Interview with Mystery & Sweet Romance Author Debra Brown

Debra Brown took up writing later in life after her education in other fields, and after raising her family. Over the years, she enjoyed studying homeopathy and the arts informally and has used them both to enrich her life. She has enjoyed oil painting, had a successful business making jewelry and worked as an assistant in the interior design field. She finds writing to be a satisfying career, and she looks forward to many more books in the English Historical Fiction genre.

A Mystery and Sweet Romance ~ Inspired by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens: “Companion of Lady Holmeshire is such a stimulating good read. It also has the most compelling kick, which can knock you sideways. And let it be known; the outcome could never have been predicted.” --Jann England"

Hello Debra. Your book is set in the early Victorian Era. Please tell us about your new book.

Hi Linda, thanks for inviting me to your blog! My book is the story of a foundling infant girl who grew up to become the companion of a countess after serving as a servant in her Northumbria household. The countess insisted on dragging poor Emma along into London’s snobbish aristocratic circles where she became the unhappy subject of rude remarks. Sweet romantic developments provide comic relief and sighs while mysterious events perplex. My readers report that the ending comes as a great surprise.

Where did you get your inspiration for this book? Do you get any ideas from real life experiences?

I had enjoyed reading English historical fiction as a teenager, and I watched many period movies while making jewelry. I simply wanted more! I decided to write a Jane Austen style book, throwing in some of Charles Dickens type of reality, and greatly enjoyed it. This book does not touch on my life, but my second book, though entirely fictional, does draw heavily on my personal experience with OCD. 

A Reviewer wrote, “Gracing the pages of this novel is a cleverly condensed portrayal of a Victorian way of life, inviting you to embark upon one journey after another whilst constantly whispering in your ear who, why, when, how? Reeling you in through the doors of British Aristocracy, legacies start to unfold, each time reminding you of your place in society.” What kind of research did you do to help us feel this time period?

The beginnings of my “research” was to simply enjoy watching many period movies. I watched the entire Upstairs, Downstairs TV series, which amazed me with its strictly structured rules between the late Victorian family and its servants. Being American, I was shocked at how the servants “knew their place” and would never consider themselves equal to the upper class family. I began to do research on the internet and in books from the library. And I truly do continue to rent movies specifically to observe the culture.

With romances, you know the outcome of the plot…that he and she are eventually going to get together. With mysteries, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You have written a mystery/romance. Is it difficult coming up with a plot for a mystery, one your reader won’t be able to figure out?

I feel that I stumbled into it. I was developing the beginnings of a story based on the upstairs/downstairs arrangement, which does play a large part in the finished novel. However, I needed “something”, and suddenly, the whole story made a huge twist in my mind. From that moment on, it seemed that I could not type fast enough to get it all in print.

Your book sounds very intriguing. Now it’s time to tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

I think that one of the best experiences of my life was studying homeopathy. I went to a homeopath at the insistence of a friend when I was deathly ill, not expecting much. I was shocked at the rapid healing response of my body, and was ravenous for information as to how this had worked. (It is a bit like an immunization, where the body reacts to a minute amount of substance or its electrical properties to promote healing.) At my next visit, the doctor gave me a book, and I devoured it. Before long, I went to work in his office, and he devoted a good deal of time to teaching me about the remedies and how to use them. If it had been formal training, I would now be practicing as a homeopath, but I am very thankful just to be able to help myself and my family with this great kind of medicine.

Of course, this leaves me free to write, and write I will! Thank you very much for the visit.

Thanks, Debbie, for this wonderful interview. I have learned something about you that I didn’t know. It sounds like you have had some trials in your life. I appreciate you sharing this part of your life with me and my readers.