#AuthorInterview: Linda Stratmann, author of An Unquiet Ghost

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Linda Stratmann to Flashlight Commentary to discuss the third installment of the Mina Scarletti Series, An Unquiet Ghost.

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Release Date: March 1, 2018   |   Sapere Books   |   Historical Fiction/Paranormal Mystery
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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Linda. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about An Unquiet Ghost.
The setting is 1871 Brighton. Séances were extremely popular, and without independent investigation, there was something of a free-for-all for charlatans. Mina Scarletti has successfully exposed fraudulent mediums who callously extorted money from the vulnerable bereaved, but now she has a new problem. A young couple, second cousins, wish to marry, but twenty years ago an aged relative, Henry Fernwood, was poisoned, and the killer can only have been a blood relation. If they marry will they pass on a dreadful taint to their children? Only one person knows the identity of the killer - the murdered man - and the couple want Mina to find a genuine medium who can contact his unquiet ghost. They visit two mediums, one who receives messages chalked on slates, and an emaciated young woman who has visions of both the living and the dead. Are they truthful, false or simply deluded? And who killed Henry Fernwood? When Mina finds the answer it is worse than she could possibly have imagined. 

An Unquiet Ghost is the third installment of the Mina Scarletti Mystery series. At risk of sounding impertinent, where did the idea for these books come from? Did it strike like lightening out nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
Oddly enough it did strike like lightning!  I was walking along my street approaching a corner, when the idea just popped into my head, and by the time I had turned the corner I knew I had something I wanted to write. Of course it must also have been the culmination of all the reading and researching I had been doing. I find that when the time is right, ideas that have been floating about randomly in my head just come together and click. 

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Mina Scarletti’s character and personality?
Mina is 25 and is 4ft 8” tall with a twisted spine. When she was sixteen she was told she should never marry and have children. Physically frail, she has great strength of character, and decided that if the traditional role of a woman was denied her, this gave her the chance to do anything else she wanted. She has great imagination as a storyteller, but at the same time feels she knows the difference between what is real and what is invention. She particularly dislikes people who try to extort money from those who are grieving for loved ones. With few weapons at her disposal, she takes a mischievous pleasure in stirring up others in order to achieve what she wants. 

Mina is a writer by trade, but is becoming well-known for unmasking fraudulent psychics by this point in the series. How did Mina fall into this secondary profession? 
In the first book, Mr Scarletti’s Ghost, Mina’s mother and friends are excited by the seances of a visiting spirit medium, Miss Eustace. Mina is not seriously concerned until she reads about the renowned medium D D Home, (1833-1886) who attempted to separate a 75 year old widow from her fortune. Appalled by this, Mina determines to make sure that her mother and friends are not in the thrall of an extortionist. 

Though she is not a believer in ghosts, Mina is intrigued when George Fernwood and Mary Clifton request her help in tracking down a genuine spiritual medium. What about this request strikes her interest? 
She feels sympathy for the couple who wish to marry, and is interested in the mystery that lies behind their request. Also, as a writer constantly looking for inspiration from her surroundings, their offer to give her the full story behind the 1851 murder is too tempting to resist! 

Do you have a favorite scene in An Unquiet Ghost? 
Not exactly a scene, but there are letters passing between Mina and her older brother Edward, and Mina and her mother which were huge fun for me to write as we get different views of the same situation, and sometimes we have to read between the lines to see the real picture. 

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on while writing An Unquiet Ghost?
I didn’t feel that, but I have laid groundwork for the future. We know very little as yet about Edward’s fiancée, and what will happen when Mina’s sister’s husband, Mr Inskip who is currently abroad, finally re-appears?  

If you could sit down and talk with one of the characters in An Unquiet Ghost, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite and why? 
It would be great to chat with Nellie, as she has had a fascinating career as a conjuror’s assistant, and knows a few tricks of her own. I’m sure she would have some colourful stories to tell. 

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of An Unquiet Ghost, who would you hire? 
I would love to see Lisa Hammond (Donna in Eastenders) as Mina. She radiates drive, determination and inner strength.  And while we’re about it, what about Nitin Ganatra (Masood) as dishy Dr Hamid? Lily James would make a sparkling Nellie. Leo Suter (Edward Drummond in Victoria) would be great as Mina’s dashing scallywag of a brother, Richard.  Joanna Lumley would be ‘Ab Fab’ to play Mina’s difficult mother. 

A character who appears in The Royal Ghost, (book 2) and is destined to appear again, is the devilishly charismatic war hero and explorer Arthur Wallace Hope and I can’t help thinking about Aidan Turner to play that part!  

What do you hope readers take from their experience of An Unquiet Ghost? 
Admiration for Mina who has overcome difficulties that would crush another person in order to be her true, spirited self, a wish to understand more about the nature of hallucinations and a burning desire to read the other books in the series!

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I was born in the City of Leicester. My parents were in the tailoring trade, and belonged to the Orthodox Jewish community. They wanted me to be educated, have a career, and marry a nice Jewish doctor. I managed two out of the three. All four of my grandparents had immigrated from Poland early in the 20th century, and my parents were born in London. During the second world war, my parents moved to Leicester, though they maintained close ties with the family in London. I have always felt that if there was any place I really belonged, it was London. Much as I enjoy rural pleasures I am a city person at heart, and nowadays would find it hard to live more than a tube ride from the British Library!

My love affair with the printed word probably started when I was two, when I eagerly absorbed the alphabet as taught to me by my mother. I have had my nose in a book ever since. The scribbling of poems and stories certainly dates back as early as six, and my first efforts at a novel from the age of eleven. I attended Medway Street Infants and Junior School, in the days of the eleven plus, and from there I went to Wyggeston Girls Grammar School. My earliest ambition was to be an astronomer, and I both read and wrote a great deal of science fiction. I also read biology, zoology and medicine, and seriously considered a medical career. By my teens, however, I had developed my absorbing and life-long interest in true crime, probably taking after my mother who loved to read about famous trials.

After taking my O levels, I left school, and trained to be a chemist’s dispenser with Boots. I was first married at the age of 18 and my son was born when I was 20. Whatever I was destined to be it was not a housewife, and I took my A levels and went to Newcastle University in 1971, graduating with first class honours in psychology three years later. I then joined the civil service, and trained to be an Inspector of Taxes.
From the early 70s I was very active in science fiction fandom, attending a great many conventions. I was living in Co. Durham , working in Newcastle, yet virtually everything I wanted to do, and most of my friends were in London. In 1987, unable to resist the pull of London I moved there, and my first husband and I were amicably divorced in 1992. I married my second husband, Gary in 1993. In the same year I began practising aikido, and obtained my black belt in 2000.

In 2001 I left the civil service, and in 2002 was commissioned to write my first published book on the history of chloroform.

I am delighted to be Artistic Patron of Talliston House and Gardens.

Website   |   Facebook   |   Goodreads   |   Twitter

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#AuthorInterview: Clarissa Harwood, author of Impossible Saints

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Clarissa Harwood to Flashlight Commentary to discuss her debut release, Impossible Saints.

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Release Date: January 2, 2018   |   Pegasus Books   |   Historical Fiction/Family Life
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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Clarissa. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about Impossible Saints.
Thank you for having me here! Impossible Saints is set in 1907 England and is about the competing ambitions and growing love between a schoolteacher turned militant suffragette and an Anglican clergyman. Lilia, an agnostic, considers marriage to a clergyman a fate worse than death. Paul, a supporter of women’s suffrage but not of militancy, is well aware that his love for Lilia is incompatible with his ambition to become the next dean of the cathedral. Paul and Lilia must reach their breaking points before they can decide whether their love is worth fighting for.

