Squeeeeeeeeeeeee! {Fists shaking in excitement} Sorry about that – I needed to let it out. But today’s the day! You can’t see me, but I’m jumping up and down whilst clapping my hands in a disturbingly manic fashion. J Monkeys, here by the way. I have been a raging fan of romance novels since that fateful summer day during my 13th year when after much pestering and whining because “I don’t have anything to read!” my mother finished Lost Lady by Jude Deveraux and threw it at me. I was hooked.
I came a little late to JQ fandom – a coworker recommended her in the mid 2000’s and the very first book I read of hers was It’s In His Kiss. I fell immediately in love with the Bridgerton family and then devoured every story of Julia’s that I could find. By the time I got to On The Way To The Wedding, I read it as fast as a Harry Potter book to find out what happened. Spoiler alert: There were even a few moments where I wasn’t sure things were going to work out as I wanted them too, but not to worry. JQ didn’t let me down.
I first encountered Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Sarah Gorley when Hyacinth was reading it to the wonderful Lady Danbury. And then I noticed that Miss Butterworth, or at least other gothic novels by Sarah Gorley pop their heads into other JQ novels along the way. As a writer, I always found it nifty that Julia had made up that writer and reused her from time to time. When I got to the book What Happens in London, I was enchanted to find that Miss Butterworth was so instrumental in bringing our characters together.
However, my true Julia Quinn idolatry began when I read Ten Things I Love About You. In the opening pages, you learn that Sebastian Gray, previously maligned flirt and somewhat silly man-about-town is in fact a sleep deprived, former soldier suffering from the horrors he saw in the war. And his insomnia prompts him to become author Sarah Gorley. He’s the author of all those gothic novels.
I thought this was a stroke of writer-ly brilliance on the part of Ms. Quinn! I can’t remember for sure, but I got the sense that Sebastian had been introduced to the JQ Regency High Society Gang somewhat earlier than even What Happens in London. To take an established next-to-nothing character, make him a prominent secondary character and then move him to become hero of his own story is smart, but not entirely unheard of. But to now make him a part of so many of the stories that came before, by making him Sarah Gorley, is incredibly clever.
I’ve always wondered how this idea came to Julia. Did she always plan it this way? Did she know when she first introduce Miss Butterworth, all those books ago, that Sebastian was really the author? Or did it just dawn on her one day, that Sebastian and Sarah had the same initials and it might work out? I’ve always wanted to ask her.
Guess what! Today’s the DAY!!!!!!! I’ll be meeting Ms. Quinn in just a few short hours!!!!!!! Squeeeeeeeee! {More clapping}. I’m gonna ask her – and I’ll add a comment later with her answer!
Today’s Question: Do you have a favored author that you’ve always wanted to meet? Who and Why?
Writing Secrets of 7 Scribes 