In anticipation of a back surgery that I had a week ago, I asked my newsletter subscribers to send me some questions last month so I could do an Ask Me Anything post in November. They sent a lot of questions! More than I can answer in one post. I have questions about me, my characters, and writing in general. Many were similar, so I combined and reworded them.
I’ll start with the easiest one—my desk, which is pictured below. This question was posed in a couple of different ways; what does your writing space look like, and what do you have on your desk when you write?
A few things to note, yes, my husband’s photo is smaller than my dogs’ photo, but his is in front of theirs. The sheet of paper closest to my keyboard is a generic calendar page that I fill in for the period the story takes place. The painting on the wall is ALONE by Ettore DeGrazia and was one of my late mom’s favorites. Having it there feels like she’s still with me. And that’s where I write.
Now for the most popular question; when are Frances and George going to have a baby?
I’ll start by pointing out that real time and series time are not the same thing. My most recent book, A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder ended in October of 1900. George and Frances were married in February of 1900. They’ve only been married eight month and these things happen in their own time. However, the book I’m writing now (not the next book, which will be a Christmas book, but the one after that) finds Frances concerned about the fact that she’s still not pregnant. So, the topic does come up, but I can safely say there’s no baby for the next two books. After that, who knows? Oh, you think I should know?
Do all authors nowadays feel impelled to write as many books as possible as quickly as they can? Is that why they are sometimes poorly edited?
No, we definitely don’t all feel that way. But there is pressure from publishers and readers for more, and most of us have a ton of stories bouncing around in our heads that we’d love to tell if we only had the time, so we end up pressuring ourselves, too.
To pull the curtain back a little on the industry, if a writer wants to make a living at this profession, he needs to be either lucky or industrious. He has to write a book that publishers fight over, and maybe movie people too, or since that’s very rare, he needs to write more than one book a year.
Regarding copyediting and proofreading, that is usually done on the publisher’s side. I am a typo queen! My editor catches many of them. My copy editor catches even more. And I will still find a few to correct in the final proofs. We really try hard to get them all. If a typo gets past all of us, it deserves to be there!
With a traditional publisher, do you ever find your creativity curtailed in order to meet your publisher’s expectations? Or do they give you a lot of freedom to write the story as you see it?
There are some creative restraints on writers, but mine don’t come from my publisher. Since I write a series, there has to be some continuity. I have to write within the confines of the world I created and the voice I created. I write in first person—Frances is my narrator—if I shifted to third person for one book, you would all think something was off. Because Frances is positive and optimistic there’s a lightness to the books, some of which were influenced by very dark crimes that would be unsuitable for a Countess of Harleigh mystery. By pinpointing exactly what I found fascinating about the case and seeing it through Frances’ point of view, I came up with a story that fit the series. There’s always a way. There are a few darker tales I’d love to write, but if I ever get the time, I’d probably write them under a pen name.
Now for the lightning round!
What are three essential items in Frances’ bag and what sort of bags is she likely to carry on various occasions?
She would have a scrap of paper and a pencil in case she needed to leave a note. And of course, a handkerchief. She’d generally carry a reticule all the time, but they would change from plain to fancy depending on the occasion. See picture below.
What is a routine/habit that Frances’ has persisted in throughout her past and current marriage?
Chatting with the servants and drinking lots of coffee.
How does an ideal day for both George and Frances respectively look like?
I’d say each of the books I’ve written is their idea of an ideal day. They both love having a puzzle to solve.
What is Aunt Hetty’s secret to being so fun-loving at her age? And her favorite topics to read up on?
At her age?? She’s only fifty-one! She delt with a tragedy in the death of her husband at a young age, and knows that every day is a blessing, so why not make the best of them? Her life in New York was not very exciting and she loves George for bringing that element to Frances’ life and, by extension, to hers. Hetty is not a voracious reader, but she likes to keep up on current events, economics, and new discoveries—in medicine, science, or industry.
If Reggie (Frances’ first husband) could speak from the grave, what would be the first thing he would say?
Reggie would be having the worst case of FOMO or maybe just MO because he really is missing out. I don’t think he’d have anything worthwhile to contribute, so I think Frances and George should just ignore him.
This was fun! I had more questions than I have space to answer, but I will try to do this again in the future.
