Jeanette Watts

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

I am an avid history buff! I teach historical dances, sew historical costumes, write historical fiction, and stop whenever I travel at historical sites like battlefields and houses.

When and why did you start writing books?

I used to make up stories for the children I babysat, and for my best friend while we walked to school. I got distracted by life for a while, then finally wrote my first published book, Wealth and Privilege, as therapy after I moved away from Pittsburgh. I love that city, so I wrote it a love story.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

I can't NOT be telling stories. It's how my brain is wired. So I might as well get these characters out of my head and onto paper, and then into people's hands!

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

I love them all, of course, but I would have to pick my first book, Wealth and Privilege. Thomas' love for Regina is so all-encompassing. I love his devotion. And those books really illustrate what it felt like, smelled like, tasted like to be living in 1875!

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

My Dearest Miss Fairfax and A Woman's Persuasion. They are both based on Jane Austen books, and i slaved over every chapter to make sure it closely reflects the original, while putting my own story to it.

Who is your favourite author and book?

I have so many! Everything by David McCullough. He is such a good storyteller! I love Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. It's not just a bodice ripper: she was a journalist, and the book is packed with sly historical references that are easy to miss.

What book are you reading right now?

I am between books right now, and plowing through my backlog of Trend & Tradition Magazine from Colonial Williamsburg. Then I might tackle Mary Chestnut's civil war diaries. My To Be Read shelf is very full. I could just close my eyes and pick at random...

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

Everywhere! My Dearest Miss Fairfax came out of a reddit chat. A Woman's Persuasion came from a JASNA lecture. Jane Austen Lied to Me is from a long car ride home from a different Jane Austen event. Wealth and Privilege is inspired by Gone With the Wind and Edith Wharton novels.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I'm not sure what spare time is... I garden, and sew historical costumes, and teach dance classes, and start podcasts and YouTube channels, and occasionally clean something in my house.

Do you have any new books in the works?

Too many! I started a third book to go with Wealth and Privilege and Brains and Beauty, called Deceptions and Desires. But then I entered a pitch contest with a series about Abraham Lincoln as a young man here where I live in Central Illinois. Then THAT got set aside because I started a series of historical dance guides for history museums and re-enactors and other educators. It will all get done. I need a writing retreat!