Mary Balogh chats about 'SOMEONE TO HOLD': part two

This is part two of Mary Balogh's interview with Miranda Owen. To read the first half, click here. Miranda Owen: I’m in a few online book groups, and there is always a discussion about what we, as readers, drives us crazy about the genre we love – whether it’s technical inconsistencies, or issues with a specific type of character. What are some pet peeves you have about historical romance, or other types of romances? Mary Balogh: I think one thing that bothers me about many historical romances is their disregard for history, particularly in regard to how characters speak and behave. I don't like characters of the English Regency era, for example, talking like 21st century Americans. And this applies both to the actual words they use and to the sorts of things they talk about and the attitudes they take to various topics and life in general. If a writer wants a feisty, cursing heroine, then put her into a contemporary romance. If she is a Regency heroine, then she must speak and behave and even think like a lady who actually lived in that era. That does not mean she has to be a lisping airhead. Think Elizabeth Bennett. She was a contemporary heroine when Jane Austen created her. She is strong and has great dignity and integrity, but she is entirely a woman of her time. There are certain things she can do (refusing two advantageous marriage offers, for example) and certain things she would not dream of doing (openly criticizing or defying her horribly vulgar mother, for example). Our characters can be strong. They can even be rebels. But the rebellion must be believable for their historical time. Miranda Owen: I know it might be extremely difficult to choose, but which are your favorite books that you’ve written? Mary Balogh: LONGING, SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS, THE NOTORIOUS RAKE, ONLY A KISS, MORE THAN A MISTRESS, A PRECIOUS JEWEL, SIMPLY LOVE, A MATTER OF CLASS, a few dozen others…. Miranda Owen: Are there any supporting characters that you wish you would’ve been able to devote a book of their own to, or to expand on? Mary Balogh: I could probably go back through my books and haul out a number of minor characters to make into heroes and heroine of their own stories. In the main, however, I think I have done just that. The only outstanding one I can think of is Horatia Eckart (I’m not even sure I have spelled her name correctly) whose sad story is hinted at in INDISCREET. That book was the first of a trilogy, which was meant to be a quartet, even a quintet of books. But I was leaving my publisher and did not think I would have a chance to complete the set, so I combined two stories into one in book three, IRRESISTIBLE, and the other story, which would have been Horatia's, was never written. Maybe one of these days… Miranda Owen: Can you name one of your older books that is either overlooked, or just might be unfamiliar to new fans and explain why it’s worth checking out? Mary Balogh: Perhaps LONGING, which is a little different from my other books but has always been one of my favorites. It is set in a coal-mining valley of Wales in the 1830s and deals with actual historical events surrounding the upheavals of the Chartist movement, pitting the Welsh workers against the wealthy English owners. The hero and heroine are on opposite sides, and their love story is one of my most passionate and deeply felt. I am Welsh, and all my fierce love for my own country and its people came out in the writing of that book. Miranda Owen: Right after reading AT LAST COMES LOVE, the second book of yours that I read was THE DEVIL’S WEB – and it drove me crazy because of how tempestuous the relationship between the hero and heroine was. Some readers really love a romance with a lot of verbal sparring and rocky romance throughout. I usually prefer when the hero and heroine are on the same page and working together against some villain or difficult circumstance. Which do you prefer to write? Mary Balogh: Oh, I am more or less with you on that. James and Madeline's story just worked out that way, and I had to stay true to their characters. But to be perfectly honest, that is not one of my favorite stories. I prefer to write a story in which the hero and heroine are perfectly open and honest with each other as they work their way through the conflict that keeps them apart or at least not fully committed to each other until the end. Miranda Owen: What are you working on right now? Will Elizabeth get a book or novella of her own? Can you say how many more books you plan on writing in the Westcott series? Mary Balogh: The Westcott series should be eight books long—stories for Anna, Camille, Alexander (those three are already written), Viola, Abigail, Elizabeth, Jessica, and Harry. The last five will not necessarily be written in that order. I don't know who will come after Viola. Hers in the book that is currently germinating in my mind.