At the time I joined the blog tour for Murder for Misrule, I did not realise fully that I would be reading two Elizabethan era novels back to back! In that, I recently read The Lost Duchess which had me transported back to the time where the Lost Colony of Roanoke was recent news rather than a historical legend without the foundation of knowledge of what truly happened! Fortuitously I anchored both readings to each other, and in this, I am most especially keen to report that it was a stellar option! For you see, instead of having to re-shift back into the train of thinking found most readily in the 16th Century, I have an illuminated opinion of that timescape due to the previous novel being consumed within a fartherings reach of this one! I am not always able to time my reviews in such a way as to aide my ability to drink in their narratives, as generally speaking I am usually cast at sea between eras and decades, shifting from historical fiction to science fiction and straight through to fantasy based on legend! I love dancing through genres, but there are times like today where having two period specific books at the ready is quite a happy-hearted lift of joy to a book blogger!
My main interest in asking for an Interview with Ms. Castle (forgive me, each time I write her name I think about the ‘other’ Castle; Richard Castle!) was to garnish a window into her writing life and how a writer in our modern age tips back the veil on history, and allows our minds to flutter back into the 16th Century as if it were was simple as walking through a door! I also wanted to get to know the author behind the novel, and therefore without further adieu I am going to yield to our conversation!
Book Synopsis:
Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray’s Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon’s powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man’s legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.
Series Synopsis:
This series of historical mysteries features the philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon as a sleuth and spymaster. Since Francis prefers the comfort of his own chambers, like his spiritual descendent Nero Wolfe, he sends his pupil, the handsome young Thomas Clarady, out to gather information. Tom loves the work, not least because he meets so many interesting people, like Lord Burghley, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Christopher Marlowe. Murder by Misrule is the first book in the series.
Author Biography:
Anna Castle has been a waitress, software engineer, documentary linguist, college professor, and digital archivist. Historical fiction combines her lifelong love of stories and learning. She physically resides in Austin, Texas, and mentally counts herself a queen of infinite space.
I am relatively new to reading books set in the Tudor era, as I have only recently found books set in this exciting chapter of British history. What I was curious about is what first led your curiosity and interest to curate an entirely original mystery series set within the hours of the Tudors? Was it simply because you were trying to find your niche in the historical past century by century, or was there a certain wink of a draw towards this particular era?
Castle responds: I actually did take a slow tour of English history, starting at the Norman Conquest in 1101, looking for a place to settle down and grow stories. When I found myself in the Elizabethan period, I knew I had found my home. It has everything one could want in an historical period: larger-than-life characters, great literature, and major cultural transformations.
How did you settle on a central character focus for Francis Bacon?
Castle responds: Bacon would have been a great detective, if detecting had been a profession that brought honor and fame. He insisted over and again to anyone who would listen that we must study the actual facts before devising our conclusions, rather than just making up something with an elegant structure based on classical authorities. Also, many of his letters were preserved and collected with useful annotations, so I can get to know the man himself in his own words.
What do you feel is harder to convey in historical fiction: an imagined character or a character based on a historical living person whose life has been documented to a certain degree?
Castle responds: Historical persons are always harder. You’re constrained by the facts of their lives. For example, Bacon didn’t like to travel and was very definitely not an athletic man, so I can’t take him anywhere I want to go or have him venture into dark houses or deal with ruffians. (I like that kind of stuff.) You’re also constrained by the perceptions that may have built up over the centuries. I like Sir Walter Ralegh, for example, but these days, he seems to be considered a manipulative narcissist. Weren’t they all? Courtiers, I mean. Nature of the game.
What were your early influences and wanderings in literature!? Which authors spoke to you as far as a style of story-telling endeared itself to you ahead of creating your own stories? Are there any titles you could share which are still brought forward to mind in fond affection? I know you dance through literature as eagerly as I do which is why this might be hard to pin-point!
Castle responds: I first read the Lord of the Rings when I was 12, shortly after it came out. I read it every year thereafter for many years. I used to write rude quips in Elvish on the blackboard in homeroom. After a longish gap, I started reading annually again, discovering that it was even more delightful after earning a PhD in linguistics. That book is definitely a major formative influence.
What knits your heart close to the genre of historical fiction? What draws your breath to hitch as you go to read or write a historical bent story?
Castle responds: Well-grounded and well-crafted historical fiction is a two-for-one deal: you can learn and be entertained in one stroke. Fiction is a wonderful way to explore history, because it fills in the social texture surrounding the large events. I like to be transported in time and place, whether reading or writing.
What was the impetus which gravitated you into writing? And, when did this occur? Who was your best cheerleader?
Castle responds: I suppose I started wanting to write because I had read so much, it just had to start flowing in the other direction. I thought about writing fiction in college, but couldn’t figure out how to get started. Oddly, it did not occur to me to ask an English professor. Many years later, the desire re-awakened. That time I had learned how to learn, so I set to it. The best support for writing fiction comes from groups of other writers, like the Sisters in Crime Guppies and the Austin Romance Writers Association. We cheer each other on.
