The Typewriter Girl (50 page)

Personally, I often feel most creative when I’m working “with one hand tied behind my back”—meaning I’m restricted in some way, without endless possibilities or resources, and still have to figure it out. So that aspect of romance or any genre fiction appeals to me. I love for authors to surprise me, to do something unexpected within the parameters of the genre.

I also want the “indelible moment” in a love story, the one that sticks after you finish the book, the one that reveals what’s at stake,
all the hope and all the potential for heart-crushing failure (see
chapter 24
of Laura Kinsale’s
The Shadow and the Star
).

I’m terrible at narrowing down favorites, but the first time I recall being intensely invested in the outcome of a love story was at age eleven or twelve, when I read L. M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon series.

When was the last time you typed on a typewriter?

Recently! I have my grandmother’s manual Remington, and play on it once in a while. I also used it to type the letter Betsey composes in
chapter 35
, going as fast as possible to see what mistakes occurred (far more than Betsey would make on her worst day, which is kind of what’s happening in
chapter 35
).

Do you enjoy reading historical fiction as well as writing it? If so, what are some of your favorite books or authors?

Taking a quick glance at the bookshelf in front of me right now:
Year of Wonders
by Geraldine Brooks,
The March
by E. L. Doctorow,
Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood,
The Illuminator
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease,
Agincourt
by Bernard Cornwell,
Octavian Nothing
by M. T. Anderson . . .

More shelves, more favorites, but I’ll stop there.

What should readers know about you? If you were interviewing a favorite author, what would you want to know about them?

I’m always curious about writers’ routines or rituals. Me, I like to have something nearby to keep my hands busy when I stop to think or daydream or just feel stuck. I make a lot of sticky note collages and tiny sculptures from foil candy wrappers.

What are you working on next?

A couple of historicals are in the works, one in a timeline similar to
The Typewriter Girl,
another much removed.

ALISON ATLEE
spent her childhood fashioning nineteenth-century wardrobes for her dolls. As an adult, she has a master’s degree from Bread Loaf School of English, multiple editions of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
and a bull for a next-door neighbor. She lives in Kentucky. Visit
www.alisonatlee.com
.

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COVER DESIGN BY REGINA STARACE

WOMAN ON PIER © JILL BATTAGLIA / ARCANGEL IMAGES

TYPEWRITER KEYS © TOM GRUNDY / ALAMY

AUTHOR PHOTO © MILDRED WARD

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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First Gallery Books trade paperback edition January 2013

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Atlee, Alison.