Wild Women Authors features Toni V. Sweeny’s Love is Silent, an historical romance and current release out of the Wild Rose Press. With Toni is teacher Anna Leighton who will go first.
Good
morning, Anna. Thank you for spending time with us. Let’s begin with where you are
from. My home is Little Riversreach
in England. It’s a small village where my father is the resident physician. The
name means “view of the river.” Going to Mayfield Village where David…that is,
Lord Mayfield, lives, was my first time away from home, other than living at
the McAdam Academy for the Deaf as the other teachers did.
Tell
us a bit about Love is Silent. It
is the story of my very first adult pupil. I’m a teacher of the deaf but until
the moment I was hired to teach David Wood, Lord Mayfield, I had only had
children as pupils. Needless to say, I was nervous about teaching an adult, and
after I met His Lordship and realized what was expected of me and the challenge
it represented, I was even more than anxious. You see, David’s cousin had
petitioned the courts to have him declared incompetent so he could receive the
title and family fortune and David’s sister, Lady Eleanor, hired me to teach
him to Sign, to communicate, so they could prove the accusation a lie. That was
bad enough but then the courts changed the time of the hearing, and instead of
six months, I only had six weeks to perform what some would consider a miracle.
Plus—and I blush as I admit this—in the meantime, David and I fell in love, so
you see the entire story is fraught with very much emotion and anxiety.
What
did you think the first time you saw David, Lord Mayfield. Actually, the first time I met David, I thought he was
a groom. There I was, banging on the front door with my fist, when he came
riding up on his horse. I must admit, he was definitely a disturbing sight, for
he was…well, actually, he was only half-clothed, wearing only riding breeches
and boots. It was rather embarrassing. To me, anyway. I mean, I’d seen young
men without their shirts before…the farmers often worked in the field without
their shirts, but I’d never been so close to anyone like that, and well…I
admit, it was rather breath-taking. When I discovered he couldn’t answer my
questions because he was deaf, I thought perhaps Her Ladyship would want me to
teach her groom as well as her brother to Sign and it wasn’t exactly an unpleasant
thought. Oh, that sounds so awful of me, doesn’t it?
What was
your second thought? My
second thought was to wonder if someone who worked with animals would really need to communicate with people, if perhaps he was happier not being able to have the real world intrude into his own.
Do you feel it was love at first sight? It was more like misunderstanding at first sight! He thought I was the new housemaid and as I said, I thought he was a groom. When he found out I was to teach him, he equated me with the many doctors he’d seen, and how they’d poked and prodded and declared he’d never hear again, and he had a bit of a tantrum. One of Lady Eleanor’s flower vases had a terrible demise in the front entryway, his usual way of expressing his anger.
What
do you like most about him? His
determination. Once David realized what was needed of him. That he had to learn
to communicate because so many people on the estate depended on his continuing
to be Lord Mayfield, he buckled down and did his best to learn everything I
could teach. He also used that determination to break down my rather stiff
defenses. Once David declared he loved me, there was no arguing with him about
it. Not being aware of the various stations in Society, he saw absolutely
nothing wrong with his wanting to marry a school teacher, and he said…well, he
didn’t know how to curse, but he got his point over very well of what he
thought world could do if it objected. The one problem with David is that once
he gets an idea into his head, he runs away with it…even now. It certainly
keeps life interesting, to say the least.
How
would you describe him? Handsome,
spoiled, determined, loyal, curious, lovable. There were so many unanswered
questions buzzing around in that handsome head—some of them childish, some of
them very serious—and he expected me to give him answers to all of them. Being
five at the time of his accident, he could read and write and do a bit of
cyphering, but he was unable to actually ask about the things that intrigued
him. When we were able to communicate, I became his source for all those
questions.
How
would he describe you? I’m not
certain. I’d hope he would say I was competent and did my job well, but I fear
he’d become a little more poetic and fanciful. Though it makes me blush, I’ll
quote this compliment he once gave me: “I
love Anna’s blue eyes…like sky…Love her
lips…sweet as strawberries…cheeks so pretty…angel’s hair… You’re an
angel…taking me to heaven…” See?
I said, he got fanciful.
What
made you choose being a teacher of the deaf for a career? At age fourteen, my younger sister, Maisie, was
stricken with a bout of red measles rendering her deaf. Papa had heard of the
McAdam Academy for the Deaf, but being a small-town doctor, he was unable to afford the tuition and fees
the school required, having earlier just that year finished paying the tuition
enabling me to graduate from the Dinsmoore Normal School in preparation for
being a secondary studies teacher. As luck would have it, there was an opening
at the Academy for an assistant instructor. I applied for the position and was
accepted. Within two years, I was certified as a teacher, and the first thing I
did upon returning home for holidays was to begin teaching Maisie to Sign.I
guess I did a fairly good job. Later, Maisie had a suitor, a local lad, and they’re
now married and very happy.
What
is your biggest fear? I’m afraid I
don’t have any actual fears. Does that make me odd? As long as I have David’s
love, and the love of the people around me and my family, I’m very secure…and
happy.
How
do you relax? I love to play the
piano. In fact, music helped bring David and me together, because I discovered
that, although he couldn’t hear the music, he remembered how to play the piano
from lessons he’d had before his accident. The first time he sat beside me at
the piano and began to pick out a tune without hearing it, I was actually dumbfounded.
Who
is your favorite fictional character? I
daresay it would have to be one of Miss Jane Austen’s heroines. They’re so very
plucky and determined.
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? “Do what you think is right.” I really questioned that
when David and I fell in love but I determined to keep going, hoping, no, praying,
that in the end, everything would turn out exactly as it did.
Thank you,
Anna, for spending time with us. Now we’d like to chat with Toni.
What
movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I generally gravitated toward mysteries or paranormal
movies/novels, so Love is Silent is an extreme departure from those. I
guess I have a deep-set romantic streak, however, because once I got the idea
for this story, I knew I had to write it.
Is
there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story
and how do you feel it impacted the novel? Not for this novel, I’ve used some life episodes in other novels, but
this one is pure fiction.
Tell
us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced
your decision to submit to them? In
2008, The Wild Rose Press was one of the first publishers to release one of my
novels. They eventually published several of my books, and now, after a long
interval, are publishing those listed below.
What
book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I currently have two: Gregory Ashe’s The Girl in the Wind and Lyndsey
Sands’ The Bad Luck Vampire, which is another in the Argeneau family
vampire series.
Last, what's up next and when
can we expect to see it on the shelves? The Wild Rose Press has also contracted for two other
novels of mine, Mask of the Beast and
Evil Lives After, as well as the series The McCoys.
Mask of the Beast is a romance
set in Biblical times incorporating the Beauty and the Beast story with the
story of the Moses and the Golden Calf. It’s set for release on December 27th
of this year, which is also my birthday, so… celebrate my birthday by buying my
novel!
Evil Lives After is a romance with paranormal overtones concerning an
abandoned farmhouse and the tragedy that happened there. It’s set in my home
state of Georgia, in a small south Georgia town called Hahira which is a real
place, though I doubt anything such as this story ever happened there. Release
date on that hasn’t been set yet.
The McCoys is a historical family saga about a family during the
19th century, of an Irishman named Quinton McCoy and his three sons
and daughter and their lives and loves.
For more
information on Toni V. Sweeney and the stories she creates, go to:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Welcome-to-the-ToniVerse-1900908046884512/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BLQBB8
Twitter: @ToniVSweeney
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/epicfantasywriter
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/579429.Toni_V_Sweeney
