Interview with author Anne Armistead

 

Welcome Readers toanother installment of our author interview series. Today we have the pleasureof chatting with Anne Armistead, author of historical fiction, historicalfantasy, time travel and contemporary romance.

JMR-Welcome to theBooks Delight, Anne. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun andwhat does the perfect day look like?

AA- Hi, Jeanie! HappyNew Year. I live in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, a small town north of Atlantaand part of the Metro Atlanta Area. For fun, I spend time with my preciousgrandsons and my “grand pups.” Parks is two and Max is three months. I havefour grand pups, all rescues, named Jobe, Mazzie, Buddy, and Goose. I alsoenjoy walking, listening to podcasts, watching BBC television, reading, and ofcourse, writing. A perfect day is one during which I do all my fun things!

JMR-What’s yourfavorite historical time period? Why?

AA- I love old moviesfrom Hollywood’s Golden Era of 1930s-1940s, so I would have to say that’s myfavorite historical time, especially the World War Two era. Second to thatwould be 1920s because of the Lost Generation authors and poets and of course,their time in Paris.

JMR-Who is yourfavorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what wouldit be?

AA- As an AmericanLiterature major, I studied Ernest Hemingway and his approach to his writingcraft. I would love to ask him about how he really felt when he learned hiswife at the time, Hadley, had packed all his writing in a suitcase, includingcarbon copies, to bring to him in Switzerland and then lost the suitcase at theGare de Lyon. I once lost the most recently revised version of a manuscript onmy computer and cried for hours. When I began revision again, I rewrote thescenes so much better. Did Hemingway believe losing all his work made him abetter writer? A different kind of writer? (And what did he say to Hadley whenhe learned what happened?)

JMR- How did you cometo be a writer of historical fiction?

AA- Writing historicalfiction merges my two loves – literature and history. As a child, anything fromthe past intrigued me, including my mom’s old clothes, hats, and jewelry andher old books which comprised my first “holed up in my bedroom reading”experiences. I fell in love with old movies and loved talking about them withmy mother. I always wished I could travel back in time into the setting of thehistorical novel I was reading or the movie I was watching. I almost majored inhistory as an undergraduate, but my love of literature won. However, as anEnglish teacher, I integrated history into the study of assigned novels, sostudents understood the culture that shaped the writing. My creative thesis formy MFA in Creative Writing was a prose poem novel set during the Depression,and it required much historical research, which I adore. My longing to be atime traveler led me to write “A Tryst in Paris.”

JMR- You write inmultiple genres; do you have a favorite? Which is more fun to write?

AA- I love writinghistorical fiction with elements of romance because I can lose myself forstretches of time in the research of events in history and create how to wrapthe reality of those events into the fictional lives of my characters. However,I do enjoy writing contemporary sweet romance because I can write at a fasterpace, which is rewarding.

JMR- Did you visitanyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to yourcharacters?

AA- For “DangerousConjurings,” I infused Leah’s intrigue and curiosity with my own reactions whenI visited Marie Laveau’s tome and the Marie Laveau House of Voodoo in NewOrleans. I felt closest to Leah when I stood on the banks of the OgeecheeRiver, which helped me write the scene when in emotional anguish she jumpedinto its water. For “With Kisses from Cécile,” during a trip to Paris, I hadthe surreal experience of re-reading Cecile’s letters while standing at theaddress she once lived. She became so real to me, as if she stood by me. Also, duringanother trip to Paris when I was writing “A Tryst in Paris,” I visited theLuxembourg Carousel, the story’s time travel portal,  and stared into the elephant’s eyes, quotingthe Ranier Maria Rilke’s poem “The Carousel-Jardin de Luxembourg.” I felt sweptback to 1900 as Mirabelle. 

JMR- Anne, tell usabout your new book, A Tryst in Paris.

AA- When MirabelleMontgomery visits the Luxembourg Carousel in Paris, a mysterious time shiftersweeps her into the Carousel’s time travel vortex and transports her to 1900Paris. Her return will be allowed once she completes her mission to restore aman’s fate gone wrong. But whose?

Upon meetingdangerously sexy Jacques Thibaut, Mirabelle believes she has found her man. Hislife’s purpose as a stellar police detective has been derailed by accusationsof his plotting with anarchists to overthrow the French government.

If she proves Jacquesto be innocent, his life will be reset to its rightful providence. He will winback his job and those who once believed in him, including the woman he plannedto marry.

Mirabelle’sdetermination to complete her mission kindles passion between them. But theirfalling in love will jeopardize everything, for his true destiny does notinclude her. Besides, even if her heart desires, she cannot remain in 1900Paris . . . can she?

JMR- I read and enjoyedA Tryst in Paris, especially the detailed descriptions of Paris! Howhard is it to get convey the real flavor of a setting given that it is set inthe past?

AA- When I envisioned writing“A Tryst in Paris,” I worried about how I could place the reader into Paris of1900. I focused first on fashion. If I were transplanted into that time era, Icould not imagine going from the comfort of today (i.e., yoga pants) to thediscomfort of then (for one thing- corsets!). One of my daughters majored inapparel merchandise and struggled through the required survey course of historyof costume. She linked me to her professor of that course, who kindly schooledme on the 1900 fashions and designers. I learned about the fabulous JeannePaquin and knew she’d be important to my story. I turned to YouTube, whichoffers a vast collection of silent films of 1900, especially of the Exhibition,which helped me feel as if I were living in the Paris of that time. I foundmaps of the Exhibition and a tourist guide written for Americans visiting theExhibition, which helped me understand the “lay of the land,” so to speak, formy 1900 setting. I researched the political scandals, news that made headlines,and celebrities of the day to see what events my character could be pulled intoduring her time travel. From my research, I chose to integrate into the storywhat I found the most intriguing and compelling. I tried to shape the detailsas interestingly as possible to appeal to the reader. I hope I succeeded inpulling the reader in!

JMR-What projects doyou have in the pipeline?

AA- I am researchingfor Book Two of The Carousel Time Traveler in which Mirabelle again timetravels to Paris, this time during 1925. I am writing a sweet contemporaryChristmas “grumpy-sunshine trope” romance between a firefighter and a socialmedia influencer, tentatively titled “Hearts Aglow Under Mistletoe.”

JMR- Tell our readershow to find you on social media and the web.

AA- Readers can visitmy website https://www.annearmisteadauthor.com

 to find my social media links and learn moreabout me and my books. You can also find my social media links at https://linktr.ee/annearmisteadauthor

 

JMR- What question wereyou hoping I’d ask but didn’t?

AA- I love sharingabout the charities I support, especially The Feeney Legacy Project (FLP, https://www.feeneylegacyproject.org), on which I serve on its advisory board. FLP’s mission is to advocate beingsomeone’s second chance by calling 911 and administering CPR to a person incardiac arrest. FLP also educates about the protection of the Good Samaritanand 911 Amnesty Laws when making a good faith effort to save a life. FLP isdedicated to the memory of my nephew Feeney Armistead, who could have had asecond chance at life if a bystander had taken such action.

To learn about othercharities I support, visit my website at https://www.annearmisteadauthor.com/charity

 

JMR- Thank you, Anne,for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included a link toAnne’s books below. Please be sure to check them out.