We have a special treat today – the lovely and multi-talented Deanna Raybourn, author the fabulous Lady Julia Grey series of Victorian mysteries, agreed to chat with me about her much-anticipated stand alone novel A Spear of Summer Grass. I recently had the chance for an advanced sneak peek read of this book, and I can report that it is just as rich and wonderful as one would expect of one of Deanna’s novels, filled with vibrant characters and wonderful details of Kenya in the 1920s. One lucky commenter on the interview will have the same opportunity, as Deanna has graciously agreed to give away an advanced copy of the book. The contest closes at 6:00 pm Pacific Time on Thursday, April 18. Let the questions begin!
TRACY: A Spear of Summer Grass is set in Kenya in the 1920s. After writing a number of books set in the Victorian era, what inspired you to explore this new setting and time period?
DEANNA: My publisher wanted to take a break from the Victorian series, so my editor’s brief to me was, “Pitch us anything, literally ANYTHING, you want to write about.” So I made a list of all the subjects I read about for fun between writing novels. And once I got to twenty or thirty, I circled five that seemed to fit together in an interesting way—Africa, flappers, 1920s, safaris, rose farms. I added in a snippet of an idea I’d had a few years before for a book—about a fairly hardboiled young woman who has a scandalous mother and whose life has been influenced by her mother’s absence—and tossed it all together. I eventually changed rose farm to pyrethrum because it was more appropriate for the time period, and because the floral industry in Kenya is very politically charged right now, and I didn’t want to draw into the story all of the hideous environmental impacts that the flower farms have had on Africa. So, pyrethrum and scandalous flappers it was!
TRACY: Your books have such a wonderful sense of time and place, from sweeping visual vistas to exquisite details of clothing. What were your favorite research sources for A Spear of Summer Grass?
DEANNA: For years I’ve read memoirs of people who lived in Kenya when it was British East Africa. You simply will not find a more colorful, interesting group of people in one place. There were farmers, hunters, debutantes, aristocrats, and criminals, and they all had the same goal—to somehow make a home in what must have felt like the most remote place on earth. And those people wrote memoirs and inspired biographies that make for delicious reading. I also had to amass a collection of history books on Kenya as well as books on the cultures, flora and fauna, etc. But the reading I enjoyed the most was about the people—both the native tribes and the settlers.
TRACY: You recently released a wonderful “prequel” novella, Far in the Wilds, featuring many of the characters in A Spear of Summer Grass. Did you always have the events of that novella in mind or did you later go back and flesh out the backstory?
DEANNA: I didn’t even know there was going to be a novella until after SPEAR was written. I was offered a contract to write a Julia Grey holiday novella, and before we’d even signed the contract, my publisher amended the offer to include three additional Julia novellas and two prequel novellas for my next two stand alone novels. At that point I was casting around for an idea and my editor suggested a novella focusing on Ryder. We happened to be at a conference last summer, and I sat in the hotel lobby scribbling notes for about ten minutes, pitched it to her as she waited for a taxi, and she said, “Write it.” The whole thing took less than a quarter of an hour to plan. Ryder had two really interesting incidents in his backstory that left him with some baggage, and once I hit on an idea of how to tie them together, the novella wrote itself. It was an incredibly smooth process, thank goodness!
TRACY: As a writer of a series, one of the things I enjoy is knowing how my characters talk. After writing a number of books about Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane and their friends and family what was it like to explore the voices of a whole new set of characters?
DEANNA: It really was like throwing open the windows and letting in fresh air! Julia and Nicholas inhabit a very specific time and place—late Victorian London. Their lives, unconventional as they are, are confined in certain ways. But Africa and the 1920s and Delilah and Ryder—that was just a wide open space to play in. Plus, I’ve written over half a million words in the Julia series, so creating new voices was just FUN, particularly because Delilah is pretty shameless. She says things aloud that Julia wouldn’t even think!
