March 26, 2025 • 30 mins
Ella Leon joins the podcast to read from her first novel, THE SAPPHIRE HEIRESS. Ella talks about the intricacies of writing historical romantasy filled with pirates, treasure hunts, and supernatural elements. Plus, she talks about the significance of including a Filipina heroine and the balance between historical facts and lore, followed by a fun game of Love It or Leave It.
00:00 Introduction to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast
01:53 Reading from 'The Sapphire Heiress'
14:47 Interview with Ella León: Writing Pirates and Historical Fantasy
27:25 Love It or Leave It: Rapid Fire Questions
30:00 Conclusion and Where to Find More
Find out more about Ella Leon: www.ellaleon.weebly.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 debut author Ella León.
Ella writes historical romanticywith intrigue and suspense, and
(00:48):
her first novel, The SapphireHeiress, just released this January.
Her nine to five career has spanned manydifferent styles of writing, Journalism,
public relations, and marketing.
Fiction is where she finds themost freedom to transform the page.
Like the Victorians she writes about, sheloves all things gothic and supernatural.
(01:11):
Unlike the Victorians, sheis a feminist who enjoys
exploring the pre colonial past.
When she's not writing, you can findher spending time with her family
or tending to her rose garden.
She lives in the Chicago area.
Ella, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
(01:31):
Yeah.
I'm really excited to hear about thisbook and your vision for your historical
romance, historical romanticy series.
It's okay to call it a historicalromance too, you know, in a lot of ways.
Yeah, so tell us about the Sapphireheiress and what we can expect from the
scene that we're going to hear today.
(01:53):
So, The Sapphire Heiress is about awoman who is the daughter of a Filipina
immigrant and an English shipbuilder andshe loses her fortune and must become a
governess in the very home that she wasraised in but an old enemy reveals that
her, her father was actually a pirateand that she has a secret inheritance.
That can help her escapeher life of servitude.
(02:15):
So she has to team up with thispirate and find this fortune.
So it's, it's basically like a treasurehunt and within the treasure is a
magical sapphire that the pirate isafter and that he is trying to trying
to find for secret reasons, I will say.
(02:38):
Ooh, that's fun.
Yeah, so I have heard readerssay that it's like Cinderella
meets Pirates of the Caribbean.
It's very suspenseful.
There's lots of adventure.
And like I said, there'sa treasure hunt in it.
So the scene that I'm going to bereading today is from Locke's point
of view, and Locke is a pirate.
And in that scene, he tells the heroineabout her father's pirate past, and it's
(03:02):
the first time that she hears about it.
So, this is chapter nine, the key.
Grass and weeds crunched asLocke cut across the quiet lawn.
Birds chirped overhead, and the scent ofdew hung happily in the early morning air.
Recently, mornings in the countryhad become far more tolerable.
(03:23):
Hell, life had become far more tolerable.
Something he suspected hadeverything to do with Miss
Blackthorne.
In this world he knew so well, shewas something entirely different.
Not at all what he'dexpected to encounter here.
Her strength was unlike any hehad ever seen in her father.
He liked to think she was notAlistair Blackthorne's daughter,
(03:43):
but he couldn't deceive himself,no matter how difficult the truth.
He still found it hard to believe thatAlistair, the man who had been a brother
and an enemy to him, was six years dead.
His body eaten away to thebones now, Nathaniel's too.
The thoughts wore heavilyon him, depressing him anew.
He didn't need another reminder ofhis unnaturally enduring youth, not
(04:07):
now, not when she was so close by.
Leaning against a tree, Miss Blackthornehadn't yet noticed his approach.
She didn't seem much awareof her surroundings at all.
She looked to be thinking to herself-about what, he feared to know.
Standing there, she hadthat pained look again.
Her eyebrows were drawntogether and wrinkled.
Something he knew hadeverything to do with him.
(04:28):
The vivacity that had oncesurfaced in her smile was gone.
A vivacity he'd likely destroyentirely when all this was over.
And that was the best of outcomes.
Locke squeezed his eyes shut.
A comparable piece of hispast clawed at him again.
Watching her alone and unawares seemedto evoke the memory even stronger.
The smell of sea was back, andjust as he had done for Miss
(04:50):
Blackthorne, he was making a promise.
One he would fail to keep.
He shook himself from the image,from this dark splash of blood.
He had to keep control.
And that meant freeing both himselfand Miss Blackthorne from Ellsworth.
The plan would indeedprotect the Sapphire.
It's about nothing otherthan that, he told himself.
(05:11):
His cares were focusedon the Sapphire alone.
He had priorities, after all.
He hardly thought of revenge anymore,and never like Ellsworth did.
Finding the key needed to come first,and if there was another clue to be
discovered with it, Ellsworth was right.
He wanted to be sure the otherman wasn't there to find it.
He cleared his throat, promptingMs. Blackthorne to look up.
(05:33):
The keen eyes he had meant toavoid caught him now, pulling
him down into their depths.
The moment put him on edge.
Like a sudden storm, thefeeling struck without warning.
And now that he was caught in it,he feared he was already lost.
"I feel I should thank you," she said.
"For what?" "For insisting onmeeting me alone." "Yes, well,"
(05:53):
he stumbled, surprised that hertrust had been so easily gained.
"Did you find the vault?"He shook his head.
"We'll search again." In the growingsilence, Miss Blackthorne leaned
against the tree, careless of howthe bark might catch her dress.
"May I ask," she began with caution, "whyyou insisted on meeting me alone?" The
question brought his eyes back to hers.
(06:15):
The fearful gaze he rememberedfrom the previous day was gone,
replaced instead with a calm resolve.
He blinks hard.
He hadn't done it for her sake,if that's what she was asking.
"The man irritates me.
Nothing more." "If you really wantedto get rid of Ellsworth, you could,
you know." She held a hand to herthroat, her eyes cast down, too
afraid to say the actual words.
(06:35):
He almost smiled at the idea, savefor the contempt that laced each word.
It was one form of disrespecthe could never stand.
"Kill him, you mean?"
"You're a pirate, aren't you? Itwould be easy for you. As much as I
despised the man..." her hands quivered.
She couldn't even bringherself to finish the words.
"Say I do kill him,"Locke crossed his arms.
