INTERVIEW: Sherri Browning author of Thornbrook Park

Exclusive Q&A with Sherri Browning

What was your inspiration for your newest release Thornbrook Park?

I’ve always enjoyed touring the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, and watching Downton Abbey fueled that curiosity to explore the upstairs/downstairs chemistry between the servants and the family they served. I felt that perhaps the time was right for an Edwardian romance.

Typically historical romances are set in Regency or Medieval times, but Thornbrook Park is set in Edwardian England. What do readers need to know about this period in history?

Edwardian England was a particularly revolutionary period in history. It was a time of broad social, political, economic, and technological change. Industrialization brought the working class new jobs, new hope, and a new voice that called attention to social issues that might have been ignored in the past, such as the great divide between the classes.

Your book includes mystery, intrigue, and a large cast of characters, but the romance between Eve Kendal and Captain Marcus Thorne is at the center of the story. What first attracts your hero and heroine to each other?

Eve is drawn to Marcus by his vulnerability. True, he’s in impressive physical condition and he’s a prizefighter, but she meets him in an unguarded moment and it’s enough for her to see that he’s a man she wants to get to know, and maybe even protect from dangers he doesn’t even realize exist for him.

Marcus is attracted by Eve’s startling blue eyes and, let’s face it, her figure, but he quickly learns that she pays keen attention to detail. She immediately picks up on his sensitivity to discussing his time at war, something his own family fails to note.

In your opinion, what is the most romantic scene in the novel?

When Marcus and Eve end up in London together, and he confronts her on a staircase when she leaves a room abruptly. She tries to be strong and hide that she has been crying, but she can’t hide it from him. He knows, and he gets her to open up to him and share her fears, even though she worries he might think she’s weak. She’s a modern woman, afraid to even look like she needs a man. And he’s a man who is willing to step back and let her do what she must do, even though he reminds her that he is there to support her if she needs him. That Marcus has such sensitivity to who she is and how important her independence is to her warms me, but then he also kisses her… very romantic.

Will we get to catch up with Eve and Marcus in the next book in the series? What can you tell us about An Affair Downstairs?

Eve and Marcus are minor characters in An Affair Downstairs. Sophia, Countess of Averford, wants her sister Alice to make a spectacular match, but Eve senses the growing attraction between Alice and the estate manager, Mr. Logan Winthrop. 

When we meet Alice in the first Thornbrook Park book, we learn that she’s a bit of a rebel. It’s unlikely that she will follow the path her sister plans out for her… but can she convince the staid and dependable estate manager with the dangerous past to risk the life he worked to rebuild just to indulge in a wild affair?

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Book Information

THORNBROOK PARK

Author: Sherri Browning

Release Date: June 3, 2014

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Genre: Historical Romance

Cover: Attached

Author Photo: Attached

Summary:

Fans of Downton Abbey will adore this brand-new Edwardian-period romance series set at the grand estate of Thornbrook Park, seat of the Earl of Averford.

In a world poised for epic change...

Disowned for marrying beneath her, Eve Kendal has returned to England destitute after her husband's death and the mysterious disappearance of their savings. She's looking for survival, not romance. But from London to the Yorkshire countryside to the elegant estate of Thornbrook Park, Eve's path seems destined to cross that of the dashing but violent Captain Marcus Thorne.

Anything can happen...

For Marcus, a return home means facing the demons that drove him to war in the first place. As he and Eve begin a steamy affair, tensions that had been simmering just beneath the surface threaten to explode and shake the very foundations of Thornbrook Park.

Buy Links:

Amazon - http://amzn.to/1fqQpYG

Barnes and Noble - http://bit.ly/1rmM9yG

iTunes - http://bit.ly/1i9V6L0

Author Biography:

Sherri Browning Erwin, best known for critically acclaimed classic mash-ups Jane Slayre and Grave Expectations, also writes paranormal romance and historical romance as Sherri Browning. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Sherri has lived in Massachusetts and Michigan, but is now settled with her family in Simsbury, Connecticut. Watch for her return to historical romance with the upcoming Thornbrook Park series.

Her books have been mentioned in People magazine, USA Today, Seventeen, the Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal blog, UK’s Telegraph and Argus, and once, as the subject of a New York Times cartoon. She remains a diehard Patriots fan, a proud member of Red Sox Nation, an adventurous eater, avid traveler, and a frequent visitor to Walt Disney World.

Social Networking Links:

Website: http://www.sherribrowningerwin.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherriErwin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherriBrowningErwin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/288167.Sherri_Browning_Erwin

GUEST POST AND INTERVIEW: "Seeing Green" author Annabel Hertz

‘SEEING GREEN’ A HUMOROUS JAUNT INTO D.C. POLICITCS, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

Review on Huffington Post calls Annabel Hertz’s new book: energetic, witty and timely

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Drawing on clever social commentary and her own experience in the political realm, author Annabel Hertz will get readers “Seeing Green” in no time.

