Wacky Wednesday: A VISIT WITH LUCINDA BRANT, author of SALT BRIDE

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed a fabulous Georgian Historical Romance by a new author to me, Lucinda Brant - the book was SALT BRIDE. If you haven't read my review, please CLICK HERE, but then hurry back because Lucinda is joining me today all the way from New Zealand and she's giving away an ecopy of her fabulous Georgian Romance - SALT BRIDE.

Lucinda Brant is an interesting person with a delightful sense of humor as demonstrated by her claim that "in a previous life I died at the guillotine during the French Revolution (reason for the migraines in this life). Hence, all my novels are set in 1700's England or France but well before 1789!" She writes full-time when "not bumping about Georgian London in my sedan chair or exchanging gossip with perfumed and patched courtiers in the gilded drawing rooms of Versailles." To learn more about Lucinda and her booklist, please visit her website.

I'm very pleased that Lucinda has consented to take time away from her busy life to spend some time with us. I know I'm a new fan of hers and I hope, after today, you will be too. Please join me in welcoming Lucinda Brant to UNWRAPPING ROMANCE.

Amy: Hi Lucinda, It's such a delight to have you here with us today.

Lucinda: It's lovely to be here!

Amy: Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know you yet.

Lucinda: I write Georgian Historical Romances and Historical Mysteries, which I call crimances (crime with lashings of romance). I’ve published seven novels to date. Until this year, I taught History and Geography at an exclusive boarding school for young ladies. My writing has allowed me to “retire” early to write full time.

Amy: SALT BRIDE is an extraordinary and very intriguing Georgian historical romance. I was hooked literally from the first page. It is very timely to modern issues in its subject matter, where did you get your inspiration for it and for your books overall?

Lucinda: Thank you! I’m so pleased you enjoyed Jane and Salt’s journey to their Happily Ever After.

Inspiration can come from any number of places. Sometimes it’s while I’m researching—I have a library dedicated to the eighteenth century—I’ll read a tidbit about a person or an event that sparks my imagination. One of the best sources is Horace Walpole’s letters, which span much of the eighteenth century. They are a wonderful historical repository and are full of societal gossip.

I don’t want to spoil SALT BRIDE for those who have not read it, but let me just say that Diana St. John is obsessed with the Earl of Salt Hendon and driven by this obsession to do terrible things to Jane because she loves Salt, and to her own son. Obviously, she is not a mentally well woman but Society remains oblivious because publicly she acts within the parameters of normality.

I suppose a modern-day parallel is the über-obsessed fan of a celebrity. The über-fan has a normal life, but their obsession leads to extreme behavior: Stalking, breaking and entering, threatening the celebrity’s family members. The über-fan is convinced that if they could influence circumstance, the object of their obsession would feel the same way about them.

Not only is Diana St. John obsessed with the Earl of Salt Hendon, she also suffers from what modern society has labeled Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP). It is a psychological problem and an attention-seeking behavior. The syndrome can be life threatening for a child.

Amy: As I was reading, I kept hoping she was going to get hers - fortunately, without giving away too much, she does and it helps make the Happily-Ever-After that much more satisfying. I very much enjoyed the character of Tom Allenby, have you considered telling his story and giving him a happily-ever-after?

Lucinda: Tom is a lovely young man, isn’t he? I can see why you would want to have his story told. I don’t have plans to write his story specifically but you’ll be pleased that he does make a reappearance in my next book.

Due to the overwhelming number of requests I’ve received, I am presently writing the sequel to SALT BRIDE, the story of Sir Antony Templestowe and Lady Caroline Sinclair and their eventual Happily Ever After. I say eventual, because as with all my novels, the character have a few emotional mountains to climb and issues to sort through before their HEA.

Amy:  That's wonderful news, for Antony was most certainly one of my favorites and destined for Caroline but as we all know the course of true love never runs smoothly so ... I'm looking forward to Antony and Caroline's story. It's obvious that you do a lot of research reading in order to create such historically accurate back-stories for your wonderful novels. What authors and genres do you enjoy for relaxing reading?

Lucinda: Historians I most admire, and whose hardcovers are in my library, are John Brewer, Amanda Vickery, Stella Tillyard, George Rude, Roy Porter, and Antonia Fraser. As well as my large collection of books dedicated to the 18^th Century, I now collect eBooks of primary sources. Having ebooks of these sources makes it so easy to search for specific items, dates and people. For instance, I can easily search Horace Walpole’s letters for a particular place, time or person. I know, for instance, that the January of 1763 was such a bitterly cold winter that the Thames River froze over. I love to pepper my stories with such tidbits of historical information.

