Welcome to my blog, Sarah! I am so happy to have you here and to be a part of your blog tour for your new release THE VIKING'S STOLEN PRINCESS - let's kick off with my questions, shall we? (I adore your answer about period dramas, by the way. What a romantic your hubby is!)
1.) Do you use pictures as inspiration at the
start of a book?
I think it’s helpful to be able to visualise how your characters will look, and
the settings in which their story will take place at the beginning of writing a
book.
My starting point was my hero. I knew how I wanted him to look and behave from
the word go. I’m a huge fan of TV series set in the 9th century, and I imagined
my hero, Brand, in The Viking’s Stolen Princess to be a cross between Ragnar
Lothrook (played by Travis Fimmel) in Vikings and Erik Thurgilson (played by
Christian Hillborg) in The Last Kingdom. Throw in a bit of Khal Drogo from Game
of Thrones (Jason Momoa), and wow, what a combination!
For my job working on county magazines, we often produce pieces and run images
of the East coast of England, where the Vikings attacked and settled. I also
visited places like Viking Bay in Kent and Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. These places
helped me to form an idea in my head for the setting for my books.
2.) What is your favourite period drma?
It’s hard to pick just one. I’m a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice, so much so
that I even got engaged to my hubby on a ‘Pride & Prejudice holiday’,
visiting all the sites where they shot the film with Keria Knightley in
Derbyshire. My husband got down on one knee on Stanage Edge, where Keira
Knightley stands in the film. We stayed in the Peacock in Rowsley, where the
crew stayed, and of course, visited Chatsworth, where some of the film was
produced.
I grew up watching North and South with Patrick Swayze and The Thorn Birds with
Richard Chamberlain.
One of my favourite films of all time has to be Lady Jane, played by Helena
Bonham Carter. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Guildford Dudley, played by Cary
Elwes?
Another favourite is the 1982 version of
Ivanhoe, played by Anthony Andrews. I wanted to be Rebecca and Rowena when I
was growing up.
More recently, I have loved Bridgerton, obviously!
3.) Are the titles of your books important?
Definitely! They tell the reader what the book is about straight away and hopefully draw them in.
4.) If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult
character, what methods help you
through it?
It helps to treat my characters as real people and get into their head and imagine how they're feeling and how they'd behave. When you do this, almost like acting out a play on a stage, the dialogue starts to flow and the story begins to write itself. It helps to just write anything down. Staring at the blank page is the worst. Once something is down on the page, it’s so much easier to go back and edit it and make it better. Coffee and chocolate always helps too.
5.) Are you an early bird or a night owl?
A night owl! There’s too much going on in the mornings in our house. We’re up
early getting the girls to school and walking the dog, and I have to be at my
desk for work at 9am. So night-time is my quiet time, when the girls are asleep
and my hubby is watching a documentary, for me to settle down and get engrossed
in my story. Sometimes I’ll sit down at 8.30pm and when I look at the clock
it’s 2am!
6.) Who’s your favourite author? Why?
I love Sharon Kendrick, a Mills & Boon Modern author of over 100 books. I
read many of her novels. I also love Kate Walker’s books, and have also been
lucky enough to attend some of her writing courses.
I read fellow historical author Ella Matthews’ novels, set in medieval times.
I used to read all sorts of books for my degree and for enjoyment - crime,
historical, classics, thrillers… but now, I tend to stick with what I love. I’m
basically a Mills & Boon reader through and through. You know what you’re
going to get, and you experience that feeling of falling in love when you read
them. You can’t beat them!
7.) Do you have a pet peeve?
I don’t really like it when the protagonists die at the end of a book, I find it unsatisfactory. I like a happy ever after.
8.) Can you tell me a little about your next project?
My second novel, Escaping With Her Saxon Enemy, is out in April. I am just
doing the revisions for it now. It follows on from The Viking’s Stolen Princess
in the Rise of the Ivarssons series. I put my heart and soul into it and I am
very proud of story two.
A little bit of blurb about the next book: Attacked by Saxon soldiers as a
girl, shield maiden Svea Ivarsson vowed never to let a man take advantage of
her again. When she and Ashford Stanton fight a common enemy, will her feelings
for the Saxon warrior change when she discovers his secret and true identity?
I have just been offered another contract with Mills & Boon so there will
be more Viking historicals coming… I am over the moon.
The Viking's Stolen
Princess
A kidnapped royal…
Could be the Viking's undoing!
After Brand Ivarsson of Kald abducts Anne of Termarth on the eve of her wedding, the Viking’s consumed with only one thing: revenge against her loathsome betrothed. But confronted with the stunning princess, so foreign to his world, Brand’s captivated not only by her beauty, but by her spirit and her kindness. Is Anne his prisoner…or is she the one who’s captured his scarred heart?
Purchase Links
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B096TBKQ7D
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096TBKQ7D
Follow Sara Rodi on
Twitter - https://twitter.com/sarahrodiedits
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