Her new book “Seeing Green” (April 15, 2014) steps into the world of cutthroat politics and environmental policy as seen through the eyes of a young multicultural woman whose personal life seems to parallel her professional life as an activist on the frontlines of Washington D.C. in the ’90s. Never afraid to articulate her personal convictions, Hertz’s modern day heroine is strong and profound, yet humorous and relatable.

“Seeing Green” is Hertz’s first endeavor in historical fiction, reviewed on The Huffington Post as “timely, energetic and witty.”

Much like the protagonist she introduces in “Seeing Green,” Hertz has delved into the world of politics with organizations involved in international relations and sustainable development. More recently, she served as a policy consultant, adjunct professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations and Global Governance Fellow at the World Economic Forum.

“Seeing Green” is Hertz’s debut novel. She holds master’s degrees from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and San Francisco State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from the University of California where she studied politics. Hertz is currently pursuing a doctorate in international relations at American University in Washington D.C.

Guest Post by Annabel Hertz

A Year of Great Expectancy—Annabel Hertz

A prospective book agent once asked me if I would consider changing the historical setting of Seeing Green. She suggested the story could take place in the current day—or be rewritten as “timeless.”

It was awkward request, I thought, in regards to a novel about a young woman’s political coming of age in 1992—during a simultaneous coming of age phase in American and international politics: surely, a protagonist and her era could not be separated! (Not to mention the sense of dislocation this would cause the other characters…)

1992 was a time of great expectancy. The Cold War was finally over. One could practically hear the planet exhaling in relief. Still, it was not clear what was next in the world of international politics: the Gulf War hinted at a new era of coercive action, while the Earth Summit signaled quite a different agenda that sparked many an imagination for years to come. In the US, Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign re engaged Americans in electoral politics—both embodying and generating possibility, instead of apprehension. And we ended the year with an unprecedented six women serving in the Senate.

It was a heady period—and a heady moment for any 25 year-old protagonist to be leaving home in order to chase that aura of possibility. Many of the problems we have resigned to live with now still seemed solvable then, despite the limitations of twentieth century tools—such as fax machines and voicemail—for global organizing.

So it was not that I was inflexible, I told the agent. Rather, it just seemed clear that—even though some of the events that took place in Seeing Green would repeat themselves a decade later—the story could not have happened at any other time. A protagonist and her context are not so easily parted!

Q&A with Annabel Hertz

Arcani Kirsch, the heroine in “Seeing Green,” is a multicultural woman with a Native American and Jewish background. What role does her ethnicity play in the book?

Arcani’s mixed heritage plays several roles in the book. First, it’s a fundamental source of her identity predicament in that she is trying, throughout the book, to relate to both sides of her lineage and draw upon and unify these heritages for inspiration—and for connections to her own life.

At the same time, she sometimes feels a bit in limbo because of this mixture, and even experiences tension around it—not to mention the friction she encounters, as a minority, within society as a whole, which causes her to wrestle with her identity as an American.

Her multiculturalism is also symbolic of all the other ways that she is divided in the story—between striking out on her own and staying close to her aunt, sticking up for herself and not making waves, getting ahead without sacrificing values, being a Washington inside and an outsider….carefree versus committed, east coast-west coast. And the list goes on.

So, as a result, like many of us, Arcani spends a fair amount of time trying to both assert and reconcile competing tendencies in—or parts of— herself.

Finally, her mixed heritage is—I think and hope—a source of humor in book.

What do you think makes Arcani such a relatable character?

The aforementioned internal struggles makes her relatable, including to men, which indicates some level of universality in her character. She is imperfect—as are her immediate work environs and personal life, so most people have had some experience with that, and can empathize with her and things not going according to plan, see her vulnerabilities and forgive her self-righteousness, such that they welcome growth that occurs during her various mini crises, and want her to succeed.

Are you anything like Arcani?

On one hand, almost everything that happens to Arcani has never happened to me. She really took on a life of her own—which I am sure is a typical for many writers. On the other hand, I channeled some of my views through her, and reinterpreted some specific moments or emotions I have experienced in scenes with her, and added my heritage to hers halfway into writing the book specifically to personalize the story (as well as to complicate things). So, I am sure there are some similarities between us— though some folks who are not overly fond of her are still friends with me! But I also put pieces of myself—so to speak—in the other lead female characters, and even in the male and secondary characters. Each character is partly a composite of various people—and partly a product of imagination.

