BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT: Temptation Rag by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard @smithpublicity @EHBernardAuthor
Temptation Rag
by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard
This historical fiction award winner has a new book out that you should really check out.
Continue below for information on the book, the author and a Q&A.
Publisher: Belle Epoque Publishing
Publish Date: December 3, 2018
Paperback
410 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Historical Fiction
Seventeen-year-old May Convery, unhappy with her privileged life in turn-of-the-century New York City, dreams of becoming a poet. When she meets the talented young Mike Bernard, an aspiring concert pianist, she immediately falls in love. But after their secret liaison is discovered, neither is prepared for the far-reaching consequences that will haunt them for decades. As Mike abandons serious music to ruthlessly defend his hard-won title, Ragtime King of the World, May struggles to find her voice as an artist and a woman. It is not until years after their youthful romance, when they cross paths again, that they must finally confront the truth about themselves and each other. But is it too late?
The world of ragtime is the backdrop for a remarkable story about the price of freedom, the longing for immortality, and the human need to find forgiveness. From vaudeville’s greatest stars to the geniuses of early African American musical theater, an unforgettable cast of real-life characters populates this richly-fictionalized historical saga.
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is an award-winning author of historical fiction. Her first novel, The Beauty Doctor, has been recognized by the Eric Hoffer Book Award (2018, Fiction Finalist), the Arizona Literary Awards (2017, Honorable Mention, Published Fiction), and the Book Readers Appreciation Group (Medallion Honoree). She toured for nearly a decade as a professional vocalist, flutist and songwriter. Her first album was produced by former Santana keyboardist Tom Coster. A summa cum laude Communications graduate of Northwestern University, Bernard eventually traded her microphone for a pen. She settled in California, promoting international expositions for the music trade (Director of Public Relations, NAMM). She later moved to New York City, where she was the Communications Director for the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. She was instrumental in founding the internationally-subscribed Aes thetic Surgery Journal and served as its Executive Editor. Later, she was a primary consultant to the National Cosmetic Network, in partnership with the plastic surgery program of Johns Hopkins University, and an editorial consultant for the book Be Your Best: A Comprehensive Guide to Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Currently a full-time author, Bernard lives in Arizona with her husband and their black lab, Pearly Mae.
Q&A
What was the inspiration for Temptation Rag: A Novel?
I started writing
TEMPTATION RAG about eight years ago, when I was part of a writing group at the
Hudson Valley Writers Center in New York. I knew I wanted to write a novel, but
I was still searching for a topic or theme that would really inspire me. Then I
remembered a few of the stories I had heard from my husband Bob about his
grandfather, Mike Bernard, who won the title Ragtime King of the World in 1900.
The stories were not flattering, since Mike never really owned up to his family
responsibilities and remained a shadowy figure. Nevertheless, I sensed the raw
material for a compelling story---about a man who was probably the most popular
ragtime player in New York City and about the people in his life who were
deeply affected by his single-minded quest for fame and fortune. At that point, I still
had no idea about the history of ragtime music and that history’s social,
moral, and political implications. When my research led me to discover how African
American musicians’ rights as the true originators of ragtime were largely overlooked,
I quickly realized that their story and Mike’s were inseparable.
I spent a couple of
years working on the book and often feeling like I was in over my head. I
wanted to recreate that amazing, bigger-than-life world of early 1900s
vaudeville and musical theater in New York City but, above all, tell a deeply
human story of passion, ambition, and desire with unforgettable real-life
characters. The scope of the story was so vast, covering more than thirty
years, and my idea to tell it through multiple points of view was pretty ambitious
for a first-time author. Finally, because I wanted to do the story justice, I
decided to set it aside and “cut my teeth” as a debut author on a story that I
felt more comfortable with. It took me several years to write my historical
thriller THE BEAUTY DOCTOR. When that book turned out to be so well-received, it
gave me the confidence to come back to my first story. I thought “Okay, I can really
do this.”
What research did you need to do for this book?
