Hi, Laura! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hello! Greetings from London, my adopted hometown for the last 25 years. I was born in the city of Bristol, in the south west of the UK, but I moved here to do a master’s degree and never left. I studied politics at university and I worked in politics for the best part of 20 years, but a craving to write a novel came to me in my late twenties and refused to go away. So eventually, I bit the bullet, re-entered civilised society, and did an MA in Creative Writing. On that course I wrote the first draft of the book that became my debut novel. The Square of Sevens is my third book, but the first to be published in the US, which I’m obviously THRILLED about!

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

As a child I devoured every book in sight. I loved Joan Aitken and Diana Wynne Jones, but I also read a lot of classics and contemporary adult novels that were probably much too old for me! My parents were big readers and I was fortunate to grow up in a house full of books. My dad is an amazing story-teller, and that love for great plots as well as good prose was in me from a very early age. But it didn’t occur to me to write a book myself until quite late in life.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

Remember: the Miffy the rabbit books. I was reading them aged 2.

Author: An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

Thinking about: I think about Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre almost every day. They’re books where you discover something new and brilliant each time you read them.

Your latest novel, The Square of Sevens, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Magical, mysterious, epic, immersive, tricksy

What can readers expect?

A dive into Georgian England, from its glittering balls and assemblies to the rough ribaldry of the London fairs. My main character, Red, is a young fortune-teller who is trying to unravel the mysteries of her own past and parentage. In a Dickensian twist, she discovers that her family is at war in a famous court case over a disputed inheritance and she might be the rightful heir to that fortune. So she uses her fortune-telling skills to infiltrate her own family, encountering love, the law, and even murder along the way…

Where did the inspiration for The Square of Sevens come from?

I wanted to write a book about fortune-telling in the age of the Enlightenment. Early on in my research I came across a 19^th century book called The Square of Sevens by an American journalist, E Irenaeus Stevenson. It outlines an 18^th century method of fortune-telling with playing cards, which became central to the plot of my book. I also, in a moment of madness, decided to structure the book around the method too: the four parts of the book correspond to four fortunes that Red tells during the course of the story, and each chapter is headed by a playing card that has significance to the events in that chapter.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I loved writing the character of Red, but I have a secondary point-of-view character named Lazarus Darke who I also fell in love with. Lazarus is an antagonist to Red, but he’s a complicated character, and his story provides a lot of the emotional heart of the novel.

Another thing I loved about writing this book was the varied settings: from ancient Cornish inns to the Georgian splendour of Bath, to London society both high and low, to a grand country estate in Devon. Taking everything full circle to arrive at the end of this book was a fabulous moment, as I’d conceived the end very early on.

This is your third published novel! What are some of the key lessons you have learned when it comes to writing and the publishing world?

Try to avoid comparisonitis, however hard that is. Every author’s journey is different – and the only thing truly in your power is to write the best book you can.

Lots of people will tell you there’s a right and a wrong way to write a novel. The only right way is the way that works for you, the one that gives you a publishable novel at the end of that process, one that readers will love. I listen to other writers describe their process and I think ‘I could never do it like that’ and they think the same about mine.

One of my favourite things about writing is the combination of the noisy times when you’re out on the road doing events and giving interviews, publicising your book, and the quiet times when you’re on your sofa in your pyjamas, immersed in the really difficult, but infinitely rewarding task of writing a novel. The contrast appeals to both the introvert and the extrovert in me. I feel like this is the job I was born to do, it just took me a long time to figure that out!

What’s next for you?

I am writing another 18^th century novel about a recently widowed confectioner, who owns a beautiful shop on Piccadilly in London. Her struggle to run her business in a man’s world is thrown into confusion when the magistrate decides her husband’s death was a murder, and she falls under suspicion…

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

Apart from the novels mentioned above, I love the books of Mick Herron, Abir Mukerjee, Anna Mazzola and Catriona Ward. Basically, anything that marries clever plotting with lovely prose and I’m there!

Will you be picking up The Square of Sevens? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Author of ‘The Square of Sevens’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover just a few of our picks and tell us in the comments below if you’ll be reading any of them!

Champion of Fate by Kendare Blake
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake is back with an epic duology starter that follows a young woman training to join a fabled order as she attempts to lead a hero to his critical first victory. A must-read for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Victoria Aveyard.

The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
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The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way.

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab
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V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, opens another door to a new fantasy series set in the dazzling world of Shades of Magic.

The September House by Carissa Orlando
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A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

Fly With Me by Andie Burke
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A sparkling and steamy opposites-attract romance, Fly with Me by Andie Burke is filled with sharp banter and that sweet, swooping feeling of finding “the one” when and where you least expect it.

Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis
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The Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother’s life.

Penance by Eliza Clark
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From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls.

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig
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A small town is transformed by dark magic when a strange tree begins bearing magical apples in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie
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A spellbinding YA fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Purdie, where fairy tales come to life with dark, deadly twists.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
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A sapphic rivals to lovers rom com for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, where two soccer teammates are at odds before falling in love as their team gears up for the World Cup.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
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An orphaned fortune teller in 18th-century England searches for answers about her long-dead mother and uncovers shocking secrets in this immersive and atmospheric saga perfect for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry.

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin
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Fake dating gets a magical twist in this enchanting queer romantic comedy where a witch worries that the real feelings brewing between her and her crush were sparked by an accidental love potion, and the only way out of the disastrous spell is a healthy dose of the truth–drink up, witches.

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
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A new mystery is afoot in the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
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From bestselling author Alex Grecian comes a folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
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Enter a land of gods and monsters, soldiers and mercenaries, secrets and wishes—the explosive #1 internationally bestselling fantasy debut in a new trilogy for fans of The Witcher and Gideon the Ninth.

Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout
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From Jennifer L. Armentrout, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Blood and Ash, comes the beginning of a searing fantasy romance series for adults, Fall of Ruin and Wrath.

What September releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post September 2023 Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.