Julia Seales is the author of the new novel A Terribly Nasty Business, the sequel to her novel A Most Agreeable Murder. Also a screenwriter, she is based in New York.
Q: A Terribly Nasty Business is your second novel featuring your character Beatrice Steele--do you think she's changed from one book to the next?
A: Beatrice’s passion for justice and exuberant approach to crime-solving remain the same from the first book to the second. But as she moves from small-town Swampshire to the big city, she meets new challenges.
Self-doubt, new etiquette and social structures, romantic pressures, and the fast pace of Regency-era London are just some of the obstacles she must face. Beatrice learned to trust her instincts in book one - now, these instincts are put to the test.
Q: What inspired the plot of A Terribly Nasty Business?
A: I was very inspired by the Bluestockings of the 18th century - particularly their advocacy for women’s education and patronage of the arts. I was also inspired by the secret societies of this era, as well as the assembly halls where the “marriage markets” took place. The idea of these three groups sparked the idea for the plot.
Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything especially surprising?
A: Three very helpful books were Brilliant Women: 18th-Century Bluestockings by Elizabeth Eger and Lucy Peltz, Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly, and The Time Traveler’s Guide to Regency Britain by Ian Mortimer.
Though the Beatrice Steele series has many anachronisms (it is a comedy first and foremost!), I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and I find the Regency era endlessly fascinating.
The most surprising discovery is usually how many similarities I find between the past and present. Advocating for education and the arts, as well as fighting against censorship, remain topical today.
Q: The writer Ashley Winstead said of the book, “Seales’ perfect blend of satire and earnestness reveals a deft hand, equally capable of loving and poking fun at the tropes she employs.” What do you think of that description?
A: As a huge fan of Ashley Winstead’s work, I am SO honored by her words! I like to think of the Beatrice Steele books as a pastiche. Though I make fun of mystery and romance tropes, it’s always from a place of love. Jane Austen did it best in her work Northanger Abbey - I only hope to follow her literary example.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am working on several projects - some inspired by Jane Austen’s work, and some inspired by my home state of Kentucky. (The parallels between the manners of the South and the manners of Regency-era England have always struck me!)
As a lifelong avid reader, I am endlessly grateful that I get to write every day. It still feels like a dream!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
I enjoyed reading both books and would like let her know,but I don't do instagram.
ReplyDeleteYou could try contacting her through her website--the address is linked to her name at the top of the interview!
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