The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything.
We chat with author Virginia Heath about her new novel Never Fall for Your Fiancée, along with writing, 2021, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Virginia! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I used to be a History teacher but gave that up once I got my 1st publishing contract in 2015. Never Fall for Your Fiancée is, unbelievably, my 21st published book. I live in London with my long-suffering husband Mr H. I have a fully grown daughter and a son who have both flown the nest, a spoiled, diva dog called Trevor who adores me and posts his diary in my Facebook group every Tuesday. I also have a grumpy old cat called Steve who bullies poor Trevor and hates me more than life itself. I have absolutely no idea why he loathes me so, except to say he’s never been one for people and only tolerates them because they feed him. Oh yes—and I write Romcoms set during the Regency.
As the year draws to a close, how has 2021 been for you?
Busy! I am in the very fortunate position of having two publishers, so that’s a lot of deadlines to juggle— but I love it. In 2021 so far I’ve published my entire Talk of the Beau Monde trilogy and I’m beyond excited to finally share Never Fall for Your Fiancée with the world. I’ve been busy writing the second in that series for St Martins Press as well as two to other books ready for 2022. In this game, you are always working way ahead, so the books I wrote last year come out this year and by the time they hit the shelves I have to reread them because I’ve written so many more stories I’ve forgotten what happens in them!
When did you first discover your love for writing?
School, I suppose. From a young age I always had a talent for it—both academic and creative. The creative side was always my favourite and something I continued to dabble in once I graduated but I hid that side of me for years. I come from a working class, blue collar family, so the idea of making a living out of words was an alien concept to both my parents and everyone else in my circle. I remember mentioning I wanted to write a book one day as a teenager around the Christmas dinner table and everybody laughed. Girls like me didn’t write books, they said, but because I was clever I could probably work in an office rather than do something manual. Because I knew no better, I believed that for years, worked in an office and hated it. I was 30 when I finally got my degree and became a teacher, which was my back-up dream and still considered way out of my reach, and in my 40s when I dared to follow my real dream of writing. I’m sooooo glad I did! I have the best job in the world.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
- First book I remember reading- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- The one that made me want to become an author- Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
- The one I can’t stop thinking about- whichever one I am currently writing!
Your new novel, Never Fall for Your Fiancée, is out November 9th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A raucous, romantic, Regency romp!
What can readers expect?
A Romcom cross between My Fair Lady and The Importance of Being Earnest, Bridget Jones in a corset with some of the farcical aspects of TV’s Frasier tossed into the mix.
Where did the inspiration for Never Fall for Your Fiancée come from?
My love of Oscar Wilde and Hollywood musicals- sad but true. I adore Wilde’s witty prose and have since we were forced to study The Importance of Being Earnest in school. The flawed but endearing characters he creates are brilliant, so in homage, my hero Hugh is a lovable rogue a bit like Earnest, and his match-making mother has elements of Lady Bracknell about her. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched My Fair Lady, and Eliza Doolittle’s journey from the gutter to the highest echelons of society certainly formed part of the inspiration for Minerva Merriwell my heroine.
Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Procrastination and imposter syndrome are my biggest challenges as a writer, the same as I suspect they are for most writers. When you work at home, making up stories in your head, staring at a blank page can be very distracting. Before I know it, I’ve accidentally opened my emails or my social media and lose an hour. Tea is another great distraction—both the making of it and the drinking it. I write, on average, 2K words a day and that has to be fuelled with at least 8 cups of English Breakfast. Never Fall for Your Fiancée took four and half months to write, so that’s a whopping 1008 teabreaks in total!
In every book, usually when I hit the 25K words point, I have the obligatory Crisis of Confidence (or COC as its been abbreviated to). This book is a turkey, I cannot write. I’ve never been able to write and this is the book where I get found out… Yada yada. Then I allow that to define me for at least a week before I give myself a kick up the backside, make myself a fortifying cup of tea and forge on. It’s a vicious circle but part of my process. One I’ve learned to cope with—after a fashion.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I’m all about the characters, and Never Fall for Your Fiancée is packed full of them. I am not a plotter. I see and hear the story live as I type like a film in my head, so usually, the main characters appear fully formed from the first page and others canter over the horizon unexpectedly as the story progresses. Some of the side characters in this book were an absolute joy to write. Payne, the hero’s irascible and ever-so-slightly insubordinate butler has some of the best lines and my favourite scene involves a Regency method actress, a pianoforte and a whole bottle of sherry. Every time I read that scene I laugh out loud and I wrote it!
Never Fall for Your Fiancée is only the start of The Merriwell Sisters series. Can you give us a little tease as to what may come next?
Never Rescue a Rogue is written and is the middle sister Diana Merriwell’s story. In the first book is an acerbic, naturally suspicious wannabe journalist who isn’t taken seriously in 1825 because she’s a woman. There was an instant frenemies vibe between her and the hero’s irreverent best friend Giles which just begged exploring further, so I did. I won’t say too much except to say that both of them have secrets, there are some shenanigans, some high dudgeon, some rattling skeletons, the most unlikely butler the ton has ever seen, more farce and lots and lots of biscuits.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Just write the book! is the best piece of advice, as if you listened to all the craft books, blogs and workshops out there which tell you how do it you’d never write a thing. The worst was that girls like me don’t write books because it turns out they do!
What’s next for you?
I need to write the final installment of my Merriwell Sisters trilogy and after that, the second book in my upcoming 2022 A Very Village Scandal series. Then who knows where the muse will take me next. To be honest, I never quite know what I’m going to be writing from page to page, so asking me what I’ll be writing next week is a big ask. All I do know with any certainty is I have deadlines. Lots and lots of deadlines.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Fiction—When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare, Ten Things I love About You by Julia Quinn, The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St George, The School For Heiresses series by Sabrina Jeffries and Bring Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. Non-fiction—The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven.
You can find Virginia on Facebook and Instagram, as well as at her website.
