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Guest Post with Stephanie Cowell, author of Claude & Camille & GIVEAWAY

April 14, 2010 by Darlene


Today we are laying out the welcome mat at Peeking Between the Pages for Stephanie Cowell, author of the fabulous novel Claude & Camille which will take it’s place as one of my favorites this year (my review). It’s a wonderful novel about the painter Claude Monet. Stephanie has joined us here today with a wonderful guest post entitled…The magical story of how my first novel was published…

I pretty much sold my first novel to a major publisher at a church supper. Well, there’s a lot more to the story than that, but that was the door through which my novel found its way in bookstores across the country and in Europe.

In my early 40s I turned from singing to writing, my first love, and was determined to write a novel from my heart which someone would publish. I thought it would take a year. I wrote a draft of my first book and got turned down by a major agent who said I didn’t write well enough. I felt this was what I was supposed to do and immediately set about revising and began to pass around my drafts in a brown manuscript box to any and all friends who would read it. I joined a writers’ support group of the most amazing women. And of course I prayed a lot.

My sons were supportive of my writing because opera singing had been too noisy. I wrote first on a typewriter, then the office computer, and finally my own laptop. I wrote mornings and evenings around my office job. And more and more friends kept reading, and my support group sent me cards and books and one day, a piece of yellow legal paper with the words on it in big script, “Keep writing.” By that time I had been writing for five years and had completed nearly four novels.

A convent of nuns I loved prayed for me and the great writer Madeleine L’Engle became my supporter. She even tried to get her publisher to take a novel, and it was an almost. I was the closest and most frequent “almost” I knew. Madeleine and the sisters said, “Keep writing.” By that time I had been writing six years.

I did keep writing and passing my manuscript around during church coffee hour (even the priest read it!) Then one night I was leaving that church supper, when two older women who had loved one of my books especially hurried up to me and said, “We sat opposite the office manager for W.W. Norton and told him about you.” And he came down the steps and said, “I’d like to show your book to my favorite editor.”

A month later I had a two-book contract with W.W. Norton. Everybody took me out to celebrate but I was too nervous to eat. It was all quite magical: I got wonderful national reviews and my picture in People Magazine. My writers’ support group had t-shirts printed with the book jacket cover on them. Madeleine sent me flowers. The magic began then and hasn’t ceased. It is not always a dream (no work is), but the dream parts are amazing.

My advice to all struggling writers is: share your book with everyone. Listen to what people say in response; if three people say the same thing, listen seriously. No one can tell the stories you have to tell in the way you are given to tell them. Keep writing.
__________
Thank you so much for that personal and heartfelt guest post Stephanie! It’s really great to hear the story behind your first novel being published! I really look forward to reading more of your work in the future!
__________

About the Book (from Fantastic Fiction):

Sometimes he dreamt he held her; that he would turn in bed and she would be there. But she was gone and he was old. Nearly seventy. Only cool paint met his fingers. ‘Ma très chère . . .’ Darkness started to fall, dimming the paintings. He felt the crumpled letter in his pocket. ‘I loved you so,’ he said. ‘I never would have had it turn out as it did. You were with all of us when we began, you gave us courage. These gardens at Giverny are for you but I’m old and you’re forever young and will never see them. . . .’

In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.

But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.

His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet – and believed in his work – even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.

But Camille had her own demons – secrets that Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.

A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order.

About the Author (from Stephanie Cowell’s website):


I was born in New York City to a family of artists and fell in love with Mozart, Shakespeare and historical fiction at an early age. I began printing stories in a black and white school notebook at about nine years old and in my teens wrote several short novels which remain in a dark box. I learned something though, because by twenty, I had twice won prizes in a national story contest.

Then I left writing for classical singing. I sang in many operas and appeared as an international balladeer; I formed a singing ensemble, a chamber opera company, and so on. The translation of a late Mozart opera returned me to writing once more and I now mostly sing while washing the dishes!

My first published novel was NICHOLAS COOKE: ACTOR, SOLDIER, PHYSICIAN, PRIEST, followed by two other Elizabethan-17th century novels: THE PHYSICIAN OF LONDON (American Book Award 1996) and THE PLAYERS: A NOVEL OF THE YOUNG SHAKESPEARE. In 2004, I returned to my musical background and wrote MARRYING MOZART; it has been translated into seven languages and optioned for a movie.

I am married to poet and reiki practitioner Russell Clay and have two grown sons (one in computer systems design and one a filmmaker). I was born in New York City and am still living here, a short walk away from all the impressionist paintings at the Metropolitan Museum.

