And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Thanks to Danielle Keir of Berkley, Penguin Random House, I am giving away one print copy of ‘And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton.
Description And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
An intimate portrait of the life of Jackie O…
Few of us can claim to be the authors of our fate. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy knows no other choice. With the eyes of the world watching, Jackie uses her effortless charm and keen intelligence to carve a place for herself among the men of history and weave a fairy tale for the American people, embodying a senator’s wife, a devoted mother, a First Lady—a queen in her own right.
But all reigns must come to an end. Once JFK travels to Dallas and the clock ticks down those thousand days of magic in Camelot, Jackie is forced to pick up the ruined fragments of her life and forge herself into a new identity that is all her own, that of an American legend.
My Thoughts And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
I have been fascinated with the Kennedys for as long as I can remember. I was born just 13 days before the assassination of JFK. My mother always claimed that I watched the funeral on television with my bottle. Perhaps that is what started my fascination, LOL!
I can’t remember how I first heard about this book but as soon I heard about it, I looked to see if the ebook was available on Net Galley for review. It was and I was approved to download it.
I am so glad I did. I have read a lot of fiction and non-fiction about the Kennedys. Some are better than other but ‘And They Called It Camelot’ is now at the top of my list of fiction favorites.
Stephanie Marie Thornton really captured the persona of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. I always knew that she stayed with Jack because she really had no choice while he was president. However, I think it was more complicated than that. Of course, there were the children but perhaps there was love between them despite Jack’s countless affairs. Thornton hints at this.
Thornton must have done a lot of research to dive into Jackie’s persona so deeply. It felt like I was reading Jackie’s diary. I kept having this guilty feeling for reading it. I’m sorry Jackie, I couldn’t help myself!
Thornton really captured Jackie’s thoughts and emotions as well as the events she had been through. I know how much Jackie valued her privacy so I can only guess she would not have approved of the publication of this book however; I do think it was written in a respectful manner. I rarely read a book more than once but I am certain I will revisit ‘And They Called It Camelot’ again! I cannot recommend it highly enough!
I give it 5/5.
Thanks to Berkley and Net Galley for the advance ebook! Scroll down further for your chance to win a print copy!
About Stephanie Marie Thornton
Stephanie Marie Thornton is the USA Today bestselling author of American Princess and a high school history teacher. She lives in Alaska with her husband and daughter.
Publisher: Rock Yard Books (February 26, 2019) Category: Historical Fiction, Suspense Tour dates: March, 2020 ISBN: 978-0578471235 Available in Print and ebook, 247 pages
Description Place Called Jubilee by Timothy J. Garrett
Deception, witchcraft, and the secrets of a long-dead former slave churn the life of ambitious young clergyman Coleman Hightower – even as fear, bombings, and riots rock the nation.
Historical novel A PLACE CALLED JUBILEE tells Coleman’s story as he leaves his mountain home and arrives in Washington D.C. in 1961 as the Civil Rights movement explodes across America. Coleman’s plans for a prestigious life are torn apart by his forbidden longing for beautiful and fiery activist Rosalee.
His search for meaning turns into a desperate journey that takes him and the woman of his dreams all the way to Jubilee, Alabama – a place where intrigue, betrayal, and murder combine to make Coleman wonder if he will win Rosalee’s love or even leave the tiny town alive.
Praise Place Called Jubilee by Timothy J. Garrett
Notable Indie #1 in the Shelf Unbound Magazine 2019 Best Indie Book Awards.
“A very dark time in our history. Not my usual type of read but could not put it down when I got started. Felt like I was right there in the story. Great read.”-Janice, Goodreads
“Highly Recommend. Loved this book. I feel I really got to know the characters. Waiting for a sequel.”-LM, Amazon
“I couldn’t put this book down. I love historical fiction and suspense. This book gave me both. The characters were well developed, the vocabulary was challenging and the descriptive language drew me in.”-CH, Amazon
Interview Place Called Jubilee by Timothy J. Garrett
TG: Teddy, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and your readers today. I did not anticipate the thrill that would come in talking to people about things that for so many years were simply ideas in my own mind. That has been one of the coolest parts of writing and publishing a novel.
TR: Please tell us something about ‘A Place Called Jubilee’ that is not in the summary.
TG: The kernel that grew into ‘A Place Called Jubilee’ was first planted when I was driving alone down a country road in Georgia after some early morning deer hunting. (For those of you who are appalled that I would hunt deer, please be aware of a couple of things. First, it is a very Southern thing to do and I wouldn’t be able to keep my Southern man credentials without occasionally hunting. Second, I would never ruin a perfectly good hunting trip by actually shooting anything.)
I drove by a church and wondered about the congregants there. I knew that the community I was passing through was made up of predominantly African-African residents. My mind went to a recent report of a church having been burned in Texas.
