AN INTERVIEW WITH SARAH E. LADD, AUTHOR OF A LADY AT WILLOWGROVE HALL + GIVEAWAY

When the noose of your secrets begins to tighten, it can cut off any hope for freedom and love in the future. Letting the light of truth sever your unhealthy tie to the past is a major theme of award-winning author Sarah E. Ladd’s book A Lady at Willowgrove Hall (Thomas Nelson/October 7, 2014/ISBN: 978-1401688370), the third and final installment in the Whispers on the Moors series. Set in Great Britain’s Regency era, A Lady at Willowgrove Hall perfectly conveys the romantic sensibilities of that time. Here's my interview with Sarah E. Ladd. Below this post there are a few chances for you to win this book! (Giveaway US only)

Hello and welcome, Sarah! A Lady at Willowgrove Hall is the third book in the Whispers on the Moors series set during the Regency period. Can you tell us something about the historical context you've chosen for this novel? 

The Regency era took place in England from 1811 to 1820. It was called that because when King George III was deemed unfit for the throne, his son, the Price of Wales, ruled in his stead as the Prince Regent. England was engaged in the Napoleonic War against France, and they were also at war with the American colonies in the War of 1812. The Industrial Age was in full swing, and the Romantic Movement was shaping the literature, art and music of the day.

What about the Regency period interested you most and made you want to write about it? 

I have always been a fan of Romantic British literature and enjoy the Romantic Movement in general, which, again, fell during the Regency era. I have read the literature and the poetry of this time period extensively, and those works had a profound influence on me. If I had to pick one favorite author, I would have to choose Charlotte Brontë, although Jane Austen is a very close second.

THE HEADMISTRESS OF ROSEMERE, INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR SARAH LADD

Life is unexpected. Each day holds new surprises — some exciting, others unwanted. What matters most is how we respond to those trying situations. Sarah E. Ladd reminds us the importance of clinging to God to get us through the mountains and valleys of life in The Headmistress of Rosemere .  

Ladd hopes The Headmistress of Rosemere, book two of The Whispers on the Moors series,will encourage readers to look for help in the right place. “I think a lot of people look within themselves to try to find answers to their problems,” explains Ladd. “But if we look to ourselves for solutions, we will be disappointed. Instead, we should take our problems, cares, and worries to God and lay them at His feet. Pray about them. Ask God to make His plans known. When we do this, amazing things can happen.”

Interview

Q: The Headmistress of Rosemere is the second book of a series — do you have a common theme or message throughout the Whispers on the Moors series?

I have always loved the Regency period, and I think that a lot of readers (including myself) have a pre-conceived notion of what a Regency heroine should be like. So I really wanted to challenge that – I wanted to explore what would happen if a typically Regency lady went against traditional societal expectations.So when I approached the book in this series I asked myself, “What would a young woman in the Regency period not do?”And the series was born by answering that single question!

WHY EARLS FALL IN LOVE - INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR MANDA COLLINS

Hello and welcome at FLY HIGH,  Manda. It’s a great pleasure to have the chance to present you and your new spellbinding novel,   “Why Earls Fall in Love” to my readers, since they are always so interested in historical fiction!  Could you tell us something about your heroine,  Georgina?

Georgina Mowbray is the daughter of an Army officer. She’s also the widow of an Army officer. As such, she has been used to living a very structured lifestyle. And she is very firmly ensconced in the middle class. But, when she becomes friends with Isabella and Perdita—both wealthy aristocrats—she is thrust into the world of the ton. She still, however, must earn a living, so at the beginning of the book we see her in her new position as companion to the wealthy Lady Russell. Who just so happens to be the aunt of our hero—Dominic, Earl of Coniston.

Georgie is disciplined, level-headed, and above all resilient. She will bounce back no matter what befalls her.

Is she inspired to any other literary heroine you admire?

Not any one heroine in particular, no. But while I was writing, I kept thinking of her as being very similar to the real-life character of Florence Nightingale, who was also very disciplined and resilent. Though she had a very unhappy love life,  and I was happy to be able to improve on that.

CLEAR YOUR SHELF GIVEWAY HOP - WIN JULIA QUINN'S HISTORICAL ROMANCES! 2 WINNERS - 4 BOOKS

Welcome to another great event! I must have already told you about this and I hope you don't mind if I repeat myself. I just want to explain the reason of my taking part in this kind of giveaway hops.

I'm sure you know how much I love reading and collecting books. I know many people who are jealous of their books and, actually, I am quite jealous of  mine, too. However, what I love much more than to keep them on my shelves and dust them - I've got several hundreds of them kept in every room of my house and go on receiving new ones every day-   is to spread the love for books and reading. So, to that purpose, I'm always glad to lend them to family and friends or give them away. Hence, more than"operation clean your shelf", which sounds something like "let's get rid of bad stuff", my contribution to this giveaway hop is more "let's spread the love"!

Many thanks to Inspired Kathy at  I Am A Reader, not A Writer  and Mary at BookHounds for hosting this Giveaway Hop.

SPOTLIGHT ON PHILIPPA JANE KEYWORTH'S THE WIDOW'S REDEEMER

Philippa Jane Keyworth's debut novel is out today: The Widow's Redeemer.  If you like me, love historical fiction novels, you are invited to discover more about her Regency novel and about herself. Read the excerpt, watch  her video presentation and visit her links. Enjoy!

Book Blurb

“Does she have no thought to propriety?”

“No, aunt, I cannot lie to you. I do not think she does.”

A penniless young widow with an indomitable spirit. A wealthy viscount with an unsavory reputation.