At risk of sounding impertinent, where did you find this story? Did it strike like lightning out of nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
What first sparked the novel was a scene that popped into my head about twenty years ago: it was as vivid and detailed as a scene in a movie. I saw a confrontation in a meadow between a quiet, studious boy who didn’t know how to play, and a fiery girl pretending to be Jeanne d’Arc, leading her army of brothers.

When the idea first came to me, I had just started my PhD studies and didn’t have time to write the novel, but that scene haunted me for about ten years before I finally gave in and started writing Paul and Lilia’s story. The meadow scene was cut from the finished novel, but both Paul and Lilia refer to it and remember it as their first meeting. Their personalities as children were so clear in the meadow scene that it was easy to imagine what they’d be like as adults.

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about heroine Lilia Brooke?
Lilia is a young woman with very modern ideals. She believes women should have the vote, and she’s willing to break the law to fight for it. She believes contraception should be legal. She believes in free unions, not marriage. She might seem extreme or too modern to contemporary readers, but the primary sources I found in the course of my research suggest otherwise: there were plenty of women like her in the early 20th century, though they weren’t accepted in most respectable middle-class circles.

The Women's Social and Political Union was a militant organization that campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Why is Lilia drawn to this particular group? 
At the beginning of the novel, Lilia belongs to the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), a non-militant suffrage group that was socially acceptable and pursued quieter, legal methods to get the vote. But she learns that the government doesn’t listen to these quieter methods, and after a tragedy involving a friend, she joins the militant WSPU founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, the only real person who makes an appearance in Impossible Saints. The WSPU was known for window-breaking, arson, and other property destruction, but what many people don’t realize is how brutally they were attacked by the police and bystanders even when they attempted to stage peaceful demonstrations and speeches. 

Belonging to the WSPU fits Lilia’s personality: she is strong, brave, and fearless when fighting for a cause she believes in, and there’s nothing she believes in more than women’s rights. But she’s not perfect: she lacks insight into her own heart!

Do you have a favorite scene in Impossible Saints? 
I have several favorites! Without giving too much away, one of them is possibly the worst marriage proposal in the history of marriage proposals. Another is a flirtatious scene in which Paul and Lilia argue about translating Horace’s Odes. One of my beta readers commented after reading that scene, “If I knew it could be this sexy, I would have paid more attention in Latin class!”

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on while writing Impossible Saints?
Paul has a nemesis named Thomas Cross who intrigued me, but I couldn’t allow him to take over the story. The way I solved this problem was by making Thomas Cross the protagonist of a new novel!

If you could sit down and talk with one of the characters in Impossible Saints, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite and why? 
I don’t think either of my protagonists would want to just sit and talk with me, though I’d love to do that with either of them. I don’t know if other writers have inferiority complexes about their characters, but I certainly do: I’m constantly plagued by doubts that my characters would want to be friends with me if they knew me in real life!

Paul is harder than Lilia to get to know and I could see myself becoming frustrated with his reserved nature. The two of us might just sit in opposite corners of a room reading books! Lilia would certainly talk to me, but she wouldn’t want to sit still for long, so she’d probably prefer that I follow her around, hearing her speeches and watching the effect she has on the people around her. Maybe she’d let me be her personal assistant!

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of Impossible Saints, who would you hire?
I would cast James Norton as Paul, which is a no-brainer for anyone who’s watched Grantchester. I’m not as sure about Lilia. Gal Gadot could do it, but in proper period dress, of course, not her Wonder Woman costume! One of my readers suggested Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I’d be happy with her, too.

What do you hope readers take from their experience of Impossible Saints? 
I’ve built a lot of layers into Impossible Saints, so I’d like to think it has something for everyone. Readers who like deep philosophical themes will be challenged to examine their beliefs about religion and feminism. Readers who love history will learn what women in England went through to get the vote. Readers who want romance will see that the novel is at its core a love story. I hope readers feel both satisfied and empowered after they turn the last page.

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Clarissa was born and raised on the Canadian prairies, where she spent her childhood forcing her younger relatives to play roles in her interminably long family Christmas plays. (She has since apologized to her Traumatized Cousins and Very Patient Elders, all innocent victims of her attempts to realize her artistic vision.) She now contents herself with trying to manipulate the characters in her novels, who regularly surprise her by being just as resistant to her interference as real people.

Clarissa writes historical fiction set mainly in Victorian and Edwardian England. She has been fascinated by all things Victorian since she was a child: the clothes, the elaborate social rituals, the gap between rich and poor, the dizzying pace of advancements in science and technology. When it was time to choose a major in university, she had trouble deciding between history and English literature because she really just wanted to study the Victorians. Ultimately, she chose English and earned a PhD specializing in nineteenth-century British literature.

Her novels pay homage to her favourite Victorian authors: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her favourite living authors include Diane Setterfield, Kate Morton, Jessica Brockmole, and Susanna Kearsley.

In addition to being a novelist and proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Clarissa is a part-time university instructor and full-time grammar nerd who loves to explain the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

Website   |   Facebook   |   Goodreads   |   Blog   |   Twitter

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#AuthorInterview: Kevin O'Connell, author of Two Journeys Home: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Kevin O'Connell to Flashlight Commentary to discuss his latest release, Two Journeys Home: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe.

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Release Date: November 1, 2017   |   Gortcullinane Press   |   Historical Fiction/Family Saga
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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Kevin. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about Two Journeys Home: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe. 
Thank you so much for having me! 

Two Journeys Home is the second of what appears will be a series of four, or perhaps even five, works of historical fiction, which will together comprise what’s become The Derrynane Saga. The story is based on what little is historically documented about several members of the O’Connell family of Derrynane, in far southwest County Kerry, Ireland. As it relates their largely-fictional lives from 1760 until the mid-1790’s, set in Ireland, Vienna and France, this provides a time-line for each book and the Saga as a whole.  

The period covered in Two Journeys is Spring, 1767 until mid-Summer 1770 – which proves to be a highly-eventful, albeit relatively-brief span of time, in which several of the O’Connells’ lives are changed forever, amidst a melange of romance, intrigue, betrayal, violence and conflict within and without the clan. In some parallels, one or two other major characters’ lives are similarly altered.

At risk of sounding impertinent, where did you find this story? Did it strike like lightening out nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
‘Tis not impertinent at all – it’s a great question! 

I believe it is accurate to say that, without being aware of the fact, I seemingly had the story within me for much of my life. Having heard any number of “O’Connell tales” since childhood, I ultimately studied both the O’Connells and the Eighteenth Century in Europe in quite some detail, in the process subconsciously tucking away many wee snippets of what has become this story – a mix, as are all Irish stories, of fact and fancy.

The writing itself began just about six years ago this Winter, as a bit of a lark. I must admit that writing was not something I’d dreamt about or deferred all of my life. When I did start – with a gossamer-thin story line, and no experience in writing fiction – or anything else, other than incredibly-dull, complex legal opinions and massive legal transactional documents, the stories literally – and surprisingly – “poured out of me”.  

I was somewhat heartened relatively early-on in the process by a small article written by Hilary Mantel which appeared, in of all places, the Wall Street Journal, which was entitled The Art of Making the Dead Speak; as I read it and critiqued what my characters were saying and how they spoke, I felt that I actually might have some knack for this! 