"How would you look upon me then?""With gratitude." She looked up,
(06:58):
blocking eyes with him, almost hopeful.
"No, you would be disgusted.
You would look upon me with fear.""Now you venture to be noble,
when all this time-" "just howshould I act?" Locke demanded.
"Like a vagrant, a common thief? Piracymay not be the most noble profession,
but for more than a century it wasnoble enough for your family." Miss
Blackthorne stared at him, evidentlystill working to make sense of the words.
(07:23):
He was surprised he had said them at all.
He hadn't meant to revealthat fact, not yet.
"What I mean is that your father wasno better man than I," he clarified.
Perhaps if she knew the truth, shewould look upon him with less scorn.
"He was a man of fortune," he spokelouder, hoping to evoke her this time.
"A pirate, just as I."
Miss Blackthorne's sneer ofincredulity shifted to anger with
(07:46):
one fierce blink of her lashes.
Even then, he could tell she wasbeginning to entertain the possibility.
She'd likely had aninkling of it all along.
"We're not all toothlesssavages," he began.
"Some of us even have greathouses, even great names."
Mae just stared off, ignoring him.
"Why do you think your house hasall those tunnels you mentioned?
They were pirates with a great manyenemies and an even greater deal of
(08:09):
loot." "But you kill the innocent.
You kill for greed." "So did yourfather when it was necessary.
He had everything a pirate needs.
A flag that struck fear into thehearts of men and a bloody fast ship."
"No, I don't believe you." "On myhonor, you come from a line of pirates.
Every ancestor as far back as fivegenerations has taken to the sea in
(08:29):
search of wealth." Miss Blackthornelooked away, her eyes searching.
Had she really never heard the rumors?
Had her family managed tokeep her that sheltered?
"Your father's father was a piratetoo, just as he was a shipbuilder."
"My grandfather?" "NathanielBlackthorne." Just saying
the name brought him back.
"We traveled the high seas together,sailed waves the size of oceans, or
(08:50):
the size of mountains." "What are yousaying?" Miss Blackthorne laughed.
"The truth.
Nathaniel, Alistair, and I captured moreprecious cargo than you could ever dream.
Of course, Alistair later betrayedme and stole my share of the profits.
Typical pirate, eh?""Wait." She held up a hand.
"You're saying that you and mygrandfather worked side by side?
(09:11):
He stopped sailing in his thirties.
And you're what?
How old, exactly?" "Thirtytwo," Locke cleared his throat.
What choice had he
but to reply?
There was no disguising his youth.
She shook her head.
"You're lying. You would have been veryyoung at the time." Locke cursed the slip.
Sooner or later, she mightvery well discover that truth.
Just not now.
(09:31):
She would think him the devil.
Her opinion of him was low enough.
"My family, we were merchants.
Until they fell upon hard times.
Had you not the opportunity, would younot have seized it too?" How could she
be so naive about the ways of the world,particularly how the higher classes
attained their wealth in the firstplace? They took it. "Don't you see?
(09:52):
It became a shroud," he continued."Your father's business was
nothing more than a lie to keephidden their true line of work.
That way they could still parade aroundsociety with their ill gotten wealth."
Miss Blackthorne looked away and bit herlip. He could tell she didn't believe him.
"Pirates spend all their lives at sea.
It's a shame.
They have to retire sometime." "It can'tbe." "Your family brought me into it.
(10:15):
I must say,
I helped increase their profits a greatdeal." At that, Ms. Blackthorne's face
soured with pain. "Why do you thinkyour father spent so much time at sea?
Haven't you ever thought of it?""I, I thought it was just part
of the business." "What did youthink he was doing all those weeks?
Why do you think your brother-" "Stop it!"
Miss Blackthorne screamedsuddenly and loudly.
(10:36):
She twisted away and sank into thelarge stone at the base of the tree.
"They're dead.
They cannot defend themselves.
I won't hear you blacken their names.""I speak only the truth." "I told you
it's impossible." Locke released a streamof frustrated curses under his breath.
He regretted disclosing her family'slong established venture into
piracy, more so that he had been oldenough to partner with her father.
(11:01):
Now she only thought himmadder than she already did.
Arms crossed, she sat there obstinant.
"So you're one of those," he said.
"One of what?" "One of those people whohas to see something to believe it."
"I'm certainly not fool enough tobelieve everything I hear, especially
your far fetched claims." "Enoughof this." He let out a breath.
Something about her regardinghim a liar bothered him.
(11:23):
But I don't have the time to botherwith that now, he lashed at himself.
"This key, where?" "Here." MissBlackthorne lifted her arms to
encompass their surroundings.
Amidst the languid flowerbed and brittlebranches that had once been bushes, the
only living thing stood in the center.
A tree so ancient and wide,it provided shade to almost
every corner of the courtyard.
(11:45):
"Here at this tree?" Lockestudied its gnarled, twisted bark.
He had seen it before, butwhere he could not be sure.
The species, whatever it was,was not native to England.
He picked at a leaf, takinga small sea pot in his hand.
"What tree is this?" "The poison is kind,particularly those seeds you're holding."
Her lips quirked almost to a smile.
(12:07):
Locke dropped them.
"How do, how do youknow?" "My father told me.
He said that this treeis really a work of art.
And yet, it also serves a purpose.
Shading us from the heat,poisoning our enemies.
But more often, art has no purpose.
It's just art for the sake of art.
Ars gratia artes." She shrugged.
"It's a simple enough clue."Yet only one she could decipher.
(12:28):
"Hardly the words of a pirate," she added.
Ooh, how intriguing.
Thank you.
I can't wait to figure out howthey go on this treasure hunt.
I've got lots of questions foryou, but first we're going to take
a quick break for our sponsors.
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Well, I am back with Ella Leon, whojust read a sample from the Sapphire
Heiress and there are so many yummythings in this book and in this
(13:56):
scene that I want to ask you about.
Let's start with piracy and this veryinteresting contrast that you're setting
up where the heroine didn't know herfamily were pirates, she's having a
negative reaction to it, and the piratehero is kind of like, well, the upper
classes all just take their wealth.
Can you talk to me about how you got drawninto writing a pirate story and what made
(14:21):
you interested to draw this comparison?
