Continuing our Sunday Series
of taking a look at some fabulous authors!
Hello Anna, welcome to our Discovering Diamonds Guest Spot. Along with my readers and visitors I love to hear from authors who write wonderful stories. There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book, box of chocs and glass of wine to hand!
Q. Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself...
A. I am Swedish, mother of four, happily married since yonks back to a man who can still make me laugh so hard I cry or whisper things in my ear that make me go a vivid red. Had I been able to choose, I’d have become a time traveller—assuming a return ticket was guaranteed. I read on average 4-5 books a week, have always had a thing about history, think I would have made an excellent medieval knight—except that knights were rarely female—and have always wanted a white horse. Eldest son once promised me one (at the tender age of eleven) but so far nothing. I like to bake—predominantly cakes—and cook. I only drink tea, never, ever coffee. I have a thing about clunky boots, have daydreams where I singlehandedly save the word due to my awesomeness, and have a preference for jeans and hoodies. I don’t like snakes, will go ‘eek’ at the sight of a spider indoors but they never bother me outdoors (well, unless they’re tarantula size). I sing in the shower, while I’m cooking, walking, dusting, hoovering. I am fluent in three languages due to an itinerant childhood, am somewhat verbose and have a collection of very, very naughty jokes.
Q. Where do you live?
A. I live in Malmö, which is in the south of Sweden. For those who are fans of the crime series The Bridge, said bridge joins Malmö with Copenhagen. Further to our flat in Malmö we also have a country house out in the woods.
Q. If you had a choice to live anywhere – where would it be?
A. Seeing as you’re asking me this in December [Helen - at the time of writing this!], at present anywhere warm and sunny sounds nice. (For some odd reason I’ve always had this idea that I’d like living in the Azores, smack in the middle of nowhere. I have, however, heard that there’s a LOT of rain there...) Ask me in June and I am very happy where I am.
Q. Modern house, old cottage, castle or something else?
A. Anyone want to give me a nice medieval castle—preferably with a HUGE bank account to pay for repairs and whatnot—I’d be delighted to assume the role of chatelaine.
Q. Cat, dog or budgie?
A. Dog. I always get the impression cats laugh at us…
Q. Are you a ‘dining room for dinner’, or a ‘tray on your lap in front of the TV’ person?
A. I’m actually a ‘kitchen table for dinner’ person. I love kitchens and even if I have a writing nook, I usually end up at the kitchen table.
Q. TV preferences – documentary, drama, comedy, soap or thriller?
A. Drama, followed by thrillers and documentaries
Q. What was your first published novel about?
A. A Rip in the Veil is the story of a reluctant (and initially very incredulous) time traveller who ends up at the feet of an escaped 17th century convict. She finds him weird. He thinks she might be a witch. And from that less than auspicious beginning kicks off a love story that will survive anything life throws at them—and I like peppering my protagonists with curveballs, which is why one book grew into an entire series called The Graham Saga
Q. What was your last novel about?
A. Err…my latest, [Helen - yes, latest!] I hope… His Castilian Hawk is set in medieval Wales. Edward I is determined to crush the Welsh once and for all and his loyal man-at-arms ends up torn between his duty to his king and the love for his wife, who is quite, quite determined to keep at least one little Welshman safe from the English king.
Q. Do you write in one genre or several?
A. Several, although I have a particular fondness for historical fiction
Q. Have you ever considered exploring a totally different genre?
A. Well, I already have as I’ve published a contemporary romantic suspense series. I’d like to do more of that, and now and then I toy with the idea of writing fantasy.
Q. If you could, which two of your characters would you like to invite to spend an afternoon with you?
A. My Alex (The heroine of The Graham Saga) and Adam de Guriande (the protagonist of my medieval series featuring Edward II, Mortimer and all that mess)
Q. Where would you go / what would you do? With Alex and Adam? They are very different people, but I think I’d take them on a hike and then I’d serve them a massive picnic, complete with chocolate and tea to make Alex happy because she craves both those things when she’s stuck in the 17th century. And to make Adam’s day (which would be hard, because he detests being separated from Kit, his wife) I’d treat him to hamburgers.
Q. How do you prefer to travel? Plane, boat, car?
A. Depends where I am going, but generally I steer clear of boats as I get very sea-sick.
Q. You are out for a walk. You see a chap sitting on a wall, looking right fed up – but there’s something odd about him... What? And what do you do?
A. Odd? Well, I suppose that’s relative, but yes, seeing a bloke in armour in the pouring rain is a bit strange. I mean, metal gets too wet and it can start to rust, right? So I hurry over and offer him my umbrella. The really, really odd thing is he has obviously never seen one before! Seriously?
We have a long-running Radio programme here in the UK called Desert Island Discs on which celebrities talk about their life and select eight of their favourite discs... so changing that slightly...
Q. If you were shipwrecked on a desert island, what eight books would you want to find left in an abandoned hut? (There’s already a Bible, the Quran, and the complete works of Shakespeare)
A. Shoot! Those three would have made my list 😊
1. The Lord of the Rings
2. The Heart of Darkness
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls
4. El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba (No one writes to the Colonel)
5. Jane Eyre
6. Wide Sargasso Sea (obvious companion piece to previous choice)
7. La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Bernarda Alba’s House)– yes, a play, but wow, what a play!
8. Here be Dragons
Q. What sort of island would you prefer, and why? (e.g. Desert Island... Hebridian Island...)
A. Could you please book me into an island with relatively temperate climes? No hurricanes please. No ice storms either. And while you’re at it, I like wide beaches to walk on. A Hebridian Island doesn’t sound too bad—does it come with stags and kilted hunters? [Helen - probably not the kilted hunters]
Q. And you would be allowed one luxury item – what would you want it to be? (a boat or something to escape on isn’t allowed.)
A. Oooo… A functioning sauna. It would serve the dual purpose of keeping me clean and helping me keep warm.
Check out Anna’s website to find out more about her and her books! You can also find her on Amazon, on FB and Twitter .
A Rip in the Veil: http://myBook.to/ARIV1
His Castilian Hawk : http://myBook.to/HISHAWK
website www.annabelfrage.com
Amazon page, http://Author.to/ABG
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abelfrageauthor
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Ha! I must admit to having almost forgotten writing this! Thank you for hosting me, Helen - and seriously, WHY won't you guarante kilted hunters on a Hebridian island? Every girl is entitled to meetat least one kilted hunter--one, I say--while traipsing around in the heather of a damp island...
ReplyDeleteGreat interview Ladies. And yes, why no kilted hunters??!!
ReplyDelete