Elizabeth J St John

Thanks to all my wonderful FB Friends and Tweeps who voted on the very clear winner to narrate and produce the Audio Book for The Lady of the Tower. I’m now at the next stage – a critical review of the first 20 minutes of the book! How does this sound to you – a great cross section of mature and young Lucy, Allen, Barbara and Joan. Post a comment or drop me an email and let me know if this meets your imagination of the characters!

I was recently asked to contribute to The Recipes Project, an international group of scholars interested in the history of recipes, ranging from magical charms to veterinary remedies. Old recipes can tell us a lot about the past, such as how medicines were prepared, when certain foods became popular, or why ingredients might be magical. Here’s my article about how Lady Johanna St.John’s Recipe Book inspired The Lady of the Tower.

Placing Historical Recipes in Fiction: The Lady of the Tower

I am excited to be exploring options to publish an Audio Book of The Lady of the Tower. Working with ACX.com, I have been auditioning narrators for the past few weeks, and was pleased with the caliber and quality of the submissions. I’ve narrowed the list down to six, and have posted them below. I would love your feedback on them. I gave them two scenes from the book, which I thought would give a good cross section of emotion and characterization. The book will have just one narrator, so an ability to assume different roles is crucial. All are talented actresses, with an ability to provide a number of different accents, and all are native English-speaking. Here’s a recap:

Scene 1 – Lucy and Allen, where Allen declares his intent to marry her.

Scene 2 – Lucy, Barbara and Theo, where Lucy confronts and accuses them of the betrayal they played on her.

I’d love your feedback on:

Characterization, Clarity, Emotional Connection and Appropriate Age. Lucy ages from 14 to 44 in the book, so it’s important that the narrator has a voice that can stretch this age. And, if you’ve read the book, who do you personally think is the Lucy you imagined. If you could please rank your top three, and why you chose #1, that would be wonderful.

Auditions

#A – LOTT GdC

#B LOTT HT

(N/A)

#C LOTT ADJ

#D LOTT JEB

#E LOTT BM

#F LOTT BT

Please email me your thoughts by January 31st at elizabethjstjohn@gmail.com, or leave a comment on this post.

Thank you so very much! I’m excited to hear your thoughts and so appreciate you helping me on this project.

I do think of England as home in many ways – and although I love where I live in Southern California, there is always a special place in my heart for Lydiard. This recent article in Swindon link sums my feelings up nicely https://swindonlink.com/award-winning-author-flies-home-for-lydiard-park-book-launch/

So sorry to say goodbye to Swindon Heritage Magazine, a brilliant publication that has done so much to highlight the arts and history of Swindon. And so very grateful that they chose to honor “The Lydiard Chronicles” in the final issue, and delighted to share the page with another “Lydiard Author” the very talented Nicola Cornick.

Thank you – I will forever keep this. Hoping the editorial staff will still be active in the community, doing the vitally important work of keeping our heritage and history alive.

Such a wonderful event at Lydiard House, with the launch of By Love Divided. A big thank you to the friends, family and colleagues who attended, and made this such a special day. We started with a fascinating tour of St. Mary’s Church and its rare and unique monuments (including The Golden Cavalier – Colonel Edward St.John who appears in the book). Then, back to Lydiard House for mince pies, tea and a talk, where I gave a presentation on the characters and places in the book. Just lovely!

News Article

I just spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon at a great bookstore in Pt. Loma, San Diego. La Playa books, a local, family-owned bookstore, is a treasure trove of new and used books, and boasts a large history section, which I made short work of. La Playa really knows how to make an author feel welcome – from a beautiful window display, my very own personalized sandwich board sign, and a great tea and biscuits table. I had some lovely conversations with readers, ranging from women’s roles in writing history, through to the influence of the English Civil War in the American Revolution and Constitution. We also planned a birthday party for a sprightly 90 year old visitor and history lover, and wondered if she would enjoy a “silver fox” jumping from her birthday cake. All in all, a lovely afternoon, and I just want to thank La Playa Books, and all they do for the community. https://www.laplayabooks.com/