During the course of writing both books, I’ve frequently had a sense of almost watching things unfold, “hearing” what was being said, following the characters rather than creating them and what appears on the pages. I’ve come to learn that this is a phenomenon experienced by some writers. Whatever it may be . . . it continues to be an incredible wonder.

There were certain immutable historical facts about the O’Connells that I knew, and which I’ve used as “mile-markers’ within the story – these facts were few, minute even – footnotes in history, actually –  so there are huge gaps in time that needed to be provided for, and it is here that my imagination kicked in and from whence the story emerged. 

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Eileen O'Connell? What kind of person is she? 
Ah, Eileen!  I grew up hearing of her, referred to at times as “Auntie Eileen,” and I’ve always felt some type of a numinous, mystical connection with her. I know her, at least the Eileen who strides elegantly across these pages, better than anyone for she is in many, albeit not all ways, a product of my imagination.

At this stage of her life, virtually all that is known for certain, as she is historically referred to, in Irish, as “Eibhlin Dubh” – which in English translates as her being “Dark Eileen” or, perhaps more poetically, “Eileen of the Raven Locks”, is that she had black hair.

In developing her character, I have used this as a distinguishing feature – one that sets her apart, even from her own family, as the O’Connells of the period whose appearance we do know were largely fair-haired. In the books, Eileen’s hair is a thick blue-black mane that cascades to her waist. So unique is it and such is the personality that I have created for her (based on a single written reference that she was apparently a “headstrong” young girl), in a time when “ladies at court” wore their hair fashionably-dressed and, at least in part, covered, Eileen does neither.

She stands “six feet tall, plus an inch – perhaps two” with the deepest of blue eyes, a luminous complexion and a manner befitting a member of the vestiges of the now-fallen Gaelic Aristocracy. Though she is, as the O’Connells are said to have been, proud and arrogant – and intimidating, she is also loving, gentle and quite brilliant – fluent in Irish, English and French, near-fluent in Latin, conversant in German; well-read, equally so-travelled. She speaks in a husky, almost sensual voice. She is a complex character, strong, courageous and – for her time – independent, but also highly-conservative, traditional, and a fervent absolute monarchist.  Lastly, she is skilled in the use of firearms – and does not hesitate to meet violence with her own armed ferocity

By the time Two Journeys begins, after having been wed (in an arranged marriage solely for the benefit of the O’Connells and their smuggling activities) and widowed before her seventeenth birthday, she has been at the Hapsburg court for almost six years. There, she is amongst its best-recognised members, serving as governess, teacher, riding-mistress and companion to two of Maria Theresa’s daughters, with the younger of whom, the Archduchess Maria Antonia, she has developed an intimate, maternal relationship.  
Not too far into Two Journeys, Eileen will make a life-changing decision, about which I shall say no more!

Eileen is not the only member of her family in the Habsburg Court. Can you tell us a bit about Abigail?  
I smile whenever I think of Abby: One reviewer flatly stated, “I love her . . . she is a doll!” whilst a reader wrote to me that “I would love her to be my best friend!”

She is several years older – and several inches shorter – than Eileen, more than just pretty, she has, soft curly reddish-blond hair, lying just past her shoulders. Her sky-blue eyes sparkle, a smile or the warmest of laughs seems always close to the surface and her complexion glows, with cascades of faint freckles over her nose and down her cheeks, her manner is perhaps best described as being “elegantly casual”.

One of the best examples that comes to mind, one through which her unique personality truly shines, is a scene after she’s just arrived at Vienna and is being introduced to the Empress, hew new mistress, for the first time:

“Abby was, as her mother would have said, “being Abby”: warm, intelligent, humorous, thoughtful and genuine, posing even the most delicate questions in such a guileless
way that Maria Theresa could only laugh and answer — “No, darling, there are those people amongst us whose tasks specifically include the removal of such ‘pots’”. 

Despite a subtle comedic aura about her, during the rest of the first book Abby matures rapidly and settles into a “career path” that had been set out for her even before she arrived in Vienna; she also weds Denis O’Sullivan, a young Irish (a Kerryman she’d met whilst still at home) officer in the Hungarian Hussars, in a magnificent ceremony staged for her by Maria Theresa.

By the time Two Journeys Home picks up her story, far from being overshadowed by her more colourful younger sister Abigail has risen to what many consider to be the highest post at court: principal lady-in-waiting to the Empress Maria Theresa; as head of her household and “gatekeeper,” Abigail is the servant closest to the most powerful woman in the world.  She is a beloved – and commanding – figure at court, who is still able to make people – including readers - laugh.

She is also Eileen’s anchor, her constant, who provides her younger sister with invaluable degrees of wisdom and insight.

Hugh O’Connell, Eileen and Abigail’s younger brother also appears in the novel. What can you tell us about him and the Irish Brigade?  
Hugh was first introduced as a little boy in Beyond Derrynane, youngest of the 22 children born at Derrynane to Donál Mór and Maire ni Dhuibh, during the course of their long marriage, some 16 of whom survive. Virtually from the time of his birth until she departed home as a teenage bride in 1760, Eileen mothered him; the two have remained close. Like most of his siblings, Hugh is tall, fair, dirty-blonde and blue-eyed. Like his older sister, he is an excellent rider and is also said to be brilliant, an avid reader, multi-lingual and confident. He has an easy-going manner and, at least when he first arrives in Vienna, a somewhat wide-eyed, guileless view of the world.

When Hugh reappears in Two Journeys Home he as at that juncture in the life of a younger son in a still somehow-landed native Irish family – of deciding whether to go to Continental Europe for a more formal education (the O’Connells having been taught from an early age by “a succession of it always-seemed handsome young Jesuit priests” who had been smuggled into Derrynane by their father for this purpose) and/or to enter the military service of one of the Catholic monarchs.

As the on-going story is related in the Derrynane books, for several centuries there had been any number of Irish Catholic officers and other-ranks in service to Catholic monarchs from Russia to Spain.  Eileen, Abby and Hugh’s uncle, Moritz O’Connell, a general in the Imperial Austrian army, a count (wed to the Empress’s former lady-in-waiting) and a counsellor to Maria Theresa, is far from being the highest ranking Irish officer in Vienna.

In terms of the Irish Brigade, briefly, its history really begins with James II’s vanguishment by the forces of William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne in 1689 and the subsequent defeat of General Patrick Sarsfield at Limerick in 1691, the latter of which that resulted in what has become known as the “flight of the Wild Geese”. This term is applied to the soldiers who, having been loyal to James’s cause, were permitted to leave Ireland as a relatively-intact, albeit defeated army, to follow the Stuarts into permanent exile in France – this led to the formation of the famed “Irish Brigade of France”, which plays an increasingly-important role in Two Journeys Home and even more so as the Saga continues, as Hugh will follow his older brother, Daniel Charles, into the service of King Louis XV.  Hugh’s career will be as an officer in Dillons Regiment of the Brigade, whilst Daniel Charles, who began his French service with the Swedish Brigade, will spend some time in Lord Clare’s Regiment of the Irish one, he will go on to become an ennobled general and live long enough to be imprisoned by Napoleon. 

Ah, but I digress . . .

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on while writing Two Journeys Home?
I have been extremely fortunate to have the most wonderful editor an author could possibly want! Randy Ladenheim-Gil is nothing short of remarkable, as she has guided, nudged, pushed, pulled and carried me through the creative process, employing a not-always-subtle mix of wisdom, humour, patience and great kindness. It is because of her that I can say that I’ve not had to toss away any character or major concept whilst writing Two Journeys or its predecessor. She has always managed to assist me in salvaging worthy ideas – even well-written but misplaced language which, absent her skill, might have fallen victim to the “delete” button.

