Short Q&A (Spoiler free!)

I wanted to share and answer a few of the questions I’ve been asked by readers who have personally shared their feedback with me about The Lady and the Scoundrel.

Is Charlotte Astor a flawed protagonist? Why did you choose this for her?

The short answer is yes: Charlotte makes mistakes. A flawed protagonist refers to a lead that doesn’t have all the good qualities expected from a hero, which also doesn’t mean that they’re not good people. I chose to make Charlotte flawed because I wanted to take a different route to create her.

A lot of the novels I’ve read online choose to make their female protagonists the epitome of what some people consider all the good qualities a woman should have: they are kind, relatable, selfless, sometimes to a fault. They let their antagonists step all over them until later on in the story, they gain confidence and step up to the situations life puts in their way.

Charlotte, on the other hand, already has a very strong personality from the beginning. She speaks her mind and doesn’t let anyone trample all over her. She isn’t mean, but she won’t let anyone take advantage of her… except for the people she loves. I want her to be real, and real people have shades of grey. They make mistakes. They give in to their desires sometimes. One of Charlotte’s antagonists is herself, and I wanted to explore her personal growth through the conflicts she has thanks to the decisions she makes. 

What was your inspiration to write The Lady and the Scoundrel?

I am a writer and full-time editor for many different projects, including a short story magazine. I wanted to write a contemporary romance inspired by my favorite romance novels as an exercise in discipline, to see if I could take on longer writing projects.  There are several winks to what once was one of my favorite romance novels sprinkled throughout the story, so you can say it’s very loosely inspired by that one.  If any of you figure out which one it is, let me know in the comments! While the historical setting, characters, and plot are completely different, it draws on the famous concept of the strong female lead that has to survive in a world built for men.

The story takes place in the 1990s, a time when workplace gender equality wasn’t taken too seriously. A lot has changed since then, but it’s still an issue. Charlotte is a professional who has to survive in that environment, while also playing the game of life with multiple characters who don’t take her seriously or expect her to act a certain way because that's the way they think she should act and behave. I didn’t set out to write something that addresses these issues directly, but they became a part of her world as I planned out the novel.

What are your long-term plans for the novel?

Without spoiling anything, there’s still a lot that’s going to happen to Charlotte Astor. I’ve planned out the story so it spans a few years, so we’ll see! It all depends on how well it does, so if you like the story, please share it with your friends and leave a review. There’s nothing more gratifying to an author than to hear what readers enjoy in their stories.

Thank you so much for reading!