Category: Guest Blog

Today in the Library we have ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Anna Campbell, who has dropped in to say hello and to share some insights into her life as an author.

You are very welcome, Anna, please introduce yourself: 

Hi everyone! Hi Pam! Thanks for having me as your guest today. I’m an Aussie historical romance writer who lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland – and yes, it’s as nice as it sounds. I’ve had 10 multi award-winning books published with HarperCollins and Hachette, and I’ve done 23 more under my own steam as an indie. I’m currently in the bonny hills of the Scottish Highlands, at least in my head. I’m writing a series called The Lairds Most Likely. The Laird’s Willful Lass, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, and The Highlander’s Lost Lady are out now, with The Highlander’s Defiant Captive releasing on 27th September (Available for pre-order now). All these are stand-alone love stories, although characters pop up across the books.

Which genre do you write in and what draws you to it?

I write historical romance, mostly although not exclusively, set in the Regency period. I’ve been in love with historical romance since my parents read me fairy tales as a kid and the addiction was confirmed by a good dose of Errol Flynn movies not long after. I love the wit and elegance of the Regency. I love that you can write a larger-than-life story in a historical romance and play with language in a way that a contemporary romance really doesn’t allow. If a Regency gentleman calls you a twittipated henwit, he can get away with it!

Are you an avid reader? Do you prefer books in your own genre or are you happy to explore others?

I’ll read the cereal packet if there’s nothing else available! I read across a wide range of genres. Recently because I’ve been writing so much, I’ve been mainly reading crime, fantasy and nonfiction. Reading romance is a little too much like a busman’s holiday.

Are you a self-published/traditional or hybrid author?

These days, my new stuff is coming out independently. I have ten books (and a novella) published with Harper Collins and Hachette.

What was the best piece of writing advice you received when starting out?

Many years ago, before I was published, New Zealand romance writing legend Robyn Donald told me, “The people who fail are the people who give up.” At the time it didn’t strike me as so profound as it does now. It took me many years to get a publishing contract and it would have been so easy along the way to give up. In fact, I did at one stage – except it drove me crazy not using what I saw around me in my writing so I went back to it.

Do you have a favourite time of day to write?

I’ve become a real devotee of writing in bed for a couple of hours, starting the minute I wake up. Because I had an injury a few years ago that meant I couldn’t use my left arm, I went back to writing first drafts longhand and I’ve realised that really suits me so I’ve kept up the practice. It’s just me, some classical music, the birds waking up, and no internet. That really lets me dive back into my story and sets up my writing for the day.

If a movie was made of one of your books, who would you like to play the lead roles?

I often play this game when I’m choosing physical models for my characters. Right now I’m working on a rumbustious, old-school Scottish romance set in 1699 – a bit of a departure from my usual Regency era. The hero of The Highlander’s Defiant Captive is big and brawny but with a laugh sparkling in his eyes. Definitely Jason Momoa. The idea of him in a kilt has kept me going quite well so far! The heroine is beautiful and smart and, well, defiant as you’ve probably gathered from the title. I know she’s no longer with us, but it would have been a perfect part for the gorgeous Maureen O’Hara.

If you could travel back in time, what era would you go to? What draws you to this particular time?

Am I allowed to come back to the present day? As a woman heading for the age where health care and dentistry really matter, I’m happy to stay just where I am! If it was just for a visit, I’d go to the Regency obviously, especially if we could arrange for me to be a rich man’s daughter and I could go to a couple of balls and to the fashionable hour in Hyde Park and perhaps a house party at some gorgeous pile out in Surrey or Kent. Hmm, I might rethink that – empire lines look awful on me…

You have been chosen as a member of the crew on the first one-way flight to Mars – you are allowed to bring 5 books with you. What would they be?

This is both a cruel and a fascinating question and I suspect I’d give a different answer if you asked me tomorrow. OK, let’s cheat and say I’d take Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles (six books but I’m counting them as one!); the collected poems of T.S. Eliot; the collected poems of John Donne; Persuasion by Jane Austen; The Oxford Book of Humour.

Please tell us about your latest published work 

My most recent release is a dramatic and emotional story called The Highlander’s Lost Lady. It’s book 3 in the Lairds Most Likely series, but as I said above, all these stories can be read as stand-alones. Here’s the blurb:

A Highlander as brave and strong as a knight of old…

When Diarmid Mactavish, Laird of Invertavey, discovers a mysterious woman washed up on his land after a wild storm, he takes her in and tries to find her family. But even as forbidden dreams of sensual fulfillment torment him, he’s convinced that this beautiful lassie isn’t what she seems. And if there’s one thing Diarmid despises, it’s a liar.

