Earlier tonight, I shared an interview with Sara R. Turnquist, as her debut novel winked out a bit of curiosity, leading me to draw together a conversation to gain a better grounding of who she is as a historical fiction author. The same wicked curiosity attached itself to me as soon as I read the synopsis for The Saffron Crocus! I have a slight tendency to find wicked sweet joy in discovering new Mystery and Suspense authors – as try as I might, one of my most favourite stories to devour are mysteries!
I have shifted a bit in sorting out that my ‘top favourites’ are truly Cosy Mysteries + Cosy Historical Mysteries with a slight bent towards Traditional Suspense novels and a few exceptions to my rule of ‘not reading’ hard-boils! Laughs.
A girl can change her mind, eh?!
As I had mentioned earlier, sometimes I find a book I am genuine interested in reading isn’t yet available in print or audiobook editions, thereby a quick way to satisfy my curiosity is to seek out more information about the story and/or the author whose penned the book itself! Being a tour hostess for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours (or HFVBTs for short) held a bit of an advantage with this lovely historical new release, as I opted to host the author with a conversation in lieu of a review!
Except to say, I *missed!* my tour stop completely! I was marked down to host Ms McMahan on the 5th of June – I barely remember that day as it was the first of two illnesses that struck me down and left me miserable for over a fortnight! I honestly can barely recollect half the month! As July came into view, I felt for sure it would be a better month for me, and in regards to my personal health it has been – mother nature on the other hand has been a trickster! By long and far, this is the most severe weather I have ever experienced for the month(!) of July! Growing up in ‘storm central’ with the knowledge of how deadly and forceful natural disasters can wreck havoc on townes, cities, and lives – I was never one to take extreme weather lightly. This July has re-defined how frequent you can have severe lightning storms and how damaging those storms can be on your electricity and electronic devices!
As I edited Ms Turnquist’s interview deep into the evening hours as I couldn’t even blog until today’s batch of circling thunderstorms evaporated, I found a note I had given myself to remember to share the conversation I had with Ms McMahan! I’ve decided to feature this as a ‘double-feature’ if you will – two historical authors, one epic night of reveal! I hope you will tuck into both of their interviews and draw out a bit of mirth to satisfy your own curiosities about their writing styles and the novels they’ve given us to read!
Winner of the 2014 Rosemary Award for Best Historical for Young Adults.
Venice, 1643. Isabella, fifteen, longs to sing in Monteverdi’s Choir, but only boys (and castrati) can do that. Her singing teacher, Margherita, introduces her to a new wonder: opera! Then Isabella finds Margherita murdered. Now people keep trying to kill Margherita’s handsome rogue of a son, Rafaele.
Was Margherita killed so someone could steal her saffron business? Or was it a disgruntled lover, as Margherita—unbeknownst to Isabella—was one of Venice’s wealthiest courtesans?
Or will Isabella and Rafaele find the answer deep in Margherita’s past, buried in the Jewish Ghetto?
Isabella has to solve the mystery of the Saffron Crocus before Rafaele hangs for a murder he didn’t commit, though she fears the truth will drive her and the man she loves irrevocably apart.
Read an Excerpt of the Novel:
Who knew a singing career would be this much trouble?
“Rafaele!” She flew into the garret. “Piero, it was so wonderful, wait until I tell you!”
The stool next to the bed was knocked over. The tray with the genepy bottle was on the floor, one of the cups broken. The fat candle that had been burning next to Rafaele’s bed had been flung to the other side of the room.. Canvases were strewn all over the floor, some of them slashed, and many of Master Strozzi’s jars of paint elements were broken.
Did Piero and Rafaele have a fight? She quickly suppressed the thought. Who would get into a fight with a man who was already injured?
To continue reading click the Spoiler button!
And, now our conversation begins. . .
What did you find the most exciting piece of your story to put together, the historical setting as a backdrop by cross-comparing time and setting against the character you were creating or everything you imagined would become Isabella’s world even if it differed a bit from the historical past!? How did you find a way to bridge the two in your mind?
McMahan responds: I used both approaches. For example, while doing research I stumbled on an article that mentioned that before the 19th century, most Venetians were buried under the streets or dumped into the lagoon. Unless they were Jewish, in which case they were buried on the Lido. I knew right away I would have to alter my story to include this fact. Also, one of my trips to Venice I stayed on the Lido, and I arbitrarily decided I wanted Isabella to live on the Lido, both because I liked it, and I wanted to have her have the experience I had one day of seeing the Campo di San Marco emerge through the fog.
