Hazel Statham

Welcome, Hazel.
Thank you for granting Enchanted Reviews this interview and the opportunity for us to get to know more about you and your work.

1. Could you please start by telling us a little about yourself?
I live in the UK and have been writing on and off since I was fifteen (many, many moons ago). I am fascinated by the romance and elegance of Regency and Georgian England, and it is this that I hopefully recreate in my work.
Apart from reading and writing historical fiction, my other ruling passion is animals and until recently I was treasurer to a group that raised money for animal charities. We currently share our home with two lovely yellow Labradors, Lucy who is ten and five-month-old Mollie, but over the years we have owned everything from hamsters to horses.

2. Your wonderful stories are all set in the past. If you were granted the opportunity to travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I am fascinated by the Peninsular wars so I guess it would have to be the Duchess of Richmond’s ball when Wellington’s army prepared to march to Waterloo. The air must have been electric with anticipation once it was announced that Bonaparte was on the move and Wellington prepared to intercept him.

3. If you could meet a famous person from the past, who would it be?
Can I have two? Firstly, of course, it would be the Iron Duke himself, Wellington, but the second would be George Brian Brummell, otherwise known as Beau Brummell. With Beau, I could discuss the mores of Regency society and enjoy his cutting wit.

4. Which one of your characters do you feel is most like you?
I would hesitate to compare myself with any one of my heroines, but I suppose it is inevitable that a little bit of yourself seeps into your characters. To a certain degree, their reactions are your reactions!

5. Do you adhere to a routine when you write?
I write as and when the desire takes me – which, to be quite honest, is most days and times when I have a work in progress. I write when the house is quiet but I have also been known to start writing at midnight and continue on until the small hours.

6. How would you describe your author’s voice?
I try to use language that is appropriate for the period in which I write. Modern day words and phrasing only serve to draw the reader out of the era.

7. Are you reclusive or do you like interacting with other writers?
I have several writers as friends and love interacting with them. It’s great being able to discuss your art with other like-minded souls.

8. The genre you write requires extensive research. Do you enjoy the research process?
Very much so. I have read historical fiction and non-fiction for quite a number of years and now find the internet an invaluable tool. However, I feel it is very important to make the story fit the fact, not the fact fit the story as I believe it is the author’s responsibility to be as accurate as possible when stating fact.

9. Do deadlines help or hinder your muse?
Definitely hinder! My muse frequently deserts me when under pressure.

10. Has your journey to becoming a published author been a smooth or bumpy road?
For years I wrote only for my own amusement with no thought of publication. It wasn’t until I joined a writers’ group at the local college that I even considered it. The lecturer who headed the group constantly badgered me to submit my work but it wasn’t until my husband joined ranks with him that I actually sent a manuscript out to All Romance Books. I was utterly amazed and delighted when they accepted my work and immediately submitted a second manuscript, which they also took. Sadly, due to the owner’s demise, All Romance Books closed before the second book was published and I had to look for a new home for my work. Luckily, Wings ePress took the two novels, DOMINIC and MY DEAREST FRIEND and Triskelion took a third, ‘The Portrait’. Again, I was destined for disappointment when Triskelion went into receivership before ‘The Portrait’ was published, but my rights have now been returned and I will be sending it out again shortly. On June 1st, Wings released HIS SHADOWED HEART, and I have two more manuscripts out for consideration with publishers.
Overall, it has been a hectic three years, with several highs and lows, but I am thrilled that what started out purely as a hobby, now enables me to call myself a ‘published author’.

11. Can you please give us a sneak peek at any of your upcoming books?
Here is the blurb for HIS SHADOWED HEART:
Can a shadowed heart be healed? Can love grow where least expected? The Earl of Waverly believes not. How wrong can he be!
After the death of his wife, the Earl of Waverly, believing his heart irreparably damaged, enters into a marriage of convenience. However, he is not prepared for the healing influence his new young bride has on his life.
Despite the couple’s new-found happiness, nefarious deeds abound and strange happenings are attributed to the ghost of his former wife. Will their love stand the test or will the perpetrator emerge the victor?
A short excerpt:
The earl, fighting his attraction to his new wife, returns home from his club after fleeing her company earlier in the day.
Traversing the long corridor to his bedchamber, he paused momentarily outside his wife’s door, but as no light shone from beneath, he continued on to his own apartment. Closing the door quietly behind him he paused in the centre of the room. All was in darkness except for the pool of light cast by the candles he held and for a moment, their flickering caught the handle to the connecting door. Yielding to an irresistible temptation, he pressed the handle, and finding no resistance there, entered the chamber.
As in his own room, all was in darkness, but turning to where he knew the bed to be he raised the candles higher so that their glow spread across the room, illuminating the sleeping figure there. Crossing to the bed, he knelt at her side and extinguishing all but one of the flames, placed the candelabra on a small table at the side of the bed
The shadows of the remaining light played across Caroline’s sleeping countenance and he smoothed a lock of hair that had strayed across her forehead. He knew the desire that his lips should follow his finger’s course, but even in his state of inebriation, he knew this would be foolish. For several minutes, he watched his wife sleep, eventually placing his head upon the pillow beside her. His lips curved into a loving smile as his eyes drank in her sleep-softened countenance and he felt her breath caress his cheek. The longing to hold her became an almost physical thing and his arms ached with the suppressed desire. Eventually she stirred, muttering incoherently in her sleep, and he raised himself up. What foolishness is this, he thought. I am acting like a callow youth, and immediately he was on his feet. Snatching up the light, he went quickly out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

12. What advice would you give an aspiring author?
If you have the desire to write, just do it. Whether you write with the intention of submitting your manuscript or not, you will enjoy the process and will have an amazing sense of accomplishment when it is completed
What would you like to tell your readers?
I hope you enjoy reading my work as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your comments as I love hearing from my readers.
The best way for readers to contact me are either through my web-site www.hazel-statham.co.uk or email hazel.statham1@ntlworld.com

Hazel, Enchanting Reviews would like to thank you for submitting your work for review and we hope to continue to provide this service for you in the future.

Interviewed by Rowena

June 2008