Featured Interview With Gemma Williams
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Northwest England, and spent the first 30 years of my life living and working in the UK. A few years back my husband and I decided, screw it, and we emigrated to Canada. We now live in Alberta, right in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. It is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and we are ridiculously lucky to live here.
I have two kids and a cat that basically rules our home. She’s currently snoozing next to me, but gets very indignant if I deem to leave my computer desk before she wants me to. I’m working on the husband to get a dog, and have my eye on a terrier of some kind. I previously had a westie, and I’m convinced that they are the best dogs in the world.
I’m a qualified librarian (yes, you need a master’s degree to be a librarian) and I worked in public libraries for about ten years. These days I work at a post-secondary college, where I get to meet all sorts of really awesome people. The evening job, of course, is writing.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been a bookworm since before I could read. I was one of those kids who could memorise a story and then “read” it back to my mum. I have always loved books and stories, and I have fond memories of Brian Jaques’ Redwall series. I’ve toyed with being a writer since I was able to comprehend that people were paid to write books, but it always seemed impossible. I have always written, but it was never serious and my excuses got in the way. Especially as I was terrible with rejection. It was just easier to have a traditional job, you know?
Sometime after my second child was born (my eldest was about five) I was bemoaning to a pro-writer friend that I had to give up my dream of writing because I was sooooo busy, blah blah blah. He told me, not gently, to quit making excuses, because “real writers write.” It was the slap in the face I needed, so I quit watching TV, limited my time dicking about on social media, and started to write.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read anything and everything. I love historical, romance, scifi, fantasy, and cozy crime just for starters, but I’ll read anything that isn’t horror. It’s not that I don’t like horror, you understand, but I’ve got an overactive imagination and the ability to freak myself out. Look at it this way, my husband banned me from watching Supernatural after only five episodes because I refused to sleep with the closet door open.
In terms of favourite authors, well from the top of my head, current faves are: Georgette Heyer, Bernard Cornwell, Mary Balogh, Isaac Asimov, Terry Pratchett, Robin Hobb, Sally Quilford, Graham McNeill, Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Traci Chee, Elizabeth Chadwick, Kelley Armstrong, Orson Scott Card, Mary Robinette Kowal, Philippa Gregory, Charles Dickens, Suzanne Collins… honestly the list goes on! I would lay claim to all of these people as inspirations as well.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
It’s Danny Ocean meets Mr Darcy as a group of Georgian London’s finest criminals team up to commit the theft of the century.
Less than a week after returning to London, FitzCharles “Fitz” Harrison is assembling the greatest team of thieves and scoundrels that Georgian England has ever seen. Fitz plans an elaborate heist to rob Fleming’s club, the richest gaming hell in the city, but unfortunately, his arrival back in London has not gone unnoticed. Sir Richard Ford, the talented new chief magistrate of Bow Street, and Duncan Fleming, the most ruthless of London’s criminal masterminds, are watching him.
If the plan has any chance of success, Fitz will have to enlist the services of Cora Delisle; courtesan, thief, and the woman whose fortune he once stole. Fitz knows Cora is as likely to see him hang as to help with the heist, but his family’s future rests on the success of this job. For Fitz, it’s worth the risk, even if it means going back on every promise he made. Sometimes you just have to do bad things for the greater good.
Based in 1801, Hell to Pay is the first in the Rogues & Vagabonds series. These books will follow the main character, Fitz, through the various cons, crimes and capers that he finds himself committing over the years, often against his better judgement. Fitz is the illegitimate son of an actress-come-con-woman, Sally Harrison, and the 5th Earl of Aldborough. Fitz is a bit of an anti-hero that (I hope!) you find yourself loving against your will, while his fellow con artists are just as colourful and outrageous as Fitz himself. My personal favourites are Harry and Kitty, but I love hearing from readers telling me which of the crew are their favourite con artists, and which they would like to see again in future novels.
In all, the book took about six months to write as I’m pretty familiar with the era anyway. The hardest part was making sure that every character in the diverse crew is well grounded in sources from the period, for although the book is light-hearted, I wanted the history to be accurate. I’m currently working on the next book, Neck or Nothing, which is taking a little longer to write because I’m having to learn about horse-racing practices in Georgian England (short version: ultra corrupt!).
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