Guest Post: Vicky Alvear Shecter, Author of Cleopatra’s Moon

Today I’m excited to welcome Vicky Alvear Shecter, author of Cleopatra’s Moon, for a guest post today. I reviewed the book yesterday and consider it quite the interesting read! In her post, Vicky discusses how we, as individuals, survive despite tragedies in our life. Without further ado..

The story of Cleopatra’s daughter—the only one of the queen’s four children to survive to adulthood—is fascinating in and of itself. After all, who wouldn’t want to know what it must have been like to have Cleopatra as a mother? To roam freely in the splendor of Egypt’s royal palace? To undergo the rites for the Mysteries of Isis?

But historical fiction isn’t just about the “story” of what happened long ago. It’s an opportunity to hold up a mirror to our own experiences as well.

For example, when I was deep into revisions for Cleopatra’s Moon, Haiti experienced a catastrophic earthquake. I found myself going from televised scenes of tragedy “into” the head of a young girl who had lost her parents, her home, her future and (eventually) everyone in her family.  Granted, my main character never suffered dire poverty or hunger, but she still faced the same essential questions we all face in times of tragedy—how do you go on when you’ve lost everything and everyone you’ve ever loved? Where do you find hope and dignity when you are at the mercy of circumstances outside your control?

That most of my main character’s life-changing experiences took place when she was a teen made it a perfect story for a young adult audience. But it ended up being more than that. It became a glimpse into the intimate lives of Cleopatra and Mark Antony during the period before their deaths. And it offered a look into the political machinations that eventually transformed Rome from a republic into a tyrannical world power.

The story of Cleopatra’s daughter continues to fascinate me and—I hope—will fascinate fans of historical fiction too!

Vicky Alvear Shecter is the author of two biographies for children, Alexander the Great Rocks the World and Cleopatra Rules! The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen.  Cleopatra’s Moon is her first young adult historical fiction novel. She is a docent at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta.