FANSTRAVAGANZA 3 - FINAL POST: NORTH & SOUTH FAN FICTION -DOUBLE REVIEW, DOUBLE GIVEWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

FanstRAvaganza 3 has come to its finale - It's been an amazing week, an event full of enthusiasm and creativity dedicated to Richard Armitage, his talent and his past and upcoming works. 

My final post is again in the Fanfic trail. Below you'll find my review of Trudy Brasure's A Heart for Milton and of Catherine Winchester's Northern Light as well as the announcement of the names of the winners in the giveaway contests linked to my interviews with the authors (HERE and HERE).

Don't forget to check the latest posts in this trail of the FanstRAvaganza by Fedoralady, JoAnn and Gratiana Lovelace.

Till next year then, for an even greater celebration following  the release of the first Hobbit movie. More RA - dedicated posts coming soon on FLY HIGH!

FANSTRAVAGANZA 3 : CATHERINE S. WINCHESTER, NORTHERN LIGHT. INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Welcome to my new post in the Fanfic trail for the FanstRAvaganza 3. Ready to discuss North and South, Mr Thornton and Margaret's love story, with a great RA admirer who is also the author of a sequel of Gaskell's novel? Catherine (Cat) S. Winchester is my guest and has accepted to answer some questions about her Northern Light, and to discuss her vision of North and South with us. 

Leaving your comment + e-mail address you can win an e-book copy of the book. 

Welcome back to FLY HIGH, Cat, and thanks a lot for accepting to answer my questions about your sequel of North and South.  First of all, is there any particular reason  for the title you’ve chosen,  Northern Light?

I wanted to keep the connection with 'the North' of the novel but originally this was titled Northern Exposure, supposed to convey how Margaret had been changed by her time in the North.

FANSTRAVAGANZA 3: TRUDY BRASURE, A HEART FOR MILTON. AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Welcome to FanstRAvaganza #day3!  This post is in the Fanfic Trail. If you've missed the previous posts check Jo Ann, Mr John Thornton, Fedoralady. Today you'll find Fanfic for FanstRAvaganza also at Cat Winchester's Blog. 

What follows is my interview with Trudy Brasure, the author of A Heart for Milton, a sequel of North and South by Mrs Gaskell. There's a giveaway linked to this post. Leaving your comment + your e-mail address,  you'll get  a chance to win a paperback copy of the book. On March 18th, on the last day of the FanstRAvaganza,  the name of the winner will be announced. Enjoy our chat and  ... 

Good luck! This giveaway is open worldwide.

Interview with Trudy Brasure

First of all, Trudy, when did you decide to write your sequel? Was it after reading North and South or after watching the series? Also, your story starts as a ‘what-if’ and proposes some changes to Gaskell’s plot. Can you tell us a little about that?

I happened upon the miniseries quite by accident, and was utterly captivated by the whole story, but especially by Richard’s performance. I sought out Gaskell’s book very soon after, having never heard of her before. It’s now my secular bible! I couldn’t stop thinking about the adaptation those first few months, especially the agonizing goodbye scene

FANSTRAVAGANZA 3: RICHARD III IN MOVIES OR ... WHY WE WANT A NEW KING RICHARD

Visit the site King Richard Armitage

I became an eager fan of this project as soon as I heard about it while watching an  interview with Richard Armitage at GMTV (3rd October 2007). Now, not only I signed the petition but I also started researching about Richard III and reading history books as well as historical fiction dedicated to him. I've also invited Ricardians and historical fiction writers to write for FLY HIGH to support the cause and I go on, fingers and toes crossed, hoping the project comes true sooner more than later. Of course, I'm talking about Richard Armitage's dream of producing and interpreting a new Richard III.
"And why do we need Richard Armitage's King Richard III project come true?", you might ask. Well, not only because it would be incredibly good to see our favourite actor achieve one of his dreams and ambitious goals -  one for which he has been working, reading and planning for years now - but also because the other Richard, King Richard III,   deserves the acknowledgement of how wronged he has been after his defeat at Bosworth (1485) by Shakespeare's portrayal and, especially, by the Tudor propaganda.
It's rather time people substitute the popular image of the deformed, hunchbacked, wickedly scheming murderer with a more balanced portrait, closer to the historical reality.
This is what Richard Armitage has been dreaming about in the latest years: a fictional,  biographical TV series proposing a new Richard III based on the belief that he was  probably one of the best king England has ever had. A prequel to The Tudors.

ROME - LUX IN ARCANA

My latest trip to Rome was a couple of days ago to meet friends, to have a delicious English-style tea, to plan our summer holidays together (top secret!) and to visit this intriguing exhibition. History and secret documents, not Art this time: Lux in Arcana.

The exhibition which is conceived for the 4th Centenary of the foundation of the Vatican Secret Archives aims at explaining and describing what the Pope’s archives are and how they work and, at the same time, at making the invisible visible, thus allowing access to some of the marvels enshrined in the Vatican Secret Archives’ 85 linear kilometers of shelving; records of an extraordinary historical value, covering a time-span that stretches from the 8th to the 20th century.

DICKENS WORLD - WATCHING MICAWBER (2001)

In the year of Dickens Bicentenary we owe him some gratitude and remembrance. So, since  I've seen  all the adaptations of his novels I could find, I decided I needed  some more Dickens , surfed the Net and found this lovely series dating back to 2001 (available on DVD).   David Jason stars as Mr. Micawber in this gentle comedy set in Victorian England and inspired by a character from Charles Dickens' novel 'David Copperfield'.

