Meet historical fiction author, Elizabeth Bailey
Published on July 1, 2020 by valerieholmesauthorLeave a comment
I am really delighted to invite my fellow Sapere Books author, Elizabeth Bailey, as my guest this month.
Welcome, Elizabeth!
My first question has to be where did your love of storytelling and writing begin?
My father read to us and my older sister made up stories for my brother and me, thus fostering an early interest in literature. I can't remember when stories were not part of my life. Difficult to recall when I began to write them. In school, for festivals, and for pleasure.
My first fairy tale featured a hero who had to rid the lake of a plague of giant spiders in order to win the princess – hence romance. But the darker side was there too in an epic tragi-poem of a sailor who murders the mermaid who loves him. Shades of the future there?
There is a touch of horror in there for me too – spiders!
Do you find switching between the two very different genres of romance and crime keeps your writing fresh?
To be honest, I don't switch much. I'm either writing romances one after another, or mysteries ditto, whatever happens to be driving the bread and butter. I contributed to anthologies with five other authors, producing a string of Regencies which became the Brides by Chance Regency Adventures. My Lady Fan mysteries had languished when I lost my first publisher. When Sapere picked them up, I began a feverish assault on those and haven't swapped back yet. I write the occasional snippet of something completely different when the mood strikes.
You touch on the paranormal in some novels, is this an area of research that you find fascinating?
I am absolutely sold on the supernatural. Powers above the norm, which I believe we all possess if we can access them. Telepathy is everywhere. You think of someone out of the blue and then they ring you up. Magic. Saying which, I was hooked on the Harry Potter series and I'm a sucker for fairy tales. As for past lives, we have all lived many times before. Far too much proof for doubt. One of my paranormals is based on an incident from one of my own past lives. I have no truck with the prevalent one-life belief!
That is fascinating. I admire your certainty.
In the 'Lady Fan Series' your protagonist is a woman who has to overstep the conventions of a lady in her day. This is a difficult challenge for an author and is a factor I also try to balance. How do you enable her to complete her investigations in a credible way for the period?
This is why I gave her Lord Francis. He is both husband and champion, her protector, and he can go where Ottilia can't. If she does venture where ladies don't, she is always accompanied by a stout male guardian – Francis or her Barbadian steward. Nevertheless, she still gets into dangerous situations. Her medical lore is gained from helping her brother doctor Patrick, with whom she lived for years before her launch into solving murders.
Her background is "the middling sort" – genteel but not moving in the first circles. She observes the aristocratic milieu she is now in with an outsider's eye, and she is free of the shibboleths governing the behaviour of ladies in that strata. That's why she oversteps the bounds of convention, relying on her status for impunity. She has married into the elite where eccentricity is tolerated. In other words, she gets away with it!
Writing a series with recurring characters means that they have to continue to grow and develop with each new novel. How do you keep track of their biographies so that this development is consistent?
Wow, I have no idea! Every story has its own "bible" with cast, places, etc and snippets of potential plot, all of which I add to as I go along. The basics are copied into the new bible for a new book. If I'm missing one, I get it from an old bible. I probably ought to keep a spreadsheet, but I know I'd never manage to keep it up! I've always written this way – a cast/plot document and a text document, plus research docs, discarded text in a temp doc in case I need to retrieve it.
How I keep track is a mystery, but I do. So far. The characters who keep coming back are a fistful really. When other family members intrude, it's usually in a minor way and about the only thing I have to figure out is how old they are now. Francis and Ottilia have developed without much help from me. They evolve story by story. I do enjoy their relationship. They have their ups and downs, but I find readers are engaged by their enduring love story.
When I began the series, I determined to marry them off after the first book because a personal bugbear of mine is those off/on romances that persist through a whole series. Why can't they just get it together? Instead, I decided to give each story a secondary romance, but in the event, it turned out my hero and heroine are still very much the romantic couple in every story. I didn't plan it. They just are, those two!
You have had some fascinating career roles to date: acting, directing, teaching and of course writing. Has each one contributed something to your current profession of being an author?