Well, I think it was in my researchwhere I discovered that there are some
historians that believe that some piratescome from wealthy, respectable families,
especially privateers like Blackbeard.
So it got me thinking, you know,once they retire and they all have to
retire you know, would they be goingback to the London ballrooms and,
(14:45):
you know, would you be, would theybe mingling again with high society?
And I think they would because a lotof times it just one venture, just
one expedition, and you could makethe equivalent of millions today.
So it was a very enticing career pathfor some people to go in, especially
if they had the means to get thatletter of marks to be a privateer.
(15:10):
Or, you know, if you just had a fastenough ship and could hire a crew.
So it was that whole idea.
And the main character Mae, she has allthese negative connotations about pirates.
And I think a lot ofus have that today too.
I mean, I think some of them aretrue because it was very much
like a violent type of lifestyle.
(15:30):
And you did have to be pretty rough ofa person to do those kinds of things and
morally gray, I guess you could say, butI, like I said, I do think there was,
you know a part of it where these peoplewere from high society or so called
high, you know, higher society and.
And there is, there is that interestingcontrast there that I play with
but yeah, Mae very, very, verymuch has this negative connotation
(15:52):
that she associates with pirates.
And when she finds out that her familywas actually pirates, I think it makes
her rethink the whole idea of piracy,what piracy, you know, not just what
piracy is, but I guess the reasonswhy someone would go into piracy.
And it's I guess maybe for morecomplicated reasons because I think
back then people it was harder to,to, you know, poverty was, they had
(16:19):
a much higher poverty rate back then.
And a lot of times it was the onlyway some sailors could make money
because being a sailor on a shipthat was a really hard way of life
really difficult conditions I've read.
And a lot of time youwouldn't even get paid.
So the reason, you know, so you couldsee why it would be so enticing to become
a pirate and those ships then too, likepirate ships were run as democracies.
(16:43):
So more democratically, so you could seewhy, you know, that would be so enticing.
Especially compared to the naval shipswhere if you were a sailor, the commanders
were basically the totalitarian leader.
Yeah, they could kill you at any moment.
Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Well, and also on the morally gray thing,like the letter of marque was the monarch
(17:08):
sanctioning you to attack enemy ships,
and so then, is it morally gray, ifyou're being told by your monarch?
Yeah, you can make money just byattacking these Spanish ships if
you're British So clearly you'veyou've done some research on piracy.
Can you talk to me about yourResearch process for writing
(17:28):
the historical part and then
at what point does the fantasypart come in and does your
research interact with that at all?
Well, I guess the research Idid was really just like, what
was it like to be a pirate?
And, you know, I, I did learn thatpirates didn't just steal gold and silver.
They, you know, they stole whatever was onthe ship and they would even, they would,
(17:49):
they wouldn't just like kill people.
Sometimes they would just, theywould take someone for ransom.
But it was still a veryviolent way of life.
And it kind of helped inform thebackground of, of the hero Locke.
And because he has a very tortured past,very, you know, kind of traumatized
past and very tortured type hero.
(18:13):
And you know, the heroine, shekind of represents the goodness
that he wants back in his life.
Cause he's, he's tryingto leave that life behind.
But getting back to the research and themagic quality to it I guess the Sapphire,
it was really just the whole idea of like,what would happen if you were a pirate
(18:34):
and what if you attacked a ship that hadsome kind of magical cargo as locked it?
And that's how the, the novel opensis he steals something from the ship
and he doesn't know who this shipbelongs to, and it ends up belonging
to a secret society called the silverorder and they come into play later on
(18:54):
in the book but you have to be carefulwho you steal from I guess and And the
silver order is kind of what connectsall three books across the series, too
very cool, very cool andJust on the topic of pirates.
I know that there's a bigdifference between what became
lore about pirates versus what ishistorical record about pirates.
(19:16):
So like, no one actually walkedthe plank, but we all think
of pirates walking the plank.
How did you approach thatfor writing this story?
Especially because it's Victorian.
So Mae would already know alot of that lore, but Locke
has been living the real life.
So like, In your story, whatwas your approach towards that?
There's definitely the romanticparts of piracy, that there's a
(19:39):
reason it became lore, and that'sthe parts that I find interesting,
and the whole, like, treasure hunt.
I know that, especially historicalwriter, there's some things that are
true and some things that are likelore, like you said, but in my eyes,
I think the reason why stuff is loreis because it's, it's interesting and
honestly, that's the type of, that'sthe stuff I latch on to sometimes.
(20:01):
I mean, I try, I make it realistic, butthe whole treasure hunt that's that's
maybe a little bit more on the side oflore than historical, but it's possible.
I mean, if you had a lot of wealth,you would want to hide it and you know,
maybe in different multiple places.
And even even today wefound like hordes of coins.
(20:23):
I always thought that was interestingwhen they made a big discovery or
they make a big discovery of like avessel of coins and you think about
the person that that hid them there.
And, you know, did they make amap for somebody to later find?
And part of my inspiration too forthis was the Count of Monte Cristo
especially the movie version.
I did read the book.
The book was very longbecause it was serialized.
(20:46):
But I, I did draw some of theinspiration from the treasure hunt
from the Count of Monte Cristoand, and the cave and all that.
So yeah, I like sometimes I, I go forthe lore, like, I, you know, exciting
more interesting parts of history orthey all have to, they all have to
have an origin, some origin in fact
(21:09):
.Right.
Well, and also you know, we're not readinghistorical fiction to learn history.
We're learning it to be entertained.
And so that is theentertaining part of it.
So, I'm excited that theheroine is a Filipina heroine.
And I don't know too much about thePhilippine history Other than that,
I believe it was a Spanish colony andthen it was taken over by America very
(21:33):
at the end of that Victorian period.
So anyway can you talk to meabout writing a Filipina heroine
and what that means to you?
Yeah, it was very important tome, and if you think about it, if
you look at the Victorian era, youknow, it's a very global empire.
And you know, pirates obviously traveledthe globe, and I guess the reason I
(21:54):
wanted to write this character as aFilipina heroine is, you know, not only
am I one, but it is very possible thatI think we would have these type of
people living in England at that time.
I just wanted to show that,you know, these people existed.
Even before the Victorian era,even the golden age of piracy
and they're traveling the world.
