurned her. And like Mrs. Potiphar, Anubis’ wife falsely cried rape, and her husband sought to kill Bata.

The similarities do not end there. Joseph and Bata are long-suffering heroes. As we know, Joseph was in prison for many years until he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and was appointed vizier of Egypt. Bata, too, endures a lot but becomes a ruler in the end–a Pharaoh, at that.

Basically, after hearing his wife’s false accusations, Anubis goes after Bata to kill him. The gods then create a river between the two brothers, protecting Bata. When Anubis goes home, he found his wife duped him, and thus kills her. Meanwhile, the gods give Bata a wife. Alas, she is not faithful to him. When she catches Pharaoh’s eye, she marries the king and has her first husband killed.

Bata, however, is reincarnated several times–and murdered several times as well. Eventually, he is reincarnated as his wife’s son (this is made possible when, as a tree, he is cut down and a small chip flies into his wife’s mouth). When he grows into manhood, he is able to get his revenge and then rules Egypt together with his long-lost brother.

There is also a little-known episode of Joseph which takes place during the Exodus. Most people do not seem to be aware of this, probably because it is mentioned in passing, but when the Israelites left Egypt they brought the bones of Joseph with them. There is an interesting rabbinical story in which Moses, before leaving Egypt, calls on Joseph’s coffin which is apparently buried in the Nile. Joseph’s coffin rises up, and Moses then collects it.

This has been likened to the tale of Osiris. As you probably know, Osiris was murdered by his jealous brother Seth and was placed in a coffin, which was then dumped into the Nile. Osiris’ wife Isis went searching for him and later found him.

So, Joseph likened to Bata and Osiris. Intriguing stuff, indeed.

It is really interesting what you find out about these famous Biblical tales when delve deeper into them. There have been so many folktales (or midrashic stories) based on them, so many comparisons drawn with famous myths – the possibilities are boundless and quite astonishing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do a guest post on your blog, Ms. Dray!

AUTHOR BIO: Anna Patricio is a lover of ancient history, with a particular interest in Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome. She is also intrigued by the Ancient Near East, though she has not delved too much into it but hopes to one day.
She undertook formal studies in Ancient History at Macquarie University. She focused mostly on Egyptology and Jewish-Christian Studies, alongside a couple of Greco-Roman units, and one on Archaeology. Though she knew there were very limited job openings for ancient history graduates, she pursued her degree anyway as it was something she had always been passionate about. Then, about a year after her graduation, the idea to tackle historical fiction appeared in her head, and she began happily pounding away on her laptop.
Asenath is her first novel.
Recently, she traveled to Cairo, Israel, and Jordan. She plans to return to Egypt soon, and see more of it. In the past, she has also been to Athens and Rome.
Anna is currently working on a second novel which still takes place in Ancient Egypt, but hundreds of years after Asenath. She maintains a blog at annapatricio.blogspot.com

World Without End by Ken Follett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book–even more than I loved The Pillars of the Earth. Considering that the bulk of the book is about plague, church politics, bridge building and the lives of citizens living in medieval Kingsbridge, you might expect a dry academic read. However, the twisted soap-opera lives of the characters made this book riveting. It also moved quickly for such a long tale and had wildly unexpected twists and turns.

As I was reading, I felt as if I was in the hands of a master storyteller and I was sad when I finally finished it because I knew I had to say goodbye to characters who had become friends. I can’t recommend this book highly enough for those of you who love sagas you can sink your teeth into.

It will stay with me a long time.

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