Downton Interview with... Author Teresa F Morgan!

  

 Today I'd like to welcome Teresa F Morgan. She writes contemporary romance for digital-first Harper Impulse - and like me, loves Downton Abbey!

As a writer yourself, Teresa, and fan of Downton Abbey, which element do you think has been most important for the series’ success -  the characters or plot/setting?

--- I love the plotting and era, plus how everything has to match history, however the characters are what make this series such a hit. I have my favourites (Mrs Hughes especially) but they are all brilliant in their own ways.

If it were real, would you prefer to spend a month living there Upstairs or Downstairs?

--- I'd want to be Upstairs. Those servants worked so hard and hardly got a day off! And look at the lovely clothes Edith gets to wear.

Yes, me too! Who has the biggest woo-factor - Lord Grantham or Matthew Crawley?! (as in, who would you like to woo you!)

---- Oh, Matthew for me. Lord Grantham's too old and too oldfashioned lol! Matthew had a modern way of thinking. But I think I'd really go for Tom Branson :)

  

Which character would you like to take the credit for creating and why?

---- Ha ha! I don't think I can take the credit for these characters. Mrs Hughes is one of my favourites though, because she's very clever and approachable, and has a very warm heart.

Yes, she is wonderful - everyone needs a Mrs Hughes in their life... So, which is your favourite character out of Loving Winter Nights, the new collaborative book you have out from Harper Impulse (which, incidentally, is free!)?

----- There aren't that many characters, and it was such a short piece. I suppose Mark, because he does become the hero in the end.

Yes, we all like a hero! 

Julian Fellowes is also an actor – are you creative in any other way?

---- Actually I used to paint with acrylics when I was a teenager/young adult. But it's been a long time now since creating a landscape. I'm not that great otherwise. I don't do crafty things with the kids, it just creates too much mess and more work for mummy! Am I bad?

:) Thanks for joining me Teresa! And to finish off, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I live in sunny Weston-super-Mare, trying to hold onto my Surrey accent where I was born and bred.

For years I persevered with boring jobs, until my two boys joined my nest. In an attempt to find something to work around them, and to ensure I never endured full time boredom again, I found writing.

I’m at my happiest baking cakes, putting proper home cooked dinners on the table (whether the kids eat them or not), reading a good romance, or sitting at my PC emptying my thoughts onto the screen.

I love writing contemporary romance, stories with a touch of escapism and creating heroes readers will fall in love with. Men who in reality, let’s face it, just don’t exist.

Find out more about Teresa here !

Loving Winter Nights:

Written by Lori Connelly, Teresa F. Morgan, Romy Sommer, Charlotte Phillips, Carmel Harrington and A J Nuest.

Inspired by roaring campfires and the cold nights of the Pacific Northwest, a group of HarperImpulse authors came together to write their own round robin style romance.

Sitting around our virtual fire, one author starts the tale before passing it off to the person beside them and so on… The story builds as each person adds their part, concluding when it reaches the one who started it. The result is this charming, beautifully told romance ‘For Clara’.

So wherever you are – at home on your sofa, a steaming mug of hot chocolate in your hand, or snuggled into your softest scarf on the commute to work – imagine yourself out their in the wild, the crackle and hiss of the wood burning, the glow of the fire warming you through. Sit back, relax and let our authors entertain you for a while…

Loving Winter nights is available here !