Diana talks to Anna Belfrage

Hi Anna. I have known you for ages on social media and had the pleasure of meeting you in person last year in Oxford. I am a great fan of your books - in common with a great many other people!

First things first I am sure there is a question that you have always longed to be asked. Now is the chance. Ask your own question and answer it!

How do you combine your job as a Financial Director with your writing? Time-wise, it can be a challenge. Inspiration does not take into account such things as Annual Reports and Quarterly Statements, and so I might be busy drafting the text for a financial report when out of the blue Mrs Inspiration (my own muse and veritable pain in the nether parts) pops by and whispers something like “Eleanor of Castile. You could do something with that.” Let me tell you it is difficult to refocus on earnings per share after that..However, overall my financial career and my writing endeavours complement each other. Thanks to my profession, I am very structured in my writing. Thanks to my writing, I am more creative at work.

What is the genre you are best known for? I suppose The Graham Saga which my time-slip series featuring Alexandra Lind and her adventures in the 17^th century is the one I am best known for. On the other hand, some readers prefer my “straight” historical fiction.

If your latest book Under the Approaching Dark was adapted into a TV show or a film, who would you like to play the lead role? Well, Charlie Hunnam would make a mouth-watering Adam de Guirande, and I’d love to see Rufus Sewell as Roger Mortimer.

What made you choose this genre? Choose and choose…If we’re talking about The Graham Saga, Alex danced into my brain clad in tight, tight jeans and a bright red jacket and there was Matthew Graham, my 17^th century somewhat dour Scotsman. He saw her, he wanted her, and I resigned myself to writing about a woman propelled three centuries backwards in time as Matthew otherwise threatened to disappear. Permanently.

((Speaking as someone more than a little infatuated with Matthew, I am so happy you did not disappear him...)

How do you get ideas for plots and characters? I have a vivid imagination. My brain is like the waiting room at the doctor’s, chockfull with actual characters, potential characters, discarded characters. I generally don’t tell the discarded characters they’re out of the running as it dampens the mood significantly when they sulk. Other than this loud collection of peeps in my head I read a lot of non-fiction history books, and certain events trigger a "What if" or an “Oooo” feeling.

Favourite picture or work of art? How difficult! I’m a big Velázquez fan, and this portrait of little Prince Felipe Próspero 

Note from Diana - I could look at that image forever.

is one I can spend hours looking at. This little child carried a lot of hopes on his frail shoulders, he was even named so as to ensure he’d thrive, but sadly he was sickly and died when he was around two. I am also one of those hopelessly romantic people who sort of sigh happily whenever confronted with a Millais or a Waterhouse –Order of Release by Millais, is a particular favourite. However, if I were to be exceedingly rich, I think I’d expend my money on something far older, namely Rogier van der Weyden’s The Magdalen Reading.

If, as a one off, (and you could guarantee publication!)  you could write anything you wanted, is there another genre you would love to work with and do you already have a budding plot line in mind? Well, I already have a finished trilogy I am going to publish which is probably best labelled as Contemporary Romantic Suspense. Just to spice things up, I have a time-slip angle to it, as well as some sprinklings of paranormal.

Was becoming a writer a conscious decision or something that you drifted into (or even something so compelling that it could not be denied?) How old were you when you first started to write seriously? I have always written. Always. But when I was some years over forty and the youngest child was around ten, then I decided it was time to do something about those little bits and pieces of papers that I had lying around with half-written scenes on them.

Marmite? Love it or hate it? I’m going to pass on that one. I’m not English so I don’t feel I need to an express an opinion on this. 😼

Do you have any rituals and routines when writing? Your favourite cup for example or ‘that’ piece of music...?? I like sitting at my desk and writing while hubby is watching one of his action-packed movies. Other than that, I like having a cup of tea nearby but no nibbles as I hate getting crumbs on my keyboard.

I promise I won’t tell them the answer to this, but when you are writing, who is more important, your family or your characters? Ha! Let’s just say that there were some years when my poor family were left to fend entirely for themselves. I had cooked for twenty years, give or take, and felt entitled to skip the cooking and write instead. Come Christmas, the youngest child was very worried I’d skip the Christmas baking as well. I didn’t. With several years of writing extensively under my belt I have become much better at shutting off the writing for a while, go and do the family thing and then come back, flip the switch to “on” and continue where I left off.

