March 19, 2025 • 29 mins
Anastasia Hayward joins the podcast to sample SOPHIA WHITE AND HER SEVEN PROMISES, a unique Regency-era retelling of 'Snow White.' Anastasia shares the inspiration behind the story, her writing journey, and her approach to incorporating psychological insights into her characters. Plus, she plays LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT and reveals the rule she breaks in romance novels!
00:00 Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast
01:16 Sophia White and Her Seven Promises Excerpt
14:09 Interview with Anastasia Hayward
24:57 Love It or Leave It Game
29:04 Where to Find Anastasia's Books
30:01 Closing Remarks
Find out more about Anastasia Hayward: https://www.anastasiahistoricals.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to the historicalromance sampler podcast.
I'm your host, Katherine Grant, andeach week I introduce you to another
amazing historical romance author.
My guest reads a little sampleof their work, and then we move
into a free ranging interview.
If you like these episodes, don'tforget to subscribe to the historical
(00:24):
romance sampler, wherever youlisten to podcasts and follow us
on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode.
I am super excited to be joinedtoday by Anastasia Hayward.
Anastasia lives in the Midwestwith her husband and two little
monsters, as well as her pets.
She has been reading historicalromance, especially Regency era
(00:48):
romances, since the sixth grade.
When she decided to get her degreein psychology, her husband mentioned
that maybe it would be helpfulfor her characters and writing.
And now here she is, a bachelor'sdegree, two sons, and a lot of words
later, happy to be writing again.
Anastasia, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast.
(01:08):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, I'm really excited to hear a littlebit of your work and then talk to you.
So you're reading for us, something thatI'm guessing is fairy tale inspired,
Sophia White and Her Seven Promises.
Yeah.
I will be reading from that.
So the premise behind it is SophiaWhite and her seven promises,
(01:31):
Snow White and the seven dwarves.
And I, just as a little hint, I triedto match up the promises with a dwarf.
So I literally have a scene wherelike she's in a dusty area and trying
to make a promise, but she sneezes.
Delightful.
So, Snow White inspired butalso kind of its own story.
To Kind of prep you, the doctor findsher in the forest, she's completely
(01:56):
unconscious and he brings her back.
And then this next chapter then isher waking up and kind of coming
out of a bad nightmare and trying tofumble all of her thoughts together.
Something fundamental teased her memory.
Something more than her nightmare.
She could not quite put her fingeron what it was she had forgotten.
(02:19):
Whatever it was, she would not getto it with the state of her head.
She couldn't even move to findout what else was in the room.
Clean and white.
The walls and ceiling were cleanand white and that felt safe.
She should probably knowwhere this clean place was.
That was something she should remember.
(02:39):
Was that the thing teasing her memory?
Why couldn't she remember where she was?
The wool blanket over her felt real.
She rubbed her fingers againstthe fuzzy material and tried to
think about being in a bed under awhite ceiling with a wool blanket.
These things must add upto remembering something.
(03:02):
Her head hurt, and there was nothingelse there except for confusion and pain.
She tilted her out over so she couldsee a wooden stand and a chair.
There was a washbasin and rolled linen.
Something else was missing, though.
A chamber pot?
Daylight danced through white curtains.
The room was not bright, but light enoughthat she could tell the sun was out.
(03:24):
Another thought drifted in.
Just as her dream had left andlittle wisps, more questions
filtered into her mind.
Who is taking care of her?
Was she with family, friends?
Was there a physician, an apothecary?
Had she ever felt so alone before?
She couldn't remember.
Eventually, someone would check on her.
Someone would come in, probablyin clean clothes, and maybe they
(03:47):
would be surprised she was awake.
And that someone would say things.
It would probably hurt to process anysound, but she wanted the comforting
presence of another human beingmore than she worried about noises
feeling like nails in her skull.
She was done staring at the washbasin.
Closing her eyes, she used herears to listen for any sounds.
(04:08):
Outside, a bird tweeted.
That sounded normal.
There was not any bustle of a citystreet, so she was not anywhere busy.
Warmth seeped around her heart alongwith a sweet sort of relief that she was
recuperating in the quiet countryside.
For someone with excruciatinghead pain, there were still
little things to be grateful for.
The sun was shining, the birdswere chirping, her room was clean.
(04:30):
There was the soft click of adoor latch and she felt the room's
atmosphere change as someone came in.
It might have been a small deception,but she kept her eyes closed.
It wasn't that she didn't wantto know who entered the room.
She wanted to know what they would doif they thought she was still asleep.
Feet shuffled forward,slow and deliberate.
The steps sounded purposeful.
There was a warm, smooth touch onher wrist and a small metal click.
(04:53):
A minute later, a masculine whispermuttered, "About one hundred."
The touch moved to her head,and smooth skin delicately
brushed hair away from her neck.
Another quiet mutter.
"Bandages are fine." Why hadn't shenoticed the bandages on her head?
Why had she not felt those sooner?
Her eyes opened to see atall man hovering over her.
(05:16):
His crisp white shirt and darkwaistcoat covered a broad chest.
Her gaze traveled up a clean shaven neck,a chiseled jawline, and a masculine face.
The green golden brown of his eyesblended into a mesmerizing hazel and
dark brown eyebrows scrunched together.
His eyebrows perfectly matched thecolor of his short hair and she focused
on how soft it looked with the dullsunlight behind the fine strands.
(05:37):
" You are awake." He left her sideto drag over the wooden chair.
His voice, deep and calming,blanketed her mind in comfort.
If only she could remember who he was.
How long had she been sleeping?
His lips, a healthy shadeof rosewood, smiled at her.
She found his every movement fartoo intriguing and swallowed, self
conscious of her unhealthy state.
(05:58):
This was the man taking care of her whileshe was stuck in bed, wrapped in bandages?
He had touched her a momentago and suddenly the gesture
felt much more personal thanit probably had been for him.
