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Louise Mayberry Samples The Song of the Magpie
[00:00:00]
Katherine Grant: Welcome to the historical romance sampler podcast. I'm your host, Katherine Grant, and each week I introduce you to another amazing historical romance author. My guest reads a little sample of their work, and then we move into a free ranging interview. If you like these episodes, don't forget to subscribe to the historical romance sampler, wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode. I am super excited to be joined today by Louise Mayberry. Louise writes steamy historical romance set in the early industrial age, a volatile time of radicals and romantics, capitalists, and aristocrats. Her stories blur the line between historical fiction and romance. They're angsty and steamy and full of adventure.
And of [00:01:00] course, they always end with a happily ever after. When not writing, Louise can be found driving an Uber in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, wandering her garden, attempting to talk her kids into eating healthy food, or curled up in a pool of sunshine with a cup of tea and a good book. Louise, thank you so much for joining me today.
Louise Mayberry: Thanks for having me. It's so fun to be here.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, I'm glad to finally get a chance to sit down and talk to you. Yeah. So you are reading for us one of your recent releases today, The Song of the Magpie.
Louise Mayberry: Correct.
Katherine Grant: What should we know about it before you jump into the scene?
Louise Mayberry: Yeah, so the Song of the Magpie is my most recent release.
It was released in September and we're going to go to Australia today. It takes place primarily in Australia. A little bit of setup is probably needed. We're going to jump into Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 5. So the main male character is [00:02:00] Michael, and he is the nephew of a Scottish Earl.
In a previous book at the end, he was sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for nefarious reasons. He was the villain. And we're meeting him now in this book in the sixth year of a seven year sentence in Australia. He's just returned from a place called Moreton Bay, which was a place of secondary punishment for convicts.
So if they committed a different crime in Australia during their "meta sentence," they would be sentenced to a place like Moreton Bay, which was known for extremely harsh treatments of their inmates. He was there for six months and he's just back to Sydney. Caitlin is the heroine and she is recently widowed.
She used to be a convict. She's trying really hard to hold onto her husband's farm now that he is gone. She's finding it very difficult to operate independently in Australia because she is illiterate. She does not know how to read. So, a mutual friend of [00:03:00] theirs, Davy Flemming, who is a grocer has concocted a scheme in which Michael has been assigned to Caitlin as her servant for the last year of his sentence.
And his assignment is to teach her to read. So we're going to pick up in chapter four when Michael and Davy are on their way to Caitlin's farm. Davy is essentially delivering him to her farm where he plans to spend the next year of his life teaching her to read.
Katherine Grant: That sounds great. Take it away.
Louise Mayberry: All right. When the sun reached its zenith, they stopped and sat under a towering lemon gum tree, allowing the horse to drink from a stream as they ate the meal Mrs. Flemming had packed. Dark wheat bread with butter, boiled eggs, and spring radishes. After six months of plain hominy with the occasional half rotten bit of meat, it seemed unfathomable that food could taste so good.
And for a moment, when Davy got up to take a piss and Michael was alone, reclined against the white, papery bark of the tree, his nostrils full of its fresh, earthy scent, [00:04:00] he almost felt the pleasure of it. But then Davy returned and stood over him with a raised brow and a look of pitying disapproval. "Do you want a change before we get there?"
"No," Michael answered. Michael's answer was partly because he knew better than to put himself, as dirty as he was, into clean clothes, and partly out of foolish spite. He didn't want Davy's pity. They climbed back into the wagon. Heavy silence settled between them once more as Michael packed another bowl, smoked, and glared at the pretty day.
What an ass he was being. Davy deserved better. Michael pulled on his pipe and racked his mind for something to say, anything to break this intolerable tension. "What's she like?" His voice sounded coarse and sour in the sweet air. Davy looked at him blankly. "The widow," Michael clarified, "Mrs. Blackwell." Davy brightened up, clearly pleased that Michael had asked.
"I dinnae ken her well. T'was by chance she wandered into the store, looking to sell her candles and honey." He paused, thinking. "She's Irish, [00:05:00] came as a convict, though I didn't ken what she did to get here." That was no surprise. People rarely spoke of such things in the colony. "I believe she came from Cork, from the city, but she knows farming.
