Dark Champion by Jo Beverley

Frederica is a more gentle book, more typical of classic regency style, with a sensible heroine who thinks she's too old for marriage and a solid, responsible hero who's a brilliant catch, but above all it's full of wonderful characters and laugh-aloud humor, and I love humorous books.

What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you?

I particularly remember two which were based on real stories. Reach for the Sky is the story of Douglas Bader, an air force pilot who lost both legs in a plane accident and then struggled back into active service during the Battle of Britain, during which the RAF held back and eventually repelled the German attempt to bomb Britain into submission.

The other is The Dam Busters, a more scientific story about the development of a bouncing bomb capable of crippling the hydroelectric dams on the Ruhr River.

Though I've never taken to another reality show, I never miss The Amazing Race because the situations they put people in are so interesting. I think the key for me is that most of the challenges can be done by anyone, but they require the contestants to adapt to their foreign location and work together.

I'm catching up with Battlestar Gallactica on DVD. Great epic drama. I have watched Babylon V more than once. That was arguably the best SF drama ever made for TV.

My other favorites are British programs. Foyle's War, is about police work on the south coast of England during WW II. Yes, there is a pattern in what I like, isn't there? The wonderful Michael Kitchen plays Foyle with emotion that is the more powerful because of its restraint. He never raises his voice, and shows his feelings by the most subtle facial movements. The time and place create plenty of emotions as the conflicting pressures of law, justice, morality, and national security wind through the whole, entangling everyone.

I've been watching Doctor Who since I was a teenager and I'm thoroughly enjoying the new incarnation. I also enjoy the spin off, Torchwood, though the last series has left me a bit adrift.

I've been watching two '60s-set programs called Heartbeat and The Royal, because they're set around Whitby, where we're going to be living. I also like all those old '60s songs they use as background music.

What types of music do you like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?
I have varied tastes, but not a lot of modern pop. I still like some '60s artists such as the Beatles, Moody Blues, Beach Boys, and Mamas and the Papas, perhaps largely for nostalgia.

I love the music of Stan Rogers, a Canadian singer who sadly died too young. I suppose his songs could be called folk. I also love Leonard Cohen's work, and also Gregorian chant -- which I actually sang back at that convent boarding school.

For instrumental, my preference is for strings -- guitar, lute and cello. I do like symphonies, but don't often listen to them at home. Perhaps I find them too big for small spaces?

When I'm in the mood, I enjoy Bollywood music. It makes me want to move and dance.

For writing, I have a number of soundtracks I play when I'm writing. Some are period ones, such as medieval and Georgian. For Georgian, I really like the music of Marin Marais, who was a court musician in France during the 18th century. There's something both elegant and disturbing about his music, which to me captures the feel of the times.

I also have some tracks for romantic, passionate and dramatic moods.

What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts?
I try to give books I think the recipient will like, but my own taste often creeps in. I will give copies of my favorites, of course, to people I think will enjoy them.

I love getting books with period pictures because I'm a very visual writer. I also have family and friends on the alert for older books related to my settings, especially any written at the time. Primary sources are always best.

Do you have any special writing rituals? For example, what do you have on your desk when you're writing?
I don't think I have rituals, but I like to get to work right after breakfast and in my familiar place. I'm not the sort of writer to take a laptop to a café. I use a very old but still excellent word processing program called XY Write, which I haven't had to update for about 15 years. I use an old 486 computer and DOS, and the screen presents light grey text on a black background, with no page layout. I type in the words and they don't do anything except be there. I like it that way. I have a desk custom made to be lower than normal for a more comfortable angle, and a Herman Miller Aeron chair. That is THE greatest office chair, and incidentally the one that House has on the TV program.

Just to add to the peculiarities, I use the Dvorak keyboard layout instead of qwerty, because it's easier on the hands. That certainly makes it a challenge if I'm required somewhere to use a qwerty one. Hunt-and-peck am I!

Oh, and I have speakers to play that music talked about above.

Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. How long did it take for you to get where you are today? Any rejection-slip horror stories or inspirational anecdotes?
I was first published in 1988, so just over 20 years, but I'd say my career started to take off after about 5 years. I've been interested in writing, especially writing historical romance, since my teens, and I still have a medieval romance I wrote in a school exercise book then, passing it around my friends at boarding school. I didn't think writing novels was something real people did, however, so it took me until my thirties to try. Then it took about four years to get published.

I certainly got rejections! We all do. Some were doubtless deserved -- why do we writers always think our first efforts are brilliant? -- but some were odd. One contemporary romance was rejected by one publisher because the hero was too weak, and by another because he was too strong. Then there was the rejection of a historical that went on to be an award winning success where the editor said that not only wasn't it a Regency romance it wasn't a romance at all. That became An Arranged Marriage, which does break a lot of rules, but I think that was a bit blinkered.

What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?
Try to find favor with the gods of luck? Someone said that if we think of publishing as being a casino it begins to make sense. There is certainly a lot of irrationality and apparent unfairness which can eat us up if we allow it. Also, I think it's important to hold onto the joy of writing, because that's the real reward, and in any case, if we have strong positive energy when we write, it will be on the page and be more likely to create excitement in editors and readers.

Other than that, I'd say write regularly and finish books. Yes it might seem like a waste of time, but it's not. We don't really learn unless we complete books and then polish them to the highest standard we can. The bonus is that when a writer finally sells, the publisher wants more books, soon, and there they are. They will probably need more rewriting and polishing, but it's better than starting from nothing.

The way I look at it, a rejection doesn't mean we've wasted time. It means we've built our inventory.