Guest Post: Crazy Roman Curses and the Passions Behind Them by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Flashlight Commentary and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours are pleased to host author Vicky Alvear Shecter as a guest contributor and eagerly invite readers to enjoy her original feature, Crazy Roman Curses and the Passions Behind Them.

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With her hands and feet bound, this small female effigy has
13 nails inserted throughout its body. Wrapped around
the figure was a lead curse tablet with a spell designed to
make the woman in question love the spellcaster. “Drag her
by her hair, by her guts,” he tells the dark gods of magic,
“until she does not stand aloof from me…”  Greek,
4th century CE

Ancient Romans believed they could invoke dark gods or spirits to curse their enemies, so of course I had to include a curse tablet at the heart of my new novel, Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii. For the Romans, most of this “cursing” took place via spells scratched on tablets that were then buried, thrown into bodies water, or affixed to temple walls.

The ancients thoroughly believed in the power of curse tablets—which is to say, they believed in magic. Close to 2,000 ancient curse tablets have been found around the Mediterranean. It’s likely that countless more lie undiscovered.
Romans typically scratched their curses onto thin sheets of lead, but folks also used whatever was at hand, including pottery shards, old papyrus, wax, ceramic bowls or even gemstones. I guess it depended on how mad, scared, or twitterpated you were!

Emotions ran high around these curses. The people most likely to be cursed? Charioteers. Everyone went to the races, even emperors. And just about everyone bet on the races too. Fortunes could be made or lost, so folks hoped to win by any magical means necessary. Horses weren’t immune to being cursed either:

“Bind every limb and sinew of Victoricus, the charioteer of the Blue Team... and of [his] horses. Blind them…twist their soul and heart so they cannot breathe…”

Tablets cursing riders and horses have been found buried under racing tracks, stable doors, and stadium entryways.Spells designed to make someone fall in love with you—or be insensible with desire for you—abound. One of my favorites:

…Attract, inflame, destroy, burn, cause her to swoon from love as she is being inflamed. Goad [her] until she leaps forth and comes to Apalos…out of passion and love… quickly, quickly….do not allow [her] to think of her [own] husband, her child….let her come melting for passion and love and intercourse, especially yearning for the intercourse of Apolos.

Curse tablets are often called “defixiones” because many
have been found pierced by iron nails used to “affix”
the curse to certain places. In my novel, my characters believe
that the magic of a particular curse is set in motion
the moment an iron nail is plunged through the lead tablet. 

Poor Apolo’s demand that his married beloved come to him “especially yearning for THE intercourse” cracks me up every single time. Dude had a one-track mind. Sadly, we’ll never know if his love/sex binding spell worked. 

Curses invoking revenge on an enemy were often buried near graves with the hope that unhappy or angry spirits would make the curse come true. A great many curses were invoked during legal trials, with one party usually asking the gods to make sure the tongues of their opposition shriveled up. Other tablets have been found damning the futures of the terrible people who stole “my cloak” or “my pig.” 

The curse tablet in Curses and Smoke is not as lighthearted as poor, horny Apolos’s, but it does play a key role in shaping the decisions of of one of the main characters. Even though magic was “against the law” in Rome, people employed it through curse tablets all the time. Whether it was in the pursuit of fortune, fame, revenge, or lust, the ancients believed that a wicked-good curse could make all the difference in the world.

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Vicky Alvear Shecter is the author of the young adult novel, CLEOPATRA’S MOON (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2011), based on the life of Cleopatra’s only daughter. She is also the author of two award-winning biographies for kids on Alexander the Great and Cleopatra. She is a docent at the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Antiquities at Emory University in Atlanta.

Website ❧ Blog ❧ Facebook ❧  Twitter ❧  Goodreads

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PRAISE FOR CURSES AND SMOKE

The story was a great foray into historical fiction, and I really enjoyed that the author didn’t use the explosion of Pompeii as her only conflict. There was a lot of tension from a lot of areas, making the story all the more real.
– Book Geek, Goodreads Reviewer

Historically accurate and beautifully written, Curses and Smoke is such a compelling read. Lucia is a character readers will fall in love with. From her plucky spirit to her eagerness for knowledge to her willingness to fight for herself, even if it means bucking societal norms and defying her father, Lucia is a force to be reckoned with.
- KM, Goodreads Reviewer

