Lillian Marek was born and raised in New York City (the center of the universe). At one time or another she has had most of the interesting but underpaid jobs available to English majors. After a few too many years in journalism, she decided she prefers fiction, where the good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve.
Kim: Tell us about Long Island Sound - what is your favorite sight, sound, and smell?
Lillian: I love living near the Sound. We don’t have the long sandy beaches that you get on the South Shore by the ocean—out beaches are definitely rocky. But we do have the water, and when you need to think something out, there’s nothing like a walk on the beach. You don’t hear anything but the waves and the seagulls, and problems get put into perspective. I love everything about it, even the smell of low tide. People tell me that’s the smell of dead fish, but I think of it as home.
Kim: I am envious of your 200 year old house. It must offer some inspiration, especially as you write historical romance. What is your writing routine?
Lillian: When the power goes off, as has been known to happen when we have a bad storm, it’s easy to see what it would have been like to live here 200 years ago with only candles for light and only a fireplace to keep you warm. It made me understand why people ate dinner in the middle of the day. Did you ever try to chop onions with only a candle to let you see what you’re doing? Keep the bandaids handy!
Fortunately, power outages aren’t all that common. Ordinarily, my only problems are the absence of closets (nobody had them 200 years ago) and doors that don’t stay closed because the house has sagged—kind of like me. *Grin*
I’m at my computer pretty much every day, but I’m a very slow writer. A lot of my time is spent staring at the screen, or giving up and going for a walk to clear my head.
Kim: I am intrigued by your Victorian Adventures series - how did you research for it?
Lillian: I grew up reading 19th century novels, and did my graduate work in 19th century literature, so I feel very much at home in the period. When it comes to specific details, the Internet is an incredible resource. If I want to know when Charles Worth opened his own couturier house, or what café an Englishman might visit in Rome, the information is right there at my fingertips. Things like Google Books and Internet Archives provide you with access to books that you can’t buy because they are long out of print and that you would have had to travel all over the country to read just 20 years ago. It really is wonderful.
Kim: What inspired you to write about the Victorian era and Etruscan antiquities?
Lillian: The 19th century is a really exciting period because it offers an amazing amount of variety. You have terrible economic misery, and you have people fighting to change that. You have people insisting that woman’s place is in the home, the “angel in the house,” and you have the start of women’s university education, women in the professions, women working at a variety of jobs. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
As for the Etruscans, I stumbled on George Dennis’s book Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. It was published at just the right time for my characters to have read it and decided to go to Italy to see the tombs he described.
Kim: What's next for Lillian Marek?
Lillian: Well, the second book in the series, Lady Emily’s Exotic Journey, is planned for next August. She’s the next Tremaine sister. She and her parents go to Assyria and visit the ruins of ancient Nineveh, which Austin Henry Layard had made famous with his excavations. Aside from the rigors of the journey, Lady Emily’s adventures include a kidnapping, an encounter with river pirates, and a dashing French adventurer.
I am having fun!
Kim: Tell us about Long Island Sound - what is your favorite sight, sound, and smell?
Lillian: I love living near the Sound. We don’t have the long sandy beaches that you get on the South Shore by the ocean—out beaches are definitely rocky. But we do have the water, and when you need to think something out, there’s nothing like a walk on the beach. You don’t hear anything but the waves and the seagulls, and problems get put into perspective. I love everything about it, even the smell of low tide. People tell me that’s the smell of dead fish, but I think of it as home.
Kim: I am envious of your 200 year old house. It must offer some inspiration, especially as you write historical romance. What is your writing routine?
Lillian: When the power goes off, as has been known to happen when we have a bad storm, it’s easy to see what it would have been like to live here 200 years ago with only candles for light and only a fireplace to keep you warm. It made me understand why people ate dinner in the middle of the day. Did you ever try to chop onions with only a candle to let you see what you’re doing? Keep the bandaids handy!
Fortunately, power outages aren’t all that common. Ordinarily, my only problems are the absence of closets (nobody had them 200 years ago) and doors that don’t stay closed because the house has sagged—kind of like me. *Grin*
I’m at my computer pretty much every day, but I’m a very slow writer. A lot of my time is spent staring at the screen, or giving up and going for a walk to clear my head.
