Author Interview: John Issitt

This week, we're pleased to welcome one of our newest contributors, author John Issitt, whose latest novel, AGENTS OF REASON, is set in the 18th century. The author will offer a free copy of Agents of Reason to a lucky blog visitor; please leave your email in the comments to be included in the . Here's the blurb:

Jeremiah was a London radical. He and his associates gave themselves to the cause - a cause that was always dangerous and compromised. This is his story. Whilst his efforts received no dividend in his lifetime today we are in his debt - we enjoy the freedoms for which he risked his life.

When the Bastille fell in 1789 English radicals like Jeremiah saw the promise of freedom but by early 1793 the French Revolution had turned into madness as Robespierre and the guillotine produced a blood bath of self destruction. In England the fear that the revolution might spread across the channel provoked reactionary responses and the years of William Pitt’s terror began. Radicals were hunted down. Some found themselves in Botany Bay, others charged with sedition or treason, languished in Newgate and the Tower.

**Q&A with John Issitt**

What led you to write Agents of Reason?

It’s been a strange journey and one I certainly didn’t plan. A number of themes and events seem to gather and project me down a path - out popped Agents of Reason. I have studied the politics of 1780- 1820 for a long time and my doctorate concerned the main hero – Jeremiah Joyce who was a political radical in London in that period so I knew a lot about him and his milieu. One of the main problems was the lack of record and there were good reasons for that – it was quite simply dangerous for radicals of the period to leave any evidence of their meetings – such evidence could see them hang or transported to Botany Bay. So all that was left were scratchings and suggestions that merely hinted at his endeavors. This was both frustrating and intriguing. It did though compel me to try to tell his story which I did in my thesis and in an academic book, but the constraints of academic history left so many gaps and failed to generate a real sense of his life and the compromises of his situation.  I needed to tell his story and recover the man.

The book seems to bridge fact and fiction. How did you decide on its style?

The questions of ‘what is an historical fact’ and ‘how far can you stray from them?’ bedevils the business of historical, if not all, writing. I had to find a mechanism that allowed me to keep as close to what is known to have happened – I use several primary sources in the text itself and I keep as tight as possible to the known sequence of events. Where I have ‘facts’ I use them but where I don’t I draw on what I know about the period and my own resources. I put myself in Jeremiah’s position and try to think through what I would have thought/done/been frightened of.  So the style is a compromise of factors. I find that most readers settle – or not - to the style after three or four pages.

Why ‘Agents’ and why ‘Reason’?

‘I came across the title because the main characters do act as agents on the direction of others – both people and forces. Jeremiah is to some extent a puppet enacting the will of more respectable intellectuals who weren’t prepared to get their hands dirty and take risks. The compromises which dictate Jeremiah’s actions are both personal and thematic and there is a strong sense in which he and his fellow radicals saw themselves as acting on behalf of a greater interest. The theme of reason reflects the classic Enlightenment claim of scientific reason as the justification for everything. Sadly, as the story shows, reason is inherently limited and insufficient in the face of human interests.

Did you enjoy the process of writing it?

By and large yes. I wrote it over four summers in my caravan – a static holiday home – in south west Scotland where I escaped from money earning endeavors for as long as I could. My caravan looks out over the sea and I watch the tide and the wind so I can go windsurfing. The light on the west coast of Scotland is delightful – you can almost taste it. I tried to write 2000 words a day from which I would normally get 800 good words the next day when I edited down and brushed the text. The final version is approximately 83,000 words but I think I must have written over 500,000 overall, had four false starts and went down a number of blind alleys. It was all a rich learning experience and felt, on balance, good.

What is your next project?

‘Tom and Edmund’ after Tom Paine and Edmund Burke. The story is structured by their parallel biographies, friendship, and then opposition. It follows their individual legacies in the realm of ideas, which set the markers for right/left democrat/republican politics. The underlying theme is reason and its fortunes in the world of human strife. 

Agents of Reason is available on Amazon as paper and ebook http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agents-Reason-John-Issitt/dp/095737710X 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agents-Reason-John-Issitt-ebook/dp/B00A8KW0PK

John Issitt just about to talk about Agents of Reason at Conway Hall - one London's historical centres of ethics, humanism and religious dissent.

Guest Blog: Octavia Randolph

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Octavia Randolph whose novel, THE CIRCLE OF CERIDWEN, is set in 9th century England during the Viking incursions of the Anglo-Saxon countryside. The author will offer a free copy of The Circle of Ceridwen to a lucky blog visitor; please leave your email address in the comments as winners are contacted privately. Here's the blurb:

Saxon against Viking.  Christian against heathen. The clash of sword and spear in war-torn 9th century England.  A courageous young women risking all to live - and love.  Enter the Circle of Ceridwen...

The year 871.  Of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, five have fallen to the invading Vikings.  Across this war-torn landscape travels fifteen-year-old Ceridwen, now thrust into the lives of the conquerors. Her divided loyalties spur her to summon all her courage - a courage that will be sorely tested as she defies both Saxon and Dane and undertakes an extraordinary adventure to save a man she has never met.

