Romance Unlaced: Interview with Julia Quinn
I have accidentally "double bought" a book only one time in my life. It was Julia Quinn's first novel. The second time I bought it, I began reading and knew at once I had read it before. And paid for it before, no less. I have often studied that book's back cover copy to try to figure out what lured me in not once, but twice, then hooked me to her writing for good.
A new book by Julia is always a cause for celebration among her fans. She is one of the most recommended romance authors on the blogs and loops. If you are one of the few who has not read one of her books and enjoyed her smart humor and charming characters, do yourself a favor and try one.
Julia has a new book out this week, The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy, and she agreed to be interviewed by HEA.
Madeline: Please tell us about the new book.
Julia: The short version: Sir Richard Kenworthy needs to get married very quickly, but Iris Smythe-Smith doesn't know why. (And neither does the reader!)
The long version: The annual Smythe-Smith Musicale has long been a running joke in my books. It all started in my third novel, Minx, when I needed to place my characters at a social event that wasn't a ball. I decided upon a concert, and since bad music is infinitely more funny than good, I drew upon my memories of my elementary school orchestra and created the Smythe-Smith Quartet — four young ladies (cousins) who were, quite simply, the worst string quartet ever to take the stage. Over the years, I kept coming back to these terrible concerts; there were plenty of Smythe-Smith cousins, so there were always enough to form a quartet, and eventually readers started wondering about these hapless girls. Who were they, and how was it possible they didn't realize how bad they were? (It turns out they do realize; most of them, anyway.)
I immediately decided I had to write four books — it was the Smythe-Smith Quartet, after all. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy is the final book in the set, and it features Iris Smythe-Smith, the one cousin who is actually quite a good musician. She has a very dry sense of humor, and I've been looking forward to writing about her for some time. I do want to note, though, that even though The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy is a part of a set, it can be read on its own. All of my books can.
Madeline: What are some of your favorite elements of this book?
Julia: I'm really quite pleased at how the "big secret" turned out. Plotting has never been my strongest suit. I could never write a proper mystery novel; everyone would know who'd done it by page three. But with this book, I wanted the reader to find out Richard's secret when Iris did, so I had to put a lot of thought into how I dropped hints along the way.
I also really loved the scene with The Shepherdess, the Unicorn, and Henry VIII. HEA published an excerpt from the scene a few weeks ago.
Madeline: Have you ever been tempted to write in another time period/setting?
Julia: Not really. I've always thought that I was tremendously fortunate that the setting I love — Regency England — happens to be the most popular setting among readers. Of course, this is likely no coincidence. I'm a reader, too!
Madeline: If you were not a romance writer, what genre might you be writing in?
Julia: Probably children's books. I'm not sure whether it would be Young Adult or middle grade. There is so much great writing in kidlit these days.
Madeline: Tell us something about your career's trajectory. Have you held other jobs while writing? How many books have you published?
Julia: I started writing just after college, while I was taking post-baccalaureate pre-med courses. I finished my first novel while I was applying to medical school, and then I sold that book the same month I was accepted to medical school. (It was a crazy month, let me tell you.) I ended up deferring med school for two years while I wrote, and then I had what I call my mid-20s crisis. All of my friends were going to graduate school, and I started thinking, "What happens if this writing thing doesn't work out? I'm not qualified to do anything else." Which is crazy. I had published three novels, for heaven's sake. But I pretty much freaked out and decided to go to med school anyway. After about three months, I came to my senses and withdrew. I've been a full-time writer ever since. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy is my 24th novel, and I've been working with the same publishing house and editor my entire career.
Madeline: How long does it take you to write a novel? Is there a pattern to how stories develop in your head? Has either of these things changed over the course of your career?
Julia: It takes me about nine months from spark to finish, although probably only about two-thirds of that is spent on the actual writing. I've discovered that I can't start a novel until I have a good sense of my characters, so that's where I start. I write an outline, but close to half of it tends to be character exploration. I need to know what their childhoods were like, and if they have siblings, and if so, where they fall in the sibling order. All sorts of details end up in the outline, many of which never reach the pages of the novel. But even if the reader never learns some detail about the hero's childhood, I know it, and I think it helps me to craft a more fully realized character.
I didn't always work this way. For my first few books, my outlines were of the more traditional sort — plot-based with a lot of "this happens and that happens and then another thing happens." It was with my eighth novel, The Duke and I, that I started writing more character-driven outlines, and I think that marked a turning point in my writing.
When I'm writing the actual book, I tend to work chronologically, editing as I go along. I start each day by rereading what I did the previous few days, making minor changes and occasionally major ones as I review. This kind of editing process means that I move through the book fairly slowly, but the nice part is that my first draft is my only draft, and when I'm done, I'm done. I always do one last pass, looking for typos or awkward sentences, but by then I'm so relieved to be done with the book that that feels like a breeze.
Madeline: What is your writing environment and schedule like?
Julia: I tend to write in one of three places: a café (when I feel like I have to get out of the house), at my treadmill desk, or in Mexico. We have a place down there, and I go about twice a year for a week at a time, and here's the important part — I go ALL BY MYSELF. It's amazing. I get so much done. It's funny, though; the place I go is not used to single travelers, and certainly not single travelers who spend the day tapping away at their computers. People say, "How can you work in Mexico?" I say, "I have to work somewhere. It might as well be here, where the guacamole and margaritas are so wonderful!"
Madeline: When people describe you, what three adjectives do you think they use? Do you think those words are accurate?
Julia: Friendly, smart, talkative. All pretty accurate, I think, although as chatty as I am face-to-face, I've never been much of a phone person. It drives my family crazy.
Madeline: What is coming next, after this new release?
Julia: In a word ... Bridgertons! The Bridgerton series remains a fan favorite, and I thought it was time to revisit the family. But it's not going to be what readers expect ...
Find out more about Julia and her books at www.juliaquinn.com.
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USA TODAY and New York Times bestseller Madeline Hunter is the two-time RITA-winning author of 25 historical romances. Her most recent book, The Accidental Duchess, was published June 3. You can find her at www.MadelineHunter.com. To contact Madeline about content for or in this column, please e-mail her at RomanceUnlaced @ gmail.com (close up the spaces). Due to the volume of mail, e-mails from authors may not be answered personally, but all will be read.