Publication Date: March 5, 2013
Touchstone Publishing
Hardcover; 512pISBN-10: 1476708657
Touchstone Publishing
Hardcover; 512pISBN-10: 1476708657
This is my first author interview and I am excited to have it have been Nancy. I enjoyed her books, The Crown and The Chalice and hope you will too.
The ideas come out of the air. I seriously don't know where the inspiration for The Crown came from, beyond speculation: "I wonder if I could write a thriller set in the 16th century..." I set myself a challenge in a fiction workshop. For The Chalice, I had the characters and thought, "OK, now what would happen?" Research takes me a long time because I want to get it right. For The Crown, it took five years to research and write the book. For The Chalice, I took a year off from magazine work to concentrate on it.
What drew you to write historical fiction? What do you like most/least about it?
It was my favorite genre when I was young—I inhaled the books of Norah Lofts, Jean Plaidy and Mary Stewart. I’ve read it ever since, I think I love to escape into past worlds. Also, I am a huge history nerd. I’m interesting in many different periods and countries. I guess what I like least about it is that some historical fiction is a little corny or flowery. Although Ken Follett and Bernard Cornwell are proving that historical fiction can be quite action-filled, if not brutal.
What genre of books do you like to read in your spare time? Do you have a favorite author or book you would like to recommend to us?
When you become a professional novelist almost everything becomes fodder. I read historical novels or thrillers to keep up with the genre or to follow friends’ work. I read nonfiction to inform my writing. The best nonfiction books I’ve read in the last year were The Winter King, by Thomas Penn, and The Favourite, by Mathew Lyons. The level of the writing in both was outstanding.
I really don’t have much spare time, because I am a mother of two and a magazine editor. But I do have books that while I can learn from them, a lot of why I read them is for pleasure. I enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, for example. Paranormal stories are fun.
What books and/or authors have most influenced your life most?
Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca,Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Robert Graves’ I, Claudius, and Antonia Fraser’s Mary Queen of Scots.
What do you think is the best/worst thing about being a writer?
It’s wonderful to be like a magician and invite people into a story I’ve created and know that each person will see Joanna and the rest of the characters a slightly different way. I find that fascinating. What’s the worst thing? Probably the uncertainty of it all. Although it’s no more uncertain than the magazine business.
If you could be any person in history who would it be and why?
Elizabeth I, because I so admire her: “If I were turned out of my realm in my petticoat, I would prosper anywhere in Christendom.”
Tell us five random things about you.
I can draw a horse.
I saw Bob Seger three times in concert before I was 21 years old.
I love gathering seashells.
I always cry when I watch A Christmas Carol and Scrooge’s sister dies after giving birth.
My favorite part of the weekend is making pancakes on Saturday morning.
Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?
Thank you for taking this journey with me, and I am very excited about writing Joanna’s story. She’s real to me, and I hope that while you’re reading, she’s real to you too.
How can fans get in touch with you and where can they find your books?
My author website is a place to get in touch. The email
there that people can use to connect with me is tudorscribe@gmail.com. My books
are on amazon and in bookstores. The website has all the links to online
stores, for both e-books and print. I am on twitter: @tudorscribe.
Here is the link to Nancy's website
Here is the schedule for the rest of the blog tour:
VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 13
Review at The Eclectic Reader
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Review at The Eclectic Reader
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Wednesday, April 17
Review & Giveaway at Library of Clean Reads
Guest Post & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Review & Giveaway at Library of Clean Reads
Guest Post & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Monday, April 29
Review & Giveaway at Enchanted by Josephine
Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book
Review & Giveaway at Enchanted by Josephine
Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book
Thanks for the wonderful interview! =)
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