This book was also full of twists I did not see coming!
- Elizabeth Phillips, Goodreads Reviewer

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When your world blows apart, what will you hold onto? Tag is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master’s injured gladiators. But his warrior’s heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom. Lucia is the daughter of Tag’s owner, doomed by her father’s greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she’s been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air... When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them — to Lucia’s father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

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Amazon Barnes & Noble Book Depository Books-a-Million Fishpond Powell’s Waterstones

Format: Paperback & eBook Publication Date: May 27, 2014 Released by: Arthur A. Levine Books Length: 336 pages ISBN-10: 0545509939 Genre: YA Historical Fiction

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Check Out All the Stops on Vicky Alvear Shecter's Curses and Smoke Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, May 26
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Review & Giveaway at The Mad Reviewer

Tuesday, May 27
Guest Post & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, May 28
Review & Giveaway at Fiction Folio

Thursday, May 29
Review at Good Books and Good Wine

Friday, May 30
Guest Post at Good Books and Good Wine

Monday, June 2
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, June 3
Review at Geek Girl’s Book Blog
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, June 4
Review at Book Drunkard

Thursday, June 5
Review at Book Lovers Paradise

Friday, June 6
Review at The Book Belles
Review at Manga Maniac Cafe

Monday, June 9
Review at Bibliophilia, Please
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, June 10
Review & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, June 11
Interview & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, June 12
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Friday, June 13
Review at Broken Teepee
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours/Netgalley

Read: April 10, 2014

When your world blows apart, what will you hold onto? Tag is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master’s injured gladiators. But his warrior’s heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom. Lucia is the daughter of Tag’s owner, doomed by her father’s greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she’s been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air... When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them — to Lucia’s father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

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Pompeii, cast of a dog dead in the 79 AD eruption.
Image by Claus Ableiter

The cataclysmic Plinian eruption of Mount Vesuvius is well-known, but the event is surprisingly hard to find in the world historic fiction which is why I jumped at reading Vicky Alvear Shecter's Curses and Smoke. 

A young adult fiction, the book actually has a lot going for it, but my favorite aspect was the seemingly insignificant details Shecter sprinkled throughout the text. The graffiti in the market place, Lucia's advanced pregnancy, Minos' collar, the heavy shackles worn by those training for the arena... Those less familiar with the archaeological evidence wouldn't necessarily notice, but these tidbits are direct references to discoveries made at the Italian dig site and represent a deeply appreciated dedication to accuracy. 

I was further impressed by the direction of Shecter's narrative. I won’t ruin it by going into the details, but having studied the historic record, I expected the plot to follow an established course of events was both surprised and pleased with the author's decision to offer her readers something original and unexpected. 

Unfortunately, these strengths were undermined by Shecter's heroine. Though I appreciated Lucia's interest in geology, I often found her musings too advanced for the period, a fact which more than once pulled me out of the environment Shecter had extended so much effort to creative. Ideally, I would have liked to see subtly in her thinking, something that felt more appropriate to the ancient world.

When all is said and done, I enjoyed Curses and Smoke for its illustration of a culture lost to time, fire and ash. I admit mature readers might have difficulty accepting Shecter's application of the supernatural, feel her character portraits simple and dialogue stilted, but regardless, I feel the book is a strong narrative when compared alongside other young adult historicals. 

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“It is Turan, the Etruscan goddess of love,” he said quietly. “Like your Venus. She is known for helping lovers. For keeping them safe.” 

She examined it curiously. “I thought it was Psyche at first, because of the wings,” she said.

“She is also like Psyche, the soul,” he whispered. “You hold my soul in your hands.”

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Check Out All the Stops on Vicky Alvear Shecter's Curses and Smoke Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, May 26
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Review & Giveaway at The Mad Reviewer

Tuesday, May 27
Guest Post & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, May 28
Review & Giveaway at Fiction Folio

Thursday, May 29
Review at Good Books and Good Wine

Friday, May 30
Guest Post at Good Books and Good Wine

Monday, June 2
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, June 3
Review at Geek Girl’s Book Blog
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, June 4
Review at Book Drunkard

Thursday, June 5
Review at Book Lovers Paradise

Friday, June 6
Review at The Book Belles
Review at Manga Maniac Cafe

Monday, June 9
Review at Bibliophilia, Please
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, June 10
Review & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, June 11
Interview & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, June 12
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Friday, June 13
Review at Broken Teepee
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Dancing with Eva by Alan Judd

