Sofi Has Been Feted! Grazie.
I am grateful to so many people for hosting Lady in Ermine book events the past six months. Since this is my first book, I was uncertain how it would be received, but Sofonisba’s story spread from mouth to mouth and book talk to book group. I am happy to say the feedback has been entirely positive. Quite a few high school teachers and college professors have asked about teaching the novel for history and art history classes. Yes! There’s a page for ACADEMICS at SOFONISBA.NET. Lady in Ermine was published by the ACMRS, selected unanimously for its research and narrative. I’ve appreciated every moment of this book tour and the voice it helped give Sofonisba and her accomplishments.
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At the first launch party, Lorenzo Ortona, the San Francisco Italian Consul General, offered the first comment and said, “I don’t think you found Sofonisba so much as Sofonisba found you.” That comment really stuck with me and encouraged me in the mission to spread Sofonisba’s legacy, especially when I was stumped over how to crack the marketing of a book from a university press (which requires much more work for the author to promote the book).
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It was exciting to see Lady in Ermine on book shelves. The Book Passage has been an incredibly supportive local bookstore.
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I am particularly grateful to the San Francisco Museo Italo Americano for hosting a standing room only launch event and supporting Lady in Ermine, days after the building suffered from a winter storm.
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… and at the San Diego Museum of Art, which has a spectacular portrait of a Spanish Prince by Sofonisba. I am grateful to Michael Brown, Curator of the European Collection, for the gracious invitation.
Surprised how men’s groups enjoyed the story too. Amici d’Oro in San Jose.
Italian groups loved the story of Sofonisba.
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Lady in Ermine started climbing up ratings, right next to Philippa Gregory and Hilary Mantel.
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A reader Patricia Olsen told me she thought Lady in Ermine should be a mini series. So, I’m completing a spec script for the pilot now. Then she sent me this photo she took at the Uffizi Gallery Book Store in Florence. (Grazie, Manuela Scarlatti and Alessandro Salvatici). The Lady shines! A few weeks later, I learned Lady in Ermine is also available at the Prado Museum in Madrid in advance of the Fall, 2019 Prado exhibit of Sofonisba’s work. I’m going to be there on opening day of the exhibit October 22!
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Mostly, I enjoyed the homes that were opened and I’m grateful for the friends who supported the effort, and my family who were always there for me. I want to give a special thank you to Jeannine Grace Lewis and Nancy Wong who walked the path with me, helping me understand social media and marketing—I had no idea how much that would be necessary to launch the story of an historic woman! I am grateful and truly touched by all the encouragement and support I received along the way, in so many, many ways.
At the Mercatino di Natale, Museo Italo Americano, Fort Mason, San Francisco
Most of all, Rick, Jeremy, Nolan, and Wesley, I love you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement over the years. Follow your dreams, boys.
Sofi has been feted! I pray I have done her legacy justice. Check back soon for A RENAISSANCE GIRL: THE STORY OF SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, a biography on the artist’s life, and the LADY IN ERMINE SERIES, upcoming novels about Queen Isabel de Valois, Catherine de Medici, and the Lady in Ermine herself, the Infanta Catalina Micaela.
June 2019.
Lady In Ermine: The Story of A Woman Who Painted The Renaissance 