In much the same way, she has prevented me from making potentially-damaging creative errors, one lengthy scene between Eileen and Maria Antonia comes to mind - it would have negatively-impacted the entire story had she not caught it.

If you could sit down and talk with one of the characters in Two Journeys Home, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite and why? 
My choice of a companion for good German beer and conversation would be Colonel Wolfgang von Klaus, of the Imperial Austrian Army. Von Klaus, a member of one of Austria’s oldest and most prominent noble families, first appeared in Beyond Derrynane during the Winter of 1764, and became Eileen’s lover and companion. Their relationship goes well beyond the bedroom, as the two share a love of books and reading, and horses. Over time they became each other’s closest confident, Eileen learning from von Klaus the intricacies of European politics, “as tawdry as they are magnificent”, such that as her knowledge expands he comes to rely on her insights and thoughts in his role as counsellor to the Emperor Joseph. Von Klaus continues his intermittent appearances in Derrynane until he departs rather abruptly for the court of Catherine the Great at St Petersburg, as a direct emissary of the Emperor and his co-reigning mother, Maria Theresa. He reappears briefly several times in Two Journeys Home and will make a significant return to the Saga in the third volume. 

Von Klaus is an engaging character, tall, blonde, bluff, handsome and unassuming despite his vast wealth and lofty social and military stature. I would be interested to learn his “take” on the Habsburgs, especially the Empress, as well as Eileen and the other O’Connells at court, and also of the expatriate Irish overall serving in Catholic Europe, his views on the European political and social landscape, his experience at the court of Catherine the Great –  and how he really feels about Eileen O’Connell.

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of Two Journeys Home, who would you hire? 
Eileen O’Connell: Margot Robbie
Abigail O’Connell: Emily Blunt
Maire O’Connell [mother]: Emma Thompson
Anna Pfeffer: Joanne Froggatt
General O’Connell: Liam Neeson
Countess von Graffenreit: Julianne Moore
Empress Maria Theresa: Cate Blanchette
Archduchess Maria Antonia: unknown teenage actress
Hugh O’Connell: unknown teenage actor
Art O’Leary: Ryan Gosling

What do you hope readers take from their experience of Two Journeys Home? 
I should hope that they take away an understanding of the unique history of the period and places as presented in the book, as well as a curiosity to perhaps learn more about at least some aspects of it all.  I have included a fairly detailed bibliographical essay in both books as there is a fair amount of excellent non-fiction available; I hope more than a few readers will have been intrigued enough by this fictional introduction to want to read more.  

In all honesty, I also hope the experience the readers have had with Two Journeys Home might make them want to read Beyond Derrynane, as well as the books to come!

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Kevin O'Connell is a native of New York City, the descendant of a young officer of what had—from 1690 to 1792—been the Irish Brigade of the French army, believed to have arrived in French Canada following the execution of Queen Marie Antoinette in October of 1793. At least one grandson subsequently returned to Ireland and Mr. O'Connell's own grandparents came to New York in the early twentieth century. He holds both Irish and American citizenship.

He is a graduate of Don Bosco Preparatory School, Ramsey, New Jersey; Providence College and Georgetown University Law Centre.

For much of his four decades-plus long legal career, O'Connell practiced international business transactional law, primarily involving direct-investment matters, throughout Asia (principally China), Europe, and the Middle East.

Mr. O’Connell has been a serious student of Eighteenth Century Europe, especially of Ireland and France, for much of his life; one significant aspect of this has been a continuing scholarly as well as personal interest in the extended O’Connell family of Derrynane, many even distant and long-ago members of which, especially the characters about whom he writes, he has “known” intimately since childhood.

The father of five children and grandfather of ten, he and his wife, Laurette, live with their golden retriever, Katie, near Annapolis, Maryland, USA.

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#AuthorInterview: Anna Belfrage, author of There is Always a Tomorrow

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Anna Belfrage back to Flashlight Commentary to discuss the ninth book in the Graham Saga, There is Always a Tomorrow.

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Release Date: November 5th 2017   |   Timelight Press   |   Historical Fiction/Historical Romance

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Welcome back to Flashlight Commentary Anna. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about There is Always a Tomorrow
There is always a Tomorrow is the book that wasn’t supposed to happen. I thought I was done with Alex and Matthew when I published the previous book, but it proved very difficult to say good bye to them. Also, the future fate of White Bear/Samuel (the second youngest Graham child) kept gnawing at my heart so I thought it best to start writing about him and see what happened. 

There is Always a Tomorrow is the ninth volume in what has become a vast, multi-generational epic. Why was creating this kind of story so important to you and what do you hope readers take from their experience of it? 
The Graham Saga is self-indulgence at its best. I became so addicted to my characters and their adventures that I just couldn’t stop telling their story. At its core lies the love story between Alex and Matthew, but it’s also about love in all its forms, between parent and child, friends, brothers, sisters…I hope my readers put my books down with a reconfirmed belief in love and family. If, along the way, they’ve also learnt a bit more about life in the 17th century that is just an added bonus.  

Though neither will openly admit it, Alex and Matthew are beginning to feel their age in this story. As an author, how do you feel about seeing these characters reach this point in their lives? 
Stressed! After all, no one lives forever, and I am fast reaching appoint where…gulp. But there is an element of peace and acceptance in Alex’s and Matthew’s approach to age that I find comforting. After all, growing old is something most of us will experience and I believe it is how we choose to confront the inevitability of life nearing its end that colours our last years. 

White Bear/Samuel struggles with his identity through much of the narrative. What inspired his storyline and why did you feel it so important? 
I have a good friend who has a son who is not biologically his. The boy is very loved—but also confused as to who he really is. Like this boy, White Bear/Samuel and to some extent Ian are both people caught between two families, two identities. In Samuel’s case, he has difficulties in finding who he really is, torn as he is between his white identity and the Native American heritage of his adopted family. Ironically, the fact that all his parents love him makes things even more difficult for him. 

While historically appropriate, Rachel’s experiences are particularly tragic. Did you find it difficult to write these scenes? 
Yes. Especially as there are girls in our day and age that are experiencing similar horrors. 

Rachel isn’t the only grandchild facing hardship in this chapter of the Graham’s story. Duncan is beginning to note the social implications of his origins in There is Always a Tomorrow and I wondered if you might elaborate on how colonial culture viewed and treated both illegitimate children and the women who bore them. 
It varied from colony to colony, but in general most of the 17th century colonies considered an illegitimate child to be the result of fornication. In those colonies which had a Puritan majority, fornication was a crime that led to fines and public flogging. In principle, colonial laws considered the father to have an obligation to support his child—but the problem lay in identifying the father. An adulterous woman was considered sinful and for a long, long time it was believed that if a woman became pregnant she must have enjoyed the sexual act, hence a rape victim was as sinful as the woman who consensually initiated a sexual liason with someone not her husband. More specifically, this means that the good inhabitants of Providence would view Duncan’s birth mother as something of a fallen woman while Duncan himself would probably not be ostracized (beyond being taunted). Fortunately for Duncan, he has an adoptive father with some standing in society which probably helps! 

Your incorporation of Coode’s Rebellion represents one of my favorite aspects of narrative. Why did this particular episode of American history capture your imagination? 
Because it is rarely talked about. Coode’s rebellion effectively wrested control of the Colony of Maryland from the Catholic Calvert family (who had been granted Maryland as their colony by James I) and also signaled the end of the religious tolerance the Calverts had always promoted. 

