Q&A With Kate Quinn

I have waited two years to do this Q&A and now my dreams have come true! Kate Quinn is a New York Times Bestselling Author of historical fiction. Some of Kate’s many novels are The Huntress, The Alice Network, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, The Briar Club, Mistress of Rome & Daughters of Rome.  Kate was a collaborating author on A Day Of Fire with Eliza Knight, Ben Kane, Stephanie Dray Sophie Perinot & Victoria Alvear. Then the core of that group—Kate, Sophie, Eliza and Stephanie— co-authored a second novel, Ribbons of Scarlet, adding talented writers Laura Kamoie and Heather Webb. Kate also co-authored the novel The Pheonix Crown with author Janie Chang! 

Q: Kate, would you like to give a brief description of each of your novels beginning with your latest release, The Briar Club?

A: THE BRIAR CLUB is the story of a group of very different women living at Briarwood House, an all-female boarding house for ladies in 1950s Washington DC. A new boarder moves into the top room and begins drawing all her neighbors together with weekly supper clubs and cups of window-brewed sun tea, but all these women have secrets…and on Thanksgiving 1954, one of those secrets comes home to roost, with deadly consequences. 

If I summarize all my other books in the same detail, we’ll be here for pages! So let me keep it brief by saying that THE PHOENIX CROWN is the story of an opera singer and a Chinatown seamstress thrown together in the chaos of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, THE DIAMOND EYE is the story of real-life WWII Ukrainian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko (aka Lady Death), THE ROSE CODE tells the tale of the women codebreakers of Bletchley Park during World War II, THE HUNTRESS is all about war criminals, Nazi hunting, and the all-female regiment of bomber pilots known as the Night Witches, and THE ALICE NETWORK is about a real-life network of women spies active during World War I. My Rome series are four interconnected but standalone novels about the shifts and changes of power from the Year of the Four Emperors to the rule of Emperor Hadrian, and my Borgia duology is about a trio of unlikely friends (the Pope’s beautiful young mistress, her cynical dwarf bodyguard, and the palazzo’s fiery female chef) with front row seats to the decadence and violence of Borgia-ruled Rome. RIBBONS OF SCARLET tell the complete arc of the French Revolution, but through the eyes of the very real women who fought on both sides of it.

Q: I have enjoyed reading historical fiction novels ever since I was a teenager & you obviously enjoy writing them! What was it about historical fiction that drew you into writing in the genre? 

A: My librarian mother had a degree in ancient and medieval history and told me stories about the past in the same casual way that other kids my age got fairy-tale bedtime stories. I was gravitating naturally toward the past as soon as I began writing stories of my own, which was about age seven.

Q: How does an idea for a topic come to you? How long does it take you to research & write a historical fiction novel?

A: Usually, some historical tidbit will snag my eye and light up the inside of my head like a flash fire. It could be an event or a person; generally, it’s something extraordinary that a woman or group of women have done in the past. Something that makes me think “Wow, how did I not know about that? I want to find out more…” and the more I find out, the more I start thinking “I could hang a story on that hook.” That’s the beginning of a months-long deep dive that will then commence as I read and research and read some more and start fitting all the historical pieces together to see where I can layer fictional elements. I usually do months of researching and outlining before I start drafting, but how long each book takes depends on the book. THE ROSE CODE took thirteen months to draft; by contrast, THE DIAMOND EYE took three and a half months.

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn and feel after reading your historical fiction novels?

A: I hope first that they were entertained by the story—a novelist’s first job. And then I hope that the history in it sent them down a rabbit hole to find out more, which is what good historical fiction should always do.

Q: I know Warner Brothers got the rights to The Alice Network a few years ago for a mini-series & then your novel The Rose Code was optioned too! Recently I found out from your friend Sophie Perinot posting on Facebook that A Day Of Fire has been optioned too. Have they started filming & casting yet for The Alice Network & The Rose Code?  Have they also gotten the rights to your other novels yet? I could see The Huntress making an exciting tv series too. I remember reading it a few years back and enjoying it!  

