Deborah Carr Interview Published on: 12, Jul 2021

I didn’t read as much as I probably should have done because I was always outside with my sister and friends at the riding stables or taking our ponies for gallops on the beach. I loved any books to do with horses.

My personal favourite is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I can’t be certain how many times I’ve read this book. I like different books depending on my mood, but I recently read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Forgotten Orphan by Glynis Peters and thought these three books were brilliant.

I rarely know how one of my books will end, especially my historical novels. I also write contemporary romance series as Georgina Troy and all I know with those books is that there will be a happy ending.

My husband is massively supportive. I had some postcards printed with the covers of my Deborah Carr historical novels on one side and my Georgina Troy covers on the other and he’s always handing these out to people he meets. He tells me he starts by asking them if they read books and then if they do he’ll find a way to hand them a post card.

I had dreamt of writing for HarperCollins for years and especially for my (now) editorial director, Charlotte Ledger. When she contacted me on 5 th November 2017 (I’ll never forget that date) to say she had read Broken Faces, loved it and was looking for an author to commission to write a novel to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War and wanted to know if I would be interested. It was the start of me realising my long-held dream to become a full-time author. The Poppy Field was published the following year and I’ve been lucky enough to write four further books for her. I’ve just signed a contract to write my sixth book for HarperCollins’ One More Chapter division.

Charlotte was looking for someone to write a series inspired by the life of Florence Boot soon after The Poppy Field was published. While she was researching about Florence, Charlotte discovered that she was born on the island of Jersey, where I live. I visited Charlotte at HarperCollins to record some promo for The Poppy Field and she told me about her idea for the series and asked if I would be interested in writing it. I said yes instantly. I thought I knew quite a lot about Florence but when I began my research but soon discovered that there was so much more to that incredible lady than I had realised. I was invited to the Boots Archive in Nottingham, which was invaluable for my research. Boots (Walgreens in the US/Canada) is a major part of most people’s lives in the United Kingdom, we’ve all either shopped in one of the stores, or worked there and I’m constantly contacted by ex-employees who are delighted that Florence’s story has been brought to life.

I was searching for a photo of my great-grandfather who was in the 17 th Lancers for my father as he had never seen what he looked like and became fascinated by the First World War. I was looking for a book to read but couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for and a friend suggested that I write one myself. So that’s what I did. I never did find a photograph of my great-grandfather though, which is a shame, but writing that book changed my life.

I have a huge admiration of the strength and dedication of the nurses who cared for terribly wounded soldiers in the First World War and began thinking about the differences in medication and treatment that present-day nursing staff have compared to back then. I then imagined how similar the emotions must be between then and now for nurses to have to face stricken people and that led to Gemma, a present-day nurse reaching burn-out in her job at a trauma unit.

I send out a monthly newsletter with Deborah Carr and Georgina Troy behind the scenes book news, new series info, and early cover reveals to my subscribers. You can subscribe here:
https://deborahcarr.org/newsletter/

I also chat with readers on my Facebook Page, Deborah Carr Books:
https://www.facebook.com/DeborahCarrAuthor and my Georgina Troy Books page:
https://www.facebook.com/GeorginaTroyAuthor

I initially discuss an idea with my publisher, then I go and write an outline. This will have a logline, ie one sentence that sums up the whole book. Then I’ll list the character names and a short line or two about who they are and what part they play. I then write the hero and heroine’s backstories; what goes wrong; their conflicts (external and internal); how everything is resolved; and the ending. I send that to my publisher to look at. We then chat a bit and I take on board her comments and then if she likes the idea she’ll give me the go-ahead and I begin my research. I love researching new books.

I’ve always loved reading historical fiction. To me it is a perfect escape while also learning about people’s lives from the past.

Not at all. I don’t think anyone was more surprised than I was. To be honest I still can’t quite believe it.

It depends. Several months initially, but as I write I always find something else that I need to research to be certain I’m being as exact with what I write as possible.

I’ve just finished writing the first book in a new Georgina Troy contemporary romance series. I’m about to start writing my next book for One More Chapter. I can’t share the title yet, unfortunately, but this is a standalone set during two timelines. This book will be closer to The Poppy Field than my Mrs Boots series, or my latest book, An Island at War which was set during the Jersey Occupation when the Channel Islands were the only place in the British Isles to be invaded by the Nazi forces and which was partly inspired by my own great-grandmother and late mother-in-law.

I think AllAuthor is a fabulous, supportive site. I’ve discovered new authors and made friends, and I love the Magic Tool and Seasonal Mock-up Banners.