I am very pleased to be tagged for The Next Big Thing by Karen Aminadra, and
to get to know Karen better.
I will tag other authors, they will answer questions about their coming work, tag other authors, and so it goes...
For now,
I am called upon to answer questions about my next big thing - the sequel to my B.R.A.G.
Medallion winner,
Rebel Puritan.
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| The Reputed Wife |
What is your working title of your book?
The Reputed Wife is the sequel to Rebel Puritan, the first book in my A Scandalous
Life series about Herodias Long. Both
phrases come from 1665 Rhode Island court documents regarding Herodias’ divorce
request after twenty years of pretended marriage. She was referred to as George Gardner’s ‘reputed
wife’ and they were admonished not to ‘lead soe scandalose a life.’
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I wrote Rebel Puritan years after
finding my 8th-great grandmother Herodias Long in my genealogy. She is notorious for her marital escapades, of
which we modern folk would take no notice.
However, Herodias was whipped in Boston for protesting even harsher
sentences carried out against the Quakers, and that makes her a heroine in my
eyes. The Reputed Wife is about that episode, Herodias’ messy
relationship with George Gardner, and struggles between New England’s Puritans
and their liberal neighbors in Rhode Island.
What genre does your book fall under?
Historical fiction, biographical fiction, or fictional history. Rebel Puritan
has been called all three, but I describe it
as historical fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I describe my series as “Scarlett O’Hara meets The Scarlet Letter.” Naturally, Herodias Long will be played by
Scarlett Johansson. Herod’s first
husband, John Hicks, should be played by Colin Firth as in “Shakespeare in Love,”
though he has to lose the pearl earring.
George Gardner, Herod’s second husband must be Harrison Ford in “Witness.”
Ooh, la la! Herod’s third
husband was John Porter, who was old enough to be her father. Sean Connery has proven that older men can be
deliciously sexy.
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| Whipping Quakers |
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
I'm going to take two sentences to ask, How far would you go to defend
religious freedom? Herodias Gardner
walked sixty miles to protest the abuse of Quakers, only to face Boston’s
whipping post herself.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
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| Neverest Press |
Like Rebel Puritan, I will
self-publish The Reputed Wife through
my Neverest Press.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Eighteen months. I’m in the final
tweak phase, and will send the mss to the printer in January.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Anya Seton’s The Winthrop Woman is
by far the best example. Ms. Seton’s
works are a delicious blend of fiction, history and biography, and my love of
them inspired me to try writing my own historical novel.
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| Rebel Puritan |
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Herodias Long and her bold, scandalous life, of course. When I read entries about Herod in Rhode
Island’s court records, I wondered why nobody had written about her. I wrote Rebel
Puritan as the book I wanted to read.
The Reputed Wife continues
Herod’s story.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Accused witches weren’t the only innocent persons hanged by Puritans, and some horrific acts are contained in Reputed Wife as the Puritans sought to preserve their religious and political purity. Hanging witches weren't their only method, but some of their highly controversial acts have been forgotten. By the way, I searched Rhode Island's records for witchcraft incidents, but there are none. Zero! The Rhode Islanders were outcasts from Puritan colonies, and that made them much more sensible than their Puritan neighbors.
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have
tagged.
I thank Karen Aminadra for tagging me, and for now I have tagged Ellen Marie Wiseman. I'm on the prowl for others to tag, and I hope that
you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Karen is the author of Charlotte: Pride and Prejudice Continues, Life and Loves, and Relative Deceit, which is hot off the presses!
http://kaminadra.blogspot.co.uk/
Ellen Marie Wiseman is also the author of a hot-off-the-presses book, The Plum Tree. I've read this Holocaust story, and heartily recommend it. She will post her answers on December 17th.
http://www.bookpregnant.blogspot.com/
Message for the tagged authors and interested others:
Rules of the Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.
Be sure to line up your five people in advance.
Izzy’s new foster home. It will soon be demolished, and when Izzy’s foster
parents are tapped to document the patients’ lives from what they left behind –
suitcases, photographs, and diaries – they ask Izzy to help. The diary of Clara
Cartwright, an eighteen-year old girl committed by her parents in 1930, for little
more than willfulness, provides Izzy with a window into her own mother’s
struggles, and ultimately transforms the girl’s life.
