Interview with Gill Sanderson

Today we welcome Roger Sanderson (a.k.a. Gill Sanderson) to the RNA Blog. Roger studied English at Hull University in order to spend three years reading books. He then spent thirty years as a college lecturer persuading students that reading books was a good thing. Weekends were spent mountaineering and rock climbing. Roger has written the scripts of over eighty Commando Comics. He followed these with forty four medical romances for Mills and Boon. He also writes short stories for the women’s magazine market. 

Accent Press is now publishing new editions of his medical romances as e-books. The first three are a trilogy about three sisters – a doctor, a nurse and a midwife – coping with life, love, medicine and families. A Family Again, A Family to Share and A Family Friend.

What was the first thing you ever got published and did it help to launch your career? 

I sold a short story to the Guardian, about TV executives discussing commissioning a sit-com about sewer workers (yes, really). After that, life got in the way and I didn’t sell another thing for ten years.

Can you work anywhere or do you have a favourite place to hideaway and write?

If need be I can write anywhere. I spend winters at my home in Liverpool and in summer as much time as I can in my caravan in the Lake District. Favourite place? If the weather is fine, after a day’s walking I like to shower and change, go down to the local pub garden and sit outside with a pen and notebook. My best ideas come here. Two (sometimes three) pints of bitter help. If it is raining (we are talking about the Lake District) I sit in the caravan, enjoying the sound of rain rattling on the roof and feeling sorry for the campers in tents at the other end of the site. And I get a lot of writing done.

A great deal of medical research must be involved in your books, how do you set about that and keep up to date? 

I research on the internet and have a shelf full of medical tomes. I now have the (theoretical but not practical) knowledge to deliver a baby, take out an appendix and other exciting medical procedures. It’s a pity I don’t like blood. Other than that, my daughter is a midwife, my oldest son is a consultant oncologist, my third son is a Prescribing Nurse. I phone them and conversations go on for hours.

Apart from writing, of which accomplishment are you most proud? 

Running four marathons. (Though I didn’t actually win any of them.)

Which piece of music is most likely to make you happy?

Sorry to be a bit conventional. I write to music, it helps a lot. Especially Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, Beethoven’s ninth symphony, Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor. If the work’s dragging and I’m in need of romantic stimulus, then Sinatra’s Songs for Swinging Lovers.

What is your favourite way of relaxing? 

If I’m not careful I tend to relax too much and persuade myself that I’m researching. I read a lot - first of all books by contemporaries in the RNA – I’m particularly fond of Jill Mansell and Judy Astley. Then there’s poetry – at the moment the poets of choice are Philip Larkin and John Donne. And I have to read the Sunday Times so I’ll know what to think during the following week. If I’m not in the Lake District then I walk rapidly for an hour along the sea front. In the Lake District I walk more. I have eight grandchildren and visit them whenever I can. This, though favourite, cannot by any means be called relaxing. The relaxing comes when I get home!

Sister Lisa Grey loved her work on the Infectious Diseases Unit, but she knew there was something missing in her life. She had been the linchpin of her family after her mother’s death, but when she met Dr Alex Scott and his two small children, Holly and Jack, she realised she badly wanted to share in his family too. The children were willing, so was their grandmother who cared for them, and so was Lisa –but what about Alex? 

Three caring sisters ~in need of a loving family~

Accent Press
Amazon

Nightingale Nurses

Donna Douglas is the author of the bestselling Nightingale novels, a series of stories set in an East End hospital in the 1930s. Her latest, The Nightingale Nurses, has just been published. London born and bred, Donna now lives in York with her husband. They have a grown up daughter. Donna started her career writing photo stories and serials for teenage magazines, which taught her everything she needed to know about creating plot twists and cliff-hangers, not to mention writing tight dialogue (it had to be tight, or the speech bubbles covered the characters’ faces – not usually a problem in novels, but a good lesson anyway). 

Who’d be a nurse in the 1930s?

I must admit, when my agent first suggested the idea of a series of novels set in an East End hospital before the War, I was a bit doubtful. Up until that point, I’d never written anything remotely historical. I loved reading history, but the idea of all that research was just too daunting.

But I gave it a try and started to read up about nursing in that period. By the time I finally emerged from the Royal College of Nursing archives, bag bulging with notebooks full of scribble, I realised I had enough material for a dozen books – and I couldn’t wait to start writing them.

A nurse’s lot in those days was harsh, to say the least. They trained for three years, during which time they ‘lived in’ under the watchful eye of a Home Sister. They were forbidden visitors, had to be in bed for lights out at ten, and were rarely allowed a day off. They would spend three months in Preliminary Training, or PTS, where they would learn the basics of nursing, including bandaging, administering medication, anatomy, nutrition – and cleaning. Lots of cleaning. Can you imagine a modern student nurse spending three hours a day learning how to sweep a floor or scrub a bedpan?

After PTS, students would be sent to the wards. For the next three years they would spend three months at a time on each ward, learning under the watchful eye of the sister in charge. And that generally meant more cleaning. The First Years, or probationers, bore the brunt of the hard work, which was why they were often nicknamed ‘dirty pros’.

It may all sound a bit grim, but all the nurses I’ve met speak fondly of their time on the wards, the fun they had (mainly behind the Home Sister’s back), and the lifelong friends they made.

