Ask the Author: Anne Easter Smith
Answered Questions (16)
Anne Easter Smith
All the best with your writing, Robin! May you be as fortunate I was to land on the right editor's desk with my first attempt--A Rose for the Crown. Publishing is not the easiest industry to break into now, and it is one of the reasons I have stopped writing. At 79, I am loath to wade into self-publishing and all the marketing that goes with it. After Royal Mistress, my agent could not sell This Son of York even though I was a 5-time Simon & Schuster published author. They didn't like that I had a male protagonist, that it was more than the requisite 350 pages, and set in the now unfashionable medieval period. Three strikes and you're out! Had I written a WWII book with a female resistance worker, they would have snapped me up! I found a small new publishing house in western Mass (not far from my eastern MA home) who did a bang up job on producing the book, but there was no marketing component attached. It came out in December 2019 and COVID hit two months later before I could really take it on the road. It's my best book (IMHO!) but it had the least legs. Now that publisher has had to shut down, and so we (mostly my husband) spent several months getting the returned MS converted to my newly minted EasterSmith Press so that it didn't go out of print. Don't suppose you needed all of this, and you need encouragement and not negativity, but this is what publishing is doing to perfectly good authors today. They are looking for a best-seller, no matter the quality, and if you aren't right on top of writing what's selling in your genre, you are turned away.
Anne Easter Smith
I love it when people discover Cecily! I know there is a new novel about her out there, but I like to think mine was first (at least in this century!). I love all my protagonists, but Cecily and Margaret really spoke to and with me throughout the writing process. I felt I really knew them. Funny thing is that I was so terrified of Cecily during the writing of A Rose for the Crown (my first book) that I never put her in any scene except when she was talked about!! I am so glad you enjoyed the book, Robin. Yes, This Son of York is probably my "passion project" being that Richard was my muse when I started out writing my books at age 60. Sadly for a reader like you, I am done with the Yorks and the Wars of the Roses and other than a third of a book about a 14th century Portuguese prince that no editor wanted ("Where's Portugal" and "who cares"), I have hung up my pen! Maybe a memoir, but that's it. Sorry!!
Anne Easter Smith
Hi Judi, I have the devil of a time finding where to look for "Questions" -- but I found it finally. Thank you for yours (love hearing from Canadian readers), and I am so happy you enjoyed This Son of York. If you think you cried at the last line, my tears came in buckets as I was writing that last chapter! You are right that I have finished my sojourn with the Yorks, but because of the state of publishing now, I am loath to go through the indie publishing process again. But, if I do, my focus will move away from England to a wonderfully gothic story from the Continent. Thanks again for writing. Anne
Anne Easter Smith
Thank you for your message, Paola. I am very careful with my research and this little London ditty came from the time of the Black Death around 1348.
The bubonic plague had several iterations in England after that, including in the Wars of the Roses period. The worst epidemic in London after the 14th century one was of course in 1665 ("hardly anyone left alive'"). Best, Anne
The bubonic plague had several iterations in England after that, including in the Wars of the Roses period. The worst epidemic in London after the 14th century one was of course in 1665 ("hardly anyone left alive'"). Best, Anne
Anne Easter Smith
I should say it inspired me! That's why I'm two-thirds through my Richard book. Let's hope someone wants to read it--plenty of publishers have so far passed :-(
Anne Easter Smith
Richard III has been in my life since my early 20s, so all my books have danced around him until this one--I'm now writing HIS book. And not before time!
Anne Easter Smith
A contract helps! But seriously, a character must take over my life and make me want to tell his/her story.
Anne Easter Smith
I am two-thirds through my novel about Richard III.
Anne Easter Smith
Don't expect to get rich! Just be passionate about your subject and don't cow-tow to whatever kind of book happens to be "in" right now. By the time you've got around to writing it, it will already be passe!
Anne Easter Smith
For someone who never aspired to being one, I guess the best thing is being surprised that I am one.
Anne Easter Smith
Do some more research until my fingers itch to get back to adding what I've learned to my story.
Anne Easter Smith
Oh, I have several! From classic literature, I have always loved Sidney Carton and Lucie Manette from A TALE OF TWO CITIES, even though his love was not reciprocated. Also Marianne Dashwood and Col. Brandon's unexpected coupling in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY moves me. In my own genre of Historical Fiction, I have to give that nod to Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt.
Anne Easter Smith
I would love you to go to Ightham Mote (pronounced ite-am) in Kent--where I placed Kate in A ROSE FOR THE CROWN, but if you are going north to Leicester and York, you might not have time to go south of London. My favorite castle is Ludlow on the welsh border, and when you are around Yorkshire, you should go to Middleham Castle, which Richard loved. I also enjoyed Raby Castle, where Cecily Neville grew up and which is a little farther north. You will love York--lots to see, including the Richard III museum (although I hear Leicester's new one is much better). Have a great trip. Anne
Anne Easter Smith
I am so bad about checking in with Goodreads, Danielle, so I apologize for the delay in responding! I have a hard enough time keeping up with Facebook! To answer your question: it was reading Josephine Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIME that sparked my fascination with Richard III at age 21, so I have immersed myself in the Wars of the Roses period since then. I am finally writing my Richard book now--after having written around him for five books. Thanks for taking the time to write.
Anne Easter Smith
I now tell people to start with QUEEN BY RIGHT, followed by A ROSE FOR THE CROWN, DAUGHTER OF YORK, ROYAL MISTRESS, and THE KING'S GRACE. Hope that helps, Ms. Sparrow! Of course, that will change when I finish my Richard III novel!
Anne Easter Smith
I am surprised and delighted you like "Grace" the best, Denise! Most people go for "A Rose for the Crown." I worked so hard on KG as I had to get the mystery right as well as the history. I once found myself curled up in a fetal position on the floor with five different source books telling me different things about Perkin. I reached for the phone and called my editor. "Help!" I said feebly, "I'm completely confused." She gave me sound advice: "You are NOT a historian, Anne, you are telling the story as YOU see it. Go with your gut." Things went more smoothly then! As for the next book, I am keeping it under wraps for the moment because, like my medieval characters, I am terribly superstitious! I do not have a contract with a publisher, which makes me nervous so I want to dive into something I feel passionate about so I will be able to sell it. Cross your fingers for me--publishing is a very hard business these days. Thanks for writing! Anne
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