Check out the Book Trailer!
Visit Stephanie Cowell’s blog!

There will also be a Webcast/livestreaming event with Stephanie reading on Friday, April 16th at 7:15 p.m. ET. More details can be found at Authors at the Gallery if you’d like to join in. I’d sure love to!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have 1 copy of Claude & Camille by Stephanie Cowell courtesy of the publisher to share with one of my readers. To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.
  • For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do, just let me know in your comment and thanks for your continued support.
  • For 3 entries blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word.

This giveaway will be open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will be drawing for the winner on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Good luck everyone!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andreea says

    April 14, 2010 at 9:26 am

    I would like to be entered. I love stories about artists, and I like the sound of this book. I enjoyed 'Dancing for Degas' very much and this one sounds very similar to it, although it has a different theme, but still, both books deal with the lives of such great artists.

    passionatebooklover at yahoo dot com

  2. Mystica says

    April 14, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Apart from the book line I like the authors story as well so very much.

    mystica123athotmaildotcom

  3. jlshall says

    April 14, 2010 at 11:39 am

    I'd love a chance to win this one. Thanks for offering it.

    And I'm a follower, too.

    jlshall AT comcast dot net

  4. Elisabeth says

    April 14, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    I WILL read this one – either by your hand or my own! 😉

    So, please enter me…and I'm a faithful follower….

  5. Alice Teh says

    April 14, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Hi Dar, no need to enter me for this giveaway. I just want to say hi to you and the author. I like the advice shared by the author.

  6. rubynreba says

    April 14, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    I would really like to be entered for this book. Sounds so interesting!

    I am a follower.

    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

  7. Linda says

    April 14, 2010 at 2:26 pm

    I have enjoyed all these author posts and reviews very, very much. I think Stephanie Cowell is the best author of 'author posts' to grace the HF blogs in a long time. Every one is interesting, and different. (I wish I could underline the word different). I'd love win this book. Thanks for the giveaway, and, I am a follower.
    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

  8. Stephanie Cowell says

    April 14, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    from the author: LINDA, thank you so much for your very kind comment! I have loved writing the guest posts and I guess there will be many more as people keep asking for them!

    Stephanie

  9. Sue says

    April 14, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    Looks fabulous. Thanks for the giveaway!

    s.mickelson at gmail dot com

  10. Zibilee says

    April 14, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    I am so interested in this book and it was great to hear the story behind how she got her first book published! I would love to be entered in the giveaway!

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

  11. amandawk says

    April 14, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    I would love to win this book.
    amandarwest at gmaildotcom

  12. amandawk says

    April 14, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    I'm a follower.
    amandarwest at gmaildotcom

  13. carla says

    April 14, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    I think Stephanie's story itself would make a great book!
    Very interesting guest post and encouraging to many writers.

  14. etirv says

    April 14, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    I would like to be entered, thanks!

    Google follower!

    delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com

  15. Teresa says

    April 14, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    I would love to read this one.

    I am a follower.

    teresasreadingcorner at gmail dot com

  16. Sherri says

    April 14, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    Dar, please count me in! Monet is one of my very favorite painters!

    cmcdermitt1@carolina.rr.com

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  17. bermudaonion says

    April 14, 2010 at 6:44 pm

    What a fantastic story! I guess it just goes to show you never know how you'll find success. Please enter me! milou2ster(at)gmail.com I subscribe in Google Reader.

  18. Sandra K321 says

    April 14, 2010 at 7:08 pm

    I am looking forward to reading this one. Thanks.

    +1 I follow your blog via google.

    seknobloch(at)gmail(dot)com

  19. Staci says

    April 14, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    I love her advice to would be writers!!!

    stacijoreads@gmail.com

  20. Janel says

    April 14, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    What a wonderful, inspiring story! You just never know who your casual acquaintances know. 🙂

    +1 I am a follower.

    jgbeads(at)gmail(dot)com

  21. Debbie says

    April 14, 2010 at 11:23 pm

    Sounds like a good one to me!
    fourkidsrgreat@gmail(dot)com

  22. Debbie says

    April 14, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    I'm a follower.
    fourkidsrgreat@gmail(dot)com

  23. Cathy Marie Buchanan says

    April 15, 2010 at 12:22 am

    Please enter me. Sounds like something I will love.

    find me at:
    ww.cathymariebuchanan.com/contact

  24. Pam says

    April 15, 2010 at 12:46 am

    This sounds like an interesting read! Thanks for the chance!

