Catherine’s Mercy is Out Now!

Okay, technically Catherine’s Mercy came out yesterday, but I wasn’t able to write this blog post because…well, just trust me. Anyway, its here! I am so proud of this book and so happy that it is out in the world! Last night, I even had the amazing experience of seeing it advertised in Times Square, right next to a Billboard that was just advertising the musical Wicked a few moments before!

Many of you know that Catherine’s Mercy started out life as a short story called Consequences. For those who read it, I hope you enjoy learning more about Catherine, Margaret, Grace and Lord Montague (and several new characters). If you haven’t, I hope you will take a chance on another amazing historical woman, Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy despite having an aversion to religious life.

Please note: this book is mainstream historical fiction, not Christian or inspirational fiction. There may be scenes that those who are sensitive may find offensive. But nothing is gratuitous and everything serves the plot and is historically accurate.

Anywho, I wanted to re-share the blog posts I wrote when Consequences came out, as well as the Pinterest board for the book.

Also, these were the book rankings from yesterday on Amazon. Look at the bottom one. Does anyone else see irony in this?

About Catherine’s Mercy
Here’s more information about the book and where you can buy it. I hope to do more blog posts related to the book soon, but I can’t make any promises because life is crazy right now. (Maybe I’ll do a personal post on that in a bit…still deciding.) Regardless, I love you all and thank you for your continued support.

Outrageous. Unprecedented. Irrepressible. Words not often used to describe someone on the path to sainthood. But Catherine McAuley was no ordinary woman.

In 1824, Catherine, a Catholic spinster of 44, unexpectedly inherits millions. However, unlike most women, she doesn’t use it to climb the social ladder or snare a husband; she uses it to fulfil a lifelong dream of building a refuge for the poor and sick of Dublin, Ireland, run by women of faith like herself. That an unmarried woman would dare propose such a thing is so scandalous, even her own brother calls it “Kitty’s Folly.” Dublin society turns against her. The Church tries to take over. To all of these men in positions of power, Catherine must defend her choices or risk losing not only her inheritance, but her reputation and her life’s calling.

One of the first women who seeks Catherine’s aid is Margaret, a maid in the house of Lord Montague, the loudest of Catherine’s detractors. Daring to protect herself from his advances and rebel against his maxim of total obedience, Margaret is left with no choice but to flee or face his wrath. Desperate, she goes to Catherine for help, setting off a series of events that would haunt Catherine for the rest of her days.

Remembering Margaret’s escape, Grace, another of Lord Montague’s servants, soon seeks refuge at the House of Mercy after being dismissed without a reference. There she is taken under the wing of Anna Maria, Catherine’s closest friend, and becomes an integral part of running the burgeoning ministry. However, unbeknownst to all, Grace is also one of its greatest threats, for she knows secrets her former employer would do anything to keep and that the Church could use to destroy Catherine’s ministry.

Based on a true story, Catherine’s Mercy, brings to life the exciting tale of Irish reformer Catherine McAuley and the women who helped found the Sisters of Mercy religious order, one of the first to minister in their communities rather than pray behind cloister walls. As a laywoman and then a nun, Catherine is a beacon of mercy and compassion in a world much in need of both.

Buy hardback or ebook

U.S.

Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop US | iBooks | Target | Walmart |
Chalice Press | Indie Bound (independent bookstores)

International

Blackwells | Hive | Kobo | Amazon Australia | Amazon Brazil | Amazon Canada | Amazon France | Amazon Germany | Amazon India | Amazon Italy | Amazon Japan | Amazon Mexico | Amazon Spain | Amazon UK

New Book Out Today: Fierce Females on Televison

If you’re in Times Square New York City on Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m., look up and you just might see the ad for my book!

Need a book to curl up with as we head into Spooky Season and the cold months ahead? If you’re a fan of television (and who isn’t or at least hasn’t been?) I’ve got a book for you!

It’s publication day for Fierce Females on Television: A Cultural History, my analysis of 10 TV shows from the 1990s through now, showing how beginning with the third wave of feminism, women were increasingly allowed to embrace their whole being and wield their power, both on television and in life. Shows covered include:

  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • Charmed
  • Alias
  • Nikita
  • Agent Carter
  • Jessica Jones
  • Homeland
  • House of Cards
  • Orphan Black
  • The Equalizer (Queen Latfa version)

Interested in buying? You can get it in ebook and hardback pretty much anywhere books are sold, but here are a few links I’ve rounded up:

U.S.

Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop US | iBooks | Walmart |
Rowman & Littlefield | Indie Bound (independent bookstores)

International

Blackwells | Bookshop UK  | Foyles | Hive | Kobo | Waterstones

Amazon Australia | Amazon Brazil | Amazon Canada | Amazon France | Amazon Germany Amazon India  | Amazon Italy Amazon Japan |  Amazon Mexico | Amazon Spain |  Amazon UK

Reviews

“[An] entertaining study…The analysis is smart…[and] fans will enjoy the fresh insights into some old favorites.” – Publisher’s Weekly

“Expertly conveys how each of the ten shows was groundbreaking in its representation of women taking center stage and fighting against the many obstacles in their way while inspiring female audiences…A thoughtful and accessible read for teen fans looking for a deeper dive into any of the featured shows.” — Booklist

“[T]his is an accessible study of archetypes and their pop culture iterations. Evelina gives viewers of the featured 10 shows an excuse to binge watch some of their old favorites. — Library Journal

“When it comes to expositions on fierce and fearless females, there’s no better authority than Nicole Evelina. Her deep dives into the badass—and, sometimes, sadly forgotten—women of history is unparalleled, and her research is second-to-none…Fierce Females on Television is… a must-read for both feminists and gender studies scholars alike. – Bernadette R. Giacomazzo, author of In Living Color: A Cultural History and The Golden Girls: A Cultural History

“Mixes a breezy writing style with a comprehensive overview of the emerging bad-assery of women on television from the mid-1990s to the present day…[and] focuses on the nuances—and responsibilities—of power and what it means for a woman to wield it.” — Erin Giannini, author of Supernatural: A History of Television’s Unearthly Road Trip

It’s “Sex & The City” Publication Day!

Break out your Manolos and pour yourself a cosmo – it’s publication day for Sex & the City: A Cultural History!

This book is both nostalgia and critical commentary. The nostalgia comes from me as a 20-something watching the show for the first time, thinking it represented real life. The critical commentary comes from my 40-something self who can look back on it and see what an impact it had on society and where it clearly missed the mark. I tried to be as honest as possible in my criticism because I feel that that is the point of a book like this.

Library Journal LOVED it, calling the book “Insightful… interesting, well-researched.”

If you are or ever were a Sex and the City fan, PLEASE check out this book. I’m really interested to hear what you think!

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CELEBRATE WITH ME!

TikTok Live
Tuesday, November 15 (tonight!)
7 p.m.
Look for me in your live section or search  @nicolevelinaauthor

Book Launch Party
Saturday, November 19 (this weekend)

The Novel Neighbor
Downstairs Event Space (Enter through side of building)
7905 Big Bend Blvd
St. Louis MO, 63119
Noon- 2 p.m.

Event is FREE
Come and go as you please

Dessert bar
Alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks
Nicole will read & speak
Books for sale & autographing

Publication Day for Mistress of Legend and The Guinevere’s Tale Boxed Set

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! I am soooooooooo excited for you find out how Guinevere’s story ends. I LOVE this book and am so proud of how it turned out. I hope you feel the same way.

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The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy (Boxed Set) Release Schedule

Due to production delays and differences in the way retailers handle final files, when you can get the boxed set (which is really a single volume of all three books) will vary. To the best of my knowledge, here is when it should be available on the various sites:

Want to Help Spread the Word?
Here are some images you can share on social media to help advertise the book.

 

Please link them back to this page for Mistress of Legend: https://nicoleevelina.com/the-books/historical-fiction/mistress-of-legend-book-3/

Or this page for the boxed set: https://nicoleevelina.com/the-books/historical-fiction/guineveres-tale-box-set/

Reviews Are Golden
Please, please leave a review when you are done. Even the shortest review helps us gain readers and improves out marketing.

Thank you all so much for your support!

