Art In Fiction

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Join me as I chat with Laura  Morelli, author of six novels listed on Art In FIction: The Gondola Maker in the Other category, and five novels in the Visual Arts category: The Painter's Apprentice, The Giant, The Night Portrait, The Stolen Lady, and The Last Masterpiece, which we will discuss in this episode.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K1Zru2kCdtQ

• Genesis for The Last Masterpiece
• A tale of two heroines, one American and one Austrian, on opposite sides of the war
• Fascination with how different stories were constructed around a series of historical events related to works of art
• Why Florence? Its role as a mecca for art historians and the WWII experience
• How the blowing up of Florence's bridges in WWII forms the linchpin in the novel
• The remains of medieval houses in Florence; what we can still see today
• How Laura discovered a real person very much like her fictional Ava, a German photographer named Hilda Lotz Bauer
• The experiences of a WAC in Italy in WWII and the role they played in the war effort
• Shades of grey in how art was handled both by the Allied and the Axis sides in WWII
• Media and misinformation in WWII
• What is the appeal of Art In Fiction? Laura answers!
• Reading from The Last Masterpiece
• One thing Laura learned from writing her novels that she didn't know before

Press Play now & be sure to check out Laura Morelli's novels on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=laura+morelli

Laura Morelli's website: https://lauramorelli.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you. 

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Laurie Lico Albanese, author of three novels listed on Art In FIction, including Hester listed in the Textile Arts category and Stolen Beauty and The Miracles of Prato (co-written with Laura Morowitz) listed in the Visual Arts category on Art In Fiction.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vUuYVDmYdDQ

• Inspiration for Hester
• Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and its relationship to Hester: who was the real Hester Prynne?
• Why the novel is not about a love affair between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller
• How Isobel Gamble's story is similar to Hester Prynne's, and how it differs
• Synthesthesia in Hester and how it informs the gorgeous descriptive writing
• Why the category for Hester changed from Literature to Textile Arts
• Embroidery as a feminist act
• How women and men view the future
• The hero's journey vs. the heroine's journey
• Nathaniel Hawthorne had his issues
• Reading from Hester
• Witchcraft and slavery in Hester
• The theme of Hester
• One thing Laurie learned from writing her novels that she didn't know before

Press Play now & be sure to check out Laurie Lico Albanese's novels on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=albanese

Laurie Lico Albanese's website: https://www.laurielicoalbanese.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you. 

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Margaret Ann Philbrick, author of two novels listed on Art In FIction: House of  Honor listed in the Visual Arts category and A Minor listed in the Music category.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vUuYVDmYdDQ

• Genesis of House of Honor
• Obession with the life and work of Caravaggio
• Heist of Caravaggio's Nativity (still unsolved) as inspiration for the novel
• Use of color plates of Caravaggio's work in the print and ebook editions of the novel
• Why is Caravaggio's work so compelling?
• Writing in Caravaggio's voice in House of Honor
• Researching the mafia and the Catholic church for House of Honor
• The character of Orazio Bordoni - redemption and the prodigal son
• Reading from House of Honor
• Travels in Italy and Orazio's neighborhood in Rome in the 1960s.
• Music and Alzheimer's in A Minor
• Why Margaret doesn't have a smartphone!
• One thing Margaret learned from writing her novels that she didn't know before

Press Play now & be sure to check out Margaret Ann Philbrick's novels on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=philbrick

Margaret Ann Philbrick's website: https://margaretphilbrick.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you. 

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Margaret Porter, author of four novels listed on Art In FIction, including A Change of Location, The Limits of Limelight, and Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr listed in the Film category, and The Myrtle Wand listed in the Dance category.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ijPu_SVzY1c

• Why switch to a new genre - "romcom" - from historical fiction?
• Writing fiction as a "palette cleanser"
• Inspiration for A Change of Location
• Summary of A Change of Location
• Why set the novel in Somerset?
• The concept of a "smart" love story and how A Change of Location fits the bill
• Challenges of writing contemporary fiction as opposed to historical fiction.
• Reading from A Change of Location
• Discussion of Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr; why write a novel about Hedy Lamarr?
• Hedy Lamarr's eventful life - myth-busting and research
• What was Hedy Lamarr like as a person? What motivated her?
• Hedy's inventions
• Inspiration forThe Limits of Limelight
• Women reinventing themselves
• The Myrtle Wand and the re-telling of the Giselle ballet
• One thing Margaret Porter learned from writing her novels that she didn't know before
• Write what you're passionate about!

Press Play now & be sure to check out Margaret Porter's novels on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=margaret+porter

Margaret Porter's website: https://www.margaretporter.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Zoe Disigny, author of The Art of Traveling Strangers, listed in the Visual Arts category on Art In Fiction.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dYPEJThuFqk

• Inspiration for The Art of Traveling Strangers, based on an experience Zoe had while hosting art tours of Europe in the 1980s
• How her background as an art history professor helped her write her novel
• Making art accessible in The Art of Traveling Strangers
• The four Davids in The Art of Traveling Strangers: Donatello, Michelangelo, Verrocchio, and Bernini
• A favorite David?
• Intertwining the art travelogue with the story of Claire's journey to self-realization
• The long process of turning a 22,000-word travelogue into a novel
• Reading from The Art of Traveling Strangers
• The work of Niki de Saint Phalle, mentioned at the beginning of the novel
• The work of James Tyrell at Count Panza's villa in Italy
• The theme of The Art of Traveling Strangers
• One thing Zoe Disigny learned from writing her novel that she didn't know before
• Advice for authors starting their writing careers later in life
• What Zoe is working on now

Press Play now & be sure to check out The Art of Traveling Strangers on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels/the-art-of-traveling-strangers

