1. What is your writing schedule like? While I admire the idea of writing every day, more practically, I write three to four times per week and usually aim for a daily or weekly word count. I don’t write at the same time every day, and I try to remind myself to touch base with a project even if I only have a half hour.

2. What are some of your favorite words? To be honest, I tend to remember words I dislike more than the ones I like. Overused, newly trendy words—especially when they are less specific and concrete than the words they replace—are my top dislikes.

3. What is a book that you are grateful exists? Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.

4. What about your class excites you most? Getting to discuss the incredible variety and innovative quality of today’s historical fiction, especially hybrid approaches, and helping people consider the genre if they haven’t before. Historical fiction can be a good container for so many kinds of book ideas!