(22:14):
And why wouldn't you encountermore of these people,
especially if you're a pirate.
So to me, you know, it's,it's very realistic.
And I just, like I said, wanted to showthat those people existed at that time.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Well, I remember reading a book about anEnglish voyage in the 1600s and they were
(22:36):
attacking Spanish galleons that sailedevery year from Manila to, I think, Chile.
And so it's
They probably attacked it
for gold, I imagine.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's centuries and centuriesof this European Filipino contact.
It makes sense to me, just likeyou're saying that there would be a
(22:57):
Filipino community in England as well.
Yeah.
And actually my, I should mentionmy third book takes place in
the Philippines and at sea.
So it's like, that wasreally exciting to write.
Because like I said, the whole seriesfollows the Silver Order, which is a
secret society that protects and seeksout ancient supernatural knowledge.
(23:18):
So the third book is where they, youactually get, the readers actually
get to go on one of those expeditions.
So that's, that, that was veryfun to write and I did have to
do some more research for that.
Pre colonial Philippines thoughis very difficult to, to find
much research on and a lot of it,
(23:39):
because Jose Rizal, he was somebodywho lives in the Victorian era who
tried to do all the, tried to studypre colonial Philippines and kind of
create a, like, a Filipino history thatwas, that he said was, you know, we
had our own culture, our own historybefore the, the Spanish arrived.
But he had to travel all theway to the British Museum
to do some of that research.
(24:00):
And a lot of the stuff that exists aboutpre colonial Philippines was done by the
Spanish, you know, our records are bythe Spanish, our written records by the
Spanish, even drawings by the Spanish.
So of course there'sa lot of bias in them.
So that just adds to the difficulty.
But like I said, I'm a lore personand I, you know, there's, there's
(24:21):
a lot of myths, a lot of Filipinomyths that I, you know, looked into.
And of course a lot of different versions.
And I definitely fill in some of thegaps, but it, it was definitely really
interesting and really fascinating to me.
I will say that I discovered somedepressing information about a lot of
the artifacts that are displaced and alot of it is in the British Museum, of
(24:45):
course, a surprising amount is in the US.
Well, not surprising, I guess,because we, you know, the US
colonized the Philippines, but a lotof it's in like archival libraries,
and there's even one in Chicago,where I did like a thread about all
these artifacts that are displaced.
If anyone wants to look thatup, it's also on my blog.
But it's just, it's kind of sad thatbecause we have such a history of
(25:09):
being colonized, that a lot of ourstuff has just been, been taken.
And like I mentioned the gold before,because there's, everyone wonders,
like, what happened to all theFilipino gold that used to be there.
Like, some people say the Japanesehave it, some people say the
Spanish have it, so that's, thatis maybe another story, I think.
Yeah, yeah well, just the, the ideathat all your, all the artifacts
(25:34):
have been displaced, I mean,they have been pirated, from,
Yeah, I would say looted, looted by,I wouldn't necessarily say pirated, I
wouldn't say it was done more so by themilitary or the, the Spanish government,
even the British government, because therewas a short period of time in the 1700s.
I think 1760s where the British actually,the, had the British, it was called the
(25:58):
British invasion of Manila lasted a coupleof years, but they did a shocking amount
of damage to the Philippines or to thecity of Manila and took a lot of items.
Yeah, that, I mean, that's a good note.
I, I, it's been stolenfrom the Philippines.
And so I like that the storythat you're writing is about
piracy from a different angle.
(26:19):
You could, oh, you could for sure say
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alright, well, I think it's timefor us to play Love It or Leave It.
[Musical Interlude]
Alright, do you love it or leave it?
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10 percent of the novel.
Oh,
love it.
If not, maybe
sooner, I think.
(26:42):
Love it or leave it, dualpoint of view narration.
I'd say love it mostly, but consideringmaybe breaking the rule one day,
I feel like, because I, I loveVictoria Holt books and her books
are all written in first person.
And I feel like if, if we, ifthe historical romance authors
maybe started writing in firstperson, maybe we could attract some
(27:04):
people from the young adult crowd.
Or from that, that, youknow, romanticy crowd.
But I feel like maybe, maybe we shouldthink about mixing it up at some point.
But I know I, I do love writingthe hero's point of view.
But I think it's somethingto think about for sure.
Yeah.
All right.
Love it or leave it thirdact breakup or dark moment.
(27:25):
I love it.
And I, I mostly do what, what I tendto write is there's like an external
force, usually forcing them apartand and then, you know, they have to
come back together, but I, I love it.
Love it or leave it, alwaysend with an epilogue.
Love it.
I feel like there has to be, you have tosee the you know, the riding off into the
(27:46):
sunset, because I like to end my bookswith a lot of action, generally, and then
I like to get out, but you always, youhave to come back and, and show that, you
know, that really was the best outcome,and that, you know, that really was
the, the best choice, or, or whatever.
Yeah love it or leave it, alwaysshare research in your author's note.
(28:06):
Leave it.
I think that, I mean, I ama historical writer, right?
But I, I think it just pullspeople out of the story.
I know it pulls me out of the story.
Like I want to believe it was true.
I want to believe what Ijust read was, was real.
And then when you start reading thatauthor's note, you're just like, it just,
you know, unless it's like an absolutetrue story and you're telling, you're
telling the reader how all this is true.
(28:28):
I feel like it better left unsaid.
All right.
And then are there any other romancerules I didn't ask about that
you like to break or play with?
Not really, no, just the, like I said,the dual narration, I think, I think
that one, because that's been going onfor so long now, and and I'd like to
see where the, if it could ever evolveout of it, and I think it would, it
(28:53):
could attract more readers that way.
All right.
Lead the way.
Well, thank you very much for playing.
Where can our listeners find moreabout you and the Sapphire Heiress?
Well, I would love it if everyone couldsign up for my substack, my newsletter.
I think it's Ellasubstack slash Ella Leon.
I'm all, my website's also ellaleon.
(29:14):
weebly.
com.
And you could find all my bookson Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.
And so the Sapphire Heiress is out nowbut the Crystal Alchemist is the next one.
It'll be out in late April andthen the Emerald Enchantress
will be out in late July.
Ooh, exciting.
