Songbird by Karen Heenan - Book Tour
Songbird: A Novel of the Tudor Court
Bess
has the voice of an angel, or so Henry VIII declares when he buys her from her
father as a member of the music, the Royal company of minstrels, best grows up
with in the decadent Tudor Court navigating the ever-changing tide of royals
and courtiers. Friends come and go as cracked voices, politics, heartbreak, and
death loom over even the lowliest of musicians. Tom, her first and dearest
friend is her only constant but as Bess becomes too comfortable at court, she
may find that constancy has its limits.
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Author Q&A
1. What is the first book
that made you cry?
There were random animal books as a small child, but the
first “real” cry was Anne of Green Gables (Matthew!). I lost my dad young, so I
could really get inside of Anne and it gave me a way of processing feelings I
didn’t yet have the words to describe.
Also, whichever volume of the Little House books when
Laura’s dog, Jack, died. They’d been through so much together.
2. How long, on average,
does it take you to write a book?
I’m learning that now. Songbird took ages, but that was because I wasn’t writing for
publication. I wrote for myself, because I enjoyed it, and as a form of therapy
when I got home from my office job. Since there were no deadlines, I took my
time, meandered through history, wrote, rewrote, tinkered…
Final edits for Songbird
were handed over in March or April, 2019, and I started working on a
not-sequel, another Tudor book featuring a secondary character from Songbird, not long after. I’m almost
done with the first draft, and I hope to be able to turn it around and have a
draft fit to be read by others by early spring.
That’s a long way of saying “about a year.”
3. How do you select the
names of your characters?
Since I write historical fiction, I start with common
names at the time and try not to do anything that will bring the reader out of
the time period. As much as I might like to change things up, I remember all
too well reading historical novels with heroines named “Lavender” and “Raven.”
4. What creature do you
consider your "spirit animal" to be?
Definitely a cat. I’m very good at napping and
stretching, and I alternate from unconsciousness to frantic tail-chasing
activity very easily.
5. What are your top 5
favorite movies?
Oh, that’s a difficult one. Movies are like books--it
really depends on what you need at the moment, but here goes:
1) Casablanca
(forever)
2) Love
Actually (I know some people find it problematic, but I love the entire cast,
and the interweaving of stories is so well done)
3) Henry
V (the Kenneth Branagh version--great cast, great music, and my favorite Shakespeare
play)
4) It’s
a Wonderful Life (who doesn’t need a good cry at least once a year?)
5) A
Room with a View (so. stinking. beautiful), tied with The Philadelphia Story,
for snappy dialogue and amazing casting--every single one was a winner).
6. If you were the last
person on Earth, what would you do?
Curl up with a pot of coffee and a book, and know I could
read in peace.
7. What fictional
character would you want to be friends with in real life?
Jo March. She always seemed like a lot of fun, and we
could talk writing and read each other’s work.
8. Do you have any advice
for aspiring writers?
Perfectionism hurts. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Writing is a process. It takes practice to get good, but just keep going. First
drafts are messy. They never look like the idea that was in your head, but with
each revision, you get closer. You can’t fix a blank page. Also, read. A lot.
In your genre and outside of it. Being a lifelong reader is what made me a good
writer.
9. What book do you wish
you had written?
The Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett. Her immersive
world-building, her characters, the level of historical detail that makes you
never question--she is writer goals for me.
10. Tell us 10 fun facts
about yourself! :)
1) I’m a
cat lover who’s still slightly allergic to cats. At my peak, I had 13 of them
anyway.
2) I love
to sew, and make a lot of my own clothes, and most of my husband’s shirts.
3) I try
to grow as much of our food as I can. Gardening clears my head, and it gets me
up and moving from too many sedentary activities.
4) I
wanted to be a ballerina when I grew up. (It didn’t happen).
5) I
can’t drive. Never learned how.
6) I also
can’t swim. I might tackle that someday.
7) I’m an
only child, so I was always fascinated by books with large families.
8) I love
to travel, and until I met my husband in 2007, I always traveled alone. The
first time I went overseas, I was 18 and I’d never been on a plane before.
9) I
spent 30 years in a cubicle as a legal secretary. Just because you’re good at
something doesn’t mean it should be a life sentence.
10) I was
painfully shy as a kid and it still surprises me to hear myself speak in
public.
Author
Bio – Karen Heenan was born and raised
in Philadelphia. She fell in love with books and stories before she learned to
read, and has wanted to write for nearly as long. After far too many years in a
cubicle, she set herself free to follow her dreams – which include gardening,
sewing, traveling and, of course, lots of writing.
She lives in Lansdowne, PA, not far from Philadelphia, with two cats and
a very patient husband.
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