TRACY: Like your Lady Julia series and your previous standalone, The Dead Travel Fast, A Spear of Summer Grass is written in the first person. What is it you enjoy about writing in this form? How do you find it different from writing in the third person, as you do in Far in the Wilds?
DEANNA: I adore first person point of view, probably because so many of the authors who influenced me used it—Harper Lee, Agatha Christie, Victoria Holt, Elizabeth Peters, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Joanne Harris. It gets a bad rap which is absurd. It’s difficult to do well. As a reader and as a writer, I love it for the immediacy it provides. You are pulling someone instantly into that fictional world by offering up a testimony, a confessional, a travelogue, a memoir. It will always be my default because it’s the POV I enjoy reading the most. I did appreciate the challenge of writing the novella in third person, and I’m quite sure I will do it with another novella I’m writing later this year. I’m also plotting out a project which will probably demand third person because some books just cannot be written from a first person perspective.
TRACY: What’s your favorite place to write?
DEANNA: In my tiny pink study. Our house was built in 1940, and as near as we can figure, my study is what used to be the sewing room. It’s very small—eight feet by nine—with no closet and it faces south with excellent light. It has a tiny alcove my husband shelved in for me, and he put up shelves on two other walls. The walls are pink, the ceiling is turquoise, and I hung a small chandelier my great-aunt gave me. I have a copy of the queen’s coronation portrait as well as inspiration boards with rotating displays and a cross-stitched saying of mine that a friend made for me: Be pretty like you mean it. It’s a tiny, wildly feminine room and it’s my favorite spot.
TRACY: Your books have wonderfully intricate plots. Do you work them out in advance or discover things as you go along or a combination of both?
DEANNA: Always a combination. I write out a synopsis of three to five pages for my editor before I begin, and then I pretty much don’t look at it at all when I’m writing. I know I’m starting at point A, and I know I mean to end up at point Z, and I may know what points D, L, and R will be, but everything else is discovery. Because they are mysteries, the Julia books have to have a more linear structure than my stand alones, so I always proceed logically forward with them. The stand alones need a more organic process. I figure them out as I go along, which isn’t my favorite way to write because it’s very much working without a net.
TRACY: I love the Shakespeare references in your books. What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?
DEANNA: No fair! It’s almost too difficult to narrow down because Shakespeare was so incredibly diverse. The solemnity of his histories, the actual human pain in his tragedies—those would be genius enough but then you look at his bawdy side with the truly filthy puns in his comedies and realize this was a man who really could relate to everyone, from the most elevated royal to the lowliest commoner. And he appreciated every kind of struggle—searching for identity, for love, for revenge, for peace. He explored it all! But I will say I have a soft spot for Much Ado About Nothing. There’s a beautiful bit from the play where Beatrice is in conversation with the prince and he says he thinks she was born in a merry hour. And her reply is to tell him no because her mother cried, but that “’there was a star danc’d, and under that was I born.’” I stitched that onto a pillow for my daughter’s crib when she was born because that summed up so beautifully how I felt about her. And that to me is the glory of Shakespeare—that this man who lived centuries ago, writing what was at the time popular entertainment not cultured, highbrow literature, could know and articulate something so beautiful in so few words.
TRACY: I can’t resist asking a variant of a question you asked me. What ten literary characters would you invite to a cocktail party?
DEANNA: Hoist with my own petard! Sir Percy Blakeney, Flora Poste, Elizabeth Bennet, Flavia de Luce, Atticus Finch, Julian Kestrel, Precious Ramotswe, Miss Marple, Vianne Rocher, and Dr. John Watson. I realize we’re at odd numbers there, so I hope the gentlemen won’t mind. And I should point out that if you asked me tomorrow, I’d give you an entirely different set! I’ve also left off some compelling characters who I think would be completely tiresome at the dinner table—Heathcliff, Rochester, Amber St. Clare, Scarlett O’Hara, Sherlock Holmes. I chose Atticus instead of Scout because I already had a young person in Flavia, and I selected Dr. Watson because Holmes always gets all the love but Watson would be a much more congenial guest. I am afraid that Miss Marple might hunker down in a corner over the sherry, but I’m quite sure Precious Ramotswe and Vianne Rocher could draw her out–certainly Julia Kestrel would show her every courtesy! And Percy would be sitting at my right hand for my own personal entertainment. In fact, if I had only Percy, I’m not entirely certain I would miss the other nine…
April 15, 2013 at 1:25 am
Great interview! Looking forward to reading this.
