Maggie Blackbird

Today, I have author Faye Hall in the interview chair.  We’re discussing her latest release Carnal Transgression, an Australian historical romance.  Don’t forget to check out the excerpt.

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All About Carnal Transgression:

1. First, what’s your favourite scene in the book? Not in regards to writing, but reading, and why?

Faye:  There’s a scene near the end of the book between the hero Seamus and the heroine’s brother that gives me chills.  It’s very confronting and heartfelt and draws the two together both because of their love for the heroine, Constance, and for the love of the country they were forced to leave.

2. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your book?

Faye:  There were a few expressions that are typically Australian that had to be removed due to possible confusion with an international audience that I’d like to have left in.

3. What do you love most about your two main characters?

Faye:  I love Seamus’s passion and devotion.  He doesn’t give emotion easily but once he does he surrenders everything.

As for Constance, I love her strength and will to survive no matter what she is forced to live through.

4. What makes you want to shake your two main characters?

Faye:  Their stubbornness!

5. If you could spend time with one character from your book, who would it be? And what would you do during that day?

Faye:  It would be Agnes, the heroine’s sister.  I’d like to spend the day helping her with her investigation and talking to the other Irish women who’d fled to Australia.

6. Did the characters hijack the story or did you feel like you had control of your book?

Faye:  I like to think I had a bit of control over the basic plot, but the characters did take control over most of the dialogue throughout the book.

7. How did you come up with the title for your book?

Faye:  It just came to me one night as I was going to bed after a day of racking my brain what to name the book.

8. If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the leads?

Faye:  Michael Fassbender to play Seamus and Katie McGrath to play Constance.

9. If your book was a candle, what scent would it be and why?

Faye:  The smell of the dew in the early morning, when the grass is still wet and turf burning in an open fire because it represents the main character’s connection to Ireland.

10. If your book had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Faye:  Sight by Pauline Scanlon because it is the true representation of the struggle and passion Seamus and Constance live through to be together.

11. If your book was a colour, what would it be and why?

Faye:  Sunset Orange because a sunset is beauty and a chance for a new day to start and allow everyone a second chance.

12. If a reader asked you why they should read your book, what would you tell them?

Faye:  There’s history, passion, scandal and a love that I didn’t even image could be so strong.  This book is also a part of me and my own family history.  Seamus was based on my own Grandfather who was and Irishman who came to Australia and became a policeman.

13. What can we expect from you in the future?

Faye:  I have a book being considered by a publisher right now, as well as another in the works.  I’m hoping to branch into some self publishing soon too.

Faye on Writing:

1. Tell us about your writing process.

Faye:  I try to start off with a very basic plot which is hand written then typed up on the computer.  From there I try to make the story grow usually with a lot of help from the characters.  More often then not the finished product is nothing like what I originally planned.

2. How much research goes into your books?

Faye:  A bit actually.  Even though it’s fiction, I try to have accurate names of hotels or ships historically correct.  I also rely a lot on local history books and my own memory of growing up in my hometown as there isn’t much about the Burdekin Shire to be found on google.

3. What do you enjoy most about writing?

Faye:  I enjoy discovering how the book will end because I never usually know until I’ve written it.

4. What do you enjoy least about writing?

Faye:  Writing a synopsis!  It’s torture beyond compare to squeeze everything into 300 words.

5. You can only recommend one of your novels to a reader, which would you choose from the books you’ve written so far, and why?

Faye:  Vanity and Humility – Sins of the Virtuous Book 7.  It was probably the hardest book from the series to write, but it was by far the most rewarding.  I loved the characters.  I loved the plot.

6. What novel was your personal favourite to write, and why?

Faye:  I really enjoyed writing Heart of Stone because I got to explore the slaving history of North Queensland which I’d never done much of before.

All About Faye!

1. Readers know about the writer you, but what about the everyday you?

Faye:  I’m married with 5 school aged children, 4 adult step children.  I garden.  I cook.  And I love a quite weekend playing cards with my family.

2. What is something unique/quirky about you?

Faye:  I have a lot of tattoos – maybe 40 or so.

3. What are some of your pet peeves?

Faye:  People who think they’re entitled.  It irritates me because everyone I love has worked damn hard for whatever they have, be it big or small, and we were all raised to do the same.  No-one should expect things they haven’t earned.

4. Where were you born/grew up at?

Faye:  I was born and raised in a small sugar cane farming town of a few thousand in North Queensland, Australia.

5. Describe yourself in five words or less!

Faye:  Quirky, happy, loud and loyal.

Faye on Reading:

1. What book do you think everyone should read?

Faye:  Lord of the Flies by William Golding because it shows that left to our own devices human beings will always find the best and worst inside of them.

2. What fiction genre(s) do you read the most?

Faye:  Romantic suspense.

3. Share your favourite character from a book that you’ve read, and why they are your fave.

Faye:  Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird because he stood up for what was right in a time when it was frowned upon and he didn’t judge a person by the color of their skin.

4. On average, how much do you read every week?

Faye:  More than I should yet still not enough.

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Title: Carnal Transgression
Series: N/A
Genre: Australia Historical Romance
Heat Rating: 3
Book Length: 173 pages
Release Date: June 7, 2021
Publisher: Beachwalk Press

Would you break the law to protect the woman you love from a killer?

