This week, we're welcoming author Téa Cooper again, whose latest title is FORGOTTEN FRAGRANCE - From the Ocean to the Outback - Book I. One lucky visitor will get a free copy of Forgotten Fragrance. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments of today's author interview for a chance to win. Winner(s) are contacted privately by email. Here's the blurb.
Only one woman can confirm his innocence, and release him from the torments of his past.
Determined to throw off the shackles of her convict past, Charlotte Oliver accepts her employer’s marriage proposal, even though she does not love him, and together they board a refitted whaling schooner bound for Sydney to begin their new life.
But life has a way of disrupting plans, and during the voyage the Zephyrus undergoes a mutiny. Captain Christian Charity loses his ship, but he also risks losing so much more. Charlotte has, in her possession, a tiny blue bottle and an Angel coin. On their own, they mean nothing more than a keepsake, but to Christian, they could mean everything – a past remade and a future with love.
Best-selling Australian author, Téa Cooper lives in a stone cottage on one hundred acres of bushland, just outside the time-warp village of Wollombi, New South Wales. Although Téa was born and raised in England the majority of her books, both contemporary and historical, are set in Australia, the country she now calls home. When she isn’t writing Téa can usually be found haunting the local museum or chatting to the locals, who provide her with a never-ending source of inspiration. She is a member of Romance Writers Australia and Hunter Romance Writers and is a 2014 finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards for her historical romance, Jazz Baby.
**Q&A with Téa Cooper**
Thank you so much for the invitation to visit again. My latest release FORGOTTEN FRAGRANCE is the first book in a new series FROM THE OCEAN TO THE OUTBACK.
It’s a historical romance that takes place aboard a whaling ship somewhere between Tasmania and New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia with a lot of action and adventure and some seriously shady characters, a little bit of a pirate romp.
You are one of the few people writing Australian historical romance. What lead you down that path?
I was born and brought up in England, just outside London, and I have always had a fascination with all things historical. When I visited Australia I fell in love with the place and never went home. I was fascinated by the country and obviously started delving below the surface of the well-known historical facts. The one thing that resonated with me was the difference in life and the opportunities for women. They made such a success of the advantages of a new country, particularly as they were not hidebound by the strict social conventions of English society. Many of the first land grants in Australia were made to women and many owned their own businesses.
What inspired you to write Forgotten Fragrance?
Three things really: The first was a piece of jewelry made by a wonderful Australian company Republic of You. I was, still am, besotted by this glorious necklace and it became the steppingstone into this story.
Then while doing some preliminary research I received a link from the Australian Maritime Museum to a thesis submitted to the Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, South Australia. Among the artifacts discovered on a deserted piece of coastline where whaling ships had stopped was a piece of blue glass, thought to be part of a small bottle. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence and my imagination took flight.
Couple those two discoveries with my ongoing fascination for the stories behind the people who have settled in Australia and Forgotten Fragrance was born. It was as though someone had given me the frame to a jigsaw puzzle – all I had to do was fill in the picture.
What is your next project?
I am very excited about this! I was asked by a group of American authors if I would like to join them in writing a boxed set of short and sweet regency romances to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo. I write ozistoricals, as one of the Australian reviewers has dubbed my books, so I agreed, on the condition I could tie my story to Australia.
After some longwinded research I discovered that there was one Australian at the battle of Waterloo. He was born in Sydney Cove in February 1793, the son of a member of the First Fleet and a convict girl. And so The Caper Merchant was born. It is set in England and tells the story of Samuel Blue and Pandora, the girl he inadvertently falls in love with right at the wrong moment.
The Caper Merchant along with nine other regency romances will be published on 1st April 2015 as a boxed set entitled Beaux, Ballrooms and Battles – A Celebration of Waterloo.
I am currently working on The Great Platypus Hoax, which continues the story of Samuel Blue the hero of The Caper Merchant, and his twin brother Sydney as they rediscover their Australian heritage.
Thanks for the invitation to visit Unusual Historicals. Please drop by my website if you have a moment. I love to hear from readers and writers alike or you can subscribe to my newsletter if you’d care to stay in touch.
Learn more about author Téa Cooper
Best-selling Australian author, Téa Cooper lives in a stone cottage on one hundred acres of bushland, just outside the time-warp village of Wollombi, New South Wales. Although Téa was born and raised in England the majority of her books, both contemporary and historical, are set in Australia, the country she now calls home. When she isn’t writing Téa can usually be found haunting the local museum or chatting to the locals, who provide her with a never-ending source of inspiration. She is a member of Romance Writers Australia and Hunter Romance Writers and is a 2014 finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards for her historical romance, Jazz Baby.
Website: www.teacooperauthor.com
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ASIN: B00S493CS6 Publication Date: February, 2015
http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/author/téa-cooper
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Read an excerpt here: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857992291