Book One in The Circle of Ceridwen Trilogy

**Q&A with Octavia Randolph**

Why did you choose 9^th century England as a setting?

It was absolutely one of the most exciting and perilous times in all of English history, the very making of what England would become.  Danish raiders – who later became known as Vikings – had been landing sporadically for years, taking weapons, silver, and of course, slaves.  But then they’d sail home again.  But by the late 9^th century, Denmark was becoming seriously overcrowded, and the raiders had a new focus – emigration.  This led to large, well-organized armies landing, and intending to stay. England was composed of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms at the time, and one by one these fell to the Danes. The year The Circle of Ceridwen is set, 871, five of the seven kingdoms had already succumbed, with Mercia dangerously weak.  Soon only Wessex remained, saved by the brilliance of its young king Ælfred.

But the novel is told in 1^st person by a 15 year old girl –

Exactly.  I wanted to tell the story of invasion and survival through the eyes of a young woman. It is a tale about warriors, but most of the people affected by their actions were not warriors.  As is always the way with war.

So tell us about this girl, and why you chose her as your narrator.

Ceridwen is really representative of her times on many levels. She is in the middle of tremendous conflicts. Firstly, she’s half Saxon and half Welsh, two groups traditionally at odds with each other. Early in the book she travels from her priory home to a distant fortress now controlled by the Danes, who are very much the enemy.  Then to add to her conflicts, as she settles into her new home she feels the tug of her earliest beliefs. Even though she had been baptized, she was raised heathen by her uncle, in the Old Religion of Wodin/Odin, Thor, Freyja, and all the other Gods common to both the early Saxons and the Vikings. So she finds some uneasy common ground there, as well.

Sounds like she needs to grow up quickly…

And she does. The Circle of Ceridwen covers six months in Ceridwen’s life, but with, of course, tremendous changes to her experience and world view.  The entire Trilogy spans ten years in her life, but now that I’m working on Book Four that is expanding as well. It’s been a wonderful adventure for me and I’m grateful to my readers for bringing me this far!

The Circle of Ceridwen Book Trailer

Learn more about Octavia Randolph

Author website 

Goodreads Profile page 

  

Buy the book at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk:

Guest Blog: Larry Brill

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Larry Brill, whose novel, THE PATTERER, is set in 18th century London. The author will offer a free copy of The Patterer to a lucky blog visitor; please leave your email address in the comments to be contacted. Here's the blurb:

In 1765 London, Leeds Merriweather is scratching out a living as a common street performer, a patterer, using his wit and storytelling skills to draw crowds and sell newspapers. Although he aspires to be a respected journalist and start his own publishing house, Leeds is relegated to pattering by his handsome face, strong voice and straight teeth.

Inspired by a drunken chance encounter with Benjamin Franklin, Leeds assembles a zany cast of characters to become history’s first celebrity newscaster. But at the peak of his meteoric rise to fame and fortune, Leeds risks it all for the love of a conniving wench in this Dickensian comedy.

The Patterer is the first release in a trilogy.

**Q&A with Larry Brill**

 When did you begin writing?       

      There isn’t a time I can think of when I wasn’t storytelling or writing in one form or another.  Beginning with a Big Chief tablet, I proceeded to my high school’s newspaper, then college, and then many years as a journalist.

What was your inspiration for writing The Patterer?

      One day I was reading Eric Burns’ Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism, where he traces journalism back to Europe. In his book, Eric has one short paragraph that mentions the existence of these fellows called “patterers” who would stand on the street corner and deliver bits of news.

      With my 25 years experience as a TV news anchor it was a simple leap for me to imagine a character and a storyline that took the concept to absurd extremes. Once I created Leeds Merriweather, the hero emerged and told the story himself. I just took dictation and published it.

What do you think readers will take away with them after reading The Patterer?

      I think readers may decide that the news exists to entertain them, and that

the stuff that we call news now has not changed much over time. Only the technology that delivers the news has changed.

What’s next for you?

     

      Writing book II of The Patterer trilogy.

Have you won any awards for your writing?

      I would reveal that I was once the official “Worst” writer in America. Every year the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest holds a tongue-in-cheek competition to intentionally write the worst opening sentence to an imaginary novel. It’s based on the opening line that Snoopy made famous “It was a dark and stormy night…” Bulwer-Lytton gets upwards of ten thousand entries each year and I won the contest more than a decade ago. So my goal as a writer now, with two novels out, is to reach the bestseller list and stake the claim that I went from worst to first.

Larry Brill spent 25 years as a TV news anchor and reporter, picking up numerous awards along the way.  After leaving the business in 2000 to set up a video and marketing consulting business, Larry penned his first novel, Live At Five, a gentle lampooning of the TV news business. His second novel The Patterer, carries the same theme back in time to explore how today’s news clichés might play to an 18th century London theater audience.