His voice warm, low, and blessedly quiet.
He said, "Hello." She parted her lips.
The simple statement, reassuring her shewanted to say something back, anything.
(06:20):
Her throat did know how to make sounds.
Did it not?
He went on.
"Perhaps I should say good morning.If you are up to it, I will have
breakfast brought up." She didn'thave to respond to him with words.
Her rumbling stomach did thatfor her while warm embarrassment
traveled up her neck.
He laughed, a sound she couldlisten to all day, far better
than the chirping of the birds.
Now that she knew it was morning,her mind latched onto that tidbit
(06:42):
and found a soothing amount ofnormalcy in knowing the time of day.
Finally, she found her voice.
"Good morning?" He immediately stood,and she winced at how scratchy her
voice sounded even in her own ears.
He brought her a sip of water andthe clear taste of it washed some of
the wool feeling out of her mouth.
He asked, "how does your headfeel?" "Excruciating." He nodded
(07:03):
as if he knew the extent of herinjuries and understood them.
His every action made her feel validated.
He held her finger upin front of her face.
"Can you follow the movement of my fingerwith your eyes?" He moved his finger back
and forth and she tried to follow it.
A sear of pain behind hereyes made her whimper.
He nodded and withdrew his finger.
(07:24):
"What is your name?" He asked it as ifhe had a list for a routine inspection.
How is your head?
Follow my finger.
What is your name?
She opened her mouth becausethat is what one did when one
started to answer a question.
She closed her mouth because thatis what one did when they realized
they did not know what to say.
She tried again.
(07:45):
"I..." He prompted her softly.
"Your name?" "I..." He pressed his lipstogether in a line, the simple gesture
slicing her with doubt and worry.
She tried to pull letters orsounds into her head, anything that
sounded familiar, but nothing came.
After stuttering over a few of the commonconsonant sounds, she sobbed, "I don't
(08:08):
know." She didn't know who she was.
She didn't know where she was,what happened to her, who he
was, how long she had been here.
She didn't know her name.
What was wrong with her?
What kind of a persondidn't know their name?
The truly broken kind.
And that was it.
That was the thing teasing her head.
The thing she had beenavoiding since having woken.
(08:30):
She had no memory, none at all.
She could speak, and she knewthings about the countryside and
the birds, but when she thoughtabout herself, there was nothing.
She was a featureless shadowin a world of sunshine.
He thumped into the chair andclasped her hand in his, his
grip encompassing and gentle.
She watched his hazel eyesas they settled on her face.
He was the epitome of calm, and he mustsomehow be sharing some of it with her.
(08:54):
She took a deep breath, sniffled,and waited for him to say anything.
When he was quiet, shelatched onto an idea of hope.
"You must know who I am. It ismy head wound, is it not? It has
affected my memory, but you can tellme my name." He shook his head and
she realized how much she had putinto that quick thought of hope.
(09:15):
Her body felt as if it were plummetingback into the shadows, despair leeching
away everything, her eyes closing.
He squeezed her fingers.
She wasn't sure if the gesture wasmeant to reassure her or remind
her that he was still there.
He said, "You are safe here. It isnot unexpected to forget some things.
You are correct that you are healingfrom a head wound and we will focus
on that healing one step at a time."
(09:37):
Safe.
She did feel safe.
She felt lonely, useless, fullof despair, and pain circulated
through her entire body.
But she did feel safe.
He went on, "We will focus on thesmall things for now. Rest is a must.
It is the best thing for you andI know many things must hurt right
now." Even though she had no memory,she was certain that was the most
(10:00):
understated comment she had ever heard.
Everything hurt.
A lot.
"But together we will make it better.
Your body is healing and it is my hopethat in time your mind will as well.
One step at a time.
You have cuts and bruises, many ofwhich are already looking better.
Your head wound is healing.
That simple fact that you are awakenow brings immense relief to me.
(10:21):
It shows me that we will continue tomove forward with this process." He
spoke of hope when she had so little.
Then he split his hand fromhers, gave her fingers a little
pat, and she heard him stand.
He had hope, but he wasn't the one lyingin bed, bandaged, bruised, and broken.
Tired, her eyes were alreadyclosed, but a heaviness tugged on
(10:41):
the rest of her, pulling her downinto the deep spiral of sleep.
She managed to blink her eyes a moment,expecting to see him standing there.
She hadn't heard him move away.
He was gone and she realized, belatedly,that not only did she not know
her name, but she didn't know his.
Adding it to the pile of thingsshe didn't know, she felt the
weight of all the things shedidn't even know she didn't know.
(11:02):
No, that was the weight of her sleepinesstugging her deeper down the spiral.
There was probably another nightmarewaiting for her at the bottom, but
she was too tired to stay awake.
Wow, what a exciting andscary kind of excerpt.
I mean, not scary spooky, but thereare a lot of big emotions there.
(11:23):
Yeah that's why I chose it.
I had one of my ARC readers kind ofpoint it out is she really liked,
She kind of privately messaged meto say she liked my approach to just
handling all those big emotions.
I know Snow White is a fairytale and a lot of people think
like, oh, a Disney princess.
But I, for me, I also feel like there'sthe Grimm fairy tales then that like,
(11:48):
Those are not fairytale Disney princesses.
So some of my story is a little bit moreof that fairytale feel, but some of it
is also just exploring some of thosedarker concepts because I feel like
stories are a safe place to do that.
Yeah.
Well, I have a lot of questions foryou, but first we're going to take
a quick break for our sponsors.
(12:08):
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All right, well, I am back withAnastasia Hayward, who just read
Sophia White and Her Seven Promises.
(13:15):
And as you were saying, this is aSnow White story, but also you're
taking inspiration from the Grimmfairy tale as well as the Disney.
So what is it about the Snow Whitestory that made you want to tackle it?
