When Arabella Malvin sees the figure of an officer silhouetted against the sun, for one interminable moment she thinks he is her brother, against all odds home from Waterloo. But it is Major Thomas Ferraunt, the rector’s son, newly returned from occupied Paris
who stands in front of her.
who stands in front of her.
I'm pleased to welcome author Catherine Kullmann to The Writing Desk:
Tell us about your latest book
The Potential for Love is a continuation of my ‘Waterloo arc’—books that are set against the background of the Napoleonic wars. It is set in 1816. The heroine, Arabella Malvin is mourning the loss of her brother at Waterloo and the hero, Major Thomas Ferraunt, has returned to England from occupied Paris after an absence of almost six years.
When Arabella sees the figure of an officer silhouetted against the sun, for one interminable moment she thinks he is her brother, home against all odds. But it is Thomas, son of the local rector and friend of her brother, who stands in front of her.
For over six years, Thomas’s thoughts have been of war. Now he must ask himself what his place is in this new world and what he wants from it. More and more, his thoughts turn to Miss Malvin, but would Lord Malvin agree to such a mismatch for his daughter, especially when she is being courted by Lord Henry Danlow?
As Arabella embarks on her fourth Season, she finds herself more in demand than ever before. But she is tired of the life of a debutante, waiting in the wings for her real life to begin. She is ready to marry. But which of her suitors has the potential for love and who will agree to the type of marriage she wants? As she struggles to make her choice, she is faced with danger from an unexpected quarter while Thomas is stunned by a new challenge. Will these events bring them together or drive them apart?
What is your preferred writing routine?
I need to clear the decks domestically first, but am usually at my desk by mid-day. I work until around one, take a break until three and work again until six. That’s the practical side of things. From a creative perspective, I am more a pantser than a plotter. I usually start with what if? Or what then?
I do quite a lot of preliminary work on my characters’ back-stories so that I have a good sense of them when I type Chapter One and then I let the story unfold. Although my characters are fictional, they live in a very real historical world and I use the facts and trivia of this world to anchor them and drive the story on.
What advice do you have for new writers?
Just do it. Take the plunge. Find people who will nurture you and help you hone your craft without stifling your voice. This can be through a writers’ group or class or a mentoring scheme such as the New Writers’ Scheme of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. If there are specific groups for your genre e.g. The RNA, the Historical Novel Society or the Crime Writers’ Association, see if you can join them. Go to conferences and local chapter meetings. Join writers’ groups on Facebook and participate in the discussions.
What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?
It is hard to say. I have a website, a blog and a newsletter and am active on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, I use Amazon Ads. I think you really need a combination of all of these—there is no golden ticket.
Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research
What really surprised me was the wealth of contemporary illustrations from the Regency period that are still to be found, many of them hand-coloured. Caricatures and cartoons, fashion plates, book illustrations, depictions of landscapes and street scenes as well as important buildings and stately homes—all help convey the spirit of the age. I now have quite a collection and use them both for inspiration and promotion.
What was the hardest scene you remember writing?
Although my books are set against the background of the Napoleonic wars, I always swore I would never write about the Battle of Waterloo. I was more interested in the effect these long, offstage wars had on the families, and women in particular, who were left behind with very little information trickling through about what was happening abroad. Over three hundred thousand men did not return, dying of wounds, accidents and illness. What did this mean for wives, daughters and sisters left to fend for themselves in a society where they were very much second-class citizens?
But Luke Fitzmaurice, the hero of The Murmur of Masks was determined to do his bit and so I must accompany him to Belgium. I was quite nervous about following in the footsteps of Georgette Heyer whose superb descriptions of the Waterloo campaign in An Infamous Army and The Spanish Bride were taught at Sandhurst.
Fortunately, there are so many memoirs and descriptions of the campaign, written by all ranks, that I was able to take a different approach. I decided to describe it solely from Luke’s point of view, basing his experiences largely on those of William Leeke who joined the 1st/52nd as an ensign in May 1815 although, unlike Leeke, Luke did not carry the regimental colours during the battle.
It took several drafts and re-drafts—at one stage I scrapped the whole chapter and started again—until I was satisfied that I had captured the immediacy of the battle and its aftermath. This also worked very well as a plot device, enabling me to develop the relationship between Luke and Olivia. mybook.to/MurmurofMasks
What are you planning to write next?
My current WIP is set in 1821/22. The heroine lost the man she loved at Waterloo and has lived life in the shallows since then but an unexpected offer tempts her into deeper waters. This will bring the Waterloo arc to a close. I am not sure what will come after that. I have a notebook full of possible plots and ideas and I am sure more will come to me as I write the new book. Or I might take a different tack altogether. The year before last I wrote a historical fantasy novella and I am quite keen to explore that world as well.
Catherine Kullmann
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About the Author
Thank you so much for hosting me, Tony
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