What are your favorite tools to use whilst writing? And, where do you write to gain the most inspiration?
Castle responds: Writing is more perspiration than inspiration, as we know. I gain my inspiration by sitting in my chair, putting my fingers on the keyboard, and looking at today’s scene outline. Ready, set, write! I write with a computer. I do love maps and calendars. Did you know that you can find calendars for any year you please? Phases of the moon and everything, courtesy of NASA. So when the moon rises in one of my books, you can be confident that it was really rising back when.
As you have walked on English shores both as a tourist with a penchant for writing and as a career woman, where on your travels led you to one experience which stood out a bit from the others, as far as gaining a keen insight on English life which helped you compose portions of your novel and subsequently the series?
Castle responds: I go to England to study the past and the landscape, so I’m not paying much attention to contemporary British culture, although I do love BBC mysteries and dramas. And I love Pret a Manger — stylish, healthy fast food available on every corner of London. What I love most, though, is strolling through historic towns like Rye and Stratford-upon-Avon, tuning out the traffic, trying to get a sense of proportion and space. Some of those old buildings had overhanging upper stories built so low, in alleys so narrow, you might clock your forehead if you weren’t careful. Can’t set a rollicking chase scene there! The main insight is how breathtakingly beautiful the country is, both the semi-natural countryside and the pretty gardens the English plant everywhere. Endless shades of vivid green dotted with bright flowers; rolling hillscapes with temptingly winding roads; dark rivers flowing toward the cliffs of the dramatic coast. Lush, fertile, eminently habitable; this is what my characters took for granted.
You mentioned a few of your hobbies in a previous interview, and one stood out to me being of keen interest: your an Urban Forest Steward with the Austin TreeFolks? Could you expand a bit on what this involves? I have always had an environmental heart and conscience, and to me, trees have soft hearts and kind souls. They nearly whisper as you walk amongst them. I imagine this is a way of protecting the trees already thriving in the Hill Country? I know there is a high risk of fire danger lurking in the shadows.
Castle responds: Urban Forest Stewards take care of the trees inside the city limits, mostly in parks, but sometimes along roadsides and in school yards. TreeFolks is a non-profit organization that collaborates with under-funded city entities like the Parks and Recreation Department to organize groups of volunteers to plant trees and mulch trees and teach people about trees. We also give saplings away by the hundreds every winter (tree planting season in Texas.) That’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning, because giving people trees makes everyone happy.
You’re a knitter! How wickedly lovely! I am as well, although I must confess I cannot cast on stitches and knit whilst watching TV, as I am not that skilled as to know where the stitches will go as I guide them! What are your favorite fibers to create with and which patterns or projects do you find the most joy in creating?
Castle responds: I love the fancy modern blends of silk, cotton, and linen. Expensive, but gorgeous, and better suited to my hot climate than wool. Although I feel compelled to observe that wool is one of nature’s most amazing materials: warm even when wet, soft yet durable. One might say wool is the foundation of English culture. I am now learning to make socks, because everyone should have some hand knit socks. Endless demand, so you can knit the dang things until the cows come home, and then knit socks for the cows. Knitting is part of my thinking process, so I gotta knit.
Being connected to the Earth, as you garden and hike, do you ever notice that nature provides a calming effect in your bones and spirit that can become missed when absent? I oft walk myself out of doors, and the gentle differences in the seasons never stop me from murmuring gratitude for what my eyes drink in. What are some of your favorite sights as you wander? For me, what melts my heart the most is standing near a marsh rabbit or within the sight of a hawk! All of nature enlivens my spirit, but those two captivate me in a way that is hard to describe!
Castle responds: Experience of the natural world is more essential to human health, both mental and physical, than we remember in our busy indoor and urban lives. One of things I have to remind myself of constantly in my writing is that my characters were much, much closer to the natural world than we are. Gray’s Inn was surrounded on three sides by open fields with orchards and grazing cattle. Young lawyers would go out to hunt rabbits (with bows and arrows) as a break from their studies. The Thames was full of salmon; the Queen’s flocks of swans nested on the little islands between Richmond and Twickenham. The river banks were ragged slopes of grass and reeds and mud, not sculpted concrete embankments. The only light was flame; you’d need a boy with a torch to go out at night. Oh, and let’s not forget that all the food was free-range and organic.
Outside the realm of writing and creating art, what enriches your spirit the most? Where do you find your serenity?
Castle responds: Serenity is not a goal. At my age, I’m more interested in maximizing the fun. I want more nature, more culture, and more adventures. I’ll be serene when I die. I recharge by getting up and moving, especially outdoors. Nothing clears up a plot blockage like shoveling a big pile of mulch!