You know, of everything, I kind of cameup with the title first, I was just, I
like playing around with words, and Iwas like, I, I just kind of came up with
(13:37):
this title but Snow White I kind of hada funky childhood, I spent a lot of time
with my grandma growing up, and she hadthe original Disney Snow White VHS tape.
So I, every time I visited her,like, that's, was the movie she
had, so that's what I would watch.
So, I guess kind of rooted intomy childhood, I, you know, I loved
(13:59):
Cinderella, I loved Sleeping Beautyand all the classics, but Snow White
kind of has a special place, cause Iconnect it to connecting with my family.
Yeah.
So I wanted to write something that I feltlike also has some Family explorations and
feelings about what makes a family and,you know, why do we connect with people?
(14:23):
Right, well, yeah, in the story of SnowWhite, it's as much about her connecting
with the dwarves as it is a romance.
Mm hmm.
And the amnesia trope is a reallyfun, like, historical romance.
trope, that we don't see that much thesedays, I think because it's kind of so big
that it's like, what do we do with this?
So what inspired you to takethat on and how did you think
(14:47):
about it as you were writing it?
Yeah, I I guess I kind of saw theamnesia trope as also a second chance.
You know, like, it's a way to, ifyou're not sure, because in, in
chapter one, my main character, shereally just isn't happy with her life.
(15:09):
And she's kind of feel stuck where sheis so through a series of unfortunate
circumstances, she finds herselfwith amnesia, but I also saw it
connecting with the doctor characterIt was a second chance for her to
kind of explore who do I want to be.
If I'm starting from zero, if I havenothing, who do I get to be now?
(15:32):
And just following those littlepersonality decisions that you
know, what am I doing becauseit's rooted in who I am?
What am I doing becausethat's the environment I'm in?
And just kind of getting to be whoyou think you want to be when you're
given a second chance to do it.
Yeah.
Do you feel that you approach yourcharacters from a framework of
(15:57):
psychology principles since youdo have this degree in psychology?
Probably.
I don't know if I think about it,like, like, oh, I, I studied this and
now I'm applying these, like, traits.
I don't know.
I don't think about it quitethat far, but probably.
I think I was drawn to gettingmy degree in psychology because
(16:19):
I just like thinking that way.
And I wanted more of a foundation on it.
And I guess my husband was right.
I really do pull it in morethan I thought I would.
Yeah.
Well, the idea of like, okay, let'sstrip away the environment and
see, is her personality different?
I think that's.
That's a fun psychologyexperiment that you're playing.
(16:40):
So you mentioned in your bio thatyou're a big Regency romance fan.
Is this story centered in Regency Britain,or is it more of like a fairy tale world
where it could be any historical era?
Yeah.
It's Regency Britain.
The story starts in London andthen travels a little bit out to
the country it takes place in.
(17:02):
And I am always nervousto say British things.
You know, like, I look up so manythings on, like, Google and I click
the, like, say this for me button.
I think it's called Painswick.
It's a little town outside of London.
far outside of London.
But I guess it's known for having reallygreat, just beautiful rolling hills.
(17:23):
So I was like, if I wanna set myfairytale ish story somewhere, maybe
these beautiful rolling hills kindof in a, Potentially forested area
might be a nice place to do it.
Yeah.
And what is your approach toresearching the Regency period?
How does it fit intoyour creative process?
Yeah I definitely researchmore as I'm writing.
(17:48):
I am the kind of person, some authorsare told, you know, just put something
in brackets and come to it later.
I cannot.
If I come to something and I'm writingit and I'm like, how did they do that?
And I stop and I research it andI'm pulling stuff up online and I'm
looking at this now and I definitelygo down that research rabbit hole.
So, but that's, I, I like it though.
(18:09):
I like.
I don't know.
A little exploration of history thatI get to kind of pull myself along for
this little historical adventure now.
Yeah.
I always say like I'ma nerd for two things.
I'm a nerd for romance andI'm a nerd for history.
And so it's like so fun tobe able to combine them.
(18:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Who are some of your biggestinfluences in terms of Regency
or historical romance authors?
You know, I think she's maybe underrated.
I don't feel like I hear abouther a lot, but one of my favorite
authors that I've been reading,like, since I've been reading romance
is I have one of her books here.
(18:51):
Barbara Metzger, she'slike a older author.
Actually, I think Barbara Metzgerpassed away a few years ago.
So she is no longer writing, buther books are she just does great.
She always has just these wildstories, but her characters feel so.
real and she unravels her story in such aninteresting way that I, I love her writing
(19:16):
and I feel like her writing has aged well.
For example, the book I just held up,Lady Wilton's Wedding the premise is
that Lady Wilton is like older, she'sbeen married a couple times, and so
the main character is her daughter whohas to hide a body because she doesn't
want to ruin her mother's wedding.
(19:37):
Wow.
So she's yeah, so I just, she'sprobably one of my favorite
authors and whenever I think about,like, How can I approach this?
What will make this interesting?
How can I let this unravel?
I, I think about her and whatI like about her books and her
writing and how she tells stories.
(19:58):
Yeah, that's really cool.
I've never heard of her before, soI'm gonna go download some of her
books and see what it's all about.
And I know you said that you came to thisstory partly from the title, but how do Do
you always start with just like a title oris it more character based, trope based?
(20:19):
I think I, it helps me to start withan idea or a theme and then kind
of explore what if I was to writethat, what does that mean to me?
So like, when writing Snow White,like, I had this theme, but I was
like, how could I write it my way?
How could I turn SnowWhite into a Regency story?
(20:40):
How could I turn itinto more of a romance?
How, you know, and I just startedasking all these questions, and I
start building and I start slowlybuilding a character and a general
idea of what a story might look like.
But yeah, whenever I start with something,I always try to start with like a, a
theme and then branch out from there.
(21:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
In your bio, you kind of saidthat like you're writing again.
