Today we're visiting with author Hazel Statham on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the historical romance novel, "For Love of Sarah".
Thank you to Hazel for answering all my prying questions.
Why do you write in your genre?
As a long time student of history it is what I know and love, therefore it is most natural for me to write in these eras and I can create my own historical world populated by characters I can empathize with.
What draws you to it?
I love the romance and elegance of the Regency and Georgian eras and it is to these that I am particularly drawn, although, if inspiration drove me, I would not be averse to writing in other periods.
What research is required?
I read a great deal and have several reference books - especially of the Napoleonic Wars. I try to be as accurate in my historical detail as I can and make the story fit the fact not the fact fit the story. Several of my books have heroes returned from the Peninsular War. THE PORTRAIT, released two days later than FOR LOVE OF SARAH, has a hero that has lost his arm during a cannon bombardment. Nonetheless, it is a lighthearted book and I don’t dwell on the macabre. Above all, my books are love stories.
Name one thing you learned from your hero or heroine.
Despite whatever life may throw at them, they emerge triumphant and whole of heart.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I can sometimes, if the muse strikes, rise at midnight and start writing into the small hours. But, I don’t think it’s odd - to me it’s perfectly normal!
Are you a plotter or pantser?
Oh, a panster, most definitely a panster! I usually have a general idea of where I want the story to go but am quite willing to let my characters dictate their own tale – which, at times, can take the story off at a most unexpected tangent, adding interest and depth to the plot. It’s like watching a play unfold.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
A stone fireplace with a knight either side of the fire. One wields a sword, the other a lance. On the mantle, there are two, large, Beswick horses on stands. One Mr. Fisk, the other Black Beauty.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I have been very lucky and have just had a very productive two months. In December, DOMINIC and HIS SHADOWED HEART were re-released as e-books and in January, FOR LOVE OF SARAH and THE PORTRAIT were released as e-books and paperbacks. My current work in progress is tentatively titled THE HONORABLE HEART, but is nowhere near completion.
Do you have a question for our readers?
More I would say that I am more than happy to answer any reader’s questions. I love to hear from my readers and promise to answer everyone. I hope they enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them.
How many times can a heart be broken? How many times can love be denied? Sarah and Alexander were destined for each other but after just four short weeks of marriage, their lives were torn asunder.
Alexander, Earl of Thorne thought he had found his ideal mate but, when Sarah absconded shortly after their marriage, his world came crashing down. Now, five years later, he discovers her in a remote Yorkshire village.
Sarah had thought she was safe, but when, severely injured in a freak accident, her husband is thrust once more into her life, she fears her dark secrets and the fact she has a son, will become known.
Despite her own desperate longings, she continually repudiates Alexander’s efforts of reconciliation. However, fate conspires against her, and when her home is made uninhabitable by floods, she and her young son are forced to accept his aid and return to her former home.
Discovery threatens and, despite her breaking heart, she plans to leave Alexander’s life. What is this secret that makes it so imperative that she should abscond from him yet again? Can two broken hearts cleave and emerge victorious or will life's cruel forces tear them apart forever?
Yorkshire, June, 1815
Why now? Dear God, why now? After almost five years of schooling his body and mind from wanting her, the mere sight of her slight form across the crowded marketplace had brought back all the old emotions he’d worked so desperately to subdue, and he reeled with the impact.
He’d thought the stance of the young woman was familiar, as he had on numerous occasions, only to be disappointed, but when she moved into full view by the bakery stall, he immediately realized that it truly was his wife. Sarah, his senses cried, sweet, faithless Sarah. They had been wed but four weeks when she disappeared from his home and life. To find her now in a remote Yorkshire village defied all sense.
His impulse was to confront her immediately, but as he moved to tether his horse to the rail outside the smithy, the blacksmith came out to take the beast from him.
“Lost his shoe, has he, sir?” the man asked, casting an appreciative eye over the large chestnut. “Fine animal, if I might say so…”
Thrusting the reins into the smithy’s hands, Alexander Markham, Earl of Thorne, snapped, “Left side, fore,” effectively cutting short the blacksmith’s appraisal of his mount, and, turning on his heel, left the man to stare after him as he made his way into the throng of people in the marketplace.
Despite his advantage of height, he could see no sign of his wife. She had moved from the stall—but to where? Becoming frustrated with the press of people that milled around him, he strode toward the centre where the ground rose to provide a vantage point, but to no avail. Sarah was nowhere in view, and he began to doubt his own perception.
Hazel Statham began writing at the age of fifteen, finally committing to paper the stories she spun as a child. Writing has been her passion ever since, although marriage, motherhood, and career left time for little else. Once she retired, however, she was able to devote herself to writing full-time, publishing her first novel in 2007. A long time student of history, she writes mainly in the Regency and Georgian eras, though she has been known to dabble in the medieval as well. She lives in Staffordshire, England, with her husband, Terry, and their beloved yellow Labrador, Mollie.
Hazel loves to hear from her readers and promises to answer all mail.
Website address www.hazel-statham.co.uk
Purchase links (available from all Amazon domains)
Amazon.co.uk
Paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/For-Love-Sarah-Hazel-statham/dp/1612186831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344777843&sr=8-1
Kindle http://www.amazon.co.uk/For-Love-Sarah-ebook/dp/B008RBTPZ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1344778014&sr=1-1
Amazon.com
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/For-Love-Sarah-Hazel-Statham/dp/1612186831/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1344778163&sr=8-1
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/For-Love-Sarah-ebook/dp/B008RBTPZ0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1344778163&sr=8-1
Many thanks for hosting me today. It is very much appreciated and I look forward to comments
ReplyDeletefrom your visitors.
Hazel
Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about the regency era. This story sounds really fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThere is something of mystery and danger about Sarah and Alexander's story but there is also a love than cannot, despite all attempts, be denied.
ReplyDeleteHazel
The blurb is so interesting. I'm wondering what is keeping them apart.
ReplyDeletestrive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com
Ah, that would be telling:-) Fraid you willl have to read the book to find out:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win such a beautiful necklace.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Everyone who stops by on the tour and leaves a comment has the chance to win as the winner is chosen completely at random.
DeleteThat's great it's easy for your to write in these eras.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(Dot)com
I think I was born in the wrong century:-)
Deleteloved the excerpt.
ReplyDeletepatoct@yahoo.com
It's just the beginning of a rekindled romance of two people who were destined to be together.
ReplyDeleteLove this and can´t wait for my chance to read more! =)
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday!
//Linda
fr_larsson at hotmail dot com
Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Delete