10 Questions with Susan Lodge

Greetings and salutations, or as we say in Redneck land: Howdy!  I'm sure you thought we were done with zombies and ghosts once we were past Halloween, but here in the South, we love us some scary stuff. It's never the wrong time for ghosts. This week, Aurora Regency author Susan Lodge has come a-calling and she is talking about things that go bump in the night.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

 

I always cringe at this question. I would much rather have my characters doing the talking.

I have a husband, two grown up children, and reside on the South Coast of England. I worked in the Civil Service for many years during which I lived in several cities, including London and Bristol — so I have been spoilt for Regency locations to lurk in and find inspiration. 

I have always wanted to be an astronaut and would love to book a seat on Richard Branson’s space flight. However to find the funds I must first write a best seller.

 My first publishing success was a short story purchased by a national UK magazine. It was a moment of ecstasy. When the magazine came out I rushed down to the shops and bought loads of copies.

 

2. Everyone knows the Zombie Apocalypse is coming. Everyone. Shut up, they do so. What five skills do you possess that would help you survive?

 

I suspect you are just scaremongering. But I believe I would cope quite well because,

·       I like quiet people, and zombies don’t bore you with excessive chatter.

·       I have had previous experience in dealing with Zombies. Oh, yes, I have met a few. They don’t know that I know they’re Zombies—but I can tell by the way they look straight through me when I am talking. No! That is not because I am boring them.

·       We have a cat whose hiss is scary enough to deter troublesome intruders.

·        I have always been taught to encompass change, inclusion of all, and to think outside the box.

·       If all that fails, I can run quite fast. 

       

3. You know the game Keep, Kiss, Kill? Okay, so a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost walk into a bar. Who do you keep, kiss, and kill?

Ghosts Hmmm. Patrick Swayze comes to mind. If this Ghost bore any resemblance, kissing would not be a problem.

I don’t find excessive facial hair attractive, so I would keep the werewolf until he had shaved. Depending on the outcome I might kiss him and keep the ghost.

I would kill the vampire because they have far too much media attention at the moment.

4. Do you believe in ghosts?

I really don’t know. Many years ago I lived in a flat where, every night for a couple of weeks, I would wake up in the early hours unable to move— it was as if a cold invisible force had me trapped. I always wondered if it was a deceased tenant revisiting. But I have not experienced any out of body experiences since.

 

5. What if I said there was one right behind you?

 No! That is my husband. He is feeling a little fragile this morning.

 

6. Would you spend the night in a haunted hotel for five dollars?

You bet. That’s damn cheap for a night’s board. In the UK there are plenty of historic houses and castles where you can stay. And if there is the added attraction of a ghost roaming around the place the price would be hiked up from the normal rate.

7. What’s one thing that really freaks you out?

Hands around my neck. I think I might have been strangled in an earlier life.

8. Clowns. Freaky or funny?

Clowns! Where do I start? There are so many around at the moment— but I guess you mean the ones with painted faces, baggy trousers and enormous shoes. Even as a child, when circuses were quite popular, they were my least favourite act. I never found them remotely funny.

9. Pimp it if you’ve got it. What’s new and next for you?

I have another historical romance The Reluctant Heroine as WIP. Like my last historical, Only a Hero Will Do it has a lot of action based at sea. I like to get my Regency ladies out of the drawing room and see how they cope in more challenging surroundings.

I also have a contemporary romance just out The Man in the Buff Breeches which is a sequel to the Man in the Blue Flowered Shorts. Strangely enough all my books be it historical or contemporary have a Regency thread. It’s the breeches that do it for me—can’t resist them.

10. Would you use a “ghost writer” for your rejection haiku? I crack myself up. Time to open up a vein and share.

This Haiku was not written by a ghost writer (just me with a sheet over my head)

Keyboard spits me out

Body binned, shift and deletes

I stay undiscovered.

Here is a taste of her Regency novel   Only a Hero Will Do

Marriage to a cruel dandy, is not how Hetty Avebury envisons spending the rest of her life.  Determined to avoid the match she raises funds the only way she knows how – gambling. Her plans go astray and she finds herself on board a man-of-war under the care of its high handed physician. But Hetty soon realizes that Doctor Withington is not quite the stuffed shirt she had first imagined.         

If it wasn’t bad enough declaring one of the pressed men as a woman, Robert has been tasked with the tiresome job of returning her safely back to her dysfunctional family. It was ten years ago when his father gambled away his inheritance, home, and any chance of marrying the woman he loved. So when Robert discovers Hetty gambling he takes drastic action to cure her of the habit.   Click here to read an excerpt.

See more at Susan Lodge’s Amazon page  or visit her website www.susanlodge.com  or Musa Publishing   for full details of my books.

Also by Susan Lodge The Man in the Buff Breeches and The Man in the Blue Flowered shorts. Two contemporary romantic novellas, with characters who have a soft spot for the Regency period.