I have a penchant for items which curate a story out of the historical past, as there have been a few incredible pieces of historical fiction stemming out of an article of clothing – A Vintage of Affair by Isabel Wolff (a hidden gem discovered at my local library!) and A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (of which I happily had the pleasure of reviewing!) come to mind instantly! One features a boutique of vintage clothes and the other, has a story threading through the history of a scarf – both have a particular strife attached to their back-stories, as the clothes of the first go back to the World War era and the scarf tackles a modern tragedy and the Shirt Waist Industry from the early Nineteen Hundreds.
Meissner anchoured her story with a duality of plots which fascinated me and emotionally gutted me at the very same time! Wolff entranced me by how the ‘clothes’ slipped the past into view, front and center. Between the two novels, I realised I have a passion for how objects and ‘things’ can become transportative whilst giving us a plausible step ‘backwards in time’!
This is why I continue to seek out stories which parlay on the same general themes as A Gown of Thorns the latest of which I will be reading next is The Black Velvet Coat by Jill G. Hall whilst I continue reading my challenge reads (Summer & Fall) on behalf of BookSparks this Spring. It is also why I was so wicked happy to be in a position to interview Ms Evans on her new release A Gown of Thorns as you will see in our conversation how invested I am in this topic and thankful our convo became a lively one where we explore the context of her story!
To gain a bit of a back-story on how I came to host Bookouture authors,
please visit my first conversation I featured with this publisher with Teresa Driscoll!
From the multi-award winning and bestselling author, comes a bittersweet romantic story set against the backdrop of the French Dordogne valley.
Hidden within the wardrobe’s embrace, she rifled through the folds of cloth until her fingers stopped at a gown of violet, lavender and silver-grey pleats. She lifted it off its hanger and turned towards the mirror…
Shauna Vincent arrives in the little French village of Chemignac after accepting an offer to be an au pair to the grandchildren of an old family friend.
As she begins to explore her new home at the ancient Chateau de Chemignac with it’s beautiful vineyards, she discovers a locked tower room where she unearths a treasure trove of exquisite vintage dresses. One gown feels unsettlingly familiar.
When Shauna falls asleep one afternoon in a valley full of birdsong, she has a strange dream of a vintage aircraft circling threateningly overhead. So when she suddenly awakes to find charming local landowner Laurent standing over her – Shauna wonders if he might be just the person to help her untangle this unexpected message from the past.
A Gown of Thorns draws you into a richly evocative world steeped in secrets that will mesmerize fans of Rachel Hauck’s The Wedding Dress, Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale and Adriani Trigiani.
I love hidden secrets which unravel a portraiture of history stitched inside a historical narrative – in many ways, this is why I loved reading A Vintage Affair by Isobel Wolff because the article of clothing is a tipping stone towards the heart of the story. How did you approach developing the setting of the back-drop of your story against the gown which is the link to the past inside A Gown of Thorns?
Evans responds: An interesting question. What came first, the backdrop or the gown? When I am musing over a new story, I rarely think it out in a linear way. I tend to get a whole picture all at once. In the case of Gown of Thorns, the sun-scorched vineyards of the Dordogne simply arrived in my head and I knew I wanted to make the backdrop a wine estate. Grape growing and pressing is a piquant and lush affair, and the scents and colours of the region add layers of richness.
The dress, the Gown of Thorns, of the title slipped into my head when I envisaged a stone tower that housed a dress whose history was checkered and passionate. That it was a Fortuny Delphos gown was established after I had looked at many, many photographs of vintage evening dresses on line. It jumped out at me as a style of dress that was so alluring and simple, that it was entirely believable that three generations of women should fall under its spell.
I wanted to show that the gown was immovably linked to the location, the Château de Chemignac, and in one of those unplanned jumps of the imagination, I imagined the silk from which it was made being dyed with the skins of grapes harvested on the estate. Grapes harvested as the ‘war to end all wars’ broke out, with the result that sorrow and tragedy was embedded in its folds.
I like how your process is to think non-lineally and to approach the story from the whole of the picture rather than individual pieces of how the story knits together! This is quite an interesting method as most of us layer the pieces together and/or work on different sections of a story before finalising the ‘end of the story’ to become congealed not only in our minds but on the page. I liked hearing about your method as it opened up a door of thinking that I had hoped I might one day reach myself but I still move in and out of chapters and sections as I write.
