Spotlight: Diana Rubino Visits to Talk About Her Book, A NECESSARY END!

Today, we're doing something a little different. Diana Rubino is stopping by to talk about her fascinating book!

Hello, Diana! It's great to have you on MLB.  :)

 

 

Hello! Thanks so much for having me!

 

 

My pleasure, of course! So, let me ask a few questions since you're here...

All right.

 

Can you tell us a little about your book? When did it come out and where can we get it?

 

It's a paranormal twist on Booth's insane plot to kill President Lincoln. A ghost haunts him, goading him to carry out the assassination. It parallels the play Julius Caesar, since Booth believed he was Brutus and Lincoln was Caesar, the tyrant. He also falls in love with a beautiful actress, Alice Grey, who the Union hires to spy on him. As in real life, he gets what he deserves in the end! It was released on April 14th of last year, with Solstice Shadows Publishing.

Link to Kindle:
http://amzn.to/1KMTxNo

Link to Paperback:
http://amzn.to/1JDAGp1

BN.com link:
http://bit.ly/1ChWj8O

 

So, what inspired you to write your book? How did you get into writing historical fiction?

 

Abraham Lincoln has fascinated me since I was eight years old. I don’t know what got me started, but it might’ve been a book which I still have, titled The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 1, written in 1895. When I was in third grade, in the mid-60s (which shows how long I’ve been a Lincoln nut), my teacher asked us to bring a book to school from home, for a show & tell. My mother suggested I bring this Lincoln book, which even in 1966 was in bad shape­-yellowed, stiffened strips of Scotch tape barely held the covers to the spine. With the wisdom of an 8-year-old that sadly, all of us outgrow, I demurred, saying, “This old book? She’ll think we’re poor!” My mother corrected me: “No, she’ll think we’re rich. Books like this are rare.” Then she proceeded to tape it up some more. Those 49-year-old Scotch tape fragments adhere to the book’s spine and pages to this day. The teacher, Miss Cohen, was duly impressed. I still treasure that book to this day, and it’s one of many on my “Lincoln shelf” which holds books about our murdered president, his wife Mary, his assassin John Wilkes Booth and his family, the “Mad Booths of Maryland” and the conspirators who faced the gallows or years of hard labor because Booth, their charismatic leader, sucked these poor impressionable souls into his insane plot. 

 

All right. What, do you feel, sets this book apart from other books in the genre?

 

I decided to make this a paranormal­-Booth being haunted by a ghost seemed the perfect setup.

I wrote it as a paranormal instead of a straight historical novel because spirituality was extremely popular in 1865 and all throughout Victorian times. Mary Lincoln was a staunch spiritualist. So stricken with grief after the deaths of her boys Willie and Eddie, she hired mediums such as Nettie Maynard to visit the White House and hold séances in attempts to contact her boys from beyond the grave.

The extent of séances, table-tapping, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, and otherworldly activities in this era fit perfectly with the story I wanted to tell. We could never enter Booth’s head, but his insane behavior begs the question: was he truly haunted by a spirit who drove him to his heinous act that changed history forever?

Fascinating! 

So...give us a teaser or two if you can.

 

"And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I; Brutus, my country's friend; know me for Brutus!" Booth declared to the proud reflections in his three facing mirrors.

          The center mirror clouded over. Puzzled, he leaned into it to peer closer. His  reflection faded as if the mirror were clear glass, and another human form took shape, becoming sharper as the mist faded. He was astonished to be looking into the face of a man whose eyes bored into his, pinning him with an unnerving stare. Booth took a step back, glancing to the left, then to the right, but his own reflections were moving right along with him. He focused once more on the stranger in the center, the Roman nose giving the weathered features distinction. He’d seen this face before, but where?

          The head nodded and the hint of a pleased smile curled the thin lips. Without so much as a word, the figure faded into the mirror’s eternal depths, and Booth was once again looking at his own astonished face.

          “Damn you! Who are you?” He pounded the mirror and it wavered, his image jerking back and forth with the moving glass.

          Exasperated, he turned away.

          “I’ll find out who you are if I die doing it.” He twirled around to face the mirror, seeing only his three perplexed reflections.

 

Riveting!

I'm sure readers are curious about your next writing project. Can you tell us what you've got cooking up now or is that a secret?

 

I have a vague outline for a story set in Salem, Massachusetts, in the House of the Seven Gables, my favorite house in the world. Salem has always fascinated me, especially the witch hysteria in the 1690s. I don't have a solid storyline yet, but I do have a few witches in mind, and they're good witches, but the powers that be in Salem don't think so!

 

Awesome! I have a historical witch series started as well.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to tell us about this book, Diana!

My pleasure!

  Readers, you'll just have to pick up a copy of this historical novel with a paranormal twist!  ;)

 

 

Here is the blurb.

 

When actor John Wilkes Booth, under the guise of seeking spiritual advice, visits the President's medium to gather information about Lincoln's habits in order to kidnap him, a malevolent spirit begins to haunt and torment him, driving him to the brink of insanity. A mysterious coin also appears out of nowhere, and returns every time Booth tries to discard it. Each return of the bloodthirsty Roman coin brings increasingly terrifying events and eerie hauntings.
In the midst of these strange visitations, Booth falls in love with Alice Grey, a beautiful actress who's hired by the government to spy on him. She’s torn between her love for Booth and her duty to protect the President from assassination.

 

How interesting! 

 

Oh, and don't forget to pick up your copy tomorrow! The Kindle version of A Necessary End will be free on April 15th, the 250^th anniversary of President Lincoln’s death.  

 

About the Author:

Setting goals is a key to success. Sacrifice helps, too. In 1999 I signed with my first publisher Domhan Books of the UK. I spent several summers in England writing, researching, and revising my four-book Yorkist saga. A dedicated history buff and Anglophile, I’m a member of the Richard III Society, a fascinating group of learned historians, some of whom claim to have met Richard.

My husband Chris and I own CostPro Inc., a construction cost consulting company in New England. I'm indulging another longtime interest, archaeology, for which I’m working on a Master’s Degree. We also love to travel. The Mediterranean cruise "Cradles of Civilization" aboard the Rotterdam included a visit to the Pyramids of Egypt. I was  fortunate to visit Poland, my grandmother's native land, and Chopin's birthplace as well as the resting place of his heart, Warsaw.

I have a Real Estate license and since 1994 I've owned rental condos in Myrtle Beach and New England.

My stories are romances set against a backdrop of political upheaval, court intrigue, poverty, general drama of the surroundings, and sometimes a splash of the paranormal. What I’m trying to convey is that love can prevail no matter what the conflicts and obstacles, earthly or not.

I recently began writing biographical novels with no fictional characters.

I enjoy living in the most beautiful spot on Earth, my beloved Cape Cod.

Author Links:  

Website:  http://www.dianarubino.com/
Blog:  http://dianarubinoauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/dianarubino

https://www.facebook.com/DianaRubinoAuthor 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DianaLRubino
Amazon Author Central:  http://www.amazon.com/Diana-Rubino/e/B005C4ZSHO/

Goodreads:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/100382402048172055582/posts
Google+:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/845147.Diana_Rubino

 

Diana's Books:  

 

Coming Soon:

 

 

Available Now: