Ask the Author: Stephanie Marie Thornton

“Ask me a question.” Stephanie Marie Thornton

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I just saw you have another book coming out this year, congratulations! Will you be updating your website at all with upcoming books or should I check your twitter/ goodreads? Also, what are you working on next?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Courtney! My website is currently updated for the release of And They Called It Camelot and I also post regularly on Facebook and Instagram. My next project releases Summer 2021--it's called Clever Girl and is about a Cold War-era spy and informer!
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I am so excited for American Princess! I absolutely love your books and recommend them to anybody whom even mentions the world "historical fiction". Is it possible for you to tell us what amazing woman you plan to write about next?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Thanks so much for the question! I've been holding off waiting to answer because my publisher asked me to keep the topic of the next novel under wraps for a little longer... Suffice to say the next book will be about one of the most famous women to ever live in the White House. (And I'll let the cat officially out of the bag in the Author Interview at the back of American Princess!)
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Have you ever heard of the website Rejected Princesses? It’s a terrific website about incredible women, like the ones you’ve written about, whose actions changed the course of history. Totally worth taking a look! http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/favorites
Stephanie Marie Thornton I love Rejected Princesses! My 11-year-old daughter and I have actually perused quite a few of them, and there's some I hadn't even heard of. I love the fact that the site highlights many forgotten gals from history, and they're from all over the world too!

Thanks so much for sharing!
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I loved your book about Empress Theodora, then quickly read The Tiger Queens, and now I'm reading your Daughter of the Gods. I must say I find them all amazing, and I can't wait to read the others! But I'm curious: do you have any plans of writing a novel set in in the early Roman Empire? And if so, which badass lady(ies) would you write about?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Ana! I'm so glad you've enjoyed my stories about history's badass ladies! I don't have any immediate plans to write in ancient Rome--my next two novels are set in 20th century America--but there's potential that the H Team might turn their eyes to Rome for a future compilation that I could join. I had a blast writing Cassandra for their retelling of the Trojan War in Song of Rome, so it's possible! In the meantime, have you read anything by Kate Quinn? Her novels set in ancient Rome are some of my favorite histfic stories!
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Who is your favorite fictional couple, and why?
Stephanie Marie Thornton That's a great question! I'm afraid I'll have to go with a classic on this one--Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler have been my favorite couple since I first read Gone With the Wind. They're pretty great in the movie too!

Although, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are a close runner up!
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Hi, first off I love your books and recommend them every chance I get. If you could meet any of the woman you have written about and Hephaestion, whom would you choose?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Courtney! That's a tough question, but I'm going to have to go with Hatshepsut. I've been a Hatshepsut fan-girl since I was twelve, and Daughter of the Gods was actually the first novel I wrote. I couldn't get Hatshepsut's story out of my mind! I'd want to know why she actually usurped the throne and all the details of her rule, and so many other details that have been lost to history.

