Joanna Fulford has been a full-time writer for a number of years now. Always an enthusiastic scribbler, she found that the urge to write only became stronger with time. In the end she decided to take a chance and quit the day job to find out if she could achieve success as an author. However, she couldn't have done it without her husband's unstinting support. Fortunately the gamble paid off. It has been a long haul, with plenty of financially lean periods, but it was well worth the effort. There is nothing quite like the buzz that comes with that phone call to say a publisher wants to buy your book. Along the way She has been fortunate to have the support and encouragement of a strong and successful writers’ group. Not only has she appreciated the friendship of its members, but has also found their critical insight and feedback invaluable. So too is the support of her editor at Harlequin. With endless patience she steered her through the revisions of the first book and saved her from herself on numerous occasions. Being able to see the resulting improvement made the work enjoyable and rewarding. As Joanna has always had a passion for Literature and History it ihas been no hardship to do the necessary research for her books. Initially her main interests were the Enlightenment and the Regency, but in recent years she have developed a fascination for the early Medieval period as well. Researching these different eras is exciting because there is always something new to be discovered. Invariably though she ends up with far more material than she can use so it's a matter of deciding what must be left out. Historical detail must never hold up the story. Joanna always has a rough plan in her head, a general idea of where the story is going, although the characters invariably take on a life of their own. They have no qualms about departing from the script and taking her down another path. It's fun to go with them and see where it leads. Frequently their way turns out to be better than her own so she’s learned to listen to them now. When it comes to the historical background for a new story, Joanna always chooses events in which she has a keen interest, and which involve a serious conflict of some kind. The central love story is juxtaposed with this and gives the characters more obstacles to overcome. The Great Viking Invasion was fertile ground, as were the Luddite Rebellion and the Harrying of the North which provided the settings for her second and third books respectively. The Peninsular War is the background for His Counterfeit Condesa, and for its companion novel, The Caged Countess. This conflict was also the background to Redemption of a Fallen Woman which is Joanna’s contribution to the Castonbury Park series.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. This author also writes under the name Francesca Shaw. I have had my nose buried in a history book - fact or fiction - for as long as I can remember, but even more important to me are the places and the objects that conjure up the past. My first attempt at historical fiction at the age of eight was three pages of improbable medieval drama set in the local castle. With a degree in geography and archaeology I love to try and 'read' the landscape and the buildings in it for clues about the past. Virtually any place can trigger ideas for plots, but I am particularly inspired by Venice, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands and the Hertfordshire and Norfolk countryside. I live in England in a village in Bedfordshire with my long-suffering husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic heroes! Whenever possible we escape to our cottage on the North Norfolk coast where Percy, the bossy pheasant, allows us to share the garden. My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story.