Whew! We've had quite the week here on Randombuzzers as Jane Nickerson stopped by for a visit! We've been super excited for Strands of Bronze and Gold and now that it's out, we're glad everyone can have a chance to snag it for a read!

Jane's been chatting with all of you on her board and this is what we learned:

• Jane grew up in Southern California, but lived in Mississippi for a while
• The small town Jane lived in Mississippi had a small field for soldier's graves, which influenced her setting Strands in that time period
• Jane's next book The Mirk and Midnight Hour (March 2014) is a loose sequel to Strands! It'll take place in the same county as Strands, Sophie will make a brief appearance, and it'll be based on Scottish tale, The Ballad of Tam Lin
• Bluebeard is one of Jane's favorite fairytales
• Jane's favorite fairytale retelling is Beauty by Robin McKinley, since Beauty and the Beast is one of her favorite fairytales
• Jane doesn't drink coffee or tea, but lots of water bottles
• If Jane could bring any character to life and go to dinner with them, she'd pick Anarchy
• Anarchy is modeled after one of Jane's real life friends
• Strands of Bronze and Gold is a play on Sophie's hair, since the original fairytale "Bluebeard" is in reference to the color of his beard
• Jane especially enjoyed developing Bernard de Cressac's character
• In addition to reading lots of fairytales (Brother's Grimm), Jane read a lot of Slave Narratives, which were interviews with former slaves. She also read journals from that time to research 1850's clothing, manners, Christmas in the old South, and giant British manors
• Jane wrote the relationship between Bernard and Sophie as an abusive one
• Sometimes when she writes intense scenes, Jane gets restless and ends up pacing or doing exercises around her desks
• Jane chose Pre-Civil War Mississippi as her setting because she wanted her villain to have a lot of control over people
• When Jane was living in Mississippi, she lived in a big old house with 26 rooms. One of her daughter's first sentences were "where are you?"
• Jane actually stumbled upon something very similar to what happened to Buttercup the cat

That's just a teensy bit of what we learned about Jane! To read the rest of her thoughtful responses, visit her board! If you're curious about reading Strands of Bronze and Gold, check out Ambuzzador Liviania's awesome review and learn how to do a Strands inspired manicure! You can also check out the cover reveal for Jane's next book, The Mirk and Midnight Hour!

If you missed Jane's visit this week, don't fret! Next week, author Rachel Shukert is visiting Randombuzzers to chat about her 30's mystery set in Old Hollywood, Starstruck! Visit her board and leave a question to enter to win an ARC!