My Beloved
2009 July 13
(Image blatantly stolen from Amazon.)
Readers often ask me the name of my favorite book. I don’t honestly have one. But I do know that I was challenged to write My Beloved, in a way that I’ve rarely been, and I love being challenged.
Sebastian and Juliana are two characters I still remember, and I have a tendency to forget my characters.
Here are some other reasons why My Beloved is memorable to me:
- It featured a really fascinating hero (no spoilers here) with a…fascinating disease.
- Medieval ink was really gross, and it was a challenge to describe it without going into graphic detail.
- The Holy Grail theory was interlaced through the book and I didn’t want to offend people at the same time I wanted to fully explore the theory. (I wrote this book long before The DaVinci code, but my research and Brown’s was the same.)
- The Cathar religion was fascinating, but was probably offensive to a lot of people. They believed, for example, that Christ was human.
- The Knights Templar didn’t inspire my admiration, and it was popular culture that they were noble, trustworthy knights who’d taken their vows seriously. After all my research, I wasn’t so sure.
My Beloved is scheduled to be re-released by Avon sometime in 2010 and I’m thrilled by that.
If you’ve read My Beloved, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Hi Karen,
My Beloved was the first book of yours that I read and I instantly fell in love with your writing. I just love Sebastian and Juliana. Both are passionate characters and their story is not easily forgotten. My Beloved is still one of my favorite books, there are a couple of scenes that were written so beautifully that there’s no way you can read this book and not remember them.
Sabastian and Juliana, in my opinion, are not the typical hero and heroine that we see in a lot of romance books today. I think that their relationship was very unique and it really makes My Beloved stand out from the typical historical romance.
I’m thrilled to see that it’s going to be re-released next year. I hope that those who didn’t have a chance to read it will buy it and get the same enjoyment out of it that I did. Congrats, Karen!
Julie, I had the most wonderful time reading Ovid. My Latin was a little rusty – yes, I was that weird little kid who wanted to learn Latin when she was nine.
I didn’t mention it, but the plot, characters, etc. of My Beloved actually came to me in a dream. I love the subconscious mind. It perks along.
Oh, something else I forgot to mention, I found the Mass of Separation was one of the most poignant documents I’d ever read.
And thank you for your lovely words!
I loved MY BELOVED because the uniqueness of the storyline and because the richness of the historical elements. It was a book that one didn’t want to end, because the reader wasn’t willing to leave this couple. Now I will have dig it our of Historical keeper shelf and re-read it.
I agree with you in regards to the Knights Templar. I have been researching them for about 6 months now and will be teaching a class on them for one the RWA chapters. They were human at best and though their cause was for the period somewhat noble, they didn’t personify code of knights despite the Laws of the Order, and near the end were bound more to the political greed of the period than for the inital role as Warriors of Christ. They were fighting monks at best who were over time smart enough to create a empire within an empire, which is incredilbe when you think about because they didn’t recruit or want educated knights. I have visited a number of sites in Scotland that were Templar properties and they just seem to seep with history. They were victims as well to the politics and greed of men of their times for all the good and treacherous things they did in the name of God.
Thank you for your comments about My Beloved.
One of the things about the Knights Templar I remember – weren’t they responsible for developing the banking system as we know it? I’ll have to go back to my research.
Yes but initally they created a sort of “travelers check” where money could be put in a preceptory say in Paris and along the way on their pilgrimage they could “take out money”. They gave depositors special sheets with codes known only to those who did the deposit so if stolen they couldn’t get the money. When the Templars had their demise in 1307 their treasury went walk about. Some people believe ( urban legend with no real proof) that the ” Swiss Banking” system which is very secretive, was developed by those Templar who escaped the carnage of the Trials and Inquistion. Did you know that despite their rule to not consort with women, that there were women in the Templar Order? Very fascinating stuff.
Hi Karen
I’ve just discovered your books and being in Australia I prefer ebooks, not so much postage cost there! I noticed on your website that My Beloved and some other of your books are coming out in ebooks soon. Are you able to give a timeframe so that I can look out for them?
Regards
Vickie…
Most of my books are now available as ebooks, with the exception of Upon a Wicked Time, which is being re-released early 2010, My Beloved – which is due to be re-released 2010, and My True Love – and I haven’t a clue about its re-release date.
I’m talking with HarperCollins/Avon about releasing My Beloved as an ebook soon, but I haven’t yet heard their decision. I’ll post it here as soon as I know. I doubt they’ll release Upon a Wicked Time as an ebook before its re-release date, however.
Well, you can certainly tell my research was 11 years ago! Thank you for the great information.
As to women in the order, I didn’t know that. I knew some of the Knights weren’t exactly celibate.