We’re so excited to introduce you to C.P. Lesley, the academic historian who turned her expertise in all things sixteenth-century Russian into a goldmine of historical fiction. She is the author of ten novels, including Legends of the Five Directions (The Golden Lynx, The Winged Horse, The Swan Princess, The Vermilion Bird, and The Shattered Drum), a historical fiction series set during the childhood of Ivan the Terrible. Her Song of the Shaman appeared in 2020. We are so glad that she was able to take the time to talk to us.
Congratulations on the publication of your most recent novel, Song of the Shaman. Please tell us what it is about.
Thank you! Song of the Shaman tells the story of Grusha, a sixteenth-century Russian woman in her mid-twenties who takes refuge in a nomadic steppe horde after becoming a single mother. She is a shaman’s apprentice, but when her teacher dies just as a diphtheria epidemic strikes the camp, Grusha’s on her own and has to prove herself. Meanwhile, her son is almost old enough to train as a warrior, and he has no father to look out for him. So she’s searching for a way to balance her work and life responsibilities, a dilemma that faces women even now.
Before beginning the “Songs of the Steppe & Forest” series you wrote five novels in the “Legends of the Five Directions” series. Would we find the same characters—plus or minus a few—in this earlier series?
Absolutely! Including Grusha, who made her first appearance in The Golden Lynx (Legends 1). The new series focuses on women who never had the space to tell their stories in the earlier one, so every book centers on one secondary female character from Legends. New friends and old appear as needed. It’s not necessary to have read the first series or even earlier Songs novels before tackling the next one, though; the books stand alone.
How did sixteenth-century Russia and its neighbors come to be the backdrop for so much of your fiction?
In short, people say “write what you know,” and this is what I know. Under my real name, I hold a Ph.D. in Russian history and specialize in the time of Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584), especially the domestic life of the period. That’s why I write fiction under a pen name: to signal that the novels are entertainment, not an academic history. But all those lovely details I’ve picked up over the years sneak into my fiction whenever they get the chance.
In addition to having written two different historical fiction series, you’ve also written a series that takes place on the desert planet of Tarkei. In fact, the two books in the Tarkei series were written before any of the Russian work. What was the inspiration there?
I’ve loved ballet since I was a child, but I didn’t take class regularly until I turned thirty-five—the age when most professional dancers retire. My first fiction project evolved into an exploration of the ballet Giselle. I invented a ballerina and a mystic, neither of whom had any desire to get together but who were mentally linked by an inescapable ancient force. That could happen only in a world other than our own. The result is a pastiche of science fiction, dance, and romance. I get very positive responses from dancers and romance readers, although I think the ballet angle baffles science fiction buffs.
Your very first novel was not part of a series at all. The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel is a contemporary standalone novel that was published in 2012. That means all your books were written in the last eight or so years. What made you decide to start writing fiction, and how did you become such an enthusiast so quickly?
I never expected to write fiction. But for as long as I can remember, I’ve told myself stories. They changed every time I thought them through. Back in 1994, I decided to write down a couple of scenes from my story of the moment, to have a record of that particular version of the scenes. Then I wrote a few more scenes, and before I knew it I had half a novel. That was the project that years later became the Tarkei Chronicles. I hadn’t a clue what I was doing at first, and it took me until 2008, when I found my writers’ group, to start producing fiction that anyone besides me would want to read. So as you see, it wasn’t such a quick process at all!
Which of your books—or which series—would make the best movie or TV series and why?
That’s an easy one: The Golden Lynx. It features Nasan, a sixteen-year-old girl whose goal in life is to imitate the heroines of steppe legend—think Wonder Woman without superpowers. Perfect for the YA market. Nasan can wield a sword against full-grown men, shoot an arrow into a target at full gallop, and ride any horse ever born. She’s the despair of her mother, who wants to marry her off, and her eventual mother-in-law, who believes noblewomen should sit in the house and sew. Her husband looks like a young Chris Pine and has spent the last three years chasing every girl he can lay his hands on. And she’s a descendant of Genghis Khan, married to a noble Russian warrior, so not only would the film have a diversity component but it would delight costume and set designers. Last but not least, it has four sequels with the same characteristics, so if it became a hit, there would be lots of follow-up films. Someone like Sergei Bodrov or Greta Gerwig would have a field day with it.
As one of the founding members of Five Directions Press, you not only edit but also do the interior design (and much more) for all the books Five Directions publishes. In addition, you host interviews on New Books in Historical Fiction, a channel in the New Books Network. You also maintain a blog. And you have a job editing manuscripts for various clients! How do you manage to do so much?
You can’t imagine how often I ask myself that question! It does help to have had a child while I was working from home, which forced me to make maximum use of every available moment. Life gets crazy when things crash in from all directions at once, but usually, I can juggle. My weekends are for writing; I take writing vacations, and in quieter times I write for an hour or so between work and dinner. The blog gets me back in the writing mindset at the end of each week. And the interviews are pure fun: I’ve met so many wonderful authors that way; I can’t regret the time that goes into preparation. If Five Directions Press were bigger, the work I do there would be impossible, but so far it’s manageable.
What are you working on now?
I have a rough draft of the third Songs of Steppe and Forest novel, Song of the Sisters, and am revising it with comments from my writers’ group. The heroine, Darya, believes she ought to join a convent, despite the opposition of her family—especially her bumptious cousin, who intends to arrange her marriage for his own benefit. I’m also working on a project with the writer P.K. Adams: <https://pkadams-author.com> a murder mystery set mostly in Moscow during the English “discovery” of Russia (1553)—Tudors meet Romanovs or at least the immediate ancestor of the Romanov line.
Do you have any advice for new writers?
Be kind to yourself as you learn, but accept that, as important as it is to read fiction if you want to write it, reading itself doesn’t qualify you to craft a story. Work with fellow writers, read books about novel writing, take courses if that suits you, and revise, revise, revise. As easy as it is to throw that first draft on the Internet, you’ll do yourself a favor in the long run by taking your time.
And thank you, Joan, for these thought-provoking questions.
Where can readers learn more about you?
Website: https://www.cplesley.com/
Interviews at New Books in Historical Fiction: https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/historical-fiction
Book cover links by series:
https://www.cplesley.com/legends
https://www.cplesley.com/songs-steppe-forest
https://www.cplesley.com/other-novels
https://www.cplesley.com/box-sets
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