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P.J. Royal

Goodreads Author

Born

Auckland, New Zealand

Website

http://www.pjroyal.com

Twitter

PJRoyal1

Genre

Historical Fiction

Member Since

October 2012

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PJ Royal obtained degrees in history and archaeology from Auckland University, New Zealand. She now seeks, in her debut novel Killing the Bee King, to combine the dramatic suspense of a political thriller with the historical atmospherics of early nineteenth-century Paris and London. PJ lives in the Florida Keys with her husband and three children. She is currently working on her next novel set in Southeast Asia in the mid-eighteenth century.

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PJ, I notice *Bee King* has a different cover (a little Cruella DeVil) on Goodreads than the one on my copy. Is that the British version or a rejected option? Your book is thrilling, by the way. You have created some wonderful characters and I have a hard time telling what's real history from what you've created. It's a fantastic accomplishment.

P.J. Royal Dear Ruth,
Thank you for your marvelous question! Yes, the split face cover was an earlier design - which was suggestive of the double-purpose/conflict…moreDear Ruth,
Thank you for your marvelous question! Yes, the split face cover was an earlier design - which was suggestive of the double-purpose/conflicted dual life of Jeanne Recamier, or Primrose (the primary female character) but also seemed reminiscent of the divided loyalties that plagued many of the other characters. However, some early readers thought the cover indicative of sci-fi, even horror, and I wanted something more particularly telling of the kind of novel it was - also something that featured not just Jeanne but the moody tension of the novel as a whole. So, working with the Regal House team, we came up with the current cover that you see on Amazon, which I think is fantastic - the back of the French soldier overlooking the dark brooding waters of the Channel. This perfectly encapsulates the theme of the book - the ominous army of the French waiting across the narrow sea to conquer English shores. Thank you for your comment, and for taking the time to read my novel. I am so very thrilled that you are enjoying it!(less)

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Hi P.J., I think we both enjoy setting our novels in other time periods. My books take place in Victorian England, WW II, ten thousand years in the past and colonial Africa. London is such a marvelous city to use with its long history that has affected most of the rest of the globe. One of my oldest friends is from New Zealand. Will we get to read one of your books set in early times there?

P.J. Royal Dear Chris,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a question and heartfelt apologies for the length of time it has taken me to respond. I have been ne…moreDear Chris,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a question and heartfelt apologies for the length of time it has taken me to respond. I have been negligent in regards to Goodreads and are very excited to delve into it more deeply. It sounds as if your novels cover a marvelous range of periods indeed - I am most impressed! One aspect of the historical past that has always intrigued me has been the colonial period, in South east Asia between the Portuguese, Dutch and British and, of course, in New Zealand in later periods between the Maori peoples and the British. The dynamics of cultural collision are fascinating indeed and might loom on the horizon as a possible book topic! Thank you again for your question and best of luck with your own writing, PJ(less)

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P.J. Royal’s books

Average rating: 4.33 · 9 ratings · 4 reviews · 1 distinct work

Killing the Bee King

4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions

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P.J. Royal's Blog

The Season, Sisyphus, and the Tantalizing Carrot

Sisyphus by Franz StuckWriters spend long years arduously composing their literary works, then devote themselves, in what is often a comparable length of time, to subsequent revisions, edits, polishes, and scrubs until the fictional narrative emerges from its literary washing sleekly pristine – or at least as best as we are able to render it. In my limited experience, of both biological as wel Read more of this blog post »

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