C. P. Lesley, Novelist

Novels on my bookshelf in the spring of 2026, by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, Shana Galen, April Howells, Kristen Perrin, Caitlin Shetterly, and Marian Yee

New Books Network interview with Meg Wahlberg about her debut novel, Chivalry in the Shadows, first in a new series

Interview with the author Casey Scieszka, whose magical realist novel The Fountain was published by Harper in March 2026

On using my skills as a historian to inform a standalone novel in progress

Interview with nonfiction writer Kevin Ashton, whose multi-millennial history of storytelling, then and now, just came out with Harper.

On questions raised by some authors' decisions to use artificial intelligence (AI) to produce their novels

New Books Network interview with Sandra Freels, whose debut novel, Anneke Jans in the New World, came out in January 2026 from She Writes Press

Author interview with Janie Chang, whose latest historical novel, The Fourth Princess, came out in early February 2026 from William Morrow.

Historical mystery series I love, part 3, featuring novels by Rhys Bowen, Dianne Freeman, Alison Goodman, Darcie Wilde, and P. Srigley

Thoughts on stories and storytelling inspired by Kevin Ashton's nonfiction book "The Story of Stories," due out in March 2026 from Harper.

New Books Network interview with Linda Wilgus, author of The Sea Child, a historical novel set in early 19th-century Cornwell, just published by Ballantine Books

A writing post on the importance of titles and the difficulty, sometimes, of finding the right one for a particular novel

A discussion of historical fiction and its benefits, despite various difficulties caused by the lack of information

Novels, mostly historical fiction, on my Winter 2026 bookshelf, by Jennifer Ashley, Janie Chang, Sandra Freels, Kaoru Mori, Casey Scieszka, and Linda Wilgus

Annual roundup of what I did in 2025 and hope to accomplish in 2026

Memories of a remarkable American life, 1922-2025

New Books Network interview with the author S. J. Bennett about her mystery series featuring Queen Elizabeth II

More historical mysteries I love, including series by Christina Dodd, Vanessa Kelly, Heather Redmond, Katie Tietjen, and Mary Winters

C. P. Lesley on her gratitude for time to write and inspiration for characters worth writing historical fiction about.

Interview with the author Elizabeth Hobbs, whose historical mystery series featuring a student at Wellesley in the 1890s is published by Crooked Lane Books