Regency Romance Author – Hazel Statham

 

Join Hazel Statham, author of the regency romance novel  MY DEAREST FRIEND (Wings ePress, Jan. ‘08), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in January on her second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours!

Hazel lives in Staffordshire, England. She started writing at fifteen and has written on and off ever since. She’s always been fascinated by history and writes mainly in the Regency and Georgian eras, although she has been known to occasionally stray into Medieval times.

Writing is a compulsion she just can’t ignore and her work has been mainly influenced by Heyer, Bronte and Austen; although, over the years, she has read many other authors who have inspired her.

When she was a child, she often told herself stories and it progressed to committing them to paper to entertain her family and friends. However, there has been gaps in her writing years where marriage and employment have intervended, but now that she no longer works, she is able to return to her first love and that is writing.

Her first two novels were published in 2005.

MY DEAREST FRIEND SYNOPSIS:

Devastated and wracked with guilt by the death of his younger brother, Stefan, in the Peninsular War, Robert Blake, Duke of Lear, readily agrees to aid Jane Chandler to bring her seriously wounded brother back from Portugal.

Much against Jane’s wishes, he decides to accompany her and together they embark on the hazardous mission to retrieve the young soldier. However, the journey holds many revelations, not least of all the abiding friendship and growing love between the two travelers.

That special love is put severely to the test by the treachery that awaits them upon their return to England, when a tenant of Jane’s former home invades their lives, maliciously creating jealousy and misunderstandings for his own nefarious reasons.

Can their friendship and love conquer the emotions that threaten to tear them asunder?

 Hazel, It’s so nice to have you here at Paperback Writer. 

Will you share with us how you came up with the idea for this book?   The original thought for the book came from a dream – well, the reason for Jane seeking the duke’s aid did.  I then developed a story around it.    

Do you plan your stories first with an outline or does it come to you as write it? I make a brief outline of where I want the story to go but the actual plot gradually unfolds as I write.  Sometimes, I hear words coming out of my characters’ mouths that take the story off at a tangent which usually enriches and adds to the original concept.

 Do you know the end of the story at the beginning? I have a general idea but I let my characters decide the specifics.  It’s their story after all and I want them to end it in their own way. 

Do you have a process for developing your characters?  I usually think of them and try to get to know them for some time before I actually begin, but sometimes there are elements of their character that develop along with the story and I just go where they lead. It is said that authors write themselves into their characters. Is there any part of you in your characters and what they would be?   I don’t think there is anything of me in my characters, although  I suppose it’s inevitable that a little bit of yourself creeps into the mix, but I can’t qualify exactly what. 

What is your most favorite part about this book? I don’t have one specific part as I love the book as a whole.  I felt for both Jane and Robert throughout their struggles to overcome their emotional difficulties and rejoiced with them when they found happiness.

 When in the process of writing your book did you begin to look for a publisher? The book had been completed for almost two years before I submitted it to a publisher.  I originally wrote it for my own amusement alone.  However, I joined a writers’ group at the local college and the lecturer who headed the group badgered me into submitting my work. 

What struggles have you had on the road to being published? Really, I have been very lucky in that I was accepted by the second publisher I submitted to.  The first publisher asked me to make changes to fit their current requirements and then resubmit, but I didn’t want to change the story in any way and decided to submit elsewhere.  I was absolutely delighted when All Romance Books accepted my work exactly as it was but, sadly, due to the owners demise, the company closed before ‘My Dearest Friend’ came out.  I then submitted  ‘My Dearest Friend’ and ‘Dominic’ to Wings ePress, who took them immediately.

 What has been the best part about being published? It may not be every writers dream but when the local council contacted me regarding having copies of my books in their libraries, I felt as though I had finally ‘arrived’ as a writer. 

What do you want readers to remember and carry with them after reading your novel? A feeling of contentment and of having enjoyed the story.  I hope it’s a book that will leave a lasting impression long after the reader has closed the covers. 

Do you have plans to write another book? I have ‘Dominic’ that was released by Wings ePress in August, 2007 and ‘His Shadowed Heart’ scheduled for June, 2008.  I also have  ’Consequence’ and ‘Lizzie’s Rake’ due for release with Highland Press, but only know that it will be sometime in 2008.  My current WIP is also a Regency. 

Would you care to share with us how the virtual book tour experience with Pump Up Your Book Promotion has been for you?  This is my second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion.  I find self promoting very difficult and this is one way I can utilize the internet and reach many more readers.  They are a great company to work with and I have enjoyed the experience very much. 

Where can readers find a copy of your book? It is currently available at http://www.wings-press.com/Bookstore/My Dearest Friend.htm as either an e-book or paperback but it will also be available from Amazon and Fictionwise later in the month. 

Do you have a website for readers to go to?  

www.hazel-statham.co.uk  Here you will find excerpts and reviews of all my current and upcoming works.

Thank you, Hazel for joining us today.

Hazel’s virtual book tour is brought to your continues throughout the month of January. If you would like to follow her on the tour be sure to check out her tour page at, http://virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-dearest-friend-virtual-book-tour-07.html