Like in that novel, in this lovely series too , Mr Micawber is incredibly eloquent and well-spoken, but he is also criminally bad with money. He doesn't meet any lovely 10-year-old David in the 4 episodes I saw,  but through his adventures - well, add a "mis" before the "ad "- the watcher can revisit the Dickensian - subtly ironic but lovable - portrait of an amiable character inspired to his own father, John Dickens. Micawber and Mr Dickens senior shared the same sad fate of being incarcerated in a debtors' prison (the King's Bench Prison) after failing to meet their creditors' demands.

LATEST GIVEAWAY CONTESTS - WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR GISBORNE AND THE BOAR

 1. The Boar (Il Cinghiale) by Cecilia Latella
(from my review) This graphic tale focuses on the passionate love story between Richard III and the Earl of Warwick's younger daughter, Anne Neville. The story starts with a hunting scene, Richard is just a boy allowed by his father to hunt for the first time: he kills a boar. And a white boar will become his symbol once he is Duke of Gloucester, then king  Richard III.

The story is narrated from a very personal angle , focusing on the tormented, guilt-ridden soul of Richard Plantagenet  first as a boy, then as  a young man  and finally as an adult. The leitmotiv is his longing for Anne, his only love. She is the strength and light in his life, once she is no longer with him,  he will lose his will to go on living. Bosworth victory is not a merit of smart Henry Tudor, but a battle lost by a man already defeated by life.The historical facts, battles and politics,  are just hinted at:  it is mainly a romance made up of flashes with many shifts in time. 
Giveaway winners : The paperback copy in Italian has been won by Giada M.  and the e-book copy in English goes instead to Debra Brown 

2. Gisborne - Book of Pawns by Prue Batten (from my review)  Gisborne and Ysabel will be side by side in a long journey, an unfolding ride through Aquitaine and England, filled with unwanted self discovery and unwilling bonding with each other. Theirs is not a smooth, easy relationship. It will be taunted by her prejudices and lack of trust in him and his unwillingness to open to her. However, they will not be able to loose that strong, instinctive tie made of lust, passion and empathy.  She will have to face her mother’s death, her father’s financial ruin, the marriage to a brutal man, and she must grow up while trying to drown her memories of Gisborne in a sea of misunderstanding, rage and mistrust. She is sure he sold her to Benedict De Courcey, the man who ruined her father. She should only hate Gisborne but it will not be as simple as that.
Giveaway winner: Lauren Gilbert
Many thanks to Cecilia Latella and Prue Batten for their kindness and for providing the copies for these giveaways Grateful thanks to all the readers who commented and entered the contests.
You can get your copy of The Boar at lulu.com. You 'll find Gisborne on amazon Kindle store.

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR LESSMORE - AN OSCAR-WINNING ANIMATED TALE

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore  directed by   William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg  has recently  won the Oscar in the category "Short". I wasn't so interested in the glamour of the Oscar night this year. I wasn't interested in none of the films either. So I only  came to see this touching, poetic winning short  yesterday thanks to   Austen author Laura Hile who posted about it on her facebook wall. 

You know, my best favourite books are books about ... books (Farhenheit 451, for instance). So, being this short about books helped me to overcome my wariness of animated movies and my little fondness for Oscar-winning works. 
Well, especially since it is about flying books. It was not by chance that I chose to add just flying books to my blue banner and to call my blog FLY HIGH!  I'm truly convinced books can make us fly. Fly high over this world's pettiness, fly away from its ugliness, fly far beyond its boundaries. 

VICTORIA LAMB, THE QUEEN'S SECRET - GIVEAWAY WINNER

I can't wait to read this intriguing novel dealing with a mystery in Queen Elizabeth I 's life. One lucky reader of FLY HIGH  will also be able to enjoy THE QUEEN'S SECRET soon since she'll get her copy directly from the author, Victoria Lamb,  who accepted to be my guest and granted one signed copy of her beautiful hardback book.  Thanks to Victoria Lamb for being such a kind and generous guest! And, of course, congratulations to the winner picked up through random.org

Sam (Tiny Library)

DANCING BACK IN TIME - THE RENAISSANCE HISTORICAL DANCE SOCIETY

Louise Smith is my guest today to present her group performing dances from different historical periods, Renaissance Historical Dance and to tell us about her incredibly rewarding and entertaining activity. Read her blogpost and  welcome her on Fly High!

Renaissance Historical Dance Society is based in Plymouth, Devon, and we learn and perform dances from four historical periods - Medieval, Elizabethan, Stuart and Regency.  We perform at different venues across the UK in order to teach people about history in a fun way and promote both history and dancing. 

The group was initially set up by Rosemary Smith who wanted an activity that she and her daughter could take part in. Rosemary had seen a re-enactment group elsewhere in the UK, and after being diagnosed with Leukaemia decided that this is what she wanted to do too.   Her determination to promote history and dancing gave her the drive to achieve all her goals. The feeling of creating a social, fun night out for the members has been maintained, with members comprising of people who like performing, dancing and have an interest in history. The group has grown from strength to strength – after starting off using pillows or tomatoes to act as missing dance members,the group is now around 20 strong.

Every Wednesday evening, members from across Devon and Cornwall meet up to learn, practice, and share information about the costumes and etiquette of the time.It’s an ideal place to meet new people and learn history without getting stuck intotextbooks!