She must have had a farm before that, or her family did." Candles and honey. Michael hadn't tasted honey in years, since Darnelay. "She's companionable, though a bit..." davy searched for the word. "Wary. I didn't get the impression she's lived an easy life." Michael grunted. People who came to New South Wales had never lived an easy life.
If they had, they wouldn't be here. "How old?" "How old is she?" Davy clarified. Michael nodded. "Older than us, I'd think. Tis hard to know." His friend was quiet for a moment. Then he turned his head to look at Michael, and his blue eyes took on an intensity Michael knew all too well. A scolding was coming. "I told her you were a good man.
Loyal and hard working, and I still believe it. But you must stay away from the drink, Mikey. It does [00:06:00] you no good." Michael grunted. As irritating as it was, his friend wasn't wrong. "Promise me? Mrs. Blackwell's a good woman. She needs a steady hand." Michael opened his mouth, then closed it again. He couldn't lie.
He wasn't a good man, and he had very little will when it came to drink, no matter how hard he tried. So he didn't answer at all. He only glared at the road ahead and said nothing. After another half hour of oppressive silence, the wagon finally turned into a dirt drive lined by gum trees. "This is it."
Davey forced his lips into a false smile. A modest brick and clapboard cottage came into view, surrounded by a garden flushed with spring vegetables. Chicken scratched in the yard. A barn stood to the side, and further back lay an orchard, with a cow grazing on pasture nearby. Fields sprawled in the distance, with some convict huts just beyond and a line of trees that marked some kind of creek or river, the Hawkesbury most likely.
It looked like some damn painting Father would hang in his [00:07:00] library and never look at again. The dull simmer of panic that had been roiling in his veins ever since Michael got off the ship swelled into a rushing torrent. He did not belong here. Chapter 5. Caitlin pulled back the curtain and peered out of her bedroom window.
Beyond the smudged pane, there was still just the empty road leading out through the tunnel of gum trees, muddy from yesterday's rain. Good, she was behind. Adding new frames to the hives had taken more time than she'd expected, and she'd only just come in to change into a clean dress and finish with the candles.
She glanced at the clock. Half past one. If they'd left Sydney early, as Mr. Flemming had planned, they'd arrive any minute now. She must be quick. She let the curtain fall, then hurried to the kitchen, tying on an apron as she went. She quickly stoked the fire, put the kettle on, then began carefully pulling the tapers out of the molds.
Mr. Flemming had ordered eight dozen to bring back with him, and she hadn't enough made to allow for any mistakes. It was [00:08:00] warm in the kitchen. The sun had moved to the other side of the house and a breeze filtered in through the open window, but it wasn't enough. A bead of sweat dripped between her shoulders.
Something about this day felt frenzied, as if there were too many things to do and not enough time. But everything was in order. She'd readied the new man's room, put the kettle on, changed her dress, almost finished with the candles. There was nothing to fret about. Damn. A wick broke, leaving the wax stuck in the brass.
She'd have to melt it to get it out, and there was no time for that. What was wrong with her? She usually had steadier hands. Oh well, seven dozen and eleven it would be. Slowing down, she carefully pulled the rest of the candles, stacking them neatly on the table as she went. A gentleman. A toff. Mr.
Flemming's account of Michael Dunn had been stirring in her mind all day. Was he the kind of swell who'd turn his nose up at the room she'd prepared for him? It was meant for a dairy just off the kitchen, and she used it to press honey as well. It was a lot to give [00:09:00] up. But it wasn't large, and it was sunken into the ground, a bit musty.
The bed was only straw. Not the kind of place a gentleman would be accustomed to. But he'd been at Moreton Bay, hardly a place of luxury. Finally finished, she lifted an empty crate onto the table and began setting the candles in, counting as she went. Two, four, six, a full row, eight, ten, twelve, another.
Something about the scent of the candles, mixed with the sharp camphor of the gum tree leaves she used to pack them in, settled her mind. And the counting. She liked this task, the way the smooth tapers fit together when she stacked them, one layer nested perfectly on the last. Fourteen, sixteen, eighteen.
Her hands were sure at this task and quick, and the counting became a song, a lilting tune sung under her breath. Twenty, twenty two, twenty four. There, the crate was full. She pivoted to take up the next one. A knock sounded at the front door. Bugger, she'd almost finished. Caitlin [00:10:00] eyed the pile of candles waiting to be packaged.
