Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Q&A with JoAnn Spears, author of Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel




Now available is the historical fantasy novel Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel by author JoAnn Spears.


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Get if FREE Nov. 2nd - 4th


The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her newest novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve always enjoyed reading a good story, and wanted to be able to write one ever since I read about Jo March doing so in Little Women, back when I was in the third grade. I lacked the confidence to write fiction as a younger woman, and the time to do it as a two-job single mother. By the time I semi-retired at around 50, both the time and the confidence to start authoring were finally there.

What was your first book/story published?

My first book, Six of One, a comedy novel about Henry VIII’s six wives, debuted in early November, 2011.

What inspired you to write Seven Will Out?

Seven Will Out is the sequel to Six of One. It takes the Tudor story to the next generation and introduces some Shakespeare history as well. Obviously, I am a big fan of Tudor history.

What character in Seven Will Out is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Dolly, the modern-day heroine of my books, lives my dream, so to speak, by getting to meet, and know, the Tudor women personally. She is like me in several ways. She is a college professor, and I’ve taught as an adjunct. She is nerdy and bookish, as am I. She and I both also have a propensity to cracking jokes which go over with varying degrees of success. We are unalike in that Dolly is happily married; I am one of those perpetually single gals.

The character least like me is probably Elizabeth I. I am terminally non-confrontational and she is about as large and in charge as it gets. I admire the real Elizabeth I tremendously and hope I did her justice in my book with her fictional, and humorous, counterpart.

What is your favorite part in Seven Will Out?

I don’t want to create a spoiler here, so I will just say that it is the part where my heroine, Dolly, gets to share some startling news from the modern world with Anne Boleyn and Katharine of Aragon.

What was the hardest part to write?

The most difficult thing for me is outtakes. My imagination goes into overdrive when I write and I find myself, at the end of the first draft, with too many subplots. Some have to come out to keep the story in bounds. It is so difficult for me to let go of huge chunks of story that I have given time, energy, and love to.

The most challenging surviving subplot in Seven Will Out was the Arabella Stuart subplot. It is also my favorite, maybe because so much blood, sweat, and tears went into it. Or maybe because it also includes my beloved Bess of Hardwick.

What would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?

My day job is in the nursing profession and I have found it to be a rewarding and satisfying career. I also enjoy teaching, and have been lucky enough to combine nursing and teaching by working as adjunct faculty for a while, before I moved to Tennessee.

Someday, when I retire, I hope to take a Master Gardener course.

Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

Yes, yes, and yes. I found that I got a mixed reception to some of the sillier language play in Six of One, so I went lighter on that in Seven Will Out.

What well-known writers do you admire most?

I am very old school in my reading. Jane Austen and the Brontes, of course; I also love Wilkie Collins.

I am a huge fan or Barbara Pym, and her sly and puckish humor has been a huge influence. I just wish I could do it as subtly as she did. George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series was also inspiring, showing that humor has a place in serious historical story-telling.

My favorite work of Tudor-era fiction is That Lady, by Kate O’Brien. If you can get past that awful title, it is an awesome book about a fascinating Renaissance woman, the Princess of Eboli.

For Tudor-era history, I love Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser.

Do you have any other books/stories in the works?

Since I have run out of Tudor women to write about, I am kicking around some other ideas. I am a big fan of 30s and 40s Hollywood, so I am trying to come up with an idea for writing about the Greta Garbo and Bette Davis-era female stars.

I am also considering something a little less esoteric; a story about my personal experiences relocating from suburban New Jersey to the Appalachians and my current home in Upper East Tennessee.



About the Author: JoAnn Spears couldn’t decide whether to major in English or History in college. Life stepped in, and she wound up with a Master’s Degree in Nursing instead. A twenty-five year nursing career didn’t extinguish that early interest in books and history-especially Tudor history. It did, however, stoke a decidedly gallows sense of humor.

Eventually, JoAnn read just about every spin there was on the stories of Henry VIII and the extended Tudor family. Every spin, that is, except the one with the gallows humor. The Tudors certainly qualified for it, but it just wasn’t out there. JoAnn decided that with gallows humor to spare, she would do her best to remedy the Tudor comedy gap. A little inspiration from the classic “Wizard of Oz” showed her the way to go, and “Six of One”, a new kind of Tudor novel, was born.

JoAnn thought “Six of One”, her story about Henry VIII’s six wives, would be an only literary child. Then, two years after its birth, she was caught by surprise with the idea for a sequel. In October, 2015, “Seven Will Out” made its debut and bought the latter-day Tudors into the comedy mix.

JoAnn enjoys writing but maintains her nursing license because a) you never stop being a nurse and b) her son thinks she should be sensible and not quit her day job. She also enjoys life in the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee, where she gardens, embroiders antique reproduction samplers, and teaches yoga in her Methodist church basement. JoAnn shares her home with three cats and the works of Jane Austen, Barbara Pym, Louisa May Alcott, and of course, Alison Weir.

For more information about the author, please visit her website at joannspearsauthor.com/.

You can follow the author on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon.

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