1. The book is written in a sort of medieval theme. How hard was it to write in that format?
I loved that you said the book had this medieval feel and took you back to castles and knights in shining armour, it's not something I consciously aimed for in my style of writing, and yet I have a real passion for the medieval world, and when I think of a romantic hero, for me, it will always be that knight in shining Armour figure. In this day an age it needs to be carefully managed because it has to be clear the woman is just as strong (although in reality I think in real life women were just as strong in medieval times) but anyway, that is what is in my head, is that the hero, beneath everything else, is strong and dependable, and will fight for the heroine. So it wasn't explicitly my intent, but probably leaked from my subconscious and I think will be the underlying theme of my lead males.
2. Illicit Love has a complex plot. Where would you deprived information of that from?
My ideas come from real life, which is so complex it gives you thousands of stories to weave together. To capture the historical elements of the plots I read letters and memoirs, which I find give me a far more realistic and intense perspective of the people who lived during the era, and the stories I discover, well honestly, you couldn't make them up. I do write fiction, but I will weave together facts I discover which did happen, or are implied could have happened, and put them together.
3. How would you describe the overall writing and publishing process (writing, getting published, finding readers, etc.)
Writing, I just love, I couldn't live and not write. But things are very different now, with self-publishing, there are huge numbers of people writing, so you have to really work on your plot and writing voice to make sure your work will make you stand out if nothing else, and then the adventure begins. But I have to say, holding my first book in my hand was an amazing feeling, and hearing readers enjoy your work and totally see and hear the characters just as you had written them, well there is nothing so heart-warming.
4. What was the hardest part about writing this book? What was the hardest scene/s to write?
The fight scenes, I can't say too much, I don't want to give the plot away, but to me it was really important to make sure the reader was there in the moment, so it was so important to catch the right amount of description which meant you, the reader, could see in your imagination what was going on and feel the tension too, that's why, at one point, I slipped the movement into slow motion, but there were two fight scenes and one in particular which had far more re-writes than other scenes in the book.
5. Which character do you like or relate to the most?
I am emotionally attached to them all, so I can't pick one, because I have to be inside their heads and hearts when I am writing, feeling what they might feel and think, so you get that "fly on the wall feeling" I can't be unattached to any of them :)
6. Why should we read your book?
Well, whether to pick it or not has to be up to you, the reader, but so many reviews are coming back and saying it's something new on the market, which I think is because I do write by getting into the mind of my characters' perspective so intensely, it might be something for you, and the whole of the Marlow Intrigues series will be written to show that people in history had the same thoughts, feelings and emotional battles as people do today, so it's also potentially a book for people who wouldn't normally pick up a historical romance.
I would say, if you would like the Disney film, Tangled, (which I love) with an added passionate depth. Illicit Love might be for you...
The second story, Edward's brother's will be out soon, and if you fall in love with Edward, well... I fell a little in love with Robert when I wrote him.
Thank you, Eboni
It's always a pleasure to see how my review fares with the author. I also love to see the behind the scenes action that goes with writing a book. Thank you, Jane. The pleasure is mine.
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