Other than writing full time, what would be your dream job? I rather like the job I have. Numbers speak to me, which is a good thing if you’re in finance.

Coffee or tea? Red or white? Tea. And water. Plus an occasional mojito. If I must, white.

How much of your work is planned before you start? Do you have a full draft or let it find its way? I don’t have all that much planned. Usually, I have a couple of scenes, an idea of how I want things to end, and then off I go.

If you had free choice over the font your book is printed in, what font/fonts would you choose? I have a free choice 😊 I go for Bembo.

Imagine that you could get hold of any original source document. What would it be? “Dear Brother Richard: This is just to confirm those two little lads you sent over have arrived safe and sound. Your loving sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy.” Or “My most beloved lord and sovereign: this is to confirm the matter of the two eaglets has been handled according to your instructions. They rest in heavenly peace. Your most loyal servant, XX”

Have any of your characters ever shocked you and gone off on their own adventure leaving you scratching your head??? If so how did you cope with that!? I am no longer surprised. It happens every time. Like when Kit in my medieval books saves her man by swimming the Severn, or when Alex decided to take it upon herself to fight slavery all on her own in the 17^th century. So instead of resisting, I embrace their escapades and go with the flow.

How much research do you do and do you ever go on research trips? I do a lot of research, mostly along the lines of reading biographies etc. And yes, I most definitely go on research trips to get a feel for the landscape. In some cases, this has consequences, such as discovering my female lead would not be able to see the sunset from the parapets of a certain castle. Too bad on that rather wonderful sunset scene…

Fiction authors have to contend with real characters invading our stories. Are there any ‘real’ characters you have been tempted to prematurely kill off or ignore because you just don’t like them or they spoil the plot? I think a good author doesn’t allow the real characters to invade. Instead, a skilled writer uses the real-life figures to flesh out the make-believe parts.

Are you prepared to go away from the known facts for the sake of the story and if so how do you get around this? This is a tricky question. When writing stories set in the past, there are quite a lot of blanks which are filled in by conjecture rather than facts – even by historians. After all, neither Edward II, his queen Isabella or Roger Mortimer have left us huge thick diaries in which they share their innermost thoughts. Plus, there are things we don’t know – like the classic conundrum who killed the little princes in the Tower. In fact, do we really know they were killed? Such ambiguity is gold dirt for a writer as we can write our take on things while not going away from facts seeing as there aren’t any…Generally, if I deviate from the standard interpretation of facts I will say so in my Historical Note. I also think this is a mechanism one has to use most sparingly and never when it comes to the historical details which create the background of the story.

Do you find that the lines between fact and fiction sometimes become blurred? Not really—except for those cases when the facts themselves are blurry.

Have you ever totally hated or fallen in love with one of your characters? Well, I adore most of my leads. I have very warm feelings towards Roger Mortimer, I am distinctly less fond of Isabella, I used to detest Luke Graham (Matthew Graham’s younger brother who sold my Matthew as a slave) but he’s earning brownie points like crazy in the later books, so now I’m not so sure what I feel about him. (Luke just winked at me. That man can be devastatingly sexy when he wants to) I guess the short answer to your question is YES.

What do you enjoy reading for pleasure? Everything. Seriously, I read thrillers, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, sagas, mysteries…I have made it my aim in life to totally confuse Amazon by always buying from diverse categories.

What drink would you recommend drinking whilst reading your latest book? Tea is always good. Hubby recommends a good whiskey.

Last but not least... favourite author? At present, I’m devouring everything by Kresley Cole. Other favourites are Philip K Roth, Lucinda Brant, Amanda Quick, Sharon K Penman, Edith Pargeter, Pamela Belle, Barbara Nadel, Michael Dibdin, Ruth Rendell, Gabriel García Marques and Penelope Lively.

© Diana Milne January 2017 © Anna Belfrage September 2017

PAULA READS: IN THE SHADOW OF THE STORM BY ANNA BELFRAGE

This review has been done in conjunction with the new release of  

Miss Belfrage is kindly offering a copy to gift to a lucky winner which shall be drawn on Tuesday 17th of November. In order to be in  with a chance of owning your own copy, just leave a comment at the bottom of the page or on our Facebook page.

