author interviews

Drawing of a woman in hat and coat pictured against a background of broken buildings, the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, and war planes; cover of Nicola Upson's The Voices of the Dead

Interview with Nicola Upson

Written interview with historical novelist Nicola Upson about her murder mystery series featuring Josephine Tey, book 12 of which, The Voices of the Dead, has just been published by Crooked Lane Books

cplesley

1d8 min read

Drawing of a dome-shaped palace with minarets, seen against a black and white background implying water and land; cover of Christina Stahle's Before He Was Red

New Books Network Interview: Christina Stahle

New Books Network interview with Christina Stahle, whose debut historical fiction novel, Before He Was Red, features the Ottoman Empire in its declining years

cplesley

Oct 302 min read

A knight in medieval armor raises a sword in his right hand while facing the sea. He sits atop a chestnut horse, surrounded by an old man in white and a group of soldiers; cover of Anna Engels, Daughter of Lithuania

Interview with Anna Engels

Interview with historical novelist Anna Engels, whose latest novel featuring Princess Sophia of Lithuania has just been published.

cplesley

Oct 234 min read

A faceless man in a World War I military uniform; cover of Terri Lewis's When They Came Home

New Books Network Interview: Terri Lewis

New Books Network interview with the historical novelist Terri Lewis, about her latest book on the long-term effects of World War I, When They Came Home, published by Miami University Press

cplesley

Sep 252 min read

Partially visible behind a gold satin curtain, a young Chinese woman in traditional dress holds a fan in her right hand; cover of Bo Wang's The Chinese Lady

Interview with Bo Wang

Interview with Bo Wang, whose debut historical novel about the first Chinese woman in the United States will appear with HarperVia in September 2026

cplesley

Sep 45 min read

A woman and a man in simple early twentieth-century dress (white shirts and gray skirt or pants) walk across green mountains beside a beautiful sorrel horse. Cover of Elizabeth Letts's novel Fallen for France

Interview with Elizabeth Letts

Interview with author Elizabeth Letts, whose latest novel, Fallen for France, came out in August 2026 with Bantam Books

cplesley

Aug 285 min read

Mountains covered in scarce grass against a cloudy sky, a castle visible against a lake; cover of Rhys Bowen's The Castle in the Glen

New Books Network Interview: Rhys Bowen

New Books Network interview with Rhys Bowen about her latest standalone historical novel, The Castle in the Glen, recently released by Lake Union Publishing

cplesley

Aug 142 min read

An ocean liner, bright red, against a turquoise sea, with New York City (identifiable by the Statue of Liberty) in silhouette to the left; cover of A Fatal Crossing, by Tom Hindle

Interview with Tom Hindle

Interview with the author Tom Hindle, whose historical locked-room mystery aboard an ocean liner has just appeared with Dutton

cplesley

Jul 315 min read

A two-story house sits on an open book against a backdrop of flowers; cover of Kelly Rimmer's The Story Keeper

Interview about The Story Keeper

Interview with Kelly Rimmer, author of The Story Keeper and other historical novels

cplesley

Jul 243 min read

An open mailbox with its flag raised and letters of various types visible inside; flowers twine up the white wooden post; cover of April Howells, The Unforgettable Mailman

New Books Network Interview: April Howells

New Books Network interview with April Howells, about her debut historical novel, recently released by Alcove Press

cplesley

Jul 172 min read

A dirt road winds among moss-covered hills seen against the backdrop of a cloudy sky. Off to one side, a castle stands at the edge of a lake; cover of Rhys Bowen's The Castle in the Glen

Bookshelf, Summer 2026

Historical fiction and one contemporary mystery on my bookshelf in Summer 2026

cplesley

Jul 103 min read

Two women's faces; one European with a 19th-century hairstyle and the other Asian are partially visible beyond images of branches, one with a bird and butterfly, the other with a red fruit; cover of Marian Yee's 4 Janes

Interview with Marian Yee

Interview with the author Marian Yee, whose magical realist novel explores east-west connections through a reimagining of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

cplesley

Jun 267 min read

Drawing of a red-haired man in Regency clothing, shown against an elaborate wallpaper background, facing a woman in simple brown dress and long robe against a background of plain stripes; cover of Shana Galen's A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord

New Books Network Interview: Shana Galen

New Books Network interview with Shana Galen, author of the historical romance A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord, set in Regency England

cplesley

Jun 192 min read

A man in Regency dress and a woman in modern clothing look at each other; they are both standing on an old-fashioned grandfather clock at different levels; cover of Samantha Silva's Sometime This Century

Interview with Samantha Silva

Interview with author Samantha Silva about her latest historical romance, Sometime This Century, a contemporary take on Jane Austen's world

cplesley

Jun 125 min read

A red-haired man in fashionable Regency dress, drawn against a fancy background, looks at a brunette in a plain brown floor-length dress covered with an equally plain coat, all portrayed against a pattern of stripes; cover of Shana Galen’s first Heiress Hunters novel, A Shop Girl’s Guide to Wooing a Lord

Interviews of Early Summer

Two forthcoming New Books Network interviews and two blog Q&A's, all scheduled to run between May and July 2026—historical romance, 1960s fiction, contemporary women's fiction, and historical/contemporary fantasy

cplesley

May 223 min read

Seen from the back against an image of a city on a hill, surrounded by water, a woman in a bright blue 18th-century style dress and holding a basket filled with red vegetables gazes to her right; cover of A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

New Books Network Interview: Laura Kamoie

New Books Network interview with Laura Kamoie about her latest historical novel featuring Abigail Adams, co-written with Stephanie Dray and published by William Morrow in May 2026

cplesley

May 152 min read

A woman runs in silhouette in front of a group of old-fashioned town houses, the London skyline dimly visible behind them and a pair of ravens in the sky; cover of Kristen Perrin's How to Cheat Your Own Death

Interview with Kristen Perrin

Interview with dual-timeline historical and contemporary mystery novelist Kristen Perrin, whose latest Castle Knoll mysteries has just come out with Kensington Books

cplesley

May 15 min read

A woman dressed in an old-fashioned white dress, her face obscured and her hands clasped sits against a dark backdrop streaked with rain; cover of Linda Hamilton's The Fourth Wife

New Books Network Interview: Linda Hamilton

New Books Network interview with historian and historical novelist Linda Hamilton, whose Gothic novel The Fourth Wife recently came out with Kensington Books

cplesley

Apr 172 min read