Lady Darby, the Second

MORTAL ARTS

Lady Darby, Book 2

Berkley Publishing

Scotland, 1830

Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue-in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn't quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator-and romantic entanglement-Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery.

Kiera's old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the arrival of his older brother-and Kiera's childhood art tutor-William, has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing, committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to her mentor's plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a beloved family friend-and save the marriage of another...

THE LADY BEHIND THE LADY

Anna Lee Huber is the award-winning author of the Lady Darby historical mystery series. Her debut, The Anatomist’s Wife, has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including two 2013 RITA® Awards and a 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award. She was born and raised in a small town in Ohio, and graduated from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN with a degree in music and a minor in psychology. She currently lives in Indiana, and enjoys reading, singing, traveling and spending time with her family. Visit her website.

NEVER ASK A LADY...

Oh, Go Ahead and Ask

ANGI: How often to you get lost in a story?

ANNA: Not nearly often enough. I wish my schedule allowed for more time to read, but I usually get lost in at least one story a week.

ANGI: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?

ANNA: Trite as it sounds, my husband. He found a way for me to be able to write full-time and pursue my dream. He has always been my biggest cheerleader. I’m not sure I would have made it without him.

ANGI: There is never anything "trite" about having a hero for a husband !!

ANGI: What do you like about the hero of your book?

ANNA: Gage accepts Kiera for who she is and appreciates all her quirks. I always think of the chorus of Mindy Gledhill’s song “Anchor” – “There are those who think that I’m strange. They would box me up, and tell me to change. But you hold my close and softly say that you wouldn’t have me any other way.” We all long for someone to do just that. Nothing is more endearing or attractive.

ANGI: Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your MORTAL ARTS?

ANNA: I listened to the Inception Soundtrack constantly when I was writing Mortal Arts, so it would be the perfect playlist. It certainly sets the mood.

ANGI: Where do you read and how often?

ANNA: Usually on my couch curled up with my cat and a cup of tea, or in bed. I read as often as I can.

ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?

ANNA: The sound of the ocean crashing against the shore. I also love the sound of a gentle breeze blowing through the trees.

ANGI: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure?

ANNA: Ooh, tough. I love both. But probably Action Adventure.

ANGI: What was the first story you remember writing?

ANNA: I was in the fourth grade. It was titled Prom Duty, and it was about a group of teens who form a band and play for their Senior Prom.

ANGI: What is your biggest vice?

ANNA: I am not a very spontaneous person, and wish I could be better at living in the moment. I know it sometimes irritates my husband, who can be very impulsive.

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: In a previous GLIAS interview you said "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." Do your heroines face villains who are as cruel?  

ANNA'S GOTTA ANSWER: Yes. And certainly in Mortal Arts. The worst thing about the latest villain Kiera faces is that they believe they are right, that there actions are justified, and yet they are still incredibly cruel.

 ANGI: I just found out that Angelina Jolie is portraying Maleficent in a live-action film due to release in March 2014. Very cool.

FIND ANNA

Contact  Website   Facebook   Twitter   @AnnaLeeHuber

Goodreads   Blogs   Previous GLIAS interviews

 

UP NEXT for ANNA

A GRAVE MATTER

A Lady Darby Mystery, Book 3

releases July 2014

PREVIOUS RELEASES by ANNA

THE ANATOMIST’S WIFE

Lady Darby Historical Mystery Series

2013 RWA RITA FINALIST

ANNA is giving away a copy of Mortal Arts to one blog commenter. (North America Readers) Be sure to leave your email address for notification.

Note: COMMENTERS are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

DON’T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Come back tomorrow when Jillian hosts the Crew's very first, FIRST Friday. We're turning the first Friday of every month to an update post about us. We hope you like it! ~Angi

ANNA WANTS TO KNOW: I love movie soundtracks. Do you have a favorite soundtrack, or is there one that particularly inspires you?

Celebrating Best First Books

The Get Lost in a Story crew sends our CONGRATULATIONS to the

THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE
Anna Lee Huber
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.

Penguin Group USA, Berkley Publishing Group 
Michelle Vega, editor

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...

Anna is also a finalist in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win an autographed copy of Anna Lee Huber's THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE. Start by leaving a comment.
Previously on GLIAS
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CRAZY LITTLE THING
Tracy Brogan

If Sadie Turner is good at anything, it’s putting stuff in order. So when she finds her “perfect” life in disarray, she hopes a summer vacation at her aunt’s lake house will help her piece it back together. She wants to relax, reboot, and heal the wounds left by her cheating ex-husband. And that requires time away from men. All men.

Or so she thinks.

Amazon Publishing, Montlake Romance 

Kelli Martin, editor

With two slobbering dogs and two cousins living there—one a flamboyant decorator intent on making over Sadie—it’s hard to get a moment’s peace at eccentric Aunt Dody’s house, especially with everyone so determined to set her up with Desmond, the sexy new neighbor.