“Seeing Green” is a work of historical fiction. What parts of the book are based on real events?

            Presidential campaign events like the Democratic National Convention, the scene in Bryant Park, the Inaugural parade—those all occurred, as did of course the Rio Conference on Environment and Development, although the Earth Treaty is a gross over simplification of that conference’s outcomes.

The one-year follow up to Rio, the Ministerial conference in Paris, never existed. Some events are mixed—for example, the environmental inaugural ball occurred but its locale and the events in it were fictionalized, as was the politics on Capitol Hill and the hearing, though I drew from real hearings that were occurring at that time. References to international events—the aftermath of the Cold War, the Iraq war, Chernobyl, the Bosnian conflict—are all of course real. By establishing this broader context, I tried to capture the political zeitgeist of the early 90s. I also ended up showing how history—and particularly public and political debates—are cyclical. To me, the similarities and parallels were notable.

Do you have to know a lot about politics or environmental policy to enjoy “Seeing Green?”

            Not at all. In fact, one of my goals was to personalize the politics and policy to the point that it was intrinsic to the stories about the characters and their motivations, personalities, and growth trajectories. I wanted to make politics more accessible. Some of what’s currently popular on television about Washington already does this, but I think Seeing Green takes accessibility to a new level because of the depth and multidimensionality of the protagonist and her struggles (which doesn’t normally exist in political fiction), and because of its focus on underlings and underdogs who may have linkages to power but are relatively powerless, and have their own dynamics.

How did you get interested in politics and international relations?

            When I was 14, I saw a documentary at school called ‘The Last Epidemic’ about nuclear war and based on a conference held by Physicians for Social Responsibility. That was a life changing moment, much the way the cold war influenced the character Ginger in the 2012 film “Ginger and Rosa,” only in my case there was a delayed reaction—it wasn’t until college that I became active in the anti nuclear testing movement and interested in international disarmament. That was a formative and exciting time. I was inspired by Helen Caldicott, the Australian anti-nuclear activist, the Western Shoshone People, who were leading the charge in the US, and by Gorbachev and the momentum of Perestroika in Russia. Soon after, the Berlin wall was dismantled.

How did your experience in politics and policy shape your book?

            My experiences provided a very healthy reservoir to draw upon when coming up with the narrative and sub plots. Although the book really arose from the sheer desire to create and entertain, the content seemed value added and an appropriate fit—and the perspective seemed unique to what’s already out there.

“Seeing Green” is humorous and entertaining, yet it serves as a commentary on some serious issues. What do you want readers to take away from your book?

            First and foremost, I want them to have fun and be entertained—but ideally in a way that also feels nourishing and is perhaps thought provoking and maybe even moving. Some of my favorite films and novels combine these elements, and I worked hard to make the book read lightly, while still containing grit and ballast. In terms of take aways, the idea of being true to oneself both emanates and resonates. I thought that idea might inspire young women in particular—since Arcani is 25—but it’s a classic message that’s always had broader appeal. Also there is the green message—a de-emphasis on materialism—but this is conveyed through the plot and protagonist’s values, and is not intended to be preachy or overbearing, and I don’t think it comes across as such.

Author Links:
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INTERVIEW with Brandy Purdy, Author of "The Boleyn Bride"

Questions for Brandy Purdy – The Boleyn Bride – Historical Fiction Obsession

How did you become a writer? What was your journey like?

Well, I’d always been a reader, and I suppose it had always been in the back of my mind that I might become a writer someday, but it wasn’t until my mother died ten years ago that I actually started to become one. Books have always been the one constant in my life and when they fail me I know I am in serious trouble. After my mother died I kept picking up books and putting them down, I couldn’t take anything in, then I picked up a book about royal scandals, one of those books written in kind of a comic, trashy tabloid style and opened it at random and found myself reading the story of Edward II’s grand passion, Piers Gaveston. Something in that story spoke to me, and I started reading everything I could find about Gaveston, and became intrigued by all the rumors about him yet how few facts are known about him. I decided to try writing a novel, The Confession of Piers Gaveston; I wanted to write from the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator, to tell the kind of story where the reader might wonder if this person was sitting in front of them telling this story if they would believe it or not. No one in my life really believed I could do it, but it was something to occupy me and help me through my grief. I finished the book and after about a dozen or so query letters was signed to a literary agency but, as an unpublished nobody from nowhere with no college education or other degrees or experience that the agent thought would help paint a better picture of me, I was basically at the bottom of the barrel. In the meantime I moved on to another fascinating character from history, Lady Rochford, who is remembered today for accusing her husband, George Boleyn, of incest with his sister Anne, and wrote my second novel, which was then called Vengeance Is Mine. Finally I decided to gamble on myself and self-published both books, a few months later I had a new agent and Kensington had bought the rights to my second novel and changed the title to The Boleyn Wife,  and The Tudor Throne, The Queen’s Pleasure, The Queen’s Rivals, and The Boleyn Bride followed. It’s been an interesting journey, I’ve loved writing and researching the books, and the challenge of finding new and different ways to tell these oft-told stories, the only thing I regret is not having the close, personal support system many other writers are very fortunate to have. I started out gambling on myself because no one else would, and in a strictly personal sense, I still am.