It’s that friendship that is at the heart of my Nightingale novels. My three student nurses, Dora, Millie and Helen, are all from different backgrounds. Dora is a working class girl, Millie is a wealthy heiress, while Helen is a shy vicar’s daughter. Yet they’re drawn together by their experience of working at the hospital, and it’s this bond that helps pull them through as they each face their own personal battle. And they face quite a few battles in this latest episode, The Nightingale Nurses. Helen is in the last six months of her training, and finds herself torn between her overbearing mother and her working class boyfriend Charlie. But then life takes a devastating twist…Meanwhile, Dora has to watch the man she loves marrying her pregnant best friend, Ruby. She’s heartbroken, but little does she know Ruby has a dark secret of her own. And Millie is happily planning her wedding to Seb, until a fortune teller’s dire prediction casts her future into doubt.

I absolutely love losing myself in the world of the Nightingale Hospital, and luckily readers seem to feel the same. I especially love it when a former nurse takes the time to contact me and tells me, ‘That’s exactly how it was in my day.’ That’s when I know all that research has been worthwhile!

Published by Arrow, and available from supermarkets, all good bookshops and Amazon

Find out more:
Website – http://www.donnadouglas.co.uk
Twitter – @donnahay1. 

Alison Morton's Ten Tips for a Book Launch

A launch doesn’t have to be a Foyles Literary Lunch, nor in a bookshop, nor need hundreds of attendees. A writer friend of mine booked a double table at his local pub, invited a few friends and ended up speaking to the whole pub and selling over a hundred books. If your book relates to a place, you could launch from the tourist bookshop, a hotel, club venue, museum, or a friend’s garden, art gallery, or community centre – in short, anywhere where potential buyers might gather.

Some are like standard parties – milling, lurking, laughing, but centred around the author and the book. A five to ten minute pause will allow the author to thank everybody, read a short extract and invite the publisher and agent (if present) to say a few words. Then attendees can buy copies and queue for the author to sign them.

A more structured launch, sometimes called ‘An evening with [insert name of author]’ is ticketed – usually at a modest amount redeemable against the cost of the book. Attendees are offered a glass of wine, fizz or soft drink on arrival. After five or ten minutes’ mingling, they sit down to listen to the author give a talk for 25-30 minutes and read an excerpt from their book. A question and answer session follows, then buying and signing, and more mingling.

Here are my top tips… 

1. Don’t wait to start planning. Although a beautiful book is a pre-requisite, you must think about where, how and when as soon as you’ve sent your manuscript in.

2. Network in real life at conferences, courses and events, and virtually on Twitter and Facebook. Try to meet as wide a circle of people as possible. Apart from the pleasure of talking with new people and learning new things, you may come across published authors in your genre or known specialists in your field. Ask them for their thoughts, their advice, but in a polite way. Who knows, they may come to your launch and add some magic dust.

3. If you’re thinking of a bookshop launch, go and buy some books there and become known to the staff. Make an appointment to go and see the owner or events manager. Be business-like. Find who is responsible for your genre, tell them a bit about the book and give them a free copy.

4. Before making an approach, ensure you or your publisher has already loaded your book on to Nielsen Bookdata so that the shop staff can check you are a pukka author. Have your Bookseller Information Sheet in your hand and a good quality business card with your contact details. Prepare your ideas for getting the audience in - your friends and more importantly, the general public - and how you’re going to publicise the event. Invite the mayor and consort – the local press usually follows them. And if you have secured a 'name’ to come along to your launch, mention this as part of your pitch. The writer and broadcaster, Sue Cook, came along to my first launch to introduce me.

5. The key to a successful evening is, rather predictably, preparation. Write your talk, speak it aloud, condense it on to cards, but practise it. Make sure the launch venue has glasses/plates/bowls or take your own. Do offer a drink, both alcoholic and soft. You don’t need fancy canapés; good supermarket nibbles are fine. Take plenty of postcards (you can put one on each chair beforehand), bookmarks, pens, etc. and a guestbook.

6. If your sales aren’t going through the venue’s tills, e.g. at a library, then designate a friend to take the cash. You won’t have time – you’ll be busy talking to people and signing books.

7. And smile. The audience has come to see you. They want to hear what you have to say. And they can be incredibly lovely when they queue with their book for you to sign.

8. Always sign the title page, never the cover or a blank leaf. Check how names are spelled. Be very careful of Nicky/Nickie/Nikki/Nic and don’t let’s talk about all the Kate/Catherine/Kathryn permutations!

9. Arrange for somebody else to take plenty of photographs especially of you holding your book. You can then use these photos to publicise your book further!

10. Post photos on your blog, Facebook pages, send a brief write-up to the local paper and monthlies’ social pages.

And don’t forget - once everything’s ready on the night and it’s five minutes to go, take a deep breath, smile and prepare to enjoy it.

Alison Morton

Read more about Alison, Romans, alternate history and her writing on her blog
http://www.alison-morton.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor 
Twitter: @alison_morton 

Better Late Than Never

Gilli Allan

When the first flicker of the story which became ‘Fly or Fall’ sparked in my imagination, I was living in a nice house in Surrey, close to friends and family. My son attended a super primary school, my husband was in a good job and, to cap it all, I was a novelist.  My first book - Just Before Dawn - had recently been published, and my second - Desires and Dreams - was in the system. I’m a ‘panster’ style of writer. I’d begun to reflect on the opening of a new story that as yet had no title.  All I knew was that Nell married young because she’d become pregnant with twins.  Her husband, Trevor, is a teacher. They live with Nell’s invalid mother, in London. When the story opens, her mother has just died. Nell and her husband are faced with an unexpected change in their fortunes.  Trevor wants to move away, but Nell is haunted by a presentiment of disaster.

Then, in real life, my own mother died and my husband was head-hunted. Suddenly I was faced with exactly the same prospect that I’d envisaged for my heroine.  The new job was in Gloucestershire, a county neither my husband nor I had ever set foot in, let alone had connections to, but it was a good opportunity and I had a portable career. I put the book aside, planning to continue after we were settled. 