I have always wanted to read one of Ms Belfrage's books, as most of my friends have read and absolutely adored her Graham Saga series, however, I have not managed to get to her books on my TBR list until now. But the book did not come in the form of Alex Lind from Rip in the Veil, but rather, her newest series, the first of which is called In The Shadow of the Storm. I was totally delighted to be supplied with an advanced copy of this book from Ms Belfrage and I will admit, I had very high expectations; after all, here at The Review, all her books have had rave reviews. So it was with great anticipation, I opened the book on my kindle.

The story opens with the heroine, called Kit, who, in the early turbulent 14thc, suddenly finds herself plucked from her former life and into a new life - well, someone else's life, actually. She is kidnapped by the wily wife of the man she will learn is her father, to marry a man she has never met. Kit has no choice. If she does not marry this landless knight, Adam de Guirande, she and her household will be turfed out of her childhood home; the home, she learns, that was given to her mother by her father, the already married, Sir Thomas de Monmouth, as a place to bring their daughter up. Sir Thomas' wife, Lady Cecily, is determined that the disappearance of her wayward daughter, Katherine, will not affect the benefits that this marriage will bring to her family and forces Kit to marry de Guirande in an effort not to lose their chances of advancement. But there are complications with this scheme, Kit is not her sister Katherine, and although she displays a remarkable likeness to her, Kit has neither the guile nor the temperament of Katherine de Monmouth, and nor does she have the promiscuous reputation. 

Kit manages to keep the subterfuge from her husband whom she grows to love and what happens when he finds out, is something that will have the reader rooting for Kit. Later we are taken on a nail-biting roller-coaster ride of an adventure which left me hanging onto the edge of a cliff many a time as Adam de Guirande and his beloved baron Sir Roger Mortimer lead a rebellion against the inept King Edward II whose formerly exiled favourite, Hugh Despenser, returns to the country to exact his revenge on those who had seen to his downfall.  Despenser is gunning for Baron Mortimer, but he can't get to him and so he tortures poor Adam. I shall not reveal anymore as I am in danger of giving too much a way.

Adam held prisoner

What I love most about this extraordinary story is it's ability to fill me with a range of emotions that so many other books often fail to do. You could never accuse this author of blandness. Not only does Ms Belfrage manage to write a page-turner, she cleverly instills the spirits of her two main protagonists, Kit and Adam de Guirande, within my own. There were times, however, when I was not sure if I could believe some of the behaviour of these two characters, they are larger than life personalities. Some of the lengths that Kit goes to, to save her husband from certain death, are pretty incredible, but this is fiction at his best, ticking all the boxes and sometimes, one has to suspend belief, sit back and enjoy the ride. And what a fabulous ride it is!

Ms Belfrage takes the brave step of not conforming to writing prose that is archaic or set wholly in an historical language of the time. This does not always please the more stringent readers of historical fiction, but it is also not written with too much modern jargon. There are no 'gosh' s or 'gee's. Ms Belfrage does implant the reader into time and place with the backdrop that Kit and Adam's story plays against. It is the early 14th century. King Edward II sits upon the throne. He is an inept king, unable to repeat the glories of his father, the great Longshanks. The nobles are fed up with the favours he endows upon Hugh Despenser, who, as the author's version of Despenser shows, is a cruel, greedy, depraved man.

The theme of the story centers around what is essentially a love story between Kit and Adam. The threads that entwine the other characters into the tapestry of their lives are secondary to theirs and it is the horrors that Kit and Adam both face within the framework of this wonderful story, that test their love and their relationship with each other. Kit and Adam are what drives this book and they are neatly ensconced in any future works of this series, for without them, the story would be very different. Ms Belfrage pulled me into their scenes and from whoever the point of view is being told, their minds, their thoughts and their emotions are all mine too; such is the skill with which the author utilises her talent. It is not many authors that can achieve this and it is worthy to note, that authors who head hop within scenes, never achieve this kind of depth to their writing.

But it is not all plain sailing for their love. The world seems to contrive against them and when Adam's duty to his lord, the Baron Mortimer threatens to tear them apart, Kit finds that she has to put aside her fears for both their lives to allow her husband his honour. She is angry with him for putting Mortimer before her, but she loves him too much to stay angry.

She was tongue-tied beside him. The food swelled in her mouth, the wine made her gag, and when they retired to the solar she lay still and silent under his touch, her heart breaking at the thought that might be the last time they had together. Once he fell asleep, she sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, keeping vigil over her sleeping man.

