Q: Tell us how you came to be a novelist? Was this a life-long dream or something that evolved as you progressed through life?
Mally: Becoming a novelist might have been a lifelong dream … if I hadn’t given up on it at such a young age. I’ve always loved reading, and I thought that authors were so magical, so different from you and me, that I couldn’t possibly join their ranks.
But when our son went off to college, I gradually took another look at the warehouse of dreams I’d locked away in my heart over the years – Which ones no longer mattered? (So I won’t ever sing on Broadway. I’m fine with that.) Which would I regret not
trying?
That was when the scales tipped and my desire to write fiction finally outweighed the fear that anything I drafted would be absolutely crap-tastic. Well, some of it was and occasionally still is dreadful, and that’s ok. Because it turns out that making up stories is even more fun than I imagined it would be.
Q: What inspired The Counterfeit Wife and your love for that particular era of history, the American Revolution?
Mally: The more I learn about the American Revolution, the more like the present it feels to me. That’s the inspiration for my series, though each book is driven by my characters’ strengths, weaknesses and desires.
Our country was just as divided then as it seems to be now. Historians believe that, south of New England, perhaps only 50% of the country supported independence during the war. In other words, we were as argumentative, angry, and divided then as we are now. Somehow, that gives me comfort about our future.
In The Turncoat’s Wife, General Washington sends Becca and Daniel to Philadelphia to uncover a traitorous ring of counterfeiters. I didn’t know that the British flooded the American colonies with fake money to increase the price of food and make us distrust our new government. The economy was, in fact, in shambles, inflation was out of control, and Congress was powerless to do anything. (Sound familiar?)
Race was an issue then, too. The first state law in North America limiting slavery went into effect in Pennsylvania just as my story opens. That law plays an important role in one character’s life.
Finally, a historian told me that 18th century men and women would never be permitted to be unchaperoned if they weren’t married or didn’t have a family relationship. That prohibition leads Becca and Daniel to masquerade as newlyweds. How else could they possibly find the privacy they needed to share clues and work together? But their marriage masquerade also bring them closer and forces them to grapple with their growing feelings for each other.
Q: In a recent interview, you made this observation: “… the things that make us human and our emotions are a constant throughout time.” How does that truth impact your approach to historical fiction?
Mally: Some people question whether historical novels can ever be realistic. None of us truly know how it felt to live in earlier eras. Culture and society’s norms change. That’s true, of course. But love, empathy, anger, greed, and all the emotions that move us now seem baked into the human condition, no matter the time period. I do my best to get the facts right, but I rely on my characters’ emotions to make my historical fiction feel true to the times.
Q: Do you have a favorite character or scene in either of your novels?
Mally: I love all my children, I mean, characters, equally.
I’ll admit, though, that I have a soft spot for Benjamin Franklin’s (actual) daughter, Sally Franklin Bache, who becomes Becca’s sidekick in The Counterfeit Wife. Drawings of Sally suggest that she bore a striking resemblance to her father. She was a Patriot, she could read and write at a time when most women couldn’t, and she adored her famous father. She was also an enthusiastic member of the Ladies Association of Philadelphia, which did an awesome job of raising money for the all-but-bankrupt Continental Army. That group and its other members also feature in my story.
My favorite scene takes place about halfway through The Turncoat’s Widow, the first book in my Revolutionary War mystery series. Becca receives some unexpected help trying to rescue Daniel from a British prison in New York City circa 1780. Sorry I can’t say more without including a spoiler.
Q: Was there ever a moment in your publishing journey when you wanted to quit? If so, what inspired you to continue?
Mally: There wasn’t just one moment I wanted to quit. There were several.
Writing friends encouraged me to keep querying agents and publishers, and I am forever grateful to them.
I’ll also never forget author Hallie Ephron telling me at a writers conference to expect and not be discouraged by rejections. Her advice inspired me to keep going, too.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Mally: 1. You’re not curing cancer. You’re writing. Let yourself have fun and don’t stress. 2. Don’t keep rewriting your first chapter until they’re perfect. Keep going. There’s magic in momentum. 3. And most important, only take the writing advice that makes sense to you!
Q: What are you working on now?
Mally: I’m working on Becca’s and Daniel’s next adventure, which takes place in Paris. I can’t wait to tell you more about it next year.
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