It’s such a fascinating concept how each piece of the whole alighted on your mind and how you instinctively knew how to follow their cues to lead you inside the story’s heart. This is where writers share their lineage as we might each take a different route but we all know when inspiration guides our pens! Vintage gowns are definitely alluring! The materials and textiles used in vintage fashions is to be admired but also, the luxury of how they were designed!
I even loved how you envisioned a ‘natural dye’ for the gown itself – as being a knitter, I champion the dye lots where natural origins of dye are being used even today! I love the whole process of returning to nature for colour visions and taking nature to the forefront of how colour can re-define design.
What was the hardest line of conviction for A Gown of Thorns to work within the timeline of its story? The discovery of the gown itself or the link between the gown and your lead protagonist?
Evans responds: In a funny way, the Gown of Thorns was the easiest facet of the story to weave in and out because it never leaves Chemignac. It has its own history which I gradually built up as I created the family of Laurent and Henri de Chemignac. Far more challenging was to juxtapose the events of 2003 – Shauna and Laurent’s story – with those of 1943, Henri and Yvonne’s story.
The background events such as weather, grape ripening, the phases of the moon, were fixed and had to be accurate and logical. Yvonne’s experiences at Chemignac and Shauna’s echo each others and had to be based on fact. I printed out moon charts for reference. When Yvonne looks up at a just-past full moon on July 13th 1943, it really was at that point in its cycle.
I hadn’t realised this – the gown in question remaining fully inside it’s singular locale! How interesting!? I look forward to one day reading this story for myself – hence why I was excited about interviewing you as the premise alone had me curious! Yes, I can fully recognise the difficulties you had anchouring 2003 to 1943 and vice versa! This is why I mentioned Meissner’s novel earlier ahead of our convo as I appreciate writers who go the extra mile and truly illuminate both their timescapes in such a fashion as to be realistically authentic to both!
I love finding out this small trivia bit about the moon! I will have to remember this when I read the story as it will be such a clever passage now that I know the length you went to make the setting’s features read as accurate as it was originally lived by those who were there!
Would you identify your novel a time slip or a time travel narrative? As there is a slipping of time between the contemporary ‘now’ and the historic ‘past’ wherein the core of the gown’s sentiment and identity exists. How did you bridge the gap between both time settings?
Evans responds: I think I’d call it ‘time slip’, as there is a literal merging of times and lives. The ‘slipping’ is Shauna’s, and sometimes Laurent’s. They become Yvonne and Henri, experiencing the events of the past through their eyes, feeling their emotions and their terrible danger. To move the narrative between the two time settings requires a mental step away.
One moment I am writing contemporary people, the next I am having to assume to values and world-view of people who were born into a very different world. In that case, I did what I always do when I write historical fiction. I remove myself from my own modern mindset and shift it backwards into a different one. It’s a form of self-hypnosis, of creative invention. It’s perhaps similar to the process that an actor goes through when assuming a character very unlike their own.
When I’m writing ‘historical’ my mind slows and I see the landscape and surroundings as if on a cinema screen. Occasionally, I stumble out of it and something creeps in that doesn’t belong – I might have somebody travelling between locations very much faster than they could possibly have done in that era – but usually, I pick this up later when I’m back in the zone.
Time slip, time shift and time travel I will admit are my three bent-time techniques I love reading the most because of what a writer can rebelliously create as they formulate a way to ‘bend time to the will of their pen’! I give you a lot of credit for not only writing it authentically but to get into the mindset of your characters per the era in which they lived. It’s a dicey balance, I am sure, as even as a reader you can cringe about thoughts, impressions or outdated social commentary until you remember to take a breath and recognise the era in which everything was first viewed, said or observed. I loved how you cross-compared writing characters and eras outside our own as related to an actor taking on a role – there is a certain level of moxie to do either one because you have to believe so very confidently in what your doing and how your portraying the scenes.
I do agree with you – when your in the flow of your writing, there isn’t much that can distract you outside that creative void! You get so wicked happy to be with your writings, it’s addictive to see where all the threads of your imagination can actively work out the details!
What drew you to this particular region of France to set the story arc about the gown and the hidden secrets which become particular relevant to your lead character as the story moves forward?
Evans responds: I spent two weeks in that area of France some years ago and really fell in love with it. France is a very beautiful country, it’s hard to say one part is more attractive than another but I felt a real resonance with the southwest region. It is hot in summer – I think that comes over in Gown of Thorns! – but greener than the most southern part. It is very green with towering forests and rivers crashing through deep gorges. A vivid landscape. And like so much of France, it has pockets where modernity has hardly penetrated. You really can feel that you have left the 21st century behind and could be existing in any time of history at all.