Desmond is Sadie’s worst nightmare. Tall, tanned, muscular…and to top it off, he’s great with her kids. But he must have a flaw—he’s a man—so Sadie vows to keep her distance.

As summer blazes on, the life Sadie is trying so hard to simplify only becomes more complicated—a new career presents itself, her evil ex haunts her, and Aunt Dody reveals a tragic secret—but maybe a little chaos is just what Sadie needs to get her life back in order.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win autographed copies of Tracy Brogan's CRAZY LITTLE THING, HIGHLAND SURRENDER, & HOLD ON MY HEART. (north America) Start by leaving a comment.

*Please note, the delivery of Tracy's giveaway will take a couple of weeks. Thanks.

Website

FIRELIGHT
Kristen Callihan
London, 1881
Once the flames are ignited . . . 
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

Grand Central Publishing, Forever
Alex Logan, editor

They will burn for eternity . . . 
Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Kristen is also a finalist in the Paranormal category.
Previously on GLIAS
Website

FORGED IN FIRE
Trish McCallan
Beth Brown doesn't believe in premonitions. But her recent dream feels too real to ignore: a commercial airliner is hijacked, and a handsome passenger is shot dead. Beth hasn't met the mystery man in her dream; she would never forget a gorgeous face like his. But she can’t deny the bizarre connection she feels. Now awake, and unable to allow for the violence she’s convinced is impending, she races to the airport…and comes face to face with the man of her dreams.

Amazon Publishing, Montlake Romance
Lindsay Guzzardo, editor

Zane Winters lives for his job, using his uncanny psychic powers to carry out missions for elite SEAL Team 7. Yet the constant adrenaline highs can’t drown out the numbness seeping into his life as he yearns to find a woman he can trust. All that changes when he meets a beautiful stranger who sets his soul on fire—and somehow knows he’s about to die.

To thwart the global crisis the hijacking will unleash, Beth and Zane join forces. But even amid the danger, they can’t deny the powerful force drawing them together. Is it merely attraction…or destiny?

Trish is also a finalist in the Romantic Suspense category.

Website


GHOST PLANET
Sharon Lynn Fisher
A world in peril. A bond deeper than love.

Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world - a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these “ghosts.” She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet.

Tom Doherty Associates, Tor Books
Whitney Ross, editor

Reincarnated as a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy - creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone - oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love - Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence.

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man she loves.


Previously on GLIAS
Website


THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE
Simone St. James

Sarah Piper’s lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis – rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts – has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah’s task to confront her in death.

Penguin Group USA, New American Library
Ellen Edwards, editor

Soon Sarah is caught up in a desperate struggle. For Maddy’s ghost is real, she’s angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair’s assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, where she came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance – before she destroys them all?

Simone is also a finalist in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category.

Previously on GLIAS
Website








MY LIFE NEXT DOOR
Huntley Fitzpatrick

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts.  All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them…until one summer evening Jase Garrett climbs her trellis and changes everything. 

Penguin Group USA, Dial Books for Young Readers
Jessica Garrison, editor

As the two fall fiercely in love and stumble through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first romance, Jase’s family makes Samantha one of their own—even as she keeps him a secret from her disapproving mother and critical best friend. Then the unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha’s world. She’s suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

Website

PUSHING THE LIMITS 

Katie McGarry

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

Harlequin, Harlequin Teen

Margo Lipschultz, editor

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. 

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Katie is also a finalist in the Young Adult category.

Previously on GLIAS

Website

Congratulations to all the nominees for the RITA® in the

BEST FIRST BOOK category!

~ ~ ~

JOIN US tomorrow as RITA® week 
continues with the WINNERS of each category. 

Don’t forget to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win
*autographed copy of Anna Lee Huber's THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE
*autographed copies of Tracy Brogan's CRAZY LITTLE THING, HIGHLAND SURRENDER, & HOLD ON MY HEART

Start by leaving a comment.
WHO'S A NEW ACTOR ON YOUR MUST WATCH LIST?
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrating NOVELS with STRONG ROMANTIC ELEMENTS

The Get Lost in a Story crew sends our CONGRATULATIONS to the

THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE
Anna Lee Huber
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.

Penguin Group USA
Berkley Publishing Group 
Michelle Vega, editor

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...

Anna is also a finalist in the Best First Book category

MULTIPLE CHANCES for an autographed copy of Anna Lee Huber's THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE. (But you'll have to register through the Best First Books Rafflecopter drawing on Saturday, July 20th.) (north America) Start by leaving a comment.

Previously on GLIAS
Website


BEFORE AND EVER SINCE
Sharla Lovelace

EMILY LOCKWOOD, YOUR PAST IS SHOWING... 

