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How to Use a Novel as a Guidebook

Thursday, January 19th, 2017

Nicholas Noyes of the NY Times recently wrote a column by that name. He describes the fascinating of following in the footsteps of Oliver Twist–having seen the film as a 5-year-old. An American who grew up in London, he found new eyes as an adult by traveling Oliver’s journey.
My historical novels known as The Justine Trilogy are anchored in real places and times. Whether in Cairo (The Cairo Codex), Italy (The Italian Letters) or Taos (A Rapture of Ravens), each site is real–there for the picking, pleasures to be harvested. Delectable visits into living history. My posts entitled 72 Hours in Cairo (Parts 1-3) take you on that journey. Several posts on Italy and Taos tantalize you, I trust, to journey there.
What is your favorite historical novel? Have you planned that trip as yet? Add it to your bucket list.

Posted in A Rapture of Ravens, Book Tour, Egypt, Etruscans, Fiction, Florence, history, imagination, Italian Letters, Italy, Rome, Taos, The Justine Trilogy, Travel, trilogy, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

Serendipity – A Writer’s Journey of Discovery

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

It all began when, as a young girl, I hid Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence under my mattress (who didn’t?). Women in Love and other Lawrence novels, short stories, and poems followed, keeping my infatuation deep in my consciousness. But it was not until my husband, Morgan, and I wandered into a bookstore in an Etruscan ruin in Italy in the mid-80’s and discovered Etruscan Places that Lawrence became an obsession. His unforgettable perspective on the Etruscans explained the heretofore unexplainable about these mysterious people.

Years passed. After all, I wasn’t a novelist as yet. I was busy with non-fiction writing –then moving in Egypt. Cairo fully captivated us. Old crypts and earthquakes and religious tensions demanded my attention. It was inside the crypt that had allegedly been home to the Holy Family that the first novel in the Justine Trilogy took form.

After giving birth to The Cairo Codex, I discovered that D. H. Lawrence was still waiting in the wings. But it was not until my protagonist Justine climbed into her grandmother’s attic in Fiesole that I found The Italian Letters. I know this may seem strange, but I didn’t know what she would find until old lace began to rise from a trunk untouched for 80 years.

These letters led me into Taos, New Mexico, and A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos… to be released May 12. My life as a writer has been one serendipitous event after another.

Next week: Why Taos?

Posted in A Rapture of Ravens, D.H. Lawrence, Egypt, Etruscans, Fiction, Italian Letters, Italy, Taos, The Justine Trilogy, tombs, Travel, trilogy, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

The Much-Awaited Third Novel of The Justine Trilogy! Pre-order.

Sunday, March 1st, 2015

A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos is the sizzling third novel in The Justine Trilogy. Pre-order today
from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Rapture-Ravens-Awakening-Justine-Trilogy/dp/1933512504

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Posted in A Rapture of Ravens, Amazon sale, D.H. Lawrence, Fiction, Taos, The Justine Trilogy, trilogy | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

Frieda Lawrence & Her Great Granddaughter-a Taos Tea

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015

My excitement mounds as I consider returning to Taos for the world release of the third
novel in The Justine Trilogy: A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos. In June, 2015.
Meanwhile, I gazed on with envy as the community threw a luscious tea for Frieda Lawrence’s great granddaughter this week at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. See the engaging blog and photos by Robert Cafazzo:
http://twograces.blogspot.com/2015/02/high-tea-with-joanna-great-grand.html

Posted in Book Tour, D.H. Lawrence, Fiction, Frieda Lawrence, Taos, trilogy, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

Book Passage and The Italian Letters

Monday, January 5th, 2015

Welcome to the New Year, which I welcome with optimism and anticipation.
This coming Thursday, January 8, I will be speaking about The Italian Letters at the extraordinary Book Passage in Corte Madera. I’m delighted by positive feedback about this novel, the sequel to the award-winning The Cairo Codex.

This year will also host the release of the third novel in the Justine Trilogy, A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos. The world release will be in Taos, New Mexico, in June, 2015.