    I'm a follower.

    melacan at hotmail dot com

  25. Martha Lawson says

    April 15, 2010 at 1:24 am

    This sounds like a great book! I'd love to win and read it. Thanks for the giveaway.

    I follow on gfc

    mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

  26. Pricilla says

    April 15, 2010 at 1:54 am

    I would love to win,
    thank you
    I follow
    I tweeted
    http://twitter.com/BrokenTeepee/status/12197464440
    kaiminani at gmail dot com

  27. Rachel says

    April 15, 2010 at 3:17 am

    I'm a follower! Thanks for the giveaway!

    Rachelhwallen@gmail.com

  28. angie says

    April 15, 2010 at 3:51 am

    Please enter me!
    email bangersis(at)msn(dot)com

    I am already a follower of your blog
    I tweeted http://twitter.com/bangersis/status/12203247998

  29. Kelsey says

    April 15, 2010 at 4:37 am

    Thank you for having this giveaway! I've always been a fan of Monet's work ever since I can remember. The soft, calming brush strokes of his paintings are the most amazing talent I've ever seen. I would love to learn more about Monet and his life.

    I'm already a follower.

    I tweeted: http://twitter.com/Door2Wonderland/status/12205176026

    Kelsey
    krae991 at yahoo dot com

  30. Mari says

    April 15, 2010 at 4:42 am

    please enter me Marilyn at ewatvess@yahoo.com

  31. Shannon says

    April 15, 2010 at 5:12 am

    I'm a follower. Thank you!
    sliugarcia@gmail.com

  32. Anonymous says

    April 15, 2010 at 11:12 am

    I would love the chance to win this book and read it.
    RJB
    loki304[at]tds[dot]net

  33. Serena says

    April 15, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    No need to enter me in this giveaway, but I wanted to stop by and say this is a lovely guest post with heartfelt advice. Thanks so much to the author for sharing her experiences.

  34. Anonymous says

    April 16, 2010 at 2:13 am

    This sounds like a good story!

    billiondollarprincesss@hotmail.com

  35. Bcteagirl says

    April 16, 2010 at 5:42 am

    I am interested in Monet and I have some family that I know would love to read this book. Thank you for the contest! 🙂

    teagirl1 at telus dot net

  36. Bcteagirl says

    April 16, 2010 at 5:43 am

    I follow via google reader!

  37. Bcteagirl says

    April 16, 2010 at 5:44 am

    Tweet!
    http://twitter.com/bcteagirl/status/12267269326

  38. christine says

    April 16, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Love, love, love Monet and am so intrigued by this book. Please count me in!

    christinezeg(at)gmail(dot)com

    I am a follower and am off to tweet!

  39. Christine says

    April 16, 2010 at 4:05 pm

    I loved to be entered to win this book. Sounds great!

    contact: chirth7@yahoo.com

    I follow your blog
    chirth7@gmail.com

    I tweeted this giveaway here:
    http://twitter.com/Romantic73

  40. Bodice Ripper Novels says

    April 16, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    +1 Please enter me!
    bodicerippernovels at gmail dot com

    +2, I'm a Google Follower
    +3, I blogged about the contest, http://bodicerippernovels.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/stephanie-cowell-giveaway-at-between-the-pages/

  41. Anonymous says

    April 16, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Please enter me in the contest & Thx.
    thehighflyer3(at)hotmail(dot)com

  42. Wanda says

    April 18, 2010 at 12:39 am

    Wonderful guest post! Loved the support Stephanie Cowell gets from her sons, LOL! *or maybe quietly tittering would be more appropriate* 😉

    I'd like a chance to win this one, thanks.

    I follow and will post here.

  43. Wanda says

    April 18, 2010 at 12:43 am

    Forgot to add my email, sorry…

    wanda_waiting[@]hotmail[.]com

  44. bevsclark says

    April 18, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    I am always on the look out for new authors. Your review sold me! Please include me in the drawing.

    bevsclark at gmail dot com

  45. Aik says

    April 19, 2010 at 3:45 am

    I'd love to enter! Thanks!

