Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
First of all, thanks for providing me with the opportunity to meet your many readers!
I’m a practicing lawyer and adjunct law professor, and my books are a series of politico-legal thrillers about Noah Ames, an English barrister practicing during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The series is called In the Den of the English Lion. So far, two books of the series have been published. First is A Second Daniel, in which Noah is appointed to defend the Queen’s Jewish physician against false accusations of attempting to poison the Queen. Noah risks losing everything in the attempt.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The first book was necessarily filled with law, history, and historical personalities. It was about an actual case, after all, and it required a lot of self-discipline to write, as well as a dedicated reader. For the second (and latest) book in the series, entitled The Impress of Heaven, I decided to tell a continuation of the story that would be easier to read; part adventure, part romance.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I did thousands of hours of historical research in preparing to write the first book, which is not unusual.
But, which is a bit unusual, I also research fine points of history and language while I’m writing. I’ve stored links to a number of great online resources for Elizabethan history on my Firefox browser and generally keep them open in tabs. I also keep open tabs to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, as well as one of the most important resources for someone writing during my era (and which I cannot recommend highly enough), namely, The Online Etymological Dictionary (www.etymonline.com). It’s great for avoiding anachronisms, and it’s inherently interesting, to boot.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Shakespeare, Dumas, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall), Umberto Eco, and C.J. Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series, to name a few.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on Book 3 of the series, entitled A Dragon in the Ashes, in which Noah investigates an attempt to poison Queen Elizabeth, and is brought face to face with the horrors of his own past.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Certain types of promotion which are commonly available to romance writers are not (yet) available to writers of historical fiction, but I make myself available whenever an opportunity presents itself. I learn about those opportunities through the tireless efforts of Samantha Williams of Pagecurl Publishing and Promotion.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Pick a subject you truly love and research the daylights out of it before you begin. If, in your writing, you’re foundering historically or bored for even a moment, the reader will pick up on it like radar. You have to love it and learn it; If you don’t, they won’t.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Imagine yourself a few years from now, and understand that that person’s best friend is you . . . today. Now, go out and help that person beginning right now.
What are you reading now?
I’m always in the middle of a few books, but most recently I’ve read some classics, such as those by Charles Dickens, and Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (a lengthy read).
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve got my hands full at the moment, as this series is expected to be at least five books long.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, a book devoted to reestablishing contact with the civilized world in the event one becomes stranded on a desert island, of course!
But, kidding aside, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Arden edition), The Holy Bible (King James version), a one-volume edition of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and an anthology (if I could find one) of Umberto Eco’s works.
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