April 15, 2013 at 2:07 am
[…] fabulous Tracy Grant interviewed me for her blog–and we’re giving away a signed copy of A SPEAR OF SUMMER […]
April 15, 2013 at 2:14 am
Also read Victoria Holt and Elizabeth Peters a long time ago, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird more recently, and am definitely intrigued by your book!
April 15, 2013 at 2:24 am
Really enjoyed your interview and I can’t wait to read the book-hopefully early…:))
April 15, 2013 at 2:25 am
Love the insightful interview! “Far in the Wilds” was a great introduction to Ryder. I’m oh so ready to continue to read about him and Delilah!
April 15, 2013 at 2:25 am
Love it! Enjoyed the prequel! Have you ever seen “Heat of the Sun”, Ms. Raybourn?
Has anyone seen the trailer for the new “Much Ado” by Josh Whedon?
April 15, 2013 at 2:33 am
I loved Far in the Wilds! I had my copy of Ashford Affair (Lauren Willig) sent to my parents to keep me from reading it before I got to the beach next week. I do wish that A Spear of Summer Grass could join me! April 30th can’t come soon enough!
April 15, 2013 at 2:33 am
I think it’s interesting that Deanna listed several of my favorite authors as writers whose works have influenced her. Apart from how much I’ve enjoyed the Lady Julia books and “The Dead Travel Fast,” I’m looking forward to “A Spear of Summer Grass” because of its setting. Agatha Christie’s “The Man in the Brown Suit” is the first grown-up novel I remember reading. Harry Raybourn was my first book crush, his love (and Anne’s) of Africa was infectious and intriguing to me. I’ve been fascinated by the setting ever since and can’t wait to see how Deanna has drawn it in SPEAR.
April 15, 2013 at 2:34 am
Wonderful interview. Love the Lady Julia books and The Dead Travel Fast. Already have Far in the Wilds, can’t wait to read A Spear of Summer Grass. I’m interested to read a book by Deanna set in the 1920’s instead of the Victorian era. I know I’ll love it.
April 15, 2013 at 2:39 am
I’m so excited to read this book, and for the return of the Lady Julia series!
April 15, 2013 at 2:41 am
I’ve entered every contest to win this book and I still haven’t won a copy! I have every one of Deanna’s books and they’re all signed so this would be a perfect addition to my library 🙂
April 15, 2013 at 2:53 am
I am new to Deanna Raybourn, I liked the synopsis and would love to read A Spear of Summer Grass. I have The Dead Travel Fast on my to read list.
April 15, 2013 at 2:59 am
I love, love, love this setting! Thoroughly enjoyed Far in the Wilds and can’t wait for A Spear of Summer Grass.
April 15, 2013 at 5:14 am
Fell in love with Ryder and so ready to read A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS.. .Can hardly wait to meet Delilah. Ryder will need more books and not just a stand alone.. thanks for a chance to read this book early. Ruth Nixon
April 15, 2013 at 5:49 am
I am looking forward to reading this book!
April 15, 2013 at 7:25 am
Thanks for all the great comments right out the door! I know Deanna will be stopping by later and answering questions. JMM, I loved “Heat of the Sun” and am also curious if Deanna has seen it. Also the film “White Mischief” was one of my first introductions to the world of the “Happy Valley” set in Kenya, though the incidents it dramatizes took place a decade or so later.
April 15, 2013 at 8:43 am
I’m really looking forward to A Spear of Summer Grass. I love the Lady Julia series, and I’ve also read everything I can find about Kenya in the 1920s.
