Press Release
May 17, 2009
A Busy Few Months
County Durham (Barnard Castle) historical fiction author, Linda Carlino, has had a busy few months: publicising and promoting her 16th century Spanish Hapsburg Trilogy: That Other Juana, A Matter of Pride, Wives & Other Women.
She spent Saturday 7th March at Middleton in Teesdale’s Big book Day (part of World Book Day), organised by Susan Semple of Middleton Plus. She met some of her readers, signed books and made many new friends - sharing the spotlight with an on-loan facsimile copy of the Lindisfarne Gospels.
May Day Bank Holiday was spent in Scarborough doing the same as the invited speaker at the alumni reunion of her college, Wynyard Hall Training College. Remarkably, instead of retiring to the bar after Saturday evening dinner as usual, almost everyone assembled in the drawing room to attend Linda’s presentation. She spoke of how it came to pass that she started writing; the historical background of the books; then read extracts from them and answered questions. After very generous applause and many congratulations she sold and signed many books. She was quite overcome with the reception and appreciation she received.
Following a lot more research she has started her latest historical novel. It's about the illegitimate daughter of one of Spain's most famous historical figures Don Juan of Austria who features prominently in her third book. Known as Ana of Austria, she was confined, at the age of six, to the obscurity of a convent – a common practice at the time.
Her years of obscurity were abruptly ended by an unexpected visitor, a man whose identity remains a mystery to this day. What we do know is that the quiet life of both her and the convent was gone forever. They were both thrust into the public domain and exposed to the rigorous, harrowing, and sinister investigations, by both the civil authorities and the dreaded Inquisition.
The hard work in publicizing her books is beginning to pay off. Sales on Amazon are increasing all the time and, most satisfying, is the increase in the number of libraries acquiring her novels.
To date 64 main library service providers (counties, shires, cities, metropolitan boroughs) representing approximately 200 branch libraries have bought her books – ranging from Angus in the far north of Scotland to Devon and south Wales in the south west and Kent in the south east.
Meanwhile the date of publication of the Portuguese edition of That Other Juana, the first book of the trilogy, has been delayed due to the illness of the translator.
Recently she said about her new career as a writer, “Although demanding, it is probably the most interesting and rewarding of challenges.”
PRESS RELEASE
February 27, 2009
The Accidental Writer
A retired Head Teacher from Barnard Castle, County Durham, Linda Carlino, never intended to become a writer but a six week travelling holiday in Spain twenty years ago transformed her life. It led to studying Spanish seriously, doing a lot of research and making many more trips to Spain; “Well, someone has to do it”. She became hooked on the fascinating characters of their 16th history and their links with England. And then came the dream to write about some of these historical figures.
“The journey from dream to reality, although a great challenge, has been the most rewarding adventure I have ever undertaken.”
Several years of writing and now finally the publication of her family trilogy is complete. The first book, That Other Juana (Queen Juana I of Spain) is a story of obsessive love, uncontrolled passion – and cruel, cynical betrayal. Next, A Matter of Pride (Charles V, HRE), her son, gives a sceptical, irreverent and humorous view of one of Europe’s greatest emperors – allegedly. And finally, Queen Juana’s grandson, Wives and Other Women (Philip II of Spain): the story of Philip seeking a male heir in loveless marriages and consolation with his mistresses.
But the journey is not over by any means.
“My next book will be the story of an illegitimate baby girl who was placed in a convent by Philip II. A lifetime of seclusion and obscurity should have been her lot but it turned out just the opposite. Too interesting to be ignored. I’m hooked again!”