I love how you were impressioned by the country (of France) and how it’s personality of being half-hinged to the past and the present helped define the story of ‘A Gown of Thorns’ as it became representative of how we entreat inside what you’ve given us to read! I love writers who are very in-tune to their settings but also, the individual nuances of ‘place’ and how a ‘place’ can have a life-beat of it’s own to reveal. All of this helps act as a buoy to the moment being lived inside fiction.
What do you feel is the hardest part about writing convicting historical fiction which will resonate with readers who appreciate reading historicals for a glimpse at eras we can only imagine but not personally re-visit without the stories writers are creating for us to find?
Evans responds: One of the challenges is to be true to the period without jarring the sensibilities of readers. Before modern times, sanitation was a little bit scant to say the least. People were perhaps more courteous, but discrimination was rife and women were ignored or subjugated. Animals were often treated brutally.
How to be authentic yet write a story that is emotionally pleasing. How to capture history, without romanticising it. Those are the challenges and I really do strive to get the balance right. My characters wash, but they wash in cold water, at the sink with a scrap of soap as people used to before the advent of power showers and hot running water. You’ll never see an animal abused in my writing (except perhaps by a cruel character, and quickly rescued) because I cannot bear it myself and I don’t want to inflict it on my readers.
I think that most historical writers do a little airbrushing. I think if we didn’t, readers would shy away from our books. After all, we are trying to create stories that touch modern readers who come to the page bringing their culture and values.
I concur with everything you’ve shared here – especially a heartfelt ‘thank you’ for the choices your making and the omissions, as I have my own set of triggers for ‘book turn-offs’ inasmuch as certain things which are visually representative that will make me put a book down outright!
Airbrushed history is the best kind – it helps keep the light clearly visible but it also gives us just enough of a view of what needs to be understood and known. I love finding writers who understand the draw for historical fiction readers but also, who are passionate about the craft of writing stories everyone would be wicked happy to read!
Do you have a personal penchant for vintage fashion and if so, which eras of fashion do you instinctively feel drawn towards yourself?
Evans responds: I do, and it all started with a dressing up box we had as a child, full of dresses from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, some of which my mother brought back from Paris. They all got worn out and ripped, and thrown away in the end, and I could weep about it!
My own preference is for the linear and sophisticated style of the 1930s. I think of them as the height of elegance, and more suitable to me as I have narrow hips but a not-particularly handspan waist. I think nipped-in 1950’s dresses would have shown me up. As for 1920s straight down styles, I’d have struggled because I have a little bit too much in the Dolly Parton department, if you get my drift. The 20’s were for the boyish figure.
I fully appreciated the honesty you’ve shared whilst you broke down the eras of fashion and the different ways in which you relate to their inherent styles! This was such a clever response! I tend to vacillate a bit behind the 1920s through 1940s as being a marked measure of my favourite styles as a whole. I did smirk when I read ‘Dolly Parton’ as yes, I knew what you were referencing – and I think it’s a valid point. Everyone has a different body type and each shape has it’s own definition where wearing vintage clothes can become difficult as each generation had a different series of definitions of the woman’s body. I do wish we could return to a more honest definition of a woman’s dimensions as most modern styles regret to accept the curves or the proportions.
It’s a shame the vintage clothes of your youth couldn’t have been saved or at least, re-styled into a keepsake you could have kept. I felt your pain on that loss!
What did you enjoy most by rounding out the full depth of Shauna’s character? You have the tendency to focus on character-driven fiction wherein readers delight in a fullness of a fleshed out character to draw their eye as they invest deeper into your stories. What motivates you to explore your characters with such a curious zest for realism?
Evans responds: Hmm, I have to think about that for a moment, but I’m honoured by your choice of words. Firstly, I work on the principle that ‘character drives plot.’ In other words, what people are dictates what they do. I don’t think to myself, ‘She has to get angry and run away at this point.’ Rather, I put people into a situation then get into their heads and see how they react. Sometimes, they act in a way that takes me by surprise. An example would be the moment in the courtyard at Chemignac when Laurent, made jealous and insecure, and over-sensitive to the emotions he has picked up from his grandfather Henri’s soul, pushes Shauna against the wall and is rough with her.
