Blog Tour Interview : Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent

Please join me in welcoming author Christine Trent to the blog today! Christine is touring the blogosphere with her new Victorian mystery, Lady of Ashes. (Which I loved, by the way. Click here to read my review.) Christine was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for me about her newest book and her writing life. Read on and then enter to win your own copy of Lady of Ashes!

Hi Christine! Thank you so much for taking the time to appear on Let Them Read Books!

Lady of Ashes seems to be a bit of a departure from the style of your previous books. What inspired you to create a mystery series around a female undertaker?

This book was the inspiration of a fellow writer, Mary Oldham, who turned to me while we were attending a writing conference together and said, “You know what I’ve always wanted to read about?  A Victorian undertaker.”  I have no idea where her thought came from, but the only credit I can take is for picking up the ball and running with it.  I’m glad I did, it was some of the most fascinating research I’ve done to date.

Your descriptions of Violet's profession are so thorough and detailed. Can you tell us how you went about researching undertaking in the nineteenth century?

Researching the 19th century funeral profession was not easy, as undertakers then—as now—tend to hold their practices and methods very close to the chest, so to speak.  However, I was able to draw on a wealth of advertising and memoirs to cobble together what the practice must have been like.  I also interviewed a local funeral director.  He seemed shocked, yet pleased, that someone would actually write fiction about his profession.

Which of your characters to-date is your favorite?

Tough question.  I tend to inhabit all of my protagonists during the time that I write their stories.  My favorite?  I guess now that I am writing Violet’s follow-on story and have inhabited her the longest, I find her to be my favorite.  Or my most well-developed character, anyway.

As for the historical characters I include in my books, my favorite to write about was the Prince Regent, later to become George IV, in BY THE KING’S DESIGN.  Such a bonehead...and so fun to depict.

Which character did you find most challenging to write?

I would say that Madame Tussaud, in A ROYAL LIKENESS, was my most challenging character.  She was a very hard-nosed businesswoman.  Profit and success were everything to her as she built up a business in a field that attracted less-than-savory entrepreneurs.  Some of her rigidity spilled over into her family relationships.  My challenge was to get the reader to have sympathy for a woman who wasn’t necessarily the nurturing, loving wife and mother we see as an ideal.

Can you tell us a bit about your creative process? What's a typical day like for you as a writer?

A typical day goes like this:  I get up, may or may not shower, pad downstairs to feed my five bellowing cats, then sit in front of the computer, expecting brilliance to flow from my fingertips.  Soon, I am trolling the Internet to check on news, to check rankings on Amazon, to check what’s going on on Facebook, to see if there’s something interesting to purchase at my favorite scrapbooking site……..well, you get the picture.  I don’t hit a stride until sometimes 2:00 in the afternoon, after which I may work until 8:00 or 9:00 at night.  Does anyone else have the same difficulties with concentration that I do?  My husband always says, “Let me know when you want me to cut off the Internet so you can focus.”  I can’t bring myself to be without it.  Ridiculous, isn’t it?

Believe it or not, sometimes I put the computer aside and write by hand.  I find my concentration is better when I take breaks from the computer.  And the Internet.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently wrapping up the next book in the LADY OF ASHES mystery series, then I will dive straight into the third book of the series.  I have two book deadlines this year, a first for me since usually I just turn in one book a year.

Thanks, Christine! I also get terribly distracted by the internet!

Christine has generously offered to give away a copy of Lady of Ashes to one of my readers, and guess what? It's open internationally! Woo hoo!

To enter, simply leave a comment and include your email address. Giveaway closes at 11:59pm Friday, March 22, 2013. Winner will be selected at random. Thanks, and good luck!



This giveaway is closed and the winner has been selected. Stay tuned for more great giveaways!