Guest Blog: Ellen Brazer

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Ellen Brazer whose latest novel, AND SO IT WAS WRITTEN, is set during the Roman governorship of Judea. Leave your comment with an email address for a free copy of And So It Was Written. Here's the blurb:

Meticulously researched and controversial in scope and imagination, And So It Was Written travels to a time when a Third Temple is built and the Ark of the Covenant holding the Ten Commandments is found. The year is 132 CE, and the proclaimed Jewish Messiah, Bar Kokhba, has defeated the Roman army and rules Judea. As the Romans prepare to reclaim Israel, the book follows two sets of brothers–one Roman and one Jewish–whose friendships, hatreds, and lives intertwine. 

For characters you will dream about, And So It Was Written is the ultimate treat. You will smell the spices in the markets, see the blood on the battlefields, rage with the injustice of brother against brother. From triumph to defeat, this is a saga of courage, conquest, familial loyalty, honor and love–showing man at his best and his worst. 

**Q&A with Ellen Brazer**

After writing Clouds Across the Sun, a book that is Holocaust related and moves into the 1970’s what made you want to write a story that takes place in the 2nd century?

I was reading the book Bar Kokhba by the famous Israeli archeologist, Yale Yadin. As I read the account and looked at the photographs taken in the cave he discovered in the Negev Desert it was as if some unseen hand was drawing me into the distant past. The photographs were somehow so familiar.

What did he discover?

There was a child’s linen shirt, a woman’s hand mirror, vials of perfume, a cache of coins engraved with the symbols of Judaism: a menorah, grapes, a harp. Some of the coins had a depiction of a Temple, a depiction that looked nothing like the First or Second Temple. They also found letters, a stack of 10 Papyri signed by Bar Kokhba, the man declared the Messiah of the Jewish people. These letters had been left undisturbed for 2,000 years! Bar Kokhba was the man who led a Jewish army against Rome and defeated the Empire. Under his leadership, the Jews ruled Israel for three years.

What was your motivation to take the enormous challenge of creating a fictional story based on such obscure information?

Bar Kokhba is a folk hero in Israel yet most American Jews have never even heard his name mentioned. That was my motivation. To tell the story of my people. To break the image that we were not warriors but a people who had been led like sheep to their death in the Concentration Camps. Two thousand years ago we were warriors just as we are today! I want to take my reader into the story and to fold them into the past as easily as they turn a page.

What is your favorite part of writing historical fiction? Who are some of your characters?

I love giving a voice and personality to real historical people. In my research, I surmised that Bar Kokhba must have been a charismatic leader for tens of thousands of men to come to fight beside him. In my book, I have Julius Galen, the father of medicine. I give him a brilliant and beautiful daughter who is headstrong and determined to become a surgeon. The men in my novel fall in love with her!

Where does the story take place and who are the main characters?

The story takes place in Rome and in Israel. It is the story of two sets of brothers. The brothers in Israel are the sons of a beloved rabbi. One brother is so brilliant he has memorized the Five books of Moses by time he is thirteen. The other brother wants only to join Bar Kokhba’s army. The brilliant brother is taken as a slave to Rome to become the tutor for half-brothers, sons of a Roman Senator. Half-brothers who hate each other. 

Ellen Brazer is the author of And So It Was Written and Clouds Across the Sun 

Available on Amazon.com at: http://goo.gl/TGLPW

Guest Blog: Veronica Scott

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Veronica Scott once again, whose latest novel, WARRIOR OF THE NILE, is set in ancient Egypt. The author will offer a free copy of Warrior of the Nile to a lucky blog visitor; leave your email in the comments for a chance to enter the drawing. Winners are contacted by email. Here's the blurb:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Lady Tiya is bound to the service of the goddess Nephthys, who plans to sacrifice Tiya’s body to protect Egypt from an ancient terror. She embarks to meet her grim fate alone but for the hardened warrior Khenet, who is fated to die at her side. Tiya’s dreams of love and family now seem impossible, and Khenet, who is the last of his line, knows his culture will die with him. Struggling with the high cost of Nephthys’s demands, both resolve to remain loyal.

Neither expects the passion that flowers when Tiya’s quiet courage and ethereal beauty meet Khenet’s firm strength and resolve. On a boat down the Nile, their two lonely souls find in each other a reason to live. But time is short and trust elusive.

Without the willing sacrifice of Tiya and Khenet, a great evil will return to Egypt. How could the gods demand their deaths when they’ve only just begun to live?

**Q&A with Veronica Scott**

What appeals to you so much about Ancient Egypt?

I love that even though the Ancient Egyptians’ daily lives and their beliefs were so different from our modern experiences, family, children, marriage, a happy life were at the core of what the average Egyptian man or woman hoped to achieve in this world. Not very different from us after all!  I’m also fascinated by how much we know about named individuals of 3000 or more years ago, not just the Pharaohs, but scribes, soldiers, housewives…  Ancient Egypt gives me a rich world, already built and inhabited, in which to place my characters and let them have their adventures. And romance!

You must do quite a bit of research?

Oh yes, I can lose myself for hours in researching, because one tidbit leads to another, which takes me to something else that inspires a new train of thought…LOL, I’m hopeless about getting sidetracked! I have a huge stack of scholarly and popular books about Ancient Egypt which I use as references, as well as doing some online searches.  I decided early on, however, that I couldn’t write strict historical romances because I always want to put a paranormal spin on everything and I needed the Egyptian gods and goddesses to play an active part in my stories. This also requires some deliberate tweaking of historical accuracy.

