1--What is the title of your latest release?
A JEWEL IN THE CROWN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Caitrin Colline belongs to an all-female WWII counter-espionage unit, and fights alone to save the Crown Jewels from the Nazis — but has 360 degrees of enemy.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I only write about places where I have lived or spent some considerable time. That included: London, Scotland, Wales, and Portugal.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I should be so lucky! Winston Churchill calls her his redheaded packet of Welsh persistance. I probably couldn’t keep up.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Brave, intelligent, compassionate.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned all over again just how much I love writing.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
My writing has changed. Originally, I wrote an outline and used it as a guide. The last three books are more like an archeological dig: start with a shovel and then end up using a fine brush to reveal the details. I spend a lot of time on characters.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Ginger biscuits. Chocolate.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It is small, with shelves and tables of books and I write facing a blank wall. The window has the drapes pulled shut.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Patrick White: The Tree of Man
Alison Kennedy: Day
Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead
Virginia Woolf: Orlando
Michael Cunningham: Specimen Days
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
When I was a little boy: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, and The Coral Island, written by R.M Ballantyne in 1857 and still in print.
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 love telling this story. I found an agent who liked my work and she called me up one day and said, “Are you sitting down?” My first thought was the book had been turned down. Instead, she got me a three-book deal, and I’ve been madly in love with her since.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historical, both fiction and non-fiction.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Godfather I&II, both Blade Runners.
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I head for the coast and spend the day hiking alone — then have fish and chips a Malibu Seafood.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Derry Girls — beautifully written
Peaky Blinders - also well written
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Indian
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I hike because I enjoy being outside, and I can spend forever gardening. I also read a lot of books.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
The second book of Caitrin Colline’s adventures, and the third, and the fourth, and I’m halfway through the fifth.
James Bond meets Maisie Dobbs in this riveting new historical caper series featuring a gifted young socialist-turned-counterespionage spy on a World War II mission orchestrated by Winston Churchill himself…
1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada.
Caitrin Colline—a Welsh coalminer’s daughter and an ardent socialist—will play the wife of Lord Marlton, Hector Neville-Percy. A less likely couple is at first difficult to imagine. Yet Caitrin’s bold, streetwise confidence and sharp wits complement Hector’s social ease and connections, essential to a second part of their mission: uncovering Nazi sympathizers within the highest ranks of Britain’s aristocracy.
Battling enemies within and without, Caitrin wonders if anyone in their circle can be trusted—even her partner. And when unexpected events catapult her into a life-or-death chase across the continent, the morale of a nation and the fate of Europe itself in the balance.
Mystery Historical [A John Scognamiglio Book, On Sale: July 23, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496749093 / eISBN: 9781496749116]
David Lewis was born in Wales and moved to Hollywood to become a director of photography. He has shot everything from movies to commercials and music videos, specializing in comedies. For many years, David worked in and traveled around Scotland. He now lives in southern California with Hank, the noisiest cat in the world.
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