Q&A: Beatrice Donahue on The Blue Hour

Let me start the intro to this Q&A by admitting that, yes, when it comes to this book, I’m extremely biased. The Blue Hour is published by Ladylit, which I co-own. This means I’ve read it multiple times and, in all honesty, every time I was astounded by its beauty. The language is mesmerising and despite a word count of 13.000 words, so much story is packed into this novelette.

But don’t just take my word for it. Do try it for yourself, as The Blue Hour is free on Amazon for the next few days.

Here’s the blurb for this gorgeous lesbian historical romance novelette:

In a drowsy English village at the dawn of the 1920s, Rosina King sleepwalks through her unhappy life—until one deep blue evening, when she is finally woken by a kiss. American painter Eve Soames is the embodiment of a thoroughly modern woman: fearless, financially independent, and strong-willed. When Eve bursts into her life, Rosina finds herself mesmerised, and also unsettled by what she senses Eve might teach her.

I’m also very pleased to have its author, Beatrice Donahue, on my blog today. here’s what she has to say about The Blue Hour.

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
The Blue Hour tells the story of a quiet miracle: how a chance encounter leads to one woman’s awakening, and ultimately sets her free.

2. Favourite line from The Blue Hour
‘As the light beyond the window drops away, the room grows heavy with blue and the fall of petals.’ I’m not sure why I like this line so much, but I feel it encapsulates the feel of my favourite part of the story.

3. Last book that blew you away?
I’ve had The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy on my bookshelf for an embarrassingly long time. Recently, I finally picked it up, and ended up devouring it in two sittings. The prose is breathtaking; the pictures she paints are so vivid, and it really made me *feel* something.

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
Sometimes I imagine that French-Chinese actress Mylène Jampanoï knows I exist. Those sometimes are good. I first saw her in the lesbian romance Les Filles du Botaniste and lo, an obsession was born.

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
It doesn’t get much better than Untitled (How Does It Feel) by D’Angelo. It is simply perfect. I could listen to it every day, forever, and it would still hit me in all the right spots.

6. What are you most proud of?
Easiest question to answer in the world: my family. No contest.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
Conversely I pondered this question for ages, before concluding I don’t watch enough TV any more to answer with any degree of authority. I can’t decide whether I’m cooler or more loserish for this, but there it is… Wait. Hang on. If I’m allowed to take us on a trip back to the olden days when I did watch TV, then I’d like to change my answer: Dana Scully.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
Not so much an author as a poet, but Carol-Ann Duffy’s words slay me. I defy you to read the exquisitely beautiful Warming Her Pearls and not swoon. Author-wise, F. Scott Fitzgerald would be near the top of my desert island list.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
That if you have read this far, I’m pathetically grateful (no, really.) And if you have read, or plan to read, my story—well—I’m a gibbering mess of gratitude.

10. What’s next for you?
More writing. More sex. Hopefully not in that order. Currently two separate (and very different) stories are whispering to me at odd hours, and I’m attempting to wrangle both into arial twelve-point. I hope one day I’ll be lucky enough to share them.

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Beatrice Donahue is a poet at heart. The Blue Hour marks her first foray into the world of short stories. If you follow the quiet hum of eccentricity, you will usually find her at home in Southwest England, except when she is not. An avid reader who never judges a book by its cover, Beatrice enjoys exploring and expressing aspects of human sexuality through her own writing.