Tag: #QA

#Interview #QandA By Lou with #author of Conveniently Married To A Laird By Jeanine Englert @JeanineWrites @HarlequinBooks @MillsandBoon @rararesources #RomanticFiction #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalFiction

Conveniently Married To A Laird
By Jeanine Englert
Interview/Q&A conducted by Louise (Lou) Bookmarks and Stages blog

Today I have the great pleasure to share with you, an interview with the author of Conveniently Married To A Laird – Jeanine Englert, published by Harlequin, Mills & Boon as part of the blog tour by Rachel Random Tours. Discover more about Jeanine Englert’s inspiration and more as I probe into the darker themes, history and characters within Conveniently Wed to the Laird. Find out why book she is reading, one is which I reviewed and enjoyed… First, take a look the romance oozing from the cover. Discover if all will be as it seems in the eye-catching blurb (no spoilers though). Then, you’ll be all ready for the fascinating interview I have conducted and have ready to present to you, just after the short blurb.

Conveniently Wed to the Laird

The laird’s bridal bid…

Is love too high a price to pay?

When new laird, Ewan Stewart, comes across a wife for sale at a market, he outbids everyone to rescue her. He never intended for Catriona to become his bride, but a convenient marriage could secure his clan’s future and her freedom. They agree that their arrangement must stay free of love, yet Catriona’s bravery and fire intrigue him. Can Ewan resist falling for his wife—the one rule he must not break?

Without further ado, onto the interview.

    1.  Who or what inspired you to write?

I have been writing since I was 8 years old. It was mostly poetry until I went to get my master’s degree in writing that I expanded into short stories and later novels. My first novel took me 11 years to complete and will never see the light of day, as it is horrendous. To quote Karina Gioertz: “I write because in the end it’s the only thing I don’t know how not to do.”

  1. What inspired you to write Historical Romance and set it in Scotland, showing not only a bit of the class system, but also the selling of people, in this case, a wife in the Grassmarket, whom you have Ewan Stewart coming across and how and where did you research this?

I have always loved reading historical romance. Some of my early favourite historical romance authors were Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood, and Judith McNaught.

I fell in love with Scotland when I studied abroad in England for a semester when I was in college. One weekend in late November, we took a train to Inverness and stayed the weekend. It was a magical experience that I often draw upon when I write my books set in the Highlands.

Much of my research is done from reading books, finding historical articles or letters online, exploring maps, as well as watching modern day videos on YouTube of the places my books are set in since I can’t visit. Having digital access to so many historical documents online has really helped my process.

  1. Conveniently Wed to A Laird is darker than the title suggests, with flashbacks of losing a loved one and references to abuse from a previous husband and foster parent, how did that feel writing about such deep, dark topics and did you do anything after writing them to be in the next moment of your life outside writing?

I think I am naturally drawn to write about these topics based on my original desire and hope to be a social worker and the experiences I had during internships working with survivors of abuse. I suppose I don’t even think of them as dark or deep, but merely part of our society.

I also tend to write in the early hours of the morning before I go to work, so it is quite easy to jump back into my day. As a teacher, I am always busy, on the move, and in the moment when I am at school.

  1. The characters Ewan Stewart and Catriona marry out of convenience to save the Stewart clan, before their romance evolves. Do you think this was commonplace and what inspired you to take this particular angle?

Marriage of convenience is such a uniquely historical trope that I am often drawn to it. The idea of marrying someone out of necessity or convenience rather than love has always interested me. And while I don’t think such marriages were entirely commonplace at the time, I do believe they were at times necessary for both parties involved. I also believe it served Ewan and Catriona’s characters well as they were both disappointed by their past experiences with love and reluctant to the idea of marriage.

  1. What’s next for you, in terms of writing?

I’m currently editing book 1 in The Secrets of Clan Cameron series for Harlequin/Mills & Boon which is titled A Laird without a Past. It will be out in late July of 2023. I am also starting to draft book 2 in that same series.

  1. Are you reading anything at the moment and if so, what?

I just finished Lenora Worth’s Deadly Holiday Reunion as I always love a good suspense, and I’ll be starting The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston next.

