Interview and giveaway: Susanna Kearsley with The Winter Sea

Today I welcome Susanna Kearsley to my blog. She is the author of The Winter Sea that I reviewed last week. And at the bottom of this post there is a giveaway, 2 copies.

Welcome to Mur-y-Castell.

Tell us something about yourself, so we get a better understanding about the woman behind the author.

SK: Let’s see…I’m Canadian, which means I always cross with the light and say “sorry” if you bump into me. I had a very happy childhood with a family I adore, and that happiness has continued for most of my life, the one notable exception being the loss of my only sister to cancer five years ago. I love traveling, reading, and watching live theatre, especially musicals, and when I’m not doing any of those things I live with my husband, two children and dog to the east of Toronto, and spend a few hours a day in my writing-room, making up stories.

Your latest release is called The Winter Sea; can you tell me what it is about?
SK: The Winter Sea is the story of a writer, Carrie McClelland, who’s working on a historical novel about a little-known Jacobite rebellion of the early eighteenth century. She rents a cottage on the northeast coast of Scotland, near the ruins of the castle where her story is set, and starts her book, giving her imaginary main character the name of one of her own Scottish ancestors who lived at the same time. But when she finds out that her ancestor actually lived at the castle, and when the scenes that she’s writing turn out to be more fact than fiction, Carrie begins to suspect that she’s dealing with ancestral memories.

The Winter Sea is a mix of the present and the past. Do you spend a lot of time doing research do get the past right?
SK: I really enjoy the research, so the more time I get to spend doing it, the better! It’s an ongoing thing that begins before I start the actual writing and continues all the way through the book, right to the end of my final revisions. Sometimes the research drives the story along, and sometimes the story veers off in a direction that leads me to new research. That’s part of the fun. A lot of what I learn is never used – I spent countless days studying shipbuilding and naval warfare to find the few details I needed for one or two scenes in the book – but the learning itself is enjoyable, and never-ending.

Do you believe in genetic memory? I certainly enjoyed the idea of it while reading.
SK: Thanks, I’m glad to hear that. I find the whole idea really fascinating, and I think some of the scientific studies being done now on the brain and human memory may teach us interesting things about ourselves. Other animals obviously carry certain complex memories in their genes – migration routes, and nesting sites – so I believe it’s probable we carry memories, too. Just how specific they might be, and how and when we access them…well, those are questions scientists are trying now to answer.

While reading I did wonder if you yourself had any interesting ancestors that you would like to write about…
SK: I do have my share of colorful ancestors! I had several on the Mayflower, including one, John Howland, who fell overboard during the voyage. Luckily, there was a rope trailing in the water and he was able to catch it and hang on till somebody noticed and he could be rescued, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. And another of my Mayflower ancestors, Edward Doty, would have fought the first duel on American soil if he hadn’t been stopped. So even back then, it appears that we didn’t fade quietly into the woodwork… I find my Mayflower ancestors fascinating because they humanize the history for me. They were actually there, on the ship, and they suffered at Plymouth through that first incredible winter. They knew and interacted with the people whose more famous names we all know from the history books. And a few of my ancestors made history in their own way, like Elizabeth Winthrop, whose story has already been told by Anya Seton in her book The Winthrop Woman.

But two of my favorites are lesser-known men. Captain Christopher Hatch, whose family like so many American families was divided by the Revolutionary War, remained a Loyalist and took part in shipping and free-trading off the coast of Maine. As a child I went to visit the grand house he used to live in on the east coast, and the letters that he left reveal an interesting character. The second man is Captain William Marter, who sailed twice to the Orient with the East India Company in the late eighteenth century and left behind ships’ logs that make for some riveting reading, so maybe one day he’ll turn up in a book of mine.

I see that you have written a couple of other books. Could you tell me about those?
SK: The Winter Sea is my ninth book to be published. The first book and the third one are much shorter, simpler mysteries, and are now quite hard to find. But the others, although they all tell different stories and are set in different places, from the borders of Scotland to France’s Loire valley, are all books of romantic suspense and adventure with modern-day characters sorting out mysteries that come from the past. I won’t bore everyone by listing every book here, but each one has a page on my web site, with photos of the location where it’s set, and an excerpt in most cases, so if anyone’s interested in finding out more they can go to my home page, here: http://www.susannakearsley.com/, and click on the “Books” tab and scroll through the titles.  My next book, which comes out in May in the UK, is there, too – The Rose Garden – with two full chapters to preview.

Are you working on something new and exciting right now?
SK: Right now I’m working on a new novel that continues the story of the past characters from The Winter Sea, but uses different present-day characters to uncover the history. I have to confess that, when I read your thoughtful interview of The Winter Sea, I had to smile a little when you were wanting so badly to tell what the one thing was at the end that you wished had been different, and yet you didn’t want to spoil the story. I think I know what it was you were wishing for, and if it makes you feel any better the book I’m writing now is very much Anna’s book, and hopefully you’ll like the way her story ends!

What kinds of books do you read? Any favorite authors?
SK: I read all kinds of books, although when I’m working on a book myself I try to avoid reading things that are too similar, so I’ll read crime novels when I’m writing something historical, for example, or poetry, or non-fiction. As for favorite authors, I have several. Mary Stewart tops the list, and always has, with Nevil Shute a close second. Jan Cox Speas, Anne Armstrong Thompson, Lucilla Andrews – all my comfort reads, and writers whose books hold a place of honor on my shelves. But those shelves are full of other favorites, too. You’ll find Winnie-the Pooh next to Françoise Sagan and Kurt Vonnegut, with Rumer Godden and Gregory Clark just a shelf or two over. A strange group, perhaps, but I love them all.

Any advice for aspiring writers?
SK: The best advice that I can think to give to someone starting out, is to shut out the voices that tell you it can’t be done. Never give up. The French writer Flaubert once said, “Talent is nothing but long patience,” and I’m inclined to believe he was right.

Thanks!

Thank you for having me here, I really enjoyed doing this interview.

The giveaway is now closed.

Now to the Giveaway:

*2 copies of the Winter Sea

*Open to US and Canada

*Ends Monday 20th.

*Ask a question, comment on the interview, or the book. Something to show that you do want this book :) And mostly to make it fun.

*Be sure there is a way for me to contact you, profile, email or something.

THE WINTER SEA BY SUSANNA KEARSLEY – IN STORES DECEMBER 2010
History has all but forgotten…

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth—the ultimate betrayal—that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

About the Author
After studying politics and international development at University, Susanna Kearsley worked as a museum curator before turning her hand to writing. Winner of the UK’s Catherine Cookson Fiction prize, Susanna Kearsley’s writing has been compared to Mary Stewart, Daphne DuMaurier, and Diana Gabaldon. Her books have been translated into several languages, selected for the Mystery Guild, condensed for Reader's Digest, and optioned for film. The Winter Sea was a finalist for both a RITA award and the UK's Romantic Novel of the Year Award, and is a nominee for Best Historical Fiction in the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Awards. She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.susannakearsley.com/.