Ask the Author: Cynthia Ripley Miller
Answered Questions (11)
Cynthia Ripley Miller
I froze, lost my breath and grabbed his hand. We exchanged one last eternal, paralyzing look as the altitude dropped and we plunged toward the sea.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
Honestly, I would travel to the setting of my own novel the 5th century of late ancient Rome. I chose this era to research and set my stories, On the Edge of Sunrise and The Quest for the Crown of Thorns because it was the final years of the western Roman Empire, a time period transitioning into the medieval era that was filled with conflicts and upheaval but also evolving into something new and different. I've been fascinated by some of the things I learned.
I would visit a villa in Tuscany and just enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables and nature surrounding me. I would horseback ride and perhaps learn to weave on a loom. If I traveled, I would go into Rome and view the markets and shops and maybe attend the races in the Coliseum, and if possible, crash an aristocratic party to view the ‘Roman nightlife’ first hand. Lastly, I would travel to France and travel up the Somme to the land of the Franks (from which the word France is derived) and visit the ancient city of Cambrai as portrayed in my novel as Cambria. I would also visit Paris to see it in its early years before it grew to be the capital. My travels would be long and tedious and I most likely would have to hire a handsome bodyguard to keep me safe, just like my hero, Garic the Frank. It could be quite the adventure. ☺
I would visit a villa in Tuscany and just enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables and nature surrounding me. I would horseback ride and perhaps learn to weave on a loom. If I traveled, I would go into Rome and view the markets and shops and maybe attend the races in the Coliseum, and if possible, crash an aristocratic party to view the ‘Roman nightlife’ first hand. Lastly, I would travel to France and travel up the Somme to the land of the Franks (from which the word France is derived) and visit the ancient city of Cambrai as portrayed in my novel as Cambria. I would also visit Paris to see it in its early years before it grew to be the capital. My travels would be long and tedious and I most likely would have to hire a handsome bodyguard to keep me safe, just like my hero, Garic the Frank. It could be quite the adventure. ☺
Cynthia Ripley Miller
I'm kicking off the summer with #2 books in two different series. The first is 'An Echo in the Darkness' the second book in the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. My novels are set in late ancient Rome. This series takes place a few hundred years earlier, but it's still ancient Rome, my favorite time period. The next book in my summer queue is 'Mortal Arts' by Anna Lee Huber. I like mysteries and because I've written a mystery in my second book 'The Quest for the Crown of Thorns', I enjoy reading other mystery writers as well. Anna Lee Huber's Lady Darby series is set in the 1800's in Scotland. As far as a third summer book is concerned, I'll be shopping to see what catches my interest. To all my friends and readers, why not enjoy your summer and some great storytelling that whisks you away to another time and place. It's time machine travel from an armchair! :-)
Cynthia Ripley Miller
Actually, in my new book, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns, which is the second in my Long-Hair Saga series, I drew on a dramatic event in my own life and melded it into the plot of my romantic historical mystery. However, I cannot say what it is because it affected me deeply, so it will have to forever remain a mystery. Unless of course, the readers are able to figure it out. If this happens, please shhh!
Cynthia Ripley Miller
The idea of 'love at first sight' has always interested me, not only because I've read, heard and been told, especially by men, that when they first saw their wife, they knew she was the one for them. I also studied English literature in school and often the stories I read told of couples that felt immediate attractions, even if they tried to deny their feelings. So, besides my own hero and heroine, Arria and Garic, who experience an immediate attraction, I would probably mention Lancelot and Guenevere, Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth and Darcy and Jamie and Claire from the Outlander series. These are all so good, it's hard for me to pick just one.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
I daydream or I read. I push myself away, and the writing muse eventually pulls me back in.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
You get to live in the hearts and minds of the characters you have created but, in an inexplicable way, who take on a life of their own.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
Write what you love. Do your homework. Learn your craft from conventions to all the elements of literature. If it's your dream, you won't give up you'll just evolve.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
I'm currently working on Book Two of my Long-Hair Saga series that follows On the Edge of Sunrise: Book One. The Frank Merovingian nobles called 'Long-Hairs' wore their hair long in order to distinguish them in rank.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
I like to walk and listen to music. When I do this, ideas, plot points, characterization etc. seem to stream through my mind. Many times I arrive back at home with direction and possibilities to guide me and move my writing forward.
Cynthia Ripley Miller
A question people ask me all the time is what set me on the path to writing my novel—I would have to say ‘signs.' I taught history and one summer I stumbled across Diana Gabaldon's, Outlander. After I read it, I thought I would love to write a romantic historical with elements of adventure, but I wanted a fresh time period. A short time later, a went to see the movie The Matrix. In the story, there is a character called The Merovingian. I felt slammed. A time period I had considered was the 5th century at the end of the Roman Empire and when Frank barbarian warriors rose to build the Merovingian Empire in France. I went home that night sparked by this idea. The next morning, I wrote my first chapter about a Frank barbarian noble and a Roman senator's daughter.
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