Author Connections:
Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Converse via Twitter: #MurderbyMisRule & #MurderbyMisruleBlogTour
This Author Interview is courtesy of:
Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.
Monday, June 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Book Blast at Mari Reads
Tuesday, June 3
Interview at Flashlight Commentary
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection
Wednesday, June 4
Book Blast at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Thursday, June 5
Book Blast at Our Wolves Den
Friday, June 6
Review at Book Nerd
Book Blast at The Mad Reviewer
Book Blast at A Dream Within a Dream
Saturday, June 7
Book Blast at Kelsey’s Book Corner
Sunday, June 8
Review at Carole’s Ramblings
Monday, June 9
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Tuesday, June 10
Book Blast at West Metro Mommy
Wednesday, June 11
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Literary Chanteuse
Thursday, June 12
Review at Curling Up By the Fire
Friday, June 13
Book Blast at Cheryl’s Book Nook
Monday, June 16
Book Blast at Closed the Cover
Book Blast at To Read or Not to Read
Tuesday, June 17
Review & Giveaway at 100 Pages a Day
Book Blast at A Book Geek
Wednesday, June 18
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, June 19
Review at Bibliotica
Book Blast at Historical Fiction Obsession
Friday, June 20
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Interview at All Things Girl
Saturday, June 21
Book Blast at Griperang’s Bookmarks
Monday, June 23
Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Book Blast at So Many Books, So Little Time
Tuesday, June 24
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Wednesday, June 25
Book Blast at Susan Heim on Writing
Thursday, June 26
Review at A Bookish Girl
Review at Layered Pages
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook *not posted yet*
Friday, June 27
Book Blast & Giveaway at Caroline Wilson Writes
Monday, June 30
Book Blast at Historical Tapestry
Tuesday, July 1
Interview at Starting Fresh *not posted yet*
Wednesday, July 2
Book Blast at Kincavel Korner
Thursday, July 3
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Guest Post & Giveaway at Bibliophilia, Please
Friday, July 4
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
as I am happily honoured to be a blog tour hostess for:
Please visit my Bookish Events page to stay in the know for upcoming events!
I am quite eager to share with you my ruminations on reading “Murder by Misrule”!
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Murder by Misrule”, Author Biography and Book Synopsis were provided by HFVBT – Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Author Interview badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
First, I have to say I admire writers of historical fiction. Yes, in all fiction there must be accuracy and believability in the worlds we create, but with historical it seems there’s that’s that extra effort that has to be put in to attain that and stay immersed well enough to write it. It really IS a form of time travel, as Kate has stated on her blog (Spirituality in Children’s Literature).
Anna, you made me giggle when you said “I used to write rude quips in Elvish on the blackboard in homeroom.” :D
Jorie, I love the way you describe the heart and soul of trees :) Though I don’t REALLY believe they can “think,” as VERY important living, breathing things, they do have “personality” :) And I very much admire what you do as an Urban Forest Steward, Anna. How wonderful! I’m also impressed that knitting is involved in your thinking process! I’m sure I would lose count of stitches if I allowed myself to get too deep in thought lol Of course, it’s been decades since I knit or crocheted.
I appreciate the resource of calendars through NASA, and thank you for this interesting interview, ladies! The cover has a haunting look and I’m sure the story is very compelling!
Hallo Ms. Donna,
I am going to have to check out where Ms. Kate mentions the bit about time travel, as that sounds like a piece I would enjoy reading! Quite a true declaration! I always feel such a wicked sense of transportation when I am absolved into a historical narrative! The joy of having a sensory experience in eras that are too far back to have a tangible connection too now, is the true joy of stepping into books that illuminate the eras in such a clear way!
I agree – she had cheeky humour with that nod to Elvish!
Thank you for your compliments on my murmurings about trees! They are such a special part of my life and I will never stop from admiring their stalwart presence! They are truly special indeed! And, how keen that you used to be into the fiber arts! I am not sure I could take-on crochet, as I’m a dyslexic knitter who had to sort out a bit of a hybrid approach to knitting; a bit halfway between American & Continental versions! I think if I started to crochet my head would be properly confused! Laughs with mirth. I tend to get so connected to my stitches that it takes on a bit of meditative bliss. One reason I love to create prayer shawls for charity.
I had not known about the calendars through NASA; I thought that to be one of the more unique research tools for writers! Thanks for dropping by and being a part of the conversation!
There are certain conversations I enjoy being a part of, Jorie, so thank you :)
I wrote a picture storybook that, IF it’s ever published, you would probably enjoy. It stars a tree :) I didn’t even know there were American vs. Continental styles so I learned at least one new thing today! And how wonderful—prayer shawls :) What came to mind immediately was the movie “An Affair to Remember” with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Remember? :D
And I was able to find the post on Katie’s blog. Scroll down to # 3 :)