Author Interview with Chrissie Parker

 

Welcome Readers to another installment of our author interview series. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with Chrissie Parker, author of multiple historical novels.

JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight, Chrissie. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the perfect day look like?

CP- Thanks for hosting me! I live in Devon in the UK. I love walking, photography and exploring castles, historic homes, and ancient sites. I also enjoy lots of creative things like crafting, knitting and painting.
For me, the perfect day is getting out and about to explore somewhere new.

JMR-What’s your favorite historical time period? Why?

CP- My favourite is Ancient Egypt. It’s fascinated me since I was a child. The Egyptians were incredibly interesting people in all aspects of their lives. The temples and other buildings they created were incredible and what they did to ensure a good afterlife is utterly fascinating.

I will also admit that Nabataean history comes a very close second though. They were equally as fascinating, and the ancient site of Petra is stunning!

JMR-Who is your favorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?

CP- This is a difficult one as there are so many interesting ones.  If I must choose just one, I’d probably go back to Ancient Egypt at the time it was ruled by the female Pharoah Hatchepsut. I’d ask her what life as a female king was like and if she really was accepted by her subjects, as modern evidence shows she may not have been.

JMR- How did you come to be a writer of historical fiction?

CP- I have always loved history and archaeology. When I was at school, I wanted to be an archaeologist, but my grades weren’t good enough. I used to do a lot of writing as a child and spent my adult years writing many books but none of them gelled with me. In 2000 my husband and I visited the ancient site of Petra in Jordan, and I fell in love with it. Upon return I wrote my first published book, set in Petra, weaving together my love of archaeology, history, and writing!

JMR- Did you visit anyone of the places in your books? Where did you feel closest to your characters?

CP- Yes, all my historical fiction books are set in places I’ve visited, such as Petra, Egypt, and Greece. I love being able to immerse myself in the locations, sights, sounds and weave them through the stories I create. I think I feel closest to my characters in the locations where something important happened in their lives.

JMR- Chrissie, tell us about your new book, Among the Olive Groves.

CP- The book I’d like to highlight is Among the Olive Groves, Book 1 of the Zakynthian Family Series. It was published nine years ago, but it’s one of my reader favourites. It’s set in a dual timeline, one of which is Zakynthos during WW2. The story is about a female resistance fighter called Elena and what happens to her during the war. The story is fictional, but there are lots of facts about Zakynthos during the war woven in, which makes it more interesting for the readers. I’m highlighting it as I’m currently editing the follow-up book which should be out later this year. I’m also very proud of everything the book has achieved over the years, including the fact that it’s used as text for TIE International ESOL exams in Greece!

JMR- You co-authored a history book about the Greek island of Zakynthos. What was it like to work with a second author? How did you split the writing duties?

CP- Yes, we are in year nine of working on the book and are now at the editing stage. For me it was easy to work with another author. My co-author Louise and I had already worked together on a tourism website and we worked well together. I live in the UK, but Louise lives in Greece, so we’ve written the whole book via shared docs, messages, and video calls! It’s worked well though. We came up with the list of topics and then split them between us to match our strengths. So, Louise concentrated on things like tradition, culture, festivals etc., and I did the subjects of archaeology, geology etc. We’ve also met in the middle and divided up the other subjects, working on some together. It’s been a fun project to work on and we can’t wait to release the book.

JMR-What projects do you have in the pipeline?

CP- As well as the History book about Zakynthos, I’m currently editing A Night of Thunder, Book 2 of the Zakynthian Family series, which is a follow up to Among the Olive Groves. There was never meant to be a follow up book, but I received hundreds of messages from readers wanting to know what happened to a specific character, so I’ve now written a follow up. It’s turned out to be quite a long story, so there will also be a third and final book called Hope Under Blue Skies, Book 3 of the Zakynthian Family series.

I’ve also just finished writing another book which is currently under wraps and due to be announced soon, unfortunately I can’t share any more about it at the moment, but it’s one I have loved working on and again features a real event.

After these books I’m going to be rereleasing my first published book as it’s now out of print and I’m going to be writing another historical adventure series, but it’s still in the planning stage, so I don’t have all the details yet

JMR- Tell our readers how to find you on social media and the web.

CP- Of course, I have a website, where there’s lots more information, short Q&As as well as location photos: https://www.chrissieparker.com

I can be found on the following social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrissieParkerAuthor

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@chrissieparkerauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissieparkerauthor/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/chrissieparkerauthor

 

JMR- What question were you hoping I’d ask but didn’t?

CP- One question I get asked a lot is: Is writing historical fiction hard and do you have to do a lot of research?

My answer would be, it’s not particularly hard, but the research side is important. Readers are entering a world that was very different to the modern age and so getting the history, locations, clothing, even tone of speech right, is vital. There’s nothing worse than writing something and it being wrong! But I’d also say don’t panic over it, enjoy the research, it can be great fun and it’s one of the things I enjoy about the writing process.

JMR- Thank you, Chrissie, for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included a link to Chrissie’s books below. Please be sure to check them out.

CP – Thanks so much for hosting me today!