Stephanie Cowell

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.

http://www.stephaniecowell.com/index.htm

Coffee With An Author

LAUNCH DAY for the new I Just Finished website!! Join Host Naomi Giroux as we discuss writing styles and idea sources with Stephanie Cowell. Call in or visit the chat room to ask questions. Also view the updated new I Just Finished site.

Books by Stephanie Cowell

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet

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 ...

Marrying Mozart

Amadeus meets Little Women in this irresistibly delightful historical novel by award- winning author Stephanie Cowell. The year is 1777 and the four Weber sisters, daughters of a musical family, share a crowded, artistic life in a ramshackle house. While ...

Nicholas Cooke: Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest

Elizabethan England comes to life in the story of young Nicholas Cooke, befriended by one Christopher Marlowe and an actor named Will Shakespeare, as his quest for identity takes him from war in Ireland to London during the plague. A ...

The Physician of London: The Second Part of the Seventeenth-Century Trilogy of Nicholas Cooke

The eponymous physician-hero of Nicholas Cooke becomes fast friends with the ambitious priest, Thomas Wentworth, with whom he vies for the love of the beautiful Cecilia, in a rich, amusing historical novel set in seventeenth-century England.

The Players: A Novel of the Young Shakespeare

A graceful and sensual historical novel tracing William Shakespeare's momentous path of self-discovery, both as a writer and as a young man. Before he was William Shakespeare, playwright and poet, he was simply Will, a young man who dreamed of ...

Page 1 of 1.

Question and Answer

IJF asks: What have you just finished?

I just finished Sandra Gulland's MISTRESS OF THE SUN. What a remarkable writer! Such a deep tender love story between two people, one an independent, devout young woman who is a lady-in-waiting at the court and the other the young Louis XIV. The world of the royal court, the smells, the crowds was so real. Writing historical fiction can be a great challenge, to move a story through a world which is not ours and make it realer than our own.

IJF asks: What book(s) have been life changing for you?

There are so many life changing books for me, books I love with such deep passion that I cannot imagine my world without them and there are so many, I can only list a few here. From my childhood, A LITTLE PRINCESS and HEIDI. And now? Well, books I have read and reread are THE GIFT OF ASHER LEV by Potok and a lot of Shakespeare; I reread Shakespeare all the time; his poetry and character depth and the way he moves plot action, his plot tension is great. Cather's MY ANTONIA - The description of the plains there! WUTHERING HEIGHTS which sent me to Yorkshire twice. Two very small English novellas I have read to pieces: Carey's A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY and Panter-Downes' ONE FINE DAY. So many! Recent books I read which make me want to write the best I can: THE LAST QUEEN, REMARKABLE CREATURES, more than I can name here! I am amazed at the gifts of other writers.

IJF asks: Can you tell us your best fan encounter story?

I have so many! I'll try two! My first novel was NICHOLAS COOKE, about a boy who grew up to be an actor with the theater group surrounding Shakespeare in the late 1590's in London. And there, at one of my first readings, was a direct descendant of Shakespeare's best friend, a major character in the book! She had no idea I had written about her ancestor and bought about 25 copies of the book for her family. I was thrilled to meet her and kept saying, "I love your ancestor!" Then when MARRYING MOZART came out, lovely people sent me things. Someone sent me a gorgeous feathery hand-made bookmark and someone who really loved the book sent me her copy to sign. It was so carefully wrapped in bubble wrap etc. that it looked like no one had ever breathed on it. I tried not to breathe as I signed it. It was very odd and wonderful to know someone felt that way about my story. I think I realized then that something I had written from my heart now stood apart from me with its own life.

Where do you find inspiration for your writing?

I find inspiration in so many places! Museums are a big one. I live in New York City and whenever I feel in need of restoration I wander about there, past 19th century French shop windows imported from the Ile St. Louis in Paris, someone’s four-poster bed, a scribe’s actual medieval tools and a low ancient wood door. Old stairways haunt me; I hear people from centuries before go up and down them. Oh in Europe whenever I can get there, those old streets.

Do you look to other authors for inspiration when writing? If so, who?

Inspiration, no, except for skill in technique. Technique, yes, yes, yes! I have recently read novels by C.W. Gortner, Kathleen Grissom, Michelle Cameron and Robin Maxwell which were wonders with plots movement or how to manage a last cast of characters, Keeping a plot going: I always seek to see how others do it. Plot tension! I am always looking for that! I watch movies also and I read lots of Shakespeare. The conflict between people comes quickly and intensely in Shakespeare.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a Victorian love story about a famous woman writer.

Is there one question that is never asked of you in interviews that you wish was?

Oh maybe, why do I write about creative people? Why do they interest me so, particularly their struggles? I grew up in the arts; my parents were artists and all my close friends were in the arts. It never occurred to me to be anything BUT someone in the arts. The struggle for recognition and enough money to survive has been a big issue with so many people who are very dear to me. None of us ever thought to be a lawyer or an accountant or something practical. Also I am very interested in some of the great artists as ordinary people: Shakespeare trying to find his left shoe and dash down a bit of a play before he ran off to the theater to act his little parts.

How much time do you spend on researching your books?

Often years. I was researching Mozart all my life, not knowing I would write a book about him. I sang his music. And my parents were artists so I grew up going to museums and being careful not to knock over the jar of paint brushes. I have “lived” in a lot of different areas and times and they are very real to me. I probably bought 50-60 research books for CLAUDE & CAMILLE. I have also “lived” in medieval England and France and the late classical period, though those are still works in progress. The first place I ever lived was Elizabethan London. I was studying it since I was about 13 years old, and only wrote about it in my forties!

Any hints on the woman writer and when will that one be published?

I’ve just submitted the first ¼ to my editor and am waiting to hear what she says. The woman writer wrote, “How do I love thee..” Now everyone knows!

Do you write full time?

Yes, I write full time now. I didn’t for a long time. I held an office job as I wrote and published my first four novels but felt it was time to take the leap. Now I have to get off line and go for walks in the park more! I live a few streets away from the Hudson River and I used to walk down every day to study the changing light when I was writing CLAUDE & CAMILLE.

Who would be your dream person to write about either historical or current?

The ones I have already written about (Shakespeare, Mozart and Claude Monet) and the several in my books to come! The sweetest man I ever wrote about was Mozart. He was so kind, even to his mother-in-law who was a bit of a terror.

Will you be a part of the process if MARRYING MOZART is made into a movie?

No, likely not at all. I had to take the real story of Mozart and the family of four lovely musical sisters (one of whom he eventually married) and make a novel from my creative vision and the filmmaker will in turn take my novel and be inspired by it to make his or her own story.