Had I been thinking about her conventional reactions, I would have had her struggle and push him away. By getting physically inside her head, I discovered that she had a very different way of dealing with the situation. I think if you let your characters speak, and listen to them, then your writing obtains a depth.
As for realism, well, my own character is fairly no-nonsense and I also feel I have seen plenty of human nature in the years I’ve been on earth. I don’t go for the romantic cliché or the easy solution because life is more complex and random than that. I give my stories upbeat endings, but only after the characters have earned them and as in real life, there is always more to come. The lovers who walk away together into the sunset still have to learn to live together, after all!
I appreciated your dedication for remaining ‘honestly true’ to your character’s mind, heart and soul – giving your character the full dimension of ‘living’ and ‘owning’ her truth! This is a blessing as characters who become fully fleshed out against the page are the ones that have the tendency of remaining with me. You feel so very attached to them because they were a full etch of reality – having lived their life so wholly full to be remembered.
Historical depth is a delicate balance but as I foresaid, I honour these choices (unless a story is writ outside of what I would accept; as forementioned) writers are making as they are re-shaping a portion of living history – giving the past a chance to have a voice where previously it had none. It also extends towards growing in empathy and understanding of how the rights of women have changed and how our own voices grew in greater strength to stand up for ourselves in times of conflict and/or adversity.
Happy to hear you’ve grounded your characters and allowed their complexities to noodle out a story-line which their contemporary composites would be proud to learn of!
As there is an undertone of mystery ebbing out of the historical elements, what do you think motivated the investigation behind the gown itself: human curiosity or an intuitive sense on behalf of your character some mysteries are history’s way of revealling truths hidden far too long?
Evans responds: One of the tantalizing themes of the story is; ‘Is the Gown of Thorns truly a cursed entity. Is it actually somehow manipulating events and creating bad luck?’ Almost every character grapples with that concept and both my heroes, Laurent and Henri believe, that yes, it does. Both men are intelligent and sophisticated, yet their experience of the Gown is that its appearance on any woman’s back triggers misfortune or even tragedy.
It is the women of the story who refute the idea and insist on wearing the gown, often to their own destruction. Henri says sadly to Yvonne that the Gown of Thorns represents his family’s decline and one particularly poignant failure: ‘We give the women of Chemignac what they need but never what they want.’ Xx Laurent, at the end of the story, finally sees through the mystery and legend surrounding the gown and suddenly understands where its power lies. He says to Shauna, ‘The gown isn’t cursed, but the century that made it most certainly was.’ He identifies the two world wars of the twentieth century as the source of misfortune and unhappiness.
The Gown of Thorns was perhaps no more than a symbol of that. Perhaps . . . personally, I think the dress has real power. Inanimate things can have souls.
Such a question to generate a thesis of exploration! It’s a startling question to pitch – how much is known about what can become attached to objects and the familiarity they share with the living souls they interact with whilst their used? It’s a thematic parallel to certain theories of the paranormal mostly bridging out of parapsychology as it’s more academic than anything else – as how to augment the ‘how and why’ without further study?
The adage about the power of belief and the suppositions of a person’s personal response to such beliefs can also come into play because was the object first granted a power unforeseen or was the person who interacted with it influencing the direct result? The reader will have quite a heap to ponder as they read the fullness of the story and then, pensively contemplate it all!
How do you approach your research period with your novels? Is it a combination of gathering books on subjects that would help you with authenticity, interviews with persons whose knowledge would lend an edge of readability with real-life excursions to different locales or any combination herein?
Evans responds: My research is gathered from a range of sources. Yes, books, dozens of them. I am running out of shelf space. I interview people too, and whenever I meet anybody with a story or experience of anything interesting, I let them talk and listen. I take mental notes, squirrelling facts and impressions away for later. I research locations by going to them when possible.
I like physical, hands-on research too so I will do things like fire a musket, or ride side-saddle to enable me to write authentically about these things. The internet is a resource I could not do without. It has its problems, inaccuracies and you will find site after site repeating one person’s research, but where else could you access literally millions of pictures of items such as old banknotes, 1940s passports, vintage stamps, kitchen equipment, cars etc etc. It’s a pretty remarkable phenomenon and makes in-depth research faster and more possible.
