I can not tell you how thrilled I am to be apart of the blog tour for Bill & Susan Seaforth Hayes' book Trumpet. If their name sounds familiar, it's because they played Doug & Julie on Days Of Our Lives. I hope you enjoy their interview as much as I did! There are also two very cool tour wide giveaways. Details are at the end of the interview.
Brilliant and sassy Elizabeth Trumpet fantasizes starring on the London stage, but to become an actress in 1803 is tantamount to losing her virginity in the most debasing way.After watching her mother die and her father lose his mind, the courageous sixteen-year-old must find a way to save her family. She scores her first acting job as a fencer—the deadly skill she learned from her brother training for the military. Blessed with talent and a rare singing voice, Lizzie pursues her career, learning from theatrical characters high and low.When reckless actor Jonathan Faversham sets eyes on Miss Trumpet, he knows he’s found the partner of his life. But Faversham carries ruinous baggage from a dark past. Entangled in lust and ambition, Lizzie gives him her heart and they reach the heights together. Until Lizzie gets more applause than he…From the magnificence of Regency palaces and the Theatre Royal Covent Garden to the sun-baked pyramids of Egypt and the arms of a real-life Samson, Lizzie is never far from trouble. As her brother rides to glory with Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, great events threaten her survival. Danger lurks behind stage curtains, when a madman sets fire to take her life and she lifts a sword in revenge.Will this once innocent girl, with her rise to stardom, or be remembered for her art? Or for her shame?
1. What
was the inspiration for writing TRUMPET?
Our own lives in show business sparked the “aha
moment” when we chose Regency London, with all its color, for our story. Through deep research we discovered incidents
in history to build around, but the emotions that carry our characters forward,
through the fortunes and misfortunes of a theatrical career, come from very
real experience. “Write what you know,”
and we did.
2. What
was the most interesting thing you discovered while researching TRUMPET?
That writing is not a metaphysical
activity. No spirits, saints, or muses
are going to show up to get you going.
Sometimes the deadline is just the jolt needed to set the brain to
rattling out your best stuff.
3. Out
of all the places you went to do research for the book, did you have a favorite
place among them?
London of course. Walking along the New River in Islington,
going backstage at Drury Lane, seeing the sarcophagus of Seti in Sir John Soane’s
museum house. It’s beautiful as a raw
pearl. Choosing the very shop on Savile
Row where Adam & James did business.
How can you beat all that?
4. Are
any of the characters based on actual people?
All of them. Sidrack the tailor is an ancestor of
Bill’s. Carlo is such a close old friend
that we can hear him talk and sing (wonderfully, we might add). Georgie is all the fine young men we’ve seen
go off to war, taking our hearts with them.
5. What
is your favorite thing about Lizzie?
I like her hazel eyes, like my
grandmothers, says Susan. And her
soprano voice that rings with truth and joy. And her modern courage.
6. Was
it hard writing together as a team?
Mutual respect runs pretty deep in our house. Also love and pleasure in each other’s
talents. We cheered each other on to
work like fury. We’ve been a creative
team as actors for over forty years, so we had some practice.
7. Do
you have a favorite scene or quote from the book you’d like to share with us?
Susan loves Dampere’s appearance at Astley’s
when he first speaks to Lizzie. Bill likes
the argument in the carriage between Jack and Lizzie when she has caught him in
flagrante! We read every word and every
scene aloud to make the words snap. The
wedding night dialogue came to Bill in a dream, and went straight into the
pages with nary an edit.
*****
Brilliant and sassy Elizabeth Trumpet fantasizes starring on
the London stage, but to become an actress in 1803 is tantamount to losing her
virginity in the most debasing way.
After watching her mother die and her father lose his mind,
the courageous sixteen-year-old must find a way to save her family. She scores
her first acting job as a fencer—the deadly skill she learned from her brother
training for the military. Blessed with talent and a rare singing voice, Lizzie
pursues her career, learning from theatrical characters high and low.
When reckless actor Jonathan Faversham sets eyes on Miss
Trumpet, he knows he’s found the partner of his life. But Faversham carries
ruinous baggage from a dark past. Entangled in lust and ambition, Lizzie gives
him her heart and they reach the heights together. Until Lizzie gets more
applause than he…
From the magnificence of Regency palaces and the Theatre
Royal Covent Garden to the sun-baked pyramids of Egypt and the arms of a
real-life Samson, Lizzie is never far from trouble. As her brother rides to
glory with Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, great events threaten her
survival. Danger lurks behind stage curtains, when a madman sets fire to take
her life and she lifts a sword in revenge.
Will this once innocent girl, with her rise to stardom, be
remembered for her art? Or for her shame?
Trumpet is published by Decadent
Publishing, and is available from Amazon
UK, Amazon
US, All
Romance eBooks, Smashwords
and all other good eBook retailers.
TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY
*****
COMMENT TO WIN!
Bill and Susan are generously giving away two prizes on this
tour! One is their double memoir, Like
Sands Through the Hourglass, and the second is Bill's CD, This is Bill Hayes. Just leave a comment
(please include your email address in the body of the comment) on this post to
be entered. This giveaway is tour wide, and the more comments you leave, the
more chance you have of winning, so check out the rest of the tour schedule
here: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/bill-susan-hayes/
