On tour today, the topic is the history in The Importance of Pawns. Before I wrote fiction I studied history, so you could say history is in my blood. And here’s a secret. My mother was a history teacher (among other steps in her career)—including author! I learned what I know about powerful women breaking new ground from her.
I will not scoop myself, so here is a taste of that blog post to encourage you to go read it!

From The Importance of Pawns, On Tour with Ruins and Reading
“You could not have asked about a topic closer to my heart. Historical fiction has been my favourite genre since I learned to read at five. At university, I studied history.
—Keira Morgan in Ruins and Reading, Cathie Dunn (author and Book Blogger)
When I moved from pure history to historical fiction, I already had my cast of characters. Duchess Anne de Beaujeu, King Charles VIII’s sister; Queen Anne de France, Duchess of Brittany, his wife; Duke Louis d’Orléans who became the next king and married the widowed Queen Anne, who became Queen Anne a second time; Countess Louise d’Angoulême, niece of Duchess Anne de Beaujeu and mother of the next king, François I; Princess Claude, daughter of Queen Anne and daughter-in-law of Countess Louise… all these larger-than-life women fascinated me. They have been living in my imagination for more years than I want to count.”
FYI, I have a blog post on the four women on this blog. Check it out, if I’ve whetted your appetite to know more about my fascinating heroines. You will learn a lot from toady’s tour and this post about the history in The Importance of Pawns
And thanks Cathie Dunn for hosting my book on her blog. Cathie is the popular author of the recently released Shadows of Versailles. It’s a romantic historical thriller based on a real scandal that rocked the court of Louis XIV.