Welcome to Writer Wednesdays!
Writer Wednesdays are a weekly series where the focus is creative writing, books, authors, and all other things literary.
I have always been a passionate reader. Yes, there are the many times I’d rather stay home and read, snuggled up by the fireplace, with a yummy smelling candle beside me. That may sound totally cliche, however it is one of my happy places.
Writers and readers need places to connect and I hope Writer Wednesdays can be one of those places.
If you are a writer/author of any genre and would like to pitch yourself for an interview, please email me at info@alexismariechute.com
Today’s guest writer is… drum-roll please…
Cynthia Haggard!
Cynthia is an inspiring, prolific, and marketing savvy author. She inspires me with her tireless energy and creativity. I met Cynthia my first day in my Masters of Fine Arts program at Lesley University. She was a fellow writer in our creative writing program. We graduated together two years later and I’m happy to keep in touch with this lovely lady.
Welcome to Cynthia!
Author Interview:
Cynthia Haggard
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Not until I was well into my 40s and took a couple of courses in creative writing for the first time in my life. One of my assignments was to write the first five pages of my next novel. Never having written anything before, let alone a novel, this was an intimidating challenge! However, what I wrote formed the basis of my first novel, THWARTED QUEEN.
Who were the authors that influenced you as a youth, and in what ways?
I started reading voraciously when I was 10 years old, mainly to get away from the upheaval of my parents’ divorce. I loved Jane Austen for her style, even though I didn’t quite understand what was going on in her novels at that age. And I started to read historical fiction. I think my love for historical novels started at that time.
How did it feel when you got to hold your very first advanced copy of your book?
I couldn’t believe it! It was a magical moment.
What was the inspiration behind your book(s)?
The inspiration behind THWARTED QUEEN was a British TV documentary about the princes in the Tower, where the presenter went on at some length about the illegitimacy of Edward IV. All I remember thinking was what did Cecylee (Edward’s mother) say to her husband once he got home from fighting the French. Because it was her affair with a handsome archer on the Rouen garrison that produced the child who would later become Edward IV of England.
What was your publishing journey like?
Fraught. I spent the entire year of 2010 shopping THWARTED QUEEN around agents. I got 45 rejections. I got one agent from a top-notch New York agency holding up the process for 3 months, then dismissing all my hard work with the vague comment that it “didn’t knock her socks off.” When I asked her to be more specific, she demurred. I have not worked with an agent since!
What advice do you have for aspiring young novelists?
Novel writing is a craft like many other activities and you owe it to yourself to put in the time and effort to hone your craft. Take what you have to writing conferences to get critiques. And when you get criticism, don’t take it personally. Instead, make sure that you understand what the criticism is about.
If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?
A magic wand to deal with climate change.
Where is your favorite travel destination?
Italy. I love the weather, the art, the architecture, the wonderful food, the fabulous countryside.
When you’re not writing, what are your favorite hobbies?
Walking. Swimming. Going to the gym. Ballet.
Where can people find you online?
About the Book:
“Angelina led a life which required her to fib”.
When Angelina, the black sheep of the Pagano family, meets the mysterious Mr. Russell, she has no idea that she has seen him before…in another country. And so begins Farewell My Life, a novel in three parts, which spins an operatic tale of dangerous love and loss.
The Lost Mother, the first part of this novel, slices back and forth between time and space, opening in the charming village of Georgetown, Washington D.C. while reflecting a family’s troubled past in the lovely village of Marostica in the Italian Veneto.
An Unsuitable Suitor, the second part of the novel, is a Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes who inhabit the edgy setting of 1920s Berlin.
Farewell My Life, the last part of the novel, set again in Berlin, Germany, during the dark 1930s as the Nazis gain power, takes comfortable lives, assumptions and civilizations, and crumbles them into ash. And all of this revolves around Grace, Angelina’s younger daughter, whose fabulous talent for the violin promises a shimmering career.
The Countdown is on!
Join author Alexis Marie Chute as her new novel – Inside the Sun – quickly approaches its publication date.
Pre-order Inside the Sun by clicking here!
About Inside the Sun (book three in The 8th Island Trilogy):
All worlds are dying, and it’s up to one broken and dysfunctional family from Earth―the Wellsleys―to save the day.
Cancer-ridden Ella celebrates her fifteenth birthday beneath an enchanted mountain, but it is what lies even farther below―the mysterious Star in the sea―that demands she grow up quickly. While Ella grapples with the sacrifice she must make and the lies she is forced to tell, her mother, Tessa, is hell-bent on protecting her.
Through bizarre encounters, love-sick Tessa realizes that she is not the lonely orphan she believes. Her husband, Arden, and father-in-law, Archie, are not the only ones with magical bloodlines. This revelation changes everything.
As Archie chooses to embody his unexpected ancestry, he learns that leading the charge in the ultimate battle against evil won’t be as easy as he thought. He’ll need his family―and the strange allies he has gained―by his side to give Ella enough time to set things right.
Can they defeat the unstoppable Millia sands―and another unexpected foe―before everything they hold dear is destroyed? Or will their adventure tear them apart for good? The finale to The 8th Island Trilogy will hold you spellbound until the final page, and long after.
Thank you for joining me for Writer Wednesdays!
Catch you next week!
Happy writing,
– Alexis Marie Chute
