by Anne O'Brien
To sit down and write. It is so easy, as I know, to make excuses of lack of time, lack of ideas, lack of somewhere to sit and write. I made these excuses for years. Whether it’s longhand or by PC, it will not happen unless you accept that it’s a time-consuming, often inconvenient and almost always lonely exercise. On the other side of the coin, it can become an all-embracing way of life, bringing amazing enjoyment and fulfilment.
But you have to make a start—and persist by working out a routine and sticking to it, even if it’s a somewhat haphazard routine.
Which book do you wish you had written?
I think it has to be Dorothy Dunnett’s The Game of Kings, and the other five to complete the Lymond series. I was seriously hooked when I read the first of them. I don’t think I will ever find a better advocate of historical fiction. In 2012 I felt it a great honour to be invited to speak at the Dorothy Dunnett Literary Lunch in Manchester in July.
How did you feel when your first book was signed?
Astonished, I think. The timescale from starting writing, through agents and publishers, and the inevitable rejections, is so vast and success seems to be an impossibility. It is difficult to remain confident and patient. The acceptance of my first book was wonderful—and definitely worthy of a bottle of champagne with my husband. It is still a great delight to see my books on the shelves…
How do you begin writing characters based on real historical figures and do they ever surprise you as you write?
Reading to begin with—any biography of the historical character. Once I have a plan of their life—main dates and events—with overlapping plans to indicate where they interact with the other characters in the story, then I make a list of the scenes which will obviously bring some element of tension or excitement or emotion into the story. This is most important, I find. I also make a list of areas which can be omitted or given a mere passing reference, with the pace of the story in mind or its relevance to the overall novel. Sometimes events just don’t fit and it’s as important to recognise these as it is the explosively important ones. Although sometimes it surprises me—that scenes I’ve jettisoned demand to be included when I begin writing.
Characters certainly surprise me. Sometimes they resist the direction I wish them to take. Sometimes they carry conversations into directions I had no idea of. Characters develop as I write, so I have to take this into consideration and allow them to be headstrong if that is what they wish. I know I must not force a character into an action that is not in keeping with the character I have given them. If a particular action is vital to the story, then it may be that I have to tweak the character.
Do you have a favourite character in The Scandalous Duchess and what is it you like about that character?
It has to be Katherine herself. What a strong character she must have had to allow her to choose love over piety and respectability. At the same time, how could I not admire the complex character of John of Lancaster, driven by ambition and the duty demanded of his royal blood? And yet he was a man of chivalry and made an honest woman of Katherine in the end. And then there is the ill-matched couple of Philippa and Geoffrey Chaucer, who simply demanded to make an appearance. Difficult to choose in the end, I’d say…
What kind of research goes into your writing process?
General: I immerse myself in the period so that I know how people lived and to some extent thought. I need a sense of place and time for my characters. I have a good selection of reference books—I live near Hay on Wye, a magnificent place for browsing for books—on food and fashion, architecture and gardens, health, sex and witchcraft, so that I can put my characters into a scene. This research tends to be ongoing throughout the time I am writing the novel.
Specific: focusing on the lives of the characters at the centre of the novel as I first envisage it. For the most part these are secondary rather than primary sources, although the opinions of contemporaries are invaluable.
Physical: I visit places associated with the characters, or similar venues, to give me an idea of atmosphere. Sometimes I use contemporary music to set a mood. Poetry and literature can help me to visualise the ideas that influenced my characters. When developing my knowledge of Alice Perrers, I resorted to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the Wife of Bath, who is thought to have been modelled on Alice. She might well have been. I loved her red sbm1kings and large hat and gap-toothed smile—but Alice, unlike the Wife of Bath, did not have five husbands…For Katherine de Valois I read Shakespeare’s Henry V of course, with that wonderful love scene (even if I don’t believe a word of it).
I returned to Chaucer (who earns himself a cameo role in The Scandalous Duchess) for thoughts on Katherine Swynford. Chaucer’s Boke of the Duchesse tells of John of Lancaster’s love for Duchess Blanche when John, the man in black, is encouraged to talk of his love and grief for his wife who has just died. A splendid piece of emotional writing.
A WRITER’S LIFE
Paper and pen or straight on to the computer?
Straight on to the computer but I also keep a notebook and pen to hand. I write notes on images and scenes, conversations between the characters, anything that comes to mind—they tend to appear at the most inopportune times. Sometimes I rough out whole scenes by hand, but only with the bare minimum of detail.