Absolutely. Theatre has shaped my writing. Dramatic structure parallels story structure in terms of build-up, highs and lows, climax and denouement, not forgetting cliff-hanger scene endings, "curtain" in drama. There's also motivation, emotional journey, conflict (inner and external), character, dialogue, sub-text – the spaces between the words and character introspection. As an actress, these things became part of me. As a teacher, I had to dissect them. Ditto as a director, viewing my "staged drama" as a whole moving picture. The difference is that words encourage the reader to watch "the play" in their imagination.
You have been blessed with cross-cultural experience and travelled widely throughout your life. Do you agree that these aspects of life help to deepen an author's ability to create engaging characters and plots?
I think it has given me a large tolerance of other cultures. Perhaps most telling, an understanding that human nature is pretty much the same, nation to nation. Such cultural differences as there are consist by and large of moral standards and artistic appreciation. But the human condition is what it is throughout. We all run the gamut of emotions and struggle with our personal demons as we try to survive. Observation enables you to engage as you mirror the inhabitants of the world around you.
Who or what would you say has had a strong influence on your life/work ethic?
My values echo my father's. A true gentleman, he had wide tolerance, liberal ideals, intelligence. Articulate, funny, considerate and kind, he was a big teddy bear to me. As to work ethic, I imagine my mother's bundle-of-energy personality must have rubbed off on me. Not that I could keep up! But I do have her drive to push through and get things done.
You have been published and self-published. What would you say are the main advantages or disadvantages of each?
Oh, this is a hard one. These days, you can't talk of leaving promotion to others because both avenues require you to play your part in touting the books. I think traditional publishers help with visibility and take the burden off in terms of editing, proofing, formatting, book cover design and initial launch. On your own, you have to do it all and that's tough. On the plus side, you have artistic control and personal satisfaction, even if sales are not as easy to promote.
What advice would you give your younger self if you could as you set out on a life as an author?
Well, this is interesting because I am constantly giving advice to new authors. I'm not sure I would give the same advice to my younger self because things were very different in publishing when I started out. I had also already struggled to make it as an actor so persistence was not new to me. I think I would say: "Just do it. You'll regret it if you don't."
What is next for Elizabeth Bailey?
Here's where I reveal the dream! If I get my dearest wish, it will be a TV series of Lady Fan. That would put the icing on the cake of my writing career.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions and I wish you every success in your career and in life. I hope you realise your dream!
Categories Interviews•Tags #writerslife, Acting, Author, Books, crime, Cross-cultural, director, English literature, genre, Historical Fiction, History, Inspiration, Mystery, Paranormal, Regency, Relationships, Romance, romantic fiction, Sapere Books, Teaching, Theatre, Work, Writing
Meet romantic novelist, Virginia Heath
Published on May 20, 2019 May 4, 2019 by valerieholmesauthorLeave a comment
I am delighted to welcome prolific romance writer Virginia Heath as my guest today.
When and where did your passion for writing begin?
Hard to say, as I think it's always been there. As a child I loved to read and devoured books like they were going out of fashion. At school I had a talent for writing and secretly fancied myself as an author one day but never dared say that out loud because I came from a very working class, blue-collar background. Girls like me dreamed of working in an office, they most certainly didn't write books! But I made up stories in my head instead so I suppose it spiralled from there.
When did inspiration strike for your successful Wild Warriners Quartet?
The old Hollywood musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! I love it, especially the premise – seven down on their luck farmers living in the middle of nowhere, all in desperate want of a wife. The Wild Warriners is my homage to that glorious film – but I thought having seven brothers was a bit much so I settled on four. Like the original brothers, the series starts with them working their land themselves because they cannot afford to hire anyone to help them. Unlike the originals, the Warriners descend from the aristocracy, with the eldest brother Jack being an earl and they tend part of his sprawling but dilapidated country estate in deepest, darkest, dankest Nottinghamshire.
Is Regency your favourite period of history or are there others you want to set your future work in?
I'm a proper history nerd – I used to be a history teacher – so I love most periods of history. However, thanks to Mr Darcy, I do have a particular soft spot for the Regency. I think it's the tight breeches and boots.