So when did you start creative writing?
I guess, I mean, on and off.
I tried writing a book years ago,at least ten years ago, and it was
such a mess that I just dropped it.
I was like, this isn't even worth editing.
(21:21):
Was that historical romance as well?
No, it was just an Explorationof storytelling and, I don't
know, figuring out writing.
It was a time and shift adventurestory where someone went back in
time to ancient Egypt and thenwanted to get back to their own time.
(21:42):
Okay.
I wrote that a long
time ago.
And so then what do you think broughtyou to writing historical romance?
I guess, cause I, I didn't get my degree,like, I didn't grow to high school and
then get my degree, which I guess is whyI bring it up in my bio, like, it was
a big accomplishment for me to, like,graduate and then not immediately go on
(22:03):
to that and then later in my adult lifebe like, I think this is something I want.
Yeah.
So I kind of, I, I feel like I had alife before, and then like I paused
everything to like throw into finishingmy degree, and then that's kind of why
like I finally came back to writing.
Yeah, and then I came back to RegencyRomance I guess then because once I
(22:26):
was able to come back to writing Ijust kind of had to sit myself down
and, you know, ask myself, Anna.
If you're going to try to writesomething, like, what would it be?
And obviously, like, writewhat you know, right?
What would you read?
And that's it.
This is what I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, that's great.
And do you feel like you've have therebeen any discoveries about the genre as
(22:50):
you've transitioned from being a reader?
I mean, obviously you're stilla reader, but from now becoming
a writer as well, have youdiscovered anything about the genre?
I think the biggest thing I'vediscovered is that being a reader does
not prepare you for the historicalintricacies of being a writer.
You know, as a reader, you canjust enjoy all the little things
(23:13):
like Oh, Lord, blah, blah, blah.
And Hello, sir, blah, blah, blah.
And but then as a writer, you're like,What are the actual rules for that?
I need to know these things.
My readers are relying onme knowing these things.
It's, it's pressure.
Yes.
Yeah.
And there's so much as areader that you're just kind of
(23:34):
like Oh, I think I know that.
But then if you actually have tolike, write out the rule or decide
for yourself, what is the differencebetween a barouche and a cabriolet?
I still don't know and I haveto look it up every time.
Alright, well, I think it's timefor us to play Love It or Leave It.
(23:56):
[Musical Interlude]
Love It or Leave It.
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10 percent of the story.
Love it.
Love it.
Like, phase one is fine with me.
Love It or Leave It.
Dual point of view narration.
Love it.
(24:16):
I like getting both perspectives.
Love it or leave it,third person, past tense.
I love it.
And like for all genres, Idon't know, it's, I feel weird
reading things in first person.
You'd like us to bring thirdperson, past tense, dual point of
view, across the board, any novel.
(24:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably the rare one out for that, but.
Alright, love it or leave it,third act, breakup, or dark moment.
I love it, and I have been watching thesebecause I feel like it's such a split,
and I want to say I love it because Ithink it's important in a romance to give
(25:02):
that moment where each person chooses theother person, and if you're always with
them, You don't have a moment on yourown to decide, this is what I choose.
So, I know it's like, there'sso many reasons, and every time
I hear someone give an opinion,I'm like, that's a good point.
But,
(25:23):
I, I say love it, because I love theopportunity that it presents, even though
it's a dark moment, and it's difficult.
I love the choice at the end thatcomes out of that dark moment.
Yeah, well said.
Love it or leave it alwaysend with an epilogue.
Leave it?
(25:45):
I don't, you know, it's a romance andonce we're happily ever after I just
assume we're happily ever after now.
Fair enough.
All right, love it or leave it alwaysshare research in the author's note.
Ambivalent?
I, I like it if there's because sometimesyou stumble across things that, like,
(26:07):
are just fun to share but I guess Idon't feel like it's always necessary.
I don't know.
Ambivalent.
I like reading it, but I don't have to.
All right.
And are there any other romance rulesthat I didn't ask about that you break?
Hmm.
That I break.
Or play with.
(26:27):
Yeah.
Then, push those boundaries.
Yeah, In Sophia White, I wrote kids.
There's children in it.
And whenever I read children inromance, they're always such like
little side characters, if they're init, or it's like it, he's taking care
of the baby, but it's not really his.
And like, in my book,like, They're his kids.
(26:49):
There's no question.
He loves them to pieces.
And like, they're kind of animportant part of the story
because she makes promises to them.
And they help her figure out who she is.
And I, I feel like I broke a littlebit of an unwritten rule that You
know, children are always backgroundcharacters, but like, that's not me.
That's my life.
I love my kids to pieces and Iguess I included that in my story.
(27:11):
I couldn't not.
I love that.
I, I think I think children are veryhard to include in a story because they
have to be treated as, a character justlike an adult is treated like a character
and be kind of, you know, a full human.
(27:31):
And sometimes that they're just treatedas kind of like, you know, dolls.
And sometimes they're just terrors.
And there's not a lot of like, complexchildren who are both good and annoying.
Yeah, that's my personal.
I'm not a mother.
(27:51):
No, good.
And.
Annoying little terrorist.
Yeah.
Nope.
You got it.
Well, thank you so much forplaying Love It or Leave It.
Before we go, where can readers findyour books and you on the internet?
Yeah, I I am in Kindle Unlimited,so I am only on Amazon.
(28:13):
Sophia was, is going to come out inMarch, so you could find me at my website,
which is anastasiahistoricals.com.
You can find my, all of my options there,any freebies that I have or anything.
You could sign up and download for those.
And then Otherwise, just on Amazon,Anastasia Hayward, and then hopefully
I'll have my next in series out soon, soI won't leave you hanging with this story.
(28:38):
Awesome.
So Sophia White and Her Seven Promisesis releasing this month, and so
rush on over to Amazon to view someof the first readers, and don't
forget to leave a review, becausethat really helps every author.
