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1. How do you develop your setting (a photo, a trip, a random comment)?
Developing a setting differs from book to book, at least for me. In terms of THE PERILS OF LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH, I knew that Jonathan and Juliet should travel through the worlds of each of Austen’s novels. Before long, though, I realized that some of those books contain more than one “world” of setting, characters, etc., and that I’d want to visit several. So, while this book obviously takes us to Pride and Prejudice, we don’t visit Pemberley or Longbourn; the majority of the story unfolds at Rosings Park and Hunsford—which happens to be inhabited by some of Austen’s all-time greatest supporting characters. It was too fabulous a setting to miss.
2. Pride and Prejudice is always an interesting foundation for a new and unique story, so why Lady Catherine as your title character in this book of the series?
Why Lady Catherine? She may be the single greatest supporting character in the Austen canon—hilarious and infuriating by turns—and writing her was an absolute joy. Her opinions are issued as law, and thinking about life at Rosings Park, utterly under the thumb, inspired a lot of character threads…not to mention, reasons somebody might want to do Lady Catherine in. Finally, I just loved the idea that if Lady Catherine were facing threats on her life, she wouldn’t cower or hide the way the vast majority of us (wisely) would. No, she just flat out wouldn’t put up with that nonsense. So how could I resist?
3. Which of the characters do you most identify with? And why?
I identify a little with many of the characters, honestly. Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney probably each incorporate more of my personality—Jonathan’s sense of feeling like a fish out of water is all too familiar, for me, and Juliet’s headstrong desire to take on the world and define her own role…well, that may be more my ideal self than my actual self! But still, I identify with that a lot.
That said, I think it’s important to find a point of identification with pretty much every character I write, and this is no less true when those characters originated with another author. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s determination to do the right thing even at personal sacrifice—Anne’s long-repressed longing for independence—even Mr. Collins’ desire to be noticed and liked—I can relate to those impulses, even if the scenarios vary so much from my life, and I handle those feelings in completely different ways.
4. In The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh your opening scene reflects on the expectations of young women to marry and yet Miss Juliet Tilney is the investigative companion of Mr. Jonathan Darcy. How do you work these together so that you stay true to the era while creating a delightful read?
How do I make Juliet Tilney both a proper Regency heroine, hoping for a good and worthy husband, and a trailblazing young woman eager to investigate murder? Well, it’s a balancing act, I guess. As much as we like to imagine that characters from the past would, with just a little independence, think exactly as we do today, the odds are that they wouldn’t. Juliet can possess enough originality and boldness to take on investigations, but her motives are rooted very firmly in her sense of justice and right—in other words, the motivations that would’ve rung true for any decent person in the Regency setting. And while she may be much more modern in her judgment of what kind of man would make an ideal husband, and in her desire for some level of true emotional intimacy even before marriage, Juliet can’t forget for a single day that it is her responsibility to marry young and marry well. It helps that the balancing is something that Juliet is conscious of herself, and the readers are able to work through the contradictions just as she does.
5. What do you most like about the genre that you are writing in? How does it compare to some of your other genre excursions?
I LOVE writing mysteries, it turns out! It’s more difficult than I’d realized (and I wasn’t assuming it was easy) but adding that game element to it—the varying clues, the myriad ways to hide them—really is delightful. And how great it is to get to work with these characters? I am not deluded into believing that my work can be anything but a pale shadow next to the actual work of Jane Austen, one of the greatest masters of the English language; my goal is simply to write something that captures the flavor of her work with its wit, its intelligence regarding human nature, and its finely drawn characters. As for the language, well, I’m not the first bookish little kid who spent way too much time in school study hall reading 19th century literature. In some ways, writing in this voice is easier for me. It really shouldn’t be. Probably I should worry, but for now, it’s working!
6. What one question do you wish you would be asked and how would you answer it?
The one question I would love to get would be something like, “I am a retired tech billionaire who loves your work. May I name you as my principal beneficiary in my will?”
To this I would graciously say yes.
More seriously: I can’t verbatim give “the question,” but it’s delightful when readers want to do deep dives on certain characters and their choices. I’m always excited to get questions like those and open up that more detailed conversation. Normally I worry about boring my beta readers/writer friends silly with my in-depth thoughts on all of this so it’s great to find people who actually want that information. Then I can talk their ears off without guilt.
About Claudia Gray:
Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of Amy Vincent. She is the author of the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mysteries, which began with The Murder of Mr. Wickham. She is also the writer of multiple young adult novels, including the Evernight series, the Firebird trilogy, and the Constellation trilogy; in addition, she’s written several Star Wars novels, such as Lost Stars and Bloodline, and is one of the story architects of the High Republic series.
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