Q+A with Ruth Warburton (A Witch in Winter)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Ruth Warburton.  Ruth is author of A Witch in Winter.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Ruth:   I think I started writing stories pretty much as soon as I could write - the first proper story with a beginning, middle and end that I can remember was written when I was about seven. But even when I wasn't writing, I was telling stories. My sister and I had a long-running saga about a girls' school which we used to relate to each other on boring car journeys. It went on for years.

My written stories started off as a couple of paragraphs in my school books or bashed out finger by finger on my mum's typewriter. They just got longer and longer, and one day I found I was writing proper book-length manuscripts.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Ruth:   I've always really loved stories about magic and witchcraft - two of my favourite writers, growing up, were Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula K Le Guin who both write beautifully about witches and wizards. They definitely influenced the magic in this book. I also loved Alice Hoffman's novels, in particular Practical Magic. The idea of combining heady magical powers with everyday problems is fascinating.

But somehow I never wrote about it myself - my stories were always realistic. Then the kernel of this story popped into my head pretty much fully formed - a girl who casts a spell on a boy she fancies, and then can't take it off. It kind of wrote itself from there.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Ruth:   It would be incredibly convenient to be able to fly. Just think of all the possibilities - not to mention the saving in commuting time! But I think in reality huge powers would bring more problems than they'd solve, so perhaps my life is complicated enough already.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Ruth:  Well it's got magic, gorgeous boys, a feisty "solve-my-own-problems" heroine, and lots of heart-ache. Is that enough?

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Ruth:   Blimey, this is TOUGH. Um... well, Anna, in my head, looks a little bit like a younger Zooey Deschanel. Only Anna is 17 of course, and Zooey is a bit older. But I think she manages to look a portray characters who are a bit vulnerable and a bit kick-ass at the same time, which is Anna to a tee.

Seth is really hard. Maybe something like a younger, scruffier Tom Welling or Ashton Kutcher? He's an essentially good person who can snap and lose it if he's pushed too far, and I think they could both portray that.

A Witch in Winter (Winter Trilogy #1) by Ruth Warburton.

Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Although a perfect fit for the paranormal romance genre, A WITCH IN WINTER avoids fangs, excessive body hair and submissive female leads, and tells the heart-wrenching story of a couple meant to be together, but being forced apart. Seth is utterly irresistible and Anna is an empowered, proactive young woman with unimaginable magic inside her. This is fast-paced, sensuous writing with believable incantations inspired by Warburton's research into witchcraft legend and old English.


Thank you Ruth for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Ruth Warburton and her books, please visit her website.