(29:35):
All right, well I will put a linkto your website in the show notes
so listeners can click right onthrough and find you and your books.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
This has been really great.
I've learned a lot talking to you.
Thank you.
I really appreciate being on.
Yeah.
Thank you.
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.
(30:00):
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 debut author Ella León.
Ella writes historical romanticywith intrigue and suspense, and
(00:48):
her first novel, The SapphireHeiress, just released this January.
Her nine to five career has spanned manydifferent styles of writing, Journalism,
public relations, and marketing.
Fiction is where she finds themost freedom to transform the page.
Like the Victorians she writes about, sheloves all things gothic and supernatural.
(01:11):
Unlike the Victorians, sheis a feminist who enjoys
exploring the pre colonial past.
When she's not writing, you can findher spending time with her family
or tending to her rose garden.
She lives in the Chicago area.
Ella, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
(01:31):
Yeah.
I'm really excited to hear about thisbook and your vision for your historical
romance, historical romanticy series.
It's okay to call it a historicalromance too, you know, in a lot of ways.
Yeah, so tell us about the Sapphireheiress and what we can expect from the
scene that we're going to hear today.
(01:53):
So, The Sapphire Heiress is about awoman who is the daughter of a Filipina
immigrant and an English shipbuilder andshe loses her fortune and must become a
governess in the very home that she wasraised in but an old enemy reveals that
her, her father was actually a pirateand that she has a secret inheritance.
That can help her escapeher life of servitude.
(02:15):
So she has to team up with thispirate and find this fortune.
So it's, it's basically like a treasurehunt and within the treasure is a
magical sapphire that the pirate isafter and that he is trying to trying
to find for secret reasons, I will say.
(02:38):
Ooh, that's fun.
Yeah, so I have heard readerssay that it's like Cinderella
meets Pirates of the Caribbean.
It's very suspenseful.
There's lots of adventure.
And like I said, there'sa treasure hunt in it.
So the scene that I'm going to bereading today is from Locke's point
of view, and Locke is a pirate.
And in that scene, he tells the heroineabout her father's pirate past, and it's
(03:02):
the first time that she hears about it.
So, this is chapter nine, the key.
Grass and weeds crunched asLocke cut across the quiet lawn.
Birds chirped overhead, and the scent ofdew hung happily in the early morning air.
Recently, mornings in the countryhad become far more tolerable.
(03:23):
Hell, life had become far more tolerable.
Something he suspected hadeverything to do with Miss
Blackthorne.
In this world he knew so well, shewas something entirely different.
Not at all what he'dexpected to encounter here.
Her strength was unlike any hehad ever seen in her father.
He liked to think she was notAlistair Blackthorne's daughter,
(03:43):
but he couldn't deceive himself,no matter how difficult the truth.
He still found it hard to believe thatAlistair, the man who had been a brother
and an enemy to him, was six years dead.
His body eaten away to thebones now, Nathaniel's too.
The thoughts wore heavilyon him, depressing him anew.
He didn't need another reminder ofhis unnaturally enduring youth, not
(04:07):
now, not when she was so close by.
Leaning against a tree, Miss Blackthornehadn't yet noticed his approach.
She didn't seem much awareof her surroundings at all.
She looked to be thinking to herself-about what, he feared to know.
Standing there, she hadthat pained look again.
Her eyebrows were drawntogether and wrinkled.
Something he knew hadeverything to do with him.
(04:28):
The vivacity that had oncesurfaced in her smile was gone.
A vivacity he'd likely destroyentirely when all this was over.
And that was the best of outcomes.
Locke squeezed his eyes shut.
A comparable piece of hispast clawed at him again.
Watching her alone and unawares seemedto evoke the memory even stronger.
The smell of sea was back, andjust as he had done for Miss
(04:50):
Blackthorne, he was making a promise.
One he would fail to keep.
He shook himself from the image,from this dark splash of blood.
He had to keep control.
And that meant freeing both himselfand Miss Blackthorne from Ellsworth.
The plan would indeedprotect the Sapphire.
It's about nothing otherthan that, he told himself.
(05:11):
His cares were focusedon the Sapphire alone.
He had priorities, after all.
He hardly thought of revenge anymore,and never like Ellsworth did.
Finding the key needed to come first,and if there was another clue to be
discovered with it, Ellsworth was right.
He wanted to be sure the otherman wasn't there to find it.
He cleared his throat, promptingMs. Blackthorne to look up.
(05:33):
The keen eyes he had meant toavoid caught him now, pulling
him down into their depths.
The moment put him on edge.
Like a sudden storm, thefeeling struck without warning.
And now that he was caught in it,he feared he was already lost.
"I feel I should thank you," she said.
"For what?" "For insisting onmeeting me alone." "Yes, well,"
(05:53):
he stumbled, surprised that hertrust had been so easily gained.
"Did you find the vault?"He shook his head.
"We'll search again." In the growingsilence, Miss Blackthorne leaned
against the tree, careless of howthe bark might catch her dress.
"May I ask," she began with caution, "whyyou insisted on meeting me alone?" The
question brought his eyes back to hers.
(06:15):
The fearful gaze he rememberedfrom the previous day was gone,
replaced instead with a calm resolve.
He blinks hard.
He hadn't done it for her sake,if that's what she was asking.
"The man irritates me.
Nothing more." "If you really wantedto get rid of Ellsworth, you could,
you know." She held a hand to herthroat, her eyes cast down, too
afraid to say the actual words.
(06:35):
He almost smiled at the idea, savefor the contempt that laced each word.
It was one form of disrespecthe could never stand.
"Kill him, you mean?"
"You're a pirate, aren't you? Itwould be easy for you. As much as I
despised the man..." her hands quivered.
She couldn't even bringherself to finish the words.
"Say I do kill him,"Locke crossed his arms.
"How would you look upon me then?""With gratitude." She looked up,
(06:58):
blocking eyes with him, almost hopeful.
"No, you would be disgusted.
You would look upon me with fear.""Now you venture to be noble,
when all this time-" "just howshould I act?" Locke demanded.
"Like a vagrant, a common thief? Piracymay not be the most noble profession,
but for more than a century it wasnoble enough for your family." Miss
Blackthorne stared at him, evidentlystill working to make sense of the words.
(07:23):
He was surprised he had said them at all.
