@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:33

Strangers In The Night | Talking about a love story for the ages with bestselling author Heather Webb

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At a crossroads in their lives, eva and Frank are together at a point in their careers where it could signal the end. Jealousy, drama, cheating and intense rose threaten their happiness threaten their careers. In their love story, Heather Webb gorgeously depicts it all in the retelling of one of the most memorable love stories of the 20th century. You all are really in fair treat when this novel comes out next month. Heather, thank you so much for being with us on Swell

#authorinterview #historicalfiction #newbooks #history #writing

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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:23

#writinglife

You've written historical fiction prolifically for anyone who is new to your work. They have so many wonderful stories to look forward to. Can you speak a bit to how you got started as a writer, specifically writing historical fiction? And how has your path led you to your forthcoming novel about Frank and Eva?
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:40

#writingadvice

I love reading historical fiction and talking to writers who delve deeply into the past and use research to inform or inspire their novels and short stories. We have a lot of writers here unswell who I know will be listening to learn from you. How does your process work as a historical fiction writer? Do you begin with research first or story first and then go to research or a combination of both, depending on what each book demands?
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:23

#askafailure

I write a newsletter and produce an ongoing series here on Swell about failure. I love talking with other writers about failure, since failure and rejection are often a part of the creative process for people. How has failure informed your trajectory at all as an artist and writer? And what's some things you've learned along the way?
@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:47

#whyimobsessed

For those who haven't yet read the novel ahead of the official release next month, what are a few of your favorite moments they can look forward to? And is there anything surprising that you discovered in your research or while you were working on this particular story that you're really excited for people to discover?
@msheatherwebb
heather webb
@msheatherwebb · 0:35
Thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted to be here. And I really loved your story about your grandmother and heading to see Frankie so excited about it and having a little fall there before she met her husband. That's such a great story. I'm finding, actually, that this is one of my favorite parts about writing this book. Book is all of the stories people have about their mothers or their grandmothers who just adored Frank Sinatra
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@msheatherwebb
heather webb
@msheatherwebb · 3:53

@bowie

And second of all, I was pregnant with my second child, so I had a toddler and an infant on the way when I was having those dreams. And I just said to my husband, you know, I think I'm going to write a book. And he looked at me like I was insane. But he was always really supportive, which is great because I just fell in love with the whole process and sort of devoured every website I could find
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@msheatherwebb
heather webb
@msheatherwebb · 3:42

@bowie

Story trumps the research every time. It really does, and it should. And I think as a historical writer, it's very easy to get bogged down in getting everything right, pumping the story full of as much information as possible, but losing sight of the character arcs and the tone and foreshadowing and all of these other things that need to be sort of layered into the manuscript
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@msheatherwebb
heather webb
@msheatherwebb · 3:50

@bowie

What a question. Failure. Well, I did write an article a while back on the writer unbox website called Failure is a Four Letter Word. And my thoughts about this are that there's really no such thing as failure in the writing life that's separate from the publishing life and think that's a really important distinction that sometimes is hard to make because we are so emotionally wedded to the things that we the books that we write, we're pumping our heart and our soul into these things
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@msheatherwebb
heather webb
@msheatherwebb · 4:23

@bowie

Are they going to appreciate what I have, given what I have done? Are they going to appreciate my talents and who I am and what happens next? And so I enjoyed exploring those concepts in sort of a background way through the book. But in terms of scenes, there are so many. I love when they fly off in a plane together. I loved the scene with Ava in Africa out on the jeep
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@bowie
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:28

@msheatherwebb thank you!

And it made me feel so excited to get back into my own little creative bubble and face the page and delve even deeper into my research. Thank you so much for being so generous. I will definitely be coming back to this conversation not only for inspiration, but also just really important reminders through the highs and the lows of this book writing process. So happy to have you on Swell and cannot wait for your next book
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