an interview With Julia Quinn by Diane Gaston

Originally appearing on “Risky Regencies,” October 27, 2008

Diane: Tell us about Mr. Cavendish, I Presume? How it is connected to The Lost Duke of Wyndham?

JQ: Some time ago I was humming an old Dire Straits song called "Industrial Disease," and I got to the line: "Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong." Being the historical romance writer I am, I immediately change that to: "Two men say they're the Duke of Something. One of them must be wrong." The trick there, though, was to figure out how on earth the succession to a Dukedom could be in doubt, because that sort of thing was generally well-documented.

Once I came up with a way to make the plot work, I started thinking about the characters. Which would be the bad guy—the current duke or the long-lost duke? Then I thought—wouldn't it be so much more interesting if they were both good guys?

At that point I realized I'd need two books, since if both were hero material, both would need to their own love stories. At first I thought I would write them sequentially, with one picking up where the other ended, but as I delved into the plotting, I realized that there were so many scenes that were crucial to both sets of characters. I couldn't bear, for example, to show the big reveal scene (when the characters learn who is the real duke) from only one hero's point of view. So I ended up with two novels that took place at the same time.

Diane: We're all about taking risks here at Risky Regencies. What do you think is the greatest creative risk you've taken in this book?

JQ: Running the stories simultaneously. This meant I was going to have to write them simultaneously as well. It was a tremendous creative challenge for me—and one that I found very exciting and energizing. I loved weaving two separate and distinct love stories through one set of external events. But at the same time, I risked alienating some readers, who might not like this approach. If you've read Lost Duke, for example, you know who the real duke is before you start Cavendish. I personally don’t think this detracts from the novel in any way; the real heart of the story is in the characters and how they adjust to and learn from the events. But some readers didn’t like this; they felt they’d started the story already “spoiled.”

Diane: With Mr. Cavendish and The Lost Duke so intertwined, did you have to do anything different than your usual plotting process?

JQ: Absolutely! In fact, this was the hardest part of the process. I wrote a joint outline for the two books, which was far more daunting than I’d envisioned. Normally when I’m plotting I can make my secondary characters do whatever is best for the main story, but this time I had to consider the other book as well. It took forever. I’m not kidding when I say I went through seventeen versions. (Okay, many of the versions were somewhat truncated, but still.) And I kept switching who would end up with whom!

Diane: What is it about the Regency that keeps you writing in that time period?

JQ: I’m not sure exactly. It just seems to work for me. The witty repartee, probably.

Diane: You've won the RITA two years in a row, 2008 for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, and 2007 for On the Way to the Wedding. Can you tell us what this has meant to you?

JQ: It’s indescribable. There is something so special about validation and praise from one’s peers. And I had reached the finals so many times that when I finally won, I couldn’t stop laughing. I was giddy, absolutely giddy.

Diane: I've heard your excellent workshop on writing dialogue. What is your greatest weakness in writing dialogue, the one thing you find yourself having to fix before turning in that final draft? (Mine is overuse of dialogue tags)

JQ: I find myself deleting dialogue tags, too. But weirdly, I also find that I have to add action tags and emotional tags to flesh things out.

Diane: What is next for you?

JQ: I’m writing a spin-off of The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. It’s about Lady Olivia Bevelstoke. I’ve paired her up with an all-new character named Harry Valentine. Olivia is such a great character. I think it’ll be a lot of fun!

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The Secret Diaries Confessions of Julia Quinn

Originally appeared at Romantic Inks on December 2, 2006.

In no particular order...

I will do almost anything to avoid writing, even if I actually do enjoy it once I get started. At my Starbucks, where I’m supposed to be able to work diligently because I have no internet access (at least no free access, and I’m too cheap to pay for it), I end up chatting with the other regulars—-Larry the graphics guy, Jennifer who just divorced her best friend, Howard (I don’t know what he does), the older dude whose name I forget, but I know all about his politics (far left) and the fact that he has no internet access at home because it’s cheaper to have TMobile and logon at Starbucks. There’s also SAT-prep woman, who leads all her classes over lattes (my vocabulary is faboo after so many years of eavesdropping) and SAT-prep man, who I think might be married to SAT-prep woman, although I’m not certain. And the other test-prep guy, who appears to be independent of the other two (who clearly work together), but who is infinitely more mellow, plus the college senior who also works at J. Crew (and alerts me of sales.) Oh! And don’t forget the two sisters who own a cookie-decorating business. Can you tell I’m a people watcher? I’m just crushed that cute soccer guy has moved on...

Speaking of writing, there are certain words I egregiously overuse. I’m not going to say what they are, because none of you will ever be able to read one of my books the same way again.

I have a weakness for boss/secretary romances, usually found in the Harlequin Presents line.

I also have a weakness for Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream. And strawberry. And... well, pretty much any flavor as long as it doesn’t contain bananas. By the way, Haagen-Dazs light ice cream is amazing. It’s still bad for you, but it’s not as bad for you, so you don’t have to feel quite as guilty. The S’mores flavor is particularly good.

I hate bananas.

No, I mean I really hate bananas. The smell gives me the heebee-jeebees.

I love the phrase heebee-jeebees but rarely find the opportunity to use it.

I’m also not fond of olives, which was somewhat problematic when I was working as a travel writer in Greece. Not that I spoke a word of Greek when I got the job. I got by with a lot of smiling, hand gestures and following words and phrases: Oil, vinegar, and “boyfriend in America.”

