Michelle Moran | |
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 Michelle Moran with a copy of her fifth book, The Second Empress | |
| Born | August 11, 1980 San Fernando Valley, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Website | |
| www | |
Michelle Moran (born August 11, 1980) is an American novelist known for her historical fiction writing. [1]
Michelle Moran was born in California's San Fernando Valley, August 11, 1980. She took an interest in writing from an early age, purchasing Writer's Market and submitting her stories and novellas to publishers from the time she was twelve. She majored in literature at Pomona College. Following a summer in Israel where she worked as a volunteer archaeologist, she earned an MA from the Claremont Graduate University.
Her experiences at archaeological sites were what inspired her to write historical fiction. A public high school teacher for six years, Moran is currently a full-time writer living in England. [2]
Her first book (2003) was Jezebel, telling the story of this biblical character, a phoenician princess, grown up in a society which granted women relatively strong freedom rights and even powerful positions. She marries Ahab, the king of Israel and experiences intense cultural shock with this patriarchal society and its prophet Elia. This book was only published in Germany (titled Die Phönizierin). 2016 Morgan guessed a publication in the USA not likely because "Biblical fiction is a tough sell right now". [3]
Her ensuing books turned national bestselling historical fiction novels.
The novel Nefertiti is placed in ancient Egypt and tells the story of Nefertiti's sister Mutnodjmet and the events of Nefertiti's marriage to Amenhotep IV until the time of her death. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 984 libraries. [4]
The Heretic Queen tells the story of Nefertari, wife of Ramesses the Great and niece of the "heretic queen", Nefertiti. [5] [6]
Cleopatra's Daughter tells the story of Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, the twin children of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, in the aftermath of the great queen's death as well as living in Rome in the court of Octavian. [7]
Her fifth book, Madame Tussaud, tells the story of Marie Grosholtz, the future "Madame Tussaud", and her rise to prominence as a wax artist during the French Revolution. [8] It was optioned by Gaumont for a miniseries in 2011. Michael Hirst is writing the script. [9]
Her sixth book, "The Second Empress," explores the lives of the women in Napoleon Bonaparte's world. This novel tells the story of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Empress of France and Pauline Bonaparte.
Her seventh book, Rebel Queen, is set in India and talks about the queen Lakshmibai of Jhansi.
Her ninth book is "Mata Hari's Last Dance", telling the story of the famous dutch dancer and spy Mata Hari.
The tenth book, Maria, tells the story of the austrian singer and writer Maria von Trapp.
Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in France. The idea of a beautiful exotic dancer using her powers of seduction as a spy made her name synonymous with the femme fatale. Her story has served as an inspiration for books, films, and other works.
Amarna is an extensive ancient Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city during the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city of Akhetaten was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BC. The name that the ancient Egyptians used for the city is transliterated as Akhetaten or Akhetaton, meaning "the horizon of the Aten".
Madame Tussauds is a wax museum founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the early main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors, which appeared in advertising in 1843.
Eleanor Alice Hibbert was an English writer of historical romances. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in different literary genres, each genre under a different pen name: Jean Plaidy for fictionalized history of European royalty and the three volumes of her history of the Spanish Inquisition, Victoria Holt for gothic romances, and Philippa Carr for a multi-generational family saga. She also wrote light romances, crime novels, murder mysteries and thrillers under pseudonyms Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival, and Ellalice Tate.
A femme fatale, sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to enchant, entice and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as verging on supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, witch, having power over men. Femmes fatales are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, and unease.
Tadukhipa, in the Hurrian language Tadu-Hepa, was a princess of the Mitanni kingdom. The daughter of King Tushratta of Mitanni and his queen Juni, and niece of Artashumara. Tadukhipa's aunt Gilukhipa had married Pharaoh Amenhotep III in his 10th regnal year. Tadukhipa was to marry Amenhotep III more than two decades later.
Maria Isabella Boyd, best known as Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy in the American Civil War. She operated from her father's hotel in Front Royal, Virginia, and provided valuable information to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson in 1862.
Anna Maria "Marie" Tussaud, commonly known as Madame Tussaud, was a French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds, the wax museum she founded in London.
Marie-Thérèse Charlotte was the eldest child of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and their only child to reach adulthood. In 1799 she married her cousin Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the eldest son of Charles, Count of Artois, henceforth becoming the Duchess of Angoulême. She was briefly Queen of France in 1830.
Jezebel was the daughter of Ithobaal I of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel, according to the Book of Kings of the Hebrew Bible.
A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on her female employer. The role of a lady's maid is similar to that of a gentleman's valet.
The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now Amarna. It was marked by the reign of Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in order to reflect the dramatic change of Egypt's polytheistic religion into one where the sun disc Aten was worshipped over all other gods. The Egyptian pantheon was restored under Akhenaten's successor, Tutankhamun.
Cleopatra Selene II was a Ptolemaic princess, Queen of Numidia and Mauretania and Queen of Cyrenaica. She was an important royal woman in the early Augustan age.
Gillian Marucha Bradshaw is an American writer of historical fiction, historical fantasy, children's literature, science fiction, and contemporary science-based novels, who lives in Britain. Her serious historical novels are often set in classical antiquity — Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Byzantine Empire, Saka and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Imperial Rome, Sub-Roman Britain and Roman Britain. She has also written two novels set in the English Civil War.
Mutnedjmet, also spelled Mutnodjmet, Mutnedjemet, etc., was an ancient Egyptian queen, the Great Royal Wife of Horemheb, the last ruler of the 18th Dynasty. The name, Mutnedjmet, translates as: "The sweet Mut" or "Mut is sweet." She was the second wife of Horemheb after Amenia who died before Horemheb became pharaoh.
Margaret George is an American historical novelist specializing in epic fictional biographies. She is known for her meticulous research and the large scale of her books. She is the author of the bestselling novels The Autobiography of Henry VIII (1986), Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1992), The Memoirs of Cleopatra (1997), Mary, Called Magdalene (2002), Helen of Troy (2006), Elizabeth I (2011), The Confessions of Young Nero (2017), and The Splendor Before the Dark (2018).
Elena Maria Vidal, the pen name of Mary-Eileen Russell, is a historical novelist and noted blogger living in Easton, Maryland. She was born in Florence, Oregon and grew up in Frederick, Maryland. She is known for her defense of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette by means of her novels Trianon and Madame Royale, her Tea at Trianon blog, and her 2016 biography entitled Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars
The Memoirs of Cleopatra is a 1997 historical fiction novel written by American author Margaret George, detailing the purported life of Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt. Published on April 15, 1997, it landed on The New York Times Best Seller list for Fiction Hardcover. In 1999, the American network ABC adapted it for television, and released it as a four-part mini series entitled Cleopatra starring the French-Chilean actress Leonor Varela alongside Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane.
Maria Dahvana Headley is an American novelist, memoirist, editor, translator, poet, and playwright. She is a New York Times-bestselling author as well as editor.
Magda Sonja was an Austrian-American actress. She appeared in 42 films between 1917 and 1936, although she is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Mata Hari in Mata Hari: The Red Dancer (1927). Prior to becoming an actress, she was a cabaret performer and chansonnière. She is considered to be one of Austria's first movie stars, only paralleled by Liane Haid.
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