How Cosmo Changed my Life. Really!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You all know the story—don’t you?—about how my first book Prime Time, was inspired by a random spam in my computer? Or how The Other Woman came from my experience getting a root canal? If you don’t I’ll tell you another time, because today is about a different author’s unpredictable moment in time. A moment where everything changed.

And yes, it was just as random as that spam. For the fab Diane Haeger, it was …well, more about that in a minute. But since then, she’s written all kinds of fabulous historicals about people like Jean Harlow, and the secret wife of King George IV and Picasso’s paramour. 

Her very first novel, Courtesan, came out in 1993—and it’s still in print! Ooh. Let me tell you a bit about that.

Amid the disapproving gossip of the Court, a royal romance defies all obstacles.

The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King’s obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King’s favourite, Anne d’Heilly. The Court is soon electrified by rumors of their confrontations. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King’s mistress: his teenage second son, Henri.

Neglected by his father and disliked by his brothers, Prince Henri expects little from his life. But as his friendship with Diane deepens into infatuation and then a romance that scandalizes the Court, the Prince begins to discover hope for a future with Diane. But fate and his father have other plans for Henri—including a political marriage with Catherine de Medici. Despite daunting obstacles, Henri’s devotion to Diane never wanes; their passion becomes one of the most legendary romances in the history of France.


Ooh. Can't get better than that, right?
And now—what provided Diane’s life-changing moment?


HOW COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE 
                               CHANGED MY LIFE
by Diane Haeger


I wasn’t a writer, not a professional one anyway, but what I was about to be was a bride—and as I sat perusing magazines in a hair salon before I got married, my eyes caught on a headline in an edition of Cosmopolitan: “Great Courtesans throughout History”. The story was written as a number of vignettes about famous women and their even more famous lovers. 

One of them absolutely riveted me—the story of Diane de Poitiers. 

Pretty scandalously, the noble widow and mother of two had ruled France for two decades during the glittering Renaissance as unofficial queen beside her much younger lover, King Henri II and his wife Catherine de Medici.

Cat fights, intrigue and deceptions in their story abound. It was a pretty amazing love triangle. Even though I loved France and had studied French in school I’d never heard the story. Back then it didn’t seem like many people in the U.S. had either. As it happened, we had already been planning our honeymoon in France.

I’m not sure to this day if finding that magazine was a coincidence, or fate, or maybe a little of both. On my wedding day I was a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology. After my honeymoon, I gave it up to become a writer in earnest—at least one in training, because I had no idea how to actually write a novel. 

When I first saw that Henri II had created a DH symbol in tribute he had emblazoned everywhere—one that also happened to be my new initials, it was a sign that I needed to learn.

I had to be the one to tell their story.

There was a steep learning curve for sure, a lot of career twists and turns and plenty of hard knocks but 26 years later I’m proud to say I’m still a writer. I guess I’d also have to say I’m most passionate about uncovering true love affairs from history. 

Whether it’s Pablo Picasso, William Tecumseh Sherman or Jean Harlow (writing as Anne Girard), my stories have been all over the map. The truth is so often not only stranger than fiction, it can be every bit as interesting.

One of the most thrilling parts about being a writer today, as opposed when I sold that first novel, is being able to be a part of several writer’s and reader’s communities like this. For someone who intended to have a career talking to people all day, I found it such a jarringly solitary profession at first in those days before social media. Now I totally embrace and value this chapter of my career and hope I do it with a grateful heart. 

I will never forget my very first book signing at a place called Laguna Beach Books near where I live. Watching someone I didn’t know actually buy my novel for the first time that day and hand it to me to be signed was pretty surreal. It felt like not only sharing my story but a piece of my heart.

Being able to get to meet and get to know many of my readers through the years has truly been the cream on top of a wonderful and long career.

So, tell me Reds and Readers, was there a moment when your life took a turn you didn’t expect but that turned out for the best? I’d love you to share yours with me too.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes, we’d love to hear! What’s your Cosmo or spam moment? (Or—what’s your favorite story of illicit romance? Real or fictional?)

And a copy of Courtesan to one very lucky commenter!

Diane Haeger, who has also written under the pen name Anne Girard, holds a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from UCLA. A chance meeting with the famed author Irvine Stone 25 years ago not only inspired her, it sharply focused her ambition to tell great stories from history, and to write them only after detailed research and extensive travel to the places her characters lived. Since the publication of her acclaimed first novel Courtesan in 1993, a novel that remains in print today, her work can be found on Audible and has been translated into 18 different languages, bringing her international success and award winning status. Platinum Doll, a novel about Jean Harlow is her 15thbook. She lives in Southern California with her husband and family.