Cover Reveal BECOMING JOSEPHINE by Heather Webb

  BECOMING JOSEPHINE

by Heather Webb

BECOMING JOSEPHINE is Heather Webb’s debut historical about Napoleon’s empress, a woman in search of eternal love and stability, and ultimately her search for self. It releases December 31, 2013 from Plume/Penguin. Stop by her blog BetweentheSheets  and leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble or a $20 gift card to Amazon. Pre-order her novel (present a receipt) and win a Josephine hand mirror with a velvet bag.

PRE-ORDER 

 Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or Amazon

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Rose Tascher sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris to trade her Creole black magic culture for love and adventure. She arrives exultant to follow her dreams of attending Court with Alexandre, her elegant aristocrat and soldier husband. But Alexandre dashes her hopes and abandons her amid the tumult of the French Revolution. 

Through her savoir faire, Rose secures her footing in high society, reveling in handsome men and glitzy balls—until the heads of her friends begin to roll. 

After narrowly escaping death in the blood-drenched cells of Les Carmes prison, she reinvents herself as Josephine, a socialite of status and power. Yet her youth is fading, and Josephine must choose between a precarious independence and the love of an awkward suitor. Little does she know, he would become the most powerful man of his century- Napoleon Bonaparte. 

BECOMING JOSEPHINE is a novel of one woman’s journey to find eternal love and stability, and ultimately to find herself.

ADVANCE PRAISE

Becoming Josephine has already been featured in a Wall Street Journal piece on the popularity of historical fiction featuring the wives of famous men.

“Heather Webb’s epic novel captivates from its opening in a turbulent plantation society in the Caribbean, to the dramatic rise of one of France’s most fascinating women: Josephine Bonaparte. Perfectly balancing history and story, character and setting, detail and pathos, Becoming Josephine marks a debut as bewitching as its protagonist." –Erika Robuck, author of Hemingway's Girl

“With vivid characters and rich historical detail, Heather Webb has portrayed in Josephine a true heroine of great heart, admirable strength, and inspiring courage whose quest is that of women everywhere: to find, and claim, oneself.”  --Sherry Jones, bestselling author of The Jewel of the Medina

“Josephine's warmth and complexity comes to vibrant life in this fascinating novel rich with vivid historical detail."—Teresa Grant, Author of THE PARIS AFFAIR

"Vivid and passionate, Becoming Josephine captures the fiery spirit of the woman who stole Napoleon’s heart and enchanted an empire. –Susan Spann, author of The Shinobi Mysteries

“A fast-paced, riveting journey, Becoming Josephine captures the volatile mood of one of the most intense periods of history—libertine France, Caribbean slave revolts, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars—from the point of a view of one of its key witnesses, Josephine Bonaparte.” –Dana Gynther, author of Crossing on the Paris

“Spellbinding . . . Heather Webb’s novel takes us behind the mask of the Josephine we thought we knew.” –Christy English, author of How to Tame a Willful Wife and To Be Queen

“Enchanting prose takes the reader on an unforgettable journey . . . Captivating young Rose springs from the lush beauty of her family's sugar plantation in Martinique to shine in the eighteenth century elegance of Parisian salon society. When France is torn by revolution, not even the blood-bathed terror of imprisonment can break her spirit.” –Marci Jefferson, author of Girl on the Gold Coin, Thomas Dunne Books, 2014

What the Hell is Writing In My Own Voice?

Painting by Sally Touch-Moser

Ah well, another day - another rewrite. I had a few things that were really bugging me about my manuscript, it took me forever to realize what it was. And the thing that made me figure it out was actually the words that hurt me the most. "I like the concept of the novel. Unfortunately, though, I don't think it is quite right for me. The narrative voice did not really work for me, I did not connect to it as much as I had hoped, thus, I am stepping aside for an agent who will." An agent commented that he didn't identify with the voice in my writing. Of curse, I felt like he was saying he didn't like the way I spoke, because after all I am the narrator. Until I remembered something my husband said to me months ago when I read him a few pages "it doesn't really sound like you. It's good but..."

My biggest mistake was taking those things personally and not listening. When I finally heard what they were both saying, I was able to give myself permission to write in my own voice. I don't know why I'd been afraid to before now, maybe I thought I was supposed to come with this magical writer's voice. I don't know, but when I looked at my manuscript with new eyes, I saw it. I was lost in there, only pieces of me were coming through the pages.

I decided to take it a chapter at a time and find me, strengthen my voice, my words and tell my story - my way.

My mistake had been to follow some imaginary leader instead of forging my own path.

Baaaaad idea. I've ripped apart four chapters so far, and I love them! Once again, learn from my mistakes and give yourself permission right up front to be you and write in your own way, not by how some book or teacher tells you to write.