© Mills & Boon
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The Regency is my passion. I find it an endlessly fascinating
era full of contrast and change, danger and elegance, luxury
and squalor. Women had freedoms that would shock their
Victorian granddaughters, yet lived within social codes that
both intrigue and appal us now. Men in Society could win
fortunes at the turn of a card and lose their lives in the hazard
of a duel all in the space of twenty four hours. It is
all so different, with the glamour of the past gilding it –
and yet the characters seem to reach out and touch us now.
I live in England in a village on the North Norfolk coast
with my husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or
alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic
heroes! However, he does enjoy all my research trips, whether
abroad, exploring the streets of London with 1808 guidebook
in hand, or our latest project, tracing the coaching routes
to the North.
My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story.
My first historical romances were co-written with a friend as Francesca Shaw. There have been no new Francesca Shaw novels for some time, but they still appear as reprints from time to time and are listed on my Books page.
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