Did you find your approach to crafting the historical mystery naturally came together as a title for a Young Adult audience which might have a cross-appeal to adult readers who love YA or was it an intention of yours to strive to create a space for young readers even if the adults did not notice?
McMahan responds: My intention was to write for young adult readers. I’ve actually been rather surprised by how many adults, both female and male, have enjoyed the book. Many of them read it in only one sitting. I consider that the highest compliment.
I have a newfound joy of reading Young Adult novels as an adult reader – it started out as an experiment to sort out what would be available in the future for the children I will be adopting inasmuch as my current nieces and nephews; the experiment offered me a deep well of stories which knitted themselves into my heart. I still look forward to passing forward the joy of what I’m reading and discovering, but I can definitely understand why/how adults are finding your stories!
How did you originally find yourself charmed by mysteries? Did you approach it through the vein of Cosies or Traditional Hard-Boils? First in fiction or was it a tv serial that drew your eye?
McMahan responds: I read almost all of Agatha Christie when I was younger, but now I don’t read many cozies. I prefer traditional mysteries like Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series (I love the books. The TV series is fine too.) and techno-thrillers like Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain. I really love historical mysteries like those written by Rebecca Cantrell, Lyndsay Faye, and Alyssa Maxwell. My next book, written for adults, is a medieval spy novel set in the Kingdom of Aragon and along the First Crusade route in 1096.
I’m getting back into techno-thrillers myself, as I’ve reviewed quite a few already with more on the way, as I dearly love the high-tech voice of Paul Mark Tag (thoughts on “Category 5”) of whom I fell in love with his historical fiction war drama epic “How Much Do You Love Me?”; to see his duality of style in fiction is quite impressive! There’s a newcomer to the niche in Adrienna Quintana whose “Eruption” had me on the edge of my seat whilst Denver Acey & Joel Narlock brought current events to a new level of intrigue.
I must admit, I’m more of a ‘cosier’ girl than ‘hard-boiled/true crime’ which is why I avoid Michael Connelly or James Patterson; however, Michael Crichton was the author I *devoured!* as a teenager! I grabbed all the novels he had written prior to 1994 and thus, purchased every new novel he released forthwith! I *loved!* ‘The Andromeda Strain’ as it was such a clever story and tightly woven together where you could barely draw a breath as you read it! I also fancied ‘Sphere’ though no one mentions it as much.
What did you find to be the most compelling part of a mystery that you wanted to attempt to convey inside one of your own? What do you find is the most evoking component all mysteries share at their heart?
McMahan responds: I think it was Michael Connelly who said that mystery novels are today’s social reality novels. It is through mystery novels that we learn about the realities of life that we don’t know about. About how other people suffer and survive. That’s an important aspect of mysteries. Aside from entertaining, of course.
This could very well be true because I adore murder mysteries via tv serials, mini-series, and/or full-length motion pictures either during Classic Hollywood years or modern cinema! Again I am quite selective and picky when it comes to what I appreciate watching as I love “Classic Castle” not the darker side of the sub-plots which irked my ire more than they did anything else. The BBC has some truly wicked awesome serials out there such as: “Rosemary & Thyme”, “Hetty Wainthroppe Investigates”, “Inspector Morse & Lewis” (“Endeavour” is one I haven’t yet had the pleasure of seeing!), the second to last “Miss Marple”, etc., whilst Canada gave us “Murdoch Mysteries” and “The Pinkertons”. I love series like “The Mentalist”, “The Ghost Whisperer”, “NCIS, NCIS: LA, & NCIS: NOLA”, “CSI: Cyber”, “Rizzoli & Isles” and others like them where you have a ‘family baseline’ in regards to the characters and the stories evolve out of their close connections and spirit of sleuthing.
What inspired you to set your story in Venice, outside of the fact of the timing of the Black Plague and the setting to be a keen one for the opera back-story you were giving Isabella to embrace? What drew you inside this Italian city and setting!?
McMahan responds: I was standing in a bookstore and flipped through a few pages of a historical mystery set in Venice. It was really badly written and I found myself thinking “this author didn’t bother to really get to know Venice. I could do better than that.” So I did.
Best answer! Love how this motivated you and compelled you to re-approach the setting!
Aside from digging into the history of where your novel is set, did you step away from libraries and books with the opportunity to talk to people who could shed a bit of light on where your story is set? Did any portion of those conversations inspire a thread of thought in the final result?