Ooh dear my, yes! The resources available today even compared to twenty years past is incredibly advanced! The internet itself has radically changed in usage even from the late 1980s and early 1990s – thus propelling research forward for writers and academics alike! It does have to be properly vetted for sources and technicalities but even then! It can act as a starting point before the other threads of pursuit you’ve mentioned can be fully entertained. The combination of how we research is what fascinates me, as we tend to stumble across the same sources but it’s the timeline of what we first use vs what we turn to last that keeps the curiosity piqued.
The photographic resources are beyond incredible – they give us such a strong impression of what everything looked like ‘back then’ and are a good visual clue outside of museums and galleries. A bit like why I also like digging through antique emporiums to seek out vintage photographs and postcards as they paint an inside look just as readily!
What do you prefer writing novels or novellas or do you find them equally satisfying despite the differences in length?
Evans responds: I write long. I love the long form as it allows me to bring in more characters and develop the story arcs.
I have all but given up the ship to write a short – I cannot compose a plot nor develop a proper character where there is a shortage of words allowed. Ergo, I can relate to this statement!
As you write stories which satisfy your personal curiosities in history to explore what do you feel is your next time period that warrants your attention to noodle out?
Evans responds: The novel I am now writing is set in London in 1946, just after the war, so I am now moving into a different era. I can see myself writing fashion-based books up to the 1960s, then perhaps switching to something else. I have a novel finished that is set in 1815, around the battle of Waterloo. Every era has its flavour and its particular conflicts, and that’s what I am always interested in.
What happened in such-and-such a time that made people struggle against the flow of events?
Post-War!? Ooh how delightful! I read a very stirring Post-War drama just a few days ago – ‘Moonlight Over Paris’ which was so very enjoyable because it held within it’s chapters a lightness of the era intermixed with a coming-of age story-line which I duly appreciated finding! I am finding this a newer niche of ‘war dramas’ I am taking a liking towards rooting out.
Fashion novels – ooh I hope you, do! Hmm, I don’t believe I’ve investigated the battle of Waterloo, but I do duck in/out of the 1800s inasmuch as the 1700s quite regularly. I always lament I’m not just a genre dancer, I’m a time traveller! The centuries and eras I love visiting are so varied and diverse, I am quite happily ensconced into the historical past on a regular basis! Thereby, I can understand your thirst for visiting different portals of time!
What is the best part of writing about the historical past do you feel uplifts your own soul as your writing the stories which lend a curiosity to be told?
Evans responds: I love bringing history to life, and making something fresh and readable out of my own years of study and research. I am also I suppose addicted to creating characters and making them real. In a way, I am reaching back into my own past, placing myself in different times to see how I would deal with those challenges. It is similar to acting. Perhaps writing is simply a form of getting to be somebody else for many hours a day, without having to learn lines!
But interesting you should mention the word ‘soul.’ My writing comes from a deep place, and sometimes, I write and have no idea how I accessed some of my ideas. Once you start a story rolling, like a snowball gathering pace as it travels downhill, you cannot stop it. You have to let it grow, and often, it grows by itself.
I could not agree more if I tried! I composed this question the way I personally feel about my own writings and picked up on the fact you might feel the same whilst I was researching you for this interview. Call it intuition if you will, but sometimes we see a likeness in other writers and it’s quite inspiring all-round noticing that others share our views on how we’re creating the stories we’re giving life through ink and page!
How do you renew your spirit when you’re not researching and writing?
Evans responds: I live in the countryside, in a very pretty area and I walk. I have two dogs and I take them out three times a day. My time in nature renews me and also helps me with my writing. I sing and listen to music, and meet friends. Being amongst people is very important to writers, otherwise your brain becomes too cluttered with its own voice.
Walking in the natural world is one of my greatest joys – there is simply something about the connection and the peace which comes with it’s setting. Dear my! You are dearly right on that score, too! I know a lot of writers mention writing to be solitary but I cannot understand this, as I’m an extrovert and a people-person – if I were absent too long from others, I think my writerly muse might extinguish itself, as like you said, others re-fuell our imagination but they also are part of having a well-rounded life full of blessings we never take for granted.
I’d like to thank Ms Evans for this conversation, as I delighted in the joy of finding out how she conceptalises her historicals but also, the manner in which her muse comes out to play! It’s wicked brilliant to have such stimulating conversations with fellow writers and I must admit, I am enjoying this series of interviews I am hosting on behalf of the authors of #Bookouture!
Converse via: #WomensFiction, #HistFic, + #GownOfThorns
This author interview is courtesy of Bookouture!
