Interview with historical fiction author Alix Rickloff

I’m ending the week with a special interview with Alix Rickloff. She’s talking to me about her historical fiction, Secrets of Nanreath Hall.

During her virtual book tour, Alix will be awarding a digital copy of Secrets of Nanreath 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:

Alix Rickloff is a critically acclaimed author of historical and paranormal romance. Her previous novels include the Bligh Family series (Kensington, 2009), the Heirs of Kilronan trilogy (Pocket, 2011), and, as Alexa Egan, the Imnada Brotherhood series (Pocket, 2014). She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children.

What drew you to the twentieth century and WWII as a setting?

My interest in the war began while I was in college. I watched Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver and was forever hooked on the time period. But for twenty plus years and nine plus books, it remained merely a side interest until a recent conversation with my agent during which she asked the fateful question; “What do you really want to write about?” Suddenly, I was confronted with all sorts of exciting possibilities in genres and settings I’d never considered.

What inspired you to write Secrets of Nanreath Hall?

The first kernel of the story came from watching an episode of Downton Abbey. I was intrigued by the fatherless heir and the child of a scandalous elopement. From that seed, my what-if process started as I tried to imagine what their lives would have been like as they grew to adulthood during WWII.

Excerpt from Secrets of Nanreath Hall:

Buildings leaned drunkenly on their foundations, their windows blown out, doors knocked from hinges. A jagged gap like a missing tooth was all that was left of the butcher’s shop. The pub looked comfortingly unscathed until she approached, then she noticed a tumbled slide of bricks and shingles where the roof had collapsed. A gleam of brass railing poked up through fallen plaster and splintered beams. A pint glass stood half- filled on a table in a corner. A dart stuck dead center in the dartboard still hanging on the back wall.

Ten paces. Twenty. The damage greater, the houses tumbled and spilled like a child’s toppled building blocks. Smoke hung low like a morning fog across the Thames. A few firemen replaced their hoses upon a truck. A policeman unrolled a coil of rope across the pavement where a set of marble steps led to . . . nothing.

No.

Anna’s chest tightened. Her throat closed around a hard painful knot. Pain lanced down her leg, buckling her ankle. The awkward weight of the valise knocked her to her knees. Dirt bit into her skin, scraped her hands raw. She retched, but there was nothing in her stomach except the weak tea she’d drunk this morning on the train. Still, she felt her insides shriveling, darkness crowding the edges of her vision.

It couldn’t be. There was some mistake. She was having another nightmare. She would open her eyes to see curtains at the windows and geraniums on the stoop. Graham and Prue standing on the steps to meet her.

“Here now, miss. Are you all right? You took a nasty spill on these cobbles.”

What books/authors have influenced your writing?

I couldn’t begin to list every author that has ever inspired me, but I do have authors who hold a special place in my heart. I dedicated one of my books to four of them; Mary Stewart, Lois McMaster Bujold, Jane Austen, and Rosamunde Pilcher. These are my four go-to authors. Different in genre, style, characterization, but I read their books over and over whenever I need to get lost in a familiar story where the writing is flawless and the characters are old friends.

This is your first straight historical fiction novel, though you write historical romance under the pseudonym Alexa Egan. Was it a difficult transition to switch genres?

Not at all, though the romance novelist in me insisted on a happy ending. And if a love story turned up unexpectedly, well…old habits die hard.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a follow-up to Secrets of Nanreath Hall. Lucy Stanhope is the spoiled daughter of an ex-pat socialite living in Singapore who is sent to England in disgrace just ahead of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan’s entrance into the war. There she befriends a young evacuee and the unlikely pair end up heading to London in search of his mother.

What’s on your nightstand right now?

For work, I’m reading West End Front; The Wartime Secrets of London’s Grand Hotels by Matthew Sweet. For pleasure, The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Willams, and Lauren Willig.

Links:

Website | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Thanks, Alix!

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Interview with historical romance author J. Y. Flynn

My very special guest today is J. Y. Flynn and we’re chatting about her historical romantic fiction, Lily Anne of San Francisco.

Bio:

J. Y. Flynn worked as a business administrator for twenty years and wrote articles and quarterly papers for women’s associations while raising her three children. After retiring, she began to write fiction and participated in numerous writing workshops. Her short stories have been published in The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Mateo Times, Sun Senior News, and several small magazines including Grit, Reminisce, Writer’s Open Forum, The Sand Publication, and the national magazine RAW (Real Authentic Women).