Your historical research is impeccable. However, you keep the hero and heroine attractive and the dialogue accessible, whilst giving a flavour that is true to the period. How do you achieve this?
It's a delicate balance writing a historical. Purists want you to keep everything strictly within the period. Modern readers want characters they can relate to. I figure, no matter what the historical backdrop, people are people so my characters think a lot like we do now. My heroes aren't misogynists and my heroines aren't subservient doormats. That said, if you are going to write history you have to get it right. The world my characters live in is completely accurate and although I don't write hither and thither, I make sure my characters don't say modern phrases which will pull readers out of the story.
You are a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association – what does the organisation mean to you?
When I first started writing, the only writer I knew was me. I had nobody to talk shop with. Nobody to guide me through the confusing world of publishing and all it entails. Joining the Romantic Novelists Association was a godsend! I've made so many friends and learned so many things. It truly is one of the most supportive and nurturing institutions which champions romantic fiction in all its forms and I cannot say enough good things about it.
What key advice would you share with aspiring writers?
Write the book! Forget manuals on how to write, don't get bogged down in everything else to do with publishing; if you want to be a published writer it starts with a completed book. Join a writing group, allow other writers to critique your manuscript. Take their advice on board and be prepared to revise and revise those words until they are perfect. Oh yes – and develop a thick skin! If you are determined to be a writer, you'll need it.
Each author has their own favoured way of working – would you share yours with us?
My books run between 80K and 90K words – that's a pretty standard sized novel. If I want to publish four a year it means I have to be semi-disciplined. I don't have the luxury of waiting for the elusive muse to show up. I'm not entirely sure I believe in the muse anyway because it's my brain thinking stuff up, so I just need to make sure I get my brain in gear. I do that by having a routine. It starts with a cup of tea and a dog walk, I do about 30 minutes of social media or admin, then I take myself up to my office and read only the words I wrote the day before, editing as I go to get me back into the zone. Then I pick up where I left off. There is no magic to it really. I work every day, Monday to Friday from around 8am till 4ish with regular breaks and a long lunch. I stop when the alarm goes off on my computer regardless of where I am in a sentence. In fact, finishing mid-sentence really feeds the muse overnight and ensures I'm raring to go the next morning. I try not to work evenings or weekends unless I am up against a deadline. I also try not to write on holidays or breaks. It's important to recharge the batteries.
What has been the highlight of your writing career to date?
My RONA (Romantic Novel of the Year) nomination in 2017. To be shortlisted was the most amazing feeling in the world. That said, seeing each book on the shelves in a bookshop never gets old either. I always go and visit a new book on publication day.
What project are you working on next?
I've just finished my second series – The King's Elite. It's a quartet featuring four Regency spies, which has been huge fun to write. It's been fascinating researching all the smuggling and shenanigans which went on and then weaving some of that into stories which are best described as romantic suspense with a dash of comedy here and there. I can't ever seem to write a book without a dash of funny. The final book, The Determined Lord Hadleigh, comes out in June. Then, just for a change, I have a Victorian romance coming out early next year involving my first older hero and heroine. It's called Lilian and the Irresistible Duke and it's set mostly in one of my favourite cities – Rome. But this has Renaissance art and the Vatican as a backdrop rather than all the high jinks of smuggling. Right now, I am working on a new standalone story about a nerdy heroine who likes to dig up ruins, and a reclusive earl who is all done with life. It's a RomCom Beauty-and-the-Beast meets Indiana Jones story. Or at least I think it is. I can't plot, so I have no idea how it is going to turn out yet! As per usual, I really won't know what sort of story it truly is until I write the words 'the end'.
Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer my questions.
Here are Virginia's social media links:-
Website: https://www.virginiaheathromance.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virginiaheathauthor/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VirginiaHeath_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virginiaheathwrites/
Categories Interviews•Tags Harlequin, Historical, Historical Fiction, Historical Novel Society, History, Hollywood, Mills & Boon, Mystery, Nottinghamshire, Regency, Renaissance art, RNA, Romance, Romance Writers of America, romantic fiction, Romantic Novelists' Association, Romantic Novelists' Assocition, RomCom, RONA Awards
Catching up: Sapere Books 1 year on!
