This month I have the pleasure of interviewing fellow, former Avalon author, Sarah Richmond. It is always so much fun to share a friend's story and Sarah has a wonderful one to tell you about. Be sure to leave a comment below in order to be entered into the drawing for an eBook or signed paperback (US readers only) copy of A Perilous Proposal.
Tracey: I think every author has something that propelled them into a writing career. What inspired you to become a writer?
Sarah: What propelled me into a writing career? I love making stuff up. I love taking an idea and expanding it with a what if? Most of the what ifs are crazy and nonsensical which can be fun. Or just crazy.
Tracey: Readers love to hear about our quirky writing habits. Can you tell us a little bit about yours? Sarah: I write with my corgi lying across my feet. He seems to know better that I that the book doesn't get written unless I'm sitting in front of the computer.
Tracey: You were a Peace Corps volunteer; that must have been a wonderful experience. Can you share a bit about how this enriched your life?
Sarah: When I graduated from the University of Michigan, I wanted to see the world. The Peace Corps allowed me to spend time in Africa. The experience turned out to be life changing since I married my husband there in the Presbyterian church of Nairobi.
Tracey: How has faith inspired your writing?
Sarah: My faith teaches there is good in everybody and love heals all wounds. I think those principles are important in characterization because the heroine and hero are often struggling with redemption and forgiveness. Which creates conflict. Which makes a good story.
Tracey: What one piece of advice would you share with an aspiring writer?
Sarah: One piece of advice, which I received in my first writing class from teacher Marion Jones, is this: don't give up. You don't know if the next submission is the one that sells the book. Marion gave us a picture of a boa constrictor wrapped around a mongoose who has her teeth into the boa's back. The copy states: Never give up. I still have that picture.
Tracey: A Perilous Proposal is such a great book title! Where did the idea for the book come from?
Sarah: A Perilous Proposal wasn't the original title. I submitted the manuscript as The Milliner's Apprentice. We were in Portugal with friends when the email came that TWRP had accepted the work but with a title change. Every book needs to have conflict inherent in the title: The Reluctant Duke, for example, The Secret Diary of Miss Miranda Cheever, etc. I was trying to think of a good conflict that hadn't been used over and over. I came up with A Precarious Proposal but it still wasn't quite right. Precarious didn't fit the character's dilemma. I decided on A Perilous Proposal. I decided the word perilous referred to both plot points and the romance. The name described both the external and internal conflict which involves pitting the heroine against a powerful man in court. The internal conflict involves risking her heart to love the hero. Happily, my editor agreed.
Edmund Caruthers is a man with all the answers, comfortable in his own circle, and confident in his profession as a junior barrister with ambition to wear the silks of a King's Counsel. Born to privilege, he loves to gamble with the old money heirs at his club.
A milliner's apprentice, Dolly Wycliffe pursues her dream to make fashionable ladies' hats, but her earnings cannot support her widowed mother and siblings. She seeks legal council to sue a powerful English peer for the wrongful death of her father who was in his lordship's employ. Everyone including Edmund turns her down. The death has been ruled an accident and there is nothing he can do. The old boys at Edmund's club agree and bet he can't loosen the purse strings of a titled gentleman, especially with a shop girl as a client. With a sizable wager at stake, Edmund decides to prove them wrong.
Edmund and Dolly uncover a dastardly plot that suggests her father's death was not an accident, but murder. Together the risk ridicule and ruin to prove their suspicions are true.
Dear Readers,
Come take a journey with me to Edwardian England and the
American West where feisty heroines and the men they love find adventure along
with their happily ever after.
The question I’m asked the most is what I’m working on now.
This summer I’m in the middle of a three book series of historical mysteries
set in 1910-1912 London, England. I’m
having so much fun writing about murder and villains. I hope readers will like
the books.
I welcome your comments. Let me know what you are reading
and what kinds of books you like.
With thanks,
Sarah
http://www.amazon.com/Perilous-Proposal-House-Caruthers-ebook/dp/B01BOBISU2/ Website: http://www.sarahrichmond.com
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Twitter: @srichmondwriter
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