Author Interview with Louise Lyndon + Giveaway

Help me welcome Louise Lyndon to Write with Fey. She’s telling us about her book, Of Love and Vengeance, and offering a free eBook copy. Check out the giveaway below!

Please tell us about your current release, Louise.

My newest release, Of Love and Vengeance, is about a few things really. Firstly, it’s about prejudices, mainly about how we can tar an entire group by either misconceptions or by the behavior of a few. Both the hero and heroine are guilty of doing this, so we get to see how they deal with this. It’s also about acceptance, not just of each other, but of yourself as well. Laila, the heroine has a birthmark that covers one side of her face, and she really struggles with loving herself because of it. So we also see how she learns to love herself.

BLURB:

Forced to marry Lord Aymon to ensure her young nephews survival, English Lady Laila vows undying hatred for the Norman she holds responsible for the deaths of so many innocents. Discovering Aymon has committed an act of treason gives her the chance to seek vengeance he deserves.  But can Laila let Aymon die at the hands of the king once she learns the truth?

A hardened Norman warrior, Lord Aymon has lived through atrocities no man ever should. With the invasion of England over, all he wants is a quiet life and a wife who will give him heirs and obey his every command. Instead, he finds himself wed to feisty and outspoken Laila. But when she learns the truth of his treasonous act, can Aymon count on her to keep his secret?

Title: Of Love and Vengeance

Author: Louise Lyndon

Genre: Historical Romance (medieval)

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Release Date: 19 December 2014

BUY LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon AU

The Wild Rose Press / KOBO / Barnes & Noble

All Romance eBooks / Book Strand

1. How did you pick the title for your book?

Actually, the book was originally titled, The Promise. My editor asked me to change it because there was already another book with that title. I’m hopeless at titles so I messed around a bit on one of those title generator sites. Some of the results were hilarious. Eventually, after combining a few title results I came up with, Of Love and Vengeance.

2. I think it's a great title! Why did you choose the setting for, Of Love and Vengeance?

I love medieval settings because I like being able to have sword fights in my stories! Also, as all stories need conflict, the medieval time period offers an endless supply of it, especially around the Norman invasion of England, which is when Of Love and Vengeance takes place.

3. I love medieval settings too! How did you come up with the names for your hero and heroine?

You know, this is going to sound completely weird, but the names more or less just ‘appear’ when I start writing the story. A scene will pop into my head, and the characters will already have their names. So, I just go with those names. I tried to change the names once but the characters were having none of that!

4. Which actors would play your hero and heroine in a movie?

Good question! I’m one of those writers who finds having an actual photo of the hero/heroine extremely helpful. For my hero, Aymon, he is based on Chris Hemsworth. I mean, what more is there to say about that guy? He’s handsome, has a brilliant build, and did I mention he’s handsome as well? So, for sure, CH would play Aymon.

For Laila, my heroine, I’ve based her on Kristen Stewart, to a certain extent. I always knew she’d have a birthmark down the side of one face, so it having a photo of KS near my laptop just helped me a little when I needed to describe physical features. So, KS would play Laila.

5. If you have a pen name, can you explain how you came up with it?

I do have a pen name. Louise is my middle name. Lyndon is my father’s first name. He died when I was four years old so I thought it would make a nice tribute to him.

6. Using your father's name for your pen name is special. How old were you when you read your first romance book? What was it?

I think it was a Mills & Boon book. I can’t remember the title, but I do remember going to Target and buying loads of titles.

7. Is there a teacher (or teachers) you would like to personally thank for his/her influence?

Mr Nilbet! From grade one to grade four I went to a school that had only fourteen students – in the entire school! We obviously only had one teacher to teach all the grades and Mr Nilbet was our teacher. He was brilliant. He would play with us kids at break times, during summer he’d have water fights with us – and on our birthday he would make us a cake! He was also very encouraging. He was just an all-round great teacher. To this day, and we’re talking about 30 something years later, he’s still in contact with his former students! I still call him Mr Nilbet!

8. What’s on your bucket list?

I have a few things on my bucket list. The main ones being;

1. To see the Aurora Borealis

2. Spend a night at the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi

3. To eat my body weight in chocolate. But to be fair, that is probably more wishful thinking than an actual bucket list to do item.

9. That's a lot of chocolate! What lessons did you learn early on in your writing career?

I learned two very valuable lessons that I still, to this day, adhere to. Firstly, write the story of your heart. By that I mean, don’t try to second guess what readers may or may not want, or what may or may not be currently selling, because I think once you only start thinking about those things then it influences your writing – not necessarily in a positive way.

Secondly, treat your setting as you would a character. By this I mean, really know it and use it to set your scene. For example, a forest during the day is very different to a forest at night. Think about the differences and weave them into your story.

10. Do you listen to music while you write?

No. I’m one of these writers who finds music very distracting while I write. I tried listening to classical music once while I wrote and even that type of music distracted me. 

AUTHOR BIO:

Louise grew up in Australia before moving to England, where for sixteen years she soaked up the vibrancy of London and the medieval history of England. She has since returned to Australia. In 2013 Louise won first prize in the Crested Butte Sandy Writing Contest – Historical Romance Category –for her story, The Promise, which has since been retitled as, Of Love & Vengeance. When not writing, she can be found crawling under barbed wire and hoisting herself over twelve foot walls!

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Goodreads / Pinterest = llyndon3513

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Thank you for answering my questions, Louise, and for offering an eBook copy to my readers! :)

Please leave Louise a comment and enter the giveaway!