Yes.
Yeah, well, thank you so much, Anastasia.
I really appreciate you comingon and sharing your book with us.
Yes, thank you.
(28:58):
Thank you for having me.
That's it for this week!
Don't forget to subscribe to theHistorical Romance Sampler wherever
you listen, and follow us onInstagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Until next week, happy reading!
Welcome to the historicalromance sampler podcast.
I'm your host, Katherine Grant, andeach week I introduce you to another
amazing historical romance author.
My guest reads a little sampleof their work, and then we move
into a free ranging interview.
If you like these episodes, don'tforget to subscribe to the historical
(00:24):
romance sampler, wherever youlisten to podcasts and follow us
on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode.
I am super excited to be joinedtoday by Anastasia Hayward.
Anastasia lives in the Midwestwith her husband and two little
monsters, as well as her pets.
She has been reading historicalromance, especially Regency era
(00:48):
romances, since the sixth grade.
When she decided to get her degreein psychology, her husband mentioned
that maybe it would be helpfulfor her characters and writing.
And now here she is, a bachelor'sdegree, two sons, and a lot of words
later, happy to be writing again.
Anastasia, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast.
(01:08):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, I'm really excited to hear a littlebit of your work and then talk to you.
So you're reading for us, something thatI'm guessing is fairy tale inspired,
Sophia White and Her Seven Promises.
Yeah.
I will be reading from that.
So the premise behind it is SophiaWhite and her seven promises,
(01:31):
Snow White and the seven dwarves.
And I, just as a little hint, I triedto match up the promises with a dwarf.
So I literally have a scene wherelike she's in a dusty area and trying
to make a promise, but she sneezes.
Delightful.
So, Snow White inspired butalso kind of its own story.
To Kind of prep you, the doctor findsher in the forest, she's completely
(01:56):
unconscious and he brings her back.
And then this next chapter then isher waking up and kind of coming
out of a bad nightmare and trying tofumble all of her thoughts together.
Something fundamental teased her memory.
Something more than her nightmare.
She could not quite put her fingeron what it was she had forgotten.
(02:19):
Whatever it was, she would not getto it with the state of her head.
She couldn't even move to findout what else was in the room.
Clean and white.
The walls and ceiling were cleanand white and that felt safe.
She should probably knowwhere this clean place was.
That was something she should remember.
(02:39):
Was that the thing teasing her memory?
Why couldn't she remember where she was?
The wool blanket over her felt real.
She rubbed her fingers againstthe fuzzy material and tried to
think about being in a bed under awhite ceiling with a wool blanket.
These things must add upto remembering something.
(03:02):
Her head hurt, and there was nothingelse there except for confusion and pain.
She tilted her out over so she couldsee a wooden stand and a chair.
There was a washbasin and rolled linen.
Something else was missing, though.
A chamber pot?
Daylight danced through white curtains.
The room was not bright, but light enoughthat she could tell the sun was out.
(03:24):
Another thought drifted in.
Just as her dream had left andlittle wisps, more questions
filtered into her mind.
Who is taking care of her?
Was she with family, friends?
Was there a physician, an apothecary?
Had she ever felt so alone before?
She couldn't remember.
Eventually, someone would check on her.
Someone would come in, probablyin clean clothes, and maybe they
(03:47):
would be surprised she was awake.
And that someone would say things.
It would probably hurt to process anysound, but she wanted the comforting
presence of another human beingmore than she worried about noises
feeling like nails in her skull.
She was done staring at the washbasin.
Closing her eyes, she used herears to listen for any sounds.
(04:08):
Outside, a bird tweeted.
That sounded normal.
There was not any bustle of a citystreet, so she was not anywhere busy.
Warmth seeped around her heart alongwith a sweet sort of relief that she was
recuperating in the quiet countryside.
For someone with excruciatinghead pain, there were still
little things to be grateful for.
The sun was shining, the birdswere chirping, her room was clean.
(04:30):
There was the soft click of adoor latch and she felt the room's
atmosphere change as someone came in.
It might have been a small deception,but she kept her eyes closed.
It wasn't that she didn't wantto know who entered the room.
She wanted to know what they would doif they thought she was still asleep.
Feet shuffled forward,slow and deliberate.
The steps sounded purposeful.
There was a warm, smooth touch onher wrist and a small metal click.
(04:53):
A minute later, a masculine whispermuttered, "About one hundred."
The touch moved to her head,and smooth skin delicately
brushed hair away from her neck.
Another quiet mutter.
"Bandages are fine." Why hadn't shenoticed the bandages on her head?
Why had she not felt those sooner?
Her eyes opened to see atall man hovering over her.
(05:16):
His crisp white shirt and darkwaistcoat covered a broad chest.
Her gaze traveled up a clean shaven neck,a chiseled jawline, and a masculine face.
The green golden brown of his eyesblended into a mesmerizing hazel and
dark brown eyebrows scrunched together.
His eyebrows perfectly matched thecolor of his short hair and she focused
on how soft it looked with the dullsunlight behind the fine strands.
(05:37):
" You are awake." He left her sideto drag over the wooden chair.
His voice, deep and calming,blanketed her mind in comfort.
If only she could remember who he was.
How long had she been sleeping?
His lips, a healthy shadeof rosewood, smiled at her.
She found his every movement fartoo intriguing and swallowed, self
conscious of her unhealthy state.
(05:58):
This was the man taking care of her whileshe was stuck in bed, wrapped in bandages?
He had touched her a momentago and suddenly the gesture
felt much more personal thanit probably had been for him.
His voice warm, low, and blessedly quiet.
He said, "Hello." She parted her lips.
The simple statement, reassuring her shewanted to say something back, anything.
(06:20):
Her throat did know how to make sounds.
Did it not?
He went on.
"Perhaps I should say good morning.If you are up to it, I will have
breakfast brought up." She didn'thave to respond to him with words.
