Sophia Alexander is the mother of two young adults and a number of manuscripts. A naturopathic-doctor-turned-writer, she used to feel sheepish about the huge swing in her career; more recently, however, she's realized that some of her favorite novelists also have science backgrounds, so she's in outstanding company that way.
Much of Sophia’s childhood was spent moving around, but she’s almost more a nomad these days, albeit a somewhat reclusive one—most often dividing her time between her home with her husband in Savannah, Georgia, and her grandparents’ old home in Greeleyville, South Carolina, near her folks. There, most of her hours are spent in a big writing study that was once a parlor she was forbidden from entering as a child (she sometimes wonders what they would think of this, and if she's actually being ornery...). She graduated magna cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the College of Charleston, just a few blocks from her birthplace. Her subsequent training as a naturopathic doctor at Bastyr University may be why her characters are often to be found swallowing decoctions and slathering on herbal salves. Sophia’s other passions include animal rights, the environment, attachment parenting, and genealogy. She also plays a variety of musical instruments, none of them very well.
Sophia is glad to be completing The Silk Trilogy at last, as she’s sadly neglected her other manuscripts in the meantime. Her next novels are set in Germany, where she spent much of her childhood despite being a native of the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Indeed, the Throne-Bound Series is also inspired by her genealogy. It’s even somewhat more historically accurate than The Silk Trilogy, since real names are used whenever possible—and so much information is preserved and recorded about royalty in general. Nonetheless, a certain air of mystery still shrouds Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle, wife of Georg Ludwig of Hanover, later King George I of Great Britain. (Aside from all the intrigue, the author may have been more than a little drawn by her given name—only learned well after she’d chosen her own pen name.) Sophia Dorothea barely scraped in as a princess and was never a typical royal, eventually following her heart straight into deep waters...
The author wishes you to know, however, that she is not particularly besotted with royalty, who are of no more or less inherent worth at a personal level. They do, however, tend to be of greater historical significance, and many expanded their minds delightfully through education and exposure to the brightest thinkers of their time. Their letters and memoirs sometimes reveal truly fascinating characters. (If only all our ancestors had been able to leave us their stories, in their own words!)
Also be on the lookout for Sophia Alexander’s YA (young adult) fantasy novels, set even earlier in the Holy Roman Empire at the tail end of the Renaissance. They involve a princess fleeing an arranged marriage, mystical verses, a wolf-dog, and a wild boy. While these stories might not be linked to Sophia Alexander’s genetic ancestry, they are, to her, the literary grandchildren of her favorite childhood author, Lloyd Alexander. Whether or not he’d wish to claim them, she’ll never know.
To see an interview with Sophia Alexander about her debut novel, click here. For free intro chapters to Silk, sign up for her newsletter at the right--or simply download a free sample of the ebook from your preferred book vendor (see Buy Sophia Alexander's Books for a number of purchase links).
If you've enjoyed her books, please consider sharing on social media and leaving online reviews. You can hear Sophia’s musings, hear about books she's reading, and receive updates on her publications by following her blog at authorsophiaalexander.blogspot.com; by signing up for her rather neglected, infrequent newsletter (see side column); and by following her on social media:
Facebook: authorsophiaalexander
Instagram: authorsophiaalexander
Twitter: @authorsophiaa
No comments:
Post a Comment