London, 1815: After her husband’s untimely death, Letty Burton comes up from the country with her domineering mother-in-law. Hiding a past she wishes to forget and facing an uncertain future, all she wants is to navigate London Society as a silent companion. A chance meeting with London’s most eligible bachelor sets in motion a series of events that will bring her quiet life under the unfriendly scrutiny of the ton. With the net of scandal, debts, and rivals closing in, will she let her dark past dictate her life forever? Will she learn to trust again? And most importantly, will she allow herself to love?

GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT - TERESA BOHANNON, SHADOWS IN A TIMELESS MYTH & OTHER BOOKS

Teresa Bohannon was my guest last week for an interesting interview about writing and about her latest release. If you've missed it,  CLICK HERE to catch up.

The giveaway contest linked to that guestpost is over and I'm here to announce the name of the winner, of course. But first, the prizes.Teresa suggested that the readers who entered the giveaway could choose which one of her books they wanted as a prize. Here are the 3 items offered (e-book version.

Book Presentations from Amazon.com Kindle Store

.1. Shadows in A Timeless Myth 
The Lindsey Mountain Massacre was the stuff of legend—the spine chilling, wicked-cruel kind of story that evil-humored folk like to share on a dark and moonless night. It held all the makings of a fine and frightful tale, a blustering blizzard of a winter storm, a candlelit, backwoods mansion in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a Christmas Eve celebration in the year of nineteen and one, good folk killed by a vengeful haint... or a rabid bear—depending on who was doing the telling. Truth be told, no one ever really found out exactly what did happen or why, nor even realized just how far from the truth all their old stories fell...'til more than a century later, when folks 'round Lindsey started mysteriously disappearing and dying...and the ancient ones returned. 

From the nevermore mists, lost among dark realms of nothingness and myriad points of twinkling light, in a place that had never really been before or since, the Fates appeared, and with caprice and whimsy created all that followed as unscripted players on a stage designed for no more mind or purpose than to lessen the burdens that neverending eons of time lay upon the creators themselves. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: TERESA BOHANNON , SHADOWS IN A TIMELESS MYTH

Teresa Thomas Bohannon is a published author, web designer, hosting & domain provider & (occasional) internet marketing consultant. Teresa founded Spun Silk Web Design in December of 1995 as one of the first free standing female owned web design firms in the country. As of late, Teresa has returned to her roots, utilizing the exciting new world of online publishing to present a backlog of original novels and short stories to the world--beginning with A Very Merry Chase--a Regency romance novel which she originally wrote some 35 years ago.
In late 2011 she published Shadows In A Timeless Myth a Paranormal Historical Fantasy/Romance/Horror Novel  Teresa holds an MA in history--with a haphazardly obtained--concentration in women's studies. In addition, she is the Director of Human Resources for a non-profit agency. Teresa's personal cause is revitalizing literacy by reading "with" children.

There is a giveaway contest linked to this post. It is open internationally. You can choose  either a copy of  Shadows In A Timeless Myth, A Very Merry Chase, or Teresa's  illustrated version of Jane Austen's The Widow's Tale (Pdf or Kindle version with personalized dedication). Please express your choices in your comment and don't forget to add your e-mail address. The name of the winner will be announced on 13th February.

Welcome on FLY HIGH! Teresa and thanks for accepting to answer my questions. This is my first one: it took you so long and now you’ve finally published, Shadows in a Timeless Myth.  What has the complex journey towards publication left to you/meant to you?

Writing has always been a personal touchstone in my life, it gave me the strength to believe in myself when believing seemed almost impossible. I've had several short stories and other items published; but publishing books in general—and this one in particular—was always the light at the end of the tunnel for me...the personal goal I've held most dear.

.It seems not easy to define the genre of your book.  Have you decided which is the best connotation among historical fiction, horror, paranormal, fantasy romance? 

Shadows actually fits well in several categories. It's a horror novel set in modern day Appalachia, however that's just the the stage where my characters play in their current incarnation. It is also largely historical fantasy.  I love women's history, and my original

INTERVIEW WITH ELIZABETH HANBURY, HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVELIST + BOOK GIVEAWAY

Elizabeth Hanbury is the author of two historical romance novels, one short story romance anthology and a contributor to another short story collection along with authors Nell Dixon and Phillipa Ashley: Brief Encounters    She has been a finalist for Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon award, with her novel being described by the RNA as ‘a thoroughly lovely read. The quality of the writing lifts it into a different class.’  
Elizabeth writes Regency-set novels that appeal to a wide-range of readers. She lives in a village in the heart of the English countryside and writes romance whenever she can find time to sneak away to her desk.  She is a member of the RNA and the Historical Novel Society. Here's my interview with her. Enjoy and leave your comments to enter the giveaway of 2 e-books for readers out of the UK and a paperback for UK readers of  BRIEF ENCOUNTERS. Don't forget to add your e-mail address and to specify what country you write from. The giveaway ends  on January 23rd.

AUTHOR GUESTPOST & GIVEAWAY - CHARLOTTE FROST ON SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON, A PHYSICIAN AND COURTIER IN THE REGENCY ERA

Ready for a journey back to the years of Jane Austen's  and Lord Byron's England? Today's guest is Charlotte Frost.  

Charlotte is a post-grad who,  after years of anonymous, behind-the-scenes work for history projects, decided to put her name on a book cover. The result is Sir William Knighton. The Strange Career of a Regency Physician, a biography of George IV's influential, enigmatic courtier. She accepted to present this fascinating character and her research here on FLY HIGH! Enjoy her piece and try to win her book. The details of the giveaway contest are at the end of the post. Read them carefully, there are three copies of the book for you!