Monday, August 31, 2015

Ask Me Anything Monday

(Missy Nora being cute.)

We haven't done this for a while, so it seems time for another go around.

If you have questions you've been pondering, here's your chance: Ask me anything about my books, my writing process, my cats, whatever, and I'll answer if I can. To keep things from getting out of hand, I'll answer the questions in future blogposts rather than in the comments section.

If you read here but don't usually comment, it's easy. Just click the "comments" link at the bottom of this post. You don't need to register with Blogger; you can simply choose to post as Anonymous--although if you do, it would help if you leave a first name or nickname that I can refer to in my answer.

So, questions?

24 comments:

May said...

I absolutely love your books and thank you for the opportunity to ask you a question.

The motive for murder in "Why Mermaids sing" still haunted me
And to find out that it was actually happened shock me a little bit. So what I'd to know if you plot that story around this real case or it just fell into the storyline you already plan?

Another question would be about Sebastian love life. Is it Hero from the beginning or it changes across time as you wrote it.

Susan J. said...

You mentioned something about possibly writing a novel set in modern times about Sebastian's and was it Jamie Knox's descendents? Would it be set in England or America? It would be interesting if one side of the family was American and the other English and maybe a transatlantic romance could be part of it?

Shauna Roberts said...

Could you provide some links or sources to the science behind Sebastian's genetic condition that causes acute hearing and yellow eyes? Thanks.

Becca said...

Do you plan to re-publish your romance novels? Maybe as ebook? It's quite hard to get a still readable copy of your older novels if you're not living in the US.

Is there something you changed in a novel (a name, a story arch, a location, a person's appearance) because you and your editor thought it is best but now you truly regret it?

I have another question but it's about your sis. I don't know if you can or will answer the question but I've been wondering what happened with the book "The Accident" for so long now that I just have to ask. ;-) Is there a chance for it ever getting published?

Thanks.

Caroline said...

Do you miss living in England, and if so, what?!

cs harris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Willa said...

I have a question I would love to ask - how did you decide Jamie Knox's fate? Loved his character!

A truly wonderful series - thoroughly enjoying it!

Anonymous said...

How do you take care of all your cats with your busy schedule? Also, I was wondering if we will be getting any exerpts from When Falcons Fall? I don't think I've seen any. Toni

cs harris said...

Toni, if you go to my website, there's a link to the first chapter.

Becca said...

Thank you so much for answering my question about your sister's book. I knew there was something wrong when the book was listed (and still is) in online shops but never came. Since then I always wondered about that because I really liked the story idea. I'm very sorry to hear that the rejection had such an impact on her. Maybe you can tell her that there are still lots of readers out there who would like to read her new novels because they're still in love with her old ones. Not to mention that through her novels I discovered yours many years ago.

Sorry for being such a fangirl and this is actually the only time I am one because I'm much too old for this now ;-) but 'Once in a Blue Moon' was the first romance novel I've ever read and it's still my all-time favorite (well, along with almost every other novel of her).

So thanks again and I hope 'The Accident' still exists and gets a second chance someday.

cs harris said...

Becca, I'll be sure to tell her that. And now I'm going to delete the comment where I talked about it, just because this is a small industry, and, well....

JustWingingIt said...

I was wondering if you ever bounce ideas off your family or friends when you're stumped or conflicted about what direction to take with your characters. For example, when I first found this series I loved it and promptly set about perusing many of your old blog posts where you talked about the books and/or your writing. I came across an answer you made to someone in the Comments section where you said that you had toyed with the idea of having a pregnant Hero sail away from England and out of Sebastian's life but that you ultimately decided you couldn't do that to him (and thank the book gods for that!!!!). Do you ever run those ideas across your trusted inner circle to see how they might land? And, if so, who do we have to thank for convincing you to let Hero stay? *wink*

Veronica

Susan J. said...

Are we allowed more than one question? Only there is something that does bother me about the theory in your last book that all soldiers are in effect brutalised, in fact you have Jane Austen agree to it. I've read many of the memoirs from the Peninsular Wars and there are countless testimonies to the many kindnesses the British soldiers did for their fellow soldiers both during the wars and afterwards, irrespective of rank or class. Even during the shameful aftermath of the storming of Badajoz, there were many British soldiers actually killed trying to prevent the atrocities perpetrated by many of their fellows. I would argue that to give up your life to save others is the very opposite of becoming brutalised. Perhaps sometimes war may have the opposite effect, as with Sebastian's need to see justice done.

cs harris said...

Susan, you can ask as many questions as you want! I'd need to go back and read exactly what I said about soldiers being brutalized (I remember it was slightly altered by my editor and I wasn't happy with the way the change came out reading). I do think it's virtually impossible for a man to go through war and not be profoundly effected by the experience of what he sees and what he does. But I didn't mean to imply that war makes all men brutes; only that a certain desensitization is required to survive. My own husband spent two years in Vietnam, and my dad was in the South Pacific in WWII for 3 1/2 years. Both came home still gentle, sensitive, caring men, although my father, especially, was left profoundly troubled. And you're right, Sebastian's experiences in the war are the cause of his need to see justice done. Yet he has a hardened edge that comes from those experiences, too.

Susan J. said...

So glad you answered as you did, I now realise what you meant. I often think how terrible it must be to have to kill somebody but I feel humble, as I have never been faced with having to make that choice. If it was not for these brave men who made those choices for us, what kind of freedom would we have now? The Scots soldier of the 95th Rifles, John Kincaid, said at the end of his memoirs that he was glad the English never had to experience the horrors of a French invasion, after seeing the way they treated the Portuguese. He also said, with some bitterness, that English took their safety for granted and forgot all the poor soldiers left to live in poverty after the wars. Let's hope we don't do the same for our brave soldiers from recent wars.

Scott Draper said...

Your Sebastian St. Cyr generally has modern, enlightened ideas about gender and class relations. Are there really any documented instances of people living at that time that held those attitudes?

cs harris said...

Susan, yes, Kincaid's memoirs are very interesting.

Scott, See Women, Equality, and the French Revolution, by Candice E Proctor. While it focuses on France, there is much discussion of ideas that were also currant in Germany and Britain. Sebastian and Hero's ideas are enlightened for their time but by no means unique.

Bella Tran said...

thank
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