Regan Walker's Best of the Regency with Author Vonnie Hughes

Hello all! Regan here with my guest, Australian author Vonnie Hughes. As with many writers, Vonnie began writing stories during middle childhood. Over time, she won several writing contests, garnering a variety of prizes that included a pony, cash and an overseas trip. When she looks back over her family tree, she can see why the compulsion to write is inherent.

Her employment has usually involved writing in one shape or form e.g. composing resumés, compiling technical books and drafting legal documents. She has accrued an eclectic group of useless qualifications such as a radio announcer’s diploma, a diploma in journalism/creative writing, the major part of a Diploma in Business, part of a Bachelor of Arts degree and an interior decorating diploma.

Vonnie has settled into writing two genres, historicals, primarily Regencies, and contemporary suspense although all her writing includes mysteries of some sort or another. She loves the two-faced restrictive Victorian lifestyle, the intricacies of the social rules of the Regency period and the far-ranging consequences of the Napoleonic Code.

Be sure and comment and leave your email as Vonnie is giving away to one lucky commenter the paperback Two Regency Sisters consisting of three novellas. To be posted anywhere in the world.

 

I asked Vonnie why she writes Regencies and this was her answer:

It was such a short period in Britain’s history, but has given rise to many things such as the development of canals (as trade with its trading partners hotted up with the imprisonment of Napoleon, freeing up trade routes and resulting in large numbers of goods that needed to be transported all over England), the Royal Astronomical Society was founded, the early prototype of the bicycle, the development of the railway system, the Act of Union with Ireland in 1801 etc. All this is from the British point of view. In the USA Whitney came up with the principle of manufacturing interchangeable parts as pertaining to firearms. The statue of the Venus de Milo was discovered in Greece (1820) and so it goes on.

And this is one of the prime reasons I enjoy writing Regencies. In spite of many Regencies persuading you that it was all about Almacks and dukes, the Regency era was actually a time on the cusp of great changes, not just in Britain but all over the world. Minds were opening up, no longer relying on the dogma of the past.

Today, Vonnie is sharing with us an interview with her unconventional heroine in her newest release, Dangerous Homecoming.

They are both scarred by war; she because of the shattered men she nurses; he because of the loss of friends and the horrors he must endure daily.

Then Colwyn Hetherington is given a chance to put it all behind him and return to England.

Juliana Colebrook desperately wants to go to England to seek out her only living relatives.

Col and Juliana take an almighty chance and travel together, setting in train a series of events that neither could have anticipated. With only their love to sustain them, they clash head-on with the reality of England, 1813. 

Get Dangerous Homecoming on Amazon and Smashwords. And keep up with Vonnie on her Website and on Facebook.

 

Unconventional Heroine Interview

 

1.     Introducing myself: Good day. I’m Juliana Carlotta Ervedosa Colebrook. As you can tell, my Mama was Portuguese and my father was an Englishman. You will find me in the book Dangerous Homecoming. Of course, the English would never get their tongues around ‘Ervedosa’ so I only use my full name when signing documents.

2.     Do you consider yourself to be unconventional? No. In no way do I consider myself unconventional; at least I didn’t while I lived and worked in Portugal, but since coming to England I have discovered that I am unconventional because I am loosely classed as a ‘lady’ yet I work for a living. I am a nurse with experience in tending very sick soldiers. Then again, I am a murderess twice over and one must suppose that could be called ‘unconventional.’ They were murders of necessity, I must hasten to add. I did not set out to murder anyone, but in each case I had no choice. Life is not easy for women in the nineteenth century.

3.     Do you embrace your uniqueness? I don’t think I embrace my uniqueness. I never thought about being unique when I was in Portugal, but once I arrived in England I did my best to fit in. The English can be very cold to those who do not fit in. And I did not want to upset my relatives whom I had not met for many, many years. So, yes, it was a struggle to fit in. In Portugal, since I was raised in a convent that specialized in training young women to nurse the sick or teach the children of the wealthy folk their basic reading and Latin, I was not at all unusual.

4.     Who is your role model? My role model? Well, I’m not sure. I cannot think of any woman I admire—stop! Of course, I have a role model. My role model is the Marchioness of Trewbridge. What an amazing woman. Unlike most women of her class she is industrious, holds her family together with kindness and talks a great deal of sense. Yes, I’d like to be like the Marchioness.

5.     If you could do anything without concern for the consequences, what would it be? Marry Colly Hetherington of course. But my background would bring him down, so I must drop that daydream.

6.     Is your ideal man unconventional? Not really. Colly is what he is. I cannot think of other men when I think about Colly. Other men cease to exist. He is kind and so very honourable. Screamingly so. Ah, what a man.

7.     Any juicy details to share? Hah! Read the book.