Get Lost with Anna Lee Huber

Anna Lee Huber was born and raised in a small town in Ohio.  She is a graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, where she majored in Music and minored in Psychology.  THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE, the first book in the Lady Darby historical mystery series, has been hailed as “…a riveting debut…” and will be released by Berkley Publishing on November 6^th, 2012.  She currently lives in Indiana with her husband and troublemaking tabby cat.  When not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family. Visit her website at www.annaleehuber.com.

Find Anna at:

Website: www.annaleehuber.com

Facebook: AuthorAnnaLeeHuber

Twitter: AnnaLeeHuber

THE ANATOMIST’S WIFE

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage-a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...

Thank you so much for having me here as a guest on Get Lost in a Story!  Cat, you were the first person to ever ask me to make a guest appearance, and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.  Thank you for being so welcoming and enthusiastic to such a starry-eyed newbie. 

CAT:  What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?

ANNA:  I love stories with mystery, romance, often some history, and sometimes a little magic.  Anything really that sweeps me off my feet and takes me on a journey I don’t want to end.

CAT:  What’s your favorite “love” word?

ANNA:  Acceptance.  For me, that’s the core of what love comes down to – accepting a person for exactly who they are, faults and triumphs.  That can be romantically, or as a friend, or a family member, or as a fellow citizen. 

CAT:  What’s your favorite cartoon character?

ANNA:  Hands down, Winnie the Pooh.  The original A.A. Milne stories and the cartoons are such classics, even the music.  When I was young, my grandfather used to walk with us grandkids out to the forest behind their house.  He told us it was the Hundred Acre Wood, and if we yelled loud enough, Winnie the Pooh and his friends would come out and visit us.  We loved standing there calling out to the chubby little cubby – “Winnie the Pooh, where are you?”  Even as we grew older, and understood it was just a game, we still played along with the younger grandkids, unwilling to miss out on the fun. 

 

I made it a point to visit the real Hundred Acre Wood, Ashdown Forest, when I visited the UK two years ago.  We didn’t see Pooh Bear, and Christopher Robin and his ancestors have long since moved away, but we did see the Poohsticks Bridge and pass by Eeyore’s Lonely Spot, and we visited Pooh’s Corner, a tourists’ shop. 

CAT:  Who’s your favorite villain?

ANNA:  I always thought Maleficent from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was always a particularly nasty piece of work – intelligent, cruel and vindictive.  I wouldn’t have wanted to go up against her.  And it made me like Prince Philip all the more because he dared to.

CAT:  Do you write while listening to music? If so what kind?

ANNA:  Often, but it must be instrumental – symphonies or movie soundtracks, etc.  Music with words distracts me, even opera in foreign languages I don’t really speak.  I have a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Vocal Performance), so I get too carried away by the vocals. 

CAT:  What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

ANNA:  Go into shutdown mode, which usually consists of taking a long, hot bath, and lying in bed and watching TV, and refusing to think any deep thoughts.  And there’s usually some kind of chocolate or sweet involved. 

CAT:  If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?

ANNA:  Maybe Betty White.  I’ve been a huge fan of hers ever since I was a little girl watching Golden Girls on Saturday nights.  In college, we watched the reruns every night in our dorm suite.  I would love to just chat with her about life, the ups and downs, staying healthy mentally and physically, living through loss and love.  For me, her celebrity is secondary.  I wish my grandparents and great-grandparents had lived long enough for me to have those kinds of chats with them. 

CAT:  Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?

ANNA:  Tea – usually Chai or English Breakfast, with cream/milk and sugar. 

CAT:  What would you say is your most interesting quirk?

ANNA:  I’m extremely sensitive to the texture of food.  If it feels gross in my mouth, I just can’t swallow it, even if it tastes fine.  It sets off my gag reflex.  Oatmeal, clams, oysters, rubbery chicken, okra, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas…

CAT:  Which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise and why? Most?

ANNA:  The 1920s fascinate me, but I would have looked terrible in the fashion of that age.  I’m much too curvy, and I cannot pull off short hair.  But I love the empire-waist dresses and Spencers of the Regency period, not to mention the fact that they do an admirable job of hiding a rounder tummy.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

If you visited the UK, where would you most like to go?  And if you have already been to the UK, what was your favorite place to visit? 

Anna has offered one copy of The Anatomist’s Wife to a US Resident.  Please leave your email address in the comments.