A huge thank you to fellow Paper Lantern Writer Vanitha Sankaran for these thoughtful interview questions!

I read a post from you about a list you kept in your “younger days” about 30, or 23, things you wanted to do before you turned 30. You had “Have at least two novels published.” listed. How did it feel to smash that goal? Tell me about the books you wrote in your 20s.
Molly Miranda: Thief for Hire was published when I was 27 and its two sequels (Molly Miranda: Thick as Thieves and Molly Miranda: Honor Among Thieves) came out the next two years. It’s an adventure/comedy contemporary trilogy about a professional thief for hire. Molly Miranda: Thief for Hire was actually shortlisted for the Prince Edward Island Book Award in 2016. (For those wondering, this is the blog post in question.)

I notice you don’t list these as historical books, though they do feature historical artifacts. What promoted you to switch genres? How was the process similar and different?
I’ve always loved history. Unfortunately, I was under the very incorrect impression that historical fiction must focus on a real person and that seemed like too much pressure for a newbie writer. I also thought historical fiction couldn’t include any humor, something that I include in all my writing. Thinking back, this is actually ridiculous since one of my favorite books as a kid was Catherine, Called Birdy, a YA novel about a fictional teenager in medieval England and it’s fantastically funny. To be fair, most historical fiction is overwhelmingly sad. I love a good cry over a great book but I prefer to make people giggle.

Your author tagline is: Jillianne Hamilton writes delightful historical fiction and historical romance featuring rebellious heroines and happy endings. Why rebellious women, and maybe more importantly, why do they deserve happy endings?
So many historical fiction novels have sad endings. It’s not uncommon for a secondary character to die—occasionally, even, it’s the main character who dies tragically! Historical romance is a little less deathy. When I was considering my “brand,” I thought about all the commonalities of my books—happy endings and rebellious heroines are two things I always include.

As for rebellious women, history has been unkind to many women who stepped out of bounds—Joan of Arc, Ada Lovelace, Anne Askew, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, and, for a time, women deemed irregular were often labeled as a witch. Giving rebellious women (fictional or real) a happy ending is the least I can do to make it up to the defiant women we’ll never know.

What are some of the unique challenges you face when writing happy endings in historical contexts, where real-life events often had less than happy outcomes?
I don’t dive into anything overwhelmingly heavy, emotional-wise—this even goes for my WWII novels. Despair may exist in the background but are always kept at arm’s length to keep my novels on the lighter side. There are obviously eras of history where a light tone is inappropriate—those eras aren’t for me. Of course the past was more difficult in many ways but there was also joy and love and laughter as today. I like giving readers the option of time traveling via reading without making them depressed.

Your WWII romance trilogy, Homefront Hearts, deals with a very intense period in history. How do you approach writing romance in such a tumultuous setting?

The London Blitz (plus the Blitz events in other British cities) and life on the English homefront during WWII are fascinating to me and that’s what these books focus on. There are multiple bombing raids in the series and yes, lots of people died in those raids… but a lot of people survived them too. Londoners went about their daily lives for months while bombs rained down almost every night. During that time, there was a sense of I-might-die-tomorrow so cases of infidelity and babies born out of wedlock skyrocketed—so there was something in the air besides bombs. What a prime setting for a romance trilogy!

How do you decide which historical events or periods to set your novels in? Is there a particular era you are drawn to more than others?
I’ve written historical fiction in the late Victorian period, during WWII, and my next novel is set in the 16th century. I’m more loyal to my interest in English history, rather than the history of a certain era. I like to skip around, it helps me from getting bored—and there is so many interesting times to play around in. I’d love to write something set during the Regency, the medieval period, and I have an idea for a novel set during the Georgian era as well.

Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects or books you are working on?
My next project takes place in the Tudor era. Considering the Tudor dynasty was my gateway drug to history in the first place, it’s about time I put them in a book. It’s also an alternate historical fiction novel, meaning it changes a major event in history and explores what could have happened if. This idea has been kicking around in my brain for far too long so I’m excited to finally be working on it.

You can learn more about me and my books at my website.