A mother willing to do anything to save her daughter…

Widow Fiona Grant has risked everything to break free of her clan and rescue her adolescent daughter from a forced marriage. But before her quest has barely begun, disaster strikes. She escapes her brutish kinsmen, only to be shipwrecked on Mactavish territory where she falls into her enemies’ hands. For centuries, a murderous feud has raged between the Mactavishes and the Grants, so how can she trust her darkly handsome host?

Now a twisted Highland road leads to danger and passion…and irresistible love. But is love strong enough to banish the past’s long shadows and offer these wary allies all that their hearts desire?

Buy links:

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PM94FN3/

Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PM94FN3/

Amazon Australia:  https://www.amazon.com.au/Highlanders-Lost-Lady-Lairds-Likely-ebook/dp/B07PM94FN3/

iTunes U.S.: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-highlanders-lost-lady-the-lairds-most-likely-book-3/id1456159204

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-highlander-s-lost-lady-the-lairds-most-likely-book-3

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-highlanders-lost-lady-anna-campbell/1130916684?ean=2940156012848

Book 4: The Highlander’s Defiant Captive: Pre-order Link: Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

Social Media:

Website: http://www.annacampbell.com

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/annacampbell.writer

Twitter @AnnaCampbellOz

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Campbell/e/B002NKV1HQ/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/296477.Anna_Campbell

 

 

 

This evening in the Library we have ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Judith Arnopp, who has dropped in to say hello and to share some insights into her life as an author.

You are very welcome, Judith, please introduce yourself:

Thank you for inviting me to your blog. I write historical fiction from my home overlooking Cardigan Bay in Wales. I like to put myself in the shoes of the women who lived and breathed under the rule of the Tudors, sometimes my characters are members of the Tudor family, sometimes they are subjects but they all share one thing – the fight to survive the political upheaval of the day.

The Tudor novels include: Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace; The Beaufort Chronicles: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series); A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York; Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr; The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn; The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII.

Early in my career I wrote in the medieval/Anglo Saxon era and produced three novels, The Song of Heledd; The Forest Dwellers, and Peaceweaver. I also write nonfiction – my articles appear in several anthologies.

Which genre do you write in and what draws you to it?

I write historical fiction, mostly in the Tudor period. I have always loved history so when I graduated from university it made sense to stay on a while longer and study for my masters in medieval/Tudor history. When I could find no more excuses not to leave full time education I began to write, turning my hobby into a career. My first novel, Peaceweaver, was published in 2009 and I am now writing my eleventh (I think). I live very quietly, and am a bit of a recluse so I feel much more at home writing in the Tudor period than I do in the present day.

Are you an avid reader? Do you prefer books in your own genre or are you happy to explore others?

I used to read historical fiction exclusively but now I am an author I try to avoid it. I don’t want to taint my own voice or style so I read crime fiction, or classics. The book I most enjoyed last year was The Mermaid’s Daughter by Ann Claycomb, a rewrite of The Little Mermaid – I was totally gripped by it and sorry when it came to an end. Of course, there are always a few historical fiction titles I can’t resist and I am very excited to hear the Hilary Mantel has finally got around to finishing the sequel to Bring up the Bodies. I will certainly be reading that one.

What part of the writing process do you find most difficult? How do you overcome it?

Time in which to get the first draft written. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours to do everything expected of an author today. I’d love to be able to just sit and my desk and write but if you neglect marketing, social media, keeping your covers updated and producing new attractive posters your current books will cease to sell. There are so many authors these days that is has become very difficult to be ‘seen’ and it can be disheartening to pour hours into a blog post that nobody reads or comments on. I’d love to have time to deal with all these things but the older I get the shorter my working day becomes, and something has to be sacrificed. I just do what I can. If my whole morning is spent marketing, I get very few new words on the page, if I spend the morning writing, I sell fewer books. I really need a team of enthusiastic marketing managers so I can just write but I am not rich enough. I just do what I can, when I can – my working life is a desperate muddle of seeing what can be achieved before I drop – I don’t have an answer to this difficulty.

What was the best piece of writing advice you received when starting out?

