Back in May of 2012, The World Literary Cafe Drill Sergeant, Stacy Eaton ( Twitter handle @WLCDrillSgt ) published a lovely character interview of my Time Travel romantic comedy ebook, Jan of Cleveland. For those of you who missed it, here is the text of the interview.
Welcome to Author's Spotlight
Character Interviews
with Stacy Eaton
Today we have Jan's
Medieval husband, Ethelred Fortescue with us from Jan of Cleveland written
by Liz Kingsbury McKeown with L.C. Van Savage
Welcome Ethelred!
Happy to have you here today! Tell us about the book you star in!
When I was but a lad of ten, my
father, the fabled Singing Barber of London and I stole away to an impoverished
neighborhood to visit a Gypsy to have our fortunes told.
What an adventure!
She told me that I was to
revolutionize medicine and surgery with a learned woman from a yet undiscovered
land called 'Ohio'.
lol.....
When I asked how I would meet this
mysterious maiden, the Gypsy said, "In a pile of books, she will fall from
the sky!"
Seriously?
In my twenty-seventh year, Janice
Atwood did just that. She even produced a small picture of herself called a
'Driver's License' from the land of Ohio. Although hailing from Shaker Heights,
Janice declared she would call herself 'Jan of Cleveland' for 'Jan of Shaker
Heights' just didn't have the same ring to it.
No, I guess not.
She helped to 'bring me up to speed'
by providing me with her medical school text books and we eventually
revolutionized lovemaking. We are quite the busy couple.
lol... I can only
imagine!
We all want to be
different, so what is the one thing you wish your creator had done differently
with you?
This tome is, after all, a romantic
comedy, but the main author, Mistress Kingsbury McKeown left out the darker
aspects of the tale. The two aspects she omitted are but nuance, not really
explored. The first one is why my Twenty-First Century wife failed to conceive
for three years before our third child, Anne Marie, was born. Janice and I
balance our duties between teaching other physicians and surgeons, 'outpatient
clinical care' and surgery, mostly emergent surgery, appendectomies, skull
fractures, severe wound care and, subsequently, infection control.
Great skills to have.
We have two assistants, both Barber
Surgeons who are, in Janice's words, 'up to speed'. In carrying out her medical
duties, my wife will eat a piece of fruit, a cup of soup, eat carrot sticks and
celery, but oftentimes eat very little. She, alas, I cannot conjure up a
delicate phrase, lost so much weight, that she could not become withchild.
Sadly enough, an extremely lean body is prized in thy Century and Janice is
proud of the fact that she is still a 'size two' after three children.
Holy Cow! I'm jealous!
The second aspect omitted by Liz,
the main author, is the shadow of the Church under which we all live. Being a
time travel couple, with a wife from the future, Janice must tread the straight
and narrow at all times. Her absent minded conduct during Mass is much more
problematic that it would appear. Fortunately, my father retired and joined a
monastery in order to sing in the choir. Janice has told everyone, albeit not
completely truthfully, that the church is practically extinct in her time and
that she is ignorant of its teachings. Every time my father comes calling,
which is every fortnight, he will have 'Sunday School' with Janice and teach
her what the Abbot wishes her to know. She must behave seemingly, this includes
table manners, if not, I, a native of my era, am responsible.
That was probably hard
for Jan of Cleveland.
If you could have added
something to the story, and your creator would have let you, what would that
have been?
Speculation of how my life would be
if I left my era with Janice and lived in the future. When I can shoehorn it
in, oftentimes when I am on horseback, my thoughts will drift to a scenario in
which I live in England in thine era. I would love to see the episodes of
'House' which Janice has so kindly recited to me, not to mention these
television plays about Forensic Pathology, they are called 'C.S.I' and have
some locale attached to the title, I believe.
I'm familiar with those,
sorry you aren't.
What do you love best
about yourself? What do you like least?
(Laughter). I never really bothered
with self-admiration, for my thoughts were always centered on discovery,
medicine and serving humanity. Milady, my finest qualities are also the most
potentially dangerous ones in my era; my very free and active mind. Alas, in my
time, one must march to the tune of the Church. I can for I was reared to do so
from the cradle. I oft chafe under the yoke of the Church for I always have my
own ideas, in the words of my wife, 'I think outside the box' or more directly,
'I can think for myself.'
Those are good
attributes.
What do I like least? 'Tis the role
which I must play in order to keep my wife and I out of the Stocks; that of
nursery maid to my wife. As ye might have observed, table manners have changed
drastically across the centuries. I must always monitor Janice's comportment in
public, especially at public dinners. Many times I must treat her as a small
child at Church when she is nearly always remembering an important detail of
patient care while Mass is underway.
Nursery maid, lol...
What part of the book was
the hardest for you and your creator to work through?
Jan of Cleveland went through many
phases before I actually came out of the mist and properly introduced myself
and family to Mistress Kingbury McKeown. She only captured half of my
personality in the book she wrote in nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. T'was
only after she viewed an old motion picture starring Rex Harrison entitled
'Blythe Spirit' did her mind loosen up to 'give birth' to me. The devil may
care ghost in this film, Elvira, was the inspiration for my aunt Belle whose
real name is 'Winifred'.
Neat way to bring about a
character.
Is there a sequel for
this book? If so, what do you want to accomplish in the next book. If not, do
you wish you could continue your story?
Nay, Milady. The first book will
take my wife and I until our deaths when I am eighty years of age. My main
author has the notion to write reviews and interview self-published authors.
She also wishes to proof read manuscripts for such authors, of which I approve.
Mighty kind of you to
approve of such things, lol... Anything else you care to share with us before
we conclude.
I never imagined that a lady from my
age would get 'air sick' after a make believe ride on a jet. Never
underestimate the power of the subconscious mind.
Ummmm.... okay.... I
think that might have to do with your story.. I'm not sure. I'll have to read
it to find out.
To Purchase Jan of Cleveland:
Kindle:
Nook:
, do you only think of an app? Come along as I check out their extensive online bookstore. In addition to ereaders and accessories, Kobo sells a wide variety of books from indie and mainstream authors. They offer a vast array comic books, which I never grew out of (and I turn 58 on April 28th). Link: http://www.kobobooks.com/browse/Comics__Graphic_Novels/A8KhhEEDqkGJjadF625rNg-1.html I just found out that Archie, who has entertained my friends and I since we were in elementary school, has a new comic book out: Archie meets Glee (!) I wonder if he can sing. Contemporary women cartoonists and graphic novelists also figure prominently in the assortment. Their Sci Fi & Fantasy selection includes Space Opera and Steampunk lit. Link: http://www.kobobooks.com/browse/Sci_Fi__Fantasy/9-ZhFS90G0yoBBh3KIFFdA-1.html
Julie Joyce, executive producer and host of Book Tour Radio