My guest this week is Venetia Green, who may be a "new to you" author. Venetia caught my eye with her first book, A HAWK ENSLAVED, set in the Viking era. I know nothing about Vikings (except what I have learned from Horrible Histories). I now know they never had horns on their helmets and were quite disposed to have the occasional bath. I am currently reading THE HAWK ENSLAVED and just love being transported into such a foreign (to me) world. It makes a fabulous change from the more conventional "historical romances"!
Ms. Green, if you
would care to set your battle axe and shield on that table, I will pour tea or
would you prefer coffee?
Tea? Pah! Vikings don’t drink tea! Gimme a good strong
draught of ale.
...Please.
Always a pleasure to
welcome another “cross genre” writer to my tea table. I would describe your
writing as historicals with romance and your period of passion is the
Vikings. “Vikings” hit the TV screens
recently, what is your professional opinion of the portrayal of Viking life in
the show?
Hmmm. Firstly, I resent the fact that the (Australian) lead
role of “Vikings” has stolen the name of my own novel’s hero! (i.e.
‘Ragnar’) So the series and I did not
get off to a good start, but I opened my heart and was willing to fall in love.
It didn’t happen. I
simply found it too ludicrous that said Vikings were not aware of the British
Isles just across the North Sea. We are not talking about the New World here,
although if you believed the series you’d think it just as momentous an
undertaking. All they had to do was sail along the coast of Denmark, Belgium
and France and scud across the English Channel.
Come on – the Vikings weren’t stupid. They knew full well England lurked
over the western horizon.
I could whinge on, believe me, but I’ll stuff a sock in it
now and set my Tardis forward a few centuries …
You also write
stories set in Medieval London? Where did the passion for these two disparate
periods of history come from?
14th century England is SO much easier to
research than 10th century Norway. Those pesky Vikings didn’t write
anything down until centuries afterwards (unless you count the odd runic
inscription) and archaeological digs only provide artifacts, not stories!
When you get to High Medieval England, however, there are
reams of written stuff. One of the
wonderful things about historical fiction is real characters, places and events
all jostle into your story from the primary sources and make the experience so
much richer. You can dive into the historical sources and find stories just
begging to be told.
London itself offers a rare glimpse of urban medievaldom.
Most people hung out in the country in those days, so a slink down some slimy
back alley is a welcome respite from glacier-capped fjords or rolling green
hills!
You come from an
academic background and famously abandoned your PhD to concentrate on writing
fiction? What was your thesis and why did you feel the call to write fiction
was stronger?
I did my history honours project on environmental change in
medieval Iceland and simply adored it. But I was never able to hit upon a topic
quite so enthralling for my PhD. I tried to get cross-disciplinary with an
English-History thesis on popular culture interpretations of Vikings but just
couldn’t make myself do it. You see, there was no end-goal to make the slog
worthwhile. I didn’t want an academic job – I just wanted to write historical
novels!
Why? Because a good novel is so much more vivid and visceral
an experience than a history text. There is nothing like historical fiction to
breathe life into the past.
Your first book A HAWK ENSLAVED, set in the Viking era, has had some glowing reviews. What’s next
for Venetia Green?
I’m contracted for a novella set in medieval London at the
time of the Black Death, and I’ve written a naughty Viking romp of a novel entitled
The Good Viking. I had loads of fun
playing with the stereotypes in that one. I even put horns on my hero.
But right now I’m absorbed in rewriting Chaucer. No hubris
there, eh? More precisely, I’m reimagining the wicked Wife of Bath, she of 5
husbands and a fine bele chose. My novel takes her all the way to Jerusalem in
the company of some very dodgy characters.
Venetia
Green
A
beautiful hawk-tamer enslaved by Vikings.
Ragnar Ulfsson
must find his king a concubine. His solution is Isolde, captured whilst
climbing the sea-cliffs for falcons. Enslaved in his own way, Ragnar has few
qualms about binding another to his lord for the greater good. After all, it is
an honor to share the bed of a king.
Isolde
does not view slavery so complacently. Like a hawk caged, she is frantic to
escape. But the king’s hall is a bubbling stew of political intrigue and Isolde
is an essential ingredient in the mix. Her only hope out is Ragnar, who captured
her but also promises to free her—eventually. But there is something strange
about this dark Viking, oddly withdrawn and controlled, and their growing bond
will lead her into greater danger still.
For Ragnar
doesn’t touch women. For good reason.
(A Blush® Historical romance
from Ellora’s Cave)
Buy Links for the
Book:
Venetia was spirited from misty England to the wild west of Australia as a child and is still unsure which world she belongs in. Perhaps that is why she escaped into the past ...
When she grew up, Venetia spent 10 years studying literature and history before the need to write her own overwhelmed her – at which point she abandoned her PhD and dived headlong into historical fiction. Now she writes dark and sensuous romances set amongst the fjords of Viking Age Scandinavia and back-alleys of medieval London.
 |
| Venetia Green (left) and Sasha Cottman (right) hamming it up as vikings at the 2013 Romance Writers of Australia Conference (with historically incorrect helmets) GIVEAWAY: A copy of A HAWK ENSLAVED to the best names for this duo of fearsome vikings! |