Quickfire Questions:

Must watch  TV Show: Project Runway

Favorite Movie: Aliens.  Or Ever After. Depends on my mood LOL!

Cats or Dogs? Cats

Favorite Flower: Roses and Purple Iris

Tea or coffee:  Tea

Morning person or evening person:  Morning!

Favorite Perfume: Michael Kors Very Hollywood (which he discontinued L )

Book I Wish I’d Written:  Dragonriders of PERN by Anne McCaffrey except no one could have written that wonderful book but her LOL.

Any advice for new writers:  

Get words on paper (or in the WORD file on the computer) every day. Even if the words aren’t flowing, get something down and you can go back and build on what you have later.  Also, don’t be too self critical, especially on the first draft. Just let the Muse take over!

What are you working on next?

 I’m finishing up edits for DANCER OF THE NILE, which I’ll be back in October to talk about a bit more. I’m also in the middle of writing MAGIC OF THE NILE, which is a direct sequel to my first book, PRIESTESS OF THE NILE. Most of my Ancient Egyptian paranormals are standalone stories, but set in the same Pharaoh’s reign. MAGIC is scheduled to be released in January. So I’m busy, but I love it!

You can find author Veronica Scott at:

Blog  

@vscotttheauthor   

Facebook  

Amazon Author Page

Guest Blog: Ginger Myrick

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Ginger Myrick, whose latest novel WORK OF ART is set in 19th century New York. The author will offer a free copy of To Work of Art to a lucky blog visitor - please leave your email address in the comments for a chance to win. Here's the blurb:

Work of Art is a Cinderella story with a violent twist set 139 years in the past. From the mean streets of Five Points to carriage rides in the park and lunch at Delmonico’s, it evokes all of the extravagance of the age along with the stark disparity between classes.

Every girl dreams of a handsome Prince Charming to whisk her away to a fairytale ending. For Del Ryan it seemed unlikely, but that’s exactly what happened.

In 1874, New York booms with prosperity and conspicuous consumption with a clear social divide between classes. Families have lost their men to the Civil War and do what they can to get by. Del Ryan, an intelligent and talented Irish immigrant, works as a lady’s maid for a society matron to support her invalid mother. Although plain and unassuming, she is an accomplished artist with the gift of clairvoyance. She meets Killian Arthur, a golden god from a privileged New York family. He is flawlessly handsome with impeccable manners and a penchant for bare-knuckle boxing. Fascinated by her, Killian transforms Del into a fine lady, the toast of her new class of friends.

But things are not always what they seem. Rough Jimmy Sheehan is from the same Irish community and has always thought of Del as his own. He has known Del her entire life and has a keen understanding of her plight. Hot-tempered and hard drinking, he is Killian’s polar opposite in form and deed. Jimmy has seen enough of the world to know that there is something not quite right about Del’s suitor and warns her to that effect. Is he simply jealous, or does he want the best for the woman he loves?

Then the fairytale takes a violent turn when girls from the neighborhood start turning up dead. Del witnesses the murders through her disturbing visions and documents them in startlingly accurate detail with her artistic talent. She realizes that with each new victim, the killer is getting closer. Will his identity be revealed before he comes for her?

**Q&A with Ginger Myrick**

How would you encapsulate Work of Art to pique a reader’s interest?

I am my own worst publicist, but I’ll give it a go. Work of Art is a story of love and loss, romance and mystery, with a smattering of tenderness and humor. It is a fairytale gone wrong in which the upper class meets the mean streets of New York. Throw in a love triangle, a bit of bare-knuckle boxing, a serial killer, and a plain Irish clairvoyant who is transformed into the belle of the ball, and I hope I have a story with enough intrigue and action to satisfy a wide variety of readers.

Work of Art is set in the late 19th century in Five Points, New York City. How did you choose the era and setting for this novel?

I was drawn to this era because some of my favorite classic books are set during the late 19th century: Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Anna Karenina, The Age of Innocence, et al. I knew I wanted to set the book on the east coast of the US, after the war and in a city with a large Irish community. I also have a slight obsession with Jack the Ripper, and I guess my subconscious mind chose a time period that would allow me to make the connection.

As Work of Art is a bit of a twist on the Cinderella/My Fair Lady theme, it was imperative that the main characters, Del and Killian, be from two disparate social classes, but their communities had to be located within walking distance of each other. The most notorious Irish neighborhoods in New York at the time were Hell’s Kitchen and Five Points. Of course, there are enough swanky areas in New York that would have suited my needs for either location, but the capper was the proximity to the museum, which was integral to a book titled Work of Art! Besides, I always like to have a visual of the setting I’m attempting to portray. The film versions of The Gangs of New York and The Age of Innocence were invaluable resources. Martin Scorsese is meticulous in his attention to detail, ESPECIALLY when it comes to his beloved New York.

Who was your favorite character to develop in Work of Art?