Carlos finds himself at the center of this conflict. Can you tell us a bit about his personal situation and how this movement impacts him? 
Carlos has never found a place to call home prior to ending up in Maryland. So when Coode and the Protestant Associators make it illegal for Catholic priests to live & minister in the colony, they effectively make Carlos homeless again. It’s not as if Carlos has all that many alternatives: he can’t go back to Seville because his uncle has threatened to turn him over to the Inquisition. He has no real desire to travel to the Spanish colonies so he decides to stay put. A somewhat fateful decision…

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on while writing There is Always a Tomorrow?
Adam Graham – but I’m thinking he’ll get more airtime in a future book. And Samuel needs more time as do Duncan and my favourite among the Graham grandchildren, Lettie. 

As a reader, I love Alex’s habit of sharing her favorite stories with her family and the literary legacy she gifts her children. It’s not related to the novel per say, but I’d love to know what titles the Graham children and grandchildren love best. 
Well, they’d not know the titles, but the boys would put The Three Musketeers right at the top. Alex’s daughters have always preferred the stories from The Lord of the Rings (as does Matthew). They all like Robin Hood, have heated discussions regarding Arthur and the Holy Grail, Guinevere and Lancelot. Alex has also passed on a number of Swedish fairy tales, most of them involving the very pretty little princess Tuvstarr and trolls. 

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Anna was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result she's multilingual and most of her reading is historical- both non-fiction and fiction. Possessed of a lively imagination, she has drawers full of potential stories, all of them set in the past. She was always going to be a writer - or a historian, preferably both. Ideally, Anna aspired to becoming a pioneer time traveller, but science has as yet not advanced to the point of making that possible. Instead she ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for her most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career Anna raised her four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive…

For years she combined a challenging career with four children and the odd snatched moment of writing. Nowadays Anna spends most of her spare time at her writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and she slips away into her imaginary world, with her imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in her life pops his head in to ensure she's still there.

For additional information regarding Anna, her characters, extra scenes, and teasers for her next books, have a look at Anna's website.

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FLASHLIGHT COMMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FANS OF ANNA BELFRAGE:

A Rip in the Veil ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Like Chaff in the Wind ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Prodigal Son ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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#AuthorInterview: Jennifer Laam, author of The Lost Season of Love and Snow

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Jennifer Laam to Flashlight Commentary to discuss The Lost Season of Love and Snow.

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Jennifer. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about The Lost Season of Love and Snow.
Thank you! The Lost Season of Love and Snow is set in 19th century imperial Russia and tells the story of Natalya Goncharova and her tumultuous marriage to Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, who died tragically in a duel fought over Natalya’s honor. After his death, Natalya’s reputation suffered, as she had been the cause of the duel. I think it’s time to hear Natalya’s side of the story.

At risk of sounding impertinent, where did you find this story? Did it strike like lightening out nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
As a student, I was fascinated with the story of Alexander Pushkin’s life and death, which always struck me as romantic in a morbid way. I didn’t know much about his wife, only rumors that she may have been unfaithful and perhaps even the tsar’s mistress. Fast forward twenty years or so. As I’m thinking of topics for a new book, I “bump into” Natalya Goncharova in Martin Cruz Smith’s Tatiana. A yacht is named after Natalya and there is much talk of beauty, disloyalty, and betrayal. At one point, a character even refers to her as “Pushkin’s whore.” After reading, I had to learn more and found a Newsweek article about her. Pushkin scholars have recently uncovered more information on Natalya’s intellectual ambitions. That made me want to spend time with her and get to know her world.

Natalya Goncharova is a lesser-known historical figure. How did you go about bringing her to life in The Lost Season of Love and Snow? 
Since her husband, Alexander Pushkin, is so well known, I focused primarily on books about him for my research. It was fascinating to see how Natalya’s historical reputation evolved over time. All of the books made the Pushkins’ world come to life, but later ones were far kinder to Natalya.

Natalya’s relationship with Alexander Pushkin is the obvious heart of the novel. How would you define and characterize their romance? 
I think they shared an intense erotic and intellectual chemistry and this is how I portrayed their relationship in my book. Their correspondence seems playful and high-spirited. They both enjoyed attention and attracted admirers, but I believe they were intensely in love.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Lost Season of Love and Snow? 
I’m torn. I loved writing Alexander and Natalya together, but scenes featuring antagonists are even more fun because you can let characters say absolutely the worst things possible. So my favorite scenes are the exchanges between Natalya and her sister, Ekaterina, early in the book, where they are giving one another a terrible time. Even though Ekaterina is definitely an antagonist in my book, the more I think about it, the more I want to tell the entire story through her point of view.

Is there a character you felt particularly close to while writing The Lost Season of Love and Snow? 
I bonded with Natalya and felt I understood her. The world she experienced as a young woman may have been different than mine, but I related to the challenges she faced when dealing with men, particularly men in power. I’ve laughed nervously when a man said something inappropriate. I’ve been blamed for the bad behavior of a man. I’ve tried to pretend everything was all right for the sake of outward appearances and my own reputation.

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on while writing The Lost Season of Love and Snow?
Writing on a deadline is a necessity, but a challenge. In this case, it meant I couldn’t explore Alexander’s literary legacy as thoroughly as I would have liked. At the same time, this makes the novel focus on Natalya and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite and why? 
I want to meet Alexander and Natalya and see how close I got to the truth of their relationship. Natalya was a fascinating woman married to a genius. I want to know what that was like: emotionally, intellectually, and, yes, sexually.

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of The Lost Season of Love and Snow, who would you hire? 
Since I write historical, I usually know what many of my characters looked like in real life. I love television and movies, though, and want to cast everything in my head as well. 

Natalya: Sophie Turner aka Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones
Alexander: Alfred Enoch from How to Get Away with Murder (He’s too tall and too young, but I want to make this work.)
Georges (the other man): Charlie Hunnam (why not?)
Tsar Nicholas I: Damian Lewis because he did such a great job of portraying Henry VIII in Wolf Hall that I figure he’s a natural fit for the “Iron Tsar.” 

What do you hope readers take from their experience of The Lost Season of Love and Snow? 
My goal is always to entertain and to get someone to turn the page and stay up past bedtime to read one more chapter. Of course I want to leave readers feeling satisfied. Since most of the characters in this novel are fictionalized versions of real people, I would be honored if readers finish my book and then take a few minutes to learn more about Natalya and Alexander. Finally, I hope Natalya’s story will inspire readers to look closely at the way women are portrayed in history books. I think Natalya got an unfair shake for many years and I hope to be some small part of changing the way we view women. 

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Jennifer Laam is the author of THE SECRET DAUGHTER OF THE TSAR, THE TSARINA'S LEGACY, and the forthcoming THE LOST SEASON OF LOVE AND SNOW (January 2018), all from St. Martin's Griffin.

Jennifer has lived in Los Angeles and the suburbs of Detroit, and has traveled in Russia, England, France, and Finland. When away from her computer, she enjoys fussing over animals, binge watching her favorite TV shows, planning cosplay for Comic Con, and line dancing. Jennifer currently lives in Northern California, where she works for her alma mater, University of the Pacific.

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#AuthorInterview: David Blixt, author of Master of Verona

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author David Blixt to Flashlight Commentary to discuss book one in the Star-Cross'd series, The Master of Verona.