Reflections on 19 Years and a Wild Dream Achieved

Today is a momentous day for me. Not only does it mark the publication of my sixth book, Mistress of Legend (Guinevere’s Tale Book 3), and a single-volume compendium of The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy, it is also the end of an era. You see, 19 years ago Saturday is when I first heard Guinevere speak in my head. (Yeah, I’m one of those authors – wouldn’t have it any other way.) I tell the whole story in the Author’s Notes to Daughter of Destiny, the first book in the series, but for now suffice it to say she told me she wanted me to tell her story and that it would be unlike any written to date. I’ve always loved Arthurian legend, and Guinevere in particular, so I thought, “why not?”
I am Guinevere. I was once a queen, a lover, a wife, a mother, a priestess, and a friend. But all those roles are lost to me now; to history, I am simply a seductress, a misbegotten woman set astray by the evils of lust. This is the image painted of me by subsequent generations, a story retold thousands of times. Yet, not one of those stories is correct. They were not there; they did not see through my eyes or feel my pain. My laughter was lost to them in the pages of history….
It goes on for a bit longer, but you get the idea. That prologue is mostly intact in the published version of Daughter of Destiny (though it was shortened a bit). I can’t tell you how many times I rewrote the first few chapters of the book (it was in the double digits for sure) as I learned to find my own voice as an author and developed a plot and style that was doing more than simply aping The Mists of Avalon (which was the book that inspired it). But somehow, Guinevere’s words remained. (Some of you know this story, so feel free to skip down if you have heard it before.) I never thought I would become a published author. For the next 10 years I played around with the book when I had free time from college, then grad school and my first two grownup jobs. But it was just a hobby. Then in 2008 I started taking my writing seriously. The catalyst? Twilight. (Shut up.) By that time I was about halfway through what would become Daughter of Destiny and realized I had something worth reading on my hands. At this point, I still thought the book would be one doorstop of a volume (which is why I’m publishing the compendium). Upon researching the publishing industry, I realized it would have to be trilogy. Fast forward another 10 years – past an agent, countless rejections (okay, I counted, it was like 40), three damn-near book deals with Big 5 publishers, self-publishing and three Book of the Year awards – and here we are, on the precipice of the final book being published. And I have to say I am very, very proud. It may have taken me two years to finish this book (much longer than I know my readers wanted to wait), but I think it was worth it. I set out to give Guinevere back her voice and give her the fair shake I never thought she had from other authors (at least the ones I had read). In my mind, she was a full-fledged woman with hopes, dreams and desires, not the one-dimensional adulteress we usually see. In order to show that I set out to tell her whole life story, not just the part that involves Arthur. That meant dreaming up a youth for her in Daughter and imagining her heading into old age in Mistress of Legend. I feel like I’ve told the best possible story I could and did as much as possible to redeem her from the stain of sin past literature has laid upon her. Apparently others think so as well. I sent an ARC of Mistress to my friend and fellow author Tyler Tichelaar so he could review it on his website. He liked it so much, I ended up using the opening of the review as a blurb on the cover. But the part that brought tears to my eyes was this line: “She has given back to Guinevere, an often overlooked and derided figure, her dignity and endowed her with a true personality.” Mission accomplished. Completing a trilogy is no small feat. There were years upon years where I wondered if I could do it and feared I could not. I remember burning with jealousy the day one of my friends completed her first series. But now all I feel is tremendous accomplishment and pride. I want to jump up and down and yell “I did it!  I did it! I did it! I did it!”
More than that, I feel like each book on the series got better as I grew as a writer. One of my biggest fears was that my story would end up like so many other trilogies and peter out or go totally off track in the last book. (Breaking Dawn, anyone?) In fact, I feel like this is the strongest book in the series, and early reviews are indicating the same. Now I face for the first time in nearly two decades a future without Guinevere. (Well, not totally. She’ll be one of the point of view characters in Isolde’s story whenever I get around to writing that.) I will  be forever grateful for all she as done for me. She was meant to get me started in my career, and I know she will gracefully cede the stage to the characters who come next. I just hope this trilogy is repayment enough.
PS – If you want to catch up, Daughter of Destiny and Camelot’s Queen are only $0.99 for a limited time… PPS – For those who know of my obsession with the band Kill Hannah, the reference in the title of this blog to “a wild dream achieved” comes from their song “Believer.”