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: May 23, 2014

A beautifully controlled, utterly gripping recreation of the final days in Hitler's bunker and their terrifying legacy, told from the intimate point of view of one of Eva Braun's secretaries In April 1945 Hitler's bunker in Berlin was the last place Edith Mecklenburg wanted to be. But Edith had no choice: as secretary to Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress and, for a few final, desperate hours, his wife, Edith had to see it through to the bitter end. Edith was one of the lucky few; she not only got out alive but made a new life for herself in England. Sixty years later, she is now a widow and grandmother, and the bunker is almost forgotten. But the past has not forgotten her. Hans, a soldier she knew from those dark days, has written asking if he may visit. Obsessed with the war, he has spent the intervening decades tracking down all who were there, and who survived. In her reluctant raking-over of old coals, Edith finds embers that still burn, and in the act of remembrance a very current threat.

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I thought Alan Judd's Dancing with Eva had a lot of potential when I first discovered it, but the reality was a bit of a letdown. And by bit, I mean my first thought on finishing the book was a self-congratulatory felicitation on not having thrown the book at my wall.

Thematically speaking, there are a few interesting things going on in this piece, but the style and tone of the narrative left me bored and disinterested. The fact that I didn't care Edith or Hans severely inhibited my enjoyment of the novel, and I can't say Judd's interpretation of Eva or Adolf was noteworthy or in any way memorable. And the surprise twist at the end… can you say anticlimactic? 

When push comes to shove, I'm glad I pushed through the book, but that said, Dancing with Eva is not something I'm inclined to recommend.  

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It must be said, because otherwise we fall into the habit of ignoring it, as if it were simply the weather one expects at that time of the year. 

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The Fortune Hunter: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: May 17, 2014

In 1875, Sisi, the Empress of Austria is the woman that every man desires and every woman envies. Beautiful, athletic and intelligent, Sisi has everything - except happiness. Bored with the stultifying etiquette of the Hapsburg Court and her dutiful but unexciting husband, Franz Joseph, Sisi comes to England to hunt. She comes looking for excitement and she finds it in the dashing form of Captain Bay Middleton, the only man in Europe who can outride her. Ten years younger than her and engaged to the rich and devoted Charlotte, Bay has everything to lose by falling for a woman who can never be his. But Bay and the Empress are as reckless as each other, and their mutual attraction is a force that cannot be denied. Full of passion and drama, THE FORTUNE HUNTER tells the true story of a nineteenth century Queen of Hearts and a cavalry captain, and the struggle between love and duty.

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Empress Elisabeth

There aren't many novels available to those interested in the nineteeth century Austo-Hugarian Hapsburgs so I was understandably ecstatic to learn that author Daisy Goodwin was fictionalizing a chapter of their complex history. I’m not exaggerating, there was some pretty embarrassing fangirl-like squealing the day I got my hands on The Fortune Hunter and that is not something I admit lightly. 

So what happened? How did a piece that generated so much initial enthusiasm garner a paltry two star rating? I'll be happy to explain, but you might want to make yourself comfortable and I urge you to proceed with caution as illustrating my opinion requires references that may spoil your experience with the novel. 

Looking back on The Fortune Hunter, I can't deny a certain admiration for Goodwin's portrayal of Bay, Charlotte, Caspar, Queen Victoria, John Brown, Augusta, Fred, Chicken and even the unfortunate Major Postlewaite. I think Miss Baird's passion for photography a stroke of genius and I loved watching the whirlwind of emotional drama inflicted on poor Middleton. Unfortunately, I don't feel these strengths outweighed the weaknesses I noted in the novel's tone, structure and accuracy. 

The cover art features a woman clearly meant to represent the Empress against a night sky augmented with the star jewels made famous in Winterhalter's 1865 portrait. Paired with the jacket description I anticipated a story that would center on Elisabeth and was shocked to discover her character featured less prominently than her dashing cavalry captain and his devoted fiancée. 

More important though, was the fact that I felt genuine affection between the younger couple and never considered Elisabeth a threat to their happiness. Personally I found the Empress the weakest point in Goodwin's exaggerated triangle and even after finishing the book can't claim to understand what the author was trying say with her character. 