Her rumbling stomach did thatfor her while warm embarrassment
traveled up her neck.
He laughed, a sound she couldlisten to all day, far better
than the chirping of the birds.
Now that she knew it was morning,her mind latched onto that tidbit
(06:42):
and found a soothing amount ofnormalcy in knowing the time of day.
Finally, she found her voice.
"Good morning?" He immediately stood,and she winced at how scratchy her
voice sounded even in her own ears.
He brought her a sip of water andthe clear taste of it washed some of
the wool feeling out of her mouth.
He asked, "how does your headfeel?" "Excruciating." He nodded
(07:03):
as if he knew the extent of herinjuries and understood them.
His every action made her feel validated.
He held her finger upin front of her face.
"Can you follow the movement of my fingerwith your eyes?" He moved his finger back
and forth and she tried to follow it.
A sear of pain behind hereyes made her whimper.
He nodded and withdrew his finger.
(07:24):
"What is your name?" He asked it as ifhe had a list for a routine inspection.
How is your head?
Follow my finger.
What is your name?
She opened her mouth becausethat is what one did when one
started to answer a question.
She closed her mouth because thatis what one did when they realized
they did not know what to say.
She tried again.
(07:45):
"I..." He prompted her softly.
"Your name?" "I..." He pressed his lipstogether in a line, the simple gesture
slicing her with doubt and worry.
She tried to pull letters orsounds into her head, anything that
sounded familiar, but nothing came.
After stuttering over a few of the commonconsonant sounds, she sobbed, "I don't
(08:08):
know." She didn't know who she was.
She didn't know where she was,what happened to her, who he
was, how long she had been here.
She didn't know her name.
What was wrong with her?
What kind of a persondidn't know their name?
The truly broken kind.
And that was it.
That was the thing teasing her head.
The thing she had beenavoiding since having woken.
(08:30):
She had no memory, none at all.
She could speak, and she knewthings about the countryside and
the birds, but when she thoughtabout herself, there was nothing.
She was a featureless shadowin a world of sunshine.
He thumped into the chair andclasped her hand in his, his
grip encompassing and gentle.
She watched his hazel eyesas they settled on her face.
He was the epitome of calm, and he mustsomehow be sharing some of it with her.
(08:54):
She took a deep breath, sniffled,and waited for him to say anything.
When he was quiet, shelatched onto an idea of hope.
"You must know who I am. It ismy head wound, is it not? It has
affected my memory, but you can tellme my name." He shook his head and
she realized how much she had putinto that quick thought of hope.
(09:15):
Her body felt as if it were plummetingback into the shadows, despair leeching
away everything, her eyes closing.
He squeezed her fingers.
She wasn't sure if the gesture wasmeant to reassure her or remind
her that he was still there.
He said, "You are safe here. It isnot unexpected to forget some things.
You are correct that you are healingfrom a head wound and we will focus
on that healing one step at a time."
(09:37):
Safe.
She did feel safe.
She felt lonely, useless, fullof despair, and pain circulated
through her entire body.
But she did feel safe.
He went on, "We will focus on thesmall things for now. Rest is a must.
It is the best thing for you andI know many things must hurt right
now." Even though she had no memory,she was certain that was the most
(10:00):
understated comment she had ever heard.
Everything hurt.
A lot.
"But together we will make it better.
Your body is healing and it is my hopethat in time your mind will as well.
One step at a time.
You have cuts and bruises, many ofwhich are already looking better.
Your head wound is healing.
That simple fact that you are awakenow brings immense relief to me.
(10:21):
It shows me that we will continue tomove forward with this process." He
spoke of hope when she had so little.
Then he split his hand fromhers, gave her fingers a little
pat, and she heard him stand.
He had hope, but he wasn't the one lyingin bed, bandaged, bruised, and broken.
Tired, her eyes were alreadyclosed, but a heaviness tugged on
(10:41):
the rest of her, pulling her downinto the deep spiral of sleep.
She managed to blink her eyes a moment,expecting to see him standing there.
She hadn't heard him move away.
He was gone and she realized, belatedly,that not only did she not know
her name, but she didn't know his.
Adding it to the pile of thingsshe didn't know, she felt the
weight of all the things shedidn't even know she didn't know.
(11:02):
No, that was the weight of her sleepinesstugging her deeper down the spiral.
There was probably another nightmarewaiting for her at the bottom, but
she was too tired to stay awake.
Wow, what a exciting andscary kind of excerpt.
I mean, not scary spooky, but thereare a lot of big emotions there.
(11:23):
Yeah that's why I chose it.
I had one of my ARC readers kind ofpoint it out is she really liked,
She kind of privately messaged meto say she liked my approach to just
handling all those big emotions.
I know Snow White is a fairytale and a lot of people think
like, oh, a Disney princess.
But I, for me, I also feel like there'sthe Grimm fairy tales then that like,
(11:48):
Those are not fairytale Disney princesses.
So some of my story is a little bit moreof that fairytale feel, but some of it
is also just exploring some of thosedarker concepts because I feel like
stories are a safe place to do that.
Yeah.
Well, I have a lot of questions foryou, but first we're going to take
a quick break for our sponsors.
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All right, well, I am back withAnastasia Hayward, who just read
Sophia White and Her Seven Promises.
(13:15):
And as you were saying, this is aSnow White story, but also you're
taking inspiration from the Grimmfairy tale as well as the Disney.
So what is it about the Snow Whitestory that made you want to tackle it?
You know, of everything, I kind of cameup with the title first, I was just, I
like playing around with words, and Iwas like, I, I just kind of came up with
(13:37):
this title but Snow White I kind of hada funky childhood, I spent a lot of time
with my grandma growing up, and she hadthe original Disney Snow White VHS tape.
So I, every time I visited her,like, that's, was the movie she
had, so that's what I would watch.
