Author Siri Mitchell - A CONSTANT HEART - Free Book

I just love historicals. Today we're talking to another author of historials. Welcome, Siri. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Increasingly, less. My first novels were "all about me" in various ways. My current novel has very little of me in it at all.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

We have a jackalope (the "trophy head" of a rabbit with antelope antlers attached). I love to incorporate it in our décor. Once we hung it on the wall in an African-themed room and told everyone that it was a rare sub-Saharan animal. Only one visitor ever realized what it was.

I've seen those in specialty shops. When did you first discover that you were a writer?

It was probably in junior high school when my history teacher told me he thought I had a future in writing. For a long time after that, I assumed that "writing" meant journalism, but it only took one course in college for me to realize that newspaper writing was not for me.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I love Ginger Garrett’s historicals and Claudia Mair Burney’s contemporaries. I love Laura Jensen Walker’s sense of humor and the way Christy Barritt incorporates humor into her mysteries. I’ve read all of Ellis Peters’s Brother Cadfael mysteries (set in medieval England) and nearly all of Lindsey Davis’s Didius Falco mysteries (set in ancient Rome).

What other books have you written, whether published or not?

Kissing Adrien (2005), Something Beyond the Sky (2006), The Cubicle Next Door (2006), and Moon Over Tokyo (2007) were all published by Harvest House. Cubicle was a Christy finalist for Lits. Chateau of Echoes (2005) was published by NavPress; it was also a Christy finalist. I have two non-fiction manuscripts I call French Confession and Sushi Redemption. And a terrible first novel that will never see the light of day.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

I’m a simple person who can only do one thing well at a time. Knowing this about myself allows me to say "no" to quite a few things. I also limit my hobbies. At the moment, they’re all health oriented (weight-training, golf, tennis, etc.) My family has chosen to live close to our daily activities so we don’t have to spend hours in the car. I’ve divided my day into writing time and…non-writing time. I’m only a good juggler when I have few balls to juggle!

How do you choose your characters’ names?

For my historicals, I go back to census records and pull from the most common names of the period (for both first names and surnames). Historically, the pool of names was very small. For contemporaries, my characters usually come to me, name in hand.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

The proudest moments in my life have usually been achieved in tandem with someone else. To isolate an accomplishment I achieved on my own, I’ll have to go back to the age of 5 or 6. I spent my youngest childhood years on the East Coast where summers were spent in the swimming pool either practicing for swim team or playing with friends. At one of my first swim meets, I was scheduled to swim the anchor lap of a relay. When I jumped into the water, my team was dead last. I remember hearing people cheering as I swam. I remember thinking, "Oh no, someone’s already finished!" The cheering kept getting louder and I kept swimming faster because I didn’t want to be embarrassed. When I touched the wall I realized that those cheers had been for me and that our team had won. I had pulled off a gigantic upset!

That's wonderful--truly a thing to be proud of. If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

A cat. I’m not particularly fond of them (I’m a dog person), but I’d really like to be able to purr.

What is your favorite food?

A good dark chocolate mousse.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

For the longest time, I was afraid to start querying my manuscript. I didn’t want to be rejected. And then one night, one of the members of our Bible study said, "That’s stupid – how can anyone ever buy it if you never send it out?" That cured me. And 10 years, 153 rejections, and 4 manuscripts later, I sold my first book!

What advice would you give to an author just starting out?

Write. You can do all the research you want. You can read all the books about writing that you can find. You can go to all the conferences that you have time and money to attend, but at some point, you have to just sit down and…write. In this profession, a whole lot of learning comes from doing.

What would you like to tell us about the featured book?

A Constant Heart is the first of three standalone historical romance titles that will be released by Bethany House Publishers. This book is set in Queen Elizabeth's court in a world where beauty is a curse, friendship is bought and sold, and true love is the unpardonable sin. Each of the three books is set in a time period when women’s lives were endangered by the fashions they wore. The fashion element in A Constant Heart is the toxic lead-based paste the women used to paint their faces.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I would love them to visit me at http://sirimitchell.com/

Thank you, Siri, for spending this time with us. We want to feature the other novels in this series.

Readers, for your convenience, I'm including a link to where you can order the book:

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