Even though  I’d  supported our relocation I found myself wading through all the emotions I’d only previously imagined for my heroine - loss, loneliness, disconnection and bereavement. Then, out of the blue, the demise of my publisher was added to the list. 

Over the years I’ve tinkered with this ‘book’ but it’s always gone back on the shelf.  I continued to write other stories, but everything I sent out, in my quest to find a new publisher, came winging back. But with the E-revolution I was at last able to add to my canon. I self-published TORN, and then LIFE CLASS, in 2011 and 2012. 

It was early in 2013, when I was wrestling with ideas for a new story, that I retrieved my abandoned book from its metaphorical shelf. As soon as I started to read it, not only did the title - FLY or FALL - leap out at me, but the rest of the story fell into place. It was great fun re-writing it, bringing it up-to-date and plaiting the threads into a satisfying conclusion.

Currently available in e-format only http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EWSHCBQ, FLY or FALL - soon available in paperback.

My short story, Holiday Romance, which Katie Fforde badgered me into attempting  and is the first ss I’ve written since I was sixteen , is being published in February, 2014, in the e-edition of the RNA Anthology - Truly, Madly, Deeply.

I’ve recently produced the illustrations for the children’s book (provisionally titled The Tale of King Harald -The Last Viking Adventure) due to be published in the Spring of 2014 by The British Museum Press, to coincide with the Vikings exhibition.

FLY OR FALL
She's not 'that kind of woman', but....

Now living in an unfamiliar landscape, Nell feels cast adrift.  Her husband is no longer the man she married; their young teenage twins are grumpy and difficult. The women she meets seem shallow and promiscuous. The new house is unwelcoming and needs modernisation.  Thrust into a continuing chaos of rubble, renovation and burly builders, she’s at first grateful and then resentful that one of these men, infamous as a local Lothario, doesn’t make a pass at her.
When Nell takes a bar job at the local sports club she begins to blossom and to become enthusiastic about her life. When she’s pursued by a beautiful and enigmatic young man, she’s tempted into behaviour she would never have previously imagined herself capable of. The foreshadowed upheaval, which began back in London as a tremor beneath her feet, rumbles into an earthquake.
FLY or FALL follows the dismantling of all of Nell’s certainties, her preconceptions and her moral code. Unwelcome truths about her friends, her husband, her teenage children and herself, are exposed.  Relationships are not what they appear. The hostility between brothers is finally explained. But by the autumn of 2013, the landscape of Nell’s life is transformed. She’s rebuilt herself as a different person, a braver person, and she’s embarked with optimism on a totally new life - a life that opens the door to love.

Gilli Allan


Thank you for sparing time to talk to us today, Gilli. We wish you continuing success with your books.
Best wishes, Henri

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk

Love in America’s Lost Colony

Could a girl born here, in the manor house at Fifield in Oxfordshire have journeyed across the ocean in Elizabethan times and found love here, on the Island of Roanoke, in the region then known as Virginia? I speculate that this might have happened in my novel ‘The Lost Duchess’ on the basis of one intriguing fact in the records concerning the first attempt to establish a permanent English colony in America.

Island of Roanoke

There is an ‘Emme Merrymoth’ listed among the 17 women (two of them pregnant), and 11 children, who formed part of the expedition of at least 113 colonists in total which left England for the New World in 1587. That name intrigued me.

Merrymouth Inn

According to the historians nothing is known about her. But I discovered a ‘Merrymouth Inn’ in Fifield near Burford in Oxfordshire, a thirteenth century hostelry with a name deriving, via ‘Merymowthe’, from the Murimuth family who acquired the village of Fifield six centuries ago. There is little difference phonetically between ‘Merymowthe’ and ‘Merrymoth’ (and the Elizabethans didn’t care about spelling). Suppose Emme Merrymoth, one of the Lost Colonists, was descended from the Murimuth family…

I had a great deal of fun building a character from this possibility. She developed into Emme Fifield, daughter of a minor baron, who becomes a ‘maid of honour’, or lady-in-waiting, to Queen Elizabeth I. Suppose Emme Fifield used her old family name to join the venture and travel incognito.

Why would she want to leave a position of privilege in the court of the Queen? Well, life for the Queen’s ladies was actually pretty harsh. They were at Her Majesty’s beck and call all hours of day and night, with no freedom of action, and little hope of release. Ladies could not marry without consent, which was rarely granted because the Queen expected her ladies to remain virgins just as she was. Any lady who defied the Queen risked being subjected to the full force of her wrath which could include physical violence and imprisonment in the Tower.

The galleon Elizabeth at Roanoke Island

This might be considered motive enough to wish to escape, but suppose Emme Fifield, maid of honour, were to be the victim of the predatory attentions of one of the noblemen at court, someone like the Earl of Hertford, son of the usurped Duke of Somerset, who was notorious for ‘seducing a virgin of the blood royal’, after secretly marrying the sister of Lady Jane Grey and getting her pregnant, who then went on to marry twice more in secret. What if Emme Fifield was defiled by this man, and then met a handsome mariner, fresh from Sir Francis Drake’s campaigning in the Caribbean, who had beguiling tales of a New World of plenty inhabited by friendly Indians, such as the Croatan, Manteo, who accompanied Drake to Richmond Palace in 1586. Wouldn’t a woman like Emme be inspired to want to risk everything for a chance to begin again in the new found Virginia in such circumstances?

I think this kind of detective work in building character is one of the most enjoyable aspects of writing a novel. The handsome mariner, Kit Doonan, has an even more fascinating story behind him, but that’s for another place… I owe quite a bit to the Merrymouth Inn!