 

#Interview By Lou with Matson Taylor – author of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth and All About Evie @matson_taylor_ @ScribnerUK @simonschusterUK #EvieEpworth #TheMiseducationOfEvieEpworth #AllAboutEvie #1960s #1970s

Interview with Author – Matson Taylor
Conducted By Louise Cannon (Lou)

Thanks very much to author of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth and All About Evie – Matson Taylor for agreeing to being interviewed. Within the interview , discover who inspires him to write and why he chose a particular timeline, his other job and what he is writing next and more…

 

 

 


The Miseducation of Evie Epworth was bestselling in both the Radio 2 Book Club and  Richard And Judy Book Club. 

Set in Yorkshire and London between the 1960’s and 1970’s. There is humour and poignancy to be had in both books. 

Matson Taylor and his creation of Evie Epworth hit the bookshelves and caused quite a stir with witty and charming writing in both books

So, without further ado, here is the interview:

1. What or who inspired you to write?

Many things! I’ve always been a reader and just about every book I’ve ever read has fed into me wanting to be a writer. I think reading Kate Atkinson’s books, in particular, drew me to writing – I love the way she writes – there’s a real sense of fun but at the same time every sentence is beautiful – tuned and balanced to perfection. I wanted to see if I could write a book that combines humour with moments of restrained lyricism just like Kate Atkinson’s. Other authors who inspire me and push me to write better include Virginia Woolf, Sue Townsend, Alan Bennett, and Sarah Winman.


2. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is set in the 1960s and All About Evie, in the 1970s, what inspired this to be your timeline?

I’m a design historian and -like all historians- talk a lot about decades. I realised that quite a few of my students see decades as monolithic blocks of 10 years with everything staying the same until, on the 1st of January at the start of the next decade, everything changed. It’s not like this of course! Decades take a few years to ‘grow up’ – they need time to shake off the previous decade and develop a character of their own. So I thought I’d write a novel about the ‘coming of age’ of a decade and combine it with the coming of age of a young woman (Evie). I chose the 1960s because everyone feels like they know the 60s – we’re all children of the 60s and very aware of the all the music, fashion, films etc of the decade. And then in the second book I wanted to look at the the end of the 60s and the start of what comes next – and 1972 is really when the sixties ended! It’s the death of the idealism of the 1960s – quite a sad messy time… The new decade wasn’t quite sure where it wanted to go and it’s only really when the new generation came of age that the seventies arrived in all its glam, colourful, glittery glory.

3. The series could have gone either way – humorous as it is now or focusing on the more serious with Mrs Pym, was the humour and balance between the two intentional?

I wanted to write a funny book about serious things and combining the humour with emotional heft was always my intention for both books. I think books need both in order to make them balanced and enjoyable. I’ve had lots of wonderful compliments about how funny the books are but there’s also some pretty dark themes in there too: grief, death, guilt, the importance of liberalism and tolerance… People often tell me they laughed out loud AND cried when reading the books – and that’s just what I want!

4. All About Evie is still as humorous as the first, but shows a bit more fashion of the 1970s. How much did your job as a design historian at the V&A influence you in your writing of this?

It’s a huge influence. My job as a design historian has given me the tools to research material culture – when I started writing the first novel I was very confident writing about ’things’  (the fashion, food, interiors etc) because it’s my day job – I was much less confident about making up a story! The museum’s a great resource too – in fact, in the final chapter of the 1st book, Evie is wearing a Mary Quant dress – initially it was a generic 60s dress but, while I was writing, the V&A had a Mary Quant exhibition so Evie ended up wearing one of the 1962 dresses from the exhibition.

5. You’ve written about the 60s and 70s, so can readers expect more of Evie Epworth to be written, perhaps in the 80s and beyond?