So, I guess kind of rooted intomy childhood, I, you know, I loved
(13:59):
Cinderella, I loved Sleeping Beautyand all the classics, but Snow White
kind of has a special place, cause Iconnect it to connecting with my family.
Yeah.
So I wanted to write something that I feltlike also has some Family explorations and
feelings about what makes a family and,you know, why do we connect with people?
(14:23):
Right, well, yeah, in the story of SnowWhite, it's as much about her connecting
with the dwarves as it is a romance.
Mm hmm.
And the amnesia trope is a reallyfun, like, historical romance.
trope, that we don't see that much thesedays, I think because it's kind of so big
that it's like, what do we do with this?
So what inspired you to takethat on and how did you think
(14:47):
about it as you were writing it?
Yeah, I I guess I kind of saw theamnesia trope as also a second chance.
You know, like, it's a way to, ifyou're not sure, because in, in
chapter one, my main character, shereally just isn't happy with her life.
(15:09):
And she's kind of feel stuck where sheis so through a series of unfortunate
circumstances, she finds herselfwith amnesia, but I also saw it
connecting with the doctor characterIt was a second chance for her to
kind of explore who do I want to be.
If I'm starting from zero, if I havenothing, who do I get to be now?
(15:32):
And just following those littlepersonality decisions that you
know, what am I doing becauseit's rooted in who I am?
What am I doing becausethat's the environment I'm in?
And just kind of getting to be whoyou think you want to be when you're
given a second chance to do it.
Yeah.
Do you feel that you approach yourcharacters from a framework of
(15:57):
psychology principles since youdo have this degree in psychology?
Probably.
I don't know if I think about it,like, like, oh, I, I studied this and
now I'm applying these, like, traits.
I don't know.
I don't think about it quitethat far, but probably.
I think I was drawn to gettingmy degree in psychology because
(16:19):
I just like thinking that way.
And I wanted more of a foundation on it.
And I guess my husband was right.
I really do pull it in morethan I thought I would.
Yeah.
Well, the idea of like, okay, let'sstrip away the environment and
see, is her personality different?
I think that's.
That's a fun psychologyexperiment that you're playing.
(16:40):
So you mentioned in your bio thatyou're a big Regency romance fan.
Is this story centered in Regency Britain,or is it more of like a fairy tale world
where it could be any historical era?
Yeah.
It's Regency Britain.
The story starts in London andthen travels a little bit out to
the country it takes place in.
(17:02):
And I am always nervousto say British things.
You know, like, I look up so manythings on, like, Google and I click
the, like, say this for me button.
I think it's called Painswick.
It's a little town outside of London.
far outside of London.
But I guess it's known for having reallygreat, just beautiful rolling hills.
(17:23):
So I was like, if I wanna set myfairytale ish story somewhere, maybe
these beautiful rolling hills kindof in a, Potentially forested area
might be a nice place to do it.
Yeah.
And what is your approach toresearching the Regency period?
How does it fit intoyour creative process?
Yeah I definitely researchmore as I'm writing.
(17:48):
I am the kind of person, some authorsare told, you know, just put something
in brackets and come to it later.
I cannot.
If I come to something and I'm writingit and I'm like, how did they do that?
And I stop and I research it andI'm pulling stuff up online and I'm
looking at this now and I definitelygo down that research rabbit hole.
So, but that's, I, I like it though.
(18:09):
I like.
I don't know.
A little exploration of history thatI get to kind of pull myself along for
this little historical adventure now.
Yeah.
I always say like I'ma nerd for two things.
I'm a nerd for romance andI'm a nerd for history.
And so it's like so fun tobe able to combine them.
(18:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Who are some of your biggestinfluences in terms of Regency
or historical romance authors?
You know, I think she's maybe underrated.
I don't feel like I hear abouther a lot, but one of my favorite
authors that I've been reading,like, since I've been reading romance
is I have one of her books here.
(18:51):
Barbara Metzger, she'slike a older author.
Actually, I think Barbara Metzgerpassed away a few years ago.
So she is no longer writing, buther books are she just does great.
She always has just these wildstories, but her characters feel so.
real and she unravels her story in such aninteresting way that I, I love her writing
(19:16):
and I feel like her writing has aged well.
For example, the book I just held up,Lady Wilton's Wedding the premise is
that Lady Wilton is like older, she'sbeen married a couple times, and so
the main character is her daughter whohas to hide a body because she doesn't
want to ruin her mother's wedding.
(19:37):
Wow.
So she's yeah, so I just, she'sprobably one of my favorite
authors and whenever I think about,like, How can I approach this?
What will make this interesting?
How can I let this unravel?
I, I think about her and whatI like about her books and her
writing and how she tells stories.
(19:58):
Yeah, that's really cool.
I've never heard of her before, soI'm gonna go download some of her
books and see what it's all about.
And I know you said that you came to thisstory partly from the title, but how do Do
you always start with just like a title oris it more character based, trope based?
(20:19):
I think I, it helps me to start withan idea or a theme and then kind
of explore what if I was to writethat, what does that mean to me?
So like, when writing Snow White,like, I had this theme, but I was
like, how could I write it my way?
How could I turn SnowWhite into a Regency story?
(20:40):
How could I turn itinto more of a romance?
How, you know, and I just startedasking all these questions, and I
start building and I start slowlybuilding a character and a general
idea of what a story might look like.
But yeah, whenever I start with something,I always try to start with like a, a
theme and then branch out from there.
(21:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
In your bio, you kind of saidthat like you're writing again.
So when did you start creative writing?
I guess, I mean, on and off.
I tried writing a book years ago,at least ten years ago, and it was
such a mess that I just dropped it.
I was like, this isn't even worth editing.
(21:21):
Was that historical romance as well?
No, it was just an Explorationof storytelling and, I don't
know, figuring out writing.