Also, I'm a die-hard romantic so I'd really want to know if she and Senenmut did have a secret relationship!
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Is your next book about Eleanor Roosevelt?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Courtney! Nope, not about Eleanor Roosevelt, although she does have a few cameos. I hope to be able to reveal all soon, once the book is all done. So stay tuned!
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What music did you listen to when you wrote "The Conqueror's Wife", if you listened to any?
Stephanie Marie Thornton I actually don't listen to any music while I write. I find it too distracting!
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Were you inspired at all by the writings of Mary Renault?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Jam and thanks for the question! I purchased Mary Renault's trilogy on Alexander the Great while I was still writing The Conqueror's Wife, but I'm afraid I never got around to reading them. (Too many other books I had to read for research!) However, her novels are still on my TBR list!
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I read your book The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora and loved it. I intend to read Daughter of the Gods. Who's story are you going to right about next?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Brittany! I'm so glad you enjoyed The Secret History. My next book to hit the shelves (on December 1st!) is The Conqueror's Wife and is about Alexander the Great's women. I've also been playing with a story set in early 20th century America which is quite a change for me!
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Hi! I'd love to read your books but I wasn't able so far, because they are not sold in my country. I just wanted to ask, how do you handle writer's block? From an aspiring writer who suffers a serious case of blocking...
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Cintia! I'm so sorry my books aren't available in your country, but hopefully that will change in the future. As for writer's block, I find that forcing myself to sit down and just put words on the page is always a good cure. I may end up cutting whole swaths of those pages later, but it gets me past whatever is tripping me up. Good luck and happy writing!
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I absolutely loved Tiger Queens--how did you capture the Central Asian landscape so well? Any plans to go there one day?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Jessica! I so wanted to travel to Mongolia to research The Tiger Queens, and actually had a trip planned, but the funding fell through. I'd still love to go one day and live in a yurt for a while, but I basically bought every Mongolian history book and travelogue I could get my hands on. It felt like a spent a year eating and breathing everything Mongolian!
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I loved your Empress Theodora book, and have your other two books on my shelf to read soon. My question is now that you've done Asian, Egyptian, Greek, and Byzantine history where will you want to write about next?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Ashley! So glad you enjoyed The Secret History! I've actually made the jump to early 20th century America, which has been quite a change. I've taught US History for almost ten years and I have a bit of an obsession with one of our presidential families, including their wild child daughter. (She'd give Theodora in her early days a run for her money!)
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How do you find such interesting characters to write about?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Thanks for the question, Lynn! I've stumbled over a few of the characters in history books; Theodora was a mere mention in a world history textbook and Jack Weatherford's THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOL QUEENS pointed me in the direction of Genghis Khan's women. I've been enamored with Hatshepsut since I was in school so she was a natural choice. And for THE CONQUEROR'S WIFE, it was actually my editor who suggested I write about a Persian woman. I did some research and found Roxana, Alexander's first wife, and then discovered that he was surrounded by pretty fearsome women. And so, a book was born!
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I saw on your FB that your next WIP moves into the 20th century (awesome!) Was it difficult changing gears from the ancient world to the modern? And, if it doesn't reveal too much, how early in the 20th century are we talking? Turn of century, the WWI years? All of the above? I can't wait for the next two books!
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Rosemary! I've found that the 20th century is trickier in that there is so much more documentation about the characters' lives so there's less wiggle room as far as the story goes. Book #5 is turn of the century, but will stretch through both World Wars and beyond. It's a lot of ground to cover!
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I hope its okay if I might suggest a future heroine? Empress Wu Zetian in Tang China? When I took a history class of China, I recall that she was a fearsome and ruthless woman that everyone was afraid of, and the men were so scared of her that they let her die a natural death instead of poisoning or something else :D Thanks!
Stephanie Marie Thornton Empress Wu is definitely an intriguing woman in history and the Tang dynasty is rife with political intrigue! I'm actually jumping to the early 20th century for my next historical novel, but I do love ancient history so I'll keep her in mind as a possible topic for the future. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Was it difficult to research The Tiger Queens? I so hope Fatima's end isn't based on history. I loved the way you set up the story line and how the perspective changes during the book. I only knew basics about Gengiz Khan, therefore an absolute pleasure to read. Thank you for writting it.
Stephanie Marie Thornton I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! The Tiger Queens was my most difficult book to research and write, due to the huge span of time and the massive geographic area encompassed in the story. And sadly, Fatima's story in the book is based on history, including the end. Genghis gets a bad rap for being totally ruthless, but in my opinion his sons and grandsons were far more blood-thirsty and violent.
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I loved your book Daughter of the Gods. Ancient Egypt is my favorite part of history. Will you be writing one about Cleopatra?
Stephanie Marie Thornton Hi Beth! I'm so glad you enjoyed Hatshepsut's story in Daughter of the Gods. I dearly love everything Egyptian, but right now I have no plans to write about Cleopatra--there are already so many great books about her. I highly recommend Margaret George's Memoirs of Cleopatra (thick, but riveting!) and Stephanie Dray's trilogy on Cleopatra's daughter, Selene.

Thanks so much for getting in touch!
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I also appreciate your bibliography, which will allow me to do some further research on my own. And it will provide me with additional resources for the students currently researching Genghis's and Kublai's lives. It will also be a connection for those students preparing a report on Marco Polo. Thanks all around. Ken Black...?
Stephanie Marie Thornton I'm so glad The Tiger Queens and its bibliography has been helpful. I'm a teacher too, so I love hearing that my books will help in the classroom. I highly recommend Jack Weatherford's books if you're looking for non-fiction on Genghis and his women. And I'm totally intrigued that you're in Ukraine--I love to travel and would like to go there one day!
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What are you currently working on?
Stephanie Marie Thornton I'm currently eyeball-deep in writing The Conqueror's Wife, a novel about Alexander the Great, as told from the point of view of his youngest sister, his childhood friend and lover, a Persian princess, and his conniving first wife. It's a pretty wild ride!
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