Books have
always been an important part of my life. I have always been
a voracious reader, and I have always had a very vivid imagination
. . . so much so that I think at times it worried my parents
that I was so happy in my own little world, drawing pictures
and creating stories. My teachers will also tell you that I
was the class history geek, even in grade school. I don’t
really know why, but I have always been fascinated with the
past.
As an undergrad
at Yale, I majored in art—though I took enough history
courses to have majored in that subject as well—and went
on to get a MFA in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art,
concentrating in publication design. So I guess you could say
I have always had a left brain-right brain sort of love affair
with the printed page.
So why
did I choose the Regency time period for my mysteries? I love
the era because it was such a fabulously interesting time and
place—it was a world aswirl in silks, seduction and the
intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars. Radical new ideas were clashing
with the conventional thinking of the past, and as a result,
people were challenging and changing the fundamentals of their
society. For example, you had Beethoven composing emotional
symphonies, Byron composing wildly romantic poetry about individual
angst, J.M.W. Turner dabbling in impressionistic watercolors
and Mary Wollstonecraft writing the first feminist manifestos
. . .
In so many
ways, it was the birth of the modern world, and for me, its
challenges, its characters and its conflicts have such relevance
to our own times . . . and hey, who can resist men in breeches
and boots!
In Lady Arianna Hadley and Allesandro de Quincy, the Earl of
Saybrook, I've sought to create two individuals who embody the
the intellectual curiosity—and courage—of the times.
They'll be setting off on some devilishly daunting adventures.
So lace up your corsets, tweak the tails of your cravat and
let's enter a world of glittering ballrooms and deadly intrigues
. . .
