Coffee With Theresa Romain
First, if we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking a Latte 🙂
What would you order?
Hi, Rae—thanks for inviting me for virtual coffee! I like lattes too, but if we meet in the morning I’d better just order a dark roast. I need a few big cups of coffee to get me going in the morning, and I just add a little sweetener.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions. Your last book in the Matchmaker Trilogy was released last month. What was it like writing this series? How did you research for this?
I really liked writing this series, because it gave me the chance to introduce some characters and settings that were new to me as a writer. In the first book, IT TAKES TWO TO TANGLE, the ex-soldier hero has a paralyzed arm. The second book, TO CHARM A NAUGHTY COUNTESS, is a rake-bluestocking story in which the heroine’s a rake and the hero is the bluestocking. And SECRETS OF A SCANDALOUS HEIRESS, our on January 6, doesn’t have a titled hero or heroine. The hero is an Anglo-Indian man of business, and the heroine is going under a false identity.
The research for each book was different, as you might imagine! For SECRETS, I researched the city of Bath during the Regency, since that’s where the entire book is set. I also had to learn about Regency cosmetics, health care, English relations with India, and Indian therapeutic plants for different aspects of the story. I learn a lot with every book I write.
Now that your Pleasure series has come to a conclusion, what’s next?
I’m working on two new historical series! The Romance of the Turf series for Sourcebooks will kick off this December with a novella that ties into both the Matchmaker trilogy and the new one. It focuses on the Regency horse-racing world and one scandalous family’s connections to it. And next February, my Royal Reward duo begins for Kensington. It’ll involve a treasure hunt—and, of course, lots of romance.
8 Tantalizing Tidbits 🙂
1. A must read book and why? This is really tough, because my bookshelves are full of beloved keepers. But my favorite new-to-me author for 2014 was Susanna Kearsley. Once I read THE FIREBIRD, I was completely hooked on her beautiful blend of history, romance, suspense, and sometimes a bit of the paranormal. I’ve since read everything else she’s written.
2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown? We’d need to go to The Donut Whole and Watermark Books. I live in Kansas, and those are two great Wichita spots. The Donut Whole serves great locally roasted coffee (you can get an awesome latte there!), plus they always have quirky flavors of doughnuts. Their Doctor Who doughnuts blew up a few months ago when David Tennant shared a picture. As for Watermark, it’s a fabulous indie bookstore. Whenever I ask them for gift recommendations, they know the perfect book. It’s such fun to go there.
3. Castles or Beaches? Castles, definitely. As a writer of historical romance, how could I not say that? I’d love to spend more time in historic buildings, just soaking in all the stories that have taken place within their walls.
That being said, when I go to the beach, I like to build things out of sand. But not castles, oddly enough! More animals, like dolphins or sharks or turtles. To me, the sand is more fun than the water.
4. Organized or Free Floating? Organized is always the goal, though I sometimes fall short. 🙂 I’ve learned the hard way that I feel better and am more efficient when I have a plan in place, whether for the book I’m writing or something everyday like a trip to the grocery store.
5. What is your guilty pleasure? During the holiday season, I put eggnog in my morning coffee. (I’d do it year-round if eggnog were for sale all the time.) My husband thinks it’s weird and teases me, and I guess it is pretty indulgent. But I don’t feel guilty about it. It’s too tasty!
6. If you could pick a book you’ve read and make it into a movie, which book would it be (besides yours 🙂 )? I’d love to see Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia mysteries made into a BBC TV series. They’re Victorian-set, with lots of wildly witty characters and a clever mystery in each book. From novel to novel, the main characters grow and change. The series just ended, and I’m so sorry to say goodbye to the characters. BBC, please give Ms. Raybourn a call and get on that production!
7. Do you love to cook or go out to eat? I love to bake, but not to cook. Actually, my favorite of all is to get takeout and eat at home while watching a good movie. But most of the time, I make dinner for my family. We’ve gotten into a pretty good routine this school year, where I cook while my daughter does her homework. She also checks on what I’m cooking and provides frequent unsolicited feedback. 🙂
8. If you could invite 5 people to dinner (not friends and family – that’s too easy) who would you invite? It could be anyone past or present. I’d have to invite Jane Austen and Mark Twain, because they are two of my favorite authors. And Mark Twain HATED Jane Austen’s style, so I think that could make for some interesting conversational fireworks! I really enjoy silent film, so I’d invite comedian Buster Keaton along too. Maybe we could get him to spill some interesting stories about early Hollywood. And we’ve got to have Tina Fey there too, because she’s just brilliant. I will read anything she writes and watch anything she’s in.
For the fifth person, I feel like I ought to invite a chef to prepare the food. How about Ted Allen, the host of Chopped? That’s the show that got me hooked on the Food Network. Ted Allen’s got such a dry sense of humor; I think he’d be a lot of fun to hang out with. And he would make sure the six of us at the dinner party had some great things to eat.
BIO:
Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more. Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest, where she is working on her next book.
Website: https://theresaromain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTheresaRomain
Twitter: @TheresaRomain
Tsū: https://www.tsu.co/TheresaRomain
Newsletter: https://theresaromain.com/contact/
Print: amazon • barnes & noble • book depository • books-a-million
Ebook: kindle • nook • kobo • ibooks • google
