BY
ANNE ROTHMAN-HICKKS & KEN HICKS
Call it life imitating art—author Maggie Edwards publishes a chapter
of a book detailing seduction, murder and castration by a protagonist named
Diana, and suddenly a woman code-named Diana begins to mimic her actions in
real time. Women who have been abused find Diana to be an inspirational figure,
and begin to fight back in her name. Soon violence erupting throughout New York
City threatens to spiral out of control. As the police try desperately to
identify Diana, Maggie's high-powered lawyer, Jane Larson, finds herself at the
center of an investigation that threatens to upend the entire world around her.
BUY LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks have been married
for a little over forty years and have produced about twenty books and exactly
three children so far. At press-time, they still love their children more.
Their most
recent novels have been set in New York City, where they have lived for most of
their married lives. Anne is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College where, in nineteen
sixty-nine, as the fabled Sixties were drawing to a close, she met Ken, who was
a student at Haverford College. They don't like to admit that they met at a
college mixer, but there it is!
Together their
books include Theft of the Shroud, a novel; Starfinder, a non-fiction book
about the stars for children; a series of books on individual names for
children (for example Michael's Book, Elizabeth's Book, John's Book, Jennifer's
Book, David's Book, Amy's Book); and, most recently, Kate and the Kid, Mind Me,
Milady, and Praise Her, Praise Diana, three adult novels, and a middle
reader/tween novel, Things Are Not What They Seem.
Ken and Anne
have a website with the address set out below. There they have links to some of
their books and display images that they hope will be used in future efforts.
In case you were wondering about the website address, "R" is for
Rothman, "H" is for Hicks, and 71 is the year of their marriage. No
secret codes or numerology anywhere. Sorry.
Author Links
INTERVIEW
Where are you from?
Ken grew up in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, which is a
suburb to the northeast of Philadelphia.
Anne was born in New York City, lived in Westchester County with her
parents from age 8 through college, and returned to New York City at her first
opportunity. We have lived together in New York City since 1973.
Tell us your latest news.
Melange Books LLC has accepted our latest novel for
publication in 2016. Like Praise her, Praise Diana, our newest
book involves the Jane Jensen character, a lawyer in Manhattan who loves her
work a little too much sometimes. Ken is
a lawyer and his knowledge of the courts of New York has been useful in all
three of our recently published adult novels.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
We both were voracious readers as children and wrote
stories and poems while in elementary school.
From that point on, the idea that we were writers grew naturally and was
never very far from our minds.
When we were undergraduates (Anne at Bryn Mawr College
and Ken at Haverford College), we arranged with a professor to do an
independent study writing project together. A book for children called A Moon and a Tune came out of the
experience. Although it now resides in a
closet somewhere, we have essentially been writing together ever since. Over the years, we have published four adult
novels, two middle reader novels, ten non-fiction books for young children
based on popular names, a non-fiction book on the stars for children, and two
photography books.
Do you have a specific writing style?
We write in many different genres—mystery, thriller,
mainstream, and middle reader/tween fiction. After writing together for many
years, we have developed a style, which has realistic characters, settings and
dialogue. Although Anne’s first attempts
at writing were poetry, we try not to be overly wordy or self-involved or
precious.
How did you come up with the title?
One of the main characters in Praise Her, Praise Diana has written a novel in which a woman by
the name of Diana is seeking revenge for a rape by seducing and killing
men. When the work is published in
serial form, a woman begins to imitate the character in that book-within-the-book
and calls herself Diana also. We chose
the name Diana because that was the name of a Goddess in ancient times, and
there are myths in which she killed men who happened to see her while she was
bathing. “Praise Her, Praise Diana” is a
line from a short poem that becomes a kind of mantra for certain women and a
call to action in the novel.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers
to grasp?
There are several messages. The first message is that rape is an act of
violence, not of sex. The book deals with the effect of rape on a woman’s life
and the myriad ways that sexual violence and the threat of sexual violence can
affect the lives of all women. A second
message is that the need for revenge can destroy the individual seeking it. Lastly, the book expresses the thought that a
person must be able to forgive and seek forgiveness or the memory of a past
event can be inescapable and devastating.
How much of the book is realistic?
The book is completely realistic in most details,
although in many cases the specific circumstances have not occurred in that
exact way. For example, we have imagined
a radical group of feminists who support the Diana character and who begin to
perform violent acts against men to publicize their message. We are not aware of any such group and have
never belonged to one, and yet their tactics mimic those of other radical
groups in their use of violence, intimidation, torture and death.
Are experiences based on someone you know or events in
your own life?
The statistics on rape are astounding. Some say that 3 in 10 women have been sexually
assaulted. Other studies put the number
much higher. It is not hard to find
examples. The scenes portrayed in the book are based on events and emotions we
have observed and experienced during the course of our own lives and those of
our friends.
What books have most influenced your life?
Ken loves the way Charles Dickens creates characters
and tells a story, but there are many other authors he admires greatly,
including William Faulkner, Kurt Vonnegut, and Elmore Leonard. However, a novel called Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo affected Ken in major ways. He read the book in high school and it was so different
from anything he had read previously that it changed the way he viewed writing
and life in general.
Anne also enjoys Kurt Vonnegut as well as Jeffrey
Archer and Ken Follett. She is the type
who reads voraciously for weeks at a time and seems to absorb very little,
although in the end she comes up with some bizarre and interesting ideas and
themes.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider
a mentor?
Anne thinks William Butler Yeats is a very inspiring
writer. His poetic voice has gotten her
through lots of severe self-doubt. For
Ken, William Faulkner’s writing has a similar inspirational effect.
What book are you reading now?
Anne is reading Winds
of War by Herman Wouk. Ken is
reading the Bible in preparation of another book we are developing.
Are there any new authors that have grabbed your
interest?
Anne has been reading many contemporary authors, such
as Jodi Picoult and Maeve Binchy. Ken tends to read history and classics.
What are your current projects?
We are finishing a middle reader book in which a girl
and her friend are attracted to carved faces on old buildings that come to
life. We are also working on a multi-volume
mainstream series that will cover the lives of the characters over a twenty-year
span of time.
What would you like my readers to know?
We believe that Praise
Her, Praise Diana is an important book with pressing themes about women in
today’s society. The subject matter is
sometimes outside the comfort zone of women, but virtually everyone who has
read the novel has said they were glad they did. We hope that your readers will take the leap
and give it a try. We think they will
find that it is a compelling story with interesting and realistic
characters. Many have said that the
message of the novel resonates with them and that the story stays with them
long after they have finished reading.
GIVEAWAY
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