Earlier in the year I read and reviewed India Black by Carol K Carr and loved it.
India continues her adventures in India Black and The Widow of Windsor
Thank you to Carol for answering my questions today
Carol, I am so excited to see India Black bac with us. Her 2nd adventure takes her out of London, tell us more.
Queen Victoria has announced her plans to spend Christmas at Balmoral. Her dear, departed husband, Prince Albert, has asked her (via a rather shady medium) to visit the castle for the holidays. Under normal circumstances, all this would require is the usual shifting of baggage and personnel from Windsor to Scotland, but this year a group of Scottish nationalists is gunning for the Queen, planning to assassinate her at Balmoral and liberate Scotland from English tyranny. When he learns of the plot, Prime Minister Disraeli asks French and India to go to Scotland to protect the Queen and find the traitor lurking among her guests and servants. French will serve as Dizzy's secretary, and India will masquerade as a ladies' maid to the eccentric, disheveled Dowager Marchioness of Tullibardine. And yes, Vincent manages to tag along.
The Highlands is a beautiful but very remote part of the UK. What research did you have to do for this novel? How do you set about researching the time period in your novels?
From reading quite a bit of Victorian era history, I knew that the queen was very fond of Scotland and Balmoral, and that she survived several assassination attempts, mostly from Fenians but also from the odd lunatic. Most of these attempts occurred later than the year in which the book is set (1876), and so I considered finding another group that might like to kill the monarch. Immediately Scottish nationalists come to mind. I've got an extensive family tree with roots in Scotland and I've always been drawn to the agony that is Scottish history. The book seemed the perfect way to marry my Victorian England and Scotland interests.
I try to be factually accurate, except when I'm not. For example, the queen never spent Christmas at Balmoral, but for the sake of the novel, she did in this one instance. I read several accounts of her visits to Balmoral, her relationship with her Scottish servants and their names, the geography of the area around the castle, the construction of the castle and the location and decoration of the rooms, and the history of Scottish nationalism. Because one of the scene incorporates the dance Victoria and Albert always held for their servants when at Balmoral, I listened to a lot of Scottish folk music and watched YouTube videos of Scottish dances. I've always wanted to learn more about fencing, and dropped in a couple of scenes that involve swordplay just to indulge my interest. That's one of the pleasures of writing historical fiction; it provides a great excuse for researching esoteric subjects which interest you. Interlibrary loan is essential to my research, as is the internet. There's a tremendous amount of information out there, although it's a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. But who doesn't like to surf the net?
I know you are working on the final stages of India Black's 3rd adventure. Will this be her last adventure or will you leave the story open for her to return? Do you have any planys for your next novel?
I have a contract for the third book, and then we will see if the publisher is interested in continuing the series. I hope so, as I've charted out another 4-5 books with India, French and Vincent. India is ready to travel, and I've planned a few excursions to South Africa, Afghanistan and India. So I'll be researching and outlining a fourth book for India.
I'm also toying with the idea of writing a novel about a female spy in the OSS (the World War II era predecessor of today's CIA). Women played an important and unfairly neglected role in espionage operations during the war, and I'd love to explore their stories. Martinis, guns, Glenn Miller and silk stockings - it can't get any better than that!
Thank you, Carol, for inviting me to answer a few questions. For your readers who are interested in knowing more about India, you can visit my website at www.carolkcarr.com
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