FULL TRANSCRIPT: Meara Platt Samples Marigold and the Marquess
[00:00:00] Katherine Grant: Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast. The place for you to find new historical romance books and authors to fan over. I'm award winning historical romance author Katherine Grant, and each week I'm inviting fellow authors to come on and share a little bit of their work and themselves.
[00:00:21] They'll read a sample of one of their books, and then I'm going to ask them a bunch of questions. By the end of the episode, you'll have a sense of what they write and who they are. Hopefully, you and I both will have something new to read. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into this week's episode.
[00:00:41] Well today I'm joined by USA Today bestselling author Meara Platt. Meara writes Historical romances, and if I have this right, I think I saw on Facebook that you're up to 60 books now. Yes. And that includes your popular Farthingale series, Book of Love series, and Moonstone Landing series.
[00:01:01] Most of her stories are humorous regency romances, but if you enjoy gothic fantasy with dragon shifters and fairies, then her Dark Gardens series is right for you. So welcome, Meera.
[00:01:15] Meara Platt: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:01:17] Katherine Grant: I'm so excited to have you. We've met before and I'm excited to get a chance to talk to you in depth today.
[00:01:23] Meara Platt: Thank you. I know feeling mutual. I know really a pleasure meeting you. And yeah.
[00:01:28] Katherine Grant: Yeah. So today you're reading from Marigold and the Marquess. Do you want to set up the book or this scene at all?
[00:01:35] Meara Platt: Okay. Yeah. So first of all, I don't know if your readers can see it. It's probably going to come out backwards or mirror image, but It's it's book nine in the Farthingale series, which is set in Regency, London, mostly on this charming little street called Chipping Way.
[00:01:55] And the joke, there's like a little running joke throughout it. It says the bachelors who walk down Chipping Way. They're toast. They're not going to be bachelors anymore because they, they encounter these little farthingale heroines who are just making their debuts. And usually their meetings are
[00:02:12] nothing ever goes smoothly. Their meetings are usually there's something, something dramatic happens and the poor hero just doesn't know what hits him. What, what, what hit him, what hits him. And so I guess I'll read. So. Now this is like number nine Marigold is the latest Barthingale heroine. They're usually, they're very cute, they're sweet.
[00:02:34] I write innocent females, but the males are pretty alpha. And so I guess we'll start, this is in Chipping Way, and in April 1825. Awesome Leonides Pool. Marquess of Muir had been warned about moving on to chipping way one of the loveliest streets in Mayfair for it. For it had become known as a Parsons trap for the Unwary Bachelor.
[00:03:00] He had dismissed the notion as preposterous until this very moment when a breathless and utterly stunning young lady ran into his garden of his into the garden of his townhouse at number two, chipping way on what was a crisp and pleasant spring day. He watched from his study window as the little whirlwind in blue muslin lunged and leaped, leaped amid his shrubbery, attempting to catch the swiftly moving What was that, a skull she was chasing?
[00:03:27] Sterling, who is that odd young lady? His usually stead butler peered out the window and immediately chuckled. That would be Miss Marigold Farthingale, my lord. I believe her father is cousin to your neighbor at number three, Mr. John Farthingale. He and his wife are sponsoring her come out. Well, she is certainly out there, isn't she?
[00:03:49] What in heaven's name is she doing? A twinkle sprang into the stoic butler's eyes. I have no idea. Shall I assist her? No, I'll go to her. Leo buttoned his waistcoast in order to make himself modestly, moderately presentable, and then walked out of his study. He had purchased the townhouse only a month ago, and the house was still sparsely furnished, although the rooms he had attended to were handsomely decorated, but not overly elegant, since he had no wish to live in a museum.
[00:04:21] A man ought to be comfortable in his own home. Was he not desperate for that elusive comfort? There were no dark curtains shutting off light to his rooms and no windowless rooms to remind him of a prison cell. He strode through his parlor and out the matching glass doors leading onto his terrace, scanning the professionally landscaped garden in search of Miss Farthingale.
