Hello Lovelies! Please excuse our dust while we do a bit of construction on the blog. We will still be posting exciting reviews, brilliant guest posts, and exciting giveaways but we are in the process of transforming the blog and adding new content and features for you to enjoy.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Iris Anthony Interview and Giveaway

 

I would like to welcome Iris Anthony to Royal Reviews.

Thank you so much for hosting me today. It’s always a pleasure to hang out with people who like books just as much as I do!

1. Tell us something about yourself, so that we can get to know you a bit better…

I’m a little older than I’d like to be, but thankfully not nearly as young as I once was! As a child, my family moved quite often and I developed a love of travel. I’ve visited five continents and lived on three. France is especially dear to my heart and I would move into a castle in a minute if someone else would take care of all the repairs and put in a really efficient heating system. (For a novelist, I’m distressingly practical most of the time.)

2. Your novel, The Ruins of Lace, is out now—congrats! Could you tell us about it?

Thank you so much! It took nearly ten years from conception to print, so it’s been quite a process. The novel looks at seventeenth century lace smuggling from the perspectives of the various participants including the man who commissions the lace to the woman who makes it to the dog who actually smuggles it across the border between Flanders and France. It’s a novel of many voices looking for redemption and hoping to somehow discover their worth. In a time and a place where fashion was to die for, unfortunately, some people actually did.

3. What inspired you to write The Ruins of Lace?

While I was researching a different book back in 2002, I ran across a mention of lace smuggling in seventeenth-century Europe and it intrigued me. It seemed like such a strange thing to smuggle. And when I discovered over 40,000 dogs were killed during a fifteen-year period as they tried to smuggle lace, I knew I had to write about it. I wanted to know why society gave lace such value that it was allowed to exact such a horrible price.

4. How much research went into this novel?

Too much and not enough! There’s always one more book, or one more article, or one more mention that can be followed up. Since the time I began researching this book, more resources have become available and I’ve come across even more relevant materials. But as fascinating as lace has been, I have to say that I’m quite content to leave it for the moment and concentrate, for a while, on something else.

5. What can readers expect next?

Iris Anthony readers can expect another novel in 2014. I’m hard at work this fall researching so I can submit a manuscript next spring. It will be another look at how people interact with an object. So many times, in material cultures like ours, the things upon which we place great importance tend toward the bizarre.

6. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?

Stop thinking about it, stop talking and about it and just start writing it! So much in this profession is learned by doing. And it doesn’t have to come out perfectly the first time--that’s what drafts are for. You can’t revise if you don’t have anything written and revision is where the story really starts to come alive.

You can visit the author’s website HERE

5699893Lace is a thing like hope.
It is beauty; it is grace.
It was never meant to destroy so many lives .


The mad passion for forbidden lace has infiltrated France,
pulling soldier and courtier alike into its web. For those who want the best, Flemish lace is the only choice, an exquisite perfection of thread and air. For those who want something they don’t have, Flemish lace can buy almost anything––or anyone.


For Lisette, lace begins her downfall, and the only way to atone for her sins is to outwit the noble who now demands the impossible. To fail means certain destruction. But for Katharina, lace is her salvation. It is who she is; it is what she does. If she cannot make this stunning tempest of threads, a dreaded fate awaits.


The most lucrative contraband in Europe, with its intricate patterns and ephemeral hope, threatens to cost them everything. Lace may be the deliverance for which they all pray...or it may bring the ruin and imprisonment they all fear. (taken from the author’s website)

I have 1 copy to giveaway.

Giveaway is International

To enter, please leave your name and a valid email address.

Giveaway ends: October 30

giveaway copy purchased by me.

1ZPLGWxrwAAEC5KxCjkg_tn128-1 Visit Angela @ Simply Angela

29 comments:

Linda said...

What an interesting post! Had no idea that dogs were used to smuggle lace. Thanks for the giveaway.
lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

Lara said...

Thanks for the giveaway!