When you create a character it is very much like giving birth, and you become very attached to him/her regardless of virtues or faults. In fact, sometimes their faults make the characters even more engaging and more fun to write. Del and her mother were both very sweet and endearing, and Killian was so suave and such a gentleman. I even had a great time with the two bad guy boxers, but I loved Mrs. Chester, Mrs. Arthur, Jimmy, and Deirdre for their forthright manner. I have a soft spot for an unabashed, uncensored personality, and these A-type personalities are a writer’s dream. Of course, I am writing for others to read, but I might as well have fun while I do it.

And regardless of the brief mention of him in the book, I really loved Del’s dad. In my mind he was a fully formed person who influenced Del’s character and in turn much of the story. There is something very honorable and valiant about the ideals he represents. A strong bond between father and daughter fascinates me, partly because it’s something I have never experienced myself. The chapter when the ladies were going through the remnants of their life in Ireland was one of my favorites to relate.

If the police came to your house and seized your computer, do you think they would be shocked at your Google searches? Would it be enough for them to open an official file on you?

If the cops came to my house, I would probably be writing my next book from behind bars! My search history would definitely raise some eyebrows. I’ve always been a bit obsessed with serial killers, and even before it ever dawned on me to write, I used to google all sorts of twisted stuff. One of my fascinations is with the Borgias. Their preferred method of eliminating opposition was by poisoning. They used a concoction called La Cantarella, which was supposedly prepared by: “removing the abdominal organs of a sow poisoned with arsenic, salting the organs with more arsenic, then letting them slowly putrefy. The fluids that dripped from the rotting viscera were then evaporated to dryness and collected as a white powder resembling sugar.” Of course, this is highly impractical for a modern-day murderer, so I settled for a less artful but more reliable hands-on method!

Your stories often include mysticism in the form of subtle magic or dreams. Do you have any personal experience with such, or do you simply enjoy incorporating it into your fiction?

I’m sure that by now some people view me as a writer of supernatural love stories, but that is not entirely the case. As is typical of my creative process, the inspirations come fairly complete and the mystical elements are simply what the stories dictate. As for me, I don’t have visions, but I do get little insights now and again. They can be very accurate, but they aren’t crystal clear the way Del experiences hers. However, the way she records what she sees parallels the way my writing takes over.

And I have a touch of healing. Nothing like Arlais in The Welsh Healer, but I can feel where the painful spots are in another person and am able to draw them out to a certain extent. I also have an instinctual knowledge of herbs. I think it must come from genetic memory. My great-grandmother on my father’s side was a curandera, sort of the Mexican equivalent of a shaman. As of this moment, I have no further working ideas that involve the supernatural.

Your other two books, El Rey and The Welsh Healer, are historical novels, but this one falls more under the mystery/thriller genre. When you set out to write this novel, did you know from the start that you were switching, and possibly with a new audience?

Again, the story dictated itself, and there was not much I could do to the contrary. I had concerns that my readers might not make the switch, but my worries turned out to be unfounded. The book hasn’t sold enough to garner very many reviews, but my handful of loyal readers have loved it. I think that if you strike a chord with readers and they come to love your use of language, the way you portray your characters and tell your story, they are more willing to listen to what you have to say, even if it is a bit out of the norm for them. I am the same way. I will go along with just about anything as long as the storytelling and compatible writing style are there. The real risk will come with the book I plan to write after my current WIP. If my readers will stick with me through a pre-zombie apocalypse love story, they’ll be loyal for life!

What’s next?

My current WIP takes place during the US Civil War and is a return to a simple old-fashioned love story with extended historical backgrounds for the pertinent characters and no supernatural elements. It was shelved in favor of The Welsh Healer and Work of Art, because I thought putting out a couple of books that were shorter in length would help build a following before I returned to the type of sweeping saga of El Rey. I don’t like to jinx myself, because things in our household never run according to plan, but it should be finished mid-autumn. 

Ginger Myrick was born and raised in Southern California. She is a self-described wife, mother, animal lover, and avid reader and knitter. Along with the promotion for THE WELSH HEALER, and EL REY, she is currently crafting her third novel, which takes place during the U.S. Civil War. She is a Christian who writes meticulously researched historical fiction with a ‘clean’ love story at the core. She hopes to persevere with her newfound talent and show the reading community that a romance need not include graphic details to convey deep love and passion.

Guest Blog: Gerri Brousseau

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Gerri Brousseau, whose latest novel TO KILL A MONARCH is set during the Napoleonic period. The author will offer a free copy of To Kill A Monarch to a lucky blog visitor; be sure to leave your email address in the comments to enter the drawing. Here's the blurb:

Whispers in dark allies say Napoleon’s best assassin, The Falcon, has been sent to London to kill the Monarch. The problem – The Falcon’s identity is known only to the French Emperor. Sir Walter Tinsdale’s new partner, Philip Hamilton, arrives to discover their mission is to find the elusive bird of prey before he strikes. But their nemesis is like a phantom and always one step ahead of them. Enter the lovely Miss Charlotte Winston, the object of Sir Tinsdale’s affections, as well as those of Philip Hamilton. Unlikely alliances, deception, murder, and suicide will keep you turning the pages until the identity of The Falcon is finally revealed. With all the seduction and action of a James Bond movie, To Kill a Monarch is like 007 in 1811.  