Into my mind popped the key questions that led to the entire story. What if the church I just passed was being threatened by a gang bent on burning it? What if the congregants stood firm? What if the surrounding community – composed of people with all colors of skin – came out to defend the church?
That scene, after lots of edits with some important changes, was incorporated into part of the story and led to the entire book.
TR: How completely do you develop your characters before beginning to write?
TG: Teddy, many of your readers are likely familiar with two main styles of writing – the planner and the pantser. The planner carefully maps out the plot, creates character grids to keep track of all the attributes of his characters, charts all the relationships between characters, etc. The pantser flies by the seat of her pants, lets the story and the characters take her anywhere they want to go – the writer’s just along for the ride.
I am a blend of these two styles – a plantser. Thus, I typically start like a pantser, getting an idea for a character or a single scene and writing freeform to see what happens. After a short while – maybe even before the scene is complete – I pause to see what I’ve written. I then write out a draft skeleton of a plot, maybe with some setting or character descriptions. After that, I dive back in to the pantser phase and let the story take me where it wants. I go back and forth between these styles until I am finished.
TR: All your characters came to life in ‘A Place Called Jubilee’. Are any of them based on real-life friends or acquaintances? Dr. Browning was an especially complex character, how did he come to you?
TG: My mother was born and raised in the mountains of northern Georgia and thus the main character, Coleman – also coming from the mountains – was familiar to me. I was able to draw on memories of my own family to fill out Coleman’s personality and backstory. For example, just like Coleman’s grandmother, my great grandmother was a “conjurer” – someone who heals ailments with folk remedies.
The other characters were greatly influenced by the individuals who peopled my upbringing in the South. If you could travel back to Gainesville, Georgia (my hometown) in the 1960s and 70s, you would find some of the same kinds of people who walk down the street in fictional Jubilee, Alabama. For example, I knew a number of scamps like Jubilee residents Roscoe and Shot – in fact, the name Shot was taken from an old former professional baseball player I knew in my childhood.
In the first few drafts of the beginning of Jubilee, the Rev. Dr. Browning began as a kind grandfatherly guide for Coleman. As the editing progressed, Dr. Browning became darker and darker – still with a sheen of propriety and respectability but rotten inside.
I am a Christian and by no means is Dr. Browning meant to be an indictment of Christianity or faith in general. However, as Coleman’s awareness grows that his desire to be a man of the cloth is not solely rooted in noble intentions, the revealing of Dr. Browning’s true heart serves to show that a pious exterior can cover up an interior that is anything but virtuous.
TR: Tell us about your cover. Did you design it yourself?
TG: Yes, the cover was my own design, done using the applications InkScape, Paintbrush, and PowerPoint for Mac. The design and the color are meant to complement the story.
Among the symbolism in ‘A Place Called Jubilee’ is the frequent mention of the sky. In the opening scene, Coleman looks to the sky as he waits to hear President Kennedy’s inaugural speech. The sky recalls the promise that day brought. Later, rainbows appear to Coleman, again pointing toward promises and actions to be taken.
On the cover is an important symbol of the sky that is seen in the town of Jubilee. It is only as the secrets of the town are revealed to Coleman that the full meaning of the symbol becomes clear – rebirth, washing away of former evils, the promise of a new day.
The stark black and white color scheme is not only meant to catch the reader’s eye from the shelf but also calls to mind the racial tension and the questions of right and wrong that are explored in the book.
TR: Without giving away any spoilers, what is your favorite scene in ‘A Place Called Jubilee’? Why?
TG: One of the most satisfying parts of the book for me to write was what I came to call the Train Chapter (chapter 10). In that chapter, we see Coleman and Dr. Browning each taking a train ride, each of them going in an opposite direction. Coleman experiences something of an epiphany on his ride and, though Dr. Browning does not have any change in his thinking, the reader becomes more aware of the depth of Dr. Browning’s self-delusion.
I felt gratified that I was able to match the atmosphere of those scenes with the internal dialog of the two characters.
TR: How long did it take you to write this book from concept to fruition? How much time and effort went into your research for the book?
TG: From when I first conceived of the idea of the story on that country road until I had a finished manuscript was around four years.
The actual content did not require much in the way of research, other than confirming some of the dates of actual historical events. I mostly wrote from my knowledge of the region.
However, I spent a considerable amount of time in learning how to best edit the book. I re-read Stephen King’s classic ‘On Writing’, allowing Mr. King to convince me that I could actually finish my novel and that it would not be unreadable. I also studied and applied two books by Donald Maass – ‘Writing 21st Century Fiction’ and ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’, both of them published by Writer’s Digest Books. Mr. Maass’s excellent guides gave me concrete things that I subsequently did to make my story better.
TR: What writers have you drawn inspiration from?