Another knock came, more insistent this time. She heaved a sigh, untied her apron, and hurried toward the door. "I'm on me way," she called. She took a moment to straighten her dress, smooth her hair, and school her face into that of Mrs. Blackwell, the employer. The new man might be a gentleman, and he might be educated, but she was in charge.
She learned from experience that it was necessary to make that clear from the start. She pulled open the heavy wooden door to reveal Mr. Flemming, hat in hand. His fist was poised as if he'd been about to knock again. Behind him stood a man. But that couldn't be, could it?
Dunn, if that's who he was, was older than Caitlin had supposed. Or he looked older. It was sometimes hard to tell with men who'd lived hard. His face was turned toward the ground, but she could make out his tan and the thick stubble of white blonde whiskers covering his cheeks and neck. He wore dirt streaked trousers with holes at the knees, the kind that buttoned up [00:11:00] at the side to allow for shackles.
A ripped, blue striped shirt and flimsy shoes that his big toe had poked a hole through. He clutched a small sack. Melia Murder, what had she gotten herself into? He wore no hat. His hair was a pale yellow, almost white.
Its fine curly strands blew gently in the breeze, reminding Caitlin oddly of a little boy. It looked just like her brother's hair. Wee Jerry, the youngest of the four she'd left behind on the streets of Cork. "Mrs. Blackwell," Mr. Flemming cleared his throat. "'Tis a pleasure to see you again." His words sounded forced, overly polite.
Caitlin started. She'd been staring at the stranger. She nodded at the shopkeep. "And to you, Mr. Flemming." "I..." Mr. Flemming moved his gaze to the man standing behind him, as if inviting him into the conversation. But the convict ignored him. After an awkward pause, the shopkeep cleared his throat and looked apologetically at Caitlin.
"This is Mikey, Michael Dunn. He's not had a chance to clean up yet, I'm [00:12:00] afraid." Mr. Flemming nudged the man, and he finally raised his gaze. Caitlin caught her first look at his face, and her heart sank. This would never work. Worn, ruddy skin, obscured by dirt and whiskers, a hard line of a mouth, piercing blue eyes.
They met hers and flashed with a lightning strike of anger and fear, as if he were a wild animal, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. Caitlin had known men like this before, so hardened by life in the colony that they'd turned feral. They could rarely be tamed. She pinched her lips together and gave him a tight nod.
Then she brought her eyes back to Mr. Flemming and forced a smile. "Do come in, I was just packing up your candles." She led the two men into the sitting room, her mind racing. She could send him away. He could go back to Sydney and be the government's problem. They'd made him into what he was anyhow. It was only fair for them to deal with the consequences.
But Mr. Flemming was her buyer for candles and honey, her only real [00:13:00] contact in Sydney. And this man was his friend. If she sent him back, she'd be jeopardizing all of that. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as he appeared? The sitting room felt airless and hot. Sunlight poured through the windows. She closed the curtains, trying to bring some relief from the heat.
"I'll just go finish up. May I bring you some tea?" She kept her attention pointedly on Mr. Flemming and away from Dunn, though an odor wafted to her in the heavy air, the pungent smell of a man gone far too long without a bath. "I'd love to stay, but I cannot," Mr. Flemming replied, fanning himself with his hat. "I promised Emily I'd be home for a late dinner, and she does not like to be kept waiting." He winked.
Caitlin smiled politely at her guest, then allowed herself another quick glance at Dunn. His blank, angry expression hadn't changed from the moment she'd opened the door. His gaze stayed trained on the cold hearth. Could he even talk? And again, that smell. Caitlin smoothed her hair. "I'll just be a minute, [00:14:00] then."
She tied her apron back on, strode back to the kitchen, and hurriedly packed the rest of the candles.
Katherine Grant: Wow, that was an awesome excerpt. Thank you so much for reading it. Yeah. I've got a lot of questions for you. I was actually writing one down as you finished, but first we're going to take a quick break for our sponsors.
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Katherine Grant: All right. Well, I am back with Louise Mayberry, who just read a sample of the song of the magpie.