Questions in the accuracy of Goodwin's work arose when I noticed the only resource she cites is the less than faithfully adapted 1977 ballet, Mayerling, but I became genuinely concerned in chapter twenty-nine, The Widow of Windsor, when the Empress and Queen Victoria shared a spirited exchange of veiled insinuations. 

‘Empresses and grandmothers. We stand alone on the World Stage, dear Elizabeth.’ Victoria was at her most gracious.
'But you are superior to me in this way as in every other. I only have one grandchild,’ said Sisi.

Sisi's eldest surviving child, Archduchess Gisela of Austria married Prince Leopold of Bavaria in 1873. In January 1874, Gisela gave birth to Princess Elisabeth Marie. A second daughter, Princess Auguste, was born in April of 1875. Goodwin's The Fortune Hunter takes place in July of '75 which would make Sisi a grandmother twice over during the course of the novel, a fact which clearly contradicts the fictional barb Elisabeth delivered Queen Victoria. 

Chapter thirty-one finds Elisabeth and Bay discussing the mail they received on their return to Easton Neston, but a casual remark towards the end of their dialogue raised another red flag.  

Bay looked up, surprised. Sisi hardly ever mentioned her children. He had assumed it was from some delicacy about their situation.
‘I don’t know if he will come here. Rudolph doesn’t care for hunting.’

This is fiction and while I respect that personality traits are subjective, this seems like a pretty outlandish conclusion considering the historic evidence.  

Posed on a hunting trip with his father, a colored pencil self-portrait depicting a shooting excursion, a sketch documenting a kill at Salzkammergut, standing over his first bear at Görgeny St. Imre, a stag hunt he attended with his wife, and an official portrait dressed in his winter shooting attire. Rudolf committed suicide at his private hunting lodge in 1889 so asking him is impossible, but you tell me, does this look like someone averse to hunting?

My ears perked again in chapter thirty-two when Bay visits London to attend a photography exhibition in support of Charlotte. 

"He glimpsed a profile in the carriage, and until its owner turned and Bay saw the luxurious moustache, he thought for an uncomfortable moment that the Empress had abandoned the Cottesmore to follow him to London. Then the owner of the moustache lit a small cigar and Bay saw it was a young man not much more than a boy." 

The boy is Elisabeth's seventeen year old son, but the physical description of the young man bothers me as the Crown Prince is quite clearly sans facial hair in his 1875 portrait. 

Analysis of photographs, paintings and sketches of the Hapsburg heir show that he didn't actually sport a moustache until the early 1880s, well after The Fortune Hunter concludes.

Goodwin continued to play fast and loose into the final chapters, a habit I found severely detrimental to novel's climax. 

Halfway down the list of jockeys was Middleton, J.M. riding Tipsy (grey).  She felt the jolt of seeing his name in print and realised that she had no idea what his initials stood for. 

Charlotte and I have a lot in common. Bay's full name is William George Middleton. 

‘We won, Empress! We won. We must have champagne.’
‘But, I think it was Captain Middleton who won,’ said Sisi.

The winners of the 1875 Grand National were not Bay Middleton and Tipsy. That honor belongs to jockey Tommy Pickernell and a horse named Pathfinder. Researching that detail also revealed the race took place in March, not July. 

Someone from the crowd started to sing ‘Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do’

Daisy Bell, the song to which these lyrics belong, wasn’t written until 1892, which is coincidentally the same year Bay Middleton met his death.

By the end of my reading I was so disillusioned that I couldn't care a whit for Goodwin's finale. I wanted only to be done so I could move on to my next read with a clear conscious. If Goodwin explained herself in the author's note I might have made allowances for the liberties she assumed, but my ARC bears no such justification and at the end of the day, that oversight hurts more than any other and leaves such a poor impression that I can't see myself recommending The Fortune Hunter forward. 

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He wanted to have another look at the photograph of him and the Empress. It wasn't that he had forgotten the image. It was in the hoped that his recollection of the picture was somehow faulty. The glimpse he had got had been terrifying. He had barely recognised himself. The man in the picture was not someone he wanted to be: transfixed by the Empress, eyes wide with desire and - he could barely admit it - greed.