TG: I am drawn to Southern Gothic writers – both the genre creators like Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner and the modern ones like Cormac McCarthy. Though ‘A Place Called Jubilee’ only contains a hint of the gothic, I am working on another book that is much more immersed in the genre.
However, my primary influence for ‘A Place Called Jubilee’ is Anthony Doerr. One of my favorite books is his Pulitzer Prize winning ‘All The Light We Cannot See’. In fact, that book became my muse for ‘Jubilee’. I would play the audio version of ‘All The Light We Cannot See’ while I ran and then would come back and write. Doerr’s writing inspired me to be much more descriptive of the internal and external settings in which my characters found themselves. His writing also led me to introduce more magical realism into my novel, just as Mr. Doerr did in his Pulitzer Prize winner and his story collection ‘The Shell Collector’.
TR: Describe the room you are sitting in as though it was a scene in one of your books.
He squints. Is it the computer or the window? He leans back, rubs his eyes, looks toward the window, scratches his head. Still haven’t fixed that shade. He looks away. Doesn’t matter. It’s the computer and these old glasses anyway.
He sinks into the chair, feels the soft support, the pain eases.
I can keep writing or I can just sit here, close my eyes…
Soft snores escape under the door.
TR: What words do you use over and over that drive your editor crazy?
TG: There were several that my editor told me to correct. One of the great things about writing in the last part of the 20th century and forward is that you can simply enter words in the “Find” function and fairly quickly go through the entire manuscript, replacing words and cutting entire sentences and paragraphs as you go.
Now that I think of it, “fairly” was one of the words that I had to cull.
TR: What do you do when you are not writing?
TG: I spent 16 years as an emergency room physician and now work as a healthcare executive. I live with my wife Cynthia near Athens, Georgia, where I play bass guitar in my church and am active in several other community activities. I have a grown daughter and son.
TR: What are you currently working on?
TG: My current book is a Southern Gothic-influenced story set in 1940s Georgia in which a group of German immigrant women struggle against religious and nationalist prejudice as they seek to save their communal farm after their husbands have gone to fight in the Pacific. The little group faces a staggering choice: fight their tormentors to save the farm or give up the farm to try to save the leaders of the free world – Roosevelt and Churchill.
About Timothy J. Garrett
Award winning author, Timothy J. Garrett lives with his wife Cynthia in his native northeast Georgia where he spent 16 years working as an E.R. physician and is now a healthcare executive. History and historical fiction are his writing passions though his influences include Southern gothic luminaries like Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor.
While Tim has written extensively for the healthcare industry, the award-winning A PLACE CALLED JUBILEE is his first published novel.
Giveaway Place Called Jubilee by Timothy J. Garrett
This giveaway is for the winner’s choice of print or ebook however, print is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends April 22, 2020,midnight pacific time.
Thanks to Dache J. Rogers of Berkley/ Penguin Random House, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Red Letter Days’ by Sarah Jane Stratford.
Description Red Letter Days by Sarah Jane Stratford
A striking novel from the acclaimed author of Radio Girls about two daring women who escape McCarthy-era Hollywood for London, where they find creative freedom and fight the injustices of the Red Scare.
Nineteen-fifties America is bright and full of promise, and Phoebe Adler, a New Yorker brimming with talent and ambition, is forging her way as the rarest of things: a female television writer in Hollywood. But fears of a growing Red Menace cloud the optimism, egged on by the hate-mongering of Senator McCarthy. A blacklist is created to cast out communist sympathizers, smashing careers and ruining lives. When Phoebe finds herself caught in the hysteria’s web, she flees to London.
Though postwar London is struggling and work is precarious, Phoebe finds camaraderie with other Americans living in exile, including the restless and ambitious Hannah Wolfson. Determined to fight the injustices of the Red Scare, Hannah is a successful producer who hires blacklisted writers at great risk to her career and company.
Together Phoebe and Hannah successfully fight unfair bias and sexism, but danger still looms in this supposed sanctuary. And when their families and friends—their very lives—are threatened, they will have to make impossible choices.
Praise Red Letter Days by Sarah Jane Stratford
“In this crisp novel, Stratford… effortlessly melds politics, romance, and history. This delivers on every level.”—Publishers Weekly
“Red Letter Days is a look at a piece of American history told through the lens of two brave women, whose stories you won’t soon forget.”—PopSugar
“[A] thoroughly fascinating and too-little-known story of Hannah Weinstein and her role in supporting blacklisted Americans, regardless of gender or race.”—Booklist
About Sarah Jane Stratford
Sarah-Jane Stratford is the acclaimed author of Radio Girls. Her work has also appeared in the Guardian, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Review of Books, Marie-Claire, Bustle, Guernica, and many others. A former resident of both American coasts, she’s now living the expat life in London, where when she isn’t working, she’s exploring and seriously considering learning how to garden.
And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Red Letter Days by Sarah Jane Stratford