He hadn't meant to revealthat fact, not yet.
"What I mean is that your father wasno better man than I," he clarified.
Perhaps if she knew the truth, shewould look upon him with less scorn.
"He was a man of fortune," he spokelouder, hoping to evoke her this time.
"A pirate, just as I."
Miss Blackthorne's sneer ofincredulity shifted to anger with
(07:46):
one fierce blink of her lashes.
Even then, he could tell she wasbeginning to entertain the possibility.
She'd likely had aninkling of it all along.
"We're not all toothlesssavages," he began.
"Some of us even have greathouses, even great names."
Mae just stared off, ignoring him.
"Why do you think your house hasall those tunnels you mentioned?
They were pirates with a great manyenemies and an even greater deal of
(08:09):
loot." "But you kill the innocent.
You kill for greed." "So did yourfather when it was necessary.
He had everything a pirate needs.
A flag that struck fear into thehearts of men and a bloody fast ship."
"No, I don't believe you." "On myhonor, you come from a line of pirates.
Every ancestor as far back as fivegenerations has taken to the sea in
(08:29):
search of wealth." Miss Blackthornelooked away, her eyes searching.
Had she really never heard the rumors?
Had her family managed tokeep her that sheltered?
"Your father's father was a piratetoo, just as he was a shipbuilder."
"My grandfather?" "NathanielBlackthorne." Just saying
the name brought him back.
"We traveled the high seas together,sailed waves the size of oceans, or
(08:50):
the size of mountains." "What are yousaying?" Miss Blackthorne laughed.
"The truth.
Nathaniel, Alistair, and I captured moreprecious cargo than you could ever dream.
Of course, Alistair later betrayedme and stole my share of the profits.
Typical pirate, eh?""Wait." She held up a hand.
"You're saying that you and mygrandfather worked side by side?
(09:11):
He stopped sailing in his thirties.
And you're what?
How old, exactly?" "Thirtytwo," Locke cleared his throat.
What choice had he
but to reply?
There was no disguising his youth.
She shook her head.
"You're lying. You would have been veryyoung at the time." Locke cursed the slip.
Sooner or later, she mightvery well discover that truth.
Just not now.
(09:31):
She would think him the devil.
Her opinion of him was low enough.
"My family, we were merchants.
Until they fell upon hard times.
Had you not the opportunity, would younot have seized it too?" How could she
be so naive about the ways of the world,particularly how the higher classes
attained their wealth in the firstplace? They took it. "Don't you see?
(09:52):
It became a shroud," he continued."Your father's business was
nothing more than a lie to keephidden their true line of work.
That way they could still parade aroundsociety with their ill gotten wealth."
Miss Blackthorne looked away and bit herlip. He could tell she didn't believe him.
"Pirates spend all their lives at sea.
It's a shame.
They have to retire sometime." "It can'tbe." "Your family brought me into it.
(10:15):
I must say,
I helped increase their profits a greatdeal." At that, Ms. Blackthorne's face
soured with pain. "Why do you thinkyour father spent so much time at sea?
Haven't you ever thought of it?""I, I thought it was just part
of the business." "What did youthink he was doing all those weeks?
Why do you think your brother-" "Stop it!"
Miss Blackthorne screamedsuddenly and loudly.
(10:36):
She twisted away and sank into thelarge stone at the base of the tree.
"They're dead.
They cannot defend themselves.
I won't hear you blacken their names.""I speak only the truth." "I told you
it's impossible." Locke released a streamof frustrated curses under his breath.
He regretted disclosing her family'slong established venture into
piracy, more so that he had been oldenough to partner with her father.
(11:01):
Now she only thought himmadder than she already did.
Arms crossed, she sat there obstinant.
"So you're one of those," he said.
"One of what?" "One of those people whohas to see something to believe it."
"I'm certainly not fool enough tobelieve everything I hear, especially
your far fetched claims." "Enoughof this." He let out a breath.
Something about her regardinghim a liar bothered him.
(11:23):
But I don't have the time to botherwith that now, he lashed at himself.
"This key, where?" "Here." MissBlackthorne lifted her arms to
encompass their surroundings.
Amidst the languid flowerbed and brittlebranches that had once been bushes, the
only living thing stood in the center.
A tree so ancient and wide,it provided shade to almost
every corner of the courtyard.
(11:45):
"Here at this tree?" Lockestudied its gnarled, twisted bark.
He had seen it before, butwhere he could not be sure.
The species, whatever it was,was not native to England.
He picked at a leaf, takinga small sea pot in his hand.
"What tree is this?" "The poison is kind,particularly those seeds you're holding."
Her lips quirked almost to a smile.
(12:07):
Locke dropped them.
"How do, how do youknow?" "My father told me.
He said that this treeis really a work of art.
And yet, it also serves a purpose.
Shading us from the heat,poisoning our enemies.
But more often, art has no purpose.
It's just art for the sake of art.
Ars gratia artes." She shrugged.
"It's a simple enough clue."Yet only one she could decipher.
(12:28):
"Hardly the words of a pirate," she added.
Ooh, how intriguing.
Thank you.
I can't wait to figure out howthey go on this treasure hunt.
I've got lots of questions foryou, but first we're going to take
a quick break for our sponsors.
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Hey, audiobook listeners!
Have you checked out the officialHistorical Romance Sampler
Season 1 playlist on Libro.
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that are available to listen to on Libro.
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Head on over to the Historical RomanceSampler link tree to learn more.
Well, I am back with Ella Leon, whojust read a sample from the Sapphire
Heiress and there are so many yummythings in this book and in this
(13:56):
scene that I want to ask you about.
Let's start with piracy and this veryinteresting contrast that you're setting
up where the heroine didn't know herfamily were pirates, she's having a
negative reaction to it, and the piratehero is kind of like, well, the upper
classes all just take their wealth.
Can you talk to me about how you got drawninto writing a pirate story and what made
(14:21):
you interested to draw this comparison?
Well, I think it was in my researchwhere I discovered that there are some
historians that believe that some piratescome from wealthy, respectable families,
especially privateers like Blackbeard.
So it got me thinking, you know,once they retire and they all have to
retire you know, would they be goingback to the London ballrooms and,
(14:45):
you know, would you be, would theybe mingling again with high society?