I really did have a boyfriend in America, and I married him.

Said husband figures into every single one of my book dedications.

Said husband HAS NOT READ MOST OF MY BOOKS.

Said husband, when confronted with this while he was reading the manuscript of his father’s novel, said, “But you don’t need my help.”

Said husband sometimes says exactly the right thing to get him out of trouble.

Said husband approves of the title of my next book: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (not that he’ll ever read it.)

That’s okay. I haven’t had to clean out the cat box in seven years.

I hate cleaning the cat box, but oddly enough, not as much as I hate bananas...

;-)  JQ

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An interview With Julia Quinn by Candice Hern

Originally appearing on “Dishing with the Divas,” June 12, 2006

Candice: Tell us a little about your upcoming book, On the Way to the Wedding.

JQ: Think Comedy of Errors. Gregory is in love with Hermione, who is in love with her father's secretary. Lucy thinks he's a better match, so she offers to help him win Hermione's heart, but then she falls in love with Gregory herself. Which is a bit sticky, as she's engaged to Lord Haselby. And then enter Lucy's brother Richard... Well, you get the picture.

Candice: How did it feel when you had written THE END on your last Bridgerton manuscript? Was it sad to be finished with them? Or liberating?

JQ: Both. Mostly, I heaved a huge sigh of relief, but then again, I do this at the end of every book. It's nice, though, to work with a clean slate. But as I've been developing my current project, it's been a little strange—I can't remember the last time I had to come up with so many new characters.

Candice: You now have available for download Second Epilogs for 2 of your Bridgerton books, and it sounds like you'll be doing one for all 8 books. Did this idea come about as a way of not quite letting go of the Bridgertons yet?

JQ: No, not really. It was more reader-driven. I get so many queries about the characters and what happened to them after "the end." And I thought, "Well, why not?" What surprised me was how much fun they were to write. I found the process very energizing. I got to work with a different format (short story) and with a very different sort of story arc. Suddenly it wasn't about getting two people together. Instead, I got to show people who were already fully committed. The 2nd Epilogues don't really stand alone, but they're not meant to. They ought to be thought of as companions to the existing novels. Some people have asked why I didn't just put these in with the novels, but I don't think they belong there. They're extras. You don't need them for the story, but they're a lot of fun.

Candice: Now that the 8th and final Bridgerton book is about to released, I'm sure everyone wants to know what's next? Another series? Standalone books? And will you continue to write historicals? Or is there a contemporary romance in your future?

JQ: Right now I'm working on a two-book set, the first of which is called The Two Dukes of Wyndham. I also have an already-written stand alone about a girl in love with her best friend's brother. I'm not sure which will be out first, though.

No plans to write contemporary anytime soon. I think if I did something contemporary, it wouldn't be romance, to tell the truth. And I don't have time right now for anything but romance!

Candice: A few years ago, you appeared as a contestant on THE WEAKEST LINK. Now that you're a seasoned TV performer, is there a reality show you dream of being on some day? American Idol? So You Think You Can Dance? Hell's Kitchen? The Apprentice?

JQ: Oh, gad. No. But I want to get on another game show. I'm a trivia junkie. And it was so much fun.

Candice: A recent poll of AAR readers named The Duke and I as their favorite JQ book. Do you agree? Is it your favorite, too?

JQ: I don't know if it's my favorite, but in many ways it's the most meaningful to me. It's the first of the Bridgertons, which obviously turned out to be a major part of my career, but also, I felt that my writing turned a corner with The Duke and I. I approached the book from a different angle, and I think what emerged was deeper and richer than anything I'd done before. So it will always be special to me for that.

Candice: How do your stories take shape? Do you start from plot or from character? Do you outline or are you a seat-of-the-pants writer? And does your finished product differ much from what you set out to write?

JQ: I'm definitely an outliner. I spend months on the outlines, but that's in large part because I do a lot of work on characterization in the outlining process. As for how I start, that differs from book to book. Sometimes I have a character, sometimes a plot or a premise. For How to Marry a Marquis, I had a title. Or rather, I had Candice's title! (Thank you, Candice. Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

For those of you who don't know this, I owe Candice a HUGE debt. When she was writing traditional regencies, she wanted to name one of her books How to Marry a Duke, but her editor nixed it. I thought her editor was crazy, so I said to Candice, "Can I have it?" (I still remember exactly where we were—having tea (or possibly something more boozy) in Trump Tower, of all places, in Manhattan.) Candice graciously gave me the title, and it eventually changed to How to Marry a Marquis to take advantage of the alliteration.

Candice: Of all the books you've written, which one was the most difficult to write?

JQ: Aren't they all hard? I keep thinking they're supposed to get easier, but they never do.

Candice: If we were to sneak into your house, what book would we find on your bedside table?

JQ: Foreign Babes in Beijing by Rachel DeWoskin. I'm enjoying it tremendously. The author went to Beijing to work for a PR firm and ended up on a Chinese soap opera called (you guessed it) "Foreign Babes in Beijing." I just finished judging two rounds of the Ritas, so I was ready for a break from romance.

Candice: And what note would we find taped to your computer monitor?

JQ: Okay, this is embarrassing, but since you asked, my sister made me tape up a fortune cookie fortune I got that says, "You will earn thousands of dollars daily for doing nothing." She says, "Isn't that the definition of royalties?" I say, "Hey, I DID the work..." But I got the last laugh because —she— got the fortune that said, "Your mother is spreading vicious rumors about you." (My mother denies this, by the way.)

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