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Interview with author Hazel B West is up now - please feel free to comment and ask more questions of your own :)

What were your main inspirations for On a Foreign Field?

Well, since it is historical fiction, the original idea obviously came from the story of William Wallace. But this was not the first Wallace novel I have written, and I really wanted it to stand out from all the other iconic Wallace stories that are out there. So I took a plot line I love to read about: characters from different sides having to deal with each other, and quite possibly becoming friends eventually. I don’t think a Wallace story has been told from the point of view of an Englishman, the opposition, so I really wanted to give that plot line a try, thus I invented Reeve and told his story.

Which of the characters is your favourite and why?

Any author will tell you it’s hard to choose favorites, but I do have some characters I enjoyed writing more than others. I loved Reeve of course, but I think my favorite character from the book was actually Gavin, one of Wallace’s men. He was pretty fun, and I loved writing his continuous jibing of Reeve.

How long did it take to write On a Foreign Field?

Well, I had had the idea for quite a long time before I started it and had written a couple scenes down, but from the point of actually writing to finishing was probably about three months. That is not counting ‘post production’ and all the editing and formatting to get it ready for publication.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m working on a very special pet project that I’m totally having a blast with! It’s a steampunk Victorian mystery novel featuring my new favorite character (don’t tell the others) Anthony Maxwell. It’s the first in a series I have planned and I’m hoping for it to be out sometime this spring. I’m very excited to see what people think about Anthony.

It’s your fantasy dinner party – who are your guests?

Ooh, well, I would love to invite all my own characters, but besides them, historical people (if I can invite anyone I want, living or dead) William Wallace, of course, Rob Roy, Jack Chruchill, Constance Markievicz, Robert the Bruce, Manfred von Richthofen and Samuel Pepys.

Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book?

Yes, I love the song “Brothers in Arms” which is originally by Mark Knopfler but I really like the version by Celtic Thunder. Very moving song, and it was always in my mind when writing this.

If you could choose only one time period and place to live, when and where would you live and why?

Victorian London. Yes, I’m a total Sherlockian, but also I just love that time period despite its imperfections. It was just such a fascinating time period and I’m so happy to finally be working with it in my Anthony Maxwell books.

Can you see yourself in any of your characters?

Oh yes, and sometimes that’s a very scary thing! I think all authors leave a little bit of something in their characters. It’s not quite so prominent in this book as some of my others; in my newest novel “By Blood or By Bond” my character Viggo is about as close as anyone could get to me. In “On a Foreign Field” I think I spread and shared my characteristics more between the characters.

What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?

Ooh, I have several, I’m definitely looking forward to The Hobbit Part II this year, I absolutely loved the first one! And as for books, I’m very much looking forward to the sequel to “Raven Boys” and also the fourth Knight and Rogue book by Hilari Bell—I adore that series so much! And whatever John Flanagan is coming out with next, I’m looking forward to as well.

What is you favorite way to spend a rainy day?

I love reading a good mystery, with a nice cup of coffee or writing a mystery, which is the next best thing. But still with the coffee.

What has been your most rewarding experience since being published?

Meeting fantastic people and actually having ‘real’ reviews written for my book by unbiased parties. Getting a five star review from someone you don’t even know is probably the most rewarding thing a writer can get, especially when you’re self published. But my favorite part is definitely the friendships I have made.

How do you react to a bad review?

First off, it’s always the same: righteous anger, because how dare they slam your baby? I get very very protective of my characters, so if anyone says anything bad about THEM, well, let’s just say I go i-viking. But there’s two kinds of bad reviews. Those that really are just to be mean and nasty, and those that are constructive criticism. And the latter, it might do you well to take a second look at because chances are, they are probably right. Sometimes they could have said it a little nicer, but you get the satisfaction of showing them they were wrong the next time!

What is your favorite Quote?

This changes by the day, but here is one I love:

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
~Linda Grayson

Great interview questions, Melanie, and a fabulously fun interview, Hazel! Having fun with your writing definitely radiates through your words here.

I speak from both an author and reader's point of view when I say that I loved your comments about bad reviews. You have to wonder about the agendas behind the downright malicious reviews, especially if all others are favorable. Although these reviews sting, I think (or hope) other reviewers will see them for what they are--fanatical.

Anyhow, I wish you the best with your writing projects. They sound tremendously exciting. And congratulations, again, for being the featured author of February 2013.

Thanks =) I do love writing so much, frankly I can't stop even if I wanted to, haha ;) Yes, I often wonder about what goes through people's minds when writing nasty reviews too. I know when I'm disappointed in an author especially one I previously liked, I let everyone know, and while I have written sarcastic reviews for (very) popular books and movies I try to keep my normal book reviews in 'critique mode' if I say anything against them. Same as when I review other indie authors.

Hi Hazel - I read elsewhere in Goodreads that you researched Wallace for five years for your two books on him. I imagine most readers first exposure to Wallace will be from Braveheart... what are your thoughts, based on your research, as to how realistic the depiction of Wallace as an individual is, as well as his army and the political backdrop - Scottish and English in Braveheart?