Lara Frame:

lafra86 at gmail dot com

AO said...

my grandmother had lots of church veils made of lace and they were beautiful and intricately done. too bad not a single one has survived...
anyway, i had no idea that lace could have cost so many lives in the past and this book has certainly piqued my curiosity.

thank you Angela for the giveaway and for making it international.

aobibliophile(at)gmail(dot)com

traveler said...

Thanks for this fascinating giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

brokenteepee said...

Lace is so gorgeous. I would love to win the novel. Thank you.
kaiminani at gmail dot com
Patty

petite said...

I enjoyed this post and learning about the background of lace. This historical is unique and memorable. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

Carol N Wong said...

My grandmother used to make beautiful lace. I still have pieces left that I can take out and admire. I am really looking forward to this book.


CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Martha Lawson said...

This sounds like an absolutely fascinating book! I had no idea how valuable lace was back then. Thanks for the chance.

mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

Iris Anthony said...

Thanks for hosting me. Crossing my fingers for all of you!

-Iris

Yinx said...

Patricia
Thanks for the giveaway
Patrihe2001@verizon.net

Gigi said...

Since I saw this books was like love at first sight, I love LOVE the cover and the story is very fascinating, I never though that lace was that expensive and almost impossible to get back then.

ilepachequin(at)hotmail(dot)com

Catherine said...

I had heard of a tulip fever in 17th-Century Amsterdam but I did not know that lace was so sought after. France used to produce a high quality lace in the town of Alençon between the 15th and the 20th century. It was considered as "La reine de la dentelle" (The Queen of Lace). Extremely refined, it was also the most expensive one. I would be really interested to know more about lace throughout Europe and maybe discover that the lace from France was well overpassed in refinement and quality by lace from Holland!
Thank you for opening this giveaway internationally.
cyrano123(at)live(dot)fr

Na said...

I find the premise so intriguing. I've never considered lace smuggling or lace in such different aspects before but I do know! I think lace is such a beautiful and delicate fabric.

Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

Carol L. said...

What an intriguing post. I never knew that Lace was the cause of so many deaths and the destruction of so many. I have this on my TRL. Thanks for this opportunity. I think this book subject is fascinating.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

Ellz said...

Great post. I have not seen this title yet but it sounds great. Unique. thanks for the chance to read it!
zenfoxflowerATyahoo DOTcom

bn100 said...

The book sounds fascinating.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Janet said...

This sounds really interesting.

5678dancer(at)gmail(dot)com

Alyn said...

Poor dogs! Killed over someone else's greed.

alyn.yang at gmail dot com

Carolyn said...

Thanks for the giveaway!
Carolyn
Rexmoy (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

Sounds facinating, what an interesting topic too. Looking forward to reading this! Thanks for your giveaway and review.

Mary Preston said...

I'll never look at lace the same way again. A fabulous read!!

Mary Preston
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Beth said...

Love the ideas behind this story! I'm so eager to get my hands on this one! Thanks for the chance to win :)

Beth
bharbin07[at]gmail[dot]com

Literary Chanteuse said...

I've been hearing this is really good. So hope to win!

Margaret
singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com

Babel said...

Oh, my, I fell instantly in love with this book as soon as I saw the cover and found out what it was about. I need to read it ;-)
Please, count me in.
Babel
tdbabel at gmail dot com
Thanks a lot.

Kristen said...

Good interview and the book sounds intriguing.

Kristen
whitreidsmama at yahoo dot com

Mystica said...

The story is quite fascinating. I did not know anything like this happened in the lace world! thank you for making it open to all. Much appreciated.

mystica123athotmaildotcom

Anita Yancey said...

Sounds like a very interesting book. I would enjoy reading it. Thanks for having this giveaway.

ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

Rachel said...

Thanks for the giveaway!!

Rachelhwallen@gmail.com

Maureen said...

What an interesting idea for a book.
mce1011 AT aol DOT com