A Novel Conversation with Anna Belfrage and Matthew Graham

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To be a little different from the usual 
'meet the author' 

let's meet a 
character...

Matthew Graham

from
(and celebrating Anna's
gorgeous new cover!)

Q: Hello, I’m Helen, host of Novel Conversations, please do make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee, wine – something stronger? You’ll find a box of chocolates and a bowl of fruit on the table next to you, please do help yourself. I believe you are a character in Anna Belfrage’s novel A Rip in the Veil. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead character or a supporting role?  

A: Dear Mistress Hollick, it is an honour to visit with you. My name is Matthew Graham, and I do believe we have met on previous occasions. (Extends long, long legs and crosses them at the ankle, twitching his worn breeches into place) I am not at my best, mistress: being a fugitive has an impairing impact on my wardrobe, but as her leading man I do hope Anna will furnish me with more presentable garments as we go along. As to drinks, I’d be happy with a beer. Tea is still something of a novelty in my time and as to coffee, no, I haven’t warmed to it.

Q: What genre is the novel and what is it about?

A: Ah. Genre, you say…Strange word for a man whose reading is mostly comprised of the Bible and John Donne’s poetry. Well, and Don Quixote, but that was not something I ever shared with my Da. This novel is a time travel story – some would call it a time travel romance as it centres round me and that most reluctant time traveller, Alexandra Lind. (He smiles, that generous mouth of his curving slightly while his hazel eyes lighten into a golden shade)

Q: No spoilers, but are you a ‘goodie’ or a ‘baddie’? (Or maybe you are both?)

A: Me? I am a good man, mistress. I may be on the run but that is because I was betrayed by…(his voice breaks)…Damn them both to hell and back, my treacherous former wife and that hell spawn of a brother!

Q: Tell me about another character in the novel – maybe your best friend, lover or partner … or maybe your arch enemy!

A: My best friend, lover and partner – that would be Alex. Not that she is any of those things when we meet, strange woman that she is with odd revealing clothes, shorn hair and blue, blue eyes that stare at me as if I were some sort of apparition. (He chuckles) There have been moments when I’ve feared her to be some sort of witch, but my Alex has no evil in her. She may be too outspoken, too stubborn, but first and foremost she is a woman who has been thrown through time to land in an utterly unfamiliar world and does her best to adapt. I admire that about her, how she manages to swallow down the fear she must be experiencing at finding herself here and instead concentrate on building a new life. With me. (Matthew falls silent for some seconds) She is my miracle lass, Mistress Hollick. Time rent apart and propelled her from her time to mine because God knew I needed someone like her, someone who could light up the dark for me, give me hope again.

Q: Is this the only novel you have appeared in, or are there others in a series?

A: So far, there are nine books. Anna mutters something about a tenth because apparently there is a family member of ours that requires what she calls some TLC.

Q: What is one of your least favourite scenes you appear in?

A: In A Rip in the Veil? Ah: Well, that would be when I return home to find my brutalised wife bleeding in our bedroom—and all because of that damned brother of mine, Luke Graham.

Q: And your favourite scene?

A: (Smiles coldly) When I avenge myself on Luke. Alex would have me tell you that she strongly disagrees with this choice. Instead, she says my favourite scene should be when we first come together as man and woman on the moors. “It is definitely my favourite scene,” she tells me with something dark moving in her blue eyes. And aye, that was quite spectacular, but Luke has been a canker in my life for so long.

Q: Tell me a little about your author. Has she written any other books?

A: Aye. So far, Anna has published sixteen books: nine in The Graham Saga featuring Alex and me and our adventures both in Scotland but primarily in Colonial Maryland: four in a medieval story set in the 14^th century, The King’s Greatest Enemy, featuring the honourable knight Adam and his wife Kit. I like Adam, a man after my own heart. When we meet up in Anna’s somewhat roomy brain, we always end up sharing an ale of two. And then there’s her latest series, The Wanderer, which features Jason and Helle. Now that is one very twisted story, mistress. That poor Jason has been reborn well over fifty times, cursed to spend life after life looking for his Helle, the girl he betrayed so badly in their first life. Between the two of us, I am surprised the man remains sane—apparently, he recalls all those lives! Helle, fortunately, remembers nothing but a few snatches of that first, very distant life.

Q: Is your author working on anything else at the moment?

A: Aye. She has wandered off into the early 18^th century and grumbles rather loudly that this is so not her era. But I can see her submerge herself in books about the Jacobites and she is planning a research trip to London to – as she says it – get the damned clothes right.

She has also finished the first in a new medieval series called His Castilian Hawk. Now that is quite the adventurous ride, with Edward I’s loyal man caught up in the destruction of Wales. It doesn’t help poor Robert when he weds a lass who has royal Welsh blood and who shares my Alex’s characteristics of being somewhat outspoken…

Then she is also working on a tenth book about me and Alex. Truth be told, I could do with being retired, with living out my days quietly on Graham’s Garden with Alex by my side, but Anna does like adding spice to our lives.
Oh: she would also have you know that she has three other WIPs, one set in the 17^th century, two in contemporary times. I dare say Anna will be very, very busy for years to come!

Q: How do you think authors can be helped or supported by readers or groups? What does your author think is the most useful for her personally?