Sorry if that sounds like an academic essay title - I'm about 15% in and just meeting Wallace through Reeve's eyes and wondered how you looked at it?

Haha that's okay ;) Overall, Braveheart gave a pretty good representation of Wallace in my opinion, and I really can't knock the movie as a whole because I appreciate Randall Wallace (who wrote it) and his obvious passion for the story. And even though it's not the most accurate account of Wallace's life, I think poetic license is allowed when writing a story where frankly, we don't have a whole lot of hard facts about anyway.

I think the overall political situation in the movie was well portrayed too. Obviously, Longshanks wanted Scotland under his thumb, because it was attached to England and he saw no reason it shouldn't be his. He had totally dominated Wales beforehand and tried his hand at Ireland and France but Scotland held out longer than he expected and that made him angry. If you want to go into a little back story, you have John Baliol who was former king of Scotland, put there by Longshanks himself. But when he started to act as more than a puppet ruler for England Longshanks decided it was time to get rid of him and incarcerated him as an exile in France so he could take over ruling Scotland himself. He tried to do the same with Robert the Bruce (who you will see later in my book) and Bruce fluctuated for a long time between loyalty to Scotland and loyalty to England mainly because of familial loyalty (his father and grandfather both were loyal to England and were pressuring him to become king) But then of course after Wallace's death, he took over the Scottish rebel army and ultimately won Scotland's freedom.

The one thing I can really complain about in Braveheart was the battle scenes. Stirling had a bridge, thus the reason it was called The Battle of Stirling Bridge. And they didn't use the schiltroms (the pike formations) until Falkirk which they actually don't use during that battle in the movie.

Braveheart as a whole was inspired by Blind Harry's 15th century epic "The Wallace" and several characters were taken from that for the movie such as Stephen Ireland (which I don't use in this book, but I did in my Young Wallace novel "Freedom Come All Ye")

The only really huge inaccuracy in the movie was the French princess who was really only four years old at the time ;)

Hazel wrote: "Haha that's okay ;) Overall, Braveheart gave a pretty good representation of Wallace in my opinion, and I really can't knock the movie as a whole because I appreciate Randall Wallace (who wrote it)..."

lol at the last part with the French princess - that would have been ultra-ewww if accurate!

Thanks for the answer - very helpful :)

Oh yes, :P Glad to be of help =)

Hi Hazel - slightly random question for you - I noticed on your profile that you're based in Florida - have you ever travelled in the UK (specifically in areas that you portray in the book)?

If not - how did you generate your descriptions of scenery?

I would love to say I traveled the the UK but I didn't ;) I do however have several lovely coffee table books filled with pictures of Scotland, and I also like to watch travel videos (though if you watch The Eagle you get to see the gorgeous highlands in all their untamed beauty as well) And then I read David R. Ross the amazing historian/travel writer who describes the places so wonderfully. It can't replace actually going to places and I'll probably really want to go back and re-write things once I finally get to go there, but it's as good as I can do for now =)

Well - I can safely say you got the weather spot on! ;) No other place I've ever been can mix wind and rain in such a consistent and drizzly grey way as we do here!

haha, well that's what I have heard from everyone ;) It also helps that I read so many British authors I think too because they obviously know what they're talking about. Reading Scarrow's books set during the Roman invasion gave me a good idea on what campaigning must have been like.

Hazel, it is exciting to meet another historical fiction writer! The two I have published are historical fantasy (medieval Wales), but the one near and dear to my heart is historical fiction (turn of the twentieth century California). I truly enjoyed On a Foreign Field, and I have to laugh when I say I enjoyed your comments at the end about writing historical fiction. I, too, had a lot of gaps where recorded history was a little thin. I hope we can 'talk' more when my historical fiction comes out later this year.

I would love to, Linda, your Welsh books sound interesting (I love anything Over the Pond) I haven't read a lot about California during the turn of the century, mostly I've read about the Statehood and turn of the nineteenth century, but I love that time period (I'm working on a Victorian novel right now). I'm glad you enjoyed "On a Foreign Field" =)

Hazel wrote: "Thanks =) I do love writing so much, frankly I can't stop even if I wanted to, haha ;) Yes, I often wonder about what goes through people's minds when writing nasty reviews too. I know when I'm dis..."
Hi Hazel, did you get my email re sending a file or whatever of the book so that I could participate in the read-in? In case not, it's margaret_skea@yahoo.co.uk

I didn't Margaret, but I'll send it to you now!

Hazel wrote: "I didn't Margaret, but I'll send it to you now!"

Thanks Hazel - haven't wanted to look at any of the discussion until I've read it myself. Am away all next week, and may not have any email access, so hoping to have some stuff already downloaded to read on my laptop.

Hazel wrote: "I didn't Margaret, but I'll send it to you now!"

How does it work? Where do I find it? - I'm not very techie!

I just sent the email with instructions and the link, if you have any problems let me know =)