The Medici Queen aka The Devil’s Queen

A Conversation with Jeanne Kalogridis

Could you tell us a little bit about your background, and when you decided that you wanted to lead a literary life?

I was a shy, scrawny, unpopular kid with frizzy hair and thick glasses; since I had no social life, I read. I adored dark fantasy and science fiction, and I was writing my own stories as soon as I could hold a pencil. My mom and sisters were always dragging me to the mall on weekends, so while they shopped, I hung in the local bookstore. I think the defining moment for me came when I picked up a copy of Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man in a Waldenbooks. His writing was so beautiful, so lyrical…I decided then I wanted to write like that.

“I was writing my own stories as soon as I could hold a pencil.”

Is there a book that most influenced your life? Or inspired you to become a writer?

The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury. And his Martian Chronicles. When I worked on my first novel, I bought new copies of those two books and consciously tried to imitate his style.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, and Dan Simmons (especially The Terror and Drood, both historical novels).

Who are some of your favorite historical figures?

My namesake, Joan (in French, Jeanne) of Arc-yes, she was deluded, but she kicked butt and made a man a king. I read a lot of biographies of strong women when I was growing up; I admired Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell (first female M.D. in the United States), Elizabeth I, Boudicca (who gave the Imperial Roman army a run for its money), Jane Addams, and Susan B. Anthony.