Why did you write such a tragic ending for Finn and Kathryn? I didn't start out to write it that way, but in order to be true to the themes and character issues that developed as the story emerged, I felt I had no choice. There are consequences to actions. That ending seemed the only logical consequence of the choices Finn and Kathryn made when considered in the times in which they lived. As to whether or not it's tragic, I'm not sure I totally agree--not romantic, happily ever after perhaps--but they experienced a great love, and where is the tragedy in that? The tragedy would have been never to have known that love. It was my intent that the reader would see the hope represented in the child at the end of the story and the promise of a new journey for Finn and a new spiritual challenge for Kathryn.
Are Finn and Kathryn in your second book, The Mercy Seller? Yes, it does feature Finn and Kathryn, but a much older and wiser Finn and Kathryn. It basically tells the story of Finn's granddaughter and her struggles with some of the same old enemies her grandparents dealt with. It opens in Prague, where Church officials have just begun to persecute the Lollards in an attempt to nip the flowering reformation in the bud, but returns to England and the Lollard persecution there.
Does it have a sad ending too? It doesn't have a tragic ending in the same sense that some readers felt THE ILLUMINATOR was tragic, but neither does it have a fairy-tale ending. I hope the reader will find it satisfying.
Are any of the characters from the first two books in The Heretic's Wife? No. Although the story is centered around the same conflict, the three-hundred-year-old struggle to check the political power of the Church and translate the Bible into English, this one takes place a century later. It is set during Henry VIII's reign. However, anyone who has read the previous two books might recognize a family characteristic, obsession, or even maybe a family heirloom illuminated Bible.
How did you begin writing? I have been making up stories in my head all of my life. As a child, it was the way I put myself to sleep whenever my parents made me "close that book and turn out the light!" But I have only been seriously pursuing publication for the last ten years. My career as a teacher and librarian left little time for the required discipline and mental energy to finish, edit, polish, and market my stories. After I retired from education, I made my writing my "work."
Why historical fiction?
Literature and history have always been my two loves. With historical fiction, I can combine them. As a teacher I always learned much more than my students because in order to teach a subject one needs first to master it. While I do not dare claim to have "mastered" the subject of medieval England, I will say that the digging into has been stimulating, enlightening, and great fun.
Where do you get your ideas and how do you write?
Some ideas are sparked by an image in my head or by a tidbit of dialogue I overhear or just by the reading of history. Sometimes it's a mystical experience like prayer or contemplation or meditation, in that I have to get to a certain place in my head before I can actually create scenes and fictional characters. Sometimes, it's hard to get to that place. I can do research or plan a scene, a chapter, even a book, but these are cerebral activities. The actual writing bubbles up from some other place, and it doesn't always follow those well laid plans. I cannot sit down to a blank computer screen with nothing. Sometimes, I have to begin with pen and paper in a place of solitude with just an image or an action in my head. Once I'm "in the scene" I can work anywhere.
What was the inspiration for your first book, The Illuminator?
My interest in English history, the history of the English language, and the role of women in Christian Church history led me to a closer study of the late 14th century. The initial inspiration for the novel was provided by two historic documents. One of the documents was The Divine Revelations by Julian of Norwich, anchoress and mystic and the first woman to write in the English language. The other was a book I saw several years ago at Trinity College in Dublin. It was called the Book of Kells. The beauty of that classic example of the illuminator's art planted a seed in my imagination that flowered in The Illuminator. As I began to research and write about Julian's period, I found the fictional characters of Lady Kathryn and Finn the illuminator living right along beside and interacting with the actual historical figures of John Wycliffe, John Ball, Julian of Norwich, and Bishop Henry Despenser. Julian's concept of Jesus as the "mother God," sparked my imagination. I wanted to see just how far a loving parent would go to protect a child. The richness of the period provided a wonderful setting, with the conflict being inherent in the turbulent times. All I had to do was let my characters choose sides, and then stand back and watch the inevitable. The seeds for The Mercy Seller were planted in my imagination as I researched and wrote The Illuminator.
Who are your favorite authors? What authors have influenced your work? Who are you currently reading?
My favorite authors are mostly English --with the exception of Poe and Hawthorne. My academic studies focused on the writings of Shakespeare, Hardy, Defoe and the Bronte sisters because those were the authors I loved. Jane Eyre, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Moll Flanders are among my favorite books. As a young girl I read the romantic novels of Daphne DuMaurier--I still reread Rebecca--Anya Seton, Norah Lofts, and Rafael Sabatini. As an adult, P.D. James, Martha Grimes, and Iris Murdoch have provided me with endless hours of reading pleasure. I loved the fantasy worlds of Watership Down and Tolkein's middle earth and the early sagas of Susan Howatch, as well as her later novels about the Church of England. I enjoy the contemporary novels of Margaret Drabble and the family stories of Rosamunde Pilcher. All of these authors have in common the ability to tell a great story and render a remarkable sense of place while providing the reader with an insight into humanity. I have recently enjoyed a preview of a debut novel by Vanitha Sankaran named Watermark that will be released from Avon in April 2010. Also for those readers who plan ahead, I also highly recommend a book by Sara Poole called Poison, which is due from St. Martin's in 2010. I write searching for the same thing I seek in the books I love--story and place and a window into a better understanding of the human condition.
What advice do you have for other writers?
Read, read, read, and write the same kind of books/stories you enjoy reading. Study your craft by attending workshops, seminars, and conferences and reading books and periodicals on writing and the business of publishing. Don't expect honest criticism from your friends and relatives. Find or form a critique group with other writers you trust and develop a thick skin. Put your ego aside. Do not let fear of rejection keep you from putting your work out there. And most important, never give up! The main difference between published writers and unpublished writers is persistence.
What resources do you recommend for writers?
Some books that will feed your writer's soul and nourish your dream are: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, and The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner. I highly recommend the books of Sol Stein on matters of craft, as well as Structuring your Novel by Robert C. Meredith, The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray, and The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner.
What are you working on now? In writing about the pre-reformation period, I became interested in how the English Bible went, within the span of one generation, from being banned to being a required feature, chained to the pulpit by law, in every church in England. So Tudor England is the setting for my upcoming book. The main characters are a young bookseller who smuggles contraband materials and a brilliant young scholar who translates them. Having just finished The Heretic's Wife, I'm reading mostly straight history, digging around for my next story in the struggle between Charles I and Parliament. It's a fascinating period, a period of great change in political and religious theory. Such transition times always hold great stories. The trick is finding just the right one.