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A Triple Knot by Emma Campion

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: May 12, 2014

Joan of Kent, the renowned beauty and niece of King Edward III, seems blessed with a life of royal privilege until her father is executed for treason and she becomes a ward of the king, living amongst those who deem her the daughter of a traitor. Joan begins to understand the brutal constraints and dangers inherent in being of royal blood. There is one at court who loves her, but his love proves the greatest threat of all. As an impetuous teenager, she escapes into a clandestine marriage in a bid for freedom, then must hide it for nearly a decade, as her guardians marry her off to another man. After her first husband's death, Joan—now a mother of four—enters into another scandalous relationship, this time with the heir to the British throne, Prince Edward, hero of Crécy and Poitiers, who has loved her all along. But his devotion comes at a terrible price. Haunted by nightmares of her father's execution and the ruthlessness of her royal kin, Joan must reconcile her passion for the crown prince with the potentially tragic costs of a royal life.

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James Purefoy as Thomas Coville/Edward, the Black Prince
in A Knight's Tale. © Columbia Pictures

I give author Emma Campion credit for recognizing the potential in Joan's story, but that said, I can't say A Triple Knot impressed me as much as I'd hoped it might.

Generally speaking, this is where I'd offer readers a cautionary warning regarding spoilers, but I find doing so in this case irrelevant as the marketing department has spelled out the entire plot in the jacket description. There are a few minor details left out, but honestly, if you've read the blurb you know every major plot twist between page one and four hundred eighty so if you've made it this far you can rest easy knowing nothing I say will ruin your experience. 

In looking at the cast, I can't say Joan held particular appeal for me, but she is well-rounded and I enjoyed watching her mature as the story progressed. I greatly admired Campion's treatment of Thomas Holland, as well as the darker drama Edward brought to the narrative, especially as mention of the Black Prince always reminds me of James Purefoy's rather sympathetic and light-hearted interpretation. Unfortunately, I felt all three leads upstaged by members of the supporting cast. 

Reading the book over Mother's Day weekend, I suppose it's rather apropos that I found Margaret Wake, Maud la Zouche, and Philippa of Hainault the most interesting of Campion's characters. Their motivations, machinations and movements were fascinating and more than once prompted me to consider the intricacies of maternal devotion and influence in a period where women enjoyed relatively little authority or power.

I felt William de Montacute the weak link in the narrative. His character is fairly one dimensional which was disappointing as I felt Joan's second husband should have enjoyed more prominence. He may be a scum-sucking bottom feeder, but I genuinely feel his role demanded more import than Campion extended here.

Finally, the narrative's irregular pacing and linear presentation didn't sit well with me. Some incidents, like Joan's hanging the silk or her crossing to Ghent are beautifully detailed, but others, such as the pestilence, the births of her children and the siege camp after the Battle of Crécy felt weak and underdeveloped.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the history, but can't help feeling cheated by Campion's portrayal. At the end of the day, I feel there is more to Joan than the complexity of her multiple marriages and was disappointed that the author chose not to explore those avenues of her life and/or character. 

Note: Since penning this commentary, Broadway Books has revised and corrected the jacket description. The current blurb omits those statements that spoil the story and correctly identifies Joan as Edward III's cousin rather than his niece. My review retains the original blurb as that is the description that graced my ARC. 

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Blinded by tears Joan pushed her way through the crowd, stumbling, whispering her apologies, shaking her head at expressions of concern, running as much from the sound of Ned’s voice as from Thomas and his brothers, running from herself, from the hopeless tangle of her life.

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Interview with Peni Jo Renner, author of Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Peni Jo Renner to Flashlight Commentary to discuss her latest release, Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames. 

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Peni. Great to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us a bit about Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames.  
Puritan Witch is the fictionalized account of one woman’s story of endurance during the 1692 Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. She was one of over 140 unfortunate souls who was accused and imprisoned because of a year-long reign of madness that swept over three counties in colonial Massachusetts.

With so many victims, why did you choose to focus on Rebecca Eames? 
Two reasons; 1, because her story has never been told before, and 2, she is my ninth great-grandmother! Since its release in September of 2013, I have come into contact with at least seven very distant cousins, all claiming to be descendants of Rebecca Eames. In fact, it was a third cousin who told me about Rebecca in the first place. Apparently a lot of Eames descendants are interested in their family history!