**Q&A with Gerri Brousseau**

What inspired you to write To Kill a Monarch?

You know, I’m not really sure. One day I started to think about the time of Napoleon. I often times ask myself “what if” and that day I wondered what would happen if Napoleon reached into England and attempted to assassinate the Monarch. My mind started spinning the plot and To Kill a Monarch was born.

How long does it take you to write a book?

It usually takes me 4-6 weeks. I use the “fast fiction” method which means I turn off my “inner editor” and just write. Once I reach the end, I then go back to the beginning and start the editing.

Does your latest book cross over to other genres? If so, what are they?

Yes. It is an intrigue romance.

What is the most important thing you do for your career?

Keep writing. You are only as good as your next book.

If you were secluded on a desert island, what would be your three must have books.

Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind, and (not sure it counts as one) the Harry Potter Series.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Spend time with family, especially my 1-year old granddaughter. I also love to read.

~~~~~

If you would like to read more of this saucy caper story, you can get it in e-book form at Soul Mate Publishing (www.soulmatepublishing.com), Amazon and B&N.

And now for some fun! Let’s have a little give away. Please leave a comment or ask a question and you will qualify to win a free e-book copy of To Kill a Monarch. The winner will be selected at random. Good luck to all. 

Learn more about author Gerri Brousseau

Guest Blog: Carol McGrath

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Carol McGrath, whose latest novel THE HANDFASTED WIFE is set during the Norman Conquest period. The author will offer a free copy of The Handfasted Wife to a lucky blog visitor in ebook format (epub) OR a paperback; please be sure to include your email address in the comments. Winner(s) are contacted privately. Here's the blurb:

King Harold loves Elditha, his beautiful handfasted wife for many years, and she loves him back. It is Christmas 1065. When aging King Edward dies Elditha’s husband is elected king. To her horror she is set aside for a marriage which will unite north and south against a Norman threat. But the Conqueror swoops over the channel, burns English lands and destroys King Harold. Can Elditha protect her family from the Conqueror’s wrath?

**Q&A with Carol McGrath**

First of all, Carol, can you tell us a little about yourself and your writing?

My first degree was in English and Russian Studies (History subsid.) but I always wrote. However, once I had a family there really was no time and I was forging a career in teaching. I was in turn Head of a High School History Department and, latterly, joint Head of English in a private school so very busy. In between, I was accepted for an MA in Creative Writing at Queens University Belfast where I studied at The Seamus Heaney Centre. This was a rich and rewarding experience. My portfolio grew and consisted of short stories both contemporary and historical. Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate and one of this MA’s outside moderators invited me onto the MPhil Creative Writing programme at Royal Holloway. This is how I came to write my debut novel The Handfasted Wife, a novel set in Anglo-Saxon England at the time of the Norman Conquest. It is a novel about three royal women during the year of 1066 and in the aftermath of Conquest as it affects them culminating after The Siege of Exeter, 1068, when Harold’s mother, Gytha, resisted the Conqueror. I could have written a whole novel on that event as Gytha had gathered noble women there and, according to Chronicles, escaped with a great Anglo-Saxon treasure. However, the book’s heroine is Edith Swan-Neck and so Gytha must wait her turn. Edith Swan-Neck’s story is part recorded history and part the product of imagination and informed speculation. As for my MPhil, I graduated in March. I wrote my thesis on How Romance tempers Realism in Historical Fiction. One of my examiners, Fay Weldon, loved the novel so much that she has endorsed it.

Tell us about The Handfasted Wife. First of all, what is a handfasted wife?

Very early medieval weddings were not sanctified by the Church. Handfasting was the traditional marriage form by which the families concerned agreed property transfer on marriage. The bride and groom were usually handfasted in a ceremony by the whetstone at the entrance to the bride’s father’s great hall. They made promises to each other and their hands were bound together during the marriage ceremony. Generally, these marriages were lasting and legal. However, during the eleventh century, marriage ceremonies involved a priest and became church weddings and marriage by handfasting was not recognised by the church. This allowed a get out, particularly for kings who might seek new political alliances. Harold and Edith Swan-Neck had been married for nearly twenty years before he married the sister of England’s Northern Earls and, though History suggests that he loved her, Harold set Edith aside for political reasons. The historian, Frank Barlow says in The Godwins, she may not have been ‘top drawer’ now he was king. As this also was a political move to appease the north and protect England from outside invaders, I wondered to what extent Edith might have accepted it. I took any facts I could find in Chronicles and various analysis of The Bayeux Tapestry and constructed a possible scenario. I fictionalise Edith’s life on an estate in Sussex, the growing threat to her family before October 1066, and her imagined escape from an arranged marriage after Harold’s slaughter. In the novel, I link her fate to this of Dowager Queen Edith, Harold’s sister and that of his mother, Countess Gytha. The novel tells of a woman’s experience, and I believe that as well as being a story of love and loss it presents a reader with a fresh perspective on the consequences of the Norman Conquest.