When I am between books or need a break from researching, I enjoy a good Italian detective story. Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano series set in present day Sicily is one of my all time favorites.

Amy:  Sounds like you have a library worth visiting. Have any of your favorite authors had any creative effect on your writing or writing style?

Lucinda: As a teenager, I devoured Jean Plaidy’s novels. I also read the classics, Jane Austen being my all-time favorite author; Henry James, George Eliot and Tolstoy are also favorites. At university, I was introduced to the incomparable Georgette Heyer. I wrote NOBLE SATYR as homage to Heyer, and readers have honored me with the comparison to Heyer, which is incredibly humbling.

Amy:  A well rounded bibliography if ever I saw one. I can see the comparison to Heyer very easily. Obviously, you have a great love for the Georgian period. Would you ever consider a foray into another period or even a different romance genre?

Lucinda: I have so many stories still to write in the Georgian period, that I am happy to remain living in the Eighteenth Century. : - )

Amy:  Last question, my favorite to ask authors. Lucinda, if you could be ANY character in ANY book, which character would it be and why?

Lucinda: Wow! What a wonderful question, and difficult to answer.

My immediate thought was for one of my own characters because they inhabit the Eighteenth Century. If I had to choose one it would be the fifth Duke of Roxton. He is all-powerful, handsome, super wealthy, dresses in the most swoon-worthy black silks and is as arrogant as they come. He is also at the top of Eighteenth Century Societal pecking order so can come and go as he pleases. He also marries my next favorite character, Antonia, who is featured in all three of my Roxton Series.

If not the Duke of Roxton or his Duchess, then it would have to be Baroness Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel. Witty and urbane, Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life, as the Scarlet Pimpernel he risks his life to rescue French Aristocrats from the horrors of the dastardly French Revolution and its machine of mass murder the Guillotine. What a Georgian Super hero!

Amy:  Well, there is no doubt in my mind that I have to hit your backlist and catch up. I'd love to meet these characters.  I understand you'd like to offer up a Giveaway - my dear readers, this is one book you want to read if you love fascinating storylines and Georgian historical romance.

Lucinda:  For a chance to win an eBook of SALT BRIDE,

please tell me which is your favorite historical era and why.

 

Amy:  I'm not included in the Giveaway but my favorite historical era is the time surrounding the Georgian era only on my side of the Atlantic. I love our Colonial history, the history of pirates on the high seas of the Carribbean and the excitement of a new country. I wish there were more romances written with American heroes and heroines. Gee, maybe that's why I'm writing them. LOL!

Lucinda, it has been an absolute delight having you here today. I've enjoyed myself immensely and thank you again for the opportunity to read your wonderful story. I hope all of my readers will check out your book list and try one of your extraordinary stories for themselves. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work and perhaps when it's time to send Antony and Caroline's story into the world, you'll come back and visit again.

 

Lucinda:  Thank you so much for hosting me, Amy. It’s been a real pleasure.

 

Amy:  Well, my dears, you heard our lovely guest, Lucinda Brant, she's offering up an eBook of SALT BRIDE, a Georgian Romance to ONE LUCKY COMMENTER.

 
                        *                       *                      *                      *                     *

GIVEAWAY RULES:   THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!  Thanks for entering!

*YOU MUST LEAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT TO BE ENTERED.

COMMENT + EMAIL ADDRESS = ENTRY

* THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO EVERYONE - INTERNATIONAL INCLUDED (except where prohibited by law, of course)
* THIS GIVEAWAY WILL RUN UNTIL 11:30PM EDT, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2012.
* ONE LUCKY COMMENTER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM TO WIN.
*WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL AND THEIR NAME WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN A SPECIAL POST ON SATURDAY.  GOOD LUCK!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

Blurb for SALT BRIDE:

When the Earl of Salt Hendon marries squire’s daughter Jane Despard, Society is aghast. But Jane and Lord Salt share a secret past of mistrust, heartache and misery. Four years on, they are forced into a marriage neither wants; the Earl to honor a dying man’s wish; Jane to save her stepbrother from financial ruin. Beautiful inside and out, the patient and ever optimistic Jane believes love conquers all; the Earl will take some convincing. Enter Diana St. John, who has been living in a fool’s paradise believing she would be the next Countess of Salt Hendon. She will go to extreme lengths, even murder, to hold the Earl’s attention. Can the newlyweds overcome past prejudices and sinister opposition to fall in love all over again?

Happy Reading Everyone!

SALT BRIDE by Lucinda Brant, Sprigleaf Publishing, now available in print and ebook formats.
If you'd like to learn more about Lucinda and her works, please visit her website, and please follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest (she's got some awesome boards).