Author Rosemary Morris is braving the foul winds and rain to join me today, but luckily she doesn’t have too far to come. Rosemary is a fellow English author, from the county we call “leafy Hertfordshire”, just a couple of hours’ drive down the M1. Not many leaves on the trees at the minute, though :(
I was going to make Rosemary a typical Yorkshire snack and fetch us both a chip butty from the fish shop, but then I thought, no. Where is my New Year’s diet resolution? Instead, we’re having some far more wholesome cucumber sandwiches and a pot of tea. (I hope Rosemary will forgive me!)
Helena, First of all, thank you very much for inviting me to be your guest.
It’s my pleasure, Rosemary. Thanks for braving the weather! My first question is, where is your favourite place in the world? At the moment, it’s my comfortable home with an organic garden, where I grow my own herbs, fruit, vegetables and ornamentals, that has a view of the green and the woods beyond.
Oh that sounds lovely. Hertfordshire really is leafy!
Being a writer is a great job. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? A job as a secretary in Nairobi Kenya which only lasted two days because the boss and I took an immediate dislike to each other.
At least you got out after a couple of days!
What book do you wish you had written? Yet to be written English equivalent of Margret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.
Fabulous. I went to see the film (again) on New Year’s Eve :)
What’s your favourite song? Unchained Melody. These days it brings tears to my eyes because it reminds me of my late husband, God rest his soul.
That’s a really lovely song to remember him by.
What’s your happiest childhood memory? Coming home from school on sunny summer days and having tea in the garden with my mother. The tea table would be set under the spreading branches of a crab apple tree, and roses perfumed the air.
Lovely!
If you had to marry a fictional character, from film, television or books, who would it be? Rhett Butler from Gone with The Wind provided there was a happy outcome.
Great choice!
What’s the most important lesson life has taught you? Do unto others as I wish to be done by.
Finally, please tell us about your latest book.
Set in 1706 during Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, Far Beyond Rubies begins when William, Baron Kemp, Juliana’s half-brother claims she and her young sister, Henrietta, are bastards. Spirited Juliana is determined to prove the allegation is false, and that she is the rightful heiress to Riverside, a great estate.
On his way to deliver a letter to William, Gervaise Seymour sees Juliana for the first time on the grounds of her family estate. The sight of her draws him back to India. When “her form changed to one he knew intimately – but not in this lifetime,” Gervaise knows he would do everything in his power to protect her.
Although Juliana and Gervaise are attracted to each other, they have not been formally introduced and assume they will never meet again. However, when Juliana flees from home, and is on her way to London, she encounters quixotic Gervaise at an inn. Circumstances force Juliana to accept his kind help. After Juliana’s life becomes irrevocably tangled with his, she discovers all is not as it seems. Yet, she cannot believe ill of him for, despite his exotic background, he behaves with scrupulous propriety while trying to help her find evidence to prove she and her sister are legitimate.
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Far Beyond Rubies has received 5* reviews and is available as an e-book and a paperback from: MuseItUp Publishing / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Smashwords, Bookstrand, Omnlit and Kobo
You can find Rosemary on her website or her blog.
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Thanks so much for coming, Rosemary. It’s been good of you to come out in this terrible weather. Hope you have a good trip down south!
If you have any questions for Rosemary, or any comments at all, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!
Helena Fairfax 
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