[00:04:44] A moment's disappointment washed over him when he did not see her. Nor did he catch sight of her when he stepped out onto the grass and began to peer through the flowerbeds. Had she run back home? Suddenly the skull tore past him. Chasing after it was the angel in blue, who was so intent on her mission, she did not watch where she was going and ran straight into him.
[00:05:07] Oof, goodness, where did you come from? I did not see you there. How could she miss him? He was built like a block of stone. Blue eyes the color of a tropical sea and framed by velvet black lashes stared up at Leo as he wrapped his arms around her to keep her from losing her balance and tumbling into one of the thornier flower beds.
[00:05:28] What are you? I shall explain later, she said, pushing out of his grasp and now attempting to dive into a nearby patch of rhododendron. Oh no, you don't. You'll tell me now. He caught her by the waist before she disappeared within the greenery, turning her to face him. He now managed a good look at the girl.
[00:05:45] Blessed Saints. He suddenly forgot to breathe. Gad, she was exquisite. Not a sophisticated tonne beauty at all, but beautiful in an ethereal, fairies dancing amid the blue bells way. He smothered the urge to grin, for her features could only be described as part angel and part imp. Mostly imp, because of her big eyes and slightly pointy ears.
[00:06:09] Who are you, and why is your skull running circles around my garden? In his entire life, Leo did not think to ever ask anyone this question. It was absurd but also wonderful because he was in desperate need of just this ridiculous intrusion in his life to make him feel alive again. Sir, I do apologize, she said with a lick of her cherry lips, the gesture immediately putting his heart in palpitations.
[00:06:35] A light breeze blew a few dark curls across her brow, but she merely shook them off while he still held her. I am your neighbor at number three, Miss Marigold Farthingale. A pleasure to meet you, er, may we dispense with the introductions for the moment. Please let me go, I must stop Mallow before he buries my treasure.
[00:06:54] Treasure? Since when were skulls prized as such by anyone other than ghouls, who crept into cemeteries at night to steal them? The skull darted out of the rhododendron and leaped into his forsythia. The lovely Miss Farthingale moaned, squirmed out of his grasp again, and was about to plunge headfirst into the forsythia.
[00:07:13] When he stopped her by wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her solidly up against him, I forbid you to destroy my flower beds. She turned to face him, frowning up at him. Sir, I shall never catch him if you insist on holding me back. He was an old coxcomb, but women usually enjoyed being in his arms.
[00:07:34] This young woman was paying absolutely no attention to this fact, nor did she seem to care he was a Marquess. Instead, she cast him a look of irritation before peering over his shoulder to shout at the now barking skull. Bad dog. Oh, you are a very bad dog, Mallow. Leo sighed and waited for her dog, a little fellow who could be no bigger than the size of a squirrel, to dart past them again.
[00:07:59] Mallow, sit, he commanded in his most authoritative voice. The skull immediately came to a halt on the grass beside them. Well done, Marigold said, now casting him the softest smile, before kneeling beside this thing that appeared to be a head, but not of any creature Leo recognized. She popped it off mallow and then sank down on the lawn and tucked her legs beneath her shapely bottom.
[00:08:23] She took both her dog and that bizarre oddity onto her lap. Milo turned out to be a little spaniel with a big attitude. He growled as Leo knelt beside him and his mistress. Leo shot him a look of caution to establish that he was the dominant male in this relation. Fortunately, the dog quickly acquiesced.
[00:08:44] We shall become good friends, you little knave, he said, giving Mallow a gentle rub to his belly, before turning his attention to the exquisite girl. Would you mind explaining what that was all about? All right. It goes on.
[00:08:59] Katherine Grant: That was such a great meet cute. Thank you for sharing it with us.
[00:09:03] Meara Platt: Thank you. So, yeah, so basically the story goes on. It's just, it is a very cute story. He's, he's actually, you know, my wonderful brooding tortured hero. And she's just this lovely, sunny, bright heroine the complete opposites and Of course, they're insanely attracted to each other.
[00:09:27] Katherine Grant: Awesome. Well, I have some questions for you. First, we're going to take a quick break for our sponsors.