And that was a really interesting sample. I'm torn between which direction do I want to take these questions to begin with, because in your intro, you say that you're kind of blurring the line between historical fiction and romance. [00:16:00] And in this excerpt it was really interesting. Something that stood out to me at the very end there was she's so overpowered by his smell, which is a very romance thing, but the smell is that he hasn't washed in a while, which is not historical romance
fiction thing.
So I guess like, how do you, do you have a vision or like compass for yourself for how you balance the historical fiction versus the romance?
Louise Mayberry: That's a great question. I didn't go into this thinking I was going to toe the line between those two genres, it's just kind of what came out of me. Yeah.
I You know, I sort of, I marketed myself as historical romance and then I had so many readers coming back and telling me like, hey, this is actually a little bit more historical fiction, which is why I now have that in my bio, just so people know what they're getting into. I wouldn't say I consciously do it.
I try to be as historically accurate as I [00:17:00] can, and I try to make my characters as real as they can be while still falling in love. So, I mean, I think out of that intention comes this kind of mixture that has a little bit more of a historical fiction feel, I guess. Yeah. No, like I said, it just comes naturally to me.
So it's hard for me to define exactly how I do it. It's just what I do. And luckily there's some people who like it.
Katherine Grant: Absolutely. Absolutely. And this hero you mentioned in the last book was the villain. And so this is presumably his redemption story.
Louise Mayberry: He's the villain of the first book and this
is the fourth
book.
So we, we don't hear from him for the two intervening books and then he comes back. Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Got it. How was it for you to return to the villain and inhabit him as a hero?
Louise Mayberry: It was really hard. So when I wrote the first book, I knew that I wanted to redeem him.
I've, I've known [00:18:00] that since the beginning, but I didn't really know how I was going to do it. So it was harder than I anticipated. There were definitely moments when I was like, Oh my gosh, what, why did I? Why did I think this was a good idea? Because people really did hate him in book one, like a lot of people.
He was a good villain. He was not kind of a light villain. He was, he was sentenced to Australia for very good reasons. And Having a redemption story that felt real, you know, I, I wanted him to feel like he had been punished because he deserved it, but he's also a human being and, you know, he served his time and he deserves happiness.
So figuring out how to do that in a way that felt right was very, very difficult. And up until the very end, I was like, And I was sort of convinced there was, it wasn't possible, like I was not going to be able to pull it off. But I did, somehow.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. But it's an interesting question of like, at what point, can we forgive [00:19:00] and at what point can have...
is there a point where someone's not redeemable?
Louise Mayberry: Right. And, and what is redemption? I mean, that's really what I got stuck on at the end is like, what is, what does redemption even mean? How do you redeem yourself? Is it like redemption in your own eyes or is it your victim forgiving you?
I actually wrote the ending like three times. I wrote one ending and then I was like, no, this isn't right. And then I changed it as I sort of really grappled with that idea of like, what is redemption and how do you, how do you get to that happily ever after as someone who's done something really terrible.
So I won't give the ending away, but it was not easy to come to.
Katherine Grant: Well, I, I find that when I have to rewrite something so many times, it actually does end up the final product is that much for sure, because you have figured out all the angles.
Louise Mayberry: Yes, totally.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And another thing that was kind of mentioned here is alcoholism.
Tell me about including that in the, in the [00:20:00] novel?
Louise Mayberry: Yeah. I mean, he is an alcoholic for sure. And he, and that's even in the first book that's, that's pretty apparent. I honestly, I kind of used it more as a literary device, almost than anything like that.
I don't know if that sounds weird, but I, it's, it's what he falls back on. It's sort of when he gets this place of self hate and he just can't handle the world. It's how he hides from himself. And, and that's kind of how I thought of it as I was writing the book. And, and using it just as a way to develop his character and really show how his character is.
He's, he's very self-loathing.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. Well, and what is your research process? Because your books are each in such a different place. And such different characters and all that. And, and so specific, like in this scene, she's, you're talking about how she's like, you know, making candles, which I was hearing that being like, Oh, so Louise had to learn how to make candles.
Probably [00:21:00] watched about 10 hours of YouTube videos about it.
Louise Mayberry: Thank
goodness for YouTube. I don't know what any of us would do. Yeah. I mean, my research process is intense and it's, it's I just, I just read everything I can possibly get a hold of definitely trying to look for historical text as much as I can.
That was another sort of thing that I cursed myself as I was writing this book because it is so different from any of the other books and required learning it completely. I mean, Australian history is wild and it is so different from anything that we learn here in the United States. It's like, it's, it's such a, it was, it's a crazy place. And I'm glad that I learned it, but it was a lot, it was a lot of work.
Katherine Grant: There's just not the body of text that readers are as familiar with, like with Regency. You as the author do have to learn a lot, but you also know that the reader probably is going to know some of the basics.
Louise Mayberry: Yes, yes, yes. And for this, you really do. That's, that's a good point. You really do have to tell, you have to educate the reader with enough of [00:22:00] that history that they understand what's going on. It was the same way for my second book, which is set in British Honduras or current day Belize. How do you like balance that sort of history lesson with the romance and then everything else? Is, can be really tricky.
So you don't lose readers along the way, but so that they can kind of feel like they're in this place. You know, that's so different and so magical and amazing, you know, like Australia is a, an amazing place. So it's, I, I wanted to do it justice.
Katherine Grant: Yeah.
Louise Mayberry: Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Did you get inspired from doing research to set your books in those places or did you decide, Oh, I want to write about that place?
Let me go do all the research.
Louise Mayberry: The second book, the one that's set in Belize and it's in Yucatan and Belize, which are close to each other that one I did, I want, I, that is a place that I've traveled to a lot and it was, it's a near and dear to my heart kind of a place and I, I really found myself wondering, like, what was it like there in 1820, you know?
So that's kind of sparked that book. And you know, [00:23:00] what, what if my Scottish Earl visited, like, that'd be cool. This one was more like, well, Michael was sentenced to Australia. So that's where he's at. And if I want to write his redemption story, that's kind of where I've got to go. I am very lucky.
I'm good friends with Alivia Fleur, who's another historical romance author, and she was able to beta read and really coach me through, she's from Australia coach me through a lot of that. If I didn't have her, I probably wouldn't have dared to write a book in Australia, to be honest, because I've never actually been there.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic. We spoke to Alivia listeners. If you haven't listened to her episode. I don't remember what number it was, but you can go listen to her episode.
Louise Mayberry: She's amazing.
Katherine Grant: Yeah so another interesting thing from your bio that you said is you define your time frame as the early industrial age.
Is that because you're going to all these places and so saying Regency or Victorian kind of, it loses its [00:24:00] power when you're not in Britain?
Louise Mayberry: Yes, sort of. It's also again to give readers this cue that if they buy my book, they're not buying a Regency romance reading it because I've had so much reader feedback that, hey, this isn't really a typical Regency romance.
This is closer to historical fiction. So it's sort of, Me trying to cue that, I think the subject matter of my books is also a lot of it centers around the Industrial Revolution, colonization, and sort of that economic, like, upheaval that was going on at that time which isn't really encompassed in a lot of Regency romance.
So it's kind of trying to give readers an idea of, again, what they're getting themselves into when they open one of my books.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's an interesting point because At, since I researched the Regency period, I know
what it
was. All this stuff going on that was this upheaval of the economics and the social [00:25:00] order and all that.
The books that kind of define the genre have all this upper class that seems immune to change and like kind of like, this is how things have been done, which isn't even true for the upper class, but still there's a sense of this timelessness.
Louise Mayberry: Yes. Yeah. And, and nobody ever asks like, Oh, where did the sugar that we're putting in our tea come from?
People were asking at that time, like they were thinking about that. They were thinking about, you know, abolition and they were even starting to think about women's rights and a lot of things. But yeah, that doesn't, that doesn't get in. And I think, you know, I mean, for me too, I've always been fascinated by like the romantic movement.
Like the, like the Shelleys, I, I take a lot from Percy and Mary Shelley a lot from their biographies and just their circle of friends and that whole, that whole artistic movement that was going on at that time, I feel like is lost in a lot of kind of more mainstream regency [00:26:00] romance. So yeah, I guess that's why I define myself a little differently because I just want people to know getting some different.
Katherine Grant: That's smart. Well, and who are some of the authors, romance or not romance, that influenced your work the most?
