I’m so pleased to reintroduce my readers to author, Erica Vetsch. She’s been featured before in an edition of Bookish Things with Ann (if you haven’t signed up for my author newsletter, you can do so by subscribing now).
On March 30, I’ll be posting my thoughts on her newest release, The Indebted Earl, book three in the Serendipity and Secrets trilogy. You’ll definitely want to swing by for that one.
In the meantime, I thought I’d post some fun interview questions with Erica about history, fiction and her trilogy, Serendipity and Secrets.
Asking Erica
Q: The Indebted Earl is the final release in your Serendipity & Secrets series. Can you give us a recap of the series up to this point and introduce us to your new book?
The Serendipity & Secrets series is three books about three men who come into titles unexpectedly and the women who capture their hearts. In The Lost Lieutenant, a soldier is granted an earldom as a reward for bravery on the field of battle . . . but he is suffering from partial amnesia and cannot remember what he did to earn the title. In The Gentleman Spy, the new Duke of Haverly is wrestling with keeping separate his public life as a duke of the realm and his secret life as a spy for the Crown. And in The Indebted Earl, a naval captain inherits a title and an estate, three young wards, and the care of his late best friend’s fiancé and mother, all while trying to get back to his life at sea.
Q: Marcus tries to get Sophie to come back to Haverly Manor with him after her fiancé dies. Would a single woman in her situation during the Regency period have the choice to live on her own?
It would be difficult for an unmarried woman in the Regency era to live on her own. Though Sophie had the financial means to live independently, it would have been considered improper for her to live alone. However, for her to continue to live with Lady Richardson, as her companion and friend, was entirely proper.
Though Marcus is acting out of an abundance of compassion and brotherly concern, Sophie is reluctant to return to his home. She’s reluctant to give up the freedom she’s gained, as well as reluctant to live in a house where everyone will be watching her grieve. She wants to remain at Primrose Cottage with Lady Richardson.
Q: Captain Wyvern and Lieutenant Evan Eldridge (from The Lost Lieutenant) fought in the Peninsular War. Did you need to do a lot of research on the war and specifically on the different branches of the British military for the series?
There was definitely some research involved, as there always is when writing historical fiction. I first had to ground myself in the basics of the Napoleonic Wars, who were the major players, where did the major battles take place, and what was the general timeline. Fortunately, there are many resources available. I wanted Evan Eldridge to be a sharpshooter from the 95th Rifles, so I needed to pick a battle in which the 95th was involved and study the terrain, the battle lines, and the tactics in order to recreate it in his mind. There was also a bit of study into the medical treatments of the day and what they did with men who were suffering what we now know as PTSD, but at the time they knew even less about it.
The Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars was a completely different animal to the land battles of the Peninsular War. The jargon is so specific: the ships, the ranks, the rigging, the battle tactics. I was able to immerse myself in the work of Patrick O’Brian. I was able to find a book called Nelson’s Navy by Brian Lavery that gave wonderful overviews of life aboard a naval vessel.
Research both solidifies and uncovers new story lines for me. I get lots of inspiration and ideas from research, learning about a particular era or battle or place and then asking those what-if questions that lead to building a story.
Q: Charles ends up proposing a marriage of convenience. What are the benefits of the arrangement for each of them?
Charles’s reasoning is threefold. If he marries Sophie, he can begin to pay some of the debt he believes he owes to her because of her fiancé’s death. He feels responsible for her grief, and if he can take on the responsibility of being her husband in name only, he can see that she is properly cared for. In addition, he would have someone who was properly trained to run an estate house, taking care of his property while he returns to his life at sea. And, finally, it would solve the problem of what to do with the girls. Rather than being sent to an orphanage, which he isn’t comfortable with, or back to another boarding school, which the girls don’t want, they would be able to stay on the estate under Sophie’s care. It all makes perfect sense to him.
For Sophie, marrying Charles would mean she was the one in charge of settling her future, not her matchmaking mama, who intends to find her a husband as soon as it is respectable to do so. It would mean she could maintain the freedom she so dearly loves, she could continue to care for Lady Richardson, who is in the early stages of dementia, and she could keep the girls, whom she has come to dearly love. Though her heart will always belong to Baron Richardson, marrying Captain Wyvern would give her much in the way of stability and freedom.
One More Thing…
Erica has a giveaway going on right now! Enter HERE to win an ecopy of The Indebted Earl and a Kindle Fire.
To follow ERICA online: www.ericavetsch.com