Any particular thing or event draw you write to historical fiction?

Sometimes a certain person will just “speak” to me in a way that makes me feel compelled to learn more and perhaps tell their story.  I never know when that is going to happen.

How did the Tudor Era inspire you?

I’ve always been fascinated with the Tudor era ever since I was a little girl about nine or ten years old and I bought a book of ghost stories that had a chapter about Anne Boleyn’s ghost haunting the Tower of London. To be honest, I didn’t originally plan to write so many Tudor novels, I’m interested in many historical characters and eras, but I’m very glad I was able to write about some of the characters who particularly intrigued me like Lady Rochford and Amy Robsart.

What kind of research is involved in your process?

I read a great deal and take notes and I am very visual I always look at lots of pictures. I like to be surrounded by pictures when I am writing.  I see the story playing out like a movie in my mind, sometimes in whole scenes, sometimes in fragments, sometimes in full color with crisp, clear images, sometimes like an old silent movie in dire need of restoration,  and it’s my job to try to turn those pictures into words, to convey the actors emotions, and get it all down on paper, hopefully in a way that my readers will enjoy.

What inspired you to share Elizabeth Boleyn’s story?

I didn’t really want to write another novel about someone who had already been the subject of dozens of books, and while I was sitting thinking about it I realized how absent Elizabeth Boleyn was from the story of her more famous daughters. I did some research and it confirmed that very few facts about her have come down to us, and that absence intrigued me. It’s actually, in some ways, a book about absence, it’s the story of a woman who is both emotionally and physically absent from her children’s lives until they become grown up and a little more interesting to her, but, by then, it’s too late. It’s also a story about mistakes, missed opportunities, regrets, and choices made for all the wrong reasons.

Out of all your books, which character has been your favorite to bring to life?

That is a very hard question. It’s a tie between three: Piers Gaveston was in a sense my knight in shining armor, writing his story saved me and also showed me that I could be a writer; Lady Rochford was both fun and fascinating, I loved the challenge of writing from the viewpoint of a madwoman, and one that hated Anne Boleyn, who is actually one of the women in history I admire most; and Amy Robsart’s was such a sad and neglected life, she’s been largely reduced to just a name on a page, so many focus on the glamour and romance of her husband’s ambitious dalliance with Queen Elizabeth I, and even when I was a little girl just becoming immersed in the Tudor saga I thought it was so unfair that Amy’s voice was lost, and I remember thinking if I ever wrote a novel when I grew up I wanted to give her back her voice, to let her be the star of the story for once.

Are there any authors you admire or any must-read books you’d like to recommend?

Anya Seton is my favorite historical fiction author, I’ve read all her books. Green Darkness is my favorite, it was one of the first adult novels I ever read, and I loved the way it used the reincarnation theme to weave together the modern and historical stories. I still try to reread it every few years when I can, next time I get the chance I hope to review it on my blog.

If you could go back in time, what place would you visit?

Well, I have a toothache now, so I don’t think I’d like to visit anywhere without modern dentistry so that kind of limits my choices. But, that’s not a very good answer, so,  if I could be a noblewoman and have the fabulous clothes and indulge my love of jewelry, and have my hair styled by Leonard, I’d kind of like to pay a visit to 18^th century France during the time of Marie Antoinette, before the Revolution, when panniered skirts were at their widest and powdered hair was at its highest,  and maybe pay a call on Count Fersen; I’d like to see for myself if he looked anything like Tyrone Power in the movie. Anyone who knows how shy I really am will know I’m joking:-)

Are you working on anything currently?

I am, something very special, but I can’t say what it is right now, only that it’s not another Tudor novel, and if all goes well I hope to have a big surprise for my readers in time for next Christmas.

Do you have any advice for aspiring historical fiction writers?

There’s really nothing I can say that hasn’t been said countless times before. Keep writing, keep submitting, believe in yourself even when no one else does, and always remember that books are like candy, not everyone likes the same kinds and flavors, and keep repeating that to yourself when the bad reviews come. I know better than anyone all that is easy to say but sometimes very hard to do. I wish you all the best of luck.


"The Boleyn Bride" is due to come out February 25th 2014! Preorder it at amazon now!