Elizabeth Kingston was

reading racy historical romance as a pre-teen so it’s not surprising she’s a

successful author of two historical romance series – one Regency, and the other

in 13th century Wales.

His there, I’m your host

Jenny Wheeler, and today Elizabeth talks about keeping historical romance

relevant for modern readers, her obsession with the Mitford sisters, and

protecting against creative burnout.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why protecting her creative process is Elizabeth's No 1 thingHistorical romance and white supremacist ideologyHer current obsession with the Mitford sistersThe 'Once Upon A Time' moment that got her writingThe writers she admires mostWhat she'd do differently second time around

Where to find Elizabeth Kingston:

Website: https://www.elizabethkingstonbooks.com/

Facebook: @EKingstonBooks

 Twitter: @EKingstonBooks

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-kingston

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: And now here's Elizabeth. Hi there Elizabeth, and welcome to the show, it's great to have you with us.

Elizabeth: Hi Jenny, It's great to be here, thank you so much for inviting me.

Elizabeth Kingston historic romance novelist

Jenny: Was there a “Once Upon A Time’ moment when you decided you must write fiction or you would have somehow let yourself down, or not completed something you were meant to do?  And if so, what was the catalyst for it?

Elizabeth: Hi Jenny, It's great to be here, thank you so much for inviting me.

Elizabeth: Well there is, and it's a great question. In my case at least there is a very definite answer. For me there was a "Once Upon a Time" moment and it was when I turned 40. It answers itself. I wrote my first novel when I was 29, almost on a whim. It had been a long standing joke between me and my friends for years that "Oh, one day I am going to write a novel A romance novel, I know what they are like, and I'm going to make some money."

Misery in corporate America

So I started, and within a few sentences, I absolutely fell in love with it and it stopped being a joke immediately. I loved it, I finished that book and I started another one. And than I stopped altogether. There are so many things that go into that, but basically I stopped and I abandoned the second book.

I felt bad about not writing but I decided there was no point in trying to force myself and guilt myself into writing. So I let myself essentially quit.. It was a matter of "that was fun but that was it." I did assume that one day it would always come back. But one day I looked at myself and it had been ten years and it hadn't come back.

I realized the creative part of me was feeling suffocated. So as I said, I was turning 40, and that's the age when you look at where you have got to, and what you want, all the midlife crisis stuff is a cliche because it's so often true, right? And I asked myself "What do I want, and When was I happiest" and the answer was, when I was writing.

Feeling like a writer again

I wanted to feel like a writer again. That very brief time when I was creating, was the time when I was most myself. I wanted to be that person again, it was the most alive that I'd ever felt really.