I've worked on The Review blog with Anna when she was one of our readers, but more recently I have got to know her a lot better. She has written an 8 book series, The Graham Saga , and a new series has been started called The King's Greatest Enemy of which there are two, and the new one coming out next month and a new series too! Also, we might see her contributions to other collaborate efforts, such as 1066: Turned Upside Down and the famous EHFA collaboration, Castles Customs and Kings. Apart from admiring her ability to work hard and achieve so much, I totally love the way she writes and is probably one of the only historical romance authors I will enjoy reading.
So please may I welcome you all to PAULA'S PEOPLE, as I relay the transcript of our conversation as it happened live. (Just so you know I am in Black and Anna is in Blue)
Hi Anna, welcome to PAULA'S PEOPLE. Its great to be talking to you like this. I'll start with:
Question number one : it's been a while since Days of Sun and Glory, what have you been up to since then and when are we going to see the next instalment of Kit and Adam's adventures?
I've been working on a new series - I hope to publish the first book this year. I have also almost completed a ninth book in The Graham Saga - but I'm still in two minds re whether to publish it or not. If not, that's a LOT of words and hours down the drain...And then I've done teh final edits & all that on the next Kit and Adam book, which is scheduled for April this year
Oh wow, a new series, am I allowed to ask what it's about? I'd love to see a sneak peak of the cover!
In the long lost ancient past, two men fought over the girl with the golden hair and eyes like the Bosporus under a summer sky. It ended badly. She died. They died. Since then, they have all tumbled through time, reborn over and over again. Now they are all here, reborn in the same place, the same time. It is time to end that which began 3 000 years ago. Time to lay old ghosts to rest, time to finish what began in distant fogs of time.
That's an awesome cover !
It is, isn't it?
Beautiful! And very different from your usual
Who is the artist?
My usual cover artist, Olly Bennett at More Visual
Ah, so he did your other covers?
yes
What made you go for such a different look?
Different story, different genre
It certainly is stunning. I've loved you're other covers too, obviously, but this one is somehow very intriguing. And I just read the blurb and I can see it's going to be another nail biting roller coaster ride! Do you realise how your books make my heart race?
Oh, yes!
And it has some very steamy sex scenes.
Cripes! I have to admit, you do those so well
Question two: I'm very much looking forward to Kit and Adam in April, I'm longing to know what happens next. With Despenser out of the way, will there be another antagonist to torment the poor beleaguered couple?
Mwahahahah
Noooooo!!! *Paula faints
Who is it? Will it be a fictional character or a real historical one?
A fictional character. Although Isabella is always a borderline bitch...
Yes she turned out to be a bit of a surprise, I had thought she was going to be nice all the way through, but...
Question three: So with all this writing you've been doing, have you had any time for reading?
if so, what great books have you read recently
I always find the time to read - it is a fundamental part of honing my own writing skills. So yes, I have been reading a lot. Some of the more recent fab reads are, Behind Every door by Cynthia Graham, To be a Queen by Annie Whitehead, and the rather harrowing, An Untamed State by Roxane Gay,
That last one sounds intriguing.
It was very harrowing - but impossible to put down. Let's just say I won't be going to Haiti any time soon...
Oh, even more intriguing. I love stuff about voodoo and so on. I'm a little strange like that I guess
It's pretty violent.
Im ok with violence as long as it doesn't go on and on. After awhile it just hurts too much ;)
I remember watching The Passion of Christ and I was eating chocolate and felt somewhat ill.
*Note to self, do not eat chocolate when watching a violent film
Speaking of films, are you a movie buff?
Not really. I like watching movies, but I don't go to the cinema all that much. I am planning on seeing La-La land, though.
Time for a break! See you soon folks!
*
Question four: Back again, now, where were we? Ah yes, we finished with movies so on that note i want to ask you, if The Graham Saga was to become a film, who would you like to see play Alex, Matthew, Luke, and Alex' mother.
Oh, dear, what a difficult question. I envision Matthew as looking something like Michael Fassbinder, while Alex is a bit like Scarlett Johansson or Jennifer Lawrence. And as to Luke, I think Rufus Sewell - especially when Luke grows older
Alex's mother - well, Mercedes is a difficult woman with a lot of darkness inside. She is not so much beautiful as striking, and I can't quite think of an actress who'd fill those shoes.
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| Michael Fassbender could he play Matthew in the Graham Saga? Anyone know if he's free? |
I was going to suggest Olivia Hussey but i think she might well be too old now.
But i think Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence are good choices. Now, in future, I will imagine them as the characters.
Question five: I've always known that you are a prolific reader and I just wanted to ask you if any of the authors you have read have influenced your style in anyway and if so was that deliberate because you admired their work, or it has been subconsciously?
I suppose reading a lot per definition means you have been influenced subconsciously, as there are writing mechanisms you enjoy and some that you don't. For me, it is important to develop my own voice, and as such I endeavour to have "my" style, a way of writing that is recognisable to the reader. For it to be "my" style, I cannot go cherry-picking from others - at least not intentionally However, there are authors I want to emulate - not so as to plagiarise their style, but rather to achieve the same effect, principally that of dragging the reader into the past. Two such authors are Edith Pargetter and Sharon K Penman.
Oh yes I agree, Ms Penman is on my list of great authors and influences and Edith Pargetter too.
I know what you mean about finding your own voice. And I definitely think you have The Belfrage style of writing.
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| Sharon K Penman, one of Anna's early inspiring auhors |
Thank you!
You're welcome. I'll have that piece of chocolate cake now, if you don't mind
Sorry: only carrot cake on offer today - but it's a GOOD carrot cake.
Ok! Carrot cake it is! lol
Question six: Having started a new job recently, fultime, how do you find time to do all this writing and blogging etc? Not to mention reading for Discovering Diamonds as well.
Well, I read for more than Discovering Diamonds - but then, I read a lot anyway, so as to continuously improve my own writing. Yes, a new - and exciting job - naturally eats into large chunks of my time, thereby reducing the hours I can invest in my writing, but to me, writing is a bit like breathing, and it is quite inconceivable to pass an entire day without writing something. So when others relax by watching TV, I achieve the same result by string words together.
Yes, I also work pretty much fultime and the only time I get to write is my leisure time. Wouldn't it be nice to do this for a living?
Question seven: So recently you have created your own imprint, Time Light Press, I believe its called, where are you with this now, and have all your books been transferred to this imprint? What made you take the plunge to go it alone and how are you finding the process?
I'm not so sure I would want to do it for a living. I've recently had a long sabbatical, and when writing became the thing I did, rather the thing I stole moments to enjoy, some of the magic sort of disappeared. Besides, writing is a lonely occupation and I personally require the interaction with other people to fuel my imagination.
So far, I've published the e-books of my 14th century series through this imprint, and the new series I am presently working on (contemporary with a dash of darkness & a timeslip angle) will be published through the imprint. We'll see what happens next.
I'm afraid that all the carrot cake has gone now, so we will have to call it a day.
Anna, thank you for chatting with me, and for being one of PAULA'S PEOPLE today.
You're welcome, Paula, thank you for having me.
Here's to you, Anna. All the best for the future!
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| Anna in the middle, with me on the left and my great friend Louise Rule |
PS, all of Anna's Graham Saga and her recent The King's Greatest Enemies, are indieBRAG medallion winners.
Paula is the author of
Sons of the Wolf
and
The Wolf Banner
You can also find her at Twitter
and her Blog: 1066: The Road to Hastings and Other Stories
