Q&A with Tracy Borman

   

Photo by Sophia Spring

 

 

Tracy Borman is the author of the new novel The House of Boleyn. Her many other books include The Stolen Crown. She is chief historian of Historic Royal Palaces, and she is based in the UK.

 

Q: What inspired you to write this new novel about the Boleyn family?

 

A: I’ve spent a lot of time with the Boleyns over the years. Even though they were the most famous family in Tudor England, they left little physical trace behind.

 

This was deliberate on Henry VIII's part: when Anne Boleyn fell from grace, he tried to airbrush her and her family from history, so there are hardly any letters, portraits or other remnants of their lives.

 

As a historian, all the gaps in the contemporary sources can be frustrating, but as a novelist, they're a gift! It was such a joy and a privilege to be able to fill them with my imagination in my new novel.

 

Q: As a historian and novelist, how do you see the two intersecting in your work?

 

A: It doesn't necessarily come naturally to a historian to make things up! In writing my fictional books, I always take care to stick as closely as possible to the known history. But I'm not slavish to it, or it would be just nonfiction with a bit of dialogue thrown in.

 

Fiction is all about letting your own - and your readers' - imagination run wild; immersing yourself in another time and place; creating scenes and plotlines, and conveying information in more subtle ways than just telling the reader what happened.

 

I always include an author's note at the end of my novels, too, so that I can explain to my readers where I've diverged from the known facts. I think that's an important responsibility for historical novelists and always appreciate it when I read them in other people's novels.

 

Q: What do you think are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about Anne Boleyn?

 

A: The one I hear most often is that she had her eyes on the crown from the very first moment that Henry VIII started showing an interest in her, and that she schemed and manoeuvred him into getting rid of his first wife so that he could make Anne his queen.

 

In this, she was apparently fully supported by her father, who used his children as collateral damage in his quest for power and riches.

 

In fact, neither of those things is true. All the evidence points to Anne being genuinely reluctant to be Henry's mistress or his wife.

 

Likewise, her father Thomas was clearly trying to protect her by bringing her back to Hever Castle whenever the king became too insistent. He'd already had one daughter ruined by Henry and didn't want to see another go the same way. He also knew how dangerous his royal master could be.

 

Q: What role does Hever Castle play for the Boleyn family in the novel?

 

A: It's the star of the show! I wanted to show the Boleyns in their natural habitat. It was at Hever that they could be their true selves, discarding the courtierly mask; where they could escape the snakepit of Henry VIII’s court and plan their next move, enjoy their triumphs and lick their wounds. 

 

I loved spending lots of time at Hever while researching this novel. Set in the beautiful countryside of southeast England, Hever has everything that a fairytale castle should: a moat, drawbridge, portcullis, courtyard and turrets.

 

Crossing the drawbridge and entering the courtyard, you can smell the woodsmoke from the old kitchens and see the glimmer of the sunlight reflected on the ceiling of the great chamber above at certain times of the day. It really is like stepping back into the world of the Boleyns.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: It hasn't been announced yet, but suffice to say it's nonfiction and not Tudor... but very close to that period. It's one of the most controversial subjects in history so I'm very excited!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I have a brand-new theatre show. Tudors on Tour will tour theatres across England this autumn. And of course, the Boleyns will make an appearance!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Tracy Borman. 

Q&A with Rhys Bowen

  

 

 

Rhys Bowen is the author of the new novel The Castle in the Glen. Her many other books include The Rose Arbor. She lives in California and in Arizona.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Castle in the Glen, and how did you create your character Emma?

A: I love writing stories in two time periods, or a story within a story. This one? I think the idea first came to me as I considered my own age (having turned 80). What if a famous writer couldn’t finish her last book? She has to hire someone to finish it for her. But why choose this young woman?

 

And I had been dying to revisit Scotland in a book. I remembered my own magical time on the island.

I think Emma was a product of my own life at that time. I was her age in swinging London in the ‘60s, and then went to live in Australia. So the girls I roomed with were just like Emma. Everyone wanted to see Europe, to work in England for a while.

 

I like her because she’s so vulnerable. She has no family she can rely on and I love that this book gives her new roots.

Q: Was your character Iris Blackburn based on a particular mystery writer?

A: I was thinking Agatha Christie. It had to be that level of fame.

Q: Why did you choose the Isle of Skye as the setting for this novel?