Zoe Disigny's website: https://zoedisigny.com/

Places mentioned in the podcast:
Tarot Garden in Tuscany
Queen Califia's Magic Garden in Escondido
Villa Panza in Varese

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Barbara Quick, author of Vivaldi's Virgins and What Disappears, both listed in the Visual Arts category on Art In Fiction.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nYq1nLL4xv4

• Inspiration for What Disappears going back several decades to when Barbara was just 22 years old
• Revisiting old work after it's "ripened"
• The role of idential twins in What Disappears
• Writing a great villain in fashion designer Paul Poiret
• Researching the fashion components in What Disappears
• What it was like to be a dancer in Belle Époque Paris
• Barbara's love of dance
• Debut of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring  in Paris and the Riot at the Rite
• The role played by anti-semitism in both Tsarist Russia and Paris in the novel
• The theme of healing in What Disappears
• Reading from What Disappears
• Writing poetry and prose: two sides of the same coin?
• One thing Barbara Quick learned from writing novels that she didn't know before
• What Barbara is working on now

Press Play now & be sure to check out Vivaldi's Virgins and What Disappears on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=barbara+quick

Barbara Quick's website: https://www.barbaraquick.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join me as I chat with Linda Moore, author of Attribution and Five Days in Bogotá, both listed in the Visual Arts category on Art In Fiction.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X33FE57ZDk4 

• How Linda's background as the owner of an art gallery and her experience at an art fair in Colombia in the 1990s helped inspire her to write Five Days in Bogotá
• The political situation in Colombia and how it's changed over the decades
• Colombia as a significant economic force in South America
• The role Nobel laureate and author of 100 Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez plays in the novel
• A short reading from Five Days in Bogotá featuring a scene with Gabriel García Márquez that actually happened.
• The role auctions and inflating art prices plays in the art world and the novel
• Why Linda starting writing novels later in life
• Five Days in Bogotá - a thriller or a thriller light?
• Genesis of Attribution, which is set in Spain and revolves around Baroque art
• Fascinating world of authenticating old paintings
• One thing Linda Moore learned from writing novels that she didn't know before.

Press Play now & be sure to check out Attribution and Five Days in Bogotá on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=linda+moore

Linda Moore's website: https://lindamooreauthor.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Listen in as I chat with Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight, co-authors of Can't We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe listed in the Music category on Art In Fiction.

View the Video on YouTube

• How Denny & Eliza decided to write their novel about Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
• Research tidbits that led them into the story
• How both Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe changed the face of entertainment, Ella in jazz and Marilyn in film
• Marilyn Monroe as one of the first female producers
• Ella Fitzgerald's influence on jazz and how she made sure she was in the mix for each change in music trends within jazz
• What the friendship meant from each woman's point of view 
• The power of female friendship; quote from Michele Obama
• Ella and Marilyn, and their relationships with the men in their lives
• How Can't We Be Friends is a novel about striving to be the best, about excellence even more than fame
• How Ella Fitzgerald was "dangerous"
• Challenges that Eliza & Denny faced writing a novel about two real people
• Reading by Denny Bryce from Can't We Be Friends
• Reading by Eliza Knight from Can't We Be Friends
• The collaboration process; how Denny & Eliza wrote the novel together
• What both Eliza & Denny learned from writing Can't We Be Friends
• Use of first and third person in Can't We Be Friends
• The power of spreadsheets!
• What Denny is working on now
• What Eliza is working on now

Press Play now & be sure to check out Can't We Be Friends on Art In Fiction.
Denny S. Bryce's Website
Eliza Knight's Website

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join  me as I chat with Daisy Goodwin, author of Diva listed in the Music category on Art In Fiction.

View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dYCDxSyXwAU

Highlights include:

• Why Daisy chose to write a novel about Maria Callas, the great opera singer
• The nature of the female genius
• What's a diva?
• Writing about a real person; getting into their head
• Maria Callas's difficult relationship with her mother
• Maria and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis
• Daisy Goodwin's favorite opera
• The theme of Diva
• Reading from Diva
• Challenges of writing a novel that are different from writing screenplays and other forms of writing
• Why historical fiction?
• What Daisy has learned from writing historical fiction
• Research advice when writing historical fiction
• Daisy's new novel about the later years of Queen Victoria 

Press Play now & be sure to check out Diva on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels/diva

Daisy Goodwin's Website: https://www.daisygoodwin.co.uk/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

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Join  me as I chat with Nancy Bilyeau, author of several arts-inspired novels on Art In Fiction, including The Orchid Hour about a speakeasy in 1923 Jazz-Age New York and listed in the Theater category on Art In Fiction.

View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CvIYJYb-PfQ

Highlights include:

• Why Nancy set her latest novel in Prohibition-era New York
• The role played by the Italian American immigrant community in the novel
• Researching organized crime in Jazz-Age New York 
• Real speakeasies and the fictional Orchid Hour speakeasy 
• Liberation of women in the 1920s
• Greenwich Village as the setting for The Orchid Hour speakeasy
• Prohibition in Jazz-Age New York - did the cops really care?
• Why orchids?
• Themes in The Orchid Hour
• Reading from The Orchid Hour
• Discussion of The Fugitive Colours, the follow-up novel to The Blue
• Journey of a female artist/spy in 18th-century London
• Opportunities for female painters in the 18th century
• What Nancy has learned from writing historical fiction
• Nancy's next novel: The Versailles Formula 

Press Play now & be sure to check out The Orchid Hour and Nancy's other novels on Art In Fiction: https://www.artinfiction.com/novels?q=nancy+bilyeau

Nancy Bilyeau's Website: https://nancybilyeau.com/

Music Credit
Paganology, performed by The Paul Plimley Trio; composed by Gregg Simpson

This website contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.  

Support the show

Are you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.

Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.

Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...