Tales Q&A with Alison Goodman
The 21st January 2016 marked the release day of this super intriguing book The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman.
I am lucky enough to have received a copy of this book from Walker which I am super excited to read as I have heard excellent things and with this being the first book in a trilogy I just know I am going to love this book!
Today I am super excited to have the lovely Alison Goodman on Tales with a fab Q&A!
Hi Alison! Welcome to Tale Of Yesterday! I am so excited to have you here!
Firstly a little about the wonderful The Dark Days Club…
Jane Austen’s high society and Cassandra Clare’s supernatural underworld collide in the first book in the Lady Helen trilogy, perfect for fans of historical fiction and fantasy.
London, April 1812. Lady Helen Wrexhall is set to make her curtsey to Queen Charlotte and step into polite Regency Society. Unbeknownst to Helen, that step will also take her from the glittering ballroom of Almack’s and the bright lights of Vauxhall Gardens into a shadowy world of demonic creatures, missing housemaids and deadly power.
Standing between those two worlds is Lord Carlston, a man of dubious reputation and infuriating manners. He believes Helen is destined to protect humanity, but all he can offer is danger, savagery and the possibility of madness. Not the kind of destiny suitable for a young lady in her first London Season. This delightfully dangerous adventure of self-discovery and difficult choices has all the unnerving dark magic of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and the swashbuckling action of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
How did you get your inspiration for writing The Dark Days Club?
The idea for the book came to me while I was on a tram coming home from a writers’ conference. I had been to a session about researching the Regency era, and as I sat looking out of the tram window, I idly asked myself what kind of Regency novel would I like to read now? The answer came in a rush: a mix of everything I loved about Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer together with the excitement and delight of a supernatural adventure. I scrabbled for a pen and paper and by the time I got to my tram stop, I had the outline of The Dark Days Club.
Did you have any difficulty keeping up motivation while writing?
I love all aspects of writing a novel––researching, planning and the actual writing—so my motivation is good most of the time. However, I sometimes get a tough patch around the 40,000-word mark in a manuscript. It is a kind of limbo point where I am past the excitement of the beginning but I’m not quite at the big moment in the middle. I am aware of it now, so I know that the feeling will pass if I keep steadily writing and finding the delight in each scene.
Sum up your career as an author in 3 words?
Writing, waiting, Huzzah!
Have you always wanted to write?
I have always written stories; my mother still has a storybook I put together when I was in Grade 1. By the time I was in Grade 4, I wanted to be a writer, but then, in my teenage years, I changed my mind and wanted to direct films. I started to study filmmaking at university and part of the course was to write a short film. Mine got chosen to be made, and during that process I realised that I enjoyed writing the film more than I did directing it. So, I changed my course to professional writing and discovered that my real love was writing novels.
What are your next writing plans?
Book 2 of the Lady Helen series—set in Brighton during the summer social season––is already with the publisher and is set to come out next Christmas/New Year. I am now working on Book 3, which is set in Bath during the winter social season. I am also getting ready to tour the USA with The Dark Days Club in March. I think it is going to be about nine cities in eleven days so that will be full-on fun!
Thank you so much for answering all of my questions Alison it’s been brilliant to have you here!
You can buy The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman here or why not visit your local independent bookshop for a copy.
About Alison Goodman
Alison is the author of the upcoming Lady Helen series, a trilogy of historical supernatural adventures set in the Regency. The first book–The Dark Days Club–is due for release in January 2016. Alison is best known for her New York Times bestselling fantasy duololgy EON and EONA, and her ability to dance a mean English contra-dance. She also writes award winning science fiction and crime fiction, and lives with her lovely husband and their machiavellian Jack Russell Terrier in Melbourne, Australia.
You can find out more about Alison and her books here
You can buy The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman here
Another huge huge thank you to Alison for agreeing to a Q&A and to Tatti and Walker for organising!
Have you read The Dark Days Club? What did you think? Has this Q&A intrigued you? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of the page or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy !
Happy Reading!