Published on May 9, 2019 April 30, 2019 by valerieholmesauthor1 Comment
Congratulations to Amy, Caoimhe and Richard on there first birthday as Sapere Books.
Amy has taken time out of her busy schedule to share some of the events that have happened in this amazing first year.
Since we last caught up in March 2018, a lot has happened at Sapere Books! We now have over 40 authors who have joined the Sapere family, and we have published lots of fabulous novels in our first year.
The genres we were looking for initially are thriving: crime fiction; historical fiction and romantic fiction are all very popular with our readers, and books in a series do particularly well for us. We are just about to publish in a genre we haven't tried yet: military 'action and adventure' fiction, and we are preparing to launch titles in that genre by this time next year, including a Vietnam combat series and Tudor-era naval fiction.
The team with the winner of The Sapere Books Popular Romantic Fiction Award, Catherine Isaac
One of the most exciting announcements for us in our first year is our sponsorship of two excellent writing awards. In March we sponsored a new award for 2019 from the Romantic Novelists' Association: The Sapere Books Popular Romantic Fiction Award. The shortlist was very strong and the winner was Catherine Isaac for her wonderful novel YOU ME EVERYTHING. We are also the new sponsors of the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award. The shortlist will be announced at CrimeFest in May and I can't wait to read them all! We are also currently interviewing for our first full-time staff member, which is very exciting, so we should have a new Editorial Assistant to introduce to our authors soon!
Many of the authors we signed up before our launch are working on new projects with us, as they are thrilled with reader feedback and the wonderful work Caoimhe has been doing marketing our books: we regularly feature on Amazon's best-seller lists, and have been getting Kindle deals world-wide, from the US to Australia – and even India!
We don't anticipate growing our list hugely in the next year, as we already have so many amazing books scheduled for release, but we will continue to support our Sapere family and we hope all of our authors will continue working with us for many years to come!
Happy Birthday Sapere Books!
Categories Interviews•Tags Books, crime, Crime Writers Association, CrimeFest, CWA Dagger Awards, ebooks, Historical Dagger Award, Historical Fiction, military action and adventure, RNA, RNA Awards, Romantic Novelists' Association, Sapere Books, Tudor, Vietname, Yorkshire
Meet prolific crime writer Margaret Duffy
Published on April 28, 2019 April 28, 2019 by valerieholmesauthor1 Comment
I am delighted to welcome crime writer, Margaret Duffy, as my guest this month.
Margaret, your website mentions your Czech granddad. Was he the person who inspired your passion for creating and writing stories began?
Although my lovely Czech Grandad told me spooky stories about castles with corridors where candles suddenly blew out he died after having had several strokes when I was quite young so any connection with him must be in my genes. The Czechs apparently are known to be story-tellers. My Dad had a novel called Many Bridges published in the fifties that was based on truth, the Czech Resistance during the Second World War. My flights of fancy started with writing a play with me acting all the parts, six of them, performed in the living room in front of my parents. I really hope they weren't too bored.
Your work has been delightfully described as 'police procedural with a touch of romance', do you have to keep the balance carefully, as crime is your first love – so to speak?
My characters are married which I suppose is also a bit boring. Twice actually as Ingrid (Langley) found Patrick (Gillard) so insufferable at one stage that she threw him out (of her cottage) and went on to smash his classical guitar. She can be like that sometimes. Later, when he was recovering after being horribly injured serving in Special Services and turned up on her doorstep saying he had to find a working partner for a new job in MI5 she took pity on him. But don't worry he said, no relationship, no sex, just a socialising job, perhaps at house parties given by the rich and famous. In a word, spy-hunting. They soon threw the sex reservation bit out of the window when the old magic of their original relationship resurfaced.
DCI James Carrick of Bath CID eventually marries his one-time DS Joanna Mackenzie too and the four end up working on cases together when Patrick and Ingrid are recruited by the National Crime Agency.
To date you have had over 20 Patrick Gillards, 4 James Carrick and 3 stand alone novels published. Was it the character, setting, or crime that inspired these?
It's these characters that inspire me all the time, I'm much more interested in how they get the better of serious criminals than the crimes themselves. And criminals are usually rather stupid.
