The Cajun Cheesehead Interviews Amy D’Orazio

Greetings, everyone. Jack Caldwell here.

As you may know, we’re doing a round-robin interview series here at Austen Variations. The lovely Lucy Marin was kind enough to do a video interview of yours truly; it can be found HERE. (It’s my fault it’s so long. You can’t keep a Cajun Cheesehead quiet! Ask my wife.) So, now it’s my turn to ask the questions!

This time the victim subject is the fantastic and prolific Amy D’Orazio! Since she doesn’t trust me—for good reason—we’re doing a written interview. Here we go!

1. Why did you start writing, and why JAFF?

I actually became an author back when my first daughter was born and I was hired to help write a book that was about the evolving therapeutic landscape of asthma therapy. I followed that up with some books about arthritis and cancer research and eventually had my career working in magazine publishing for cancer journals. As funny as it might sound, even that sort of writing brings a sort of zen with it, so when I stopped working, I really missed it.

So, when the P&P bug bit, and I met the online communities of writers who were creating their own episodes in the D&E universe, I thought I might as well give it a go, although I knew nothing about writing fiction. At that time, I was like, absolutely no one will ever see this and I’d have laughed at the idea of ever publishing any morsel of it, but shout out to all those people who helped educate me along the way and really helped me develop my craft, from the commenters on the boards to the people who run wonderful online classes.

Full disclosure though: I still don’t know where commas go and I doubt I’ll ever choose properly between that and which.

2. I feel your pain. You’ve written over a dozen novels and collaborations. Some are very funny—A Fine Joke immediately comes to mind—and some tear the heart right out of you (The Mysteries of Pemberley, anyone?). Which do you prefer, comedies or angsty dramas?

Truth be told my favorite thing of all is angst that has a laugh or two thrown into it. Nothing beats the thrill (to me) of writing Darcy & Elizabeth into a tangle that it seems they’ll never be able to get out of and then figuring a way to work things out!

3. You invented one of the most interesting Original Characters in JAFF: The Right Honorable Lord Anthony Fitzwilliam, The Viscount Saye. How the heck did you come up with him?

Backward as it sounds, Saye really just sort of presented himself to me. I really had only the vaguest sense of him when I first started writing him. I only knew that I wanted someone who understands he is at the top of the regency pecking order and enjoys every minute of it. I feel like I get to know more about him every time I write him in a scene, and I am just really grateful that the readers seem to enjoy his quirks as much as I do!

4. A Lady’s Reputation is my favorite of your works. There—I said it. How did you come up with that scene—I’m sure you know which one I mean.

Aww, thank you Jack! I’m guessing perhaps, the rooftop scene? That one definitely got a lot of comments when I was posting it at AHA! That idea came in the most prosaic of ways.

I was reading about the restoration and roof work at Chatsworth and thought, I just had to have D&E have some tender moments on the roof of Pemberley! Plus, it gave me the chance to explore those websites that show you what the stars looked like on any given date—the science geek in me loves that!

5. You don’t have to answer, but what is your favorite work?

My favorite thing I have ever written is a true gut-ripper that I posted but will not ever publish called Repressed Feelings. I have a degree in genetics and RF incorporates the concept of genomic memory, which is a theory that memories can be passed from generation to generation just like hair color or height. So, there is both a modern Darcy and a regency Darcy, but truth be told it ended up WAY to angsty even for me!

6. Will you ever publish Officious Interference and/or A Good Memory?

Definitely not A Good Memory! My first attempt out of the gate and it shows—it’s some pretty rough stuff and one thing I learned while editing my others which were posted early on is that it is REALLY hard to take a sow’s ear and make it a silk purse. Or even a cotton purse! Haha! You end up doing so much rewriting that it would have been far easier in the end to just write something new.

Officious Interference—perhaps! It is also quite rough but possibly more redeemable! 

7. What is your opinion of Fitzwilliam Darcy? Does he need a 2×4 regularly applied to his head?

Honestly, I like to apply the proverbial 2×4 to both of them. I think one of the most wonderful things about P&P is that there is a really great character arc for both Darcy and Elizabeth and its definitely something I try to preserve in my stories—I don’t like a hangdog Darcy or a perfect Elizabeth!

8. That’s great, as I hate PerfectLizzy ©. Do you hate Charles Bingley? I would not blame you if you did.

As my own children have gotten older (my oldest is 23 now) I feel like I have a different understanding of Bingley. He was basically a kid—a wealthy kid, but a kid nevertheless—and I think he had a lot of growing up to do. If you really think of him in the context of a modern early twenty-something, you start to realize, heck yeah Darcy needed to get him out of there! I’ll admit, I do wonder how that marriage (him and Jane) turned out.

9. Tell us all about your new release: A Folly of Youth.

A Folly of Youth is based on the simple premise of Darcy and Elizabeth meeting when they are both younger—Elizabeth is only 16 and Darcy is 23. Darcy misunderstands who and what Elizabeth is, and Elizabeth misunderstands what she’s doing and where she’s doing it. It is not a forced marriage scenario, just for the simple reason that both Darcy and Elizabeth are violently opposed to that happening. So, when they meet again in 1811, they come up with a way to extricate themselves from their own connection to one another—but of course in working together to free themselves from the obligation to one another, they fall in love!

In the words of my favorite viscount:

“You have cocked things up in a manner that is unparalleled, Darcy. You are in love with a woman you jilted, shamed, and made miserable for three years complete… Maybe it will work out. Or maybe the sky will fall and we shall all catch larks with our teeth.”

Thanks, Amy! We’re all looking forward to A Folly of Youth. Meanwhile, y’all can check out the rest of Amy’s work HERE.

As for Amy—touch! You’re it!

Until next time, this has been the Cajun Cheesehead Chronicles.

It takes a real man to write historical romance, so let me tell you a story…