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“Like a viewer of Michelangelo’s Pietà, the crowd was enraptured by Stephanie’s storytelling.” — Joshua Best, Development and Marketing for the Springfield Art Museum

Stephanie Storey’s debut novel Oil and Marble was hailed as “tremendously entertaining” by The New York Times, was named one of Hudson Booksellers’ Best Books of 2016, is a Los Angeles Times and #1 Amazon bestseller, and is currently in development as a feature film by Pioneer Pictures. Her newest novel, Raphael, Painter in Rome, is due out in April 2020 in conjunction with the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death (April 1520).

Stephanie has a degree in Fine Arts from Vanderbilt University and attended a PhD program in Art History—before leaving to get her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. She has studied art in Italy and been on a pilgrimage to see every Michelangelo on display in Europe. She has also been a national television producer for nearly twenty years in Los Angeles for shows including Alec Baldwin on ABC, Arsenio Hall for CBS, and Emmy-nominated The Writers’ Room for Sundance Channel. When not writing novels or producing television, she can usually be found — with her husband, an actor and Emmy-winning comedy writer — traveling the world in search of her next story.

Stephanie's Featured Titles

Raphael, Painter In Rome

Arcade |
Novel

Another Fabulous Art History Thriller by the Bestselling Author of Oil and Marble, Featuring the Master of Renaissance Perfection: Raphael!

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo’s fiercest rival—the young, beautiful, brilliant painter of perfection, Raphael. Orphaned at age eleven, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the David, Michelangelo Buonarroti. When Pope Julius II calls both artists down to Rome, they are pitted against each other: Michelangelo painting the Sistine Ceiling, while Raphael decorates the pope’s private apartments. As Raphael strives toward perfection in paint, he battles internal demons: his desperate ambition, crippling fear of imperfection, and unshakable loneliness. Along the way, he conspires with cardinals, scrambles through the ruins of ancient Rome, and falls in love with a baker’s-daughter-turned-prostitute who becomes his muse.

With its gorgeous writing, rich settings, endearing characters, and riveting plot, Raphael, Painter in Rome brings to vivid life these two Renaissance masters going head to head in the deadly halls of the Vatican.

Oil And Marble

Arcade |
Novel

In her brilliant debut, Storey brings early 16th-century Florence alive, entering with extraordinary empathy into the minds and souls of two Renaissance masters, creating a stunning art history thriller. From 1501 to 1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in Florence. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself.

Michelangelo is a virtual unknown when he returns to Florence and wins the commission to carve what will become one of the most famous sculptures of all time: David. Even though his impoverished family shuns him for being an artist, he is desperate to support them. Living at the foot of his misshapen block of marble, Michelangelo struggles until the stone finally begins to speak. Working against an impossible deadline, he begins his feverish carving.

Meanwhile, Leonardo’s life is falling apart: he loses the hoped-for David commission; he can’t seem to finish any project; he is obsessed with his ungainly flying machine; he almost dies in war; his engineering designs disastrously fail; and he is haunted by a woman he has seen in the market–a merchant’s wife, whom he is finally commissioned to paint. Her name is Lisa, and she becomes his muse.

Leonardo despises Michelangelo for his youth and lack of sophistication. Michelangelo both loathes and worships Leonardo’s genius.

Oil and Marble is the story of their nearly forgotten rivalry.

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Entrepreneurship by Michelangelo

In addition to being one of the world’s greatest artists, Michelangelo was also one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs. He kept powerful patrons happy, saved troubled commissions, and created a brand that has lasted for 500 years. By looking at his tactics for success, this speech helps businesses overcome obstacles and create inspired work along the way.

Some things attendees will learn:

* 5-7 ways your team can emulate Michelangelo in facing down obstacles

* 5 ways Michelangelo shows us how to balance the needs of patrons with your strong creative vision

*3 ways Michelangelo revolutionized marketing/branding that are particularly effective in our modern age of image saturation

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Innovate like Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was one of history’s most prolific inventors. He developed ideas for scuba gear, helicopters, multi-barreled cannons, and even the spotlight nearly four hundred years before the invention of the lightbulb. How did he do it? This speech explores the ways Leonardo approached his work to help your audience become as fearlessly inventive as the Master from Vinci.

Some things attendees will learn:

* Leonardo’s 5 Approaches to Learning that helped him improve innovation

* How to train your team to solve problems like Leonardo

* 5-10 practical things that your members can do during their every day lives to emulate Leonardo and stimulate their brains to think more creatively

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Modern Day Renaissance

Historical Novelist Stephanie Storey believes we are in the middle of a new Renaissance and that we all have the potential to become the next Renaissance Man or Woman of our age. Let her inspire your audience to be a part of this historical moment of change and innovation.

Some of the things attendees will learn:

* How our current world is similar to the Renaissance and how to use those similarities to grow in unexpected directions

* What characteristics made up a “Renaissance Man” and how you can cultivate those traits in yourself and your team

* How innovators of the Renaissance pushed past boundaries of what was possible to create new inventions that changed the world

https://www.newsy.com/stories/self-quarantined-authors-are-pivoting-to-virtual-book-tours/?jwsource=cl
https://www.kark.com/news/arkansas-today/stephanie-storey-author-of-oil-and-marble-book-tour/
https://www.kark.com/news/arkansas-today/stephanie-storey-author-of-oil-and-marble-book-tour/

Resources for Book Clubs

The History Behind the Novels

Stephanie’s Book Recommendations

Honors, Awards & Recognition

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
4-time NAACP Award Winner
Hudson Booksellers’ Best Book of 2016
Los Angeles Times Bestseller
#1 Amazon Bestseller

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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