Lauren Willig – Love, Lies & Rebellion

A Women's History Month Special: Lauren Willig’s latest book, A Summer Country, is an epic family saga simmering with secrets, set in 19th century Barbados. It’s quite a departure from her World War I and II historical fiction and the Napoleonic era “Pink Carnation” mysteries that are so popular. But Lauren – author of more than 30 award-winning bestselling books – says being adaptable is a key if you want to have a long-standing career as an author. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading podcast Lauren talks about how a resort holiday that was meant to be all about lying in the sun sipping fruity drinks, sparked an idea that would not let her go. She talks about her successful collaboration with two very close friends, both of them also bestselling historical authors, and why she thinks reading tastes have been changing during the pandemic. And we've got three E-book copies of her popular mystery - The Secret History of the Pink Carnation to giveaway to three lucky listeners/readers. Enter the draw on the link below. Offer closes March 12. ENTER THE DRAW Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Writing for her own entertainment became a careerChanging popularity of different historical periodsThe story that demanded to be toldA very successful collaborationFacebook Live for Pink CarnationCrossing Blackadder with Regency romance Where to find Lauren Willig:  Website: https://laurenwillig.com/ Facebook @Laurenwillig Twitter: @Laurenwillig Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenwillig/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14469.Lauren_Willig What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. But now, here’s Lauren. Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Lauren, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Lauren Willig: I am so delighted to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Introducing author Lauren Willig Lauren Willig - best-selling historical fiction author Jenny Wheeler: Lauren, you've got 30 or more books published to your credit now, mainly historical mysteries and historical fiction. You've won all sorts of awards and made it onto numerous bestseller lists – things like the New York Times list, the Booksellers lists, you’ve got RITAs. Wonderful career you've had, but how did you get started on this road? Jenny Wheeler: That's amazing. It's remarkable that you'd have such a sense of confidence and destiny so young. Lauren Willig: I've been doing this for a very long time. I made the decision when I was six that I was going to write fiction when I grew up. It was largely out of frustration. I had wanted to be either a ballerina or a princess, and it finally dawned on me that I couldn't dance, and no one was offering me a kingdom, which was very inconsiderate of them. So I figured I would go with my third option and be a novelist instead. Having decided that and telling everyone in the first grade, I had to stick with it. Lauren Willig: It’s one of those things where when you keep at something, it self-perpetuates. I sent my first manuscript off to Simon & Schuster when I was nine, and of course they sent back a form letter. I was gutted but having gone down that road I had to keep cracking away at it. The truth is I adore historical fiction, all kinds of fiction, really. I have never wanted to do anything more than I’ve wanted to live in stories, both my own and other people's. A story 'simmering with secrets' Jenny Wheeler: That's wonderful. Now I know you've got a book that's very soon going to be out, Band of Sisters. We will talk about that a little later on in our chat together, but the one we are focusing on today is The Summer Country, which is your most recent book as we're speaking. It's been described as an epic family saga simmering with secrets,