Emily Lockwood has been sitting on a secret for so long, and buried so deep that she really doesn’t even think of it anymore. Why should she? She has a successful career, an ex-husband who rarely tests her patience, a mother who usually does, and a stubbornly independent grown daughter. Everything is fine, just another crazy kind of normal.

Penguin Group USA

Berkley Sensation

Wendy McCurdy, editor

Until Ben Landry comes back to town. From childhood friends to young lovers, Ben and Emily had an unbreakable bond. Or so she thought—until he disappeared for over twenty years without explanation. Seeing Ben again triggers more than mere memories and a tug at her heart. It rips the cover off an old secret that could hurt the people she loves most.

While Emily works to keep her secret safe and her heart safer, her sanity gets a reality check. She’s been seeing things—her past played out like home movies unreeling before her eyes, visions that are making Emily see herself, her family, everyone she knew, and every choice she made, in a revealing new light and a startling new angle. For Emily, seeing her life in rewind makes her realize she has hard choices to make for her future. Choices that may redefine everyone else’s future as well.

website

BRIDGE OF SCARLET LEAVES
Kristina McMorris

Los Angeles. 1941. 

Kensington Publishing Corp.

John Scognamiglio, editor

Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.


MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win an autographed copy of Kristina McMorris's BRIDGE OF SCARLET LEAVES. (north America) Start by leaving a comment.

Previously on GLIAS
website

A GIRL LIKE YOU
Maria Geraci

Every ugly duckling is a swan in waiting...

Emma Frazier is smart, hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine. Emma knows she’s no great beauty, but she’s pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher—until Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the “ugly friend.” In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend, Trip Monroe.

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it’s been fourteen years since they've spoken, Emma is certain she can score an interview with the elusive super star. But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined. Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shake up Emma’s views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win an autographed copy of Maria Geraci's A GIRL LIKE YOU. (north America) Start by leaving a comment.

Previously on GLIAS
website

THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE
Simone St. James

Sarah Piper’s lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis – rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts – has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah’s task to confront her in death.

Penguin Group USA
New American Library
Ellen Edwards, editor

Soon Sarah is caught up in a desperate struggle. For Maddy’s ghost is real, she’s angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair’s assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, where she came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance – before she destroys them all?

Simone is also a finalist in the Best First Book category

Previously on GLIAS
Website



TIME'S ECHO
Pamela Hartshorne

York , 1577: Hawise

Macmillan Publishers, Ltd.

Pan Macmillan

Wayne Brookes, editor

Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl like her in Elizabethan York, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.

Four and a half centuries later, Grace Trewe, who has traveled the world, is trying to outrun the memories of being caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami. Her stay in York is meant to be a brief one. But in York Grace discovers that time can twist and turn in ways she never imagined.

Drawn inexorably into Hawise’s life, Grace finds that this time she cannot move on. Will she too be engulfed in the power of the past?

Pamela is also a finalist in the Contemporary Series Romance category writing as Jessica Hart.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter to win an autographed copy of Pamela Hartshorne's TIME'S ECHO. (international) Start by leaving a comment.

website

THE WELCOME COMMITTEE OF

BUTTERNUT CREEK

Jane Myers Perrine

Upon his arrival, Butternut Creek Christian Church's newly-minted minister is met by a welcome committee led by Miss Birdie and her friend Mercedes, a.k.a. "the Widows." Their first order of business, to educate him on how things should be done, quickly gives way to a campaign to find him a wife. 

Hachette Book Group, Faith Words

Christina Boys, editor

When their matchmaking efforts fizzle, the Widows turn to another new bachelor. Amputee and Afghan vet Sam simply wants to be left alone-- a desire that's as good as a red flag to the Widows! Soon they're scheming to pair him up with Willow, his beautiful physical therapist, a divorced mother of two who is afraid of commitment, Perrine's small-town tale is a big-time triumph of gentle humor, fast-paced plot, and wonderfully engaging characters.

Previously on GLIAS
website

Congratulations to all the nominees for the RITA® in the

NOVEL with STRONG ROMANTIC ELEMENTS category!

~ ~ ~

JOIN US tomorrow as RITA® week 
continues with the LONG CONTEMPORARY SERIES ROMANCE category. 

Don’t forget to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook.

MULTIPLE CHANCES through Rafflecopter
north America
*an autographed copy of Anna Lee Huber's THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE. 
(But you'll have to register through the Best First Books Rafflecopter drawing
on Saturday, July 20th.)
*an autographed copy of  Kristina McMorris's BRIDGE OF SCARLET LEAVES
*an autographed copy of  Maria Geraci's A GIRL LIKE YOU

international giveaway through Rafflecopter (separate)
*an autographed copy of  Pamela Hartshorne's TIME'S ECHO 

Start by leaving a comment.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHICK FLICK?

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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.