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary David. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us about The Master of Verona.
Delighted to be here. This novel was recently called “Romeo & Juliet meets Game Of Thrones”. I hope it’s not quite that bleak, though combining characters from Shakespeare’s Italian plays with the real people of Dante’s time, things aren’t always going to end well. Paradise beckons, but first you have to go through Hell.

At risk of sounding impertinent, where did you find this story? Did it strike like lightening out nowhere or was is something that came to you over time? 
Like all great ideas, it came to me in the shower. I was about to direct Romeo & Juliet, and the idea of the feud’s beginning leapt out of my head like Athena, fully-formed and armed. It was only later, diving deep into the research, did I find that Dante mentions the Capulet-Montague feud in the Divine Comedy. Which means that Dante was in Verona during the birth of the feud. So was Giotto. So, a little later, was Petrarch. The feud became a thread in a larger tapestry of the birth of the Renaissance in Italy.

The Master of Verona was originally published ten years ago, but you recently revisited the novel to record the audiobook. How did it feel to immerse yourself in this story after so long?
Surreal, both as author and actor. I can’t count the number of times I paused in the middle of some really long sentence to say, “Who wrote this?” The happy discovery was how much I enjoyed the story, especially the characters. Finding their voices was a real challenge, in a good way. There were also several things I had forgotten were in there, little allusions and nods to plays and poems, historical events and figures. And I was able to cut a little excess verbiage from the previous edition, so that this one flows better. A book is never finished, only published.

The Master of Verona brings together the characters from Shakespeare's Italian plays with the real people from Dante's time. Was it difficult to combine the two? 
Actually, it took several running starts. I kept trying to write from the point of view of Shakespeare’s characters, but that felt trite. The lynchpin ended up being Dante’s son, Pietro. A very real person, with some solid facts about his life, yet with no real timeline for his early years. Through him I was able to link the historical and fictional characters. Right away he becomes friends with young Capulet and Montague, while at the same time he’s brought into the confidence of Dante’s patron, Cangrande della Scala, the titular master of Verona.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Master of Verona? 
Two. I very much like the duel in the middle of the book, where Pietro’s sense of justice gets him in far over his head. And the final scene, which was as surprising to me as it has been to readers. No spoilers, but I’ve had friends show up at my house to curse at me after reading Chapter 40. I really like surprises, but only if they’re earned. Since that scene surprised me when I wrote it, the shock seems very honest.

Is there a character you felt particularly close to while writing The Master of Verona? 
To this day Pietro remains my favorite character to write. I’ve been asked how much of me is in him. The answer is, none. Pietro is a far better man than I am. His sense of honor and need for justice are unfailing and unfaltering – and often unfortunate. Rarely is he rewarded for his dogged perseverance.

The other character that’s always a joy to write is Cangrande himself. Go to Verona and he still permeates the city. Dante dedicated Paradiso to him. Patron of the arts, clever warrior, skilled diplomat, famous lover - he was a figure for fiction because he’s larger than life. All the events in the book are real, he did those things. Creating a complex character out of someone so romantic and dashing was a huge challenge. It’s hard not to fall into hero-worship. Pietro certainly does. But if I’m following Shakespeare’s rules, there has to be a tragic flaw…

Authors are often forced to make sacrifices when composing their stories. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on in The Master of Verona?
Oh, there are always rabbit-holes to dive down. The first draft was significantly longer, and my editor gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard: “David, you’ve confused what a writer needs to know to write a book with what a reader needs to know to read it, which is much less.” The research is so fun for the author, but sharing that research often bogs down the story itself. So I cut 100,000 words from the novel – just about a third. Some of the neat facts I held on to for the sequels, but most of it just vanished.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you invite out and why? 
Are we talking the historical people, or the ones I’ve created on the page? I’d love to chat with Dante, no matter what. Cangrande’s wife would be fascinating to talk to. And the fictional Moorish astrologer, Tharwat al-Dhaamin, would be my chosen companion for dinner. He’s a mystery to me, even though I invented him.

If you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of The Master of Verona, who would you hire? 
Hm. Ten years ago, Hugh Jackman would have been Cangrande, hands down. Today? Chris Hemsworth. And so many of the leads are in their teens, making the cast change over every five years. So here goes:

Cangrande della Scala: Chris Hemsworth
Pietro di Dante: David Mazouz
Katerina della Scala: Cate Blanchett
Dante Alighieri: Michael Gambon
Mariotto Montecchio: Logan Lerman
Antony Capulletto: Leo Howard
Gianozza della Bella: Mackenzie Foy
Antonia Alighieri: Millie Bobbie Brown
Tharwat al-Dhaamin: Morgan Freeman
Vinciguerra da San Bonifacio: Brendan Gleeson
Marsilio da Carrara: Dakota Goyo

What do you hope readers take from their experience of The Master of Verona? 
A sense of awe. A sense of scope. And a deep desire to read both Romeo & Juliet and The Divine Comedy (as well as come back for the next novel in the series, Voice of the Falconer).

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David Blixt‘s work is consistently described as “intricate,” “taut,” and “breathtaking.” A writer of Historical Fiction, his novels span the early Roman Empire (the COLOSSUS series, his play EVE OF IDES) to early Renaissance Italy (the STAR-CROSS’D series) up through the Elizabethan era (his delightful espionage comedy HER MAJESTY’S WILL, starring Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe as inept spies). His novels combine a love of the theatre with a deep respect for the quirks and passions of history. 

Living in Chicago with his wife and two children, he describes himself as “actor, author, father, husband. In reverse order.”

Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Goodreads

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Interview with M.K. Tod, author of Time and Regret

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author M.K. Tod to Flashlight Commentary to discuss her latest release, Time and Regret.

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary. It’s great to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us a bit about Time and Regret.
Many thanks for having me on your blog, Erin. It’s a pleasure to be here again chatting with you. The tag line for Time and Regret is: A cryptic letter. A family secret. A search for answers. And I’ve been promoting it as mystery + war + romance – hopefully an intriguing premise that will capture readers’ interest. When Grace Hansen finds a box belonging to her beloved grandfather, she has no idea it holds the key to his past—and to long-buried family secrets. In the box are his World War I diaries and a cryptic note addressed to her. Determined to solve her grandfather’s puzzle, Grace follows his diary entries across towns and battles sites in northern France, where she becomes increasingly drawn to a charming French man—and suddenly aware that someone is following her …

Where did the idea for this story come from? 
I love telling this story. A few years ago, my husband and I took a trip to France. We spent an evening at a café in the small town of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine river. Shortly after the waiter poured our first glass of red wine, I wrote a few words in a small notebook.
“What are you writing?” Ian said.
“An idea for a story,” I replied.
Refusing to be put off by my cryptic response, Ian persisted. “What’s the idea?”
“Nothing much. Just thought it might make a good story to have a granddaughter follow the path her grandfather took during World War One in order to find out more about him.”
Ian took on a pensive look and no doubt had another sip of wine. “You could include a mystery,” he said.
Now, you should know that mysteries are my husband’s favorite genre. Indeed, I suspect mysteries represent at least eighty percent of his reading. So I played along.
“What kind of mystery?” And that was the beginning of Time and Regret.

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Grace Hansen? What kind of woman is she? 
Grace is a recently divorced mother of two in her early forties. She’s had a successful career but has found it easiest to allow her ex-husband to dominate their marriage. Grace was raised by her grandparents – a loving grandfather and a strict grandmother who favored criticism over praise. I picture her as good looking but not glamorous with a slim build and dark brown hair (but readers are free to create their own impression!). Divorce has been difficult. When Grace discovers her grandfather’s diaries and the puzzling note he left for her, she’s captivated by the challenge of solving the puzzle and sees the trip to France as a chance to get away from all the stress. I think of her as stronger than she’s given herself credit for, someone who is awakening to new possibilities, a woman who is willing to fight for her family and ultimately to stand up for herself.

