Q&A with author Nicola Cornick

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Nicola Cornick, author most recently of Whisper of Scandal here in the UK, to my blog for a quick few questions! I hope you’ll welcome her.

·          I’ve seen that you’ve been writing romance since 1998, which is fantastic! How did you get started writing historical romance?

Thank you! I started writing historical romance when I was eighteen. It was my favourite reading material throughout my teens and I thought I would like to try writing it myself. I always knew I wanted to write historical rather than contemporary fiction because it fired my imagination from the start and history has always inspired me. So I wrote a historical romance and sent it to Harlequin Mills & Boon and after several attempts and rejections they published my first book, True Colours, in 1998.

·         What was your inspiration for your new Scandalous Women of the Ton series?

Lots of ideas came together for me to inspire the Scandalous Women of the ton series. First there was the idea for the first book, Whisper of Scandal, which came to me when I was researching the cult of celebrity in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. I discovered how famous explorers and travellers were during that period and thought that voyage to the Arctic would make an intriguing background for a novel. Then I realised that only male explorers were lauded – female travellers were considered unfeminine and inappropriate. This made me realise how very scandalous it would be for a woman to travel to the Arctic and so the idea for the first book and for the series was born.

·         Can you tell us more about the series?

Each of the Scandalous Women of the Ton books features a heroine who has done something that outrages society in a different way. As well as Lady Joanna travelling to Spitsbergen in Whisper of Scandal we have her sister Merryn, who works for a living, and another sister who is a political cartoonist… I wanted to explore the concept of what was scandalous in early nineteenth century society and take a different aspect of it in each book.

·         What’s your favourite romance novel?

Oh, that is such a tough choice! How many can I choose? I have a lot of old favourites on my keeper shelf but I think it is probably Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier. I love the evocative atmosphere that she creates and the way that she effortlessly conjures the historical setting. The characters are wonderful and it is such a romantic book!

·         Besides the one you write in, which period in history is your favourite?

I have so many! I studied Medieval History and love British history to 1485. The Tudor period was a favourite of mine when I was younger and I’m still very fond of books set in that time. And I work as a guide in a 17^th century manor house so am very drawn to the English Civil War and Restoration period… Imperial Russia interests me as well… So many historical periods, so hard to choose!

Thanks Nicola! To purchase the book, visit The Book Depository.