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CHRISTINA BOYD: I have been a fan of Christina Morland since her first foray in writing Jane Austen fiction, Remedy Against Sin, published July 2016, but we didn't work together until she wrote the Sir story in my multi-author anthology Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen's Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues. Christina also wrote two other short stories in my anthologies and a couple other of my favorite Austenesque full-length novels. We almost met once in real life when my daughter was touring colleges in Christina's area, but our travel schedule became way too hectic for Mom's side adventure. Christina and I occasionally send each other emails to catch up on real life, but I still hope to meet her in person one day.
When did you first think you had a book to write, and how did you start?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: In seventh grade, my English teacher required each of her students to write a short story. Naturally, I wrote 70 pages, typed. My first novella! I had recently finished C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, and I was devastated to learn there were only seven books in the series! I was also quite angry that one of the characters (I won’t say which one) wasn’t allowed to return to Narnia after the “last battle.” So, I had to write Book 8 to correct these problems. Thus, at age 12, my fanfiction career began!
CHRISTINA BOYD: And here I thought it was Remedy Against Sin. Ha!
If you could tell your 21-year-old self anything, what would you share?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: Please don’t be embarrassed to read and write what you love! As a teen, I adored romance novels. When I went to college, I was too embarrassed to buy them at the school bookstore. (I lived in ancient times, before e-readers had been invented, so I couldn’t download what I wanted in the privacy of my dorm room.) I allowed myself to believe the haters who said romances were “trashy.” Then I took a creative writing class, and it was such a terrible experience because I kept trying to write “literary” stories – i.e., anything but a love story. After that class, I stopped writing fiction for ten years. I don’t regret expanding my reading tastes during college, and I learned a great deal by writing nonfiction in graduate school, but I missed out on so much fiction-writing time and practice! Worse, I lost confidence in myself as a writer. Thirty years later, I’m still trying to get it back.
CHRISTINA BOYD: "Don’t be embarrassed to read and write what you love." Wise words to share. Thank you. I'm glad you found your way back to writing what you love.
What are your current projects?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: I’m planning to publish an anthology of short stories and novellas in early summer 2024. Around that time, I also hope to release an audiobook version of my 2018 novel, Seasons of Waiting, read by the incomparable Elizabeth Grace! And yes, I’m still working on my Austenesque mystery romance, tentatively entitled Disappearing Act, which I hope to release in early 2026.
CHRISTINA BOYD: Oh, happy day! You know how much I loved Seasons of Waiting, how much I love audiobooks, and how much I love Elizabeth Grace. I am all anticipation.
What’s more difficult to write: a love scene, a love letter, or something else?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: At the moment, I’m finding murder scenes and extortion letters to be much more difficult to write than love scenes and love letters!
CHRISTINA BOYD: What do you think makes a good story?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: I love this question so much. It’s one I think about almost every day – as a writer, as a reader, and as a person living in this world full of other people and their stories. My view on what’s “good” has changed over the years, but here are the two constants: compelling characters and “heart.”
CHRISTINA BOYD: I agree. I can take any leap of faith if compelling characters are there.
What makes for compelling characters?
CHRISTINA MORLAND: They have to be simultaneously unique and recognizable. That’s tough, right? How do we create characters who stand apart and yet speak to a vast array of readers across time and space? As for what I mean by “heart,” I believe a good story makes a reader feel more alive after reading it. I think these constants hold true for people and their stories, too: the best people are utterly themselves, even while resonating with others; they also make the people around them feel more alive, more themselves, just by being in the world.
CHRISTINA BOYD: You are spot on. Especially in fan fiction. I mean, I already love the characters. But I have to believe the deviations an author makes to canon or behaviors. I need interiority to understand why. I want the author to give me heart. If an author can make me believe in their characters, I will want to follow them to the end.
Thank you for encouraging my writing and helping me understand voice, especially as a beta reader in those first iterations of my novel, Woman in the Painting. I am looking forward to your upcoming collections of short stories and novellas and the murder mystery novel. I'll be first in line when they publish.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christina Morland spent the first two decades of her life with no knowledge of Pride and Prejudice -- or any Jane Austen novel, for that matter. After overcoming this childhood affliction, she became a devoted fan of all things Austen.
Morland is the author of three Pride and Prejudice variations, a Sense and Sensibility variation, and three Austenesque short stories featured in the Quill Collective anthologies. She regularly posts at Austen Variations and is currently at work on a new Pride and Prejudice variation, tentatively entitled Disappearing Act.
When not writing, Morland tries to keep up with her creative, mischievous daughter and her maddeningly brilliant husband. She lives in a place not unlike Hogwarts (minus Harry, Dumbledore, magic, and Scotland), and likes to think of herself as an excellent walker.
To learn more about Morland's works in progress, check out her blog. You can also find stories and posts by Morland at Austen Variations. Her books are available at Amazon.
A mystery story! Can't wait!!!
Oh,sorry, got distracted by the bright shiny. Loved reading the double Christina interview. Christina M has some good pearls of wisdom to share. Thank you!