Adam in turn is filled with deep regret that she should ever think that he loved Mortimer above her. She is his life, his world, but he is a knight, and he must do his duty that knighthood requires of him. Yes, he does love the baron, for it was the baron who saved him from being beaten death at the hands of his cruel father. He owes Mortimer a debt of honour, but he could never love anyone more than he loves his Kit.

"You haven't promised me that you will come back, you haven't told me there will be future moonlit nights." She hit him again and again. Tears stained her cheeks, bloated her face... Tenderly he wiped her eyes, her nose.

"I will come back, of course I will."

She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, her tears dampening his skin. "I don't want you to go."

..."Truth be told, I don't want to go."

"Liar." She snivelled. "Of course you want to go." 

"No, not when it leaves you this distraught." He brushed her hair off her face and kissed her softly on the mouth. "I'll be back, sweeting, and I give you my word that I'll never leave you behind again." 

The characterisation of the other players are craftily done.  Baron Mortimer is as complex a man, as he was in life. A colourful, larger than life character, he plays an important part in the tale. At first, when you meet him, you are given the impression that he is truly out for number one, and his behaviour is that of a lecherous oaf, who, having had a fumble in the dark with Kit's sister, Katherine, prior to Kit's marriage to Adam, thinks that Kit really is Katherine and tries it on with her. When Kit rebuffs him, he is puzzled, but thinks that perhaps she has 'settled' down into married life and is no longer the promiscuous lady she once was. Later, the reader is treated to a more compassionate view of the Baron, as he is sometimes referred to, and a brave, courageous man is presented to us.

Hugh Despenser on the other hand is a more one dimensional type. As the villain of the piece, Despenser, is thoroughly obnoxious; a violent sadist with no endearing qualities whatsoever. He is the archetypal baddie and so very well drawn. You can imagine a certain type of music to start playing whenever he takes the stage, like in the Jaws movie, the music that played whenever the shark was near. It is true, that in history he was despised and he fought back at those who had caused his downfall. When the king, Edward II defies his nobles and recalls him from exile, he is out for blood and the sadist in him is unleashed and Adam and poor Kit become his targets. One must wonder what endearing qualities the real life Despenser must have possessed for the mostly affable King Edward to have so loved him.

So far, the king, Edward II, does not make many appearances, in fact I recall only one, but he is portrayed as inept and useless, more interested in indulging his favourites, the Despensers, than doing anything effective for his country. I will be interested to see if he makes more of an appearance in the second book.

The other supporting characters are likeable or not likeable depending on which side of the fence they belong and they do their jobs to help drive the story forward well. At times, it seemed that some of the threads within the story could have been more developed and seemed to be thrown in to move the plot rather than anything else. The story about Katherine's reappearance and Kit's father, Thomas de Monmouth are sketchily drawn and I would liked to have seen them have more page space in the book, perhaps a chapter or two, but this does not in anyway detract from the book as a whole and makes no dent in its awesomeness.

 In the Shadow of the Storm is an undeniably fabulous book, as great a love-story as Scarlett and Rhett's Gone with the Wind or Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ms Belfrage's first in the new series will be a winner as I'm sure all the books will be. As a writer she knows exactly how to hook the reader in. She leaves the reader biting their nails, turning the pages with trepidation, as they whip through the book in a whirlwind of excitement, adventure and sheer terror! The storm which is written into the title is the book itself. It starts with a rumble and as the book progresses, the thunder and lightning increase and the rain and wind batter at the pages until, in a crescendo of events, the storm reaches its pinnacle and then comes the calm; we are at the end of the book and all is well. Or so we think...

About Anna 

Anna Belfrage is the author of eight published books, all part of the acclaimed The Graham Saga. Set in the 17th century, the books tell the story of Matthew Graham and his time-travelling wife, Alex Lind. The first book in her next series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, has been published on November 1, and is set in the England of the 1320s. You can read more about Anna on her website. Read her fabulously witty and informative blog posts, follower her on Twitter and find all her books on Amazon.com and Amazon.Uk. You can also join her on Facebook.

Paula Lofting is an historical novelist and can be found on twitter, Facebook, blogger and her website

Her first novel Sons of the Wolf is due to be re-released at Christmas followed by the sequel The Wolf Banner in the Spring.