Absolutely! I always planned the Evie story as a trilogy so there’s a final Evie book set in 1982. But before I get to that, I’m writing a stand-alone book (ie non Evie) – it’s set in the mid-to-late 70s in Rome and is the story of two broken people brought together by the universe to fix each other…
 

#Interview By Lou with the Secretary of The Oscar Wilde Society about the society, Oscar Wilde and a new book @VanessaHeron @GylesB1 @OscarWildeUK @stephenfry #OscarWilde #OscarWildeSociety #Playwright #Theatre #Films #Books

Interview with the Secretary of The Oscar Wilde Society
– Vanessa Heron
Conducted By Louise (Lou)

Oscar Wilde, a playwright so many have heard of, created and watched his plays and films inspired by his works. I myself have enjoyed The Importance of Being Ernest in play and film. I have also learnt a lot and very much liked De Profundis, a one-man play by Simon Callow about the later part of Oscar Wilde’s life, who is said to have a passion for Oscar Wilde’s works, to name but a few.
A great opportunity presented itself after coming across the society that gave me the idea to ask Vanessa Heron, the Secretary of the Oscar Wilde Society, to interview her. Thankfully she agreed to answer my 5 questions.

There is a book about Constance Wilde’s autograph book, available soon. The interview leads to this after a bit about the Oscar Wilde Society, how it began and how Vanessa Heron became involved. You will also discover how to join the society and what the secretary’s favourite Oscar Wilde play is. I am delighted to reveal many photos, some with some very well-known people, who the society have had the good fortune and pleasure to rub shoulders with, and also the website. This isn’t a group that always sits or stands still. They go places and they do things.
Thanks first to Vanessa Heron for agreeing to the interview and for providing such fascinating answers. Without further ado, meet the society and discover that there’s more to them that meets the eye in the fascinating, insightful and sometimes humorous answers.

Vanessa Heron and the Madame Tussaud’s Oscar Wilde model at a Birthday Dinner at the Cadogan Hotel soon after Vanessa Heron - Secretary, joined the Society
Vanessa Heron – Society Secretary and the Madame Tussaud’s Oscar Wilde model
at a Birthday Dinner at the Cadogan Hotel soon after she joined.

1. How and when did the Oscar Wilde Society come into existence?

The Oscar Wilde Society was founded in September 1990, by a small group of enthusiasts for Wilde and his works, gathered in the Queensberry Room at the Cafe Royal. This was a very appropriate venue. Here Oscar often entertained his guests, including his lover ‘Bosie’ – Lord Alfred Douglas -and here Bosie’s father, the Marquess of Queensberry, objected violently to his son’s association with Wilde.

The original plan was to hold an Oscar Wilde Costume Ball, which never happened. 

The Society evolved and today we have members in the U.K., Europe, America and Canada, and as far afield as Australia and South Africa. Our members range from general readers and enthusiasts those who’ve just discovered Wilde to actors, book collectors, students, writers and academics. Anyone interested in Oscar Wilde is welcome to join. We are chatty and friendly at events if you’re lucky enough to be able to come to them, and everyone has a different interest in Oscar and his world, whether it’s his poetry, the Society plays, the picture of Dorian Gray, the fairy stories or the fashion, books and literature of the 1890s more generally.

Oscar Wilde Return to the Cadogan Hotel earlier this year. Society members and a special guest.

Oscar Wilde Return to the Cadogan Hotel earlier this year. Society members and a special guest (2)

Some members of the society.
To the right, honorary patron – Stephen Fry
The Cadogan Hotel, London.

It’s a hotel with a past and many stories to tell. It is also rather apt for a meeting place on occassion. It was quite the playground for socialites and bohemians like Oscar Wilde.

2. What sparked your interest in Oscar Wilde and how did you become involved as the Secretary?

Looking back I had read the fairy stories in a paperback from a jumble sale when I was a small child. I also envied the other English set at School who read the Importance of Being Earnest. We were reading something rather dull, and this sounded much more fun. But it was at University when I fell in love with a tall dark handsome Rupert Everett look alike who was a fan of Freddie Mercury and used to quote Oscar Wilde in the pub when he was drunk. To try to impress him, I borrowed books from the library to read and to find out more about this Oscar Wilde chap. Of course the chap, Phill turned out to be gay, but I got to read Oscar Wilde’s letters and just fell in love with that voice on the page. The letters are the nearest we will get to hearing Oscar’s voice. Whether he’s being chatty, business-like, self indulgent or charming and kind to his friends, he was a Lord of language eloquent and to the point with flowery interludes and I was hooked. I can’t recommend his letters enough. 