Trial records can only tell us so much about Rebecca. How did you approach characterizing her for your novel and what sort of impression do you hope she leaves on your readers?  
I of course read everything I could find about her for my research—there are even examples of her own handwriting still in existence today! One historian, Sidney Pearley, mentions Rebecca in his book, History of Boxford. In one instance, he mentions Rebecca being “not as good as she could have been,” which opened up a lot of questions for me. What did he mean by that? She doesn’t come across as very well-liked in his writings and apparently he wasn’t a fan of hers, but this being my ancestress, I had to make her a character the reader would feel for. At the same time, I didn’t want her to appear as some tortured saint, or a spineless, “woe is me” type.

Nearly four hundred years separate us from the series of hearings and prosecutions that immortalized Salem Village. Where did you start in terms of recreating colonial Massachusetts and the Puritan society in which the story unfolds? 
I live in Maryland, but grew up on the plains of North Dakota, so in my imagination, the setting kept being imagined as a prairie town. I knew this wasn’t at all correct, so in 2012 I visited Boxford, to get a feel for the area. I also did research in Salem, but the most rewarding part of the trip was visiting Rebecca’s grave! After seeing her final resting place, I scrapped everything I’d written and started over, describing the wooden, hilly terrain that I couldn’t have otherwise written about had I not seen the area firsthand. In fact, after visiting the gravesite, it was like I was really channeling Rebecca and the writing began to flow effortlessly. 

Several readers have commented on your brutally realistic description of punishments suffered by the accused. Why did you feel it necessary to recreate their suffering with such authenticity? 
It was a nasty, brutal situation and I didn’t want to sugarcoat anything. I wanted the reader to feel the misery of the incarcerated, experience the despair of the families, and even smell the suffocating stink of the witch’s dungeon.

You probably have many, but is there a scene you particularly enjoyed writing? 
Oddly, the dungeon scenes were the easiest to write. I just tried to imagine the filthiest, nastiest, more horrendous conditions I could—and that required some creativity because I’ve lived a rather sheltered life! lol

What scene posed the greatest challenge for you as an author? Why was it troublesome and how did you work through it?  
The trial scenes, because what I knew about 17th century legal proceedings was very limited. For that reason, I contemplated strongly on how best to handle them, and chose to go pretty light in details. 

Sometimes fiction takes on a life of its own and forces the author to make sacrifices for the sake of the story. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time with or expanded on? 
While keeping Rebecca the central character, I wanted to give time to each of her family members. In real life, Rebecca was the mother of eight children, and I narrowed the number down to four, to keep the story’s population down and prevent the reader from getting confused about who was who. I also kept the story relatively short and fast-paced because I wrote it for readers like myself who have short attention spans. That said I would have liked to have given more attention to some of the more minor characters. 

Historical novelists frequently have to adjustment facts to make their stories work. Did you have to invent or change anything while writing Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames and if so, what did you alter and why?  
After I finished the manuscript, I had Carol Majahad, the archivist at the North Andover Historical Society, fact-check my work.  Some things I let slide for the sake of the book’s readability. For example, Sheriff Corwin didn’t interrogate the accused witches, but since he and the jailer, William Dounton, were the two heavies in the story, I gave Corwin that duty. Also, in real life, a mother and daughter were both accused of witchcraft. They were distinguished by “Mary Lacy Sr. and Mary Lacy Jr”, which I thought would only confuse the reader, so I cast aside the mother and made the daughter a minor character.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you choose and why?  
Definitely Rebecca! I’d give her a loving, appreciative hug and ask her, how did she find the strength to survive that ordeal? How did it affect her faith? Oh, I’d have SO many questions to ask Rebecca!

What do you hope readers take from Rebecca’s story? Is there a particular theme you hope resonates your audience?  
I hope the reader acknowledges the danger in religious fanaticism, and realizes that greed and corruption flourished even in those days. Hopefully the reader will come away with a little more knowledge of the 1692 witchcraft hysteria and some insight into the human psyche. 

Okay, we've talked a lot about your book. Let's switch gears and talk a little bit about you. How would describe your writing process?  
Undisciplined. Sporadic. Spontaneous. I will go for weeks at a time without writing one syllable. Then, in the middle of the night, a great scene or even a single phrase will come to me and I’ll have to jot it down. Other times, I can’t type out the words fast enough! I admire writers who can write every day at scheduled times. I don’t work like that.

