Joining me today to talk about her books that are set in the time of England’s ‘Bloody Mary’, is author Margaret Brazear. Thank you, Margaret, for taking the time to chat to me. Please sit down, get comfortable and let’s begin.

About Margaret Brazear

Margaret Brazear was born in London, England in 1948 and has studied English history for over fifty years. She started to write stories almost as soon as she could write and her love of history naturally played a big part in her love of writing. She has three children and two grandchildren, all adults now. She is an ardent lover of animals, especially dogs, and would like to see animals given far more rights than they have at present.

What’s the name of your new book?
Holy Poison

Tell us a bit about your book
Holy Poison is a series of six books set in the time of Queen Mary I of England, also known as Bloody Mary, for her violent persecution of protestants in the sixteenth century. Her efforts to force England back to the Catholic church served to ensure that no Catholic would ever again sit securely on the throne of England.

The books are about some of the ordinary people who lived through her five year reign of terror.

• The Judas Pledge: Meet Richard and Bethany, whose turbulent marriage almost ends in destruction for both.
• The Flawed Mistress: Meet Rachel, Richard’s beautiful mistress.
• The Viscount’s Birthright: Meet Robert and Antonia, whose marriage of convenience turned into a match of love and suspicion
• Betrayal: Meet Adrian and Elizabeth, forced apart by the Queen’s suspicion and his own weakness for another woman
• The Heretics: Meet Julia and Charles, the titled lady who gave up everything to help the man she loved fight the papist fanatic
• Consequences: Meet the children of Richard and Bethany, as the consequences of their parents’ sins follow them into adulthood

If there was a film or TV adaptation of your book, who would you like to see play your characters?
When I wrote Lord Richard Summerville, the picture in my mind was of Anthony Valentine when he was a young man and playing Raffles. I don’t know any modern actors that are good looking or sexy.

How important are character names to you in your books? Is there a special meaning to any of the names?
As a child, I always had a weakness for Richard the Lionheart, the great warrior. Richard has always been a name that appeals to me as a hero figure.

Give us an insight into your main character. What makes them unique?
He is a strong man with ideas out of his time. I am not sure that he is unique, but he is a man who would appeal to me as a woman.

Where do your ideas come from?
Out of my head.

What do you think of book trailers? Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book?
I have put together a video trailer for the Holy Poison series, but the videos clips are still watermarked. They are expensive to buy so it is a project I have put on hold for a while.

What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
With regard to writing, my best accomplishments are the lovely comments I get from readers.

With regard to real life, my son is my greatest accomplishment. He was born with brain damage and many ‘experts’ told me he wouldn’t develop or learn past the age of eight or so. Now he is 42, lives in his own flat, does his own housework, washing, cooking, gets himself about by bus and got engaged at Christmas. He is definitely my greatest accomplishment.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I shall be 78 so I don’t want to be too optimistic.

Have you always liked to write?
Yes, always.

What writing advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Agents and publishers are no longer the only show in town. If they don’t recognise your talent, go it alone. Readers are the ones you need to tell you if you have something good, not publishers.

If you didn’t like writing books, or weren’t any good at it, what would you like to do for a living?
I was a driving instructor for twenty years. I used to love it, but now I am retired so can give my time to my real love.

Do you read reviews of your book(s)? Do you respond to them, good or bad? How do you deal with the bad?
I only read the good ones. I am quite sensitive to rejection; I do not do well, so it is better not to read them. As to responding, it would depend on the content. I had a one star on one of my books because the woman said I had mentioned Newgate Prison in Henry VIII’s time and it wasn’t built until the 18th century. It was in fact built in 1180 and rebuilt in the 18th century. I couldn’t let that go. I am always very careful to be sure my history is accurate, so I took that as something of an insult. Now I just don’t read them.

What is your best marketing tip?
Write good books.

What is your least favourite part of the writing / publishing process?
That I can’t do as much as I did thirty years ago!

