1--What is the title of your latest release?
In North America, THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR.
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A botanical illustration of a butterfly, a missing baby, and a twisty mystery fifty years in the making.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Like most of my books, THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR is a mixture of fact and fiction. The facts dictated where the story would take place—Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball in 1922 and the first sighting of the Monarch butterfly in Australia in 1868.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR is a dual timeline—so two protagonists! Verity Binks is a would-be journalist and Theodora Breckenridge a botanical artist who learnt her skills from renowned Australian naturalist painters Harriet and Helena Scott.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Verity has an insatiable curiosity, an enquiring mind and a thirst for knowledge. Theodora has artistic vision, a commitment to botanical accuracy, a compassionate nature, and a kind heart.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
All about the Monarch butterfly and its accidental migration to Australia on the winds of a series of cyclones.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Edit as I go.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Australian seafood
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Answer: A large, sunny room overlooking a small valley in the Hunter Valley of NSW, lined with books shelves and the floor covered with research materials!!
10--Who is an author you admire?
Kate Morton and Kate Grenville
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
A book I believe is about to change my life . . . Normal Women by Philippa Gregory.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I pitched a book called THE HORSE THIEF at a conference to Harlequin Mira in 2014. (The most terrifying ‘speed dating’ experience of my life!) It was accepted and I have written a book a year ever since, now for HQ Fiction, an imprint of Harper Collins Australia, and in 2020 Harper Muse began publishing my stories in North America.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historical fiction, and fact.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Casablanca
15--What is your favorite season?
Australian spring and autumn
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With my family, at Christmas . . . I was born on Christmas Eve!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY OF ILL-MANNERED LADIES by ALISON GOODMAN—just brilliant!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Australian—a combination of fresh food, native bush tucker, meat and seafood incorporating the flavors of our multicultural society.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Enjoy the Australian bush and beaches and delve into our history, both indigenous and colonial.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
THE NATURALIST’S DAUGHTER will be releasing in North America in mid 2024. Two women, a century apart, are drawn into a mystery surrounding one of the biggest scientific controversies of the nineteenth century, the classification of the platypus.
A botanical illustration of a butterfly, a missing baby, and a twisty mystery fifty years in the making.
1868, Morpeth. Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family’s country estate than she is in finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby. She cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before seen in Australia. With the help of her maid Clarrie and her beautiful drawings, Theodora is poised to make a scientific discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie’s newborn son goes missing and everything changes.
1922, Sydney. When would-be journalist Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume along with an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to attend. Her late grandfather, Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation, an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. As she begins to dig, her research quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery—a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?
The Butterfly Collector is USA TODAY bestselling author Tea Cooper at her best.
Women's Fiction Historical [Harper Muse, On Sale: November 28, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781400245178 / ]
Tea Cooper is an established Australian author of historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist, and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling. She is the winner of two Daphne du Maurier Awards and the bestselling author of several novels, including The Horse Thief, The Cedar Cutter, The Currency Lass, and The Naturalist’s Daughter.
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