My resolution…to read and write good novels!

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Posted in Book Tour, creativity, Etruscans, Fiction, Italian Letters, Italy, Taos, trilogy, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

Who was the Virgin Mary? Really?

Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

The identity, personal diary, and genealogy of Mary of Nazareth and her son, Jesus, are expressed in the first two novels of the Justine Trilogy: the award-winning, The Cairo Codex and The Italian Letters (release, October, 2014). Perfect Christmas presents. The third in the trilogy, A Rapture of Ravens, will be released in June, 2015.

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Posted in Books Inc., Egypt, Family, Fiction, genealogy, history, imagination, Italian Letters, trilogy, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

The Italian Letters in San Francisco

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014

On Friday evening, November 14, at 7:00, I am talking about and reading from The Italian Letters in San Francisco at Books, Inc., Opera Square, 610 Van Ness. This will be a Champagne Launch and you are all invited.

Why is this so special? Books, Inc. is the West’s oldest independent bookstore with 11 stores in California. Amazingly, their “origin dates back to the Gold Rush Days of 1851 when Anton Roman struck it rich in Shasta City, California, and set himself up in the business of selling books. That small bookstore was moved, bought, sold, burned, rebuilt, renamed and became Books Inc., as we know it today, in 1946.”

On December 9, I’ll have the pleasure of sharing The Italian Letters with the community of readers at the Palo Alto Books, Inc.

Check out booksinc.net and join us.

Posted in Book Tour, Books Inc., creativity, D.H. Lawrence, Etruscans, Fiction, imagination, Italian Letters, Italy, tombs, Travel, trilogy, Vatican, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

Challenged by A City of Fallen Angels

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

City of FallenJohn Berendt is a truly unique writer. In Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil he engaged a true story and characters into a richly texturized novel of grace and elegance. Memoir authors have borrowed this approach in recent years—to their detriment when the fiction is excessive—and to their glory when it worked.

As I began to write The Italian Letters (just released), I turned to Berendt’s second such novel, A City of Fallen Angels, set in Venice for insights into the Italian culture and legal systems. I, in turn, invoked some of his approaches, particularly the use of true incidents and characters, into my novels (the Justine Trilogy). Berendt—and earlier Truman Capote (In Cold Blood)—offered gifts heretofore undiscovered. For me, these writing strategies created a format to bring together my background in history, non-fiction, and fiction. Thanks, John.

 

Posted in creativity, Fiction, history, Italy, trilogy, Truman Capote, Uncategorized, writing | No Comments » | Leave a Comment

The Italian Letters released!

Thursday, October 2nd, 2014

The Italian Letters by Linda Lambert

The Italian Letters by Linda Lambert

The sequel to the award-winning The Cairo Codex, The Italian Letters, has just been released!  You may order it now at your local bookstore. Or at Amazon.

The Italian Letters lies in the sensuous curvature of ancient, 20th and 21st century Italy. The sequel to The Cairo Codex follows the adventures of anthropologist Justine Jenner after she is expelled from Egypt in the wake of discovering the diary of the Virgin Mary. Exiled into Tuscany, Justine finds herself embroiled in three interwoven stories of discovery: the long-lost letters of D. H. Lawrence to her great grandmother, Isabella; an ancient tomb revealed the origin and migration of an ancient people pre-dating Rome; and the genealogy of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. While shaken by the frank revelations in Lawrence’s letters and the intimate relationship between the primeval Etruscan’s and Jesus’ mother, Justine must confront her own sexuality and yearning for personal freedom. The second in a trilogy, The Italian Letters is riveted with literary, religious, and archeological history and international politics, each narrative magnifying and altering the meaning of the others.

The Italian Letters is the suspense edition of Etruscan Evenings.

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Pre-order The Italian Letters!

Friday, September 19th, 2014

The Italian Letters by Linda Lambert

The Italian Letters by Linda Lambert

At your local bookstore or Amazon.

Release date: October 14, 2014.

The Italian Letters is the second in the Justine Trilogy.

 

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