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| Join Us Every Friday #NovConv |
To be a little different from the usual
'meet the author'
'meet the author'
let's meet a
character...
Max Rainsford
from
character...
Max Rainsford
from
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 Wendy
Percival’s novel The Malice of Angels. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead
character or a supporting role?
A: Thanks, Helen. A beer would be great. My
name’s Max Rainsford. I’m a journalist – a former colleague of the book’s
protagonist Esme Quentin’s late husband, Tim. As to whether I’m a lead
character or a supporting role… well, let’s say if it wasn’t for me approaching
Esme at the beginning of the book, there’d be no story!
Q: What genre is the novel and what is it about?
A: It’s a genealogy mystery and it concerns
the wartime disappearance of a nurse in 1943. But at the start of the book, I’m
more interested in the unsolved murder of an old soldier which Tim and I
investigated when we were still wet behind the ears. Turns out there’s a link to
this nurse Esme’s researching.
Q: No
spoilers, but are you a ‘goodie’ or a ‘baddie’? (Or maybe you are both?)
A:
Mmm. Tricky question. I’m on the side of the good guys as far as I’m concerned,
but Esme might tell you different. She has a thing about my moral compass!
Q: Tell me about another character in the novel –
maybe your best friend, lover or partner … or maybe your arch enemy!
A:
There’s one guy in the story that I’m particularly interested in – Lloyd
Gallimore. Bit of a sly political animal. I’m convinced he’s got something to hide
so I’ve been digging around in his past. That’s how I found out… but hang on. I
can’t tell you that or I’d spoil the story. I’ll just say my investigative
journalist antennae wasn’t far wrong.
Q: Is
this the only novel you have appeared in, or are there others in a series?
A:
This is my first time. Esme likes to keep her past nailed down, you know? She
wasn’t exactly pleased when I showed up, hassling her for help. But in the end
we helped one another.
Q:
What is one of your least favourite scenes you appear in?
A: The one when Esme tells me exactly
what she thinks of me. She pulls no punches, I can tell you that. Ouch!
Q: And
your favourite scene?
A: The time Esme & me went to
London to see the old boy – a former SOE officer, that’s a Special Operations
Executive. He had some fascinating stories to tell – and a few secrets too.
Q: Tell me a little about your author. Has she/he written any
other books?
A: Yes, Malice of Angels is the third novel in her Esme Quentin series.
She’s written a couple of novellas, too. Her books are inspired by the stuff
she digs up while researching her family history.
Q: Is
your author working on anything else at the moment?
A: Yes, she is. Esme Quentin mystery
number 4. This time it’s inspired by the story behind the last women in England
to be executed for witchcraft in Devon in 1682.
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 him/her
personally?
A: Adding a simple review on Amazon,
Goodreads or sharing their thoughts on social media about a book they’ve
enjoyed, saying what they loved about it is always appreciated.
Q: If your author was to host a dinner party what guests would
he/she invite
and why? Maximum nine guests – real, imaginary, alive or dead.
Author Elizabeth George: Her Inspector
Lynley books were always a favourite of my author’s and a great inspiration, as
was Ms George’s book about her writing life, Write Away. So much so, that when the first Esme Quentin book Blood-Tied was published, my author
wrote to thank Ms George to tell her how helpful the book had been in her
journey. Ms George very kindly wrote back to congratulate her on her success at
being published.
Her late mum, Pat: Pat was a keen
writer of children’s stories, mainly, though was never published. She died a
long time before my author began writing herself so it would fabulous to share
what’s happened in the last 30 years, in writing and life in general.
Patricia Shelley (nee Barton) 1975
Victoria Wood: Another lady who’s sadly
missed. Such a wonderful sense of humour! Apparently she wasn’t as gregarious
as one might imagine so chuckling at life’s little anomalies with just a few
people around a dinner table would seem most appropriate.
Julie Walters: And you can’t have
Victoria Wood without Julie Walters, can you? I’m sure Julie would enjoy
spending time with her friend again. And it would make Victoria feel more at
home.
Author Robert Goddard: another
favourite author. Though my author would want to grill him on why he’s stopped
writing the type of books she enjoyed most - the ones which had a very clever
historical connection within the plot.
C J Sansom’s Tudor character, Matthew Shardlake:
my author would love to hear about what life is like for this mild-mannered
lawyer, and his hopes for the future.
Thank
you Max, it
was a pleasure talking to you. Would your author like to add a short excerpt? meanwhile, would you like another beer?
I’ll have one as well I think!
Salute! Here’s to writing a best seller!
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| Wendy |
CONNECT WITH Wendy Percival
website https://www.wendypercival.co.uk
Universal
Amazon link: http://mybook.to/MaliceofAngels
Excerpt from
Chapter 1 of
MALICE OF ANGELS, by Wendy Percival
It wasn’t until she turned into the narrow medieval
passageway of Fish Street that Esme Quentin suspected she was being followed.
He – if it was a he, it was difficult to be sure, encased as the walker was in
a hooded trench coat – seemed to be keeping his distance. He slowed as she
slowed, held back if she paused, as though biding his time before approaching
her. Perhaps she should grab the initiative and challenge him? Demand to know
who he was and what he thought he was doing creeping up on a middle-aged woman
in the dark?
She stopped and looked round, but he must
have pulled back as he’d disappeared into the shadows.
She shook her head and carried on down the
cobbled street with a greater sense of urgency. Had he been in the records
office? There was something vaguely familiar about the way he walked, a loping
manner which she felt she should know. Thinking about it, she may have seen him
before. He’d been watching from across the road as she’d hurried into the
archives that morning. Had he been waiting for someone? Waiting for her?
So why not come right out and seek her out? Why hover on the perimeter with
intent only to follow her at the end of the day? And what did he want? To
engage her genealogy research services? Perhaps he was shy or had a dark family
secret he needed her help to uncover and was coy about explaining it. She’d
been engaged by a couple of eccentric clients in her time but not one who’d
used stalking as their modus operandi.
But she had no time to waste speculating.
She’d already cut it fine by staying so long in the records office – she should
have headed home ages ago. But she’d succumbed to her usual habit of being
sucked into a story as her research unfolded. Once hooked she always found it
so difficult to drag herself away.
She paused at the corner of the street to
glance behind her. All was quiet. Perhaps she’d imagined the whole thing….
She let out a long sigh and allowed herself
an indulgent giggle at her imagined melodrama, blaming her oversensitivity on
an afternoon of reading first-hand accounts of wartime traumas.
The street narrowed and as Esme plunged into
the shadow between the two buildings, someone grabbed her arm.
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| On an Amazon near you http://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick |
Absolutely love the Esme Quentin stories. Max is new and it will be interesting to see if he and Esme become business partners - or 'an item'!!! Still think these stories should be on TV ...
ReplyDeleteSame here Richard!
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