Blurb:  Constance Dunbar is desperate to discover who killed her sister. Her plea for help is ignored by the local police, so she advertises for a private investigator. Seamus Tynedale answers the ad, and she immediately recognizes him as the friendly stranger whose arms held her so tenderly as she wept after her sister’s death.

Seamus longed to be reunited with the dark-haired beauty who’d kissed him in the churchyard. When he ends up working for her as a private investigator, he knows that his position as a police constable needs to remain a secret due to her mistrust of the department.

As Seamus hunts for the murderer, he finds himself lured into a den of secrets and lies tracing back eighteen years to Ireland, and it all seems to be connected to Constance. Seamus delves into Constance’s past, hoping to understand the secrets she’s so intent on keeping hidden. What he finds is a passion that ignites his heart and captivates his senses.

When Constance’s life comes under threat, Seamus has to choose between following the law and protecting the woman he loves from a killer. Will he be able to safeguard Constance, or will he lose her to the evil that seems to have followed her to Australia?

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“You have been hard to forget,” he muttered. Her sudden uncomfortable state forced his gaze down to the contents of his glass. Sculling the rest of the drink, he stepped toward her, reaching out to place the empty glass on the desk beside her. “How can you be certain your sister didn’t drown?”

“She was shot,” she explained, a slight tremor in her voice.

“Did she have any enemies that you know of?” he asked. When she shook her head in response, he decided to change the direction of his questions. “How did she live?”

She took a deep breath. “My sister was a woman of considerable means, but she was far more comfortable mingling with those less fortunate than herself.”

“You think she was robbed?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I think she stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to and was silenced before she could tell anyone.”

“That’s a serious accusation,” Seamus muttered. “If you’re certain some malice found your sister, why haven’t you gone to the police?”

“I have, but they refuse to help me,” she stated firmly. “As far as the senior constable is concerned, my sister’s death was an accident.”

“And you think me reckless enough to try to overstep his position and do his job for him?” he asked, humored by the idea.

She straightened herself, her features serious. “If you can’t do the job I’m asking of you, sir, I assure you there are others who are willing to take your place.”

He carefully eyed the complete beauty of this woman, fully aware of what men would be willing to do to get into her favor. “Say I agree to handle this investigation, where exactly am I supposed to start? I know nothing about your sister.”

Turning slightly, she reached across her desk, taking a photograph in her fingers. Her gaze lingered on it for a few moments before she handed it to him. “Her name was Agnes.”

Seamus took the photograph, studying the tall, slender, fair-haired woman. She looked so different from the woman standing in front of him.

“You’re welcome to take the photo with you if you think it will help.”

He slid the picture into his back pocket. “How long do I have to complete the investigation?”

“How long do you think you’ll need?”

His hands went to his pockets as he eyed her curiously. “You would trust a stranger to estimate a cost-effective time to complete the task you’re asking, yet you won’t trust this investigation to the police. Why?”

She scowled. “From my experience, sir, the police in this area aren’t to be trusted.”

He knew then it would be best to keep his employed position hidden.

“Do you want the job or not?” she asked firmly.

He could see the crumbling strength of the woman before him. Each time he met her before, never had she been this steadfast. “I offered my help to you in the churchyard, and that offer still stands.”

She let out a shaky sigh of relief. “You will be paid handsomely for your services.” Reaching into the bodice of her gown, she pulled forth several notes of money and handed them to him. “Just so you believe I have the means to pay you what you’re worth.”

He reached for the money, catching her hand before she could pull it away. “Who are you?” he asked, his other hand lifting to her face and lightly tracing her delicate jawline. “All this secrecy and mystery…what are you hiding?”  Watching as dread filled her face, Seamus’s hand fell away, and he took a step back from her. “I had no right, but I couldn’t stop the need I had to…” His lips pursed as he cleared his throat. “I want to know what I should call you, miss…”

“You can do away with such formalities. Just call me Stanzie,” she replied cautiously.

Her response confused him. “You want me to address you so familiarly?”

“I want both of us to stay alive long enough for you to do the job I’m willing to pay you for,” she stated. “To achieve that, it is safer for us both if you don’t know my real name.”

He didn’t try to hide his confusion. “Exactly what trouble are you in?”

He could see she was struggling, a slight tremble in her lips. Finally, she took a deep breath. “I do apologize for all the secrecy, sir, but I assure you it is necessary for both our sakes.”

“You can stop addressing me formally too. My name is Seamus Tynedale,” he informed her. A strange look filled her eyes, like she recognized him. “If you could tell me—”

“I can’t,” she snapped.

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Faye Hall spent her early years listening to stories about the families – including her own – who settled townships in and around her hometown in North Queensland, Australia. The local townspeople, including her own parents, told her stories of corruption and slavery, along with family secrets and forbidden love.

Desperate to remember what she’d been told, along with her already growing love of writing, Faye began to write about the history of her local area. Never could she have imagined the history of her small home town in Australia would become a growing list of published books.

Faye’s passionate stories combine controversial subjects and provocative encounters as her characters struggle to survive the lifestyle in early rural townships throughout Australia. She explores slavery and abortion, drug addiction and murder, as well as forbidden love and passionate affairs of the heart.

When she’s not writing, Faye enjoys sharing a bottle of wine with her husband in their ever-growing garden, and encouraging the varied interests of their children.

Explore the world of Faye Hall, Australian Historical Romance Author at her website: https://www.fayehall.com.au

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