“Regency romance with a gothic twist.”
Elfahearn.com
@elfahearn
1. Tell
me about your latest release or the book you wish to feature? Genre?
The Eve of Love is an
anthology of short stories taking place on New Year’s Eve. Within its hallowed
covers is my short story Love in the Midst of Midnight. Last year I
released a novella, The Christmas Unicorn. To my surprise the characters
in Love in the Midst of Midnight demanded to appear in a sequel to The
Christmas Unicorn. What could I do? When books seize the keyboard and start
writing themselves, you have no choice but to sit back and let them have at it.
2. Where
did the idea arise?
My parents, who were theatrical
in every sense of the word, used to throw costume parties every New Year’s Eve.
I met my first husband at one, wearing the same red velvet dress in which my
heroine appears. “Write about what you know,” they say, so that’s what I did in
Love in the Midst of Midnight. The countdown, the burning of
confessions, the dinner, and the show are just as my parents had back in those
wild and wonderful days of yore.
3. How
much research was involved? Did you stay on point or be distracted by wanting
to look at just one more thing?
Many rabbit holes were explored during the
writing of this short story. For example, my heroine is a street performer,
which led me to reading about organ grinders. At one time there were perhaps
hundreds of thousands of them playing on the streets of London from 8 AM to 10
PM. The noise was so overbearing, a law was enacted fining musicians 40
shillings if they failed to vacate immediately after being asked to do so.
“Vendors
of fruit and flowers, of milk and muffins are not agreeable visitors when they
roar for a living, and the poor organ-grinder little knows, let us hope, the
anguish he inflicts upon sensitive nerves.” Janeaustinworld.com
4. How
long did you take to write the book?
I’m a notoriously slow writer so I’m going
to guesstimate six months. Pitiful, eh?
5. Now a
bit about you. How long have you been writing? What is your Sun Sign?
I am a Taurus, and yikes I’ve been penning
fiction for about 10 years. Before that I was a journalist for 10 years, a corporate
communicator for two years, and for a few decades before I jumped into writing,
I was a professional actress in NYC with a day-job in insurance. Because
numbers are baffling and full of inexplicable tricks, I was horrible at
insurance; my bosses liked me because I kept them amused.
6. Do you
write in a number of genres of stick to one?
I stick to one genre: “Regency romance
with a gothic twist.”
7. Where on the internet can you be found?
The very best place to find me
is on Facebook, but I do have a Website: elfahearn.com. It’s hosted by Yahoo!,
which is folding up shop, so I’m going to have to pack up all my stuff soon and
move. Ugg. I can also be found on Twitter and Whatsapp at @elfahearn.
