Featured Author Diane Scott Lewis

 

 

I’m an historical author at BWL Publishing, Inc. My pen name is Diane Scott Lewis. You can find my books at https://www.bookswelove.net/lewis-diane-scott/

 

I’ve always loved history and traveling in my mind to other places—that’s what spurred me to be a writer.

 

I grew up in the bustling San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve always loved to write since I first discovered the written word and could put pencil to paper, revealing the imaginative stories in my head. My first novel took place in ancient Egypt and Rome, written at age ten. My second was an Alfred Hitchcock style murder mystery, also at age ten (a productive year evidently).  The grand movies of the time influenced my stories: Cleopatra, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Marnie.

Reading was always a big part of my life. Our house had shelves of books, especially history, which fueled my interests.

In high school I had a short story submitted to a literary festival. I didn’t win, but my teacher’s faith in me excited my ambition.

 

After high school I joined the navy to see the world. I worked in communications, stationed in Nea Makri, Greece, where I met my husband. Traveling and living in Puerto Rico, San Diego, and Guam, I put writing aside to raise my two sons.

When we settled in Virginia, and my husband retired from the navy, my drive to write re-surfaced. Did I still have my writing muse? I wrote long rambling manuscripts, then learned the art of editing and revision. I traveled to England and France, where my first novels were set. I wanted to walk where my characters walked in these foreign locales.

I studied the eighteenth century through old books I found at the Library of Congress, later, on-line texts, and reading novels published in that era. I joined critique groups to hone my craft.

 

The road to publication wasn’t easy. I finally found a publisher, but then they sold out, changed hands, and I wasn’t happy with the new situation.

Meanwhile, I attended writers’ conferences, workshops, and made solid friendships with other authors. A close author friend introduced me to BWL, publishing, Inc. And my career has taken off. I strive to write what History and Women has said, “authentic characters and setting.”

 

My novel, The Apothecary’s Widow, an historical murder mystery, takes place in Truro, Cornwall, England in 1783. A squire with a murdered wife fights his attraction to the widow who prepared the tincture that killed her. Excerpt:

Branek stumbled into the apothecary shop and called out. “I’ve…been shot.” The room seemed to tip. He pressed against the wall and trembled with a sudden chill.

“A-barth Dyw! Where? Where were you shot, sir? In the stomach?” Jenna hurried close and clasped his upper arms.

“In my left side.” He grunted and tried to take a decent breath. The pain pierced like a sword deep inside his flesh.

Jenna slipped her arms around him as he tottered. “Dear me, sir. We probably need a surgeon; oh heaven help us.” She gasped. “Can you stand while I bring you a chair?”

He straightened, then sagged against her. She held him securely under the arms. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Her hair smelled like lemons. “Help me to...to your kitchen.” He was determined not to sink to the floor, or fall under her spell, but her embrace was a comfort.

 

On a Stormy Primeval Shore is set during the founding of New Brunswick, 1984, part of the Canadian Historical Brides series. A bride who rejected her soldier-betrothed and a handsome Acadian trader meet for the first time:  Excerpt:

At the bear’s growl, Amelia stepped back. She slipped, tumbling down the short embankment, rocks poking into her flesh. Her gloves were ripped off as she groped. She struggled to rise amid her tangle of skirt and petticoats and scrambled to her feet to scuttle up the hill to help her cowering maid.

Nearing the crest, dirt dislodged above her, sifting down on her face and scalp. Amelia blinked up, her pulse hammering. She heard movement, footsteps.

A large man with a black beard, wearing buckskin clothing and a leather hat, stood at the top of the slope. He aimed a musket in the direction of the bear. The animal growled louder.

“Don’t move, either of you, mes jeune femmes,” he commanded in a French accent.

 

My newest, Her Vanquished Land, begins in 1780 Pennsylvania: a young woman spies for the British during the American Revolution. Rowena tries to trick a rebel spy. Excerpt:

Fergus reached into his frock coat pocket and snatched out a small knife. “Now, if you’ll be so kind, tell me the truth. You’re lying about your mission.”

How could Rowena talk her way out of this? She slid a step back. “You are far too disturbed. Think about what you’re doing. I will call for help.”

Fergus grabbed her shoulder, pulled her close, and touched the side of the blade to her throat. His stink of breath gushed over her, the blade cold. “Not if I slash your gullet.” He blinked. “Trust me, I don’t wish to hurt you.”

“You’ve lost your senses, sir. I swear I’m only a messenger from…” She shoved at his arm and swung away from him, across the tiny office. Her hip bumped into the smaller desk. She plucked her muff pistol from the inside pocket and aimed it at him. “Step away from the door.” She had him, Fergus was a spy for the rebels. She must take him to the King’s men.

 

I currently live in Western Pennsylvania with my husband and one naughty puppy.

 

For more info on me and my books, please visit my website: http://www.dianescottlewis.org