Jenny Barden

Available from Amazon 
and all good bookstores 
‘The Lost Duchess’ has been shortlisted for the Readers’ Best Historical Read Award 

Find out more: 
website: http://www.jennybarden.com 
twitter: @jennywilldoit 
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennybardenauthor 
goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6438523.Jenny_Barden 
blog: http://www.jennybarden.co.uk/jenny-bardens-blog/ 

Interview with Catherine King

Catherine King comes from Yorkshire and was originally a university lecturer. She now writes Victorian and Edwardian novels, often described as ‘gritty’, inspired by her family history and the area of Yorkshire where she grew up. 

What do you think is the most essential element of a good saga? 

The essential element of a good saga is a rattling good story that keeps the reader turning the pages. Good stories are usually about determined people in challenging situations. I’ve written six sagas set in the mid 19th century and am currently writing books set in the early 20th century. This was a turbulent time for women and saw the emergence of a militant suffragette movement, the setting for my latest book.

Have you ever based one of your characters on a real person? 

I never base my characters on real people, but a real person might inspire me with an idea for a fictional character.

Which is your all time favourite book? 

This is easy. My all time favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I read it at an impressionable age when I was at school and it has stayed with me ever since. It has all the elements of a good story

What was your worst subject at school?

Without doubt my worst subject at school was Domestic Science. I was hopeless at it then and not much better now, although I have acquired a few more skills over the years. See my pic of a Paella I cooked recently for friends.

Actually it looks delicious, so what is the craziest ambition you ever fulfilled?

Well it wasn’t exactly an ambition but it was something I wanted to do. I used to scuba dive and was excited by an opportunity to dive at Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse, off the Isles of Scilly. It was quite a tough dive and I didn’t realize at the time how potentially dangerous it was. Even in calm weather there is always a sea swell over the rocks and strong currents in the underwater gullies. Many ships have foundered there over the centuries. I must have been crazy!

And what is your favourite guilty pleasure? 

Must I confess to this? My favourite guilty pleasure is watching Emmerdale on TV. I’m addicted to it and if no-one else is about I’ll watch the repeats as well. My excuse is that it’s research because it’s full of rattling good stories.

A SISTER’S COURAGE is about the sacrifices, struggles and ultimate strengths of three women. 

When her mother passed away, Meg Parker was forced to sacrifice her chance at love for the sake of her brothers. She hopes she will be able to live a full life once again after her father remarries – until tragedy strikes a second time. Suddenly, Meg is facing a darker future altogether. 

Lady Alice Langton is travelling the Yorkshire Dales, spreading the suffragette message. Florence Brookes, the daughter of a prosperous grocer, accompanies her, impassioned by the cause but seeking distraction fro her own troubles. Appalled by their lack of domestic skills, Meg decides to flee her old life and joins the two women as their maidservant as they make their way to London. 

When Meg is reunited with her old flame, she is hesitant about her feelings for him – not least because of the rift this causes between her and Lady Alice. It’s not until Florence’s actions land them in jeopardy that Meg realizes she must find the courage to make a heartbreaking choice. 

Find out more: 
Website: http://www.catherineking.info 
Amazon: 

What’s soft and fluffy about Is This Love? Interview with Sue Moorcroft

Sue Moorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroes.



Love and Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 at the Festival of Romance and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for a RoNA in 2013.  She received three nominations at the Festival of Romance 2012, and is a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner.

Sue is vice-chair of the RNA and editor of its two anthologies.  She also writes short stories, serials, articles, writing 'how to', and is a competition judge and creative writing tutor.

I’m not one for resisting soft and fluffy animals, and if they say ‘Mmmm’ a lot, have great liquid eyes, punk rock topknots and a ‘Huh?’ expression, I definitely need to get involved. Having made some friends who own an alpaca farm, I could see it was only a matter of time before these appealing animals made their way into one of my books. So when I created Emilia, a secondary character in Is This Love? who’s married to a wealthy man, I wanted something over the top for her to possess. I gave her a starter herd of alpacas. (They don’t like to live alone.)

What I had to do, obviously, was get myself off to the alpaca farm with my camera and my notebook to be introduced to about thirty of them, to see their field shelters, their feed, their halters, even their feeding bowls. I was fascinated. Alpacas are all colours from ash blond through fawn and brown to black. Their fibre is incredibly thick in winter and when they’ve been shorn you can see the tracks of the clippers. They look as if they’ve been neatly combed.

In this country, alpacas are bred for their fibre, which is spun and knitted like wool. I consider it itchy but the most exclusive of shops attach eye-watering price tags to the resulting fine garments. Alpacas are camelids, smaller than their llama cousins. They’re used to low temperatures but like to be able to get out of the rain (wouldn’t you, with all that hair to get dry?) and their babies are called ‘cria’.

I learned a lot more but one thing was overwhelmingly obvious - alpacas are cute. They have a funny walk, their heads pop up like periscopes with devil horns on top whenever anything excites their curiosity. And they make the most soothing humming noise.

Heroine Tamara has a sister, Lyddie, who’s an adult who needs care, having suffered an accident as a teen. (The alpacas may be soft and fluffy but not all of the themes in my books are.) Lyddie loves animals and the alpacas and their cria draw her towards Emilia and the odd household at Lie Low, where Jed Cassius happens to work. Those four characters are essential to the plot and, in the middle of them? Alpacas.

Some research is hard work, some is uncomfortable, but learning about alpacas was just fun. Mmmm. Mmmm-mmmm.

Is This Love? will be out on 7 November 2013 in paperback and is already available across all ebook platforms. It has been nominated for the Readers Best Romantic Read Award.

Website www.suemoorcroft.com.
Blog http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/
Facebook sue.moorcroft.3
Twitter @suemoorcroft

Thanks for a fascinating - and educational - interview, Sue.  We wish you all the best with Is This Love, and all future novels.  

Liv 

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk

Interview with Elizabeth Moss

Photo courtesy of Anna Rybacka

Elizabeth Moss lives in the South-West of England with her husband and large family. She also writes commercial fiction as Victoria Lamb. For more, visit http://www.elizabethmossfiction.com.

Members of the RNA may be thinking, hello, the woman in that photograph looks oddly familiar. But the name is wrong.

Well, your instincts would be correct. I am in fact Jane Holland, aka Victoria Lamb, historical novelist and daughter of romantic novelist Charlotte Lamb - and now also Elizabeth Moss, author of a raunchy new series called Lust in the Tudor Court. The first book is Wolf Bride, out in paperback November 7^th. (The ebook is already available for those who can’t wait for a bit of steamy frock action.)

So how did I become Elizabeth Moss?

Three years ago, I was writing Regency romances, hoping Harlequin Mills & Boon would take pity on me and publish one. Sadly, they never did. But my luck was just about to turn.

In 2010, my late mother’s agent emailed me. ‘Can you write Tudor fiction?’ he asked. ‘Um, yes, if that were required,’ I replied, bemused. Apparently it was. And urgently.

So off I went to look up the Tudor dynasty and bash the keys. Luckily I’d studied Elizabethan playwrights at university, so some of it was familiar territory. Victoria Lamb became my pseudonym with Transworld. Later I branched into Young Adult fiction under the same name. (Ironically, my YA debut Witchstruck has just been published by Harlequin Teen in the States – so I finally got in, albeit by the back door!)

Then about ten months ago, an editor at Hodder approached my agent with an indecent proposal, or rather a request for one. Lust in the Tudor Court was born. So was Elizabeth Moss, a middle name allied to my first married name – I’ve discarded a few husbands along the way – as I didn’t want to confuse my teen readers.

I’ve now written the first two books in the series, Wolf Bride and Rebel Bride, and am starting the third soon. Never one to miss an opportunity, I’ve also self-published some of those old Regency romances under the name Elizabeth Moss!

Writing Wolf Bride was fantastic fun. It’s a holiday read, and very steamy indeed – think Sylvia Day – reflecting the decadent times in which these characters lived. My hero and heroine, Lord Wolf and Eloise Tyrell, are fictional. But the turbulent historical events that play out behind their love story are based on fact. So do give it a whirl. But be warned, it’s highly erotic.

Wolf Bride is the first in a debauched, decadent and passionate series set in the last months of Anne Boleyn’s reign, perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory, Sylvia Day and raunchy, revved-up BBC costume dramas like The Tudors.

Lord Wolf, hardened soldier and expert lover, has come to King Henry VIII's court to claim his new bride: a girl who has intrigued him since he first saw her riding across the Yorkshire moors.

Eloise Tyrell, now lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn, has other ideas. She has no desire to submit to a man she barely knows and who - though she is loath to admit it - frightens her not a little.

Then comes that first kiss...

Thank you for sparing time to talk to us today, Elizabeth/Jane. We wish you continuing success with your books.

Best wishes, Henri

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk

Steampunk Darcy

Monica Fairview is an ex-literature professor who abandoned teaching criticism about long gone authors who can't defend themselves in order to write novels of her own. Monica can be described as a wanderer, opening her eyes to life in London and travelling ever since. She spent many years in the USA before coming back full circle to London, thus proving that the world is undeniably round. 

 I’m delighted to be here visiting the RNA blog to celebrate the release of my latest Jane Austen-inspired novel – Steampunk Darcy. How do I describe Steampunk Darcy? I’d love to say (as they often advise you to do in cover letters: compare your book to something familiar) that Steampunk Darcy is Monty Python meets Jane Austen, but Monty Python is so much funnier than I am, it isn’t a joke.

There is just the teeniest weeniest hint of truth in it, though, in that there is an element of the burlesque in Steampunk Darcy. Not so much on the parody side, because the novel is really a tribute to Jane Austen rather than a parody, but in the sense that, like the burlesque, it’s rooted in the Victorian period. Perhaps a good word for it might be a Victorian Extravaganza. Steampunk Darcy is a romantic retro-Victorian extravaganza about a descendent of Fitzwilliam Darcy who happens to encounter a woman who challenges him (as Lizzy does Darcy) as no other woman did. Seraphene is not a doormat, and she isn’t going to put up with his arrogant assumptions. Darcy, being a Darcy and a powerful Boss, is not going to let her get away with being cheeky.

But what would Jane Austen have thought about taking her sacred Mr Darcy and turning him into a Steampunk Darcy, into a Victorian Extravaganza? Wouldn’t she have been appalled?

My answer is: Not at all. Have you read Jane Austen’s “The History of England”” as written “by a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian”? It’s parody at its best, an experience in rewriting the past to suit her purposes, while at the same time making fun of historians and the way history portrays its heroes. I will slyly insert here that her book is actually an alternative history (which is often how Steampunk is described). Since I adore Austen’s early work, I can’t resist posting a short excerpt.

Henry the 6th
I CANNOT say much for this Monarch's Sense -- Nor would I if I could, for he was a Lancastrian. I suppose you know all about the Wars between him and & The Duke of York, who was of the right side; If you do not, you had better read some other History, for I shall not be very diffuse in this, meaning by it only to vent my Spleen against, & shew my hatred to all those people whose parties or principles do not suit with mine, and not to give information.... There were several Battles between the Yorkists & Lancastrians, in which the former (as they ought) usually conquered.

