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Author News & Interviews

Interview: Eva Woods, author of Something Like Happy

Sep 8, 2017

Eva Woods has written two women’s fiction novels, as well as crime fiction under her own name, Claire McGowan, all in the UK. She makes her North American debut with SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY, which finds the two main characters --- one of whom starts out the book cynical and depressed, and the other of whom is initially positive and upbeat --- embarking on a remarkable mission: One hundred days. One hundred new ways to be happy. In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com's Megan Elliott, Woods talks about how her own experiences at a young age influenced the writing of her book, her struggle to balance the more uplifting parts of her story with the harsh reality of her protagonist’s illness, and the message she would like readers to take away after turning the last page.

Author Talk: Philippa Gregory, author of The Last Tudor

Aug 15, 2017

Philippa Gregory’s latest novel, THE LAST TUDOR, features one of the most famous girls in history, Lady Jane Grey, and her two sisters, each of whom dared to defy her queen. In this interview, Gregory talks about the book’s origin, explaining why she was interested in telling the story of all three Grey sisters and with three different narrators. She also discusses what surprised her in the course of writing it, the film that introduced her to the Tudors when she was just a teenager, and her involvement in a project called Gardens for The Gambia, which was established in 1993 to provide water for wells in the gardens of rural schools in The Gambia, one of the poorest countries in Africa.

Author Talk: Fiona Davis, author of The Address

Aug 8, 2017

In her debut novel, THE DOLLHOUSE, Fiona Davis pulled readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women. For her follow-up, THE ADDRESS, the setting shifts to another iconic New York building, The Dakota, one of the first apartment houses to be built on the Upper West Side. In this interview, Davis talks about her inspiration for her second novel, how she chose the story’s two timelines (the 1880s and the 1980s), the research she conducted, and the ways in which she seamlessly blended fact and fiction.

Author Talk: Sulari Gentill, author of After She Wrote Him

Aug 3, 2017

Sulari Gentill is the author of the award-winning Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, a series of historical crime fiction novels set in the 1930s about Rowland Sinclair, the gentleman artist-cum-amateur-detective. Her latest book is CROSSING THE LINES, a postmodern novel that introduces readers to Madeleine, a successful author of a mystery series who decides to write a stand-alone novel about a literary writer named Edward. In this interview, Gentill talks about her longtime fascination with the reciprocal relationship between author and protagonist, and how that influenced her in the writing of this unique novel. She also admits to still being undecided as to which of her protagonists is real and which is imagined, describes herself as a “pantser” (she writes by the seat of her pants), and explains the odd connection between CROSSING THE LINES and her Rowland Sinclair period mysteries.

Interview: Michelle Richmond, author of The Marriage Pact

Jul 28, 2017

New York Times bestselling author Michelle Richmond’s latest novel, THE MARRIAGE PACT, is an intense and shocking tale that asks: How far would you go to protect your marriage? In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com’s Joe Hartlaub, Richmond explains why she wrote the book, which was partly inspired by her longstanding fascination with cult-like organizations that lure people in with the promise of helping them to live fuller, happier lives and be better versions of themselves, and how she came up with the four rules that form the bedrock of The Pact. She also talks about the important role that Leonard Cohen and his music played in the novel, how her books (including this one) cross genres, her decision to explore the world of writing at such a young age, and the single best action she took on her road to success.