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?
Any sort of animal abuse. One of my favourite authors is Stephen King, yet he often has something awful happening to an animal in his stories which I think is totally unnecessary. I stopped reading his books for a long time for that very reason.

Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others?
Not really. I have only one book that contains a fight scene (swordfight) and I tried to make it fairly short. I have read books where fight scenes go on for pages and it is so boring.

How long does it usually take you to write the first draft of a book?
A couple of weeks.

What are you working on now?
My work in progress is called Conquest and is a story set around the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Can you give us a few tasty morsels from your work-in-progress?
“Who are you?” She demanded. “This is my private bower. You are not welcome here.”
His smile broadened.
“There is nothing for you to fret about,” he said. “I have the consent of your guardian to be here.”
“My guardian? My guardian is King Harold and he is not here to give his consent.”
“No, but I have recently left him on the road. I wanted to make haste, could not wait to take advantage of his generosity.”
Rosalind felt the seeds of a raging fury growing. How dare he? He had taken the throne of England, he had decided that Rosalind should be under his command (he called it protection but she did not agree). He had disrupted her life and promised her to a stranger and now he was giving his consent to all and sundry to invade her privacy.
She wanted to stamp her foot, she was so angry, but she fought the urge, thought such a gesture would diminish her dignity.
“Well,” she said at last, “you might have the King’s consent to be here, but you do not have mine. Will you please leave.”
His smile grew even wider.
“Forgive me,” he said. “You have no need to fear me. I am Roland, your betrothed.”
Rosalind felt her eyes growing wide, then they swept this man from head to foot and she felt her mouth turning down. For that moment, she had no control whatsoever over any of these features, nor over her racing heart which beat so fast she thought it might burst out of her chest.
This was the man she was expected to marry tomorrow? This old man whose beard only barely covered his double chin, whose stomach leant over his belt and whose thighs were flabby and pushing against the soft leather of his breeches? He had apparently ridden hard to get here and the result was a sweaty neck and streaks of dirt along his face.
She swallowed in an effort to gather her courage and hide her distaste.
“You are impetuous, My Lord,” she said. “I see you did not even stop to bathe.”
A quick frown crossed his forehead; at last she had managed to get rid of that lascivious smile.
“No, I did not,” he answered. “I shall, however, be happy to take myself to the river if it is your wish. Is it your wish?”
“It is indeed. I would have thought you might want to do that yourself before you present yourself at the church porch as my bridegroom.”
Once more she saw the anger in his eyes.
“I think you and I should reach a better understanding, My Lady.”
“Why are you here?” She demanded, her own anger rising rapidly.
The smile returned, broader and more lecherous than ever and she shivered again. Was she really about to tie herself to this man for the rest of her life? She thought about sharing her bed with him, about his naked body lying beside her, about his rough hands touching her secret places and the shiver turned into a shudder. For the first time since the death of the Confessor, she began to think of a way out; there was none.
“I have come to claim what is mine,” he said. “It is common practice for a betrothed couple to lie together before the ceremony.”

Describe what your ideal writing space looks like.
I sit on the sofa with my laptop and the television on in the background.

Why should a potential reader buy your book(s)?
If a potential reader has a fondness for English history, they can be sure my books are historically accurate. My characters are purely fictional, but there is usually a King or Queen who is factual having a small part in the stories. I am told I have a talent for writing so if you love history and you love romance, you will like my books (I hope!)

What’s the strangest thing you have ever had to research for your book?
The use of lice and maggots in twelfth century medicine. Both these creatures are still used today in extreme cases, but back then lice were used for almost everything.

What’s something you’re really good at that few people know about?
I have an affinity with dogs which makes it easy for me to train them. Recently I visited a friend of a friend who owned a Rottweiler. Despite knowing my friend and of course his owner, the dog came straight to me, a total stranger, and proceeded to lick my hand and lie on his back for a tummy rub. I have the same affect on all canines.