Good Morning, Booklovers!
It’s a beautiful day in the Midwest, and we’re back on the deck this morning. I have my coffee and am delighted to welcome Barbara Monajem to the Coffee Chat for book talk and a peek at her new release in the Lady Rosamund historical mystery series.
Nice to have you here, Barbara. How do you take your coffee?
Barbara: Half-caf or decaf with milk. I also drink quite a bit of tea brewed on a samovar.
Ally: I drink half caf myself these days, so I’ll have that ready in a moment. Meanwhile, please introduce yourself to readers.
It’s a beautiful day in the Midwest, and we’re back on the deck this morning. I have my coffee and am delighted to welcome Barbara Monajem to the Coffee Chat for book talk and a peek at her new release in the Lady Rosamund historical mystery series.
Nice to have you here, Barbara. How do you take your coffee?
Barbara: Half-caf or decaf with milk. I also drink quite a bit of tea brewed on a samovar.
Ally: I drink half caf myself these days, so I’ll have that ready in a moment. Meanwhile, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:
Rumor has it that Barbara Monajem is descended from English aristocrats. If one keeps to verifiable claims, however, her ancestors include London shopkeepers and hardy Canadian pioneers. As far as personal attributes go, she suffers from an annoying tendency to check and recheck anything and everything, usually for no good reason. Hopefully all this helps to explain her decision to write from the point of view of a compulsive English lady with a lot to learn about how the other ninety-nine percent who lived in 1811 or so.
As for qualifications, Barbara is the author of over twenty historical romances and a few mysteries, for which she has won several awards. On the other hand, she has no artistic talent and therefore is really stretching it to write about an artist who draws wickedly good caricatures. But she’s doing it anyway, because he’s irresistible. To her, anyway. Not so much to the aristocratic lady. Or at least not yet.
Something unique/unusual about you: “The only thing that was on my bucket list was to succeed in knitting socks. I have since taken it off the list because I’ve given up. This is not a bid for immortality, but the dismal truth.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem
Newsletter signup: http://www.barbaramonajem.com/contact.html
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/barbara-monajem
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3270624.Barbara_Monajem
Rumor has it that Barbara Monajem is descended from English aristocrats. If one keeps to verifiable claims, however, her ancestors include London shopkeepers and hardy Canadian pioneers. As far as personal attributes go, she suffers from an annoying tendency to check and recheck anything and everything, usually for no good reason. Hopefully all this helps to explain her decision to write from the point of view of a compulsive English lady with a lot to learn about how the other ninety-nine percent who lived in 1811 or so.
As for qualifications, Barbara is the author of over twenty historical romances and a few mysteries, for which she has won several awards. On the other hand, she has no artistic talent and therefore is really stretching it to write about an artist who draws wickedly good caricatures. But she’s doing it anyway, because he’s irresistible. To her, anyway. Not so much to the aristocratic lady. Or at least not yet.
Something unique/unusual about you: “The only thing that was on my bucket list was to succeed in knitting socks. I have since taken it off the list because I’ve given up. This is not a bid for immortality, but the dismal truth.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem
Newsletter signup: http://www.barbaramonajem.com/contact.html
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/barbara-monajem
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3270624.Barbara_Monajem
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Who or what inspired you to write your featured book?
Barbara: This answer applies more to the Lady Rosamund series as a whole rather than the featured book, which is book two. I wanted to try writing from the point of view of an aristocratic lady from the 1800s who really THOUGHT like a lady of her time – in other words, not a modern lady in historical clothing. On the other hand, I wanted her to appeal to modern readers despite having a lot of old-fashioned prejudices. In the series, she would have to go through a learning process to figure out which of her views made sense and which had to be discarded.
To make her vulnerable enough to want to change, I gave her a form of OCD – checking things over and over. Back then, this sort of compulsive behavior was seen as a form of madness. She tries her best to hide her compulsion, especially from her controlling mother, for fear of being locked away. Fortunately, she becomes friends with a Scotsman, Gilroy McBrae, who helps her learn and grow. With him, she becomes involved in solving crimes.
Ally: Are you self-published or traditionally published? How did you make the decision?
Barbara: Both. I prefer to be traditionally published because self-publishing is way more work than I have time for (what with a demanding day job as well). However, self-publishing is perfect for putting out novellas that were originally in anthologies, or for stories that I think will be harder to sell to a publisher.
Ally: Do you write with an audience in mind or to a publisher’s required theme?
