NYT Bestselling Author Jennifer McQuiston Talks DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER

In today's Fresh Chat, New York Times bestselling author Jennifer McQuiston talks with Fresh Fiction Features Editor Pasha Carlisle about DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER, the first novel in McQuiston's new series The Seduction Diaries.

Pasha: Welcome, Jennifer, and congrats on the new series debut! The hero of DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER is a doctor who treats the heroine’s ankle after she sprains it at a dance. Despite the heroine’s infatuation with a duke, she finds herself falling for the doctor. Would you tell us a bit about the societal differences between a doctor and a duke in the regency era?

Jennifer M: There was an enormous social gulf between a doctor and a duke in the Regency and Victorian eras… the peerage was very hierarchical, and a duke was at the very top of that food chain (next comes marquess, then earl, viscount, baron, and baronet). Physicians of the time were often from solid families, as they needed to be able to afford both the time and costs of medical school, but they were still considered solidly part of the professional class. In some unusual cases, peers—particularly peers who started as second or third sons and inherited a title by happenstance—might be doctors as well.

In DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER, however, the hero, Dr. Daniel Merial, is a physician who was not at all wealthy and who came from humble origins. For a lady with her eye on a duke, it was tremendously poor luck for Clare to become smitten with such a man. But I believe in the course of true love, even for cross-class relationships. And it made for constant, delicious conflict as their love story unfolded...

Pasha: You are known for the unique way you blend science and romance in your historical novels. How does your work as an infectious disease researcher at the Atlanta CDC influence your writing?

Jennifer M: Thank you! I am not sure I set out to deliberately make that connection in the stories I craft, but usually I can look back and see that yes, science has indeed slipped its way inside my pages. I do sometimes think my background as a scientific researcher influences the way I collect and research historical facts. Sometimes I have to stop myself from research mode and remind myself to just write the darn book!

I think my heroes sometimes pick up my scientific sensibility. In my third book, MOONLIGHT ON MY MIND, the hero is a Victorian veterinarian, and I’ve a physician as a hero in DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER. At CDC, my specialty is infectious diseases, and some of my favorite diseases (typhus, cholera, scarlet fever) were quite prevalent during the time period in which I write. You’ve got me thinking I need a nice big epidemic in one of my upcoming books!

Pasha: This must have been a big year for you at the CDC, in light of the Ebola breakout. Could you tell us a bit about your efforts to minimize the spread of the disease?

Jennifer M: Yes, it has truly been all hands on deck at CDC as the agency responds to the largest outbreak in its history. We’ve deployed over 1,000 people to West Africa, and thousands more have supported the response from the United States. I was privileged to travel to Sierra Leone in October to help with health communications, which, in my opinion, is one of the most critical and overlooked needs in this epidemic. As part of that trip, I led a team developing new health messages and innovative ways to deliver the message, mainly by radio, which is how >80% of the country’s residents receive news. While the Ebola outbreak is beginning to improve in Liberia and Sierra Leone, cases are still concerning in Guinea, and we cannot rest until we get to Zero cases in all three countries.

Pasha: We are thankful for all you and your colleagues do at the CDC! Now, back to the joy of romance. DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER is the first in a series entitled The Seduction Diaries. What else can we expect from this series in the near future?

Jennifer M: I am in the tailspin-end of finishing the writing of book #2, called THE SPINSTER’S GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR. It features Lucy as heroine, who was the sister of the heroine in the first book. She is a spitfire of a spinster who’s about to lose her heart… to a man who seems to want only to steal her inheritance.

And book #3, THE PERKS OF LOVING A SCOUNDREL, is Geoffrey’s story. He is the prankster younger brother of Lucy and Clare, and I can think of no more worthy adventure for this mischievous young man than a forced marriage to a young lady whose virtue he is presumed to have compromised… playing the scoundrel has its price!

Pasha: When you are not writing smart and captivating romance novels, or saving the world from infectious diseases, what do you like to do?

Jennifer M: Please, please, please let me sleep. Seriously, I could sleep 10 hours a day if someone would only let me. When my CDC job and a writing deadline collide (as they are right now), I limp by on about 6 hours a night.

I also love to ride horses, and share that love with my girls. I promised my girls we would buy a pony if I ever sold a book, and I kept that promise… Beaux Regard the happy pony is one area where we focus most of our free time. My family also loves to travel, especially internationally. We are taking our first family trip to Scotland this May.

Pasha: Congrats on the Scotland trip, and we hope you get more full nights of sleep soon! Thank you so much for joining us today, and I have one more question for you. Fresh Fiction readers want to know: What’s on your To-Read list?

Jennifer M: Oh my, the To-Read list is bulging right now because I’ve not been able to read ANYTHING while under deadline. But when I am finally finished, I am looking forward to digging into:

HOW TO BE A VICTORIAN: A DAWN TO DUSK GUIDE TO VICTORIAN LIFE by Ruth Goodman

THE ROSIE EFFECT by Graeme Simsion

And please, let me be able to finally finish SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS by Tessa Dare!

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Thanks again to Ms. McQuiston for being our guest. Readers, read on to learn more about DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER, now available from Avon romance.

About DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER

Pretty and popular, Miss Clare Westmore knows exactly what (or rather, who) she wants: the next Duke of Harrington. But when she twists her ankle on the eve of the Season’s most touted event, Clare is left standing in the wallflower line watching her best friend dance away with her duke.

Dr. Daniel Merial is tempted to deliver more than a diagnosis to London's most unlikely wallflower, but he doesn’t have time for distractions, even one so delectable. Besides, she's clearly got her sights on more promising prey. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?

All Clare wants to do is return to the dance floor. But as her former friends try to knock her permanently out of place, she realizes with horror she is falling for her doctor instead her duke. When her ankle finally heals and she faces her old life again, will she throw herself back into the game?

Or will her time in the wallflower line have given her a glimpse of who she was really meant to be?

Read Fresh Fiction reviewer Kimia Safavi's review of DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER.

About Jennifer McQuiston

Jennifer McQuiston is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Victoria-era historical romance.

A veterinarian and infectious disease researcher by training, Jennifer has always preferred reading romance to scientific textbooks. She grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, two daughters (who got a pony out of mom’s book deal!), and a house full of pets. Visit her website to connect with her.