Ask the Author: Laura Du Pre
Answered Questions (7)
Laura Du Pre
I just picked up The Royal Nanny and The Milliner's Secret. Other than that, I have a ton of monographs to read for my own novels.
Laura Du Pre
Get rid of the "who am I to write a book" idea. It's crap and it's keeping you from doing some amazing work.
Laura Du Pre
The first thing that I can think of is the fact that I get to do two things that I've always loved to do: research and write. I love doing both of them equally, and ever since I left grad school I never had time to do either. I spent most of my time answering the phone, which was no life for a historian.
Laura Du Pre
I'm finishing the second book in the Three Graces trilogy, Lady of the Court. This one is the story of Henriette, the eldest of the sisters. As soon as I'm finished nit-picking, it goes off to my editor. Once she has it in her hands, I'm going to start writing the third and final book, Fate's Mistress, which is the story of Catherine, the middle sister.
Laura Du Pre
I was in the middle of researching my French ancestors. Since I couldn't find documents from them, I started researching French history of the period. I begin with an "encyclopedic approach," going as widely as possible to get a sense of what was doing on during that time.
Eventually, my research led me to Henry IV and his many, many mistresses. Those women are stories all to themselves.
When I looked for ideas for shorter novellas, I lucked up on the three Cleves sisters, whose stories might not make for full-length novels, but fit perfectly into the "short" form.
Eventually, my research led me to Henry IV and his many, many mistresses. Those women are stories all to themselves.
When I looked for ideas for shorter novellas, I lucked up on the three Cleves sisters, whose stories might not make for full-length novels, but fit perfectly into the "short" form.
Laura Du Pre
I got a copy of the history of the community where my parents both grew up. I read a story about my 3x great-grandmother who was killed tragically on the homefront during the US Civil War. As I read, I noticed her maiden name looked French.
Since I have a graduate degree in history, it wasn't that difficult to track down her family. I learned that they were all Huguenots, French Protestants. I immediately wanted to know more. During my research, I came into contact with the French court of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The rest is, well, history.
Since I have a graduate degree in history, it wasn't that difficult to track down her family. I learned that they were all Huguenots, French Protestants. I immediately wanted to know more. During my research, I came into contact with the French court of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The rest is, well, history.
Laura Du Pre
I've had the worst case of writer's block this past month. I spent about four days thinking that I was working too hard and that it meant I needed to just let my subconscious stew on some story ideas.
After that didn't work, I forced myself to just write. I'm a perfectionist, so I hate typing something that I think will later have to be corrected in any way. Doing this nearly killed me, but a few days into it, I at least had parts of a scene that I thought were salvagable. Yes, part of it was bad, but I wouldn't have those scraps of "good without typing something.
So now I'm determined to just open up my laptop and type something. I can't possibly hate all of it.
After that didn't work, I forced myself to just write. I'm a perfectionist, so I hate typing something that I think will later have to be corrected in any way. Doing this nearly killed me, but a few days into it, I at least had parts of a scene that I thought were salvagable. Yes, part of it was bad, but I wouldn't have those scraps of "good without typing something.
So now I'm determined to just open up my laptop and type something. I can't possibly hate all of it.
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