Literary Spotlight: Elizabeth Robards

Elizabeth Robards (a pseudonym Nancy Robards Thompson uses) writes contemporary and historical women’s fiction.

Q: You have a degree in journalism, but were bored with it. How have you been able to incorporate the skills of a reporter into writing fiction?

A: The research skills I learned in college have come in handy while researching my novels. But beyond that and the basics of sound sentence structure and good grammar, fiction and journalistic writing are two completely different animals. In fact, once a newspaper editor told he didn’t want me to be creative. He simply wanted me to report the facts. I had to bite my tongue to keep from uttering, “Just kill me now.” That’s when I knew it was time to make a change.

Q: With Violets is about a love triangle involving Berthe Morisot, the impressionist painter who was a friend and lover of Édouard Manet. How was a visit to Paris the inspiration for this storyline?

A: I’ve always been infatuated with the French Impressionists. So when my husband, Michael, and I went to Paris, we planned a daytrip to Giverny, Claude Monet's home and famous gardens. Before we boarded a train at the Gare Saint-Lazare to make our way to Giverny, we stopped at the Musée Marmottan to see Monet's famous Impression, Sunrise (Impression: Soleil Levant), the painting that launched the French Impressionist movement.

It was there that I first met painter Berthe Morisot. Not literally, of course, because she died in 1895. However, I did see her work and a photograph of her with her family. Something about the photo haunted me and urged me to research her life. In doing so, I discovered the tale of a deeply complex, richly talented woman who bucked nineteenth century convention to become one of the world's greatest artists and the heroine of With Violets.

Q: What did you learn about crafting characters from the pages of history and taking them on a fictional journey?

A: As I researched and wrote With Violets, I realized that writing about real people (as opposed to crafting a fictional character) added an extra layer of responsibility to the process. I took care to be true to Berthe and Édouard (and the others) by portraying them as accurately as possible. After I sold the book, I went back to France to walk in Berthe’s footsteps. I visited her neighborhood, went to several of the locations she painted, sat in the church where she was married, and finally went to the cemetery where she and Édouard are buried.

The book is written in first person – Berthe’s point of view. So, reading her journals helped me get a sense of her voice and the strength of her character. I went to great lengths to portray her as accurately as possible.

Q: What was it like participating in the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance tradeshow in Alabama? How important is this kind of participation to a writer? Describe the "Moveable Feast" of authors.

A: The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance tradeshow was a phenomenal experience! My publisher, HarperCollins, sent me so that I could participate in the "Moveable Feast" luncheon. It’s an event where about thirty or so authors move from table to table (on a timed basis) telling the booksellers about their books. It presented a unique opportunity to meet and talk to about a hundred people who love books as much as I do. I think events like this are very important because it gives the bookseller and author a chance to meet and make a connection. That means that not only will the bookseller be more likely to stock your book, but also to hand-sell it.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.