She is passionate about all things historical, particularly the 18th century, and she writes her manuscripts in Longhand First, which I just admire so much. As a writer, I loved learning that about you, Laura. As someone who also has a deep love for Scotland, it is the first country I went to outside of the United States. I love that your stories often incorporate Scottish themes that reflect your family heritage
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:47
Could you speak a bit to how failure and rejection have or haven't informed your journey as a writer? What was the process like, in particular for the rose and the thistle? Was it easy, breezy writing, or were there any challenging moments when you were working on the book and how did you get through those?
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:25
How does the process work when you're a historical fiction writer and do you have any advice for those of us who may be aspiring historical fiction writers or those who are maybe just starting out and asking themselves like, oh my gosh, how do I even organize all this research or create characters from it? Or I have an idea for a novel based in this time period but just don't know where to begin. I'd love to hear a little bit more about that
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:15
You are so consistent and prolific in your work, which is just so inspiring. How do you produce so consistently? And also, are you working on another book that we can look forward to? After the rose in the Fistel
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:32
Lastly, I have to ask what are you reading and watching right now? Or maybe what's the last thing that you read or watch that you really loved? I'm really curious because you are so deeply embedded in historical fiction and those research interests, if you tend to mostly read and watch stories that are engaging with history, or does your reading and other interests actually tend to lie elsewhere?
Laura Frantz
@laurafrantzbook · 2:59
But I still, even after a few novels written, feel that it's risky, that I'm one step away, maybe, from failing to win my readers over with the novel. So especially with the rose and thistle, because I am writing this novel through an American lens. Sure, I have Scottish roots, so many of us do. There's just this love for Scotland. I think the outlander phenomenon shows that
Laura Frantz
@laurafrantzbook · 4:46
I really believe that you have to put in the work, and I would encourage you to, as an aspiring writer or a published writer, to write the story that has you riveted and fascinated. Write the story you can't find on the shelf. Write your heart. I could probably expound on that forever. But you have to be passionate about your subject matter. You have to land on a time period and a setting that just totally wins you over
Laura Frantz
@laurafrantzbook · 4:46
Consistent and prolific. Those are two of my favorite words. Thank you. You know, I don't feel very prolific, although I guess if you looked back at my work since age seven, that I just consistently turned out stories. Yes, I'm consistent that way. But, you know, really, it's I'm driven because I've never felt quite comfortable or at home unless I'm writing
Laura Frantz
@laurafrantzbook · 4:12
Plus, she just has the most incredible way with words. There are a few modern word smiths I think that equal Gouge. She wrote some nonfiction, too, but I encourage readers to to look her up because she if you want to learn how to write, if you want to learn about setting and character insight and how to flesh out characters, the sad thing about Gouge is she kind of ruins me on any any modern current author today. I usually never read contemporary fiction. I read historical fiction
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 4:31
And lastly, absolutely loved what you said about writing your heart and what you said about feeling uncomfortable when you're not writing and feeling a sense of being at home when you write. And I absolutely feel the same way. And I think one of the gifts of writing is, like, what you said. It's this way of processing and escaping