It was a time and shift adventurestory where someone went back in
time to ancient Egypt and thenwanted to get back to their own time.
(21:42):
Okay.
I wrote that a long
time ago.
And so then what do you think broughtyou to writing historical romance?
I guess, cause I, I didn't get my degree,like, I didn't grow to high school and
then get my degree, which I guess is whyI bring it up in my bio, like, it was
a big accomplishment for me to, like,graduate and then not immediately go on
(22:03):
to that and then later in my adult lifebe like, I think this is something I want.
Yeah.
So I kind of, I, I feel like I had alife before, and then like I paused
everything to like throw into finishingmy degree, and then that's kind of why
like I finally came back to writing.
Yeah, and then I came back to RegencyRomance I guess then because once I
(22:26):
was able to come back to writing Ijust kind of had to sit myself down
and, you know, ask myself, Anna.
If you're going to try to writesomething, like, what would it be?
And obviously, like, writewhat you know, right?
What would you read?
And that's it.
This is what I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, that's great.
And do you feel like you've have therebeen any discoveries about the genre as
(22:50):
you've transitioned from being a reader?
I mean, obviously you're stilla reader, but from now becoming
a writer as well, have youdiscovered anything about the genre?
I think the biggest thing I'vediscovered is that being a reader does
not prepare you for the historicalintricacies of being a writer.
You know, as a reader, you canjust enjoy all the little things
(23:13):
like Oh, Lord, blah, blah, blah.
And Hello, sir, blah, blah, blah.
And but then as a writer, you're like,What are the actual rules for that?
I need to know these things.
My readers are relying onme knowing these things.
It's, it's pressure.
Yes.
Yeah.
And there's so much as areader that you're just kind of
(23:34):
like Oh, I think I know that.
But then if you actually have tolike, write out the rule or decide
for yourself, what is the differencebetween a barouche and a cabriolet?
I still don't know and I haveto look it up every time.
Alright, well, I think it's timefor us to play Love It or Leave It.
(23:56):
[Musical Interlude]
Love It or Leave It.
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10 percent of the story.
Love it.
Love it.
Like, phase one is fine with me.
Love It or Leave It.
Dual point of view narration.
Love it.
(24:16):
I like getting both perspectives.
Love it or leave it,third person, past tense.
I love it.
And like for all genres, Idon't know, it's, I feel weird
reading things in first person.
You'd like us to bring thirdperson, past tense, dual point of
view, across the board, any novel.
(24:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably the rare one out for that, but.
Alright, love it or leave it,third act, breakup, or dark moment.
I love it, and I have been watching thesebecause I feel like it's such a split,
and I want to say I love it because Ithink it's important in a romance to give
(25:02):
that moment where each person chooses theother person, and if you're always with
them, You don't have a moment on yourown to decide, this is what I choose.
So, I know it's like, there'sso many reasons, and every time
I hear someone give an opinion,I'm like, that's a good point.
But,
(25:23):
I, I say love it, because I love theopportunity that it presents, even though
it's a dark moment, and it's difficult.
I love the choice at the end thatcomes out of that dark moment.
Yeah, well said.
Love it or leave it alwaysend with an epilogue.
Leave it?
(25:45):
I don't, you know, it's a romance andonce we're happily ever after I just
assume we're happily ever after now.
Fair enough.
All right, love it or leave it alwaysshare research in the author's note.
Ambivalent?
I, I like it if there's because sometimesyou stumble across things that, like,
(26:07):
are just fun to share but I guess Idon't feel like it's always necessary.
I don't know.
Ambivalent.
I like reading it, but I don't have to.
All right.
And are there any other romance rulesthat I didn't ask about that you break?
Hmm.
That I break.
Or play with.
(26:27):
Yeah.
Then, push those boundaries.
Yeah, In Sophia White, I wrote kids.
There's children in it.
And whenever I read children inromance, they're always such like
little side characters, if they're init, or it's like it, he's taking care
of the baby, but it's not really his.
And like, in my book,like, They're his kids.
(26:49):
There's no question.
He loves them to pieces.
And like, they're kind of animportant part of the story
because she makes promises to them.
And they help her figure out who she is.
And I, I feel like I broke a littlebit of an unwritten rule that You
know, children are always backgroundcharacters, but like, that's not me.
That's my life.
I love my kids to pieces and Iguess I included that in my story.
(27:11):
I couldn't not.
I love that.
I, I think I think children are veryhard to include in a story because they
have to be treated as, a character justlike an adult is treated like a character
and be kind of, you know, a full human.
(27:31):
And sometimes that they're just treatedas kind of like, you know, dolls.
And sometimes they're just terrors.
And there's not a lot of like, complexchildren who are both good and annoying.
Yeah, that's my personal.
I'm not a mother.
(27:51):
No, good.
And.
Annoying little terrorist.
Yeah.
Nope.
You got it.
Well, thank you so much forplaying Love It or Leave It.
Before we go, where can readers findyour books and you on the internet?
Yeah, I I am in Kindle Unlimited,so I am only on Amazon.
(28:13):
Sophia was, is going to come out inMarch, so you could find me at my website,
which is anastasiahistoricals.com.
You can find my, all of my options there,any freebies that I have or anything.
You could sign up and download for those.
And then Otherwise, just on Amazon,Anastasia Hayward, and then hopefully
I'll have my next in series out soon, soI won't leave you hanging with this story.
(28:38):
Awesome.
So Sophia White and Her Seven Promisesis releasing this month, and so
rush on over to Amazon to view someof the first readers, and don't
forget to leave a review, becausethat really helps every author.
Yes.
Yeah, well, thank you so much, Anastasia.
I really appreciate you comingon and sharing your book with us.
Yes, thank you.
(28:58):
Thank you for having me.
That's it for this week!
Don't forget to subscribe to theHistorical Romance Sampler wherever
you listen, and follow us onInstagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Until next week, happy reading!
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