Wednesday 17 July 2013

Talking With Grace - Judith Arnopp interviews author Grace Elliot




I am delighted to be joined by Grace Elliot today. Grace leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. She lives near London and is passionate about history, romance and cats! As well as everything else she still manages to find the time to write. “Verity’s Lie” is Grace’s fourth novel and it is that she is here to speak to us about today.


Hi Grace
Thank you for gracing us with your presence (lol, see what I did there?) I know that my readers will want to hear all about your forthcoming book release but first, can you tell us something about your background?

Thank you, Judith, I’m honoured to visit and excited to chat with your readers.

I live in the UK and I have two passions: history and cats - which is fortunate because as well as writing historical romance, I’m also a veterinarian. These two occupations aren’t as strange as they sound. Most veterinarians are sensitive, creative people, who are also trained observers – which could also be the definition of a writer! 

I live near London in a state of organised chaos consisting of five cats, one husband, a bearded
dragon and two sons – the eldest of whom is an art student and forever filling the house with large paintings of people with no clothes on! My ideal evening would be to settle down to a good book (BTW, readers - I can highly recommend Judith’s, The Winchester Goose!!), with a glass of red wine and a cat on my lap.

Thank you for the plug Grace. What made you want to be a writer? What did your early efforts look like? Are they still around to be used as bribes and blackmail material?

I’ve always had an inner drive to be creative. When I was newly qualified I drew and painted to relax, but with the demands of career and young family my hobbies gradually went by the wayside. It was at a school reunion and friends reminiscing about my stories written for homework being read out to a hushed class, that I recalled the joy of writing. That evening I went home and drafted a short story – and there’s been barely a day passed since, that I haven’t written something.

My first full length fiction was inspired by the cottage I pass on my walk to work.  A Victorian lady artist once lived there and it triggered me to write a novel loosely based on her struggle to have an art career in male dominated society. I sent the manuscript to Georgette Heyer’s publisher who was kind enough to reply and say he liked the story a lot. This gave me the confidence to move forward and,  to be honest that novel is languishing on my laptop – I’ve no idea whether it’s good or bad, but there are too many other stories jostling to be told to go back instead of forward. 

I always like to ask a writer about the place where they write. I think the atmosphere and things an author has around them in their creative space can speak volumes, so tell us about yours.


As a writer I need silence – although the soft snoring of a slightly overweight cat is an exception to the rule. I don’t have a specific place to write other than whichever room is the most peaceful (and the overweight cat, Widget, will follow). I usually end up sitting with my laptop on an old leopard print sofa-bed, beneath a window in our dining room. This has the advantage of not being near the television (and is coincidentally quite close to the cat biscuits for Widget).

It is easy to see why 'everybody wants to be a cat.' You are pretty well established now as an author but there must have been challenges. Tell us about the obstacles you encountered on your journey and how you overcame them.

My biggest obstacle as a writer is time – or rather, lack of it. As a working mother with a house to keep in order, finding the time to write can be quite a challenge.  One solution is to shun the TV. It’s amazing how much dead time you can claw back simply by avoiding watching soaps or getting hooked on a series. I write every day,  my target is to type for at least 20 minutes and if the muse hasn’t appeared at the end of this time, I’m allowed to give in gracefully. However, what usually happens is that I become so engrossed in the regency world that the minutes turn into hours and I look up from the screen to find my husband and sons have gone to bed! 

Yes, I'd agree. Time is precious. Sometimes I worry I don't have enough years left to write all the books that are in my head! Some writers I know get little or no support from family and friends, is it like that for you or do you have a strong army behind you? 

I’d say somewhere in between. My husband sometimes gets jealous of the time I spend writing – but that’s a good thing, in that he misses my company – right? He hasn’t read my books because he only reads non-fiction, which is OK because he still tells everyone that will listen my work is awesome!  My eldest son is an avid fan. He has read my books and totally gets ‘where I’m coming from.’ He’s an art student and is used to observing the world and transcribing it into paint – and he loves the visual images created by my words – sometimes he asks me to talk in the manner I write, just for the fun of it. 

Tell us about your forthcoming release and why we should all drop everything and go out and buy it.

‘Verity’s Lie’ is the third book in the Huntley Trilogy, but a standalone read in its own right. It is the story of the eldest Huntley brother, Charles, Lord Ryevale.
Charles Huntley, Lord Ryevale, infamous rogue…and government agent.
In unsettled times, with England at war with France, Ryevale is assigned to covertly protect a politician’s daughter, Miss Verity Verrinder. To keep Verity under his watchful eye, Ryevale plots a campaign of seduction that no woman can resist– except, it seems, Miss Verrinder. In order to gain her trust Ryevale enters Verity’s world of charity meetings and bookshops…where the unexpected happens and he falls in love with his charge.
When Lord Ryevale turns his bone-melting charms on her, Verity questions his lordship’s motivation. But with her controlling father abroad, Verity wishes to explore London and reluctantly accepts Ryevale’s companionship. As the compelling attraction between them strengthens, Verity is shattered to learn her instincts are correct after all – and Ryevale is not what he seems. So if Lord Ryevale can lie, so can she… with disastrous consequences.
As to why you should read it…in a word ‘escapism’. If you want to lose yourself in the rich setting of the regency world, with sexual tension a plenty and a heroine  seeking the truth behind the hero’s lies - then this is the book for you.  

Well, that has just about sold it to me, and the cover is lovely. If you are anything like me, you will already have another plot knocking on the door. Is there anything in the pipeline, a sequel or pre-quel perhaps?


I’m now in the exciting position of working on a new series and have gone back further in time to the 1770’s. This time the common thread is not a family but the setting – the Foxhall Pleasure Gardens. I want to explore writing historical romance between characters who work for a living, and so the Foxhall series is based on the people who work at, and visit, Foxhall.

Book one, “The Ringmaster’s Daughter” is steaming along nicely. This tells the story of the manager tasked with making Foxhall profitable and the ringmaster’s daughter battling to save their livelihood.

It sounds really fascinating. Do keep us informed of your progress and I hope you will come back for another visit when they are published. In the meantime we can all amuse ourselves reading Verity's Lie.


  Verity’s Lie - Synopsis
Charles Huntley, Lord Ryevale, infamous rogue…and government agent.
In unsettled times, with England at war with France, Ryevale is assigned to covertly protect a politician’s daughter, Miss Verity Verrinder. To keep Verity under his watchful eye, Ryevale plots a campaign of seduction that no woman can resist– except it seems, Miss Verrinder. In order to gain her trust Ryevale enters Verity’s world of charity meetings and bookshops…where the unexpected happens and he falls in love with his charge.
When Lord Ryevale turns his bone-melting charms on her, Verity questions his lordship’s motivation. But with her controlling father abroad, Verity wishes to explore London and reluctantly accepts Ryevale’s companionship. As the compelling attraction between them strengthens, Verity is shattered to learn her instincts are correct after all – and Ryevale is not what he seems. So if Lord Ryevale can lie, so can she… with disastrous consequences.

BUY LINKS


Amazon.uk      http://amzn.to/12aEqI6
Links:
Subscribe to Grace’s quarterly newsletter here:  http://bit.ly/V7T6Jd
Grace’s blog ‘Fall in Love With History’  http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com
Website:          http://graceelliot.wix.com/grace-elliot
Grace on Twitter:        @Grace_Elliot

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for chatting with me, Judith - it's been a ball!
    Grace x

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was fun Grace, looking forward to chatting again when your next book comes out -better get started! :D

    ReplyDelete