Hey, Lizzie!

Question Batch #3

#1 (Personal) Do you have any special method for writing first person dialogue so it doesn't sound stuffy?

Actually, yes! I have a special group of dorky friends whose sole purpose in life is to assist me. Not really, but my housemates are always game to help me recite dialogue so I know it sounds like someone actually speaking. Like, John reads the guy parts, Heather reads the other ladies, and Ruth reads Bea.

#2 (for Becoming Miss Lee) Since the story is almost at a close, what were some of your favorite parts about writing it? Any special characters?

The historical aspect was so much fun. I love the Revolutionary War so much, and I know it so well, that it's always fun to write it. André is probably my favorite, beating Miss Anne and Nathan by a hair. Bea is my baby, really. I love her so much. Trust me, writing her heartbreaks hurt me worse than it hurt her.

#3 (Personal) What project will you be working with Ruth next?

Ruth and I are thinking about writing another story together set in Pre-Revolutionary America called Affairs of the Heart. I'll fill you in on details as she gives them to me considering that she's the main author on that one. We'll also be collaborating on the story of the Knowles brothers, aptly titled The World Turned Upside Down. If you catch that reference, I will dedicate a chapter to you.

#4 (for Becoming Miss Lee) Have you considered writing a story about exclusively about John André or The Culper Ring, maybe even about Nathan Hale? Would you include anything special in it that wasn't in Becoming Miss Lee?

Oh, hell yes. The problem with André is the lack of good books on him. The same thing goes for The Culper Ring. Alexander Rose's book is amazing, but I need more than one source for the sake of accuracy. I want to do my boys justice. Nathan Hale is so steeped in lore built up over the years that writing a story about him as a regular guy like he was would be amazing. By anything special, did you mean Nathan and Benjamin Tallmadge's bromance when they would write these letters and poems back and forth where Nathan called Ben his muse once? Because if that's what you meant, then yeah, definitely. (Those two were as gay as Laurens and Hamilton. Look up THEIR letters and you'll understand.)