Please welcome Elena Mikalsen to the blog today. She’s the author of Wrapped in the Stars, which is out now.
Author Name: Elena Mikalsen
Book Title: Wrapped in the Stars
Book Genre: Women’s Fiction/Historical Fiction
Release Date: Out Now
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Please tell us a little about your book.
The book’s main message is that a great love can never be lost—its energy will remain in the universe and will pass on to another couple. A couple in the early 20th century becomes separated but their love is passed to another couple in our time.
How long did it take for you to write Wrapped in the Stars? Did you do have to do any research?
It took me a year of meticulous research on quantum physics, history of medicine, and history of Jewish communities in Switzerland in the early 20th century, which is where part of my story takes place.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read Wrapped in the Stars?
I think someone may be interested in reading the book to learn about the women who were first allowed to enter medical schools in Europe in the early 20th century and what was their experience like being students alongside men and practicing after they graduate. My books cover the life of medical students in Switzerland before and during the World War I and the work of physicians helping women and children. I wanted to write about this topic because I never saw it covered in other historical fiction novels.
How does your day job inform your novel writing?
I work as a pediatric psychologist at a Children’s Hospital. My job is to treat children and pregnant mothers who are hospitalized or medically ill and I do believe that my daily work with the ups and downs of caring for families with often devastating stories very much influences the stories I come up for my books.
What are you working on now?
I finished two novels last year and they are in the process of getting published—one likely in 2019 (It’s a romcom) and one likely in 2020 (it’s a women’s fiction/suspense).
My current novel in progress was inspired by my last summer’s trip to Vancouver where my family and I struggled to observe a great number of homeless living suffering in that very wealthy city. We literally watched people dying in the streets in front of us with little help and one night, over a hundred and fifty people overdosed near where we were staying. I was so shocked by this, I wrote my first chapter and an outline for a novel as I sat in a beautiful apartment overlooking a square where people were sleeping on a cold hard ground for the night. It’s about a quarter done, but it requires a great deal of research and it will probably take me another year to finish.
Where can readers find you?
Thank you, Elena! Wrapped in the Stars is available NOW.
Wrapped in the Stars
Struggling with guilt over her sister’s death and the stress of her medical residency, Maya Radelis runs away to Scotland. A robin seems to lead her to an antique shop, where she finds a century-old engagement ring. But what is the ring’s history? She follows the slim paper trail, wondering if it is only coincidence that her dreams reveal the story of a Swiss woman physician who wore the ring during World War I.
In Paris she meets fellow New Yorker David Fischer, a lawyer with family in Switzerland as well as America. He helps Maya follow the memories stored in the ring as they lead her around Europe. The attraction between David and Maya grows, and when they discover a connection between the ring and David’s family, they learn, bit by bit, more about the ring’s earlier owner. Will Maya’s own life have the same tragedy of lost love?
Author bio:
I am a published author and a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, the Author’s Guild, the International Thriller Writers Association, and the RWA PAN.
I like to write stories about smart women in extraordinary circumstances. My first novel, WRAPPED IN THE STARS, was released worldwide by The Wild Rose Press, Inc. in February of 2018. It was short-listed for the Del Sol First Novel Prize in 2017.
I am somewhat obsessive about travel, but, when I am at home, in San Antonio, I can be found browsing through bookstores or antique shops with my husband and two children.
When not writing stories, I am a Pediatric Psychologist and Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, helping children with chronic medical illness. I blog on issues of mental health for teens and adults. I enjoy working with the media due to my expertise in managing anxiety, stress, and parenting issues. My nonfiction blog and articles can be found at https://www.elenamikalsen.com My nonfiction chapter was included in COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS TO CREATE CHANGE IN CHILDREN published by Rutledge/Haworth Press in 2014.
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Website: www.elenamikalsen.com
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