Author Interview – Colin Falconer @colin_falconer

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Author Interview – Colin Falconer @colin_falconer

Image of Colin Falconer

Who designed the cover?

Jen Talty at CoolGus. She’s brilliant at doing this. I’ve been traditionally published all my life but her covers are almost always better than anything a traditional publisher ever produced.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I think if you want to send a message to your reader, you should use Fedex or USP. Yes, every novel has a point, a message. But a novelist is not a preacher; I believe the story comes first, the point of the story should remain in the shadows. It’s always there but it’s up to the reader to infer it.

How much of the book is realistic?

I did not shift historical fact in the book; I put an interpretation on it. The irritation for the historical novelist is that many people think they already know the facts, like history is immutable fact. For instance Henry VIII had six wives. Fact. What was he like? That’s just opinion. I researched this book diligently, as I always do. But did Isabella and Edward have the motivations I ascribed to them? We can only wonder. That’s the fun part of history.

Have you included a lot of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot?

I have a close friend who is a therapist. She tells me that one in three of the male patients she sees are married men with kids who are secretly gay. It’s called being on the downlow and it causes everyone in the relationship a lot of pain. I used some of her insight to develop the relationship between Edward and Isabella.

Many people have known someone they really loved but for whatever reason that person could not love them back the same way. It’s not a hard dilemma to imagine. Imagining the two people to be king and queen of medieval England is just one step on.

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

It’s one of the greatest things for me about being a writer. I’ve chased black witches across Mexico, travelled the Silk Road and danced with voodoo queens in Salvador, and all in the name of research. I’ve been very lucky!