A Note from Sarah Burr: I’m handing the blogging reins to Winnie Lark, the main character in my Book Blogger Mysteries. Winnie runs a popular bookish website called What Spine is Yours (think Metacritic for the literary world). However, she manages it anonymously, and the online community only knows her as “The Wren.” She often interviews guest authors through their characters, and that’s the focus of today’s feature. Enjoy!
Greetings, bookish friends! The Wren, here. On this
month’s “Off the Page” feature, I’m doing more than going back in time—I’m journeying
into a whole new world. My character guest is Duchess Jacqueline Xavier, the
sleuth and sovereign from Sarah E. Burr’s genre-bending Court of Mystery
series. Duchess Jacqueline embarks on her final adventure in the fictional
Realm of Virtues in Eternal
Empire. Eternal Empire is the fourteenth book in the
Court of Mystery and launches this week on November 19th.
Duchess, thank you so much for stepping away from your
duties to answer my burning questions.
Greetings, Wren. Please, call me Jax. I am delighted to be
with you today.
Where to begin? I’ve never interviewed royalty before.
How did you find yourself solving mysteries when you have the problems of
entire nations to deal with?
I often ask myself the very same thing. However, my desire
to right the wrongs of the world ultimately came about when my parents perished
in a carriage accident. It was so sudden and so jarring. To grieve their deaths
while being thrust onto the throne of Saphire was an experience I would not
wish upon anyone. To make matters even more dire, my court physician discovered
that my parents’ demise was no mere accident. They had been poisoned, and the
scene had been staged. Determined to unmask their killer or killers, I had to
begin questioning people within the palace who had pledged their lives in
service to our duchy. It made for a lonely and frightening investigation in my
first case, The Ducal Detective.
Thankfully, that loneliness did not last long, for I soon found myself
surrounded by a group of companions whom I could trust with my life, and they
have gone to the ends of the realm with me on many adventures.
What an incredible journey. I can’t imagine how difficult
it must have been to juggle all those emotions and responsibilities.
My father, Duke Richard, taught me from a very young age how
to calm my focus and approach situations with a logical and practiced mind. I
call it “putting on my Duchess mask.”
You’ve mentioned a place called Saphire. Can you tell us
about the world you inhabit? It sounds very different from my hometown of
Copper Bay.
Indeed, it is a remarkable place. I rule several
duchies—similar to your states or nations—on a continent called the Realm of
Virtues. The Realm of Virtues was founded on the ideals of humility,
kindness, bravery, and intelligence, and those principles guide people
throughout the land. The realm is made up of thirteen duchies; I will not spoil
for your readers how many of those are under my protection.
The world is made up of fantastical flora and fauna, some of
which I encountered for the very first time during my many adventures. I
suppose I straddle what you might call “historical fantasy” to give your
readers a more definitive idea of my homeland and time.
How do you travel across the realm?
For my official engagements, I use a carriage, but there is
nothing I love more than riding my horse, Mortimer, when the Ducal Guard allows
me the freedom to.
Allows? Aren’t you in charge?
I am, to some extent. The Ducal Guard—or, more accurately,
the Captain of the Ducal Guard, likes to think he has the final say when my
security is involved. Most of the time, I permit him to make such decisions.
Although I will freely admit, I sometimes put my foot down or go behind his
back and do whatever I want anyway. The poor man…it is amazing he has lasted
this long!
You mentioned that your first investigation was quite
lonely and isolating. Why? And what changed?
When my parents were killed, it became quite clear early on
that someone inside the palace had betrayed them. I did not know who I could
trust. Everyone was a suspect, even those who had served my family since I was
a young child. And honestly, it took me a while to lower my guard around those
who continually proved their mettle to me. Once I realized who my true friends
were, though, I was able to open my heart to them, and it was the most freeing
thing I have ever done. I would not be here, on the cusp of solving my
fourteenth mystery, if I had not welcomed such dear and devoted friends into my
life.
Eternal
Empire is said to be your final adventure. How did you arrive at
that decision? Why is the Court of Mystery series ending?
It has been something my author, Sarah, and I have been
toiling over for a while now. I have covered a great deal of ground in fourteen
books (and four short stories), and throughout most of those adventures, there
has been a greater goal I have been working toward. That goal—which I will not
spoil for your readers—is so close to being achieved that it felt like such a
conclusion would be a good place for me to rest. There is much to be done in
the Realm of Virtues, after all, and I really need to turn my focus to governing
my holdings rather than gallivanting around the continent, solving whatever
mystery lands at my feet.
However, and hopefully, my author will not be dismayed that
I am revealing such a secret, this is not the end of adventures in the Realm of
Virtues. In the future, readers will be able to revisit the world through the
eyes of some of my dearest companions.
Holy bookmarks! Does this mean there is a spin-off series
in the works?
You are quite the detective yourself, Wren. Yes, there are
plans for a “spin-off.”
How wonderful. While your story may be ending, I’m
thrilled to learn we’ll be able to return to the Realm of Virtues at some point
in the future. Jax, thank you so much for sharing your fascinating world with
me and my readers. Congratulations on reaching the conclusion of your story in Eternal
Empire—an epic accomplishment!
Thank you, Wren. May the Virtues watch over you.
The Court of Mystery series is available at your favorite bookish retailer.
Eternal Empire,
book fourteen in the series, releases November 19th on eBook and
paperback. Special eBook preorder pricing is available ($2.99) until launch
day.
Learn more about The Wren, Winnie, and the Book Blogger
Mysteries at www.saraheburr.com.
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