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

  46. Aik says

    April 19, 2010 at 3:46 am

    I'm a follower

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

  47. Aik says

    April 19, 2010 at 3:46 am

    I tweeted:

    http://twitter.com/aikchien/status/12436222239

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

  48. librarypat says

    April 19, 2010 at 4:01 am

    I am a Follower.
    Have been reading much about this book this past week. It sounds most interesting. In all the other interviews, your parents being painters was mentioned as was the fact that you chosen artistic path was writing. This is the first post that has mentioned you were a singer. Very interesting.

    librarypat AT comcast DOT net

  49. Beachreader says

    April 22, 2010 at 11:06 am

    Thanks for the giveaway offer. I've caught several of Monet's exhibits through out the years and this book looks fascianting.
    I am also a follower
    jgoffice(at)cox.net

  50. Esme says

    April 23, 2010 at 4:47 am

    I love Monet he is my favorite artist

    thanks

    chocolateandcroissants at yahoo . com

  51. Esme says

    April 23, 2010 at 4:47 am

    I follow

    chocolateandcroissants at yahoo . com

  52. Esme says

    April 23, 2010 at 4:50 am

    cococroissants

    http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-post-with-stephanie-cowell-author.html

    chocolateand croissants at yahoo . com

  53. MUM says

    April 24, 2010 at 11:23 am

    Please enter me for this!

    I'm a follower.

    Marie
    utah91960[at]yahoo[dot]com

  54. Cindy W. says

    April 24, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    I would love to win a copy of Claude & Camille. Please enter me.

    Thank you for the opportunity.

    Smiles & Blessings,
    Cindy W.

    countrybear52[at]yahoo[dot]com

  55. Terra says

    April 26, 2010 at 1:09 am

    I would love to win a copy of this novel about Monet and his wife. I spent a lot of time in Paris seeing his paintings. thekilns at excite dot come

  56. Terra says

    April 26, 2010 at 1:10 am

    Oh, and I am a follower, so please enter me in the contest for the book about Monet and his wife.
    thekilns at excite dot com

  57. brenda says

    April 27, 2010 at 5:02 am

    I really enjoyed the blog by the author and would love to be entered to win this book. bchild5@aol.com

  58. brenda says

    April 27, 2010 at 5:23 am

    Oh, and I am a follower too 🙂

    bchild5@aol.com

  59. Anonymous says

    April 27, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    Thanks for the excerpt for this really good sounding book. Please enter me in the giveaway
    JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

  60. ronna15 says

    April 28, 2010 at 6:40 am

    I'd love to be enters!

    -ronna
    ronna15_ajkc@yahoo.com

    ;D

  61. Anonymous says

    April 28, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    some spring reading,on a rainy day would be nice,,thx,,
    thehighflyer3(at)hotmail(dot)com

  62. Ruthie B says

    April 28, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    Sounds like a great book club pick!
    ruthiekb72@yahoo.com

  63. Colleen Turner says

    April 29, 2010 at 12:05 am

    This book sounds really good! Please enter me.
    candc320@gmail.com

  64. Colleen Turner says

    April 29, 2010 at 12:05 am

    I signed up to follow you via google friend connect.
    candc320@gmail.com

  65. Judylynn says

    April 29, 2010 at 1:25 am

    Please enter me in this giveaway!

    seizethebookblog(at)gmail(dot)com

    I am a follower!

  66. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:19 am

    Please enter me into this giveaway for the book Claude & Camille.

    Thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  67. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:20 am

    Entry 1

    I am a follower of your blog.

    Thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  68. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:20 am

    Entry 2

    I am a follower of your blog.

    Thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  69. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:22 am

    Entry 1

    I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114561548

    thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  70. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:23 am

    Entry 2

    I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114561548

    thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  71. ossmcalc says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:23 am

    Entry 3

    I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114561548

    thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  72. Kristen says

    May 1, 2010 at 9:59 pm

    You do get all the good books, don't you? 🙂 I'd love to be entered. I'm also a follower.

    whitreidsmama at yahoo dot com

  73. Margie says

    May 4, 2010 at 5:23 pm

    This book sounds wonderful. Thanks for the giveaway.

    I'm a current follower.
    mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com

  74. ChristyJan says

    May 6, 2010 at 1:54 am

    Please enter me

    hawkes(at)citlink.net

  75. ChristyJan says

    May 6, 2010 at 1:54 am

    I'm a follower of your blog

    hawkes(at)citlink.net

  76. ~The Book Pixie says

    May 7, 2010 at 6:10 am

    Would LOVE to be entered for this! Thanks for the contest.

    ~Briana
    thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com

  77. ~The Book Pixie says

    May 7, 2010 at 6:10 am

    Old follower. 😀

    ~Briana
    thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com

  78. ~The Book Pixie says

    May 7, 2010 at 6:11 am

    Tweeted: http://twitter.com/thebookpixie/statuses/13532951398

    ~Briana
    thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com

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