Author: Vanessa in France

We moved to an 18th-century farmhouse in SW France in 1997. I'm fascinated by French history, rural traditions and customs. I also write historical novels and short stories.
Posted on

Meet the Ocelots – An interview with Bran from Bran Reborn

The Ocelot Press blog hop continues! Today Jennifer C. Wilson interviews the rather wonderful Bran from Nancy Jardine’s Bran Reborn.

jennifercwilsonwriter's avatarJennifer C. Wilson

Have you been following the Ocelot Press Blog Hop? Last week, Tom got to have his say, over on Sue Barnard’s blog, and today, right here, I get to interview Brennus, from Bran Reborn, by Nancy Jardine, which I recently reviewed as part of Nancy’s blog tour. 

Looking forward to hearing from you, Bran… 

After Whorl Bran Reborn - Nancy JardineWhat did you think when Lorcan arrived at Garrigill with Nara, and when he announced his grand plan?

That’s an interesting question! Like the rest of my fellow warriors at Garrigill any female newcomer arouses some interest and I confess I found Nara to be a lust worthy woman. I had no knowledge of her background, apart from her being an enemy Selgovae, but there was a huge amount of curiosity due to my brother Lorcan having the audacity in bringing her into our Brigante hillfort. The Selgovae have been our traditional enemies for time…

View original post 1,357 more words

Posted on

Meet the Ocelots: Lorenzo from ‘The Ghostly Father’

Next up in our ‘Meet the Ocelots’ character interview blog hop is Sue Barnard’s delightful Fra’ Lorenzo from The Ghostly Father. What a tragic life he’s had!

Vanessa in France's avatarVanessa Couchman

Today it’s my turn to interview another Ocelot Press author’s character. And I’m so pleased that it’s Fra’ Lorenzo, the gentle friar from Sue Barnard’s The Ghostly Father. Here he is above in a lovely drawing by Sue’s friend, Kay Sluterbeck.

Sue’s novel is an alternative version of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Like many people, she wasn’t happy with the ending, so she decided to write her own. Fra’ Lorenzo, otherwise known as Friar Laurence in the Bard’s play, becomes a Franciscan friar, which allows him to pursue his interest in medicine. But he harbours a secret and some lifelong regrets. Let’s hear what he has to say about them.

Also, The Ghostly Father is on offer at a reduced price this week. AND Sue is offering a prize of another of her books. Read on to find out more.


View original post 1,340 more words

Posted on

Meet Frédéric from ‘Overture’

Frédéric from Vanessa Couchman’s Overture is today’s interviewee in the spotlight in our character interview blog hop. Cathie Dunn puts him through his paces.

Vanessa in France's avatarVanessa Couchman

Charming, witty, handsome. All of those adjectives fit Frédéric. But he also harbours a secret that he wants to keep from his family at all costs. He’s not the protagonist in Overture: that’s Marie-Thérèse, who has a burning ambition to become a singer. For the daughter of a modest farming family in rural France in the 1890s/1900s, that’s a dream which isn’t at all easy to fulfil. But Frédéric plays a crucial role in her life.

Today, he’s being interviewed by fellow Ocelot Press author, Cathie Dunn, on her website. Find out what makes Frédéric tick, what his childhood was like, his likes and dislikes and maybe a clue or two about his secret.

Here’s the start of the interview. Click the link to read the rest.

Bonjour, Frédéric. How lovely to meet you! I have heard many great things about you from Marie-Thérèse. Please make yourself comfortable. May I…

View original post 270 more words

Posted on

Get Ready for Ocelot Press Characters to Spill the Beans

We’re gearing up for an exciting 10 days or so at Ocelot Press. Our character interview blog hop starts tomorrow, when each of us will interview a character from another Ocelot Press author’s novel.

Tom, from Jennifer C. Wilson’s The Last Plantagenet?, starts the line-up. Sue Barnard will be interviewing him on her blog tomorrow, 29th October.

See the graphic above for the full list of interviews and where they will be posted.

Our series of Meet the Ocelots posts last week introduced the characters and their backgrounds, but from tomorrow you’ll learn a lot more about them: what makes them tick; their hopes and fears; and the major formative events in their lives.

That’s not all: to celebrate the blog hop some of the ebooks will be at a reduced price for a short time, so snap them up while you have the chance.

Jennifer C. Wilson’s time-slip novella, The Last Plantagenet?, is reduced to 99p.

Cathie Dunn’s historical mystery, Love Lost in Time, to be published on November 28th, is on pre-order on Amazon for 99p or equivalent. Order it now and pay nothing until it’s downloaded to your Kindle on publication day.

Other titles will be reduced during the blog hop, so visit the character interview posts to get further information on those.

You might get some other surprises!

We hope you’ll enjoy our blog hop.

Posted on

Meet the Ocelots: Overture

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Meet the Ocelots series of posts. I’m completing the line-up this week by telling you a little about my novel, Overture, and about my character Frédéric Grandcourt, who’s the subject of an interview next week in our character interview blog hop. Look out for further news on that.

Continue reading “Meet the Ocelots: Overture”