And I think they would because a lotof times it just one venture, just
one expedition, and you could makethe equivalent of millions today.
So it was a very enticing career pathfor some people to go in, especially
if they had the means to get thatletter of marks to be a privateer.
(15:10):
Or, you know, if you just had a fastenough ship and could hire a crew.
So it was that whole idea.
And the main character Mae, she has allthese negative connotations about pirates.
And I think a lot ofus have that today too.
I mean, I think some of them aretrue because it was very much
like a violent type of lifestyle.
(15:30):
And you did have to be pretty rough ofa person to do those kinds of things and
morally gray, I guess you could say, butI, like I said, I do think there was,
you know a part of it where these peoplewere from high society or so called
high, you know, higher society and.
And there is, there is that interestingcontrast there that I play with
but yeah, Mae very, very, verymuch has this negative connotation
(15:52):
that she associates with pirates.
And when she finds out that her familywas actually pirates, I think it makes
her rethink the whole idea of piracy,what piracy, you know, not just what
piracy is, but I guess the reasonswhy someone would go into piracy.
And it's I guess maybe for morecomplicated reasons because I think
back then people it was harder to,to, you know, poverty was, they had
(16:19):
a much higher poverty rate back then.
And a lot of times it was the onlyway some sailors could make money
because being a sailor on a shipthat was a really hard way of life
really difficult conditions I've read.
And a lot of time youwouldn't even get paid.
So the reason, you know, so you couldsee why it would be so enticing to become
a pirate and those ships then too, likepirate ships were run as democracies.
(16:43):
So more democratically, so you could seewhy, you know, that would be so enticing.
Especially compared to the naval shipswhere if you were a sailor, the commanders
were basically the totalitarian leader.
Yeah, they could kill you at any moment.
Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Well, and also on the morally gray thing,like the letter of marque was the monarch
(17:08):
sanctioning you to attack enemy ships,
and so then, is it morally gray, ifyou're being told by your monarch?
Yeah, you can make money just byattacking these Spanish ships if
you're British So clearly you'veyou've done some research on piracy.
Can you talk to me about yourResearch process for writing
(17:28):
the historical part and then
at what point does the fantasypart come in and does your
research interact with that at all?
Well, I guess the research Idid was really just like, what
was it like to be a pirate?
And, you know, I, I did learn thatpirates didn't just steal gold and silver.
They, you know, they stole whatever was onthe ship and they would even, they would,
(17:49):
they wouldn't just like kill people.
Sometimes they would just, theywould take someone for ransom.
But it was still a veryviolent way of life.
And it kind of helped inform thebackground of, of the hero Locke.
And because he has a very tortured past,very, you know, kind of traumatized
past and very tortured type hero.
(18:13):
And you know, the heroine, shekind of represents the goodness
that he wants back in his life.
Cause he's, he's tryingto leave that life behind.
But getting back to the research and themagic quality to it I guess the Sapphire,
it was really just the whole idea of like,what would happen if you were a pirate
(18:34):
and what if you attacked a ship that hadsome kind of magical cargo as locked it?
And that's how the, the novel opensis he steals something from the ship
and he doesn't know who this shipbelongs to, and it ends up belonging
to a secret society called the silverorder and they come into play later on
(18:54):
in the book but you have to be carefulwho you steal from I guess and And the
silver order is kind of what connectsall three books across the series, too
very cool, very cool andJust on the topic of pirates.
I know that there's a bigdifference between what became
lore about pirates versus what ishistorical record about pirates.
(19:16):
So like, no one actually walkedthe plank, but we all think
of pirates walking the plank.
How did you approach thatfor writing this story?
Especially because it's Victorian.
So Mae would already know alot of that lore, but Locke
has been living the real life.
So like, In your story, whatwas your approach towards that?
There's definitely the romanticparts of piracy, that there's a
(19:39):
reason it became lore, and that'sthe parts that I find interesting,
and the whole, like, treasure hunt.
I know that, especially historicalwriter, there's some things that are
true and some things that are likelore, like you said, but in my eyes,
I think the reason why stuff is loreis because it's, it's interesting and
honestly, that's the type of, that'sthe stuff I latch on to sometimes.
(20:01):
I mean, I try, I make it realistic, butthe whole treasure hunt that's that's
maybe a little bit more on the side oflore than historical, but it's possible.
I mean, if you had a lot of wealth,you would want to hide it and you know,
maybe in different multiple places.
And even even today wefound like hordes of coins.
(20:23):
I always thought that was interestingwhen they made a big discovery or
they make a big discovery of like avessel of coins and you think about
the person that that hid them there.
And, you know, did they make amap for somebody to later find?
And part of my inspiration too forthis was the Count of Monte Cristo
especially the movie version.
I did read the book.
The book was very longbecause it was serialized.
(20:46):
But I, I did draw some of theinspiration from the treasure hunt
from the Count of Monte Cristoand, and the cave and all that.
So yeah, I like sometimes I, I go forthe lore, like, I, you know, exciting
more interesting parts of history orthey all have to, they all have to
have an origin, some origin in fact
(21:09):
.Right.
Well, and also you know, we're not readinghistorical fiction to learn history.
We're learning it to be entertained.
And so that is theentertaining part of it.
So, I'm excited that theheroine is a Filipina heroine.
And I don't know too much about thePhilippine history Other than that,
I believe it was a Spanish colony andthen it was taken over by America very
(21:33):
at the end of that Victorian period.
So anyway can you talk to meabout writing a Filipina heroine
and what that means to you?
Yeah, it was very important tome, and if you think about it, if
you look at the Victorian era, youknow, it's a very global empire.
And you know, pirates obviously traveledthe globe, and I guess the reason I
(21:54):
wanted to write this character as aFilipina heroine is, you know, not only
am I one, but it is very possible thatI think we would have these type of
people living in England at that time.
I just wanted to show that,you know, these people existed.
Even before the Victorian era,even the golden age of piracy
and they're traveling the world.
(22:14):
And why wouldn't you encountermore of these people,
especially if you're a pirate.
So to me, you know, it's,it's very realistic.
And I just, like I said, wanted to showthat those people existed at that time.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Well, I remember reading a book about anEnglish voyage in the 1600s and they were
(22:36):
attacking Spanish galleons that sailedevery year from Manila to, I think, Chile.
