Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle follows a French princess who wishes to become Valkyrie warrior queen but instead is being forced home to marry a man she does not love. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I am a former high school teacher and college professor of French with a passion for medieval French history. I love the region of Bretagne (Brittany in English) and especially the legends and myths from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, birthplace of Merlin, the Lady of the Lake Viviane and Lancelot, King Arthur’s First Knight of Camelot.

When I was an undergraduate student, I spent a summer studying abroad in Normandy and was fascinated by the Viking influences and heritage in that region. So, I decided to create a story of a fiery French princess of Finistère in Bretagne whose ancestors were Viking Valkyrie.

What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?

In the Middle Ages, knights were sworn to the moral principles of chivalry, such as fierce loyalty to God, their king, and their country. They also swore to protect and defend women, children, the weak and the sick. 

These moral principles created the inner conflict of my hero, Sir Bastien de Landuc, the royal guard appointed to defend Princess Gabrielle who has suffered an impossible love for her since adolescence.
Historical fiction takes a lot of research to get the right feel even if the storyline is not real.

Did you find anything in your research of this story that surprised you?

No, but I wanted to bring in something I had learned in my studies of French history that I felt was horribly unfair to women. There is an archaic law–la loi salique-– which dates back to the 5th century and the Frankish king Clovis. According to this law, women could not inherit a kingdom nor rule in their own right. Their titles and property became the possession of their husbands. I wanted to show how unfair this law was to Princess Gabrielle, who was facing a forced marriage for this reason.

Will there be a follow up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover? 

Yes, I have signed a publishing contract for A Celtic Yuletide Carol, the story of Sir Cardin de Landuc–Bastien’s brother– and his struggle with grief and guilt when his young wife dies in childbirth and he forsakes his newborn son.   I am also writing another follow-up, the story of Sir Gaultier, Bastien and Cardin’s oldest brother, who defends King Philippe of France’s claim to the distant land of Aquitaine on the Spanish border in southwestern France.

My current work in progress is A Nordic Yuletide Wish, the story of Princess Gabrielle’s ancestor Ylva, the descendant of Rollo, first Viking chieftain of Normandy. It is both a follow up to Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle and a gateway to a planned Viking trilogy that I will write in the near future.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram