Kelly, how long did you work on MURDER, MAGIC, AND WHAT WE WORE?

Long ago in 2005, I started writing a book called Glamour. I wrote about eighteen drafts, finished it in 2010, and queried agents. No one was interested, so I shelved it.

But when I needed ideas to pitch to the editor of my debut novel, Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, I still loved the characters and ideas behind Glamour, so I included it. And my editor asked to see a full pitch for that idea.

I quickly discovered that I couldn’t just edit the original book. I could see now that it didn’t just need a touch-up, it needed a major overhaul. So, I set the early version aside, and haven’t looked at it since. Instead, I took what I knew about the characters, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, and I rewrote the entire book from scratch. Many drafts later, it became Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, which I finished in 2017.

How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?

I started writing novels around 2003, and Glamour was the second book I wrote. I worked on six more books after that; some were never finished, and none of them have been published. Then I wrote my debut novel, Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, which sold in 2013 and was published in 2015. And then I rewrote Glamour into Murder, Magic, and What We Wore. So, two out of nine, over fourteen years? I hear that’s fairly typical for a writer’s journey, but it certainly felt tough!

What did this book teach you about writing or about yourself?

It taught me that I’m willing to go back to the drawing board for an idea that I love, but that it’s easier and faster for me to write a new story than to rework an old one. It reminded me that no idea is ever wasted, and helped me see how much my writing has improved over the years. It taught me that I’m stubborn, pigheaded, loyal, and true to the ideas and characters that speak to my heart, even if it takes me years to tell their stories properly.

What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?

Know what’s at the heart of the story you want to tell. If you love it, but no one else does, try changing anything and everything else about it – just leave the heart alone. Remember, it would probably be easier to tell a new story about something else. But, if that story still needs to be told, it can be done.

What book or books would most resonate with readers who love your book–or vice versa?

The Regency fantasy novel-in-letters Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer was a touchstone for me as a teen reader, and it’s clearly had an impact on my books! One of the absolute delights of writing Murder, Magic, and What We Wore was asking other writers of Regency novels if I could give a glimpse of their characters as part of the broader society. There are far too many to list here, but I hope that readers who enjoy this time period follow those characters into their own novels!