I have a couple of questions for Deanna: she has “a copy of the queen’s coronation portrait” in her study. I thought at first that she meant Queen Elizabeth II, but it then occurred to me that she might mean Queen Victoria, given that most of her writing has been set in her period! Which is it? And why does she have that picture in her study, anyway?
(I’d love to win a copy of the book, although I have pre-ordered it, but as I’m in the UK shipping costs would be a bit much. Perhaps a Kindle copy if I do win?)
April 15, 2013 at 11:11 am
Oooh, thanks for all the book love, y’all! To answer the questions that have popped up so far: I haven’t seen “Heat of the Sun” or “White Mischief”, although I did read the latter book. Tracy is right–the events in that book take place some time after Ryder and Delilah’s story, but the setting and the personalities of the settlers were perfectly consistent with what I was writing, so it was helpful. And it occurs to me I ought to write a blog entry about the books and documentaries I used for research–might make for some interesting additions to the TBR list while you’re waiting for SPEAR!
The coronation portrait is of Queen Elizabeth II. My grandmother is a naturalized American now, but she is English by birth and she saved the portrait of the queen that was circulated at the time. It had been stuffed into a storage unit for more than a decade and I rescued it from the trash pile! It’s a beautiful portrait, and I’m an unrepentant Anglophile, so it has a permanent home in my study.
April 15, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Oh, oh,oh – Deanna, thank you so much for the introduction to Flavia. And may I sneak in to the party to stand near Julian and Vianne? I won’t make a sound, just listen. (BTW one of you lovely ladies would be perfect to channel the continuing tales of Julian.)
April 15, 2013 at 1:02 pm
What a fun interview! I love the question about characters at a cocktail party. I thought “Far in the Wilds” was great, and I can’t wait to read “A Spear of Summer Grass”!
April 15, 2013 at 1:19 pm
This was a really great interview. Thanks to Deanna’s blog, my friend and I became very interested in reading your books!! It would be nice to get a peek at A Spear of Summer Grass.
April 15, 2013 at 1:25 pm
What a lovely interview! Can’t wait for “A Spear of Summer Grass.”
April 15, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Nice interview! Thought I won last time…would be nice this time! LOL!!
April 15, 2013 at 1:55 pm
Wonderful! Looking forward to the book.
April 15, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Thank you for this fun interview — I’m looking forward to A Spear of Summer Grass and would love a chance for an early peek!
April 15, 2013 at 5:27 pm
I CANNOT WAIT for this book to come out! It will be the second best thing to actually traveling to Africa (which is a dream)
Thanks so much for the giveaway!
April 15, 2013 at 5:43 pm
Thanks for the interview. I downloaded the novella, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
April 15, 2013 at 7:05 pm
Great interview! Having just finished Far In The Wilds with a teaser of A Spear of Summer Grass I would love to win a copy of the book. Can’t wait to read it!
April 15, 2013 at 8:27 pm
I haven’t read any of Deanna Raybourn’s books, but I’m looking forward to checking them out!
April 15, 2013 at 11:01 pm
I’m so looking forward to this book!!! I LOVE Deanna Raybourn’s books
April 15, 2013 at 11:54 pm
Very excited for this book!
April 16, 2013 at 1:58 am
Great interview, Tracy, I loved your questions. Next time I have insomnia I am going to lay in bed and pick out who to invite to my literary character cocktail party. I love the African setting, and definitely want to read Deanna’s book. I’ve got a couple of non-fiction books about this era right now, “The Bolter”, which is a biography of Idina Sackville, who was part of the Happy Valley set. The author, Frances Osborne, is Idina’s great-granddaughter, but she actually only found out about her scandalous, 5-times-divorced great-grandmother when she read “White Mischief”. I also just picked up “The Long Week-End” from my library. It’s a social history of Great Britain from 1918 to 1930 written by Robert Graves and Alan Hodge. .