I found a mention of the Oscar Wilde Society in the Evening Standard in about 1994 (or it might have been 1996.) I joined straight away and my first event was an AGM at Chelsea Arts Club a couple of months later. I was welcomed by Don Mead, a perfect gentleman who’s still the Chairman and I helped him to put out chairs in the garden for the meeting. I loved the people, the chat and the atmosphere at events. I’d found my friends, indeed my people and have been involved ever since. 

Don Mead conned me into joining the committee very quickly and I ended up at various times being Secretary and Treasurer. It was joked early in the history of the Society that we had ‘an illiterate Secretary and an innumerate Treasurer. I’m saying nothing about which I was or who was meant. 

About 10 years later I was handed the job of Secretary for a second stint and Don Mead conned me yet again (in the nicest possible way) into editing Intentions, our more trivial journal. Don had decided, in his eighties, that editing both journals was a bit much and it was time for a rest so I got the job. Intentions comes out four times a year and features Society events, reviews, articles, notices of new books and a fair smattering of trivia. Basically anything Wilde which might be of interest to our members. I enjoy following up articles, blogs and people I read on Twitter and persuading them to write articles for Intentions. Choosing the pictures for the cover is one of my not so secret guilty pleasures and I’m very proud of it. It’s an excellent read if I say so myself. 

We also have an academic peer reviewed journal edited by theatre historian Robert Whelan which is published and sent out to members twice a year, and an e-newsletter with no limit on space, edited by Aaron Eames. Previous editions of The Wildean are available on Jstor, (the digital academic library) for academics, researchers and students to access. 

3. Do you have a favourite play by Oscar Wilde and why?

Intentions cover
‘Intentions’ the magazine of the  Oscar Wilde society with Paul Doust as Lady Bracknell  on the cover.

Out of the plays ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ never stales. How can you beat gossip, secret lives, bitching girls, silliness and cucumber sandwiches? I’ve seen rather a lot of productions and the script is so well written they all have something worth seeing.

 I confess, though that I have a particular liking for and   interest  in one man and one woman shows based on Wilde   characters, both real and fictional. Society Patron and friend   Neil Titley performed as Oscar in his play ‘Work is the Curse   of the Drinking Classes’ for 40 years, which was a class act   performed to the Society in a London pub years ago, and   more recently Gerard Logan performed a wonderful take on   Oscar in ’Wilde Without the Boy.’ 

Lexie Wolfe does a dramatic and sad show as Constance Wilde in ‘Mrs Oscar Wilde.’ There are also shows about the whole Wilde story including ‘Vengeance’ a recent musical about Oscar’s downfall, by John and Danielle Merrigan which will hopefully be touring again soon. There’s even a play where Lady Bracknell tells her story, written and played by Paul Doust called ‘Lady Bracknell’s Confinement, which was so entertaining I tracked down and interviewed Paul Doust, the writer and actor and made his Lady Bracknell my cover girl.

4. There is a very special book – Constance Wilde’s autograph book that you will be publishing this autumn. How did you discover this? What stand-out names and information can people expect from it? Where can people buy the book?

There are still some people who are surprised that Oscar Wilde was married, and who have only heard about his scandalous affair with Lord Alfred Douglas and his trials and imprisonment for gross indecency. But Oscar was many things apart from a lover of men, including a critic, a poet, a women’s magazine editor, and a socialist and Irish Nationalist. He was also a husband and father of two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. 

Constance Wilde, his wife was a fascinating woman. Irish, beautiful, interested in Liberal politics, dress reform and the occult and they lived in Chelsea in the ‘House Beautiful’ in Tite Street. Constance Wilde kept a visitors book which was signed by celebrities of the day who she admired, including writers, actors such as Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, artists such as Ricketts and Shannon, who drew pictures and a poem to Constance from her husband. Other signatories include Walter Pater, Robert Browning, George Meredith, James McNeill, George Grossmith, G. F. Watts, Mark Twain, Marie Corelli, John Ruskin and Vernon Lee. The book is in the British Library and we hope it will be of interest to everyone interested in the late Victorians. 