If you think of Jane Austen as the austere, saintly maiden aunt that her Victorian nephew tried to make her out to be (Victorian, again), then that Jane Austen would be horrified. She would be as prudish as Miss Jenkyns in Cranford. But if we’re talking about the fifteen year old uninhibited young girl (who has been described as “boisterous” and “anarchic”) who wrote “The History of England”, then she might well enjoy the burlesque aspects of Steampunk Darcy. She might appreciate that Steampunk Darcy is an alternative history, a 21st century novel about a retro-Victorian Darcy descendent who idealizes Fitzwilliam Darcy as his model of a gentleman.

She might even approve of the romance. [gasp!]

William Darcy is obsessed with his ancestors. So much so that he intends to rebuild Pemberley (destroyed during the Uprising) stone by stone, and he wants to employ reconstruction expert Seraphene Grant to help him.

Or does he? Seraphene wasn’t born yesterday. She can smell a rat, particularly when it stinks all the way up to her airship. She knows Darcy is hiding something. But with the Authorities after her and her other options dwindling by the moment, the temptation of genuine English tea and a gorgeous Steampunk gentleman are very difficult to resist.

But what if Darcy’s mystery job courts nothing but trouble? What if Darcy is harbouring a secret to kill for? When kiss comes to shove, will Darcy’s secret destroy Seraphene, or will it be her salvation?

Join us on a romantic adventure like no other in this whimsical Pride and Prejudice-inspired tribute, featuring Darcy (of course) Wickham, dirigibles, swash-buckling pirates and a heroine with fine eyes and an attitude.

Previous novels include: An Improper Suitor, The Other Mr Darcy and The Darcy Cousins (both published by Sourcebooks)

Find out more: 
Website: http://www.monicafairview.com 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/monica.fairview 
Twitter @Monica_Fairview 

Interview with Caroline James

Caroline James wanted to be a writer from an early age. She trained, however, in the catering trade and worked and travelled both at home and abroad. Caroline has owned and run many related businesses and cookery is a passion alongside her writing, combining the two with her love of the hospitality industry and romantic fiction. Caroline can generally be found with her nose in a book and her hand in a box of chocolates. 

So tell us why you love food so much Caroline? 

I've always been interested in food. As a child I hovered round the kitchen and watched my mother bake, relishing the smell of sponges, pies and pastries as they emerged from the old aga. I've worked in food related businesses all my life and it has given me not only an income but many opportunities.

Does your wit and humour come naturally to you?

I find the hospitality trade a great source of humour. No two days are alike and there is a plethora of fascinating characters to mingle with. I think anyone working in this business has a natural inclination towards humour in order to survive the punishing hours and demands of the job.

And what makes you laugh the most?

I love the re-runs of Jeeves & Wooster - comedy in a period setting with actors perfectly cast. Phoenix Nights was always a favourite too and more recently Mrs Brown's Boys has me in stitches, I enjoy the Irish humour and clever way of using the back-to-back sets in front of a live audience.

What would your most indulgent day consist of?

Turning the phone and computer off! Then a long walk in the beautiful countryside followed by a hot pampering bath with luxurious oil and a favourite book, topped off with a home-cooked meal - ideally a roast, with my family and close friends. Perfect.

Who is your favourite celebrity chef?

I admire all the chefs we see on TV. Success doesn't fall into anyone's lap and there's a background of seriously hard graft, very often over many years, to get to the top. Catering is tough and to be a 'celebrity' chef you have to have a touch of magic and be able to entertain too.

Would you share with us your favourite recipe?

I'm delighted to. I have a very sweet tooth and love chocolate - this recipe for chocolate brownies is easy but the results are impressive.

Caroline's Chocolate Brownies 

These brownies are really rich and you can taste the molasses in the Muscovado sugar.

Ingredients:
350g good dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter - cut into cubes
3 large eggs
250 g dark Muscovado sugar
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder.

Set your oven to 170 degrees C / Gas Mark 3 Grease and line a 22cm square tin

Method:

Break chocolate into pieces and add to butter, in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, stir with a metal spoon until melted and take off heat. Whisk eggs and sugar together until mix is smooth and paler and fluffy then fold the chocolate mixture in and combine.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into the chocolate mixture and fold until all combined.
Pour into the tin Place in oven for 35 minutes - until the surface is set (slightly cracking on top).
Remove and cool completely in the tin.
Slice into square and store in a tin or container in the fridge.

TIP: You could substitute the Muscovado sugar for golden caster sugar. I often chop little chunks of white and milk chocolate and add to the mix for a different texture and very rich brownie. If you're feeling seriously decadent and naughty, these brownies are wonderful served slightly warm with ice cream or cream. Enjoy!

Take a peek behind the celebrity pinny and see what really goes on in the world of famous chefs! Media agent and tough cookie, Hilary Hargreaves has many ingredients to juggle as her client's battle it out to find fame and fortune. This romantic recipe follows Hilary and her team as she sizzles and simmers from cosmopolitan London to a crazy food festival in Ireland and the calming shores of the beautiful Caribbean. 

Thank you for sparing the time to talk to us today Caroline, and we wish you every success with the book. 
Best wishes, Freda

Find out more: 
Web: http://www.carolinejamesauthor.co.uk 
Twitter: @CarolineJames12 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolinejamesauthor 
Blog: http://www.carolinejamesauthor.blogspot.co.uk 
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/550084.Caroline_James 
Amazon UK: 

Interview with Gwen Kirkwood

Gwen Kirkwood was hatched on a Yorkshire farm and attended agricultural college but has spent most of her life in Scotland after being wonderfully matched to a Scottish dairy farmer. She has three children and five grandchildren, is now a widow and presently mulling over her twenty fifth novel – mainly family sagas with Scottish farm and country backgrounds. 