Two words: writer's block. How do you deal with it? 
I get frustrated and pouty. I eat chocolate and drink coffee excessively. Then, I take my patient, easy-going husband’s advice and just ride it out until I am inspired again. 

Who are your favorite authors?  
All-time favorite is Margaret Mitchell. If I could write anything close to Gone with the Wind, I’d die happy for sure.  I also like James Alexander Thom, Dan Brown and Ken Follett. 

What are you currently reading? 
Consider the Dragonfly by Malcolm Ivey. A writer friend of mine recommended it after I told her I was struggling with making a hardened character likeable. This book’s main character is a pretty troubled kid, and you do kind of root for him although he’s no angel. It’s a good read and I am enjoying it.

What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies? 
I love to read. I also spin yarn, crochet, knook (a hybrid of crochet and knit!), and I am always looking to learn new things.   I also enjoy flower- and herb-gardening and making homemade gifts.

Where do you stand on the coffee or tea debate? 
COFFEE, all the way! After a 20-ounce café’ mocha hits my system, I feel like every cell in my body turns into a big happy smiley face!

And finally, what's next for you? Do you have a new project in the works? 
Yes, I am currently working on a sequel to Puritan Witch, since many of my early readers expressed an interest in what happened to Rebecca’s son, Daniel. 

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Peni Renner is the author of “Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames”, an award-winning historical novel based on the true-life account of Peni’s 9th great 03_Peni Jo Rennergrandmother. The book is Renner’s first published work, and follows Eames’ life and struggles in 1692 Massachussetts during the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

Writing historical fiction has always been a lifelong dream of mine. I was discouraged for many years after receiving multiple rejection slips, and turned to other creative outlets like crocheting, quilting and cross-stitch for many years. Then I met a 3rd cousin of mine online who is also into geneology and history. She told me we shared a common ancestor who was involved in the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692, and her story had never been told. My love of writing was rekindled and I began to research this ancestor, Rebecca Blake Eames. In August of 2012 I had the privilege of visiting her grave in Boxford, Massachusetts.

After months and months of research, writing, rewriting and revising, Puritan Witch came into being, featuring a lovely sketch done by my sister-in-law, Jane Sisk.

I have several other story ideas I am working on at the moment, all pertaining to interesting ancestors my 3rd cousin has introduced me to.

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Amazon US Barnes & Noble iUniverse

Format: Print & eBook Publication Date: September 17, 2013 Released by: iUniverse ISBN-10: 1491705930 Length: 242 pages Genre: Historical Fiction

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Check out all the stops on Peni Jo Renner's Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca EamesVirtual Tour & Book Blast Schedule

Monday, April 28
Book Blast at Broken Teepee
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Tuesday, April 29
Book Blast at The Lit Bitch
Book Blast at A Book Geek
Book Blast at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Book Blast at Literary Chanteuse

Wednesday, April 30
Review & Giveaway at Closed the Cover

Thursday, May 1
Book Blast at Historical Fiction Obsession

Friday, May 2
Book Blast at Caroline Wilson Writes

Saturday, May 3
Book Blast at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Sunday, May 4
Book Blast at I’d Rather Be Reading

Monday, May 5
Book Blast at Kincavel Korner

Tuesday, May 6
Review at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, May 7
Review at Books in the Burbs
Book Blast at Kelsey’s Book Corner

Thursday, May 8
Book Blast at Curling Up with a Good Book

Friday, May 9
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
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Monday, May 12
Interview at Flashlight Commentary
Book Blast at West Metro Mommy

Tuesday, May 13
Review & Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, May 14
Book Blast at Historical Tapestry

Thursday, May 15
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Review at Impressions in Ink

Friday, May 16
Book Blast at Historical Fiction Connection

Monday, May 19
Review at Book Lovers Paradise

Tuesday, May 20
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Book Blast at The Maiden’s Court

Wednesday, May 21
Book Blast at So Many Books, So Little Time

Thursday, May 22
Guest Post at Bibliophilic Book Blog

Friday, May 23
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Book Blast at The Mad Reviewer
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Saturday, May 24
Book Blast at Book Nerd

Monday, May 26
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Tuesday, May 27
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Guest Post at Layered Pages

Wednesday, May 28
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, May 30
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Monday, June 2
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Book Blast at To Read or Not to Read