Goodreads asked Kathleen Marple Kalb:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Kathleen Marple Kalb I grew up reading Regency romances and all kinds of social history, and I always wondered why the guy got to do all the swashbuckling. Somewhere along the line I read about trouser roles, women singing male opera characters, and that idea stuck in my mind. Years later, when I was kicking around ideas, I remembered the (very old) convention at some radio stations that men are supposed to open the hour -- someone once jokingly told me when I was anchoring top of the hour that I was doing the "boy shift." It all came together into Ella, a woman who fences like a man on and off stage, but is still very much a lady.

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