Welcome to the RNA Blog, Tell us Gwen, what do you enjoy most about being a writer?

Living in a fictional world while writing a novel. I create characters, events and settings to suit myself – a bit like painting with words. I am never lonely.

What inspires you most, people or places?

People are important. Characters come first in my novels, but there are times when beautiful scenery, a magnificent dawn or sunset stir emotions and urge me to be creative.

In what way has your childhood most influenced your attitude to life?

Farm life is demanding and not always easy. We were brought up to help, share, work hard and to be thrifty. These lessons are not easily cast aside.

Which poem makes you laugh?

I remember lots of poems from childhood with great affection. The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear still makes me smile. As an adult I’ve had many a laugh at a Burns Supper from Holy Willie’s Prayer and Tam’0 Shanter.

Is there some treasured item from the past you’ve lost and still miss?

I had a pen friend in Malta .She sent me a brooch of a bird in flight, not valuable in money, but it still vexes me because I lost it.

What is your favourite way of relaxing?

I enjoy my garden. There is always something to do and forgotten plants re-appear with the changing seasons I have the birds to watch too.

And what about your new title?

Billy is the third generation of Carafords.. He survives a bad car accident but believes girls will regard him as a cripple. He works hard at university but he is determined to carry on the family tradition of farming. When Kimberley Wilshaw is orphaned she moves to Scotland with her aunt. Billy introduces her to new school friends and he is surprised at the way his uncle takes her under his wing. Friendship grows between the families. Kim develops the strength of character to confront problems and fight for the life and the love she craves.

Amazon

Home to Lochandee, the last in this series, is also live on Amazon this month. It is FREE to download from 12th to 16th October http://amzn.to/1fZwkLq $3.08, http://amzn.to/17n43L2 £1.91 A new generation of the Maxwell family are farming at Wester Rullion during the 1980’s. Young Paul Maxwell and his cousin Ryan are determined to work together to restore the farm’s prosperity, with the support of their grandparents and so long as they can overcome the hurdles of new farming regulations.

Ryan has set his heart on marrying Molly Nairne, daughter of a prosperous local farmer, while Paul – abandoned by his mother as a young boy – is adamant that he will never fall in love. Can a new arrival at the farm cause him to change his mind

Watch my blog for details of a new e-book from Endeavour Press due before Christmas http://gwenkirkwood.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you for sparing the time to talk to us today Gwen. We wish you continuing success with your books. Best wishes, Freda. 

Find out more: http://www.gwenkirkwood.co.uk 

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA full members only.

Take a roll in the hay – Australian style

Bore da, good morning, and g’day.

I’m a Welsh girl born and bred, now living in Australia and writing Rural Romance. The latter piece of information is due in no small way to The Romantic Novelists’ Association and their New Writers Scheme, so I’m doubly thrilled to have the opportunity to speak on their blog as a published author and tell you about Rural Romance and how I came to write it.

It was a fluke.

My debut novel, The House on Burra Burra Lane is set in the Australian Snowy Mountains and I was recently asked what makes a rural or country, small-town romance.

I had to think about this.

You see, I hadn’t intended to write a Rural Romance (an Australian term for a popular and growing genre of romance stories set on the land – not a story about one of the many dating sites with the same title) but I’d created a handsome, home grown country vet full of reservations about his dubious bad boy past, and a fresh, wholesome (although somewhat put upon) city girl looking for a tree change. Writers know that the setting is the third character in any novel, and it’s what the setting does for the story and how the setting envelops the characters that is important. So my heroine and hero were born, as was the rural and remote town of Swallow’s Fall with all its stalwart and meddlesome inhabitants.

After a journey that included a number of finalist placements in competitions within the US and the UK, The House on Burra Burra Lane found a home with Harlequin (Australia) digital first imprint, Escape Publishing and was released as an eBook in June this year. That was thrilling beyond belief, given the hard work I willingly undertook to learn how to write fiction (it wasn’t easy and still isn’t. I doubt it ever will be).

But it hasn’t ended there!

The House on Burra Burra Lane will now be sent to trade paperback and released in print format in January 2014 with Harlequin (Australia) MIRA which makes me one lucky and proud Welsh-Australian author of Rural Romance.

Book two in my newfound series is on its way to completion and book three is exciting me as odd scenes and characterisations begin to take shape almost before I’m ready for them.

I hope you’ll give Australian Rural Romance a whirl. We have some fantastic authors, some of whom are British!

I’ve known two countries for an almost equal amount of time, and have gained an understanding and love of each. In my perfect garden, I’d plant a gum tree and surround it at the base with daffodils. Then I’d draw up a wicker chair with plump cushions and sit and read a book.

Diolch yn fawr for reading, thank you so much for listening, and hooroo – bye for now.

All links of where to buy:
http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857990532

Amazon.co.uk:

Thank you for sparing the time to talk to us today Jennie. We wish you every success with your new career. Best wishes, Freda

Find out more:

Website: http://www.jenniejonesromance.com
Jennie’s Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennie-Jones-Romance-Author/290261037740578?ref=hl

Interview with Shirley Heaton

Shirley Heaton lives in a Yorkshire village on the edge of the moor and loves spending time with her family. She swims regularly and enjoys aquaerobics. Each week she attends a writers group to discuss writing, drink coffee and eat naughty cakes. Having travelled extensively, she uses her knowledge of people, cultures and personal experiences in her writing. 

