Interview with Historical & Contemporary Romance Author Maggi Andersen
Please welcome Maggi Andersen, historical and contemporary romance author from New South Wales, Australia. She has a BA and Master of Arts in Creative Writing, loves local wildlife, and pens the Regency, Baxendale Sisters, and Spies of Mayfair series. And she has an AWESOME WEBSITE. Please check it out, Maggiandersenauthor.com
Now, let’s learn a little more about our friend, Maggi…
*What’s it like living in Australia?
It’s great! Australians are known for their easy-going attitude to life. I grew up close to the beach and my childhood was all sun, sand, and sea. My brother and I roamed free in those days. Now I live in a bustling village in the Southern Highlands near Sydney, where the spring and autumn are glorious and it sometimes snows, but lightly and rarely! It’s wine country, with rolling green hills, some covered in vines, horse studs and farms. The highlands has many endangered bird species and a large koala population. Old inns, and their ghosts, still operate in the historic villages nearby where the stage coaches once passed through during the 1800s. When I feel I need to break out of my self-imposed writer’s cocoon, I head to Sydney for a writer’s conference or Melbourne to visit family.
This is great. Would love to visit there one day. My wife has a cousin, uh, somewhere over there. Sorry memory fails me at the moment.
Here’s some additional pics…
*What led you to read the books of Georgette Heyer and Victoria Holt?
My mother loved them, and she handed them on to me. We reread them many times over and had lengthy discussion on each one. It was a special thing to share with her, with lovely memories now that she is no longer with us.
It’s lovely to share the joy of books with others, especially another family member.
A book is a gift you can open again and again. -Garrison Keillor
*What do you love most about the Georgian and Regency worlds?
There is so much to write about. The history, manners, culture, fashions, gardens, mansions, and food aside, there was also the extravagant and extraordinarily self-indulgent Prince Regent, plus the lengthy Napoleonic wars. There was also the pulsating underworld where crime and vice of every kind flourished. The colorful Georgian era was less mannered, but equally as fascinating. Some of the people who existed in these eras seem larger than life, like Beau Brummel, who was a profound influence on men’s fashion and their bathing habits in the early 1800s. He was befriended by the Prince of Wales, but was always on the verge of poverty, which was then labeled ‘dun territory’. He lost the Prince’s friendship and left England a broken man. Young gentlemen were dangerously idle. Great gamblers, there are many instances where huge estates and wealth were lost at the gaming tables and the races.
I love what you’ve done with your historical series. It not only brings history alive, but it also transports you there in many ways.
*If you could send yourself back to those time periods what would you do?
Marry a duke of course. Seriously, I would hope to be a member of the ton, the Upper Ten Thousand in society. Life could be very hard for the lower classes. If I was born without money or family, I’d be an actress, I always wanted to tread the boards.
Splendid! I always enjoy the answers to this question.
*What are your top three experiences writing about these times?
Creating the three books in The Spies of Mayfair Series. A Dangerous Deception, A Spy to Love, and A Secret Affair. They were enjoyable to write, I loved the heroes and heroines, and researching interesting historical facts which included Napoleon’s escape from Elba, The Peterloo Massacre, and the famous Hope diamond, the blue diamond of the French Crown, stolen from King Louis XIV in 1791.
Awesome! Can’t wait to read all of them.
*Tell us about your new release, The Baron’s Wife.
My new release The Baron’s Wife has just hit an historical mystery bestseller list on Amazon! Another of my favorite stories to write, it’s set during the late Victorian era, teetering on the brink of the 20 th Century, when so much was changing. Women were fighting for their right to vote, to gain access to university degrees and have other freedoms allowed to men. It would take many years for these things to be realized. My heroine, Laura Parr was involved in the Suffrage movement when she met her hero, Baron, Nathaniel Lanyon. She puts these dreams on hold after he sweeps her off her feet, marries her and takes her to his home, an ancient abbey in Cornwall. Laura soon discovers all is not as it seems in her new home. There’s a mystery surrounding Nathaniel’s first wife’s death. Nathaniel had been confident he could offer Laura a happy life, but the past comes back to claim him.
This sounds like an intriguing story!
*What was a courtship like at the time of Laura Parr and Baron, Lord Nathaniel Lanyon?
For a strictly raised young lady such as Laura, her future marriage partner, and her courtship was often chosen and managed by the parents. Her father must first approve of the suitor and her mother would make sure she was chaperoned until the wedding. Many couples were virtual strangers when they married.
Wow. That’s amazing. The thought of my parents choosing my spouse makes me cringe.
*Is this a standalone or part of a series?
The Baron’s Wife is a standalone novel. It’s my third Victorian mystery romance. The first two are The Folly at Falconbridge Hall and The Diary of a Painted Lady.
I already downloaded this one!
*What else are you working on?
At present, I’m working on a new Regency series, The Kinsey Family, Unmasking Lady Helen, Book One. The story is filled with mystery, suspense and romance, Ancient Egyptian tombs, and art forgery. I hope to have it published by August. Also, my contemporary romantic suspense novella Finding Daniel is part of a boxed set coming in February 2018.
Sounds great, keep us posted.
Thanks Maggi!
A Baron’s Wife: https://books2read.com/u/bzpXE9
Amazon Author page:http://lrd.to/9bwVEjmPBk
Twitter: @maggiandersen
Website: http//www.maggiandersenauthor.com
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