Louise Mayberry: Oh, great question. I, so I started reading historical romance during the pandemic. And I, I actually worked off of an NPR list of the top romances, like voted on by NPR listeners. Wow. It's a really great list.
It's a, it's a fantastic list. I say, I would say probably the book that the book that I read that I was like, Hey, I could belong here was KJ Charles A Seditious Affair. But that book. That book, out of any of them, probably, like, spoke to me in terms of, like, hey, if she's calling herself historical romance and she's writing [00:27:00] something that's this political and kind of wrapped up in the political In the melee of that time then I can do it too.
Both: Yeah.
Louise Mayberry: Yeah, I mean there's other I also really, I really like Julianne Long, Cecilia Grant's books which she only wrote a few of them but those were a huge influence to me as I was starting to write. And then I guess the other series I could mention is Joanna Bourne, the Spymaster series, which are set in France during the Revolutionary War really spoke to me in terms of incorporating that real history, like actual history into these books and Yeah, I think those, and those are all romance.
I don't really read outside of romance beyond like what I read to my kids.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. Well, I love that. I think it's a good time to play our game. Love it or leave it. We're going to find out how much of a romance rule follower are you? I have a hunch you're going to be somewhat of a rule breaker, but we'll find out.
Louise Mayberry: I am. It [00:28:00] was hard. I had to look at these ahead of time and yeah, think about them. There's a few that I'm going to refuse to take sides on, but we'll let's go. [
Musical Interlude]
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Protagonists meet in the first 10 percent of the novel.
Louise Mayberry: That's one where I think you should do whatever is right for your protagonists.
I I refuse to take sides.
Katherine Grant: All right. Love it or leave it? Dual point of view narration.
Louise Mayberry: I do love writing it. I, I think some people can, can do other things and do it well. But for me, that's seems to be what I love.
Katherine Grant: All right. Love it or leave it? Third person past tense.
Louise Mayberry: Again, I love it. I think there's other people who do other things well, but for me, it's, yeah, I like it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Third act breakup or dark moment.
Louise Mayberry: I think it's overdone. I think I think too many people rely on that as just what they always do. I think it's okay if, again, if your protagonists demand it, [00:29:00] if your story demands it, but otherwise. Yeah, leave it.
Katherine Grant: All right. Love it or leave it? Always end with an epilogue.
Louise Mayberry: I mean, I guess all of these, I'm just being like, I don't, I don't know, either way.
Whatever,
whatever you need. I've done both. And I think, I think, again, people like demand it, but at the same time, do you always need it? No. I think you can end the story quite well without an epilogue in some books.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. All right.
Love it or leave it? Share research in your author's note.
Louise Mayberry: That one I love. I absolutely love that. I always have author's notes and my readers love them, and I think, I think it's great.
Katherine Grant: Nice. And are there any romance rules I didn't ask about that you break or play with?
Louise Mayberry: I mean, I'm the kind of person that like, if you tell me it's a rule, I'm gonna try to find ways to break it, so.
But yeah, I, I, there are some, you know, some rules that cannot be broken. Happily ever after, like, of course. The love story is central to the [00:30:00] story. Yes, those are, those are the two cardinal rules. To me, everything else is. open. The one thing that I will mention that I really don't like is writing to tropes.
Like, I feel like we rely so heavily on these tropes and I don't even think about tropes when I'm writing and I have been so resistant to people who try to pigeonhole my characters into tropes. So I'll leave that.
Katherine Grant: Nice. Well, thank you very much. That was illuminating and I appreciate you playing. I appreciate you coming on.
This has been really great. Where can our listeners find you and your books, including the Song of the Magpie?
Louise Mayberry: Yeah, so my books are available pretty much everywhere that books can be purchased on the internet. The first two books in my series are audiobooks as well, so you can get those on Audible, Spotify, iTunes, all of those places.
The rest are available widely anywhere you can get them. And also on [00:31:00] my website, www. louismayberry. com.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. Well, I will put a link to your website and show notes. So listeners, you can head on over there and yeah, Louise, thank you so much. This has been so awesome. Yeah.
Louise Mayberry: Thanks for having me.
Katherine Grant: That's it for this week! Don't forget to subscribe to the Historical Romance Sampler wherever you listen, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Until next week, happy reading!