Grace shares a special bond with her grandfather. What can you tell us about Martin? 
We first meet Martin as a young soldier heading off to war in 1915. He’s tall and angular and has readily acquired the skills required to lead men into battle. With him as he heads overseas are three close friends: Bill, Pete and Michel. Initially optimistic and ‘gung ho’, the horrible conditions of war and the casualties involved gradually bring on profound anger and despair. We also meet Martin through the eyes of his granddaughter Grace and see an understanding, caring man who has successfully built an art gallery in New York. And through the eyes of his wife, Cynthia, we appreciate Martin’s loyalty and love.

Cynthia was a difficult character for me to appreciate, but she grew on me and ended up being one of my favorite members of the cast. What inspired her and her arc?
Cynthia is totally fabricated, not based on anyone I know although I might have been subliminally affected by Maggie Smith’s character on Downton Abbey! Cynthia is British born, raised in a family that always struggled to make ends meet despite the fact that her mother had been born into a wealthy family. Childhood poverty has left Cynthia striving for riches; family tragedies have caused her to be caustic and difficult. I think I will leave her character arc for readers to discover.

As a novelist, what drew you to this particular period?
I’ve been obsessed with World War I since researching my own grandfather’s participation in that dreadful conflict. I found it very difficult to imagine the man I knew as being capable of killing people and of enduring what soldiers had to endure. This is my third novel that concerns WWI – I like to think of them as my tribute to the sacrifices made by men and women of those times.

What sort of research went into Time and Regret? What sources did find most valuable? 
I could go on and on about sources! Writing Time and Regret was in some ways easier because I had already written two other novels set during this period. Nonetheless, I had to create believable scenes in the trenches and on the battlefield for Martin and for this I found the Canadian battalion diaries for WWI all carefully preserved on a government website. I read every entry for the 19th battalion of the 4th brigade, 2nd division of the Canadian army and knew exactly where Martin would be at any point in time.

You probably have many, but is there a scene you particularly enjoyed writing? 
Looking back, I think the scenes I really enjoyed writing are those involving Grace and her grandmother. Those episodes allow both characters to be difficult, cantankerous, argumentative and so on. Rather fun to imagine and then create.

What scene posed the greatest challenge for you as an author? Why was it troublesome and how did you work through it? 
You’re asking such great questions, Erin! It’s a truism that opening scenes are always difficult – I probably wrote five or six different ones for Time and Regret. However, the scenes where the mystery culminates were the most difficult for me. I wanted the tension to build and build but also wanted to avoid going ‘over the top’ or being too clichéd in those final scenes. The ending was also a challenge!

Sometimes fiction takes on a life of its own and forces the author to make sacrifices for the sake of the story. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on?
I would have enjoyed fleshing out Pierre’s character more. He’s not a simple man and deserves more attention – perhaps a future novel! Also I had originally written more of Cynthia’s story as a young woman but had to edit those bits out.

Historical novelists frequently have to adjust facts to make their stories work. Did you have to invent or change anything while writing Time and Regret and if so, what did you alter? 
I don’t think I altered anything to do with Martin’s battalion except the name of the ship he travelled on to France and the fact that in reality the 19th battalion spent several months doing further training in between arriving in England and embarking for France.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you choose and why? 
I’d love to have dinner in a cozy French bistro with Grace and Pierre. Not only would the food and wine be excellent, I have a feeling the conversation would be very interesting.

Just because I’m curious, if you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of Time and Regret, who would you hire? 
Judi Dench for Cynthia, the grandmother.  Ryan Gosling for the young Martin Devlin. Hugh Jackman for Pierre (as long as he can do a reasonable French accent). Anne Hathaway would be a wonderful Grace.

Finally, what's next for you? Do you have a new project in the works?
Thank you for asking, Erin. And yes, I do have a new project in the works – based on two women who are nothing alike but develop a strong, enduring friendship. It’s set in 1870s Paris, a time of conflict and great turmoil for France and the two women are Mariele and Camille from Lies Told in Silence. In that novel which is set during WWI, Camille has already died and Mariele is a grandmother. My new novel – as yet untitled – has them as young women on the verge of marriage and, of course, many twists and turns will unfold.

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PRAISE FOR TIME AND REGRET

"As I settled down to read this captivating novel, strains of “As Time Goes By” filled my mind. Throughout this sensitively written and heartrending book about love, loss and redemption, the author takes us on a journey between 1990’s New York and the French battle fields of the Great War. Traveling smoothly between time and place, the writing is evocative and compelling, and with two points of view between recently divorced Grace Hansen and her grandfather, who fought in the war, we are quickly enfolded in a tale of family intrigue and mystery." - Elizabeth St.John, Goodreads Review

"I loved the unraveling of the mystery in this book. It really kept me engaged and I loved seeing the trip that the author took us on. While I enjoyed the mystery, I enjoyed reading Martin's journal entries even more. The author packs a ton of historical detail in so you can feel all of the things that Martin is experiencing throughout the book. I love reading about WWI and you definitely get a good sense of just how much soldiers were expected to deal with during that time period." - Meg, A Bookish Review

"M. K. Tods Time and Regret captivated me right from the beginning. The twin viewpoints the story is told from moves the reader from what Grace reads in her Grandfathers journals, and experiences as she retraces his journey through World War I France; and tells the story as Martin, her Grandfather, experienced it. The writing was superb, flowing easily, keeping the plot interesting and intriguing, while building the ever changing French country side in a way that made it easy to imagine being there." - John, Goodreads Review

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Hi - I'm M.K. Tod, Mary actually, the author of TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED. I have enjoyed a passion for historical novels that began in my early teenage years immersed in the stories of Rosemary Sutcliff, Jean Plaidy and Georgette Heyer. After a 20+ year career in business, in 2004, I moved to Hong Kong with my husband and no job. To keep busy I decided to research my grandfather’s part in the Great War. What began as an effort to understand my grandparents’ lives blossomed into a fulltime occupation as a writer. I live in Toronto and I’m happily married with two adult children.

Website ❧  Goodreads ❧  Facebook ❧  Blog ❧  Twitter

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Interview with Susan Hughes, author of A Kiss From France

Author interviews are one of my favorite things to post which is why I am super excited to welcome author Susan Hughes to Flashlight Commentary to discuss her novel, A Kiss from France.

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Welcome to Flashlight Commentary Susan. It’s great to have you with us. To start things off, please tell us a bit about A Kiss from France.
The story is set during the latter part of WW1, and follows the lives of two British female munitions workers whose expectations are shattered by that war. One decides to make the best of it in spite of the hardships and looks to the future; the other is haunted by past failures and struggles to break free. Each woman must contemplate making a personal sacrifice so that when peace comes, they are able to exert some control over their lives.

Where did the idea for this story come from? 
After my grandmother died, I found half a dozen WW1 silk postcards in a box. They’d been sent from the western front one hundred years ago. With them was a black and white photograph of some prisoners of war. I had no luck finding out more information about the identities of the senders and recipient (although I suspect they were my great grandfather and great grandmother) but the cards continued to fascinate me. I decided to research the period and came across the female munitions workers’ stories. I knew I’d found my heroines for a story about the brave women left behind on the Home Front.