And so it's
They probably attacked it
for gold, I imagine.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's centuries and centuriesof this European Filipino contact.
It makes sense to me, just likeyou're saying that there would be a
(22:57):
Filipino community in England as well.
Yeah.
And actually my, I should mentionmy third book takes place in
the Philippines and at sea.
So it's like, that wasreally exciting to write.
Because like I said, the whole seriesfollows the Silver Order, which is a
secret society that protects and seeksout ancient supernatural knowledge.
(23:18):
So the third book is where they, youactually get, the readers actually
get to go on one of those expeditions.
So that's, that, that was veryfun to write and I did have to
do some more research for that.
Pre colonial Philippines thoughis very difficult to, to find
much research on and a lot of it,
(23:39):
because Jose Rizal, he was somebodywho lives in the Victorian era who
tried to do all the, tried to studypre colonial Philippines and kind of
create a, like, a Filipino history thatwas, that he said was, you know, we
had our own culture, our own historybefore the, the Spanish arrived.
But he had to travel all theway to the British Museum
to do some of that research.
(24:00):
And a lot of the stuff that exists aboutpre colonial Philippines was done by the
Spanish, you know, our records are bythe Spanish, our written records by the
Spanish, even drawings by the Spanish.
So of course there'sa lot of bias in them.
So that just adds to the difficulty.
But like I said, I'm a lore personand I, you know, there's, there's
(24:21):
a lot of myths, a lot of Filipinomyths that I, you know, looked into.
And of course a lot of different versions.
And I definitely fill in some of thegaps, but it, it was definitely really
interesting and really fascinating to me.
I will say that I discovered somedepressing information about a lot of
the artifacts that are displaced and alot of it is in the British Museum, of
(24:45):
course, a surprising amount is in the US.
Well, not surprising, I guess,because we, you know, the US
colonized the Philippines, but a lotof it's in like archival libraries,
and there's even one in Chicago,where I did like a thread about all
these artifacts that are displaced.
If anyone wants to look thatup, it's also on my blog.
But it's just, it's kind of sad thatbecause we have such a history of
(25:09):
being colonized, that a lot of ourstuff has just been, been taken.
And like I mentioned the gold before,because there's, everyone wonders,
like, what happened to all theFilipino gold that used to be there.
Like, some people say the Japanesehave it, some people say the
Spanish have it, so that's, thatis maybe another story, I think.
Yeah, yeah well, just the, the ideathat all your, all the artifacts
(25:34):
have been displaced, I mean,they have been pirated, from,
Yeah, I would say looted, looted by,I wouldn't necessarily say pirated, I
wouldn't say it was done more so by themilitary or the, the Spanish government,
even the British government, because therewas a short period of time in the 1700s.
I think 1760s where the British actually,the, had the British, it was called the
(25:58):
British invasion of Manila lasted a coupleof years, but they did a shocking amount
of damage to the Philippines or to thecity of Manila and took a lot of items.
Yeah, that, I mean, that's a good note.
I, I, it's been stolenfrom the Philippines.
And so I like that the storythat you're writing is about
piracy from a different angle.
(26:19):
You could, oh, you could for sure say
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alright, well, I think it's timefor us to play Love It or Leave It.
[Musical Interlude]
Alright, do you love it or leave it?
Protagonists meet in thefirst 10 percent of the novel.
Oh,
love it.
If not, maybe
sooner, I think.
(26:42):
Love it or leave it, dualpoint of view narration.
I'd say love it mostly, but consideringmaybe breaking the rule one day,
I feel like, because I, I loveVictoria Holt books and her books
are all written in first person.
And I feel like if, if we, ifthe historical romance authors
maybe started writing in firstperson, maybe we could attract some
(27:04):
people from the young adult crowd.
Or from that, that, youknow, romanticy crowd.
But I feel like maybe, maybe we shouldthink about mixing it up at some point.
But I know I, I do love writingthe hero's point of view.
But I think it's somethingto think about for sure.
Yeah.
All right.
Love it or leave it thirdact breakup or dark moment.
(27:25):
I love it.
And I, I mostly do what, what I tendto write is there's like an external
force, usually forcing them apartand and then, you know, they have to
come back together, but I, I love it.
Love it or leave it, alwaysend with an epilogue.
Love it.
I feel like there has to be, you have tosee the you know, the riding off into the
(27:46):
sunset, because I like to end my bookswith a lot of action, generally, and then
I like to get out, but you always, youhave to come back and, and show that, you
know, that really was the best outcome,and that, you know, that really was
the, the best choice, or, or whatever.
Yeah love it or leave it, alwaysshare research in your author's note.
(28:06):
Leave it.
I think that, I mean, I ama historical writer, right?
But I, I think it just pullspeople out of the story.
I know it pulls me out of the story.
Like I want to believe it was true.
I want to believe what Ijust read was, was real.
And then when you start reading thatauthor's note, you're just like, it just,
you know, unless it's like an absolutetrue story and you're telling, you're
telling the reader how all this is true.
(28:28):
I feel like it better left unsaid.
All right.
And then are there any other romancerules I didn't ask about that
you like to break or play with?
Not really, no, just the, like I said,the dual narration, I think, I think
that one, because that's been going onfor so long now, and and I'd like to
see where the, if it could ever evolveout of it, and I think it would, it
(28:53):
could attract more readers that way.
All right.
Lead the way.
Well, thank you very much for playing.
Where can our listeners find moreabout you and the Sapphire Heiress?
Well, I would love it if everyone couldsign up for my substack, my newsletter.
I think it's Ellasubstack slash Ella Leon.
I'm all, my website's also ellaleon.
(29:14):
weebly.
com.
And you could find all my bookson Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.
And so the Sapphire Heiress is out nowbut the Crystal Alchemist is the next one.
It'll be out in late April andthen the Emerald Enchantress
will be out in late July.
Ooh, exciting.
(29:35):
All right, well I will put a linkto your website in the show notes
so listeners can click right onthrough and find you and your books.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
This has been really great.
I've learned a lot talking to you.
Thank you.
I really appreciate being on.
Yeah.
Thank you.
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.
(30:00):
Until next week, happy reading!
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