Interview with Mary Balogh, author of “A Precious Jewel”

About the Author:

MARY BALOGH is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Slightly series and Simply quartet of novels set at Miss Martin’s School for Girls, as well as many other beloved novels. She is also the author of First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Seduction, At Last Comes Love, and Seducing An Angel, all featuring the Huxtable family. A former teacher, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada. To learn more, visit the author’s website at www.MaryBalogh.com

The Interview:

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

A PRECIOUS JEWEL is a Regency-era romance with a difference. The hero, Sir Gerald Stapleton, is a beta male whose self-esteem was taken from him during childhood by a cold, insensitive father and a stepmother who betrayed his love and trust. He is afraid of relationships and so satisfies his needs with frequent visits to a high-class brothel. The heroine, Priscilla Wentworth, well-born but forced by circumstances into prostitution, becomes his “regular” and later his mistress. It is not an auspicious beginning for a love story, but that is what their story becomes. I love to take on a challenge as a writer, and there was none greater that this.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?

Gerald was a minor character in THE IDEAL WIFE, best friend of the hero. In that book he was struggling with the loss of his long-term mistress (Priscilla), who had left him to marry a former beau. My mind played with the usual what-ifs as I wrote THE IDEAL WIFE. What if Gerald really loved Priscilla? What if she really loved him? What if the former beau and impending marriage were fictitious, an excuse to get away from a liaison that had become intolerable to her? What if…

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

The inspiration was THE IDEAL WIFE and the minor character who intrigued me to such an extent that I had to tell his story. Actually, his story became an obsession with me. I knew I could not write it. Gerald was not the alpha male readers expect their heroes to be. Priscilla was a working prostitute. It was all quite impossible. A few fellow writers on whom I tried the idea agreed with me. I did not even ask my editor about it. But those two characters would not let me alone. Finally I wrote their story during a hectic two-week period and put the manuscript up on a shelf in my office for a long time before deciding to send it in just to see what the reaction would be. When I phoned about it some time later, I discovered that the book was in copyediting!

Who is your biggest critic?

I am. No one sees what I write until the book is completed to my satisfaction. My editor is the first to read it after me. From long experience I know what works for me and what is likely to work with my editor and with readers. Very rarely now am I asked to make any really extensive revisions. And as a British educated former teacher of English, I am always upset with myself if a copyeditor has to point out a grammatical error that I have made.

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer?

It is always a good idea to write either what you know or what interests you as a reader. I write historical love stories set during the Regency era in England. Obviously it is not what I know but what I have researched and what I have always loved to read about. I loved Jane Austen as a girl, and I adored Georgette Heyer when I discovered her surprisingly late in life. It was her books, in fact, that impelled me to write my own. But influences have to be fought against once one begins to write one’s own books. One does not want to be a pale imitation of someone else. I worked hard to discover my own voice and my own particular approach to the Regency and my own vision of love.

What are you currently working on?

I have just completed writing a quintet of books about the Huxtable family—three sister, their brother, and their male second cousin. The first four books were out during the spring of 2009. The fifth, A SECRET AFFAIR, Constantine’s story, is set to be released in hardcover at the end of June, 2010.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?

The only advice I would ever give a writer is to write. That might seem rather a silly thing to say on the face of it. I am always amazed, however, when in company with groups of writers, to discover how many will find any excuse imaginable to stop themselves from actually sitting down and writing—the need to get their lives organized, do some research, read some how-to books, attend more conferences, consult their critique group, etc. The only way to learn to write is to write. The only way to finish a book is to start it and keep going with it. The only way to get published is to write a book that may be publishable.

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author?

Keeping on writing for more than twenty-five years and keeping my career building throughout that time. There is an amazing number of published authors I have known over the years who have disappeared from the scene for one reason or another. Surprisingly few authors make a long-term career out of their writing. I always have a chuckle when people describe me as a veteran, but I suppose that is what I am. And I am proud of the fact.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

A PRECIOUS JEWEL is very unusual in both its hero and its heroine. It is a love story set in Regency England, but it cannot be classified as a Regency romance. It is passionate and quite unconventional.

You know the scenario – you’re stuck on an island. What book would you bring with you and why?

Very difficult! Whatever I choose would turn out to be the wrong choice after I have been on that island for a year or decade or two. It might be Georgette Heyer’s FREDERICA. It was the first of her books I read, and it led me into an enchanted world that I rediscovered with every other book of hers I read. It also led to my own writing career. So, as well as the enjoyment I would get from the book itself, I would also get endless hours of dreaming and reminiscing out of having it with my on my desert island.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
More information about me and my books, including an excerpt from A PRECIOUS JEWEL, can be found at my web site – www.marybalogh.com.

About the Book:

She was unlike any woman he’d ever met in the ton or the demimonde. But Sir Gerald Stapleton frequented Mrs. Blyth’s euphemistically dubbed “finishing school” for pure, uncomplicated pleasure—and nothing else. So why was this confirmed bachelor so thoroughly captivated by one woman in particular? Why did he find himself wondering how such a rare jewel of grace, beauty, and refinement as Priss had ended up a courtesan? And when she needed protection, why did Gerald, who’d sworn he’d never get entangled in affairs of the heart, hasten to set her up as his own pampered mistress to ensure her safety—and have her all to himself?

For Priscilla Wentworth, the path leading to Sir Gerald’s bed had been as filled with misfortune as it suddenly seemed charmed. But Priss couldn’t allow herself to believe she’d ever be more to a man like Sir Gerald than a well-cared-for object of pleasure. Now, despite Gerald’s deep distrust of marriage, neither scandal nor society’s censure can keep them apart—only the fear of trusting their hearts.

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