Barbara: Not really. I just write what I like, and hope there are readers out there who like the same thing. I am not very good at consistency. I have written contemporary vampire mystery/romances, historical romances, historical paranormal romances, and historical mysteries, and even a children’s fantasy which was published eons again when my kids were young. Some of my romances include a mystery, and my mysteries include some romance (and maybe a very tiny touch of the paranormal; it depends on what the characters believe).
Ally: How many drafts (revision passes) do you do on a typical book before submission to your editor/publisher?
Barbara: A whole bunch at the beginning! (It averages around eight.) The further I get into the story, the fewer drafts there are. The mysteries have fewer drafts than the romances.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
Barbara: A historical romance, His Lordship’s Incorrigible Wife (a sequel to The Smuggler’s Escape), is scheduled for a June release. The next Lady Rosamund story will be out in April 2022.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
Barbara:
Ally: Who or what inspired you to write your featured book?
Barbara: This answer applies more to the Lady Rosamund series as a whole rather than the featured book, which is book two. I wanted to try writing from the point of view of an aristocratic lady from the 1800s who really THOUGHT like a lady of her time – in other words, not a modern lady in historical clothing. On the other hand, I wanted her to appeal to modern readers despite having a lot of old-fashioned prejudices. In the series, she would have to go through a learning process to figure out which of her views made sense and which had to be discarded.
To make her vulnerable enough to want to change, I gave her a form of OCD – checking things over and over. Back then, this sort of compulsive behavior was seen as a form of madness. She tries her best to hide her compulsion, especially from her controlling mother, for fear of being locked away. Fortunately, she becomes friends with a Scotsman, Gilroy McBrae, who helps her learn and grow. With him, she becomes involved in solving crimes.
Ally: Are you self-published or traditionally published? How did you make the decision?
Barbara: Both. I prefer to be traditionally published because self-publishing is way more work than I have time for (what with a demanding day job as well). However, self-publishing is perfect for putting out novellas that were originally in anthologies, or for stories that I think will be harder to sell to a publisher.
Ally: Do you write with an audience in mind or to a publisher’s required theme?
Barbara: Not really. I just write what I like, and hope there are readers out there who like the same thing. I am not very good at consistency. I have written contemporary vampire mystery/romances, historical romances, historical paranormal romances, and historical mysteries, and even a children’s fantasy which was published eons again when my kids were young. Some of my romances include a mystery, and my mysteries include some romance (and maybe a very tiny touch of the paranormal; it depends on what the characters believe).
Ally: How many drafts (revision passes) do you do on a typical book before submission to your editor/publisher?
Barbara: A whole bunch at the beginning! (It averages around eight.) The further I get into the story, the fewer drafts there are. The mysteries have fewer drafts than the romances.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
Barbara: A historical romance, His Lordship’s Incorrigible Wife (a sequel to The Smuggler’s Escape), is scheduled for a June release. The next Lady Rosamund story will be out in April 2022.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
Barbara:
- ebook or print? Both!
- most watched tv show: Pride and Prejudice—the British one in several episodes starring Colin Firth.
- pie or cake? What kind? Pumpkin chiffon pie! Oh, and carrot cake! And Bruce Bogtrotter’s chocolate cake, too. And back to pies, I’ll take rhubarb. And blueberry. And…this is torture, as I eat very low carb nowadays. Big sigh.
- a supernatural ability you’d love to have: Invisible time travel!
- Do you re-read books? Any book in particular? Everything by Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Sayers, Mary Stewart, and Lois McMaster Bujold. And many more…
Lady Rosamund and the Horned God (#2 in the Lady Rosamund series)
Genre: historical mystery (Regency)
Rating: PG
Widowed Lady Rosamund spends the first months of her mourning in the Lake District, where it’s safe and peaceful, and murders are exceedingly rare. Luckily, she is rescued from this tedium by a house party comprised of playwrights, poets, and actors—an immoral set of persons with whom no respectable lady should associate. Even so, she hardly expected to wake in the wee hours to find one of the guests lying dead.
As if that wasn’t troublesome enough, Gilroy McBrae is at the same party, masquerading as a footman to investigate a series of thefts. Was the sudden death an accident—or murder? Almost everyone had reason to loathe their unpleasant fellow guest. Rosie must set aside her confused emotions about McBrae and work with him to find the culprit before an innocent person is accused of the crime.
Amazon links (It will be available at various other vendors.):
US https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Rosamund-Horned-God-Regency-ebook/dp/B0913LPHMC/
Canada https://www.amazon.ca/Lady-Rosamund-Horned-God-Regency-ebook/dp/B0913LPHMC/
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-Rosamund-Horned-God-Regency-ebook/dp/B0913LPHMC/
Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/Lady-Rosamund-Horned-God-Regency-ebook/dp/B0913LPHMC/
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