[00:09:33] Hey samplers! It's Katherine Grant. I am interrupting this episode to tell you how to get a free book, the Viscount Without Virtue. First, go to bit.ly/hrs fan, go through the checkout process. This is where you add the promo code, HR SFAN as your last step. Just download your free ebook to your ereader.
[00:10:01] Alright, well let's get back to this week's episode.
[00:10:03] So we're back with Meara Platt, who just read a sample of Marigold and the Marquess.
[00:10:12] Is that currently already out on bookshelves everywhere?
[00:10:15] Meara Platt: Yes. Yes. And it's sold wide so you could get it at any retailer.
[00:10:21] Katherine Grant: Awesome. So there were a couple of things that stood out to me listening to the sample that you read. In the meet cute, there was a lot of physical comedy.
[00:10:30] Like there was the choreography of her diving into the bushes and racing around and all that. And then there was also like the visual comedy of the dog in the skull that I like, I can just, I have that image in my head now. So I'm really curious cause I'm someone who humor doesn't come to me that easily.
[00:10:48] For you, when you're sitting down to write, do you have the concept of, oh, I want something funny and I'm just going to see what happens in your mind, or do you sit down and you already know the choreography or the visual or, or whatever?
[00:11:03] Meara Platt: Yeah, I usually know the, the choreography, although a lot of it just, you know, it, it'll pop into my brain once I've got the personalities
[00:11:15] of the hero and the heroine. And so especially because in this instance, he's dark and brooding. He actually, you know, Leo the Marquess is actually captured and held prisoner for four years in a, in an enemy prison, you know, enemy. You know, so, and finally was released, didn't think he would ever see freedom again.
[00:11:39] So he's coming from a, you know, this is a very light humorous book, but he's actually coming from a, a dark place, just trying to get his life back in order. He's still a young man. He's still in his twenties. And You know that all of a sudden this just a little bubble and that's it. And that's how I set the humor.
[00:11:59] It's just you just want to do this. Have these little moments of absurdity that or if it's just a natural, you're walking down the street and it's going to happen something out of the ordinary is going to happen. And so this is what I set it up and I also set up so that it's fits the personalities of the characters because.
[00:12:21] Marigold is just this, she's, she's been helping her best friend on an archaeological dig and got back and now she has this big, it's a dinosaur skull that they discovered. Wow. Of course. You know, it's just like to throw in these little bits of, you know, I mean it makes perfect sense but it's nonsensical also, so that's kind of how I like to work it and so this is just how she's got to make her appearance.
[00:12:49] She's not going to just walk over and say oh hello I'm your neighbor. It's her little dog has stolen the skull and he's walking around, and this is what, you know. Yeah, Leo's going to see so well and knowing that he's a dark brooding hero. She's a sunshine so she's going to pull him into the light.
[00:13:07] Katherine Grant: I'm seeing a metaphor there where this entrance, she's in the garden literally pulling him out of this dark house. It's not as dark he talked about how it's not that dark but she's pulling him out of the house into. The real world. Yes. Very interesting. So as I mentioned in the intro, you are celebrating 60 books and you have several long running series.
[00:13:33] This is the farthingale series that you sampled. I know your book of love series also has at least a dozen books in it.
[00:13:40] Meara Platt: Full length books and some novellas.
[00:13:43] Katherine Grant: Yes. Wow. So I'm curious. A series is kind of like a long term relationship. So how do you keep things fresh? For yourself, being like, I'm excited to stay in this series.
[00:13:55] Meara Platt: Yeah. I think part of it for me is that I love writing and I love the matchmaking part of my romances. And so everything feels fresh because every hero and heroine are fresh and they're going to react. Each hero is going to react differently, each heroine is going to react differently, so the stories do still, you know, so hopefully it keeps that freshness going because they are new to me, and they're going to get into trouble, and Big Alpha is going to come and rescue the innocent heroine, and You know, so it's just going to be fun, and I try to keep I keep it humorous, even if I deal with some more serious issues, it's always with a light touch, and always with a positive attitude, and I always want my readers to smile as they read the book, and then feel better.
