Historical fiction author CW Gortner has a new book that was inspired by his readers who, after reading  “The Last Queen” about  Juana of Castile, urged him to go back and write about Juana’s mother’s early years and how she came to power.

So the new book is about Queen Isabella of Castile…”The Queen’s Vow.” No one thought that Isabella would grow up to hold any power…but through a series of events, she indeed does. And she’s a tough gal, going against what she was told to do and what she was forbidden to do.

Although the words are from CW’s imagination, the history is real. And absolutely fascinating.

CW notes that a lot of our popular history has been written by men so he writes his historical fiction from the point of view of  the powerful women of the time. And his time of choice is the Renaissance. Between the sex scandals and the fabulous fashions, there’s plenty to talk about!

CW puts on his tour guide hat and tells us about his research travel and the beautiful castles in Spain that are still standing today.

In addition to his historical novels, CW writes thrillers set in the Tudor era.