Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Moorea Corrigan to HJ!
Hi Moorea and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Thistlemarsh!
Thank you for your interest in THISTLEMARSH!
Please summarize the book for the readers here:
In the wake of World War I, nurse Mouse “Dewhurst” Dunne has inherited Thistlemarsh, her dilapidated ancestral home—but only if she can repair it in a single month. When the first Faerie to be seen in over one hundred years arrives to entice her into a magical deal, she must show strength, courage, and cunning to save her home and herself or she will lose Thistlemarsh forever.
Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:
Favorite Line 1:
“I do not need to hold something in my hand for it to be mine…”Favorite Line 2:
“Precisely. You need my help, and I am happy to offer it.”
“For a price, of course,” Mouse said. The Faerie’s smile sharpened.
“I do not give out favors, but this can be mutually beneficial.”
“And of course, my freeing you does not count toward this price,”
Mouse scoffed. “What could I have that is of any interest to you?”
“It depends on the size of the task you need me to complete. Re‐
arranging a bookshelf might cost you a fingernail clipping. Killing a
man might cost you your heart.”
“Charming,” Mouse said with a grimace.
Please share a few Fun facts about this book…
- I wrote THISTLEMARSH while living in my childhood home during COVID.
- A lot the research for THISTLEMARSH focused on the darker elements of the story, like the War and its aftereffects, but some of the fun research was on Victorian ideas of faeries. Some Victorian spiritualists believed that faeries existed, and that they might have existed on the same plane as ghosts, since both were invisible to the normal human eye.
- Thornwood’s name changed many times throughout the process, which I think is very “faerie” of him.
What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?
Initially, Mouse and Thornwood need something from each other, and they are thrown together despite themselves. Mouse knows that Faeries are untrustworthy, so she is dubious of Thornwood, and Thornwood would really just like to get his full magic ability back.
Over time, Thornwood is drawn to Mouse’s compassion, as well as her determination. I think she is drawn to his sense of fun, as well as the fun she has teasing him.
Mouse is a very practical person and Thornwood is more ostentatious (read: somewhat spoiled). Thornwood helps Mouse lean into her fun side, whereas Mouse brings out Thornwood’s kindness.
Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?
In the editing phase, we added a few more spicy scenes. This book is quite low on the spice scale, in my opinion, but rereading and editing those scenes did make me blush. I felt as though I was interrupting private, even if I knew it was necessary for the story (and made the novel better!).
Readers should read this book….
Readers should read THISTLEMARSH if they enjoy the escapism of both lush period dramas and folkloric fantasy worlds. My biggest influences were “Downton Abbey,” Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” (1986), and Susanna Clarke’s “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,” and I hope that THISTLEMARSH combines elements from those stories well.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?
I am working on a story that is set in the same Faerie-inhabited world as THISTLEMARSH, but in a different time period and place (the 1890s in Ireland). I am excited to explore more of this period and the folk tales of the area.
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: A finished copy of THISTLEMARSH
To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What would entice you to make a deal with a Faerie?
Book Info:
Welcome to Thistlemarsh—a ramshackle estate where an impoverished orphan and a beguiling Faerie collide in an enchanting novel of love, revenge, and ruin.
In the wake of The Great War, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Mouse Dunne. She once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Battle of the Somme, her cousin’s body disappeared into the mud, and her brother was left with debilitating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams.
When Mouse receives news that her uncle has left her the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall, a dilapidated manor in the English countryside, she must leave her brother’s side and return to her childhood home to claim her birthright. But there is a catch in her uncle’s offer: If Mouse does not rehabilitate the crumbling house in one month’s time, she will forfeit her inheritance and any hope of caring for her brother.
It quickly becomes clear it’s impossible to repair the manor in the allotted time, until a mysterious Faerie appears with a proposition. He offers to restore Thistlemarsh…for a price. Mouse knows better than to trust a Faerie—especially one so insufferably handsome and arrogant—but she is out of options. There are dark and magical forces at work in the house, and Mouse must confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her heart or lose Thistlemarsh, and herself, in the process.
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Meet the Author:
Moorea Corrigan holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in English literature from the University of Edinburgh and a master of publishing degree from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. She works at an academic press in Boulder, Colorado. When she is not writing, you can find her singing, spending time with her husband and menagerie of pets, or attending Jane Austen conventions in full Regency regalia.
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