[00:15:00] Just even about themselves or about whatever is going on just for, you know, as they finish reading it that to me it's very important. Interesting.
[00:15:08] Katherine Grant: And is that because that's the type of romance you like to read?
[00:15:12] Meara Platt: Yes, yeah, I think a lot of it is, you know, although I love mysteries also, I love dragons and things like that, but I think in my Regency romances I kind of like that lighter touch, which is why it's, we all love Jane Austen so much because she's able to, you know, she wrote those they're very romantic, they're fun, they're And Julia Quinn also with her Bridgertons, it's the same kind of thing.
[00:15:39] And that tends to be the kind of romance that I enjoy reading. Yeah.
[00:15:44] Katherine Grant: So who are some of the authors who influenced you before you started writing?
[00:15:49] Meara Platt: Oh I had some really, well, really the old, you know, I would call them the old timers, Johanna Lindsey Judith McNaught. I think one of the, really to this day, one of the most wonderful and rapturing books that I read was Judith McNaught and her Kingdom of Dreams.
[00:16:10] I just, just loved it. every, you know, it's like every trope you could find. I mean, every it wasn't that it was so original because she had her hero was the big dark knight medieval times and you know, the heroine was a sweet, you know, it was just, but just the writing was just beautiful. I just loved it.
[00:16:34] Katherine Grant: That's so interesting. So I'm curious when you're thinking about starting a story and you have all of these. You know, you have Judith McNaught in your, in the back of your mind is, you know, establishing historical romance, and then you have the series that you're working in. Do you generally start with the character?
[00:16:55] And if you do, do you start with the couples or do you have one character, then you say who's going to be a good match for them?
[00:17:00] Meara Platt: Yeah. Usually I try to match the hero and heroine. I always start with the characters before even the plot, the anything. I have to match my hero and heroine. And sometimes like in the Book of Love series, especially as I introduced, you know, because a hero will have some friends and the heroine will have her friends or family or whatever.
[00:17:26] And, you know, sometimes as you sit and then one of these characters just leaps out at you and you know it gets right in your face and will tell you I need to be the next hero or I need to be the next heroine and sometimes they'll even say and I want that girl or I want that guy as my you know, as my romantic interest and then that's a lot of fun.
[00:17:54] Yeah, they're just like talking in my head and I actually had a point in the book of love series, we kept expanding it so after we got into six books and we're going on to the seventh, and I had. This one heroine set for this hero who was going to be the hero for book seven, and he was just like, Oh, no, I want her.
[00:18:21] I don't want to, I want her. And he would just not stop talking to me until I said, Okay, you're gonna get and it was.
[00:18:30] Katherine Grant: Wow. Yeah, that's, that must be a really good book to read because clearly the chemistry is there.
[00:18:36] Meara Platt: Yeah. Oh, and when you talk about openings the meet cute. I think that, that I kind of, I think that's one of my strengths is that, that meet cute moment, just because for me personally, this is what I used to love to read.
[00:18:53] As well in stories, and that one, here's the heroine, I have her, she's, her family has given her the book of love, which is kind of like, you know, like the traveling pants, it's just like every heroine, you get that book of love, you're going to find your hero, you're about to get married. Well, she, this heroine did not and she's trying to hide the book of love, so that.
[00:19:17] You know, the family passes her over and will eventually give up and she's handed to somebody else, but as she's sneaking into her cousin's house to hide it at her cousin's house. She doesn't realize that the hero. Because her cousin is away, her cousin and her husband are away, so the house should be empty, so she's just going to sneak in there and hide it, doesn't realize that the hero, who happens to be the cousin of the of the other, of her cousin's husband he's there, he just got back from an assignment, and he's actually sitting in his tub, he just got, literally, he's in the kitchen, getting out of the tub, As she walks in to hide it.
[00:20:04] So under this line is basically, you know, if I'd known I'd had company I would have dressed because it's just standing there stark naked. So, I like to start each book.
[00:20:15] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's a strong meet cute. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you have 60 books under your belt, if that's the right phrase.
