Sunday 3 May 2020

Guest Spot - Anna Belfrage



Having a vivid imagination is sometimes a bit of a curse. Couple that to a love for history—and not for ONE period, but for very, very many periods—and a romantic streak a mile wide, and you have a writer who loves writing big stories about people in the past who will do anything to save their loved ones.

I have long since resigned myself to the fact that unless one writes Tudor books (nope, not going there as I do not understand why peeps find this period so fascinating) or Regency romance (now that may be a possibility, even if, knowing me, it won’t be your classic romance) it is hard to rake in the money by writing. I have therefore decided to write what I want to read—hence those epic, time-spanning love stories that include everything from medieval knights to time travelling women in the 17th century to reincarnated lovers meeting up after 3 000 years apart. And that’s just mentioning my published books, because there’s a lot more brewing in my literary cauldron…

Had I been allowed to choose, I’d have become a professional time traveller. Sadly impossible, as we all know, so for a while I considered becoming a historian instead. My father shivered at the thought, sat me down and had a very serious talk about the importance of earning your living etc etc. I was obviously an obedient daughter as I did as he suggested and followed in his footsteps as a financial professional. It made him happy, and overall it has made me quite happy too, as I do like my numbers. A lot. Not quite as much as I like my words, though.

Writing has been my secret passion for as long as I remember. As the kids became older, I invested more and more time on my scribblings, and suddenly there I was, with a whole series featuring the (initially) reluctant time traveller Alex Lind who ends up at the feet of Matthew Graham on an isolated Scottish moor. It is 1658, Oliver Cromwell is dying, and all over the country loyalties are shifting like quicksand. Not Matthew’s loyalties: he’s a Commonwealth man through and through, which eventually will lead to quite some adventures for him and his strange—but very beloved—soon-to-be wife, Alex.

Buy the first book in The Graham Saga, A Rip in the Veil :
https://myBook.to/ARIV1

With The Graham Saga, I discovered the joys of hands-on research. Making soap out of birch ashes proved difficult and messy, and I am sorry to admit my sewing skills are still far from good enough to create more than a rudimentary linen shirt.


While writing about Matthew and Alex, I was already planning my next series. This time, I was going to tell the story of Roger Mortimer, the infamous Earl of March who is generally accused of having murdered Edward II. I do not agree… So in The King’s Greatest Enemy you get to ride side by side with Adam de Guirande as he follows his lord, Baron Mortimer, from victory to despair to new victories and new despairs. Adam is an invented character, and I’ve made his life difficult: he owed everything he is and has to Roger Mortimer, but to survive in the medieval cesspit that is Edward IIs England he pledges himself to Prince Edward, the future Edward III. Soon enough, Adam is torn between his love for his new master and that for his former master. How fortunate he has his wife Kit by his side to offer him comfort and support!

Buy the first book in The King’s Greatest Enemy, In the Shadow of the Storm: https://myBook.to/ITSOTS

So: one series set in the 17th century, another in the 14th. It is therefore totally logical that my next series should be set in the present-day. Well: not entirely in the present-day, as Jason and Helle have history, as they say—like 3 000 years of history. Jason and Helle have been with me for twenty odd years—the concept of reincarnation fascinates me—and this is a story of two men and one women who fall from time to time. Jason lives life after fruitless life looking for Helle, the young woman he betrayed so badly in their first life. Sam is looking just as hard—but mainly to permanently destroy both Helle and Jason. And Helle—well, she has no memories of that distant life. It started 3 000 years ago, it ends now—who survives? Well, you’ll have to read The Wanderer series to find out!

Buy the first book in The Wanderer, A Torch in His Heart: https://myBook.to/ATIHH



Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England.  She has recently released A Flame through Eternity, the third in a new series, The Wanderer, a fast-paced contemporary romantic suspense with paranormal and time-slip ingredients. At present, Anna is working on a new medieval series in which Edward I features prominently as well as a book set in 1715 where magic lockets and Jacobite rebels add quite the twist.

Anna has won numerous awards for her books: they are all Indie Brag Medallion recipients, she has several bronze and silver medals from Reader’s Favorite, a Chaucer Award, a number of  Historical Novel Society’s Editor Choices and one of her book became the Historical Novel Society’s Indie Book of the Year 2015.

Links:
Amazon page, http://Author.to/ABG


Click HERE (and scroll down to 'B') to find our  reviews of Anna Belfrage's books  on Discovering Diamonds



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1 comment:

  1. Adam is one of my favourite fictional creations. I have met James and alex, but not Jason and Helle. Yet! Fantastic variation of time periods, Anna!

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