About Fenna Edgewood
USA Today Bestselling author Fenna Edgewood writes sexy, swoon-worthy, humorous stories of love, family, and adventure. In other words, the most important things in life! She is an award-winning retired academic who has studied English literature for most of her life. After a twenty-five-year hiatus from writing romance as a twelve-year-old, she has returned to the genre with a bang. Fenna has lived and traveled across North America, most notably above the Arctic Circle. She now resides back on the Prairies with her husband and two tiny tots (who are adorable but generally terrible research assistants).
The first installment of Fenna’s new Blakeley Manor Series was published by WOLF Publishing in winter 2022.
Visit Fenna at www.fennaedgewood.com.
The Blakeley Manor Series
Q&A with Fenna
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Mostly energizing but a little exhausting! If a day goes by where I was “supposed” to write and didn’t write, I feel guilty. But when I have a good writing day and the plot is going where it’s supposed to go or the characters had some great banter or dialogue, I feel amazing afterwards and have a sense of accomplishment.
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean. It’s a YA, coming-of-age, romantic retelling of a medieval Scottish ballad set in a small university during the 1970s. The hero may or may not be a secret member of the fae who was around in Shakespeare’s time. It’s very understated with a plot that verges on slow, but it’s incredibly beautiful if you stick with it, full of literary references and allusions, and culminates with a great plot twist. And now I need to go find my copy and re-read it… Pamela Dean was also a member of the Scribblies with Emma Bull and Will Shetterley, among others, and not only did they do really interesting fairytale retellings but they were also the “avant-garde” of the modern Urban Fantasy genre. Highly recommend anything by any of them!
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Nothing! I actually find it just as easy or even easier to write male characters, especially humorous gentle ones like Angel (from To All the Earls I’ve Loved Before) and Hugh (from How to Get Away with Marriage). I love writing good men—heroic, intelligent, kind, funny. It is much harder to write villainous characters, male or female, for me.
What books do you enjoy reading?
I normally read a huge range of books, especially historical literature (Jane Austen, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, etc.), science fiction (NK Jemisin, Neal Stephenson, etc.), and fantasy (Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman). And lately I have been trying to throw more memoir and biography in there. But in 2021, the year I started writing, I read only historical romance. I started with Julia Quinn’s first few Bridgerton books and went from there. My favorite historical romance authors are probably Mary Balogh, Loretta Chase, and Julie Garwood. I love a good combination of romance, suspense, and humor! I also adore a good plot twist or spin on a classic story. Bree Wolf’s How to Tame a Beastly Lord was one of the first historical romances I read and she blew me away with that opening spin on Beauty and the Beast!
