Author, Flowers of Evil, Web of Evil, and Wheel of Evil

This week, Ira spoke with N.L. Holmes, author of a series of three immersive historical fiction books (Flowers of Evil, Web of Evil, and Wheel of Evil) that unravel the mysteries of life during the ancient Egyptian empire. In this trio episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” N.L. talks about growing up in Texas and becoming a nun at 21; going back to school to pursue archeology and getting a PhD; why she ended up  teaching; how she decided to write after retiring; why she picked this period of time and place for her series of three books; why she enjoys writing about the intrigue of mysterious assassinations, forbidden love affairs, and political rebellion; researching for the book; not contradicting anything known for being true;  her freedom to embroider as a novelist; using her imagination; why there is no arc of story in this particular series because they are self-contained books; her development of recurring characters; how to solve a mystery when there is no forensic science, the different tools to solve mysteries, including people asking questions and looking for physical clues; and what she sees as the possibility for the books becoming a television series.

N.L. Holmes is a prolific novelist embarking on another significant career phase. Prior to taking up the power of writing and using this pen name, she was an accomplished archaeologist and teacher for 25 years. Early in her career she served as a nun for two decades. In between she was an artist and antiques dealer. Yes, she has lived an interesting life and the sum of her experiences informs and inspires her writings today.

Holmes, who earned her doctorate in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Studies from Bryn Mawr College despite an offer to attend Princeton, has excavated in Greece and Israel, and taught ancient history and humanities at Stockton University in N.J. and University of South Florida for many years. She also did archaeological artwork for excavations from Lebanon.

With 13 published novels, Holmes is the creator of The Lord Hani Mysteries. The inspiration for her Bronze Age novels came with an assignment she gave to her students one day: Here are the only documents we have telling us about royal divorce in Ugarit in the 13th century. How much can we say about what happened? She notes: “It quickly became apparent that almost anything we might come up with was as much fiction as historiography!”

She also penned The Empire At Twilight series, historical fiction set in 13th century C.B. during the Hittite Empire, and Hani’s Daughter Mysteries, a spin-off historical fiction series.

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, she attended The University of Texas in the honors program but dropped out midway to enter into the antiques business.  Two years later, she entered the Discalced Carmelite convent in Texas. She left the convent 20 years later and returned to school to get her B.A. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology.

Holmes resides with her husband, three cats, and a dog. They split their time between Tampa, Florida and northern France, where she gardens, weaves, and plays the violin. They have an adult son.

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