I asked Jen Geigle Johnson if she would drop by the blog and write tell a little about her writing and why she writes in the Regency time period. I hope you enjoy her lovely post. I am thrilled she took time out to visit. Here is last week's review of her new book The Duke's Second Chance.
So, as Fall finally settles in around here in the hot weather of Texas, the first thing I want to do is wrap a warm blanket around myself, set a cup of hot chocolate on my side table, crank up the fire and get lost in a good book. As most authors will tell you, their first love with books came through reading.
Even though I love to read all kinds of books, especially romance, I have always been fascinated with the books set in England during the Regency time period. I have read hundreds of these books. It started with Pride and Prejudice retellings. And the branched out to any romance set in the period. I have a love for the people and the place feels like home. How many can relate?
One reason Regency appeals is because it was just such a marriage mart. So if you are into romance, that was what those people were ALL ABOUT during the season. Lots and lots of ideas for fun stories happening during that time. But also, I love the nobles, the titles, the large estates, their huge support staff. And then I love the working class, the maids, the factory workers. Once I realized what a dynamic time period it was in history, I fell in love with the change. It is a time of huge change. Perhaps I'm incredibly biased, but the opportunity for story ideas is so prevalent, I think more so than other time periods.
I want to share something cool that happened while I was writing A Lady's Maid, another book I am launching this Fall. I was researching women. I wanted to understand what their fight for suffrage was like during this time period. And at first I was disheartened. For good reason. Women had been calling out, asking to be heard for a long time, I have records of women asking to participate in the dialogue thousands of years ago. So, here they are, caught up in political struggles, moral struggles, financial struggles and then it took another hundred years after the close of my book for them to actually get the right to vote in England. But the moment of clarity I had was super inspiring for me.
They were put down on every side, underappreciated, abused, ignored and yet, women had some of the greatest influence during that time. They somehow rose to influence within the area that was allowed them. So that realization filled me with respect for my gender. But then I was also touched by other things. I could see, so many years later, how the framework was being set in the political climate so that one day women would be allowed to vote, and I could tell, plain as day, that a higher power must have been orchestrating such a thing. It was such an obvious gradual shift with key moments in play, key brave people speaking up. And I was so grateful that even though the women at the time probably couldn't see it, God was working a miracle for them.
I love to explore what kind of influence a good woman can have, and The Duke's Second Chance is no exception. We meet a lovely woman. And I hope you cheer with me when things finally start to go her way.
An award winning author, including the GOLD in Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, Jen Geigle Johnson discovered her passion for England while kayaking on the Thames near London as a young teenager.
She once greeted an ancient turtle under the water by grabbing her fin. She knows all about the sound a water-ski makes on glassy water and how to fall down steep moguls with grace. During a study break date in college, she sat on top of a jeep's roll bars up in the mountains and fell in love.
Now, she loves to share bits of history that might otherwise be forgotten. Whether in Regency England, the French Revolution, or Colonial America, her romance novels are much like life is supposed to be: full of adventure.
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