Tag Archives: #Books

Signing Event at Witches Day Out

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, our little town held a craft fair and business crawl where all the shops on Main Street were open. My sister and I had a table. She sold her beautiful handmade jewelry, and I held a signing event. (the first photo is me, the rest are some of my lovely customers/ booklovers.)

Signing Event Photos

  • Juliette Godot at Witches Day Out Signing Event
  • signing event attendee
  • signing event attendee
  • Book Signing Event

The weather was gorgeous and I signed 14 books!

Why use a Pen Name?

People have often asked me why I use a pen name and something that happened at this signing event really made me glad that I decided to use one.

At the end of the day, two ladies came to the table and I told them about my book. When I explained that it is about my great-grandmother from 12 generations ago being charged with witchcraft, one of them advised that she and her friend were witches. They cast spells and do divinations. I had never met a real witch, and I was curious. I hate to dismiss anyone because they believe differently than I do, so I spoke with them for a few more minutes before they took their leave and continued down the street. They seemed perfectly normal.

I started packing up my stuff to go home, when another older lady came by and when I began telling her about my book, a weird look came over her face, and she took a step backward. She said witches will come back to life. Unnerved more than a little, and not knowing what to do, I just smiled and told her that my ancestor was not a real witch, but was unjustly charged with witchcraft. The woman said again, louder this time, that witches come back to life before she turned and hurried away… You just never know what someone is thinking!

I turned to my sister who shrugged. The thought of the Hellequin crossed my mind, so we hastily packed up the rest of our stuff so we were sure to be safely at home before dark.

From the Drop of Heaven available at Sunbury Press or Amazon.

Historical Novel Society Interview

Historical Novel Society Logo

I am excited to announce that my interview with the Historical Novel Society has been posted to their website. It will appear in the next print issue of the Historical Novels Review.

The Historical Novel Society was founded in 1997 as a campaigning society to bring more publicity to the historical novel genre. It has become an international organization for both authors and readers who love Historical Fiction. Anyone can join to learn about new releases and events.

Learn more about From the Drop of Heaven

Why That Cover?

Cover Reveal of the award-winning historical From the Drop of Heaven. Lawrence Knorr, award-winning cover designer and owner of Sunbury Press used many historical elements in it’s design.

The inspiration to use the font came from numerous texts at the Ephrata Cloister. The font resembles those used in the Gutenberg Bible and many other books and texts of that time period. Craftsmen originally hand-carved the letters on blocks of wood for the first movable type printing presses. It was used on just about every publication from 1454 to the 1900s in northern Europe.

The vintage engraving by Chevaillier is based on Roi Modus, a 15th century manuscript. It depicts a scene of “beggars and peasants” fighting over wine. Science and Literature in The Middle Ages by Paul Lacroix, published this engraving in London 1878.

The engraving represents a peasant battle over a keg of wine. However, in this use, the peasants are fighting both the devil and their neighbors.

The devil is from another antique engraving, showing the notorious dream that Giuseppe Tartini had that lead him to compose his violin masterpiece, titled “Devil’s Trill”.

Cover From the Drop of Heaven
cover of From the Drop of Heaven

Why that cover? the Legends

The novel describes many trips to a magical lake in the Western Vosges, the Lac de la Maix. Two of the legends referenced in the book occur at the lake.

Firstly, The Baptism of Angels, describes a solution to unbaptized babies languishing forever in Limbo.

The second legend mentioned, the Legend of the Devil Fiddler describes the formation of the glacial lake on the mountainside. In the novel, Martin plays his violin in the peaceful valley of the lake in honor of his deceased loved ones. Despite the respectful memorial, upon hearing of a celebration honoring two women accused of witchcraft, the evil priest invented the story of the Devil Fiddler to scare people away. Today, they say, you can sometimes still hear the sound of the fiddle at the lake.

The story

In the minds of the people in 1585, the devil is forever present. Everyone is a heretic to one side or the other. Accusations of witchcraft abound. Though estimates vary widely, as many as 50,000 to 80,000 people were executed as witches between 1500-1600 in Europe, especially in the Holy Roman Empire and Lorraine.

Order From the Drop of Heaven

Sunbury Press

Amazon