Do you plan each novel out meticulously before writing a first draft?
No, I never know how the plot will develop or end when I start, I just write until it sort of grabs me. I don't do drafts either, just make corrections and polish it as I go. I find it helps me to picture exactly what's going on.
What is the most fascinating piece of research you have stumbled across when researching a novel?
The most interesting piece of research I ever did was to read a paper on the various changes that take place with regard to dead bodies when they're immersed in water.
When did you fall in love with the beautiful city of Bath?
We lived near Bath for several years and I had a job in the City centre. I was struck how, just behind the tourist-thronged streets, beautiful buildings steeped in history and obvious wealth were slum areas, drunks and the homeless. A good place to set crime stories. It's changed a lot for the better now though.
You are a member of the Crime Writers' Association – what does the organisation mean to you?
The CWA is marvellous from the point of view that it's so rewarding and valuable to mix and talk to people of like mind.
Aspiring writers should never take no for an answer, just work hard to improve what you're trying to achieve.
The highlight of my writing career was getting my first crime novel, A Murder of Crows, published.
What next? I'm working on number twenty eight, Gillard's Sting, and also trying to interest an agent, as mine doesn't handle it, in a sci-fi crime novel, The Killing Mind.
Many thanks for your time in answering my questions and sharing some insight into your writing world. I wish you every success with your new project and hope you let us know when it is published.
http://www.margaretduffy.co.uk/
Categories Interviews•Tags Bath, Creative Writing, crime, Crime Writers Association, CWA, Detctive, Historical Fiction, murder, Mystery, Police, Police procedural, Research, Sci-fi, Writing
Money Matters in Regency England
Published on April 25, 2019 July 8, 2019 by valerieholmesauthorLeave a comment
Join Parthena and Jerome on their exciting adventure!
The first conflict in For Richer, For Poorer occurs when heroine Miss Parthena Munro 'borrows' a coin purse from Mr Jerome Fender.
I used the term 'coin purse' rather than wallet because, unlike the pre-plastic card society where paper money had been the norm it was not so commonly used in Regency England.
Banknotes outside of London were not guaranteed by the Bank of England until 1826 when its first branch outside the City was opened in Gloucester. Privately owned regional banks in England and Ireland had unique notes that were signed by their own chief cashiers and therefore their continued validity depended on the success of the issuing bank. This meant that banknotes were not as secure as they are today, should a run on such an establishment occur, it could wipe out a person's assets.
Coins had immediate and standardised values and so, although weighty, were accepted everywhere.
The golden guinea had a value of 1 sovereign and 1 shilling making it the highest denomination.
Next was the sovereign (1 pound) worth 20 shillings.
Then a half sovereign worth 10 shillings
A Crown equalled 5 shillings
1 shilling equalled 12d (old pennies)
1/2 shilling was known as a six pence piece.
A groat was 4d
A farthing was 1/4d
However, not everyone in Regency England was expected to pay their bills immediately. The aristocracy, upper and middle classes lived on credit to a large extent. This seems a strange inequality to us today, but it was the lower classes who were expected to pay coin for their goods and services on demand.
This created a highly unfair society. It also led to a number of Debtors' prisons such as York prison, Marshalsea and The Fleet. Charles Dickens' father was in the former under the Insolvent Debtor's Act of 1813, when he failed to pay his debts to a trader. It was a hard system to break free from even though there was the chance of day-release to go and work, but debts continued to mount.
This period marks the beginning of change in what had previously been the norm because of the inability of debtors to pay their cumulative debts to their creditors, which could then bring these companies down as they also had creditors too. Therefore, the system had to change and settlement by cash was being favoured, yet the debtors still kept these prisons throughout Dickensian times.
What Parthena did could have cost her liberty, her life or seen her transported to the . It was just as well that it was Jerome she borrowed the coin from!
Book 2 http://getbook.at/ForRicher
Now a ruin, but once a thriving community, beautifully set against the forestry with the moorland above.
Categories Locations•Tags Australia, Bank of England, Coins, Historical Fiction, Histroy, Money, new south wales, Regency, Social History, Yorkshire