April 16, 2013 at 3:22 am
Since I discovered Deanna, Tracy and Lauren, it’s just too difficult to decide on a favorite. So I won’t. Thanks to both you ladies for sharing. Knowing your thoughts on your writing always makes it more interesting! Great interview!
April 16, 2013 at 10:56 pm
I’m reading The Paris Affair, and I can’t wait to read A Spear of Summer Grass. Love your books!
April 16, 2013 at 11:35 pm
So excited for the new standalone! As much as I love the Julia Grey series, I can’t wait to see what other new and exciting adventures Deanna can take us on.
April 17, 2013 at 3:12 am
I really enjoy all of the Julia Grey books. I chanced upon the kindle offering of the first three books in a bundle because I liked the thought of getting such a great bargain. What I actually got we’re three excellent books and a series of which I couldn’t wait to read more. The subsequent books and novella did not disappoint. As much as I am excited to know the next chapter for Julia and Brisbane, I am also delighted to read A Spear of Summer Grass. After reading the prequel novella, I am intrigued to find out more about the interesting characters I met in it. I am not very well versed in information of this time period in this location. I cannot wait to learn more.
April 17, 2013 at 11:12 am
Karin, THE BOLTER was fabulous–and I was hugely interested since my great-grandmother was a flapper who bolted!
April 18, 2013 at 12:32 am
Sounds like a thoroughly enjoyable dinner party! Great interview. Can’t wait for the book!
April 18, 2013 at 12:35 am
I’m so excited to read this book! I finished Far in the Wilds a few days ago and loved it!
April 18, 2013 at 12:36 am
Oh, and put me in the contest!
April 18, 2013 at 1:04 am
Deanna, I wish I had a big sister like you! You seem like you would be one cool big sis. Your books, blog, tweets, and interviews are always a fun read. I’m excited to read A Spear of Summer Grass! 🙂
April 18, 2013 at 1:10 am
Loving all the great comments! Karin, I think perhaps I should do a contest just focused in imaginary literary cocktail parties! Would love to hear everyone’s guest list. And Lauren Willig credits The Bolter as one of her inspirations for THE ASHFORD AFFAIR, which I am currently reading and loving!
April 18, 2013 at 3:17 am
I cannot wait to read this book!
April 18, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Tracy, Lauren saw me mention on FB something about THE BOLTER and that’s when we realized we were both writing books in 1920s Africa! Idina Sackville was a fascinating woman–it was her husband, Josslyn Hay, Earl of Errol, who was murdered in WHITE MISCHIEF.
Kirsten, you’re too kind–I think I’d make a terrible big sister! Too accustomed to being an only child. 😉
April 18, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Very much looking forward to the newest story….can’t wait to read about Africa in the early 1900’s.
April 18, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Love your books..!! Keep up the great job!
Can’t wait until Julia & Birisbane’s
new books come out!
Thanks, Kay!
April 18, 2013 at 12:39 pm
What a lovely interview! I also have a soft spot for MAAN. I’ve seen it more than any other of Shakespeare’s plays. I’ve seen all the recorded versions and twice live. Once in DC with Derek Jacobi and Sinead Cusack and in London with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Love the dinner party quest lists although I think Robert Post’s child might be a bit too managing.
April 18, 2013 at 2:35 pm
I loved Far Into the Wilds and I can’t wait to read Spear! Great questions!
April 18, 2013 at 3:19 pm
Can not wait to read this book!
April 18, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Wonderful interview! I was very touched by the quote Deanna stitched onto a pillow for her baby girl. Too right — Shakespeare is glorious.
I have my copy of A Spear of Summer Grass pre-ordered, but I’d love to get my hands on an advanced (signed!!) copy, and gift the one I ordered to a friend or relative 🙂
Thanks again for the great interview!
