1–What is the title of your latest release? KATE’S WAR 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? With the threat of invasion and bombing by Germany hanging heavily over England at the start of World War II, twenty-year-old Kate is devastated when she’s forced to postpone her dream of a singing career to help out at home. When she finds herself responsible for the well-being of a young Jewish girl, her priorities change in ways she never imagined. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up just South of London and this seemed like the ideal setting for a historical novel about World War II, since the location was nine miles from the center of London and vulnerable to bombing. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes, especially as she appears at the end of the book. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Talented and responsible, but insecure at first. Eventually courageous. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I didn’t know much about WW II in England, so I had to inform myself. I read a lot of books! 7–Do you edit as you…

Research for writing a novel is like opening a message in a bottle. Of course, all the material isn’t nicely folded up containing everything you wish to know about the subject, but each new piece is a surprise nugget adding to the richness of your story. I became interested in writing about Edgar Degas after I bought a travel guide to New Orleans as I was considering re-visiting the city. I had attended college there and had only returned once in the intervening years. I needed to know about places to stay and which favorite places were still around. I’d no idea while I was in college that Degas had spent five months visiting his Creole relatives there in 1872-73, and I was intrigued by the discovery. From there I began my research. Much has been written about Degas the artist and some historical novels have been written about his life, but I couldn’t find any that related to his time in New Orleans when he was thirty-eight and not yet famous. So I had the good start for a story: you need a protagonist or main character who’s in trouble, someone who wants something badly. With historical fiction writer’s…