On her 16th birthday, Sylvienne d’Aubert receives an invitation to attend the court of King Louis XIV of France, unaware of her mother’s secret past with the monarch and unprepared for the intrigue, illicit affairs, and power-mongering that take place behind the shiny façade of Versailles. The brightest student at her village convent school, Sylvienne has always been a dreamer and a free spirit, and has captured the heart of her childhood friend, Etienne, now a handsome young shoemaker who wants to marry her. However, when Sylvienne travels to Paris, she is swept up in the romance, opulence, and excitement of palace life. Assigned to serve King Louis’s favorite mistress, she is absorbed into the King’s most intimate circle—a heady adventure, indeed. But life among the royals causes dreams to collide with reality, immersing Sylvienne in machinations that test her resilience and threaten her very existence.

Peggy Joque Williams has been a Madison resident for more than 47 years, and a Madison public school teacher for over 35 years. Having grown up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Peggy considers herself a Yooper by birth and a Cheesehead by choice. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in education, and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction.

Previous to writing Courting the Sun, Peggy co-wrote and published two mystery novels with her sister-in-law, Mary Joy Johnson. They are the Wisconsin Indie Project award-winning On the Road to Death’s Door and On the Road to Where the Bells Toll. She has also co-written and won screenwriting awards with Christine DeSmet. Their short film, The Stone Carver, made its debut this past February at the Door County Film Festival in Fish Creek.

Peggy has taught creative writing classes and workshops for Madison College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Continuing Studies. She is a member of the Wisconsin Chapter of Sisters in Crime, the Wisconsin Writers Association, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also an avid genealogist, a pursuit that informs her writing.

Peggy is married to husband Mark; she has two adult children Erin and Joshua, and wonderful in-law children Hana and Jon. And she has three grandchildren—Lily, Zen, and Cameron--who are the stars in her firmament.

Christine DeSmet is a writer, writing coach, and an award-winning author and scriptwriter. For many years she helmed the Writers' Institute and the Write-by-the-Lake Writer's Retreat as well as online writing courses at University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was a Distinguished Faculty Associate of writing. She writes the Fudge Shop Mystery series and the Mischief in Moonstone novella series.

Livestream: Peggy Joque Williams in Conversation with Christine DeSmet