April 18, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Loved the prequel. Excited for Spear of Summer Grass =D
April 18, 2013 at 4:51 pm
*waves happily* Good afternoon, Ms. Grant & Ms. Raybourn! 🙂
At first, I must express my absolute delight in arriving in the nick of time to participate on this lovely Thursday afternoon! I was betwixt allergy attacks when Ms. Raybourn graciously was offering bookaways for this delightful new release, which by its very description of being creative has already whet my palette for emmersion! The Roaring Twenties holds a special spot in my heart, both for literary wanderings and for setting of time – it’s singularly one of the best periods for writers and artists alike! I admit, my knowledge of British East Africa is limited, if I can recollect anything at all, which is why it’s my full intent to dig into your narrative with both open eyes and an open heart! Not to worry,… if I am not pulled in the draw tonight, my local library has already purchased your book and its inbound!! I’ll be reading it right after The Ashford Affair, which originally I didn’t realise shared a connection with A Spear of Summer Grass, as I hadn’t known of the connection between the writers, or of the cunning inspirational hitchings that they both had at the very same time! I thought it grand, that you both winked into view during the same month! What happy mirth for your collective readership! 🙂 🙂
Thank you, Ms. Grant, in hosting Ms. Raybourn on your blog, as throughout this interview I was given a glimpse and nod into her writing life, by which, I could draw out a few curious similiarities, as like her, I oft feel that first person is best matched for my own writing exploits, but I hadn’t conceived the reason behind this inclination until I read of whom she reads quite regularly! The lightbulb went off then, and I simply smiled!
Ms. Raybourn, as for me personally, I tend to find that a small selection of words or plot points percolate to mind initially rather than having a more concise outline, as I regularly write in organic form. I find writing is both free form and evolving through what transforms onto the page. I do tend to estrapulate a heap in thought ahead of writing the bones of the stories, which in turn, might be why I take the organic approach. I noted that you said, to do this is a bit too daunting to undertake!? I think I differ as I was raised in a very spontaneous house, as my father’s schedule was very absolute and on a 24/7 clock — we had to adapt in order to keep pace with him, and it led to loads of happy adventures! 🙂
I must confess again, that sadly, I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Lady Julia Grey, but it’s still my full intent to do so before the close of the year! My library has a lovely collection of her stories, and I will only have to ILL a few titles! 🙂
I nearly toppled off my chair in a uproarious cacklement of laughter, because I am quite the opposite in my appreciation of colour hues, but what kept me seated and museful, is that it’s what you placed inside your writer’s nook that I could relate too directly! Elements of your soul, and inspirations of creativity abound, and that too, is what I like to keep around me, too! I appreciate living in homes whose history is enriched and set into its being,… I find modern homes irk me something firece, because I think, what draws me into homes of the past, is the intricate thought that went into their construction. You can find alcoves, nooks, notches of hidden shelves, and structural curiosities that are simply absent in modern design. I even like homes built in the early 1800s and early Nineteen Hundreds for this very reason!
I have not come across someone who could capture why I love Sir William in such an eloquent way of describing why I etch myself into his world each chance I am able too! Much Ado About Nothing stitched itself into my heart as well, and I am always fondly remembering how he was able to take a few words to speak a volume of illuminating thought.
I am not even sure how you curated your list of house-guests, as I am forever attached to certain characters,… but I would add, Aunt Dimity would be especially keen, as much as Mary Russell! She might even out Holmes, as I find she tends to even the keel when the two are out together!
Smashing interview! 🙂
April 19, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Thank you to everyone who commented! And a huge thank you to Deanna for sharing her time thoughts and giving away a book. The winner of the copy of A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS is Kirsten. Congrats, Kirsten! If you email Deanna through her website – http://www.deannaraybourn.com/contact.html – with your snail mail address she will get the book on its way to you.
And the good news for everyone else is that it is not a long wait until the April 30 release of A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS – happy reading!!
April 19, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Thank YOU for being such a gracious hostess, Tracy! It was my pleasure to visit your corner of the blogosphere, and huge thanks to all who commented. Congratulations, Kirsten!