Women's History Month 2018

     Today kicks off Women's History Month. I learned a great deal about women's history while researching Playing by Heart. The novel was inspired by the two eldest Agnesi sisters: accomplished musician and composer Maria Teresa Agnesi and her older sister, linguist, mathematician, and humanitarian Maria Gaetana Agnesi. You can read more about Maria Teresa on her page of this site and about Maria Gaetana on her bio page.

     The six-month anniversary of the release of Playing by Heart also occurs later this month. It's hard to believe the book has already been out almost six months! To celebrate, I'm hosting a special "Book Bag & Swag" giveaway on my website. You can find all the details here.

 

Playing by Heart Book Birthday

Playing by Heart, my young-adult historical romance inspired by the lives of Maria Gaetana Agnesi and her sister, Maria Teresa Agnesi, was published today by Vinspire Publishing. Here's a brief plot summary:

Emilia Salvini dreams of marrying a man who loves music as she does. But in 18th-century Milan, being the 'second sister' means she'll likely be sent to a convent instead. Emilia's only hope is to prove her musical talents crucial to her father's quest for nobility. First, though, she must win over her music tutor, who disdains her simply for being a girl. Too late, Emilia realizes that her success could threaten not only her dreams but her sister's very life.

At its core, Playing by Heart is the story of two sisters struggling to follow their true calling, even when it conflicts with their father's goals. It's a clean historical romance appropriate for ages 12 and up.

The early reviews are quite positive. Booklist called the novel a "sweet and pleasurable read," saying also:

"Martino's romantic read features lovable characters

and is vibrant in setting and detail."

—Booklist

And DePaul University Education Professor Roxanne Owens called the novel "a must-read addition for school libraries everywhere." You can read more review excerpts on my website.

To celebrate the book's "birthday" today, I made some panettone, which you can see below. This Italian sweet bread is said to have originated in Milan, the novel's setting.

To watch the book's trailer and enter a giveaway to win a free autographed copy, see my post on TeachingAuthors.com.

I've set up a number of events to celebrate the book's release, both in the Chicago area and online. For details about those, see this page of my website.

Happy 299th Birthday, Maria Gaetana Agnesi!

We're one year away from commemorating the 300th anniversary of Maria Gaetana Agnesi's birth! While I have yet to find a publisher for the nonfiction biography I've written about her, I'm thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of a young-adult historical romance inspired by the lives of Maria Gaetana and her younger sister, musician and composer Maria Teresa Agnesi. The novel, called Playing by Heart, will be published by Vinspire Publishing this September. I'll be sharing the cover here as soon as it's available. Meanwhile, I'm using this lovely congratulations card a friend made to inspire me as we work on final edits:

I'll also be updating the "About Maria Teresa" page of this site as soon as I get a chance.

Meanwhile, if you'd like more frequent updates about Playing by Heart and my other projects, I encourage you to sign up for my email newsletter. You can do so in the right sidebar of my website.

Happy birthday, Maria Gaetana Agnesi!

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born on this day in 1718. If you're not familiar with this amazing woman's story, you can read about her on the About Maria page, as well as in all the other posts on this blog.

I forgot to mention in my last post that in addition to working on a biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, I'm also writing a young adult historical romance based on her life and that of her composer sister, Maria Teresa. Thanks to the Internet, you can now hear some of Maria Teresa's compositions for yourself, including this one:

You can also read about her here. 

Enjoy!

Maria Gaetana Agnesi's 297th Birthday

As I explained several years ago, I've suspended regular posts to this blog. But I do like to take time once a year to acknowledge Maria Gaetana Agnesi's birthday. This year, I'm happy to note that after a long hiatus, I've returned to working on a biography for children about this intriguing woman. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, I received an email asking for the names of Maria's siblings. I mentioned in my last post that, as far as we know, she had twenty siblings in all. We also know that one of Maria's sisters, Maria Teresa Agnesi, was an accomplished musician and composer. I mentioned her briefly in this post. You can read about her here.

Maria Teresa Agnesi, younger sister of Maria Gaetana Agnesi

I won't list the names of Maria Gaetana Agnesi's other siblings here. For that information, I suggest you read one of the published book-length biographies of her. I'm not going to do all your research for you!  

Happy birthday, Maria Gaetana Agnesi!

Celebrating Maria Gaetana Agnesi's 296th Birthday

Google is honoring Maria Gaetana Agnesi's 296th birthday today with an animated Google doodle that includes an animation of the curve bearing her name. 

Unfortunately, the doodle's reach is limited to Europe, Australia, and certain areas of Africa, Asia, and South America. While I'm pleased to see Maria recognized this way, I don't know why Google chose not to use the doodle here in the United States. Oh, well.

The good news is that the doodle is helping to spread the word about this amazing woman. Various news sites, like this one, feature reports about the doodle and Maria's life today. The bad news: some of these sites continue to repeat the common myths about her. For example, this site, reiterates the idea that Maria had to care for her 20 younger siblings after her mother died. I addressed part of this fallacy in an earlier post, explaining that her father remarried within two years of her mother's death. I neglected to mention in that post that when Maria's mother died, Maria had only 6 siblings. So she never would have been responsible for all 20 of her siblings.

Also on the good news side: it's now easier to know how to pronounce Maria's name. I shared a post awhile back trying to explain how to say it. I recently found a clip online that I've copied below. If the clip doesn't work for you, you can listen to it here. 

Regular posts to this blog are still on hold, as I explained here. But I couldn't resist making time to acknowledge Maria on the anniversary of her birth. 

Google Doodle for Maria Gaetana Agnesi's Birthday?

Apparently, Google is honoring Maria Gaetana Agnesi's 296th birthday tomorrow, 
May 16, 2014, with an animated Google doodle. I don't know yet what, if any, text will be included with the doodle, but I hope it's more accurate than what I found in a YouTube slide show featuring the Google doodle. I've commented on the slide show indicating the errors. If they're updated by the time I post again tomorrow, I may provide a link to the clip then. I don't want to promote more inaccuracies about Agnesi---there are already plenty of myths about her online!    

I'll be back tomorrow to wish Maria a happy birthday.