Teatime with Erica Vetsh

I’m so glad you’ve joined me today for a special afternoon tea. I’ve got a cup of honey, ginger, and cinnamon tea (hello cold season), a tray full of shortbread cookies, cucumber sandwiches, and scones with the requisite clotted cream and jam. Help yourself to anything you like and whatever beverage makes the day perfect.

Today, it is my personal joy to introduce you to one of my absolute favorite (and autobuy) authors, Erica Vestch. Erica writes stories of “faith, love, and history everafter,” and her newest release, The Accusing at the Old Bailey is available for you to enjoy now.

If you are a fan of mystery, romance, the Regency period, and a story full of skullduggery, you don’t want to miss any of Erica’s books. If Westerns are more your flavor, she has a wonderful backlist of them that have recently released, so she’s got something for everyone.

In addition to getting to know the Erica, she is giving away and ebook of . You’ll find the details at the end of this post, but don’t miss the interview!

Before we dive into the interview, allow me to formally introduce you.

Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com and you can find her on Facebook at The Inspirational Regency Readers Group where she spends way too much time!

Connect with the author:

Website  |  Newsletter  |  Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Inspirational Regency Readers Group  |  Amazon  |  BookBub

Let’s dive into our Speedy Six

CC: Invisible or read minds?

ERICA: Invisibility!

CC: Road trip or airplane?

ERICA: Since I like to travel to England, I’m going to say airplane, but I do love a good road trip.

CC: Fancy restaurant or home-cooked meal?

ERICA: A home-cooked meal, if I’m not the one doing the cooking. 😀

Tea Sandwiches and Savories

CC: Before we start diving too deep…

What kind of stories are your favorite to write?

ERICA: Ones that have a little bit of intrigue/danger/mystery but are mostly a romance. 😀

CC: And you do that so well. I’m always impatient for the next book.

Do you read fiction while you are writing your own stories?

ERICA: Yes, but rarely do I read Regency while I’m writing Regency. Unless it is Jane Austen. I can always read Jane.

CC: I understand that! I can make writing in your own voice that much harder.

What is your favorite part about writing? What is your least?

ERICA: I love the plotting process, when everything is possible, when I’m researching and learning in preparation for the actual writing. My least favorite is the waiting. It takes a long time for a book to go from idea to in readers’ hands, and I’m not very good at waiting.

CC: Waiting is definitely the worst part … both on the reader and the writer side! LOL

Do you have a general writing process you follow or does it change all the time?

ERICA: I have a process, and if I skip any part of the process and try to change it, I always end up having to start over.

I begin by gathering information surrounding an idea I want to write. Spies, Napoleonic War Battles, London Court systems. I get bits and pieces, noodle them, shove them around in my mind, and try to get them arranged into some semblance of a story. Then I write out possible scenes on Post-its, tell the story to my daughter while I scribble things on Post-its and my whiteboard. Shuffle, arrange, retell the story, fill in the holes, etc. Then I write a synopsis from the Post-it notes. After that, I sit down and write four days a week in the afternoons. I write the story chronologically, start to finish. After I turn in the manuscript, it gets edited several times, then sent off for publication.

CC: I love that you know yourself well enough to know not to skip parts of your process.

How have you seen God work in your writing journey?

ERICA: Oh, in so many ways! God is always teaching me, through the characters’ spiritual journeys, through the amazing people I have met in the publishing world, through some humbling reviews and some amazing successes. God always has His hand on refining me and redefining me to align with His will.

CC: Amen!

Why do you write Christian Fiction?

ERICA: My Christian faith saturates everything in my life. I cannot imagine telling God that He can have all of my life, except my writing, that He needs to stay out of that. I want to encourage and bring hope and light to a world in need of both. Christian fiction is the way that I do that.

CC: I love that about your writing and about how God uses fiction to change both the writer and the reader.

Scones with Cream and Jam

This is always my favorite part of high tea … and of book talks! Who doesn’t like to learn about a new story? Before I start asking #AUTHOR questions about her book, allow me to whet your appetite with the book description!

CC: Now to dive into this final installment that I’ve been biting at the bit to get my hands on.

What will fans of this series love about the story and characters?

ERICA: I think they will enjoy the legal battle. I love courtroom dramas, and this is my first real attempt at writing one. The stakes are high, and the laws of the land limited the defense and put them at a disadvantage. Having the hero and heroine having to surmount those odds provides for a tension-filled read.

CC: I love it when the odds are low and the stakes are high!

What is a fun fact about this story that readers might know know?

ERICA: Defendants at this time in the English Justice system were not allowed to testify on their own behalf, and until only a short time before this story takes place, were not even allowed defense council.

CC: Yikes! How was it even likely they’d get a fair trial back then? They probably didn’t …

What was your favorite character to write?

ERICA: Rhynwick Davies is always fun to write. He sprang onto the scene in Millstone of Doubt, and at the time, my editor said, either tone him down or give him a bigger role, because he is stealing the scene from your hero. And now I’m in the process of writing Rhynwick’s romance. 😀 Look for his story to come out in 2028!

CC: Yay! Now that is something to definitely look forward to!

A Sweet Finish

CC: Unfortunately, it is time to wrap up our interview. I always love finishing with a fun question.

If life is a video game, what cheat code would you want to use most?

ERICA: Go back to the last saved place. 😀 I could use a do-over on lots of things.

CC: Couldn’t we all!

That’s it for now. If you enjoyed getting to know Erica Vetsch and are curious about her book, I highly recommend you check out An Accusing at the Old Bailey. Before we clear the table and pack away the tea stuff, I have a question for you.

Have you read any of Erica’s books? Which one has been your favorite so far? If you haven’t does it sound like she might be someone you should check out?

Leave your comment below and join the teatime fun. Until next time, may your days be filled with good books and cups of tea (or your favorite beverage)!

Giveaway Details

Here’s your chance to win an e-copy of An Accusing at the Old Bailey. Comment on the blog and enter using the Google Form below for your chance to win! Entries close at 11:59 EST on 10/21. Open to legal U.S. residents. see Giveaway Policies for more details.