Encouraged by fellow authors and family members, she embarked on a thirty-year quest to tell the story of Lily Anne of San Francisco. Loosely based on the true-life adventures of two of the most colorful, outrageous, and memorable characters she had ever met, J. Y. Flynn crafted her tale of historical and romantic fiction set in the vibrant city of San Francisco.

At 92 years old, the author is thrilled to have her first novel published and hopes her next book will take less time to complete.

Welcome. J. Y. Please tell us about your current release.

Lily Anne of San Francisco tells the story of Lily Anne O’Brien who arrives in San Francisco in 1904, a city teeming with promise, not unlike the twelve-year-old herself. Captivated by the curiosities of North Beach, Chinatown, and the wicked Barbary Coast, she reciprocates by beguiling San Francisco society with her angelic singing voice and seductive beauty.

The Great Earthquake of 1906 destroys her home. To remain in San Francisco, she scandalously marries Kevin Riley, a twenty-seven-year-old gambler. At age 15, she gives birth to a daughter, Charlotte, who is destined to live in the shadow of her mother’s beauty, talent, and limitless self-regard.

Lily Anne’s story tells how she transforms from reckless teenager, to divorced single-parent, to successful entrepreneur, and ultimately becomes an eccentric relic of a by-gone era.

Lightly based on actual people and events known to the author, Lily Anne of San Francisco ($14.95 Homefires Press, February 2016) provides an insider’s look into San Francisco high society in the first four decades of the 20th century. Living through tumultuous times – the 1906 earthquake, World War I, and the Great Depression – Lily Anne was a trend-setter through it all, rubbing elbows with Enrico Caruso, Lillian Gish, and Randolph Hearst. As one Amazon.com reviewer put it, “Readers, like the many characters in this book, will experience a love-hate relationship with Lily Anne; she is truly charismatic and utterly exasperating.”

What inspired you to write this book?

I came to San Francisco in 1945 from Portland, Oregon and was most surprised that despite San

Francisco’s big reputation, it was a small city. At that time, people who lived in San Francisco could usually meet someone they knew each time they walked down Market Street. I was intrigued by the diversity of the people and cultural neighborhoods in San Francisco. Friends of ours, a mother and daughter who loved San Francisco, had lived in The City from the early nineteen hundreds. They experienced the trauma and pleasure the city had to offer as they laughed their way through life. Their stories inspired me to write this book.

Excerpt from Lily Anne of San Francisco:

Excerpt from Chapter 29, The Wedding

The previous evening’s discussion was not mentioned the next morning. Victoria and Maggie took the buckboard into town to shop, and the girls did a bit of ironing.

“Oh, Peggy,” Lily Anne crowed, “I’m having such fun! Moses, the piano player from New Orleans, has been teaching me to sing songs that are popular in the South. I’m learning the words to lots of other country songs, too.”

“You’d rather entertain at the tavern than be an opera star?”

“I never wanted to be an opera star; that’s Mama’s dream. My dream is to live in San Francisco forever.”

“My father says you can’t live with us anymore. Are you going to marry Kevin?”

“If I want to live in San Francisco, I guess I’ll have to.”

Peggy persisted. “Do you love Kevin?”

Lily Anne smiled wickedly. “I love San Francisco.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am working on a book tilted, Surprises. A man and women contemplate marriage without talking about their former lives. He does not know she is the mother of three children.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’ve always loved to read. The year I was twelve, I read every murder mystery in the downtown public library in Portland, Oregon. I enjoyed writing in school and believe anyone who loves to read is a potential writer. I was 92 years old by the time I considered myself an author. Lily Anne of San Francisco was published in 2016 and received five out of five stars by the San Francisco Book Review. It suggested the story was a classic with silver screen potential.

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?

Yes. I devote three to six hours a day to my current project. That was not always possible. It took thirty years to finish Lily Ann of San Francisco. I was the mother of three children, active in school and social activities, and I managed the office of my husband’s plumbing business. We traveled extensively, too.

It’s not too hard to find time to write at my age of 92. I love Jack Benny’s quote. “Age is mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Writing mental vignettes about strangers in restaurants, airports, planes, and anywhere I have five minutes to spare.

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

I wanted to be a movie star. In high school, a counselor suggested I could become a teacher based on my test scores. But then, World War II came along and I got married.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Choose to be happy. Smile, laugh out loud. Follow your passion.

You can connect with J. Y. through Facebook or Amazon.

Thanks for being here, today, J. Y.! Happy writing!!