Throughout February, A Love So True is joining forces with Kensington Publishing to bring you original content from your favorite Kensington authors! Today, we're thrilled to share our interview with author Marie Force. See her thoughts on historical romance and fictional escapism below!
What was the experience of transitioning to the historical romance genre for Duchess by Deception like? Having now published your first historical romance, what are your favorite parts of the genre?
I actually started making that transition nine years ago, when I first started writing Duchess. I had the first half written in 2010 when I put it aside to focus on building my contemporary brand. It’s definitely fun to do something different, and I enjoyed writing about all the Gilded Age innovation that was happening in the early 20th Century. My favorite parts of the historical genre are all the social “rules” that were such a big part of life, and how people worked around them—with often interesting consequences.
What is your favorite part of writing romantic suspense? What initially drew you to that genre?
My favorite part of writing romantic suspense is definitely the romantic half of the equation. I find the suspense much harder to write. I was initially drawn to the genre when I read about a congressman being found dead in his DC-area home. At first it was treated as a potential crime, and I wondered what law enforcement agency would have jurisdiction to investigate. My idea for a DC homicide detective paired with a politician came from that real-life news story, and Fatal Series book 14, Fatal Reckoning, is out in March, with no end in sight for the series.
If you could meet one character from your Gansett Island series, who would it be?
I’d like to spend a day with Mac McCarthy and his father Big Mac. The two of them are very entertaining characters to spend time with as a writer. I have a lot of questions for them.
Gansett Island is the perfect series to escape into. What are your favorite romance reads for when you need an escape?
I have the worst time answering these questions because I read all over the place within the romance genre, and I don’t have particular favorites, other than Lisa Kleypas. I love her historicals and most of her contemporaries.
If it’s possible to distill it down into one idea, what do you hope your readers take away from your books?
I like to think of my core story as one that always has some connection to family—whether it be the one you are born into or the one you choose for yourself. Readers often tell me that they wish they had been born a McCarthy or an Abbott or that they worked with Sam or Nick in the Fatal Series or at Quantum Productions. I really enjoy hearing those comments from readers, especially when they tell me they don’t have much family of their own and find comfort in my fictional families. That is very rewarding for an author.
