Cynthia Sally Haggard's Biography
Member Info
Washington DC
Married
Jan 2012
Born and raised in Surrey, England, CYNTHIA SALLY HAGGARD has lived in the United States for twenty-nine years. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Yes, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE and KING SOLOMONS’S MINES. (H. Rider Haggard was a younger brother of the author’s great-grandfather.) Cynthia Sally Haggard is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Maryland Book Publishers Association. She is currently at work on her next three novels. You can visit her website at: http://spunstories.com/
Influences
My biggest influences are my grandmother Stephanie Treffry, who had a fabulous gift for turning everyday incidents into funny stories, Jane Austen, whose elegant novels I began to read when I was ten years old, and (of course) Shakespeare. I remember the first time I read Tolstoy's War & Peace when I was sixteen years old. The novel kept my nose glued to its pages, and I stayed up so late reading it that I annoyed my sister. (We shared a room). I have been a voracious book reader all my years, and I hope that enjoyment shows up in my writing.
Upcoming Works
FAMILY SPLINTERS is a tale about forbidden love, family secrets and a young violinist who hones her craft with the foremost violin pedagogue of the day amid the seediness and glamor of 1920s Berlin.
THE HEIR is a sequel to FAMILY SPLINTERS, set again in Berlin Germany during 1938. Rossi is a rising star in the State Department, called to Berlin to deal with the Anschluss and the crisis in Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, his wife is being blackmailed by a former lover to hand over their eldest son, which he believes is his. When he is found shot in the head, fingers are pointed at Rossi.
THREADS is set in early medieval Sicily, a land that melds the cultures of North Africa, with those of Northern Europe, Greece and Italy. It explores the beginnings of the Tarantella, a frenzied dance that comes upon young women during the summer months.
Recommended Links
Publishers
Spun Stories Press
Interests & Hobbies
Walking, hiking, yoga, dancing, music, anything creative.
Gripping, well-researched historical novel, revealing a violent age. Cecylee and the other characters are well-drawn, with great subtlety and depth.”
—Lindsay Townsend, author of TO TOUCH THE KNIGHT.
About Cynthia
Born and raised in Surrey, England, CYNTHIA SALLY HAGGARD has lived in the United States for twenty-nine years. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Yes, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE...
Causes Cynthia Haggard Supports
Doctors Without Borders
Southern Poverty Law Center
Jewish Voice for Peace
SERRV Fair Trade
Capital Area Food Bank
Cynthia’s Favorite Books
Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Fanny Burney's CECILIA
Leo Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE
Voltaire's PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY
Bertrand Russell's UNPOPULAR ESSAYS...
Cynthia is a fan of