Site | Blog | @bookouture
I have a full line-up of engaging conversations by this Indie Pub across the pond who is starting to make a bit of a splash stateside! It’s my honour and pleasure to bring these conversations to my readers, whilst helping to expand our knowledge of wicked awesome writers of Women’s Fiction or Historical Fiction whose stories are full of heart and soul; just the way I love the genres to be! They are focusing on guttingly brilliant dramatic story-lines, whose fusion of realism and the introspective focus on a woman’s journey is not only pro-positive but inspiring to find.
Be sure to return on 7th of April for my conversation with Renita D’ Silva!
My interviews run straight through til the end of April also featuring a bloke whose writing spell-binding Thrillers which sound as if they leave you breathless for the dramatic climaxes but eager to solve the mystery inside his stories whilst you root for his characters! I’m referring to British Thriller writer Tom Bale – look for his conversation mid-April!
The reason I chose the authors I have to interview is because if their books were readily at hand, I know I’d be lost inside them! I always interview authors (or offer guest posts) of whom I’d genuinely and earnestly want to read; it’s a precursor to the day when I can read their stories and a lovely interlude for my readers to find #newtomeauthors they might not have discovered either!
Let’s celebrate bookish conversations & the stories behind them!
Kindly leave your comments, thoughts and musings about this interview for Ms Evans in the comment threads below! I welcome your commentary! Esp if you are a regular reader of Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction featuring strong characters & dynamic stories!
Love #VintageFashion? You're going to LOVE reading this #interview w/@natmegevans! Feat. #GownOfThorns! Click To Tweet
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.
{SOURCES: Book Cover Art for “A Gown of Thorns”, author photograph of Natalie Meg Evans, author biography and book synopsis were provided by the publisher Bookouture and used with permission. Conversations with the Bookish Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission. Comment banner created by Jorie in Canva. Tweets are embedded due to codes via Twitter.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2016.
Tweets on behalf of this interview:
#amediting #Bookouture convo#amreading #ByTheStars #HistFic war drama
+ #SecretLifeOfAnnaBlanc + #TheWeddingCakeTree
Stay tuned #JLASblog!— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) March 30, 2016
.@bookouture #Author Interview feat. @natmegevans #HistFic & #womensfashion + France = drama https://t.co/2ytCsGPWcb pic.twitter.com/7lTudkfZhX
— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) March 30, 2016
Hi Jorie, thanks for hosting me @QuercusBooks @MBAAgents https://t.co/q1UKdl2Lu6
— Natalie Meg Evans (@natmegevans) March 30, 2016
Your very welcome, @natmegevans!
Such a delight pulling this convo together between us!
<3 your love of #HistFic@QuercusBooks @MBAAgents— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) March 30, 2016
This wonderful, gripping novel is out today in the US!!https://t.co/w9axluWeBj pic.twitter.com/96Au8FQ4h8
— bookouture (@bookouture) March 30, 2016
Comments via Twitter:
Today I talk to @joriestory about #AGownOfThorns https://t.co/9K7JvIpRwN historical, time-slip ? @QuercusBooks pic.twitter.com/ky61eJEs7T
— Natalie Meg Evans (@natmegevans) March 30, 2016
Today I talk to @joriestory about #AGownOfThorns https://t.co/9K7JvIpRwN historical, time-slip ? @HelenCareyBooks
— Natalie Meg Evans (@natmegevans) March 30, 2016
Love #VintageFashion? You're going to LOVE reading this #interview w/@natmegevans! Feat.… https://t.co/FDHBpctGda via @joriestory
— Carolyn Steele (@CarolynSteeleUT) April 2, 2016
What an absolutely brilliant interview! As a fellow historical writer, it’s fascinating to read what inspires other authors and how their creative juices flow. “A Gown of Thorns” sounds like a sumptuous read–now at the very top of my “must read” list!
Thank you so much, Ms Steele!
I was hoping my interviews feat. the Bookouture authors might have extended into continued showcases with them but sadly, I couldn’t make this happen. I am planning a *big!* surprise for my readers who loved this interview series for my 5th Year as a Book Blogger in 2018! I was totally inspired and moved by how open + honest the authors were responding to my questions! They gave me such an uplift of joy giving me such wicked good conversations from a reader who was itching to read their stories but wanted to feature their works ahead of time! Yes, I know! Isn’t this the truth!? I thought this one had a lot of the components I am mad to find in Historicals myself and thereby, it’s remains one of my most longed after reads! :)