I had a lot to learn
about the people who inhabited the world of ragtime. Names like Ben Harney,
Will Marion Cook, J. Rosamond Johnson, Abbie Mitchell, and of course Mike
Bernard. My novel
encompasses the entire ragtime era, beginning in 1895 and ending in 1929,
though the decline of ragtime had already begun a decade earlier. To start
with, I needed to ground myself in what was going on in the world at that time,
what were the social mores, what were people concerned about, and how did life
change over the course of thirty years? As far as the music, I knew there would
always be people far more knowledgeable than I am about ragtime. But I did my
best to understand the evolution of this truly American musical genre as well
as its eventual demise when jazz became “the next big thing.” I read a lot of
books, listened to music, talked to people who were acknowledged experts in the
field. I pored through the family documents that were relevant to Mike Bernard
who, as I’ve already mentioned, was my husband’s grandfather. I let these
real-life characters I had learned so much about---these incredibly colorful figures
from vaudeville and early African American musical theater---tell me their stories.
The synthesis of all that is partly fact, partly fiction.
Are all of the characters in TEMPTATION RAG based on real
people?
Not all of them are based on real people, but
most of the important characters are. A notable exception is the book’s female
protagonist, May Convery. May’s rejection of the social mores of the era is what
readers love about her, but I have no idea if the real May Convery was anything
like that. There really was very little historical information on her, other
than the record of her marriage to Mike Bernard at a very young age. Yet she is
the central character of TEMPTATION RAG. I wanted May’s emotional journey in
finding her voice as a poet, as well as her involvement in the women’s suffrage
movement, to capture the spirit of an era in which women were beginning to
demand freedom and the right of self-expression.
Who has inspired you most in your life?
First,
my family. They helped me to believe I could do or be anything I wanted. As far
as my writing life, I have a special love for early 20th century
authors like Daphne du Maurier, best known for her haunting novel Rebecca, and Edith Wharton, author of The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, and the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize
for Literature in 1921. Two of my favorite contemporary authors who write
consistently compelling historical fiction are Sarah Waters and Megan Chance. In
my spiritual life, I’ve been inspired by the oracle, I Ching, of which I’ve been a student for many years. I find it to
be a constant source of wisdom. When writing my novels, I often turn to it for inspiration
and as a way to tap into my subconscious mind.
For
my first novel, I was a “seat of the pants” writer, meaning that I had no
interest in mapping out my story in advance but preferred to let it evolve as I
went along. I had a general idea of where I was going, but the plot twists and
turns along the way were often a surprise to me. I find it very exciting to write
that way, but inevitably one ends up going back to the beginning and making a
lot of adjustments. For TEMPTATION RAG, there were actual historical timelines to
consider, so I couldn’t be quite as freewheeling. But I doubt that I will ever
be the kind of methodical writer who starts out with a strict outline of a
book, beginning to end. I write just about every day, but I don’t necessarily aim
to write a certain number of pages. I simply write until I don’t feel like
writing anymore. That can be two hours or twelve hours.
What is your most important goal
as a writer?
I
love to hear from readers who say they learned something new from reading one
of my historical novels, that they felt immersed in another era, and that they
loved the characters. If someone tells me that my book made them think about
things they’d not considered before, or think in a different way about
something important, that is very exciting. Of course, creating characters that
readers connect with emotionally is probably the top goal of every fiction
writer. Several of the advance readers of TEMPTATION RAG have said to me about
the character of Mike Bernard, “I loved him, then I despised him, then I loved
him” or “I liked him even when he was being a jerk.” That makes me feel great,
because I had hoped to create a character who was complex and deeply flawed but
was in some way redeemable.
What
is next for you in your writing career?
My next novel will explore
two parallel stories, one taking place in the early 1900s and the other in
present-day. The split timeframe is a technique that I have found interesting
in other historical novels. A couple of my favorites are The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith and The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky. Though
the switching back and forth can be tricky, and sometimes even annoying, it has
the potential to add additional layers of meaning to a story. I’m looking
forward to trying it.
Thanks for inviting me to Where the Reader Grows on the release day of my historical novel, TEMPTATION RAG. Love your site!
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