Kim: I am intrigued by your Victorian Adventures series - how did you research for it?
Lillian: I grew up reading 19th century novels, and did my graduate work in 19th century literature, so I feel very much at home in the period. When it comes to specific details, the Internet is an incredible resource. If I want to know when Charles Worth opened his own couturier house, or what café an Englishman might visit in Rome, the information is right there at my fingertips. Things like Google Books and Internet Archives provide you with access to books that you can’t buy because they are long out of print and that you would have had to travel all over the country to read just 20 years ago. It really is wonderful.
Kim: What inspired you to write about the Victorian era and Etruscan antiquities?
Lillian: The 19th century is a really exciting period because it offers an amazing amount of variety. You have terrible economic misery, and you have people fighting to change that. You have people insisting that woman’s place is in the home, the “angel in the house,” and you have the start of women’s university education, women in the professions, women working at a variety of jobs. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
As for the Etruscans, I stumbled on George Dennis’s book Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. It was published at just the right time for my characters to have read it and decided to go to Italy to see the tombs he described.
Kim: What's next for Lillian Marek?
Lillian: Well, the second book in the series, Lady Emily’s Exotic Journey, is planned for next August. She’s the next Tremaine sister. She and her parents go to Assyria and visit the ruins of ancient Nineveh, which Austin Henry Layard had made famous with his excavations. Aside from the rigors of the journey, Lady Emily’s adventures include a kidnapping, an encounter with river pirates, and a dashing French adventurer.
I am having fun!
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| Etruscan tomb markers outside Cerveteri Released to Public Domain (link) |
Mahalo, Lillian, for sharing your wicked adventures in Victorian Romance! I enjoyed reading LADY ELINOR'S WICKED ADVENTURES - check out my review at this link.
Harry de Vaux, Viscount Tunbury, has loved Lady Elinor Tremaine for as long as he can remember—but is convinced that his past makes him unworthy of her. He agrees to accompany the Tremaine family to Italy to explore Etruscan ruins, even if it chips away at his resolve to stay away from the delightful woman he loves.
The intrepid Lady Elinor is caught up in the Victorian fervor for exploring distant lands. But during her travels she is thrown back into the company of an old friend, Harry de Vaux. Amid the sightseeing and treasure hunting, Elinor comes to realize that she wants far more from Harry than friendship. But when a dangerous discovery leaves them fighting for their lives, it might just be too late...
Available Now:
Amazon: link
Apple: link
BAM: link
B&N: link
Chapters: link
I would love to travel to Europe.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the post. Very enlightening!
ReplyDeleteDelighted to be here on this foggy morning. Aloha.
ReplyDeleteI would go to New Zealand if I could. thanks for the great intro to your book.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds so good. I would love to travel to all 50 states and see the USA!
ReplyDeleteI would love to travel to New Zealand and Australia.
ReplyDeleteRight now, if I could travel anywhere in the world, I would choose Italy because I've never been there and there are so many ruins from long ago to explore. Roman ruins have the power to really draw me in...and since the Romans were once the world's greatest civilization...there are numerous remains to delve into. It is fascinating to me. Early Christianity, Roman baths, you name it. Thanks for the interesting question! jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteNormally I like to do my traveling within the USA. However, I think I'd like to see Scotland.
ReplyDeleteI traveled to Europe for the first time a couple months ago. Now that I have been there, I would love to go back and see many more places there....Austria, Italy, France, etc.
ReplyDeleteSicily because all my ancestors came from there!
ReplyDeleteRome again. I went there for my honey moon and loved it.
ReplyDeleteI would love to travel to Australia. Thanks for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteHi Lillian! I am from LI & go walking on a boardwalk overlooking the LI Sound every day over the summer! I would love to go to Scotland! You would need to knock me out on the plane, though! Anxiety!
ReplyDeleteSleeping pills?
DeleteI'd love to visit Italy!
ReplyDeleteHawaii
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
ReplyDeleteWant to go to Ireland and Scotland- it's been too long!
DeleteI want to visit Scotland.
ReplyDelete