Q&A with author Kate Quinn

I'm a big fan of historical novels - especially ones that capture the atmosphere of an era so readers envision the look, and taste the flavour, of the time in question.
Kate Quinn has managed all of this and more in her second novel, Daughters of Rome. Readers will find themselves in ancient Rome in the "year of the four Caesars" - the time of Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian.
I knew nothing about these emperors but thanks to Quinn, I not only learned something but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience as well.
The story follows four cousins, Cornelia, Marcella, Lollia and Diana. These fabulous characters form the foundation of a tale full of scandal, betrayal, bloodshed and family bonds.
I asked Kate some questions about her book.
What made you decide you wanted to write books?
It wasn't really a decision; more of a compulsion. I was making up stories for myself long before I was able to read, and later it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to write them down. I wrote my first book when I was 10, an absolutely ghastly soap opera about a gypsy girl in medieval Ireland, which included snakes, school bullies, wild mustangs, and witch trials. Despite that abysmal start, I haven't stopped writing books since.
Have you always been interested in history?
I can't remember a time when I wasn't. My mother had a degree in ancient and medieval history, so my bedtime stories were all about the wives of Henry VIII or Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon, not fairy tales. By the time I was 8 years old I couldn't sit down on the school steps at lunch without pretending I was Elizabeth I refusing to enter the Tower of London for treason. Under those circumstances, I guess it's only natural that I ended up writing historical fiction.
Why ancient Rome?
I love ancient Rome because it's so far away from us in time, but culturally so close. Things like the slave trade and gladiators dying in the arena may give a modern audience pause, but many other things are so familiar. From sports fans to fast food, from running water and daily baths to birth control and no-fault divorce, the Romans embraced cultural traditions that wouldn't be seen again on a widespread scale for 2000 years.
Ancient Rome might have existed a long time ago, but in some ways, it's right next door. Much closer than the Middle Ages, which are a mere 700 years ago instead of two thousand, but much more foreign.
Where did the idea for the story come from?
As soon as I read about that turbulent period of Roman history known as the "Year of Four Emperors", I knew I had to write a book about it. It's the name that grabbed me, like the War of the Roses or the War of Jenkins' Ear, it's an instantly fascinating combination of words to any bored history student looking desperately for passion and bloodshed between all the dry lists of dates and treaties.
The Year of Four Emperors has such an extraordinary cast of characters; not even Hollywood could have cast four more different men to wear the same crown: a bad-tempered old crank, a metrosexual party boy, a fat ex-jock, and a genial everyman. Who could resist? All I had to do was plop four girls down in all the chaos with the four emperors and stir to a boil for a hell of a ride.
How long did it take you to research?
Hard to say because the writing of Daughters of Rome technically spanned more than a year and a half. I was halfway done with Daughters of Rome when Mistress of Rome was picked up for publication, so I had to drop my work in progress and dive back to the earlier book. As soon as Mistress was completed, I went straight back and finished up Daughters but I was researching the whole time, carrying around my copies of Suetonius and Tacitus until they were worn to tatters. Definitely a screwy way to write a prequel-and-sequel. Next time I'll plan things a bit better.
Your four main characters are great. Tell us a little bit about how they evolved?
I suppose all my characters have a little bit of me in them. Marcella the bookworm shares my passion for writing and my fascination with history. Her prim-and-proper sister Cornelia has my patter of small-talk, not to mention my very undignified snub nose. Man-crazy Lollia is my frivolous side, a girl always happy to plunk down with a group of girlfriends and a bottle of wine for a good gossip. And tomboy Diana is a trip down memory lane to the days when I too was a horse-crazy little thing who thought boys had cooties and wanted to marry Phar Lap.
What do you do for leisure?
I cheer religiously for the Boston Red Sox. Baseball is a great way to unwind after a full day of writing. I'm devoted to complex TV dramas, and plow through DVD box sets of True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer in record time.
I throw a mean right hook from my every-other-day kick-boxing classes, spend a lot of time playing with my three mutts, and send frequent prayers of thanks to Australia for giving me both Yellow Tail Chardonnay and Russell Crowe.
What type of books do you like?
I read everything. I read trash trying to figure out why it's trash; I read classics trying to figure out how they stood the test of time; I read inside my genre to keep up in the field and outside my genre to expand my horizons. I love historical fiction, but I'll read anything, sci-fi, romance, literary, as long as it's well written.
And your favourite author?
Judith Merkle Riley and Bernard Cornwell for historical fiction. Eva Ibbotson for romance; Bill Bryson for humour. Jim Butcher for urban fantasy, George R.R. Martin for straightforward fantasy. And although I'm generally lukewarm on mysteries, I'm addicted to Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels.
What's next for Kate Quinn?
My next book is actually a sequel to Mistress of Rome, which itself is a sequel to Daughters of Rome. I somehow ended up writing a trilogy by accident, so rather than the usual 1-2-3 format I ended up with a 2-1-3 order instead. Book three centres around two characters who were only children in Mistress of Rome, now grown up and living through the golden age of Emperor Trajan. Take one brash young soldier looking for glory, throw in a senator's daughter yearning for adventure, stir in a scheming villainess, two wars, and lots of political intrigue, light on fire, and serve. It's been titled Empress of the Seven Hills, and is scheduled for an April 2012 release.