McMahan responds: I’d visited Venice five times before I wrote the book, before the book was even conceived. One trip I focused on looking at art through the writings of Bernard Berenson. On another trip I mostly focused on listening to music. Venice made a strong impression on me and led me to write the book.
I also have friends who live there, and it was interesting to compare their perspective to that of a tourist.
Opera is music of passionate souls and a conviction of human emotions telling a story through sound and voice, how do you feel opera connected to your story to tell another layer of insight into your character?
McMahan responds: The first time I went to Venice, I wanted to hear an opera at La Fenice, Venice’s famous opera house, but it had just burnt down. Years later I returned and was able to tour La Fenice, but nothing was on while I was there. Finally, right before The Saffron Crocus was published, I was able to go and hear an opera performed there. That same trip I was also able to attend an “opera di palazzo,” in which the opera is staged in different rooms of a Venetian palazzo and the audience moves from room to room, following them. It was as close as I could get to attending a salon performance like those Margherita and Isabella in my novel might have put on.
As a traveller what do you enjoy the most by centering yourself in the place your visiting? How do you find you connect the most with a place you’ve only read about or loosely know of prior to your arrival?
McMahan responds: I like to look at the art of a place. I study it before I arrive, whether in books or by looking at samples in museums near me. When I arrive at the foreign city I make a beeline for the main art gallery or for the churches where the best art is to be found. Looking at a city through the eyes of its artists enables you to see differently than just looking through one’s own tourist eyes.
You pick up more looking through an artistic lens than you do through the eyes of a regular visitor; you get to see what is in-between everything you see within your field of vision. It’s quite a clever ‘first-stop’ to tuck inside the galleries first before moving forward to your destinations; I will take you up on this suggestion the next time I am elsewhere and in need of grounding myself in the clarity of being ‘where’ I am! Lovely! I generally went to galleries and museums after I went other places, but I like your idea much better!
You’ve previously disclosed your love of Victorian Steampunk and Gaslight mysteries – I was curious what first gave you a proper sense of the genre and if you might explore this angle in a feature story?
McMahan responds: Yes I’m planning a steampunk detective series. As a film historian I became versed in early film technologies, and these technologies (after they’ve been steampunked up, of course) will play an important part in the series. I also want to set the series in the US, but mostly NOT in New York. That hasn’t been done much.
I look forward to awaiting more information on this series! I have a feeling I am going to be over the moon in blissitude finding out more about the plot, the characters, and the setting you select! I watched a few documentaries on late 19th and early 20th century film practices and I can fully understand what motivated your inspiration!
What do you love to do to uplift your spirit when you are not writing or researching a story?
McMahan responds: I read really good fiction. There is also a lot of great writing on TV right now. When I’m taking a few days off between projects I might watch a good TV series, all five or seven seasons, like LOST or BREAKING BAD or a mini-series like CATHEDRAL. I’ll watch three or four episodes a day until I’m through it, and then I will go to my next writing project and hardly watch TV again for weeks on end.
I agree there is a heap of lovelies on television right now, except to say we have very distinctively different tastes and motivations behind what attract us to the programmes we gainfully devour! Whichever series we’re watching, it’s nice to know we’re both appreciating the cunning dialogue, the hearty stories, and the characters who endear us to follow them! Rock on! My favourite thing to do is borrow the seasonal dvds via my local library and/or inter-library loan them if they are not able to purchase them. “Doctor Who” is a perennial favourite now and I honestly haven’t met too many British detectives or sleuths I haven’t watched outright!
Visit the virtual road map of this blog tour:
Places to find the book:
Genres: Young Adult Historical Fiction | Historical Mystery | Historical Romance
Pages: 306
Published By: Black Opal Books (@BlackOpalBooks)
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #TheSaffronCrocus
See what I’m hosting next on my Bookish Events page!
Remember to visit Ms Turnquist’s interview!
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
Kindly leave a comment or question for Ms McMahan below!
{SOURCES: Cover art of “The Saffron Crocus”, book synopsis, author photograph of Alison McMahan, author biography, the book excerpt, the tour host badge & were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Conversastions with the Bookish banner created by Jorie in Canva. Tweets were able to be embedded by the codes provided by Twitter. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2015.
Comments on Twitter:
Fabulous interview @JLovesAStory @alisonmcmahon –must buy this book! http://t.co/10Gx05ZEe1
— kathie shoop (@kathieshoop) July 30, 2015
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