Current Works and Events

Coming from Samhain in June 2010

Living breath-to-breath beneath the shadow of violence, Italian perfumer and apothecary Allegra Grimaldi was forced to learn the killing arts from the Hand of God—a religious assassin. She has sworn never to use her deadly skills, but now a blackmailer has her by the proverbial throat.

To save her family from an ugly death, she must do the unthinkable. Infiltrate the court of King Henry VIII, poison the heretic Anne Boleyn before she becomes queen—and frame Anne’s bastard brother for the crime. Honest and principled, Sir Joscelin is the perfect pawn.

Allegra is clever, captivating…and her warning to Anne of the plot immediately rouses Joscelin’s suspicion. Sworn to protect his sister, and striving for recognition from the powerful father who disdains him, Joscelin has no choice but to put aside his attraction to the mysterious lady and gather evidence to see her burn for witchcraft.

To avert a disaster that will change the face of Europe, this stalwart soldier of incorruptible integrity and the fallen woman who breathes deception must learn to trust each other—and discover the one truth that could save them all.

More great news from the lovely women at River City Romance Writers. I have now learned that BOTH of the manuscripts I submitted for the contest have finalled: Russian Seduction in the mystery/suspense category, and Devil’s Mistress in the historical category. So Mistress will now be read and judged by an editor from Samhain Publishing.

I have to say this is encouraging feedback. I entered Mistress in several contests over the winter in order to get some feedback from within the romance industry on the read. And the story has now finalled in the first two contests where I’ve entered it. Of course, it has also benefitted from being workshopped by fellow students in the Stonecoast program at University of Southern Maine, where I’m earning my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. As part of the program, I submit monthly writing packets to my faculty mentor, who this semester is the excellent horror/romance/YA author Nancy Holder…who has been fantastic to me. She’s helped a great deal in making my courtesan-assassin heroine in Devil’s Mistress a sympathetic character, which was not exactly easy to do!

I’ll keep you all posted on how the story does in these contests!

Cheers,
Xenia

Just got a call today from the good folks at the Yellow Rose chapter of the Romance Writers of America. My dark Tudor romance, The Devil’s Mistress, has finalled in the Yellow Rose contest! This is the first of several contests in which I’ve entered the story, and it’s encouraging that the manuscript has finalled in the first one I’ve entered. The final round is being judged by May Chen, an editor at Harper Collins. I was at the horse races when the call came, and the news certainly made my day!

For those who are unfamiliar with the contest circuit, the goals (at least my goals) for entering these contests are 1) to get feedback on a new manuscript from within the romance industry, 2) to gain a useful credential and selling point if the manuscript should final or win, 3) to get a manuscript in front of editors who often decline to read unagented submissions, meaning a contest final is one of the few ways to attract their attention, and 4) in the best possible outcome, to elicit an editor “request” to read the full manuscript.

I’ll know the results of this contest in a few weeks, and of course I’ll post the outcome here! If you’re interested in finding out more about the Yellow Rose contest or the Yellow Rose chapter of RWA, you can sate your curiosity at www.yellowroserwa.com

Set in the glittering world of Renaissance England, THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS is a dark and sexy Tudor romance of 90,000 words about a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn.

In 1528, revelry consumes Henry Tudor’s Christmas court. But beneath this festive façade seethes a viper’s pit of deception. Henry conspires to divorce his Spanish Queen—a fervent Catholic—and replace her with his alluring Protestant mistress Anne Boleyn. But Spain will do anything to prevent it. When Spain schemes to poison the heretic Boleyn, a reluctant lady assassin called the Devil’s Mistress is blackmailed to do the deed.

Living breath-to-breath beneath the shadow of violence, Italian perfumer and apothecary Allegra Grimaldi has sworn never to kill. Clever and wary of men’s designs, she learned the killing arts under duress from her infamous father, the Hand of God—a religious assassin who slays evildoers. To escape burning for a crime she didn’t commit, Allegra pretends to accept the Spanish commission, and disguises herself in London as the Spanish ambassador’s mistress.

When Allegra warns Anne Boleyn of the threat, she rouses suspicion from Anne’s bastard brother—the valiant French soldier Sir Joscelin Boleyn, who has sworn to protect his infamous sister. To avert a disaster that would change the face of Europe, this stalwart soldier of incorruptible integrity and the fallen woman who breathes deception must learn to trust each other, and discover the truth of love.

THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS is agented by JD DeWitt at The View Literary Agency (www.theviewlit.com). An “exclusive peek” at the first chapter is also posted for interested readers at www.XeniaNavarre.com . Check back with the blog regularly to get the latest updates!