I was advised to write, write, write, to hire an editor and to never believe I was good enough. I stick to this advice. I try to write every day. I have a fabulous editor Cas Peace, who ensures my commas are in the right place and hunts down the typos. Between us we produce something worth reading. The piece of advice I pass on to new authors is to never think I am good enough. This doesn’t mean one should tear out your hair and wail that your writing is rubbish – it means to strive to be better, always see the faults and failures in your own work (then you won’t be so disappointed when others call you out on them). Do the best you can and then, next time, try to do better still. Complacency has ruined many a fine author.

Do you have a favourite time of day to write?

I write in the mornings while I am alert enough to think clearly. I start the day answering emails, tweeting and responding to social media messages while I fuel myself with coffee and cornflakes. Then I edit what I wrote the previous day before launching into the next part of the story. That is the plan anyway; sometimes I have to research, or life gets in the way in the form of grandchildren or appointments, or answering interview questions as I am today.

If you weren’t an author, what would you be up to?

That is a very good question. I have no idea. I can’t really see myself doing anything else. My side line is making French hoods, coifs and medieval bags etc. which I sell in my Etsy shop so perhaps I would do that in a more serious way. I could never work in an office or a shop. I like to work from home and have become used to being my own boss. Or perhaps I’d enjoy interior design, I do a lot of that and I am running out of rooms to make over at home. Or garden design – I love my own garden and have transformed the one we have now. Come to think of it, there are heaps of other jobs I could do but I have learned that if you turn a hobby (in my case writing) into a job inevitably some of the shine is rubbed off.

If a movie was made of one of your books, who would you like to play the lead roles?

A movie! What a lovely thought. I am not very good at remembering the names of actors but I will give it a shot. If The Winchester Goose was being filmed I’d choose the following.  Francis Wareham is the main male character. He is very dashing and handsome but not very old so would need to be played by someone like, erm …Simon Woods who was Mr Bingley in Pride and Prejudice, the Keira Knightly one.

I think Alex Kingston would make a brilliant Joanie Toogood, the ‘goose’. She did a great job with Moll Flanders and I think she has all the necessary credentials.

Isabella and Evelyn Bourne are gentlewomen from court. Emma Watson would be good as Eve or maybe Jenna Coleman, the girl playing Victoria at the moment,. The actress who plays Edith in Downton Abbey, Laura Carmichael, would make a lovely Bella. For Peter, who is a costermonger from Southwark it would have to be Rupert Grint – wonderful actor who played Ron Weasley in Harry Potter. Henry VIII would not be played by Jonathon Rhys Meyers (as gorgeous as he is) I think the role is better suited to Steven Waddington who played Lord Buckingham in the Tudors. As to Katherine Howard and Anna of Cleves, goodness, I have no idea. I will leave that to the directors!

If you could travel back in time, what era would you go to? What draws you to this particular time?

This is an easy one to answer. I’d visit the Tudor period to see if I’ve got it right in my novels. I’d like to discover for myself what changed Henry VIII from a virtuous, golden prince into an embittered ‘monster’. At the start of his reign he had great potential yet something happened to change him after 1536. Some say it was a fall from a horse that damaged his mind, others that it was nurture and some believe he was born that way and the decline in his character was inevitable. I’d like to find out for myself at close quarters but not so close that he would notice me. I’d not want to end up on the scaffold.

Please tell us about your latest published work. 

My latest release is Sisters of Arden and it is set during the dissolution of the monasteries in Henry VIII’s reign. The plight of those affected by the dissolution has always intrigued me and I enjoyed revisiting the period. The records of Arden Priory are scanty but by piecing together what little we know with wider records of the dissolution and the Pilgrimage of Grace, I have explored the closure of the abbeys and the uprisings that followed from the perspective of a group of three insignificant nuns.

Sisters of Arden follows the path of Margery, Grace and Frances, after the closure of Arden. Their adventures take them the length and breadth of Yorkshire. They move from determination to despair, from hope to disillusion but, with their world in pieces, the only thing they can do is try to rebuild it.

Blurb

Arden Priory has remained unchanged for almost four hundred years. When a nameless child is abandoned at the gatehouse door, the nuns take her in and raise her as one of their own.

After the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536, the embittered King strikes out, and unprecedented change sweeps across the country. The bells of the great abbeys fall silent, the church fragments and the very foundation of the realm begins to crack.

Determined to preserve their way of life, Margery and the sisters of Arden join a pilgrimage thirty thousand strong and attempt to lead the heretic king back to grace.

Sisters of Arden is a story of valour, virtue and veritas.

Buy link: mybook.to/sistersofarden

If you would like to know more about Judith and her work, please check out her links below: 

Webpage

Amazon Author page

Blog