Maw Books

Maw Books – book reviews, book recommendations, book lists, author interviews and more!

Yesterday I reviewed The Raucous Royals, Test Your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries and Deduce Which Royal Rumors Are True by Carlyn Becci (read that review here), a fun, new picture book that investigates whether or not rumors about famous royalty from history are true or false.  Carlyn has graced us with a wonderful interview, so please make her feel welcome and help yourself to the porridge.

Maw Books:  Can you tell us a bit about yourself to introduce yourself to our readers?

Carlyn Beccia: My name is Carlyn Beccia and I am an author and illustrator of books for young adults. In my past life, I must have lived in the 16th century because I have always had a talent for horseback riding and I am scary good with a cross bow.

Maw Books:  Now I’m worried.  Remind me not to cross your path!  What was the inspiration behind the witty The Raucous Royals?

Carlyn Beccia: Mary Queen of Scots. Now there’s a woman who caused a lot of raucous. Over 450 years later and still no one can agree on whether she was a silly tart or a victim of unjust rumors. She was the first royal that I fell in love with. That led to my next love…Elizabeth I. And that led to another and another. I kept thinking – all these amazing stories…why didn’t I hear them in high school and college? I felt jipped! The biographies that were taught to me were so watered down that I hardly remembered any of them and what I did remember were mainly just rumors: Napoleon was short. Marie Antoinette said let them eat cake. Anne Boleyn had six fingers. Catherine the Great had a thing for horses. How did I miss the real people behind these rumors? All those court intrigues, love scandals, murders and follies committed – those are the stories that I wanted to tell.  And that is the reason for the book’s format. I wanted the reader to hear the rumor alone first and then guess if it was true or false. You often don’t get to hear both sides first. The book’s format invites readers to experience how a rumor is told and then dive deeper into the truth behind it.

Maw Books:  I read that prior to returning to illustration, you worked as an animator.  Can you tell me more about that?  My husband is an animator as well.

Carlyn Beccia: Yes, I had several jobs before returning to illustration. Animation was great training for illustrating books. It taught me how to keep the reader turning the page.

Maw Books:  What was more fun:  writing the text or illustrating the book?

Carlyn Beccia: They are both fun and they both drive me crazy too. Towards the end of the writing, I sometimes start to get a little burnt out and I will say things like, “I miss illustrating…I just want illustrate books.” And at the end of painting the illustrations for a book, I will say, “I miss writing, I wish I was writing something.”

Maw Books:  What was the research like for The Raucous Royals?

Carlyn Beccia: It was more like truth seeking then research. It’s amazing how history can be interpreted differently by so many scholars. I remember being taught that famous people in history fell into these neat columns of good or evil. I didn’t want to do that to readers. I wanted readers to come to their own conclusions and see all the different areas of gray, and most importantly, judge these royals in the time period in which they lived. I hope in the end that readers will always question everything they read.

Maw Books:  What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the book to life?

Carlyn Beccia: Psychologically – Being objective was tough. It’s human nature to interject our own opinions. Logistically- My budget would not allow traveling to every country represented in the book. I chose to visit France and the UK for my research, but someday I would love to visit Dracula’s tomb.

Maw Books:  Dracula’s tomb exists?  Cool!  Who is your most favorite person that you wrote about in The Raucous Royals and why?

Carlyn Beccia: Oh that is tough. I love them all like they are my children…but naughty children. Since the book is about rumors, I would have to say that Elizabeth I as a ruler was a master of statecraft and political propaganda. She had to be to survive! As a woman, she is a bit of an enigma. I feel that I could research Elizabeth for years and years and still never know the real woman behind the crown. To me, that is what makes her so fascinating. We get two Elizabeths – Elizabeth the Virgin Queen and Elizabeth the woman.

Maw Books:  On page 36-37 Queen Elizabeth list’s her favorite and not so favorite things.  Out of the eleven what are your favorites?

Carlyn Beccia: I definitely share Elizabeth’s fear of dentists and her sweet tooth. I would love to learn how to dance a Volta. It is probably much harder than it looks with all that throwing your partner into the air.

Maw Books:  And have you adopted any Elizabethan curses in your household?

Carlyn Beccia: I have a bad habit of calling my 1 year old daughter “my little strumpet” …not exactly a term of endearment in the Elizabethan age.

Maw Books:  I’ll have to keep that one in mind, even though I’m not 100% sure what it means.  I always ask every author I interview to share a recipe with us, especially if it pertains to their book in anyway. I doubt you have recipes for Boar’s Head, Pigeon Pie, Swan Pudding, Roasted Eel, Picked Pig’s Feet, Whole Backed Fish with Spices and Prunes (okay – this one maybe), Marzipan Cake or Quince Marmalade.  But perhaps you have another favorite?  Or maybe even bread, as it was a staple of their diet?

Carlyn Beccia: I would love to share with your readers how to get sparrows to fly out of a pie! Unfortunately, I don’t have that recipe. But I do have the recipe for succory porridge or “pottage” that didn’t make it into the book. Just boil the following ingredients in a big pot and enjoy: Mutton or Beef, Water, Violet leaves, Endive, Succory, Strawberry leaves, Spinach, marigold flowers , Scallions, Parsley, Oatmeal.

Maw Books:  And where does one get violet leaves?  Do you raid the garden?  As an author/illustrator, what are some of your favorite books?

Carlyn Beccia: Anything by Jeanette Winterson, Alison Weir, Ken Follet, John Green, or Antonia Fraser.  I read Plaidy when I am feeling indulgent.

Maw Books:  What can your fans look forward to next?

Carlyn Beccia: My next book is called, I Feel Better with a Frog in my Throat (title pending) and will be released in 2010 by Houghton Mifflin. The book features the most bizarre and grossest cures doctors have used throughout history – leeches, maggots, ground up mummies, unicorn horns and occasional frog slime. I am currently practicing painting blood stains on aged paper. Fun stuff!

Maw Books:  I would love to read that one! It seriously sounds fantastic!  Thank you so much Caryln!

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.  Visit the Raucous Royal’s website and blog.

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