A: When I was Emma’s age I spent a magical vacation with friends on Skye. Those landscapes have remained with me—the stark mountains, the waterfalls and cliffs… such rugged beauty, always with a hint of danger. A perfect setting, in fact, for a mystery story.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

A: I always want to TAKE my readers to the place I’m writing about, to give them a mini vacation, but also I love to peel away layers of a story so that the reader is constantly surprised.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Another stand-alone novel, this one taking place in the present but also in 1450! An appraiser sent to value a private library discovers a rare book, written by a nun in 1450 and it contains the definitive list of collective nouns. Two stories interacting again! In the present a fight to hang onto an English manor house and in the past the writing of a special book.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: In spite of my age I am not slowing down. I still write two books a year, plus a shared novel with my daughter. And I have more ideas than I will ever get to in my life.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Rhys Bowen.

Q&A with Ellery Lloyd

  

 

 

Ellery Lloyd, the pen name for husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, is the author of the new novel Time to Burn. Their other books include People Like Her. They live in London.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Time to Burn, and how did you create your characters Inigo Frank and Phoebe Hunt?

 

A: It’s always a patchwork of inspiration, which is why all of our novels have been so different.

 

We both love time travel stories, and when you’re plotting one, you have to make an early decision about the mechanics of it: is it driven by magic or technology?

 

We chose technology, specifically technology perfected by a billionaire with a singular obsession and the resources to realise it, who makes it available only to the super-rich. Basically, time travel as a super-exclusive leisure activity. Sound familiar?

 

Anyway, that’s how Inigo Frank came about.

 

Inigo is definitely tech-bro adjacent – you won’t have to look too hard to find real-world parallels. He’s an extremely clever mathematician who is so single-minded that he unleashes a new technology on the world without considering – or really caring – how it might affect ordinary people.

 

Plus, of course, he has secrets of his own that would destroy him if they were uncovered.

 

Phoebe’s role was born from another idea we found interesting. We had been watching a lot of documentaries on Netflix that had been executive produced by their subjects.

 

We thought making Phoebe a serious, award-winning director commissioned by Inigo to make something similar about him would provide a really interesting window into his world, because she’s trying to be objective while Inigo fully expects to be the hero of the piece.

 

Then, as things go wrong and events unfold, she realises the story is much more personal than she ever imagined.

 

Q: Why did you choose the London Blitz as the time period to which your travelers would go?

 

A: One thing we always knew was that we wanted a really atmospheric and dramatic opening to the novel. We loved the idea that, if you carried out enough historical research – which Inigo’s company, Tempus Tours, claims to do – then, with 20/20 hindsight, you could plot a safe route through even something as dangerous as the Blitz.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: We did quite a lot of walking around London while researching the novel, including a tour of one of London’s ghost Tube stations, which had been used as offices during the Blitz and then basically not touched since.

 

We were probably also influenced by living in the East End of London, which was heavily bombed. We pass the plaque commemorating where the first V2 rocket fell every day on the school run.

 

The biggest challenge was working out the mechanics of the time travel, with its own internal logic and set of rules. We didn't want it to become a lecture, though, so we tried to arrive at just enough of the theoretical physics for it to feel plausible without swamping the reader.

 

We also researched the sort of commune where Phoebe and Sasha grew up, which plays a big role in the novel. That was fascinating, and probably the most surprising thing we discovered was that we actually know several people who had grown up in similar communities, so we had lots of questions for them.

 

Q: Do you have any other favorite time travel novels?

 

A: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, the novella By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury’s short story “A Sound of Thunder.”

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Lots of things! We’re working on some concepts for TV and a few short stories, while plotting our next novel.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: A fun Ellery Lloyd fact: we cannot work in the same room because we’re both incredibly loud typers!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Ellery Lloyd. 

Aug. 4

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Aug. 4, 1792: Percy Bysshe Shelley born.

Q&A with J.T. Ellison

  

 

 

J.T. Ellison is the author of the new novel You Know Why. Her many other books include the novel Last Seen. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Q: What inspired you to write You Know Why, and how did you create your characters Brooklyn and Eden?

 

A: Many years ago, when my husband and I were deep into fertility treatments, and I was hopped up on some pretty intense hormones, I took a flight and was seated behind this gorgeous young family.

 

They were clearly well off, returning from an island vacation. The children were well-behaved and adorable. But their parents were fighting. Sniping at one other, cruel whispered barbs, and then sniping at the kids, too.

 

That simply broke my heart. I wanted to challenge them, to shake them. Don’t you know what you have? A beautiful family, a marriage, means, and you’re being crappy to each other and your kids? To say I was filled with rage is not an understatement.

 

I filed it away to use one day. I channeled a lot of that emotion into the writing of an earlier novel, It’s One of Us, but the scene itself, I held on to.

 

There was a second impetus. I travel, a lot, and people watching is a competitive sport for me. So many people transiting the airports. I wonder about them all the time, their lives, who they are, what they’re doing.

 

What if one of them got off a plane and never got on their connection? What would their family do? What would I do? I held that story, too.

 

Fast forward several years, and I was chatting with my editor about what story I was thinking about next. So I pitched her these two ideas as a dual-pronged story: a woman who has a fight with her husband on the plane, and then he doesn’t make their connection and instead disappears, as one storyline.

 

The second would be the woman who witnessed the fight and recognized the man as her sister’s missing murderer. My editor gasped, and I knew that was my next book.

 

The trick was then creating the characters. Brooklyn became the young mother whose husband disappears from the airport. Eden became the one who saw them fighting—and realized that her sister’s murderer was finally in her sights. Trey, the husband who leaves—why does he run? And of course, everyone has secrets…

 

Q: The author Tracy Clark said of the novel, “The drumbeat of dread echoes through the pages and hits like a dirge, culminating in a deliciously satisfying denouement that will have you looking askance at those closest to you.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think Tracy is a genius, and I was so incredibly flattered and grateful that she agreed to read and offered such a fantastically descriptive blurb.

 

Dread is the heart of a suspense novel done well. Without it, the story falls flat. Add in this very real idea that you can’t ever truly know someone, even if they share your bed for years, and it creates a very unsettled sense of being.

 

That’s what I was going for—an unsettling, earth-shifting moment that seems relatively banal until you realize the significance behind it. The why of the storyline brings the dread.

 

Q: The novel is set in Georgia and in Tennessee—how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: So incredibly important. I’m a big fan of the set piece, be it an island, or an elegant house, or the intimacies of a city strata. Setting is a character for me, a living, breathing part of the story.

 

I had planned to set this book in a few other far-flung locales—London, Venice, Grand Cayman Island—but this story needed a smaller milieu. I was flying through Atlanta on a trip and realized the international terminal was a great spot for the inciting scene. It all grew from there.

 

Italy, France, and Mexico are all side settings—Brooklyn was a traveling food photographer who worked on an Anthony Bourdain-style show—but the main components of the current story are in the Atlanta area and Nashville.

 

The small fictional Georgia town of Malogen is based on the adorable mountain town Dahlonega. Small-town dynamics, a cold case murder, a nearing retirement cop with a huge case to solve—couple all of that with the Nashville component of the story, and it gave me a lot of (literal) ground to cover.

 

Q: Sisterhood is a theme in the novel—why did you decide on that as a focus?

 

A: I don’t have a sister and always wanted one. I love Margot and Brooklyn’s relationship. They’re identical twins who are polar opposites personality-wise and have quite divergent interests, yet as adults still support one another and have a deep friendship.

 

Their childhood was challenging—they were more competitive—but as adults they’ve found their equilibrium and become best friends. Margot would do anything for Brooklyn, and she adores the kids so much. She’s a great foil for her more mercurial culinary photographer sister.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m nearing the completion of the first draft of my 2027 novel. It’s about self-sacrifice, motherhood, bad friends, epic mistakes, and the imbalance of modern power dynamics towards women, all served with a heaping helping of revenge.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Yes! The characters of Theresa Lee, Pat and Bob Gussin, and Margot Thomas were all from character auctions, and I am so grateful to all of them for letting me use their names and helping out the literacy charities we worked with.

 

And in very fun news, my wonderful publisher is bringing my earliest novels back to life. The Taylor Jackson series is being re-released with beautiful new editions, some light editing, and dynamic pricing to bring in a whole new readership. The first four in the series are out now, and the rest are coming after the new year.

 

It’s all the more meaningful because this year is my 20th anniversary of being a writer. What better way to celebrate than a reboot of the books that got me here?

 

Thanks so much for having me!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with J.T. Ellison. 

Q&A with Rachel Peterson

  

 

 

Rachel Peterson is the author of the new young adult novel Killing Sadie. She lives in Manhattan and in the Midwest.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Killing Sadie?

 

A: I grew up in the small-town Midwest, and I was fascinated from an early age with the theatrical idea of how these quaint towns operate: completely normal on the surface, yet dig a little deeper, and a single action can set the town on (figurative) fire.

 

A little dramatic for a teen, I know, but as a theater kid with a wild imagination, this was the kind of idea my friends and I were obsessed with!

 

I think imagining what would happen if you take a hard left when others take a right is something so universal to the teenage experience. Killing Sadie – the thriller where everyone is lying – leans into all of these themes, just with the volume dialed way up.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I adore this question, and it certainly speaks to my writing style! With Killing Sadie, the ending was locked in (no spoilers: the book title is very accurate), but how we were going to get there was a blank slate.

 

I love to let my characters surprise me, so while I tend to start with general outlines before writing sessions, each character took on a personality of their own as the story progressed. And really, these are characters readers will adore one moment and absolutely loathe the next!

 

Something fun to note for Killing Sadie is that I wrote each character while listening to a different playlist. For example, Jayne is a post-punk and alternative girl. Ben is totally country.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book called it a “stone-cold shocker of a tale.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: One word: Perfection! As a thriller author, it was music to my ears. The only thing I may add is that readers should have a blast uncovering who really killed Sadie Cooper – hunting for clues, racing their friends to solve the case first, having a laugh and enjoying the wild ride of this “stone-cold shocker of a tale”!

 

Q: Can you say more about what you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: Above all, my hope is that readers have fun tearing through this delicious story! The pages explore plenty of deeper themes like truth, identity, and friendship.

 

As an anxious teen growing up, I found escapism and comfort in the absurdity of B movies and self-aware horror and thrillers – they allowed me to explore the sharper edges of teenage life in a safe way, and offered an outlet for my emotions. My hope is that Killing Sadie provides a similar outlet for readers.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: This is still super secret, but I can say that a new book is arriving summer 2027! Hint: If you love the little touch of equestrian life shown by our characters Jayne and Evan in Killing Sadie, you will 100 percent fall for this new thriller!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love nothing more than dropping into book clubs and library or class discussions. If you want to see Killing Sadie as part of your next group read, my author website is a good place to start! But aside from that, I just know the barn party at the old McClain family farm is going to be killer – see you there!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Jonathan Graziano

  

 

 

 

Jonathan Graziano is the author of the new children's picture book Milton Makes a Move. His other books include Noodle and the No Bones Day. He lives in Rochester, New York. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to write a picture book about your dog Milton?

A: The first two books I published are the proudest achievements of my life, so the idea of being able to add a third to that roster was unreal to me when I got the news we were going to publish. Dogs are so special, and I think they make the perfect main character for storytelling!

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between you and Milton--both in real life and in the book?

 

A: Our dynamic in the book and in real life are the exact same. Part of what inspired this story is how Milton went from being an apprehensive and anxious dog into one who came out of his shell and started to want to go on adventures. I thought staying true to reality was the most effective way to tell an authentic story.

 

Q: What do you think Dan Tavis’s illustrations add to the story?

A: Dan tells the story! The illustrations in a children's book are what tells a story, I fully believe this. The words I wrote help give the parents reading the book something to do while their kids fall headfirst into the incredible scenes Dan creates. He captures emotions so well...I've heard from both parents and kids that they can't believe how stunning these books are.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?

A: The theme I chose for this book is "bravery," so my hope is that any kid who reads this learns or at least begins to learn that being brave can come in all shapes and sizes.

 

Milton learns about bravery through his move to come live with me in the story, but if a kid is starting a new school, or trying to make new friends, or anything that involves change, I want them to see that if Milton can do it, they can too.

 

Q: What are you working on now? Will there be more stories about Milton?

A: Oh man, I sure hope so! I'd write books about my dogs forever if I could. With our new book Milton Makes a Move coming out on August 4, I've been mostly focused on that of late. That said, I have two ideas in mind for what Milton's next story could be. We'll see if they ever get to come to life. 🥹

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Adopt don't shop! And look for the old ones!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Aug. 3

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Aug. 3, 1920: P.D. James born.