Interview with mystery author Faye Hall

My guest today is Faye Hall. She’s chatting with me about her steamy historical romantic suspense novel titled Shrouded Passions.

Bio:

Faye Hall's passion-driven, mystery-filled books are set in small townships of North Queensland, Australia during the late 1800's.

Each of her novels bring something symbolically Australian to her readers, from Aboriginal herbal remedies, to certain gemstones naturally only found in this part of the world.

Each of her books tell of a passionate connection between the hero and heroine, surrounded and threatened by deceit, scandal, theft and sometimes even murder.

These romances swerve from the traditional romances as Faye aims to give her readers so much more intrigue, whilst also revealing the hidden histories of rural townships of North Queensland.

Faye finds her inspiration from the histories of not only the township she grew up in, but the many surrounding it. She also bases most of her characters on people she has met in her life.

Faye was able to live her own passion driven romance, marrying the love of her life after a whirlwind romance in 2013. Together they are raising their 9 children in a remote country town in northern Queensland, Australia.

Welcome, Faye. Please tell us about your current release.

Shrouded Passions is a tale of murder, lies, deception, and love set in the outback under the Australian sun.

Here’s the blurb:

A past of stolen gold, lies, and murder joined their families together. It was a past that Devon Munroy and Lotte Higgins knew nothing about. All they knew was the passion they felt for each other. When Lotte is shot and dies in Devon’s arms, his world is destroyed.

Four years later Devon has married the person his father handpicked for him, but he’s still grieving for the woman he lost. He’s a mere shell of the man he once was, his life having become a drunken haze without meaning. Then he meets a woman who reminds him so much of his lost love it makes his heart ache.

Lotte has been in hiding for years, but when more bodies began turning up around town, all brutally murdered, she knows it’s time to bring down the person who tried to kill her. And Lotte knows who is was—the woman Devon is now married to. Changing her looks in order to keep her true identity hidden, Lotte takes a job in their home, hoping to find some proof of the woman’s crimes. But can she resist Devon when she’s so close to him? And when the truth comes out will Devon be able to forgive her deception?

What inspired you to write this book?

I guess I always thought that wouldn’t it be great if there was such a thing as a second chance with the one you loved, a way to finally be with the one you ached for the most. It stemmed from there.

Excerpt from Shrouded Passions:

Devon’s steps were measured, suddenly fearful what was to become of Lotte and himself. “What are you going to do with us?”

“Whatever I want, my boy.” George smiled evilly at them.

Without warning, Devon lunged at the older man, struggling with him for the weapon. George fought back strongly, until Devon feared he would lose this fight. In desperation, Devon laid his hands on the weapon, struggling to try and knock it free from the other man’s hold.

Suddenly, a loud shot echoed throughout the cottage.

Hearing a scream, Devon turned instantly toward Lotte, a sickening feeling in his gut. Watching her fall to the ground, Devon let go of George and rushed to her, sliding along the floor and catching her just as she was about to hit the floor.

Studying her frantically, Devon prayed to every god he knew that Lotte had just fainted out of fear, but seeing the blood seeping through the fabric of her dress, he knew wasn’t the case.

“Lotte!” he cried, lifting her onto his lap, his hand cradling her face against his chest. “You’ll be fine, honey. It’s just a little nick.”

Lotte didn’t move though.

“Lotte, please!” he cried, tears welling in his eyes as he cradled this woman he loved in his arms. “You need to hang in there, honey. Just a little bit longer and help will be here.”

Just then, loud voices were heard outside the still open cottage door as Jack Munroy and his servant, Andrew Hult, came barging inside.

“What the hell have you done?” Jack roared as he rushed toward his son and the dying girl he was still holding.

“Devon shot her,” George said immediately. “Your son will hang for this, Jack.”

Jack turned to his tearful son. “Did you shoot her?”

Devon looked at his father, desperation filling him as he replayed the events of the evening over again and again in his mind.

“T-there was a s-struggle. The g-gun went off…”

Jack went over to his son, pulling him from the ground. “You have to get out of here!” he yelled, shoving Devon toward the door of the cottage.

Devon fought against his father. “I won’t leave her.” He tried to go back to Lotte’s still form, but Jack stopped him. “Lotte!” Devon screamed, hoping that alone might wake her up.

Lotte still didn’t move.

“Get out of here, Devon!” Jack yelled, dragging him with him. “Now!”

“Let me go, Father!” Devon roared, fighting against the older man’s hold unsuccessfully. “I have to save her. I have to be with her!”

“There is nothing you can do for that girl now, Devon,” Jack said firmly, directing his son through the door of the cottage. Stopping briefly, he turned back to look at his servant. “Get it cleaned up, Andrew. Take the body to the woods.”

“No!” Devon screamed as his father led him away from the cottage and to his own carriage.

Jack threw his son inside the carriage. “Get him out of here!” Jack screamed at the driver.­

What exciting story are you working on next?

There are a few smaller stories in the works. One is titled Amorous Redemption and it’s very loosely based on the story of my great grandparents’ life when they first moved to Australia. I’m almost finished Deceit & Devotion, a tale of a station owner who hires a native man to investigate her husband’s cheating ways and ends up having an affair with him. I’ve also started the first of a seven book series. The series will be titled The Bountiful Burdekin, and each story will have a take on the seven deadly sins.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Yeah I do still struggle with that title to be honest. I still have so much I want to achieve before I’ll be happy to call myself that. Maybe after book number ten is released I’ll consider myself a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I can’t write full time as I’m the mother of 5 children and step mother of 4 children. At any one time there is up to seven children in our home to run around after for school and what not, as well as keep the house running whilst my husband is on shift work. I do find the time though mostly at night after the children are in bed or whilst they are at school.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I tend to hum weird tunes when I’m thinking of what to write next. The usual tends to be from children’s tv shows from the 80’s.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to create worlds for people to live in and have adventures in whilst falling in love with their soulmate. So I started writing books.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I have a thing for tattoos. You can actually see a few of mine in my profile picture. I think in total I have about 40.

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Buy links:

Beach Walk Press | Amazon