PC or laptop?
PC, but I have recently been won over by the value of a laptop when I am travelling by train. I have no excuse for not continuing my plotting.
Music or silence?
Silence when I’m first putting scenes and plots together. When I’m reviewing or redrafting or polishing towards the end of a novel, I listen to music. Baroque choral works for me when I’m writing.
Morning or night?
Definitely morning. I am not a night person.
Coffee or tea?
Tea first thing in the morning—then coffee.
Your guilty reading pleasure?
A book, a glass of wine and music—often choral, but might equally be folk or symphonic—before a wood fire in my cottage.
The first book you loved?
The first adult historical novel I remember reading as a young girl was The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes, which focused on the children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I recall being drawn into the richness of the period, the emotion of the characters and the drama of the lives of the Plantagenets. It has been re-issued and I was pleased to find that the charm still existed. My pleasure in this genre has stayed with me ever since.
The last book you read?
I have just finished reading Sarah Dunant’s Blood and Beauty, in which she explores the ever-fascinating history of the Borgia family in Renaissance Italy. I heard Sarah talk about her most recent novel at the Hay Festival this year and was encouraged to read it. Thoroughly entertaining—I can certainly recommend it.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
I try to write every day, for the sake of continuity, and because I suffer from withdrawal symptoms if I miss more than a few days. What will my characters do without me?
I am a morning writer. In summer when the days are long I can start work at 6.00am—it is harder in winter when the mornings are dark, but I am usually underway by 8.00am. I work until lunchtime, about one o’clock, with a coffee break. I have an office where I can leave all my books and papers around so that I can find them when I start again. If I tidy up I lose things.
In the afternoons when the weather is fine I enjoy my garden, a large, rambling area where my husband and I grow vegetables and soft fruit. The seasons are a delight, with herbaceous flower borders, a wild garden, a small orchard and a formal pond. With an interest in herbs and their uses, I have a herb garden constructed on the pattern of a Tudor knot garden and enjoy cooking with the proceeds. It is a perfect time for me to mentally review what I’ve been doing as I keep the flowerbeds in order and wage war on the weeds.
Housework is fitted in as and when I am driven to it. My priority is writing and the pleasures of my g
arden.
Early evening is a time when I sit with a glass of wine to make contact with my husband. It is a very important hour which we put aside for ourselves when we can talk and listen to music. Sometimes I might read through what I have written in the morning. Then we eat—I am an enthusiastic cook, so it is a pleasure to fit this into my day.
I have discovered that writing has a habit of taking over my life if I allow it, but I refuse to give up on my yoga…
THE TEN BEST PLACES TO READ THE
SCANDALOUS DUCHESS
1. A summer garden with a little shade, a comfortable chair and a cup of tea. Guaranteed to concentrate the mind and allow the reader to wallow in the romance.
2. On the underground in the rush hour. (An e-reader is excellent for this!) Remove yourself from the crush and immerse yourself in a day’s hunting with Katherine and the Duke or an edgy scene at Constanza’s court.
3. On a seat in a shopping mall. Lose yourself in the ‘must have’ gear for a fourteenth century woman. A perfect antidote to the demands of retail therapy.
4. In the lovely gardens at Kenilworth Castle with a view of the buildings commissioned by Duke John. What better place to tread in their footsteps? The Great Hall was frequently used for dancing. I dare you…!
5. On a Thames water taxi between Westminster and Blackfriars to admire the impressive bulk of The Savoy Hotel, imagining that it is the Duke of Lancaster’s Savoy Palace, with Katherine and her children watching the river traffic from the walls.
6. In the dentist’s waiting room. The turbulence of this love affair will take your mind off the agonies to come.
7. At any literary festival. Enjoy the restoration of Katherine to wedded respectability with her lover as you spread the good word for historical fiction.
8 In a long queue that never seems to move. You won’t care, if you are caught up in the repercussions of the Duke’s quitclaim and Katherine’s slighted fury.
9. At Pontefract Castle. How the ruined walls must shiver with all that pent-up emotion of Katherine’s rejection!
10. Tucked up for the winter with a fire and music and mulled wine to hand. Choose something medieval to set the scene and step back into the ducal court.
Absolutely anywhere, in fact…
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ISBN: 9781488710100
TITLE: THE SCANDALOUS DUCHESS
First Australian Publication 2014
Copyright © 2014 Anne O’Brien
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher, Harlequin Mills & Boon®, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. N.S.W., Australia 2067.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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