How did you come to focus on the last days of Anglo-Saxon England?

I began wondering about how the Conquest affected the noble Saxon women especially after I discovered that Edith Swan-Neck allegedly identified King Harold’s body parts on the battlefield at Hastings (Senlac). My great interest was tapestry especially The Bayeux Tapestry. I had a hunch that the vignette depicting a woman and a child fleeing from a burning house was Edith Swan-Neck (Elditha as there are several Ediths in the story) and her son Ulf who was taken as a child hostage to Normandy and not released for decades. This theory is supported by tapestry historians such as Andrew Bridgeford. I researched women’s lives during this period and consulted academics such as Henrietta Leyser who wrote Medieval Women. I read ‘what happened’ in original chronicles in Oxford’s Bodleian Library and explored life in the medieval period, looking at costume, jewellery, food, furniture, art, architecture, trade and so on. The more I researched the more fascinated I became. I read everything I could find on this period of change, even how the Victorians viewed the period romantically as they looked for a pre-Conquest English identity. Then I wrote The Handfasted Wife.

Since you tell a familiar story from an unfamiliar view point do you consider yourself a feminist writer?

Women should understand how they evolved as a political and social force through history, how they found a voice, and appreciate what life was like for them in a past era. I believe that in looking back we understand women’s position in a contemporary western world better. My mother was a feminist and so feminism is ingrained in me. However, I see myself, as first of all, a writer. Medieval women are the footnotes of history. I am interested in their hidden stories and I try to tease them out. Writing, for me, is most of all about discovering and revealing past existences through fiction and so I put out an idea or two but I see these ideas as ‘collaborative’ between author and reader and never a given. I would like my readers to think about historical possibilities. Also, I hope my stories appeal to both men and women readers.
 

This is the first novel in a trilogy, The Daughters of Hastings. Can you say a little about what you are currently writing?

My new novel is the second book in this trilogy. It is very romantic as it is about a real historical love triangle. After much agonising about a title, it is to be called The Swan-Daughter’s Tale and is a story about Edith Swan-Neck’s daughter Gunnhild’s elopement from Wilton Abbey in the last quarter of the 11thC. I won’t give any spoilers here but shall say that some great characters from the first novel do reappear in the sequel.

Thank you, Carol, and best of luck with The Handfasted Wife.

Thank you, Lisa, for having me on Unusual Historicals. I am offering a free copy of The Handfasted Wife, either an Apple download of the novel for IPhone or IPad or a paperback copy. Leave an email address in the comments section if you wish to enter this draw, which is available internationally. Say which version you are interested in too!

The Handfasted Wife is published by Accent Press and is available an e book for all e readers and as a paperback from Amazon, USA and UK. It can be bought from Accent Press’s online bookstore.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Handfasted-Wife-Carol-McGrath/dp/1909520470/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1375773330&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/The-Handfasted-Wife-ebook/dp/B00CL7QBVM/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1-catcorr&qid=1375773427

Learn more about author Carol McGrath

https://www.facebook.com/daughtersofhastings
http://scribbling-inthemargins.blogspot.gr/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard
Follow me on Twitter @carolmcgrath

http://pinterest.com/carol0275/

Guest Blog: Mingmei Yip

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Mingmei Yip, whose latest novel THE NINE FOLD HEAVEN is set in China during the 1930's. The author will offer a free copy of The Nine Fold Heaven to a lucky blog visitor - please leave your email address to be considered in the drawing. Here's the blurb:

In this mesmerizing new novel, Mingmei Yip draw readers deeper into the exotic world of 1930s Shanghai first explored in Skeleton Women, and into the lives of the unforgettable Camilla, Shadow, and Rainbow Chang.

When Shadow, a gifted, ambitious magician, competed with the beautiful singer spy Camilla for the affections of organized crime leader Master Lung, she almost lost everything. Hiding out in Hong Kong, performing in a run-down circus, Shadow has no idea that Camilla, too, is on the run with her lover, Jinying – Lung’s son.

Yet while Camilla and Shadow were once enemies, now their only hope of freedom lies in joining forces to eliminate the ruthless gangster Big Brother Wang. Despite the danger, Shadow, Camilla, and Jinying return to Shanghai. Camilla also has her own secret agenda – she has heard a rumor that her baby son is alive. And in a city teeming with spies and rivals – including the vengeful gossip columnist Rainbow Chang – each battles for a future in a country on the verge of monumental change.

**Q&A with Mingmei Yip**

Tell us a little about your new and fifth novel The Nine Fold Heaven.

The Nine Fold Heaven is about three femmes fatales – referred to as “skeleton women,” in Chinese. They are the singer spy Camilla, the magician Shadow, and the gossip columnist Rainbow Chang. But the journey is mainly Camilla’s. She undertakes an emotional and dangerous trip back to Shanghai to reunite with her lost lovers,  to find the baby she was told was stillborn, and to discover the secret of her parents’ murder.

Nine Fold Heaven is part of a series of Skeleton Women (femmes fatales) but can be read as a stand alone book.

Tell us about your main character(s).