A: At present, Anna is frustrated. She feels it is hard to get visibility for her books—a problem she has in common with most authors, as I hear it. She believes in using something called Twitter but is also an advocate of doing what you are doing with this: offer an author a limelight on a blog and then help spread the word. She is surprised by how many of the authors she has hosted do not capitalise on the opportunity – unless you share actively, people won’t find the post and your books. She is also discussing some sort of author coop where a group of authors band together and share each other’s books. Usually, this works best if the people in the group have read each other’s books and can offer some sort of mini-review as well. Finally, Anna thinks bloghops or blog activities such as your Stories nspired by a Song which you run for every day during a whole month really can increase visibility – once again, IF people share!

Q: If your author was to host a dinner party what guests would she invite and why? Maximum nine guests – real, imaginary, alive or dead.

A : HA! I am not entirely sure she would like me to choose her guests, but now that I can…(Matthew rubs his hands)

Roger Mortimer – seeing as Anna has had a fascination with this 14^th century man for decades and he features prominently in her series The King’s Greatest Enemy.

Hugh Despenser – because Roger Mortimer and Hugh Despenser detest each other, despite being so alike it is risible. Mayhap sharing a meal or two would make them understand that.

Eleanorof Castile – a lady Anna is very ambivalent towards. I think the woman deserves our compassion: sixteen live births and only six children grew to adulthood.

Leonorde Guzmán – royal mistress whose son became the founding father of the Trastamara dynasty in Spain. Leonor was fortunate in life—until her royal lover died.

Queen Kristina of Sweden – an intriguing and complicated somewhat egocentric woman who plays a central role in one of Anna’s WIPs.

Charles II of England. Now this is not a choice I approve off – I am, after all, a Commonwealth man. But to be fair to Charles Stuart, he chose to be merciful once he was back in power.

John Graham, Viscount Dundee. Hmm. Aye, I grew to like and respect the man, but there are certain aspects of him I do not like. At all. Alex, however, disagrees…

Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter extraordinaire. Should someone want to make Anna happy, she’d love his portrait of Philip IV as a young man to hang on her wall. Not that she has any hopes of that ever happening as said portrait hangs in the National Gallery.

Philip IV
HH: the best I can do for you Anna!

(Anna says eight guests are quite enough, thank you very much.)

Thank you Matthew Graham it was a pleasure talking to you. Would your author like to add a short excerpt?

I am sure she would. And knowing her, she’ll ignore all my suggestions and do her own choosing.

Meanwhile, chatting is thirsty work, would you like a refill of that drink…?

It has been a pleasure to be here, Mistress Hollick. And I’d not say no to another beer!

I’ll have another Gin and Tonic . . .

Salute! Here’s to writing a best seller!

EXCERPT FROM A RIP IN THE VEIL

“Is it important to you?” Alex asked, startling him out of his thoughts.

Matthew looked down at her. ”What?”

“The not having a king, being part of a republic.”

“Aye. But the republic has been dead for some years. These last few years...” He broke off to shake his head. “... it has been one man, and one man alone, at the helm.”

“Like a dictator.” 

“Aye – a good dictator.”

“A contradiction in terms if you ask me,” Alex said.

“It doesn’t greatly matter now, does it? He’s dead, and as you say it, things will revert to how they were – before men like Cromwell and Fairfax. A kingdom, not a commonwealth.”

“And you don’t care?”

“I do,” he said, “of course I do. But...”

“But what?”

“I’ve lost so many years of my life to this conflict already, and now I just want to live in peace, tend to my lands, my beasts.”

“Oh.” Her blue eyes were very close to his, and there was something in them that made him flush, an insinuation that he was going back on his beliefs.

“Maybe that’s what happens when for one thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine days you’ve lived like an animal in a cage.” He shoved her aside and stood up, his back to her.

They hadn’t believed in him when he’d protested his innocence. Men who’d known him, fought with him, had chosen to listen to Luke instead. It tore like a canker at his gut, even now, three years on.

“You counted?” She placed a hand on his back.

“I counted every hour, every day.” He wheeled to face her, and she backed away from him. “I never want to live through something like that again, it near on killed me. I just couldn’t bend, and instead I was broken, and the pieces don’t fit together as they used to.”

He rubbed at his wrists. “Of the men I was locked up with, more than half died the first year. We were all beaten and underfed, cold and constantly ill of one thing or the other, but the ones who died were the ones whose inner light failed them, who woke one day to a hollow chest and the despairing knowledge that there was nothing worth the effort to keep on living for.”

He was silent for a while, overwhelmed by memories of long, endless days. “My light still burns, but at times it gutters on the brink of extinction. I wouldn’t survive another time in prison, I’d just curl up and die. And so...” He shrugged, giving her a crooked smile. “I still hold to my beliefs, but I’ll be far more selective as to what battles to fight. It’s called adapting to your circumstances.”

“Adapting is good, that’s what all of us have to do to survive.” She cleared her throat, hugged herself. “And if you don’t, you die.”

“Aye,” he said, realising she was talking just as much about her own situation as his. “I’m here, I’ll be here for you, lass.” She stepped up close enough that her breath tickled his face.

“And I’ll be here for you, and two lights burn much, much brighter than one, right?”

“They do,” he agreed hoarsely. When she rose on her toes to kiss him, he kissed her back. When her arms came round his neck, his arms wrapped themselves around her waist. No more talking; not tonight. He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to their makeshift bed.

CONNECT WITH  ANNA:

Website: www.annabelfrage.com

Amazon page: http://Author.to/ABG

Twitter: https://twitter.com/abelfrageauthor

FB:  https://www.facebook.com/annabelfrageauthor/

Find A Rip in the Veil:  http://myBook.to/ARIV1

Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds



This author has been awarded an 
INDIE BRAG GOLD MEDALLION

https://www.bragmedallion.com/

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