Sharon kay penman biography sampler
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I am an American of Irish-English-Welsh heritage, and I currently live in New Jersey, although many of my readers imagine I am happily dwelling upon a Welsh mountaintop--but no such luck. I was once a tax lawyer, which I looked upon as penance for my sins. Like most writers, I was born with a love of the written word, although I never expected to be able to support myself as a writer; when you read about starving artists in their garrets, most of them have starving writers as roommates. But I was very lucky and I have been blessed to make my living as a writer for the past thirty-seven years or so, and to find readers on both sides of the Atlantic. I have lived in Yorkshire and Wales to research two of my books--The Sunne in Splendour and Here be Dragons-- and am published in the U.K. as Sharon Penman, without the middle name, Kay, that I use in the United States. All of my novels--fourteen at last count--are set in the Middle Ages, and focus upon England's most colorful dynasty, th
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Before a publisher agrees to a contract on a new book, an author must present a proposal for the book’s theme and content. Sharon’s publisher first heard about The Land Beyond the Sea (its original working title was “The Kingdom Beyond the Sea) in July, 2012. The following is her proposal for what would end up being her final novel.
JULY 29, 2012
It has been a while since we last talked about what I wanted to do after I completed Richard Lionheart’s story and ran out of Angevins to write about. As I explained back then, I have been interested for several years in writing about the Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as Outremer, which poetically translates as The Land Beyond the Sea, my working title. Its history is a writer’s dream, with high drama, tragedy, a clash of cultures that continues to resonate today, enough battles to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty of my readers, several genuine love stories for the romantics, and a cast of cha
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Today we want to celebrate the life of our favorite author. In some ways it would be fitting to enumerate her literary accomplishments, including a list of her books and her best-seller ställning eller tillstånd. But that sort of attribution would be sterile and redundant. If you are reading this, you already know that Sharon Penman had an unparalleled skill with story. She had a unique ability to capture the intricate details of real life in the times and places she wrote about. She also had a deep understand of humanity, its foibles and strengths, allowed her to write characters readers connected to on a personal level.
Literary talent fryst vatten admirable, but it’s not why she is beloved. It’s because she touched the hearts and lives of her readers on a very personal level. Her sincere interest in their lives, her compassion and tender heart toward their hardships and woes, found her constantly reaching out via letter and email, on social media and in person.
And so to honor h