Q&A With Delphine Roy 

Another Q&A I’m doing this week is with historical romance author Delphine Roy. Delphine is the author of the novels Seduction At The Chateau & Obsession At The Opera. 

Q: So Delphine I read on your Facebook account, Seduction At The Chateau & Obsession At The Opera are part of a series. Would you like to give a brief description of both books to the readers of the blog and I? Both books sound exciting, I think! 

A: They’re part of a trilogy set in France in 1801 to 1803, the very early Napoleonic period. The two first books follow the Saint Yves family, who have just returned from exile in London where they escaped during the Terror. They come back to France and have to try to reconstruct their lives in the midst of a pretty chaotic social and political context. In book 1, Antonia Saint Yves meets the man she was in love with when she was younger, Guy de Cazal, and he has to seduce her in order to win a bet while they’re staying at a chateau in the countryside. In book 2, Jerome Saint Yves, Antonia’s older brother, is working hard to make business as an architect in Paris but his plans are derailed when Stella Cardinelli, an opera singer with whom he had a brief dalliance with in London, comes back into his life. 

Q: What is your favorite part about writing historical romance?

A: First of all, I’m a big fan of history in general, I actually studied it at university! So it’s super fun for me to imagine how ordinary people lived in different eras. Also I’ve watched more period dramas than I can count, and I’m a huge fan of the costumes and the settings. They’re so dreamy! I just feel like they add an extra dose of romance and swoon to a love story, and I love imagining all of that in my head when I’m writing, it gives me such beautiful visuals. 

Q:  Where did the idea for the novels Seduction At The Chateau & Obsession At The Opera come from? What was the research & writing process like writing the books?

A: I love Regency romance and I got the idea to set something in France because I’m obviously more well-learned in French history than British history (and I live right next to Paris, where I work, so I don’t need to look very far for visuals). The writing came super easily to me once I had the characters and tropes in my head, and of course all the historical romance books I read were great inspiration. Most of the research I do online is about little details I want to get right, I’m quite nit-picky about those.

Q: Are you writing book 3 to Seduction At The Chateau & Obsession At The Opera? 

A: It’s already written, actually! It’ll come out this summer. Readers who have read the other two books can probably guess who it’ll be about… 

Q: If Hollywood were to get the rights to your work, (if they haven’t already) who would be your dream cast to play your characters? The entertainment industry is in desperate need of originality again. 

A: Oh goodness, what a great question! I usually take pics off of Pinterest for inspiration and they’re mostly models, not celebrities. I do have one actress in mind for Stella Cardinelli, though, it’s Monica Belluci when she was younger. She’d be a perfect Stella!