Welcome to the RNA Blog Shirley. Medical romances are very popular right now, so tell us how you set about the research.

The basis of my knowledge began when, as medical secretary to two orthopaedic surgeons, I took notes during ward rounds and in theatre ante-rooms. Since I began writing I have contacted various institutions such as The National Blood Service, and found most people show a genuine interest and are willing to help. When I needed specialist information for my novel ‘Relative Strangers’, I received expert advice from Leeds University’s Professor of Haematology, who later attended the book launch. I regularly update my knowledge because over the years the names of hospital departments, medical treatments and procedures have changed. Casualty is now Accident & Emergency, there are Triage Processes prioritising clinical needs, Major Trauma Centres dealing with multiple injuries, and x-rays are viewed on computer and not film on a light box. I check information both on line and with the local hospitals and know that, if I get it wrong, someone will let me know.

Does dividing your time between Spain and the UK create problems for you or can you work anywhere?

I find I can work anywhere and my home in Spain is inspirational especially when I’m gazing across the mountains to the sea and formulating ideas for my next novel. But when friends and family visit on holiday we take trips out which allows me to people-watch, take in the world around me and reflect.

Are you a well-organised sort of person?

I try to be organised in the way I work and, in addition to online facilities, I have a large filing cabinet packed with well-catalogued information. Most days I write early morning when I’m at my best, starting by editing the previous day’s script. I continue until lunchtime and take an hour out when I catch up on recorded TV programmes or the news. I find TV useful for ideas on storylines and I also enjoy reading a variety of genres and styles. I always finish my writing by six o’clock latest. Evenings are reserved for relaxation, dinner and a glass (or two) of red wine, watching TV, and sudoku or crosswords. Even though I’m resting my body, I like to keep my mind active.

What would you look for in a romantic hero?

My hero is a combination of the best characteristics of the Alpha and the Beta males. Whilst he is strong and quietly confident, he is not arrogant or egocentric. He is caring and loving but not overpowering or demanding, concerned and protective but not confrontational or dominating.

What was your favourite film as a child?

I recall vividly The Red Shoes starring Moira Shearer. Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, it’s a love story with a difference. A young ballerina falls in love with a composer. Torn between her love for him and her need to dance, she eventually chooses her lover. The film has a very sad ending and it made me cry.

What would your most indulgent day consist of?

Give me a sunbed on the deck of a swish cruise liner bound for some exotic destination where I can relax, sip a cool gin and tonic, read when I feel like it and watch the dolphins frolicking in the waves.

Lifeguard, Pierce, rescues Brooke from a rip tide and, after a whirlwind romance, promises to keep in touch. Time goes by without contact and, ten years on, anaesthetist, Brooke, discovers Pierce is not only her new neighbour but also consultant surgeon at the clinic. But he wears a wedding ring, and a pregnant woman shares his cottage. Recognising the warning signals, Brooke determines to steer clear, realising letting him close could re-ignite the fire. Pierce, however, has other ideas… 

Thank you for sparing the time to talk to us today Shirley. We wish you continuing success with your books. 
Best wishes, Freda 

Find out more:
Website: www.shirleyheaton.co.uk 
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Kobo

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA full members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk 

Interview with Helen Phifer

Helen Phifer works full time for Cumbria Constabulary and has a rather large family. She has loved reading and writing since she was a child and was very fortunate to become a member of the RNA’s New Writers Scheme. Through the NWS she met her wonderful editor at Carina UK.

Welcome to the RNA Blog Helen, so tell us which piece of music is most likely to make you feel happy?

There are so many but the song which always makes me smile and brings back some amazing memories is September by Earth, Wind & Fire.

What is the craziest ambition you ever fulfilled?

I always wanted to get a portrait tattoo on my arm of Herman and Lily Munster. In March this year I was asked if I would attend The Tattoo Tea Party Convention in Manchester to have my Lily portrait done. It took over six hours but she is beautiful.

What would you look for in a romantic hero?

He would need a great sense of humour, be able to cook and he wouldn’t be afraid to show his romantic side. A bunch of flowers every now and again goes an awful long way.

Do you have any little phobias or superstitions to help with your writing?

I don’t really have any because my life is so hectic I have to snatch my writing time whenever I can; in the car, on my lunch break, waiting to pick the kids up. I have even been guarding a crime scene and been writing notes for my next novel in the tiny notebook I always keep in my pocket. The only thing I do every time I sit down to write at my desk is make a mug of coffee.

How does chocolate help you in life?

I think I should be sponsored by Galaxy. It is the answer to everything, stressed with my storyline, stuck on my edits, kids driving me mad I always reach for the chocolate; unfortunately it does nothing to help with my diet.

Apart from writing, of which accomplishment are you most proud?

I think that would have to be my five children who are almost all grown up now, and my granddaughter. They drive me mad but I’m also very proud of them all.

There's not much that scares Annie Graham. Not even the horrors she has witnessed during her years on the police force. When she agrees to look after her brother's farmhouse, she finds herself drawn to the crumbling old mansion in the woods nearby. But an innocent exploration of the empty ruin and the discovery of the diary of former resident Alice leaves her more than a little spooked. She knows it holds the secrets to a dark past, and she has to find out more.

What was the terrible truth that Alice uncovered? And how could what happened to her over 100 years ago help solve the murders of young women in the town? Annie needs to stop the serial killer before she becomes his next victim – but the past comes back to haunt her in ways she could never have expected.

Amazon

http://www.helenphifer.co.uk
http://helenphifer.wordpress.com/

Thank you Helen for sparing the time to talk to us today. We wish you every success with your books. Best wishes, Freda

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA full members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk