Interview with award-winning author Miriam Newman

Award-winning author Miriam Newman is in the hot seat today to chat with me about her new historical fantasy series, available as an e-book bundle, The Chronicles of Alcinia.

During her virtual book tour, Miriam will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Beginning a prize-winning career in poetry, Miriam carried her love of the written word into seventeen novels to date. Her offerings range from contemporary and historical fantasy to science fiction and historical fiction, always with a romantic flavoring. Her original novel The King’s Daughter—now part of The Chronicles of Alcinia—was written in Ireland, her second home. When in the U.S., she resides on a small horse farm in Pennsylvania with a collection of rescue animals.

Welcome, Miriam. Please share a little bit about your current release.

Available for the first time as an e-book bundle, the award-winning historical fantasy series The Chronicles of Alcinia weaves a tale of war, history, passion and romance. In Book I, The King’s Daughter, Tarabenthia of Alcinia should grow to inherit her father’s throne by the rocky cliffs of the sea. When invaders seize her land, what will she sacrifice in the name of love? In Book II, Heart of the Earth, the Northern Prince who has always wanted Tia saves her life. But will the price of his protection be too high? And finally, in Book III, Ice Maiden, readers who wondered about the fate of Tia’s oldest son have their answer. Sometimes heart-wrenching, always powerful, this is a tale of heroes and the women who loved them.

 
What inspired you to write this book?

I had always meant to write a book after years of publishing poetry because I didn’t have time to produce a novel. But life always points us where it wants us to go, and after my husband’s untimely death when I was only 41, at last—sadly—I had the time. That first book, The King’s Daughter, is my tribute to him. The sequels, Heart of the Earth and Ice Maiden, conclude the series—at least so far. One never knows.


Excerpt from The King’s Daughter:

I was the King's daughter once, so many years ago that sometimes now it is hard to remember. Before the tide of time carried away so many things, so many people, it was worth something to be the daughter of a King.

Our little island nation of Alcinia was not rich, except for tin mines honeycombing the south. It wasn't even hospitable. Summer was a brief affair and fall was only a short time of muted colors on the northernmost coast where my father sat his throne at the ancient Keep of Landsfel. Winter was the killing time and spring was hardly better, with frosts that could last into Fifth-Month. But from the south, where men cut thatch in a pattern like the bones of fish, to the north where rock roses spilled down cliffs to the sea, it was my own.

One thinks such things will never change, yet all things do.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am currently releasing Dark Child, a novella retelling the classic Irish tale, Deirdre of the Sorrows. This is the version told in my family over the years. It’s a classic tale of love, magic, betrayal, and triumph. Very Irish, meaning there are dark moments—hence the title, Dark Child. But love conquers all.

Writing life related: I am a retired psychiatric social services worker currently working part-time in municipal government and rescuing dogs. Still trying to save the world.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Since I could write.

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?

No, I still have other commitments to the world, so books are created on my days off, weekends and when I should be sleeping. Right now, I do both paid and volunteer work in municipal government with a particular focus on land conservation. Living in the last of a rural area where I still wake up to the sounds of fox hunts and coon hunts, I also hear my own non-hunting hounds baying in the yard. Over the years I have fostered and adopted out numerous rescue dogs and cats. Right now, I have two hounds, a Border Collie mix, a shepherd mix and a pit bull, as well as a then-pregnant cat who dropped in during the middle of winter! My last horse recently passed on at the ripe old age of thirty-three; he was also a rescue.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

The threat of planting poison ivy in front of my door until the book is finished. I have already strangled my telephone with its own cord and the cell phone is OFF.

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

A writer!

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

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