I’m delighted to welcome Award-Winning Author ELIZABETH ESSEX to Rakes and Rascals today for an exclusive interview.
It is such a delight to visit with Rakes & Rascals today. You have long been a favorite place for me to discover new authors—I read my first review of a Grace Burrowes romance here, and became an instant fan.
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R&R:
Could you tell us where you were born and what it was like growing up there?
Elizabeth:
I am a New Englander. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up on the Connecticut coast, with a view of Long Island Sound. Looking back now, I can see how lucky I was—my childhood was filled with dogs to walk, ponies to ride, woods and marshes to explore, little boats to sail, and best of all, an unlimited supply of books to read. It was a childhood full of freedom tempered with responsibilities and loads of chores—those ponies had to be mucked out! But I know that childhood full of exploration and vivid imagining—I was a knight on my own pint-sized charger, heading off into the forest to slay my own dragon—helped me develop the intellectual curiosity and sense of wonder that still fuels me as a writer.
A very old picture of me in the late 60’s with my lovely old dappled pony.
R&R:
How would you describe yourself – temperamental or easy-going?
Elizabeth:
I wish I could say I’m easy going, but the truth is, while I’m not exactly temperamental, I’m a little too high-strung for ‘easy.’ I am a worrier—as a writer this manifests itself in constant editing and revising. I’m constantly asking, “Is it good enough?” “Did I convey the emotional truth of this scene?” “How can I make this better.” I hate to disappoint people, especially my readers.
R&R:
When it comes to food do you like sweet or savoury or both?
Elizabeth:
Savory!!! I am a slave to the salty snack. I write best when I have a bowl of salted almonds at my elbow—somehow crunching away at the almonds helps me to concentrate. 🙂
R&R:
What is your most treasured possession?
Elizabeth:
Too difficult to choose! I am vastly sentimental, and my house is filled with things that mean a great deal to me—antique furniture from one grandparent, teapots and china from another, linens from a great auntie, paintings and artwork by my friends or my children, and many, many photographs of my large and exuberant family. But if I had to choose just one possession, it would be my wedding ring, which was the one thing that made all the other things possible.
R&R:
If you were able to afford a second home anywhere in the world where would you choose and why?
Elizabeth:
Again, so difficult to choose! But I think because I live in a hot, rather urban environment in Texas now, I would choose someplace rural and bucolic and green, where I could ramble with my dogs for hours on end. I’m torn between imagining a house in the English countryside, or a return to my childhood, with a bolt-hole in New England. In the end I am sure I would choose the comfort of the familiar and go back to New England.
R&R:
Finally, what has been your most embarrassing moment?
Elizabeth:
Again, too many to choose from!!! I constantly say or do just the wrong thing. Constantly. Which is very likely why I LOVE being a writer—I can edit and revise until I finally get it right! But of all my gaffes, I think my most embarrassing is when I have not stood up or adequately expressed the courage of my convictions, and have let myself, or other people down. That’s the kind of thing that stays on my conscience far longer than that time my skirt fell off during a school play, or I fell off my high heels during a dinner date and pulled the entire table over when I grabbed at the table cloth, or I pulled my pants down in a bar to show a guy where I got bit by a dog. (To be fair, it was his dog that had bitten me, and he was being a complete jerk and accusing me of lying to get him kicked out of our apartment building, so I felt compelled to show him the evidence in the flesh. And he was the one who was then kicked out of the bar. SO maybe it wasn’t the wrong thing after all. 🙂
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Thank you for taking time out to be here today and sharing these interesting facts about yourself, Elizabeth.
Thank you so very much for inviting me to Rakes & Rascals! There is nothing I like more than talking books and ideas with readers! Wishing everyone Happy Reading!
If you would like to find out more about Elizabeth and her books, here are the links:
Website
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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