It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Christina Courtenay, author of “Shadows in the Spring“.
About Christina Courtenay:
Christina Courtenay lives in Herefordshire in the UK and is married with two children. Although born in England she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden. In her teens, the family moved to Japan where she had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Far East.
Christina is a Vice President and former chairman and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA). She won their Elizabeth Goudge Trophy for a historical short story in 2001 and the Katie Fforde Bursary for a promising new writer in 2006.
Her novels have been shortlisted for and won several awards – ‘Trade Winds’ (Sept 2010) was short listed in 2011 for the RNA’s Award for Best Historical Fiction, ‘The Scarlet Kimono’ won the Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award the same year, ‘Highland Storms’ won the Best Historical Romantic Novel of the year award (RoNA) in 2012, ‘The Silent Touch of Shadows’ was shortlisted for the 2013 RoNAs (Historical) and won the Festival of Romance Award for Best Historical. ‘The Gilded Fan’ won the RoNA for Best Historical 2014. Echoes of the Runes won the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 and Hidden in the Mists was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022.
Christina also writes contemporary YA and ‘New England Rocks’ was shortlisted for the RNA’s awards in 2014. The other three books in the series were published under a different name – Pia Fenton.
When she’s not writing, she spends her time tracking down elusive ancestors for her family tree, and her other hobbies include archaeology (the armchair variety), listening to loud rock music and collecting things.
About Christina Courtenay’s Shadows in the Spring:
Two souls bound together for eternity but lost in time. Until now.
Brimming with romance, adventure and vivid historical detail, Christina Courtenay’s gripping dual-time novel travels from the present day to the danger of Roman Britannia.
Praise for Christina Courtenay:
‘Paints a vivid picture of life in two very different timeframes and, as the stories unfold, we see how the themes of life and love change little with the centuries. Fast-paced and thrilling!’ SARAH MAINE
Her head buzzed with long-forgotten memories,
fleeting images that flickered in and out of her mind.
Nothing tangible, and not a single one fully formed, but teasing and tantalising,
as if they wanted to surface but didn’t know how.
AD 80
Duro of the Iceni tribe escaped life as an enslaved gladiator and is now finally home in Britannia with one thing on his mind: vengeance. For 20 years he has sought the Roman legionary who destroyed his family. What he didn’t expect was Gisel: a fierce Germanic woman with long white-blonde hair, forced into slavery by the Romans. Hypnotised by her spirit and her beauty, Duro frees Gisel and slowly tries to win her trust as they work together to complete his quest.
Present Day
Mackenna Jackson returns to Bath with a broken heart, thanks to rockstar Blue Daniels. Luckily she can still count on Blue’s former bandmate Jonah Miller as a listening ear. But Jonah has secretly been fighting stronger feelings, drawn to Mac’s quiet confidence and gorgeous white-blonde hair. As they explore the area, memories they can’t quite explain flood them both.
Is the spark between Mac and Jonah in fact a sign of something much deeper – a love enduring through millennia – or can it all be an illusion?
Author Interview with Christina Courtenay:
- What literary pilgrimageshave you gone on?
The only literary pilgrimage I ever went on was for Ellis Peters’Brother Cadfael books. I visited Shrewsbury where those novels were set and walked in the monk’s footsteps around the abbey and town as much as was possible. It really helped me to visualise the settings.
- What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
All of Georgette Heyer’s crime novels. Everyone loves her Regency stories, but I really like her crime novels as well and feel that they are every bit as good as for exampleAgatha Christie’s. Not only are the plots clever, but they have Heyer’s trademark dry humour running through them and I just love them!
- Does your family support your career as a writer?
They do to an extent but I don’t think they quite understand any of it. For example, if I’m jumping up and down with joy at having reached 1,000 reviews on Amazon for one of my books, they will say ‘that’s nice’ but not really grasp the significance and how much it means tome that so many people have bothered to read and review one of my stories. I know they are happy for me but the world of publishing is mostly a mystery to them.
- If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Be less of a scaredy-cat and try more things! I think the more experiences of life that you have to draw on as an author, the better. Of course it’s possible to research everything and learn from what other people have done, but nothing beats having experienced something yourself so that you know exactly how it feels and what it entails.
- Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the subsequent novels?
Neither. I’ve never consciously set out to start a series–it just happens! Usually a series will be sparked by questions in my mind about what becomes of some of the secondary characters in a story. They will demand their own and so a series is born. I think many authors find it hard to let go of characters and it’s always tempting to carry on to discover what becomes of everyone in a family or friend group for example
- Which of your books were the most enjoyable to write?
All of them! At the time of writing, it always feels as if the book you’re working on is the most enjoyable one because you are so caught up in the story. At least at first, when you have a shiny new idea that is exciting and inspiring. Later, you might hit a snag and then it isn’t as much fun anymore, but once you’ve solved all the plot problems and the words start to flow it’s wonderful!
- Do you write listening to music? If so, what music inspired or accompanied this current book?
No, I like to write in silence as much as possible, although I do have the ability to tune out my surroundings if necessary. I like to listen to music before and after sometimes though, and certain songs can really help stir up your emotions. For example, when working on my Viking stories there are many perfect tunes that inspire me.A while backI wrote a blog post about my ‘Mood Music’ with links to some of the songs I listen to–it’s here if you’d like to check it outhttps://wordwenches.com/mood-music/#more-320Some of those songs work justas well for my Roman stories too.
To learn more about Christina Courtenay, here’s where you can find Her:
Website: http://www.christinacourtenay.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor?fref=ts
Instagram: @christinacourtenayauthor
Twitter: @PiaCCourtenay
Bluesky: @christinacourtenay.bsky.social