[00:20:24] Do you feel that your writing has changed since you first started publishing? I
[00:20:31] Meara Platt: think it's grown more confident. It actually hasn't changed. I thought that it would have changed a lot more over time, but it's more that it's I've grown more, you know, more I've grown more comfortable with who I am as a writer and the kind of books that I like to write and that I know that my readers like to read.
[00:20:52] And and that actually just goes to branding me as, if you want a light, funny, historical, romantic read, this is what you'll find, you know, in my books. And when I started out, I was just writing what I wanted to write and I didn't think about the actual, that kind of strong branding so that this is what readers know and they're always going to get this, this kind of read.
[00:21:26] And part of it was that my brain only went in that direction of, I want to write, you know, whether it's funny. Some of my books are not funny because that Dark Garden series is not a humorous series. It's a big, meaty, romantic, world destruction kind of, kind of series. But basically for most of my, you know, 50 of those 60 books at least are are humorous.
[00:21:54] And it's because that's where my brain was in the way I was wrote. And I think it actually helped, helped me. I knew who I was as a, as a writer and who I wanted to be as a writer from the start. And it helped build my audience. you know, my readership as well. So.
[00:22:13] Katherine Grant: Oh, I admire that too, because I'm sometimes guilty.
[00:22:16] I know that I end up writing specific types of books but then on social media I'll see authors posting about their book or reviewers posting about a book they loved and I'm like, well, I can't, why can't I write that type of book too? And that type of book and, you know, all in the historical romance umbrella, but
[00:22:34] Katherine Grant: you know, my books are more history driven and they're not that funny. And then I see people raving about a funny book and I'm like, I need more humor in my books. And it's just a terrible hamster wheel to get on of comparison. So I admire that you have learned to know who you are and be happy with that and stick with it.
[00:22:54] Meara Platt: Yeah, yeah. And again, you know, it was not anything that I consciously thought about, but now, looking back, I'd said, you know, maybe subconsciously, I knew this is what I wanted, and that's what it, and, and it, it worked out being the best thing that I could possibly have done.
[00:23:11] Katherine Grant: Yeah. Well, and I know that you also, you know, you're a managing partner at a law firm, you're a mother, and you've written 60 books.
[00:23:20] Are there other mentalities that you think have helped you have this long career of writing? Yeah,
[00:23:27] Meara Platt: well, I think that really that law background was extremely helpful. And I think you'll find that a lot of successful multi published authors happen to be lawyers. And I think part of it is like. It's not a coincidence it's that, you know, like any of these graduate schools, to have to get through the three years of law school, get through a bar exam, get through a practice and you're always, it's always about words and writing and, and swaying and thinking and stuff.
[00:24:03] So it's just an incredible it's incredible training ground for being able to. Right. It gives you discipline. It gives you that ability to concentrate for long periods of time when you need to when you're writing a book. And so I found, you know, I did find it very helpful. Yeah.
[00:24:23] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's interesting the idea that like sometimes to be to get to 60 books you have to sit down and And write.
[00:24:32] Like that's it. That's a basic requirement.
[00:24:37] Law helps with that.
[00:24:38] Meara Platt: Yeah, yeah, you need really need to be able to sit down on your butt for long periods of time. So, but, yeah, but it is it's it's that it's the discipline it's the, you know, having that set routine, having that. That ability in your mind to be able to look at all different aspects and put them together.
[00:25:00] So that's a very helpful.
[00:25:06] Katherine Grant: That's really interesting. So, and I have a question for you about the Dark Garden series. It sounds like it might be In romantasy, which you know romantasy is like this new genre that they just started defining.
[00:25:19] So are you going to explore more fantasy romances in the future?
[00:25:26] Meara Platt: Well, you know, I love them, and I, I, I will never rule it out. I would like to. I have another story in mind for that series, but, but I've already got this series, you know, between the book and I, The Book of Love, which is very, very popular as well.
[00:25:47] I want to add another book to that. We had to give it a pause, but I mean, not that we had to, my publisher wanted just to stop writing those would give me, give me a new series. So that's where we got the Moonstone Landing series, which is also, and those heroes are darker, they're more wounded heroes and the stories are a little meat, meatier.
