Deanna Raybourn and The Dark Road to Darjeeling

"Think you there was or might be such a man as I dreamt of?"
-Antony and Cleopatra

The Bard's words open Deanna Raybourn's luscious website, http://www.deannaraybourn.com/, where I learned about her Lady Julia Grey series,

“Sex, lies and awesome clothing descriptions” is how one reader described Deanna’s debut novel, Silent in the Grave, published in January 2007. The first in the Silent series, the book follows Lady Julia Grey as she investigates the mysterious death of her husband with the help of the enigmatic private inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane. From the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to a Gypsy camp on Hampstead Heath, Silent in the Grave deftly captures the lush ambiance of Victorian London. Silent in the Grave won the 2008 RITA for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements.

Silent in the Grave

The series continues with the second book, Silent in the Sanctuary (January 2008), a classic English country house murder mystery with a few twists and turns for Brisbane and Lady Julia along the way. Silent in the Sanctuary was nominated for the Dilys Wynn Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award.

Silent in the Sanctuary

In the third installment, Silent on the Moor (March 2009), Lady Julia journeys to Yorkshire in the company of her sister Portia. Determined to settle matters once and for all between herself and the enigmatic Nicholas Brisbane, Lady Julia instead unearths a legacy of malevolence and evil that threatens to destroy them both. Silent on the Moor landed on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestseller list even before its official release and remained on the bestseller list for eight weeks.

Silent on the Moor

The next installment in the exploits of Lady Julia Grey—Dark Road to Darjeeling—will be published in October 2010, and this time the intrepid Lady Julia is bound for India!

Dark Road to Darjeeling

So let's meet Deanna herself!

Kim:  If you life was a book, what would be the back cover synopsis? *

Deanna:  Funny, but I don't think of my life as a book. It's a movie, complete with the voice-over guy from the film trailers narrating and lots of overly-dramatic music. You know, "One woman...determined to make a life for herself doing what she loved..."

* I borrowed this question from Sarah Simas, http://www.thelovestrucknovice.blogspot.com/

Kim:  Who would write the front cover blurb and what would it be?

Deanna:  My mother, and she would say, "I told her to expect the unexpected." It's gotten to be a huge family joke that just when I think I have a handle on everything, the universe likes to exercise its pitching arm and throw me a curve ball. Usually they're fantastic curve balls, but I don't seem to have much of a comfort zone left these days. I'm always getting pushed out of it by new opportunities.


The Bard

Kim:  What drew a sixth generation Texan to study English History with emphasis on Shakespearean studies?

Deanna:  I'm Texan on my mother's side, but my father is only a first-generation American on his mother's. She is English, and I grew up reading loads of English kids' books, watching English television programs on PBS, that sort of thing. I always knew I was going to be a novelist, so majoring in history and English just made sense, and I gravitated towards Shakespeare because my university didn't offer a degree program in Jane Austen.

Kim:  Does your Texas drawl come out when quoting the Bard?

Deanna:  Yes, but I have to be careful. 'Y'all' doesn't fit very well into iambic pentameter.

Kim:  Do you attend Medieval Fairs? If yes, do you dress up?

Deanna:  I haven't been in years! There's a great renaissance fair--sorry, Renaissance Faire--in east Texas, and we went a few times before we moved to Virginia. I never dressed up, though. The Renaissance isn't my pet time period. I am a Victorian girl with a dash of Regency flair.

Cornwall's Lanhydrock - a Victorian Country House
owned by the National Trust, http://www.nationaltrust.co.uk/

Kim:  What inspires the settings in your books?

Deanna:  My passionate and unabashed love for England. I have been several times and never seem to see everything I want. I am always very, very happy when I'm there, as if a part of me has come home again. I love the food, the weather, the geography, the architecture, and most of all, the sense of humor. I try to incorporate all of that in my work.

Editor's Note:  Learn more about Deanna's Brit-envy at her blog dated September 26, 2010,
http://www.deannaraybourn.com/blog/content/which-i-have-brit-envy.  I would accompany Deanna on the search for cream teas and umbrella stands.

Kim:  How much of you is in Lady Julia Grey?

Deanna:  Julia is hugely autobiographical, if I were a Victorian aristocrat with pots of money. We were born in different times, but I like to think we look at the world from similar perspectives.

RWA's RITA 

Kim:  Where is your RITA proudly displayed?

Deanna:  She peers down at me from the bookshelf opposite my desk when I work.

Warning:  Make sure you watch Sabrina Jeffries closely in your house!
(A joke from the RWA Awards Ceremony)

Kim:  What's next for Deanna Raybourn and/or Lady Julia?

Deanna:  Dark Road to Darjeeling, the fourth installment of the series, is hitting bookstores now, and I am just wrapping up the fifth--due out in July of next year. After that, we'll see, but I would certainly love to write more of her adventures!

Thank you, Deanna, for visiting us at SOS Aloha.  In honor of Dark Road to Darjeeling, I am giving away a box of assorted Hawaiian Tropical teas to one randomly selected commenter.  The teas are made from the secret Royal recipe and served to the Duke of Edinburgh during his visit to the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1869 :)

1.  Leave a comment about today's interview with Deanna Raybourn.

2.  Make sure I know how to contact you - if I do not already have your email address, please send it to sos.america@yahoo.com.  You can also friend SOS America on Facebook. 

3.  This contest is open to all readers.  I will select a winner on Saturday, October 2.  

Join us tomorrow as we recap last night's Hawaii Five-O episode, "Ohana."

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii