Author Interview with Deb Marlowe

How much research do you do into the time period and places you write about? Do you have any experience dressing in character or participating in living history situations or are you more a fan of libraries and online resources?

I do a LOT of research.  I admit, I really enjoy it.  I have an extensive research book collection and there are so many classes, experts, museums and information available online now, it makes it far easier than it used to be!  I love to travel to do research, too.  I think knowing as much as I can about the period I’m writing in lends a  huge amount of flavor and ambience to my books.  I’ve never done a living history gig, but wouldn’t that be fascinating?  I do enjoy dressing/costuming, though.  I’ve done it at several conferences, such as the Historical Romance Retreat , Romancing Williamsburg and DragonCon.  That is more lighthearted fun than strict accuracy, but it’s so much fun to hang out with people who share your enthusiasms!

Where is your favorite place to write? Does it change depending on where you are in the process?

My Valiant Husband-as he is known online-will laugh at this question!  The truth is, I have a bunch of different places I like to write.  Each book settles into its own spot.  He will ask, when I start a new book, “Where does this one want to be written?”

Some books are office books and I have to be sequestered alone in my office.  Others are kitchen table books.  We have a big, round cuddle chair and one book demanded to be written in it.  J  Before the pandemic, I would sometimes venture out to write in coffeeshops, the library or even the park.  I do much less of that now, and I have had to adopt a few more spots at home.

Which comes first for you: the plot or the characters?

For me, it’s always characters.  The best plot isn’t interesting to me if it isn’t happening to characters I care about.  The growth of a character is what interests me.  What they have to learn, adapt to, deal with.  I have to spend a lot of time in their heads and I want them to be both interesting and worthy of the journey!

When it’s difficult to physically travel, how do you find ways to escape?

I dream of travel!  J  Also, I read a lot.  I listen to music.  And I do watch television, but only at the end of the day.  I’m addicted to all the forms of storytelling!  Here are some pics I’ve taken on my travels, though!

 

What do you like to read when you’re not reading in your genre? Did you have a favorite book or series when you were growing up?

I read every day.  I like to read a lot of different types of books.  Almost anything except horror.  I love romance and history and biographies and thrillers and historical fiction.  I was a huge reader as a kid, too.  I still occasionally reread some of my childhood favorites.  I loved historical stories then, too, like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables and the Motoring Millers.  I was a fantasy buff as well and loved the Prydain Chronicles and the Dragonriders of Pern, the Borrowers, the Xanth books and the Shannara series.