[00:26:08] I don't want to say this, not quite because they're all good stories, but you know, maybe a little more emotional than the farthingales, which will be, they're, they're emotional too, but they're cuter. So and then, yeah, so I'd love to, if I have the time, I would love to do another of those. You know, another than this year's because I set up that series, which is killed off one of the dragon lords.
[00:26:34] And now that realm, somebody new is going to come into that realm. And I have, I really want to write that story and get the new bad guy in the new dragon Lord. I mean they're bad, they're bad boys but they're like so sexy and they've, they love they fall in love with right even dragon shifters need to find someone so made so So, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:03] Katherine Grant: That sounds awesome. Okay, one last question for you. Why do you think alpha heroes are so compelling?
[00:27:11] Meara Platt: I, I think they're so compelling because at the end of the day, and I know that there's a lot of stuff going on and social media and all of that, but at the end of the day, women Love protective guys. I mean, they don't want jerks. They don't want dominating jerks, but they want these strong guys who love them and want to look out for them.
[00:27:41] And that's why and, you know, and also not take a gift. You know, it's just that basic. It's like, he's your wolf and he's going to protect your, your, your den, because you're going to have your little cubs there too. So you want that strong, protective guy. And that's just, it's just the way it is. Yeah.
[00:28:03] Katherine Grant: All right.
[00:28:04] It's a good theory. Good as any. All right. Well, now it's time for our fun little segment called, are you a romantic?
[00:28:14] Are you a romantic?
[00:28:19] Which do you trust more? Your heart, your gut, or your brain?
[00:28:25] Meara Platt: Okay. I trust them all. Let's, let's start off with that.
[00:28:30] And I think that whichever one I'll go with would depend on the situation. With my I, I would say, I think for romance, obviously, I think it has to be the gut and the heart. For day to day living, since I don't want to make stupid decisions, I have to go with the brain.
[00:28:51] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes. Is there, is there a difference between lust and love?
[00:29:00] Meara Platt: Yes, yes, definitely this is a difference. I mean, even though lust is a part of love, but lust I see it's more like it's a temporary, non committal thing, you know, let's have fun for a weekend, let's have fun for a night, let's, you know, whatever.
[00:29:20] But love, it's like, it's forever.
[00:29:22] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in soulmates?
[00:29:25] Meara Platt: Yes. Yes. And it doesn't necessarily need to be the romantic person. The, you know, a soulmate is just you want that in, in your romance, but it can be, a soulmate can be anybody in any situation, you know, something that you love to do that and they get you completely, you know.
[00:29:51] Yeah.
[00:29:52] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in true love? Yes. Yes. All right. And finally, why is romantic love important?
[00:30:02] Meara Platt: It feeds the soul. I think we all need romantic love. We can all be very satisfied with friends and with work and what have you, but there's just something special about your heart being engaged. And so I think that that's That's why we all need it.
[00:30:26]
[00:30:26] Katherine Grant: Well, Meara, I don't think this is going to come as a surprise to you, but I'm going to declare you a romantic.
[00:30:36] So thank you for joining me today on the podcast. Where can our listeners and viewers find you and your books?
[00:30:43] Meara Platt: Okay. Well, they can find my books pretty much wide anywhere at any retailers except for the, well, especially Amazon. I got my Dragonblade, all the series, the Book of Love series, the Dark Garden series and the Moonstone Landing series.
[00:31:01] They're all exclusive to Amazon, but my Farthingale series I sell. Everywhere. So they'll find me on Facebook. They will find me at Author Meara Platt. I have my website where they can find, you know, MearaPlatt. com. And they'll, they'll see the latest news and they'll forgive me. I need to update it for 2024 but but they'll find all of my books up there and whatever.
[00:31:28] Katherine Grant: Great. Well, thank you so much. I'll put those links in the show notes so people can find them. And yeah, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed this
[00:31:38] conversation.
[00:31:38] Meara Platt: Thank you so much for having me. Very much appreciated.
[00:31:41] Katherine Grant: That's it for this week. Check out the show notes where I put links for my guests, myself, and the podcast. Until next week, happy reading.