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Lizzie Fenwick? What kind of woman is she? 
Lizzie is nineteen and single when the novel starts in 1917. She is intelligent but, in line with the times, wasn’t formally educated beyond age 14. Nevertheless, she is quietly ambitious and wants to make something of herself beyond the confines of domestic service. The outbreak of war gives her the opportunity to work in a munitions factory where the better wages and greater social freedoms fuel her dreams of betterment. Of course, this being an era when spinsterhood was considered the cardinal sin and the death and casualty rate from the war was reducing the pool of possible suitors horribly, Lizzie feels the pressure to find a husband. The war complicates matters in the most grievous way, but ultimately she has to decide where her true future fulfilment lies. 

What about Eunice Wilson, how is she different from Lizzie? 
Eunice is married and finally a mother after four miscarriages. By WW1 standards (female life expectancy 50 years), she is middle aged at 32. The war has fractured her marriage and being a mother becomes all consuming. Unlike Lizzie she doesn’t expect the jobs women fill while the war rages to be continued once peace returns. Eunice is quite content in the domestic sphere and the social and economic freedoms Lizzie relishes are far less important to her. In the end it’s her heartfelt maternal instincts that inform her character and lead her to a decision which will come back to haunt her.

With the men off fighting the war, women had to step outside their traditional roles. Taking on these responsibilities is kind of a double edged sword isn’t it? Freedom and independence is not free of consequence and/or temptation. Do Eunice or Lizzie struggle to find balance in their new existence?
Lizzie is quite naïve and when we first meet her she is daydreaming about an idealised war-hero she is writing to, but hasn’t yet met. She is also reeling from the memory of being verbally abused at a dance by a soldier because she refused to sleep with him. She doesn’t see herself as ‘that sort of girl’. When Lizzie is caught in a horrific bombing raid it changes her outlook: if she might be dead tomorrow, she might as well live a bit first.  Soon enough she has to deal with the consequences of that decision, and she comes to realise that freedom and independence is indeed a double edged sword, particularly if your moral compass has been skewed by accepted wartime behavior.

Eunice, in charge of the household in her husband’s absence and earning good money, quite enjoys a degree of freedom and independence. But when the war brings grief, she succumbs to a temptation different from Lizzie’s. It doesn’t bring her the relief or joy she hoped for, rather it exacerbates her torment. Unlike Lizzie, balance in her new existence eludes Eunice. 

As a novelist, what drew you to this particular period?
Ever since I read Wilfred Owen’s war poems at school and, later, classic WW1 fiction, I have been drawn to that cataclysmic conflict. However, it was probably finding the WW1 postcards that really ignited my imagination. There’s something about a big conflict, life and death, with all its extremes - horror and grief at one end and love and kindness at the other - that spoke to something in me. Maybe it was knowing my relatives endured it? It was also a period when women stepped out of the shadows of their traditional roles and stood up to be counted, filling the men’s shoes. It might have only been ‘for the duration’, but there would be no going back from that.

What scene posed the greatest challenge for you as an author? Why was it troublesome and how did you work through it?  
I agonized over the ending. Lizzie has to make a choice. Given what she experiences, the times she lives through and the point at which I end the story, I think she makes the right decision. However, I’ve had some requests for a sequel to see how her decision pans out. Maybe I’ll do that.

Sometimes fiction takes on a life of its own and forces the author to make sacrifices for the sake of the story. Is there a character or concept you wish you could have spent more time on?
I really enjoyed imagining the character of Peggy Wood – a foundling whose confined, loveless upbringing fuels her desire to cast caution to the wind, have a good time and deny herself nothing. She is the link between Lizzie and Eunice and is the catalyst that encourages both women’s wartime behavior. Her approach to life can be encapsulated in her motto: “There’ll be plenty of time for regrets after the war – if you live that long.” Peggy is amoral – although her conscience does prick her occasionally – and I could have almost written an entire novel about her (note to self: write a book about Peggy!)

Historical novelists frequently have to adjust facts to make their stories work. Did you have to invent or change anything while writing A Kiss from France and if so, what did you alter? 
My munitions factory is based on an actual place but I altered one particular historical fact about it to suit the plotline. So I don’t give anything away, I’ll only say I changed the date of an event by a few months. That’s the only historical fact I altered, all other things are in accordance with the actual WW1 timeline.

If you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, maybe meet and discuss things over drinks, who would you choose and why?
Eunice’s husband, Jack Wilson. We only see him through Eunice and Lizzie’s eyes but his actions have a key impact on their lives. However, I think I’d prefer to meet him before the war changes everything. See him when he’s in his pomp as a professional boxer, handsome and attractive, winning trophies and female hearts. I might even flirt with him a little bit…

Just because I’m curious, if you could pick a fantasy cast to play the leads in a screen adaptation of A Kiss from France, who would you hire? 
Because my story is set in Britain, all but one of my leads are British. (I hope Amy Adams can master a British accent!)
Lizzie Fenwick: Amy Adams (fresh-faced beautiful redhead, has a certain naivety about her but behind the eyes there’s a determination to win!)
Eunice Wilson: Kelly Macdonald (physically, her particular features lend themselves to an old-fashioned look and would suit my period drama; but I like that there is an aura of fragility and vulnerablility about her)
Lizzie’s soldier-lover: James MacEvoy (Attractive without being classically handsome, he has the right balance of masculinity and sensitivity)
Edmund Fawcett: Richard Armitage (Tall, dark and commanding but compassionate – rather as he appeared in Mrs Gaskell’s ‘North and South’ British TV adaptation)
(Check out my Pinterest board for ‘A Kiss from France’ to see them https://uk.pinterest.com/hughes7584/a-kiss-from-france)

Finally, what's next for you? Do you have a new project in the works?
I’m sticking with the twentieth century. I’ve been immersed in the 1930s for my current project, which is almost finished: a suspense novel set in London, with a romantic element. I really love that period – the extremism in politics; the glamorous fashions; the class divisions – and I have another story set in that same era percolating in my head. 

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PRAISE FOR A KISS FROM FRANCE

"I was impressed by the way it deals with the trauma and desperation of those who return home from war, and the emptiness and pain of those who stayed behind and witnessed the return of men whose minds and lives were irrevocably broken. It’s about how exceptional and extreme situations, like wars, affect the lives of ordinary people in their daily lives, and influence their perception of life and love." - Luccia Gray, Goodreads Reviwer

"I really couldn't put this book down and as I reached the end I was sure how it was all going to finish. I have to say I was surprised when I'd reached the last page and the outcome was quite different. I'm not sure what the author's plans are but I would love to see a sequel." - Joanna Lambert, Goodreads Reviewer

"Beautifully written & I thoroughly enjoyed it .. the only thing I would say is it seemed to finish a bit too quickly for me, nevertheless I would happily recommend it & look forward to the authors’ next novel in the Spring. I hereby award it 4 stars." - Allison, Goodreads Reviewer

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I grew up north of the River Tyne but then I heard the siren call of London and left, never to live in the North East again.  As a child, I had little interest in dolls – I preferred climbing trees and catching water boatmen in a jam jar; my best ever toys were a go-kart and a scalextric. My grandmother’s home cooking fed my body but books nourished my soul.  All my meagre pocket money went on 3/6 paperbacks from T&G Allen in North Shields.

I live near the North Devon coast, where long walks and bracing
West Country air give me space and thinking time.  Around me swirl the ghosts of King Arthur at Tintagel, Lorna Doone on Exmoor and the denizens of Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Jamaica Inn’ on Bodmin Moor.

A Kiss from France is my debut novel.

Websites ❧  Goodreads

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