Our Society Patron, author Eleanor Fitzsimons who wrote a book called ‘Wilde’s Women’ has written about it in her usual eloquent style and I’m not a writer, I’m an art teacher, so I shall simply quote her:

‘What an absolute joy it is to have Constance Wilde’s fascinating autograph book available to us all in such a lovely, wonderfully curated edition. In his introductory essay, Dr Devon Cox does a magnificent job of illuminating and contextualizing Constance’s intriguing life, lifting her free of her husband’s orbit. She is revealed as a progressive woman with a keen interest in literature and music, and a curiosity about the occult. Anyone who is fascinated by Oscar Wilde will welcome this extensively annotated reproduction, which gives us a fascinating portal into the lives of this extraordinary couple and their vibrant circle. Comprehensive profiles of each signatory, and details of the circumstances in which they added their contributions, make it accessible to scholars and interested readers alike. A beautiful book, a wonderful gift, it breathes new life into Constance Wilde’s friendships, interests and accomplishments. An enthralling and valuable resource, it will be treasured for generations to come. ‘ 

The book will be available for pre-order on the Oscar Wilde Society website soon, and we look forward to launching it in the autumn with a special event for members. 

5. How do people join the Oscar Wilde Society and what stand-out features can people expect when they do join up?

You can join the Society on our website at https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/membership/ Many members particularly those outside the U.K. simply read the journals and interact with us on Facebook and Twitter and you can expect a warm welcome from our membership Secretary Veronika Binoeder. Other members, including some from France, Switzerland, Belgium and even Australia come to events including our annual Birthday Dinner in London and the Summer Magdalen College Lunch, which is sold out for this year. We also have smaller scale more intimate events such authors lunches, lectures and talks and a recent visit to Bedford to look for the aesthetic ‘Patience’ teapot and to hear about aesthetic art and design from an Art historian member, Dr Anne Anderson. Members were thrilled recently to visit the ground floor flat in Tite Street which was part of Oscar and Constance Wilde’s house and to read prose and poetry in what was Oscar’s study where he wrote many of his works. We go to lovely places and do lovely things. 

Oscar Wilde The committee and our President meet a very special guest who knows her Wilde

We have delightful Society Patrons, and our President – Gyles Brandreth is both supportive and involved. If I have wetted your appetite to learn more I recommend you read ‘Oscar’ by Matthew Sturgis which is a beautifully researched biography which reads like a novel. Or of course you could join the Society. 

The committee and our President meet
a very special guest who knows her Wilde.

You can expect lots of friendly chat at events from all sorts of members and the ‘congenial appreciation of Oscar Wilde’ mentioned on the website generally extends to a pub or bar after an event for a more informal chat and a drink. We like to think Oscar Wilde would approve and we look forward to welcoming new members. 

You can contact me or any of the other committee members via our Website and I’d be delighted to answer questions from any prospective members. 

#Interview by Lou of White Eye of the Needle author/Poet – Chris Campbell @Citizen_Chris @Choir_Press @kenyon_isabelle #Poetry #ContemporaryPoet

Today I am very excited to present to you an interview with Chris Campbell, who, in contemporary poetry, explores human connections, both passing and intimate. The collection was put together in Nottingham and also includes pieces from the former journalist’s time in Bristol, London, Swansea, Glasgow and Gloucestershire, plus visits abroad including a honeymoon in Madagascar and trips to Tignes, France.
In his interview he talks about music, inspiration for writing, wildlife, his former career and more…
With greatest thanks to Chris Campbell for his time and to Isabelle Kenyon for presenting me with the opportunity to interview.

Front Cover White Eye of the Needle

  1. What and/or who inspired you to write poetry?

I wrote one of my first poems as a child in a hotel room. I suddenly thought it was Mother’s Day and that my younger brother and I had forgotten to get anything, so I wrote a poem to my mum on hotel paper. It turned out Mother’s Day wasn’t until the week after. But she still has it framed on her bedside table! I continued to write through my teens and contributed to various anthologies. I enjoyed the process of writing and editing, the downtime and being able to formulate my thoughts and reflect. This also helped me through university, when faced with a lot of life changes. I used to carry around Bob Dylan’s ‘Chronicles: Volume One’, my dad’s ‘The Essential Spike Milligan’ and enjoyed Leonard Cohen’s work. My dad also encouraged me to study the back of record sleeves – lyrics from musicians like Frank Zappa and Eric Clapton. As I got older, I enjoyed the works of Dylan Thomas, ee cummings, WH Auden, and DH Lawrence – who inspired me a lot in my latest collection.

