JULIA LONDON

I loved creating a series about the four Cabot sisters, who were not content to let their destinies be dictated to them. In 'The Trouble With Honor,' this desire became especially urgent when the sisters were faced with the prospect of losing their place in society. Eldest sister Honor led the charge. They were undaunted!

I have someone else clean my house so that it will actually get cleaned, and I let kids in my house survive on Peeps and 'SpongeBob.'

One of the things that interests me about the Regency period is how women began to stir under the thumbs of men, wanting more and bigger freedoms.

My inspiration comes from so many things, it is hard to give credit to one. I find music of all kinds to be a great inspiration. A melody or a lyric can fire my imagination. Exercise is another. Endorphins fuel my thoughts - I tend to work out scenes and dialogue when I am exercising. Reading is also a great inspiration.

I'm like a teenage boy - I eat like one and know as much cooking as one. Neither do I bake, and I can always be counted on to bring the wine to a pot luck.

It generally takes me about nine months from the point the book is conceived to the point my editor sends it off to be typeset.

Wouldn't it be great to just exist in another culture and soak it all in? What if I had done that when I was younger? What if I'd met some Highland guy who looked like Jamie Fraser from 'Outlander' and was totally into me? What if I had stayed? That's loosely how this series of short romantic comedies, 'How to Marry a Highlander,' came into being.

There are few places in my life that I've found more ruggedly beautiful than the Highlands of Scotland. The place is magical - it's so far north, so remote, that sometimes it feels like you've left this world and gone to another.

As for my writing process, there is one truth I have discovered after writing some twenty-plus books: Not every book is the same, but the middle of every book is where I really begin to question my choice of vocations. The beginning and end is usually fairly clear to me, but that middle just sucks the life right out of me.

I find that I am much slower in the beginning of a book. I am thinking of the plot, of the characters and who they are, and where they are going. I often throw out a lot of the writing I start with, because the characters and plot improve as I write. Or perhaps I should say it is my hope they will improve as I write.

I have someone else clean my house so that it will actually get cleaned, and I let kids in my house survive on Peeps and 'SpongeBob.'

I loved creating a series about the four Cabot sisters, who were not content to let their destinies be dictated to them. In 'The Trouble With Honor,' this desire became especially urgent when the sisters were faced with the prospect of losing their place in society. Eldest sister Honor led the charge. They were undaunted!

Wouldn't it be great to just exist in another culture and soak it all in? What if I had done that when I was younger? What if I'd met some Highland guy who looked like Jamie Fraser from 'Outlander' and was totally into me? What if I had stayed? That's loosely how this series of short romantic comedies, 'How to Marry a Highlander,' came into being.

Scotland is so gorgeous that every time I'm there, I start to dream of living there. I want to buy one of those whitewashed cottages with the thatch roofs and gaze out at the sea and read my books. I want to be away from the Internet and the news and lawn mowers at 7 A.M. on Sunday mornings.

One of the things that interests me about the Regency period is how women began to stir under the thumbs of men, wanting more and bigger freedoms.

There are few places in my life that I've found more ruggedly beautiful than the Highlands of Scotland. The place is magical - it's so far north, so remote, that sometimes it feels like you've left this world and gone to another.

There's not much about me that readers don't know because I am equal parts open and boring. If there is one thing readers do know about me, it's that I am very un-domestic.

It generally takes me about nine months from the point the book is conceived to the point my editor sends it off to be typeset.

My inspiration comes from so many things, it is hard to give credit to one. I find music of all kinds to be a great inspiration. A melody or a lyric can fire my imagination. Exercise is another. Endorphins fuel my thoughts - I tend to work out scenes and dialogue when I am exercising. Reading is also a great inspiration.

As for my writing process, there is one truth I have discovered after writing some twenty-plus books: Not every book is the same, but the middle of every book is where I really begin to question my choice of vocations. The beginning and end is usually fairly clear to me, but that middle just sucks the life right out of me.

I'm like a teenage boy - I eat like one and know as much cooking as one. Neither do I bake, and I can always be counted on to bring the wine to a pot luck.

I find that I am much slower in the beginning of a book. I am thinking of the plot, of the characters and who they are, and where they are going. I often throw out a lot of the writing I start with, because the characters and plot improve as I write. Or perhaps I should say it is my hope they will improve as I write.

My characters are all made up of pieces of people I have known, their backstories pieces of mine.