A: I’ve had several TV options (for THE ALICE NETWORK, THE HUNTRESS, & THE ROSE CODE) but none of them have come to anything yet—very common in Hollywood; the option is only the first step in a very long process. So, no casting or filming or streaming news yet for any of my books. But the team behind the project for A DAY OF FIRE looks very promising, so I have my fingers crossed!

Q: What was your experience like co-authoring A Day Of Fire with Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, Ben Kane, Stephanie Dray & Victoria Alvear, & then returning with the core of that group—Sophie, Eliza and Stephanie to co-author Ribbons of Scarlet & adding Laura Kamoie & Heather Webb into the mix? What was it like writing The Phoenix Crown with Janie Chang? I did a Q&A with Janie last year, and she spoke about you two meeting 4 times to work out a plot, research, & discuss revisions and that you plotted out chapter by chapter on spreadsheets! 

A: Every collaboration is different, but they’ve all been fun! Writing with a larger group as for A DAY OF FIRE or RIBBONS OF SCARLET, you stick a little bit more to your own lane: the book is mapped out in advance, and you know exactly what section of the timeline you have to cover and where the scope of your story must begin and end so as to hook neatly with the parts that come before and after. There’s a lot of brainstorming to see where we can cameo each other’s characters in our own sections, but you’re still writing much more independently. Co-authoring with Janie was much more collaborative right from the start; we planned alternating chapters from two very different heroines, but the entire story was very interwoven so there was much more give and take in the process. Spreadsheets were crucial! 

Q: In your opinion, what makes the perfect historical fiction novel that will help future writers who want to write historical fiction? 

A: You must love the research, but not let it run away with you. It’s all too easy to get so wrapped up in the research that you never start writing the book—or to let your research take over the story. Just because you spent 48 hours down a rabbit hole reading about the exact building techniques and stone composition of Hadrian’s Wall does not mean you put everything you found out into the book—it’ll slow the story down and put the reader to sleep! 

Q: What is your advice for anyone wanting to co-author a novel with someone whether it’s with a friend, a family member or a spouse?

A: Approach with care and respect, because I’ve heard of relationships getting ruined by co-authoring. Make sure to talk out in advance how you will work together: will you try to create a blended voice, or will you alternate writing chapters and keep your voices distinct? How will you edit each other? How do you like to be edited? Do you have the same goals for what the project is and how it will be accomplished? Do you have a similar work ethic? How will you handle conflicts if you disagree about something in the book? Talk out everything and be aware that group projects require sensitivity in being willing to listen to your co-author, and flexibility in being willing to bend. 

Q: Can you reveal a few details about your next historical fiction novel & are you writing a solo novel or are you co-writing with anyone again?

A: I do have some co-authoring projects in mind, but nothing firmly set yet—schedules need to iron out first as we get our individual projects wrapped up. My next solo book will be coming out 2026 and is titled THE ASTRAL LIBRARY—it’s a bit of a departure for me, less straight historical fiction and a bit more magic realism. It’s my love letter to libraries, librarians, and readers everywhere. 

Q: What are healthy ways you deal with self-doubt as an author, negative reviews, online trolls & family and friends who don’t support your dream and career as an author, that may help future writers out there?

A: Negative reviews—I do not read them, ever. Online trolls—heavy use of the block button. I have been lucky in that I have supportive family and friends: my mom is my first reader and critique partner on everything I write and has been since I was just a kid; she loves my work and has always supported it. My husband frequently says that there is nothing better in life than getting to watch the person you love as they live their dream; he’s my loudest cheerleader and biggest supporter.  Self-doubt assails us all, but the best way to handle it is to give yourself permission to be bad: rather than castigate yourself that your writing is terrible, say “Ok, it’s terrible but get it down now and fix it later.” It’s a saying that has been attributed to everyone from Jodi Picoult to Nora Roberts, but it’s true: “You can fix a bad page, but you can’t fix a blank page.”