The three beautiful, talented and scheming skeleton women, or femmes fatales, are Camilla, the singer spy, Shadow the magician, and Rainbow Chang the gossip columnist. Though are all successful, they remain marginalized in a society that disdains independent women. Camilla and Shadow, realizing their real enemy is a repressive society, stop fighting each other and unite to defeat their gangster boss.

In researching these novels I was fascinated to learn how women could overcome their rivalries and survive in a near-lawless world controlled by gangsters for whom murder was as routine as sipping a cup of tea.

In the course of her adventurous life, Camilla finds herself with two lovers. One is the Harvard-educated son of the gangster head Master Lung, whose bed she is forced to share. The other is Gao, Lung’s most trusted bodyguard. These are two very different men, the son is refined, intellectual, but impulsive, while the bodyguard has rough manners but is always gentle and respectful to Camilla. This iron-man-with-a-tender-heart bodyguard, seems to win the hearts of many of my female readers.

What do you feel is the most unique aspect of your story?

My protagonists are brave and strong women who are relentless in overcoming hardship and tragedy to live life on their own terms and achieve happiness. It is hard now even to try to imagine the hardships women had to endure in traditional China – marrying to a dead fiancé, making them the slaves of the dead man’s parents, or forced into prostitution, yet not even allowed to keep their babies. My heroine was taken from her parents, trained to be a spy and to kill with no emotion.

Some of my characters are inspired by the lives of actual women, including Camilla the singer-spy in my new novel The Nine Fold Heaven, and the teenage prostitute Xiang Xiang in my debut novel Peach Blossom Pavilion (now in its 5^th printing!) I feel honored to be able to give these silenced women their voice.

1930’s Shanghai is represented in your novel the Nine Fold Heaven as a lawless and corrupt time. Why did you choose this particular time?

I love history, because it is like a mirror reflecting all that’s good and bad in humanity. I think the 1930’s Shanghai is one of the sexiest eras in world history, populated with larger than life characters: glamorous women, cynical politicians, and corrupt police. But also with idealists trying to help China find its way in the modern world.

It was a time of extremes – from sybaritic luxury to abject poverty. I have tried to describe both from the indulgences of the rich to the miseries of the poor. But even for the rich, life was full of dangers.

Few of the rich came by their wealth honestly. There were always many ready to usurp their place, by guile if possible, or by murder if necessary. Those without money were expendable, particularly parentless children abandoned to orphanages. This had been Camilla’s fate, and also two of my actually virtuous characters -- the little blind girl and the baby she takes care of.

Can you give aspiring writers some writing tips?

I plunge into writing and ignore everything around me. Since I was a tiny girl I have always preferred life inside my own head. Whenever I have writer’s block, I’ll read or watch a movie. This usually triggers ideas for me so I can go back to write. I also read a lot, not only to feed my imagination and creativity, but also to have a point of comparison for my own writing.

I think it is still essential to master the basics. Not only voice, characterization, dialogue, plot, but also sentence structure, its rhythm and music. I always try to vary the length of my sentences and start each one with a different subject. It’s essential to spent whatever time it takes to find the right word. Sometimes, it is a single word that brightens a whole paragraph.

There is a Chinese saying “Slap on the thigh and exclaim!” That’s how the readers will react to a good choice of word. Readers may not be aware of the meticulous hard work behind a smooth sentence, but if you don’t pay attention, they will soon become bored. I also think it’s good for authors to attend other cultural activities such as movies, concerts, art exhibitions. Have as diverse a background as you can cultivate, that really helps.

Most important, don’t give up! The ancient Chinese philosophy classic, the Daode Jing says more things are spoiled in the end than the beginning. Stick through to the end.

Tell us about your other books?

I love writing for both adults and children. My other novels are Skeleton Women, Song of the Silk Road, Petals from the Sky, and Peach Blossom Pavilion, all by Kensington Books. For adults, I wish my readers, besides being entertained, would be inspired by my brave heroines.

I have two children’s books (which I both wrote and illustrated) Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories and the new one Grandma Panda’s China Storybook, which has just  come out this year, all by Tuttle Publishing. For children, I also like to entertain while teaching about right and wrong.

   

Are you working on another novel?

Yes, my next and sixth novel is Needle of a Thousand Beauties, to be published by Kensington Books in 2014.

It is about a young woman who escapes a ghost marriage to join a community of celebrate embroiderers. Soon, stifled by the rigid routines of the group, she helps herself to one of their treasures – an imperial robe. Chased by agents of a secret society, she makes her way to Beijing. There she finds work in an embroidery shop, only to be tricked into marrying the boss’ son. Escaping again, she falls in love with a revolutionary and lives an even more dangerous life. Despite all these distractions, she continues with her needlework and earns fame and respect. 

Visit Mingmei at: www.mingmeiyip.com

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/SilkRoadRomance.MingmeiYip

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mingmeiyip

Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Mingmei-Yip/e/B0037A8RBO

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/235532.Mingmei_Yip