Writers’ Night in Paris!

For an American writer, it’s a dream come true: being invited to speak and read in Paris. On Friday, July 10, 2015, I was honored to join the very talentedauthors Reine Arcache Melvin and Heather Stimmler-Hall in a lively Q&A discussion with 40 Parisians about the writer’s life, followed by readings from our works, in the …

Actress Bonnie Somerville’s Top Historical Fiction Picks

How wonderful for any author to find her book listed as among anyone’s favorites! I’ve been dancing a jig ever since seeing the new issue of Dujour Magazine, in which actress Bonnie Somerville lists her favorite historical fiction books. Here’s the article, released on the same day as the debut of acclaimed author Nancy Bilyeau’s …

“The Jewel of Medina”: Censorship, Islam, and the Historical Fiction Way

WHEN DO WE START BURNING BOOKS? Posted on March 2, 2013by colinfalconer Here’s a question for you: what kind of books should we burn? Mein Kampf? The Satanic Verses? Harry Potter? (Yes, it’s happened.) I have just finished reading The Jewel of Medina,  Sherry Jones’ best-selling novel about the Prophet Muhammad’s child bride Aisha. I thought Sherry courageous to take on …

Five ‘Middlebrow’ Writers, One Excellent Blog

I am so delighted with the blog Mirabile Dictu‘s review of FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS that I’ve copied it to share with you here. I first learned about this blog, which used to be called Frisbee: A Book Journal, from Trish Hoard, my good friend whom I met when she edited THE SWORD OF MEDINA …

Publishers Weekly: FOUR SISTERS ALL QUEENS is “Excellent”

“Jones’s excellent new historical…” That’s all I could see of the new Publishers Weekly review coming out Monday, Aug. 6., as displayed in my Google Alert. My pulse gave a little skip. Like a dog on point, as the cashier before me chatted very pleasantly about her former life in Bosnia, I focused only on …

Let’s take our country back!

Here’s the text of my speech against Islamophobia given at Portland State University Friday, Oct. 29: As the author of two novels about the Prophet Muhammad and his controversial bride A’isha bint Abi Bakr, I know something about hate. I know something about fear. Some people hate me because they think I’m an Islamophobe. Islamophobes …