  1. Your title – ‘White Eye of the Needle’ is intriguing, what inspired this title?

The ‘Eye of the Needle’ is a rock formation in Tignes, France. My wife and I met on a ski trip to Tignes and almost had our first kiss inside the landmark; which has a hole through the centre and we had climbed up to. It will always mean a lot to us and we went back a few years later to take more photos and, this time, have a kiss! White refers to the snow – fortunately there was a lot of it that year!

  1. Your poems focus on the natural world intertwined with human emotions, what inspired you to use these as your topics and together and was this a very conscious decision, or was it more organic than that?

Having started as a journalist in my early 20s, I’ve always enjoyed writing about people. I also find nature a wonderful thing to write about, that feeds into a lot of our feelings and actions. The poems in White Eye of the Needle cover a six-year period, and a few different locations during that time, both in terms of where I’ve lived and visited. It has been an organic process, but I often write what I see around me, and this intertwining was perhaps enhanced by lockdown. Whether it’s a walk along the canal by our home, in poem ‘Chimney snorkels’; cardboard sheets being blown across our garden, in ‘Hurdles’; or describing a garden party, in ‘Catch light’, which I wrote while I was enjoying a break in the garden. In the absence of seeing people it can be easier to attribute human emotion to nature, of which I’m lucky to have lots around me despite living in a city centre.

  1. How important is it to you that humans connect with the natural world, since the two meet quite powerfully in your poems?

Countryside
photo by Lou

One thing I noticed during lockdown is how nature seemed to be reclaiming our garden and other outdoor spaces. I’ve been appreciating the wildlife here while spending more time at home. We’ve been in Nottingham for a few years, and before lockdown I spent a lot of time commuting. I grew up near and in the countryside, so have always valued it. As well as writing about my current surroundings, White Eye of the Needle includes poems I wrote when living in other parts of the country, including Bristol, Swansea, London and Gloucestershire, as well as trips abroad. They capture certain moments, whether skiing, away for long weekends, on honeymoon, or in the garden. While I’m not an advocate for needless travel, I do feel it’s important to enjoy new experiences, forming and deepening connections with people and landscapes, whether ones you see every day or for the first time.

  1. When and how did you decide to concentrate your time to writing poetry as opposed to your journalistic career?

pen and paper picI left a national newspaper to move to Bristol with my now wife and to work as a freelance journalist, writing news stories and features mainly covering politics, business and property. I then went into PR a few years ago and still work full-time in the industry. Thanks to less commuting and more hours at home, I felt I was able to dedicate more time to my writing, including editing and putting poems together to form this collection. I was always hoping to release a second collection, but lockdown helped speed up the process. Journalism tended to involve very long hours and it could be difficult to switch off from it. I released my first collection, Bread Rolls and Dresden, in 2013, while a section editor at the Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen. PR still involves long hours, but I am now working more of a Monday to Friday job, and I’m able to write first-thing in the morning, in the evening and most weekends.

  1. In a few words, how would you describe your poetry style and your latest book?

Front Cover White Eye of the Needle

White Eye of the Needle is written in free verse and captures moments over a six-year period, both everyday and intimate. It touches on romance, marriage, the birth of a# nephew, passing of a grandad, and recent experiences through lockdown and restrictions, as it seeks to find meaning in places, at a time when we’ve all been forced to slow down and reflect.

  1. If you could pick 3 poems that you would say were your ‘must reads’, what would they be?

I’m particularly interested in Imagism and regularly read the work of DH Lawrence, who has been a big source of inspiration. But I also enjoy a range of styles and admire Dylan Thomas, ee cummings and WH Auden. Lawrence’s ‘Green’ and ‘Snake’ are among my favourite poems, I love his personal and nature pieces. Also, cummings’ ‘now is a ship’, Thomas’ ‘In My Craft or Sullen Art’ and ‘Clown in the Moon’, as well as Auden’s ‘If I Could Tell You’.

  1. Can readers expect further works from you? If so, can you tell us a bit more about this?

I’ve continued to write during lockdown and have started to focus on sonnets. I will be aiming to release a third collection in the future.

Cover White Eye of the Needle

Buy Link: Waterstones