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Sebastian Nothwell Samples Mr. Warren's Profession
[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 very excited to be joined today by Sebastian Northwell. Sebastian writes queer romance when not writing. He is counting down the minutes until he is permitted to return to writing. He is also co-host and editor of the Right Here Write Queer podcast. He is absolutely not a ghost and definitely [00:01:00] did not die in 1895.
Sebastian, thank you so much for joining the podcast today.
Sebastian Nothwell: Thank you for having me.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, I am super excited. You write all sorts of different romances and today you're sharing a historical romance with us.
Sebastian Nothwell: I am. I am sharing Mr. Warren's profession, which is my 1890s cross class mill owner, mill worker, romance.
Katherine Grant: Ooh. Gotta love a mill owner, mill worker. All right. Is there anything we need to know about the story as you jump in?
Sebastian Nothwell: The scene I'm jumping into how to describe it takes place at the mill as one might expect,
and our heroes are not yet an item, but they're slowly on the path to becoming one.
Katherine Grant: Ooh, love it.[00:02:00]
Sebastian Nothwell: Aubrey had just shooed Mr. Althorp into Mr. Jennings office. When another knocked sounded, Aubrey went to answer it. Mr. Althorp was already here and Smith never knocked, so Aubrey assumed it must be one of the floor overseers coming to report. He opened the door on the other side stood Miss Brewster. Aubrey wished he'd left it shut, but it was too late now.
"Good morning, Mr. Warren," she said. Stepping over the threshold, she brushed past him and strode to the center of the office, looking the whole of it up and down as if she were an empress coming to her empire. "Miss Brewster." Aubrey closed the door behind her. "I'm afraid this isn't a good time." "I have to disagree with you there," she said peering over Smith's desk to inspect his empty chair.
"Now is the only time. Where's Mr. Althorp?" Aubrey hesitated to his peril. Miss Brewster [00:03:00] barreled on. "Don't try to palm me off with an excuse. I know he's here. I saw him come in not 10 minutes past." She focused her keen gaze on Mr. Jennings's closed door and stepped towards it. Aubrey half ran to block her path.
"Mr. Althorp is meeting with Mr. Jennings," he said. The left side of Miss Brewster's mouth quirked up, the closest to a smile Aubrey had ever seen on her face. "Figured that much out for myself, thanks."
Aubrey withheld an exasperated sigh. "If you return to your station, I would be happy to fetch you once they finish."
"And give him a chance to escape?
No thank you." She leaned against the edge of Smith's desk. "I'll just wait here until he is done." Aubrey swallowed. "Miss Brewster, please." "Too distracting for you having a woman in the office? Just keep your hands and eyes to yourself, Mr. Warren, and I'll be quiet as a church mouse."
Aubrey refrained from rolling his eyes. If there was one thing she needn't fear from him, though he could hardly admit as much [00:04:00] aloud. And true to her word, she kept remarkably still after she crossed her arm and turned her head towards Mr. Jennings door with her chin up and eyes un blinking.
But regardless of her behavior now, he had to consider the inevitable explosion of her impending contact with Mr. Althorp. The crux of Aubrey's dilemma was this: she wasn't wrong. Rook Mill's wages were the lowest in the city. Its machinery was out of date. Much of it in need of repair, if not outright replacement.
A deadly accident was only a matter of time. Brewster and her working girls had threatened to walk out three times in the last year. Mr. Jennings placated them with breaks, leniency, and the implied threat of a dozen other women happy to step in and take their places. Mr. Rook with his insatiable craving for profit cared not for the literal hunger of his workforce.
Mr. Althorp, on the other hand. Aubrey tried to derail that train of thought, but it had already left the station and was well underway to its terminus. Compared to his predecessor, Mr. Althorp showed far more interest in managing the mill. Given the [00:05:00] chance it was entirely possible Miss Brewster could win him over with her arguments.
Throwing Mr. Althorp into her path would mean the sacrifice of any good impression Aubrey had made on him thus far. But Aubrey couldn't justify never taking the chance. His pathetic desire for the attentions of a handsome gentleman meant nothing in the face of true progress. Aubrey returned to his ledgers and did his best to pretend Miss brewster wasn't there. His resolve didn't have to hold for long.
"Make it so," declared Mr. Althorp as the door swung open and he returned to the main office. Miss Brewster leapt in front of him. "Mr. Althorp," she said, thrusting out her hand before Aubrey could do more than stand up and lurch impotently towards her. "Miss Brewster. Weaver." Mr. Althorp appeared stunned as he took her hand. Mr. Jennings emerged from his office in time to witness the transaction, but too late to prevent it. "How do you," Mr. Althorp began. "Quite well. Thanks," Miss Brewster replied. "Mr. Althorp, are you aware of the earning disparity between male and female
mill hands?" [00:06:00]
Mr. Althorp blinked at her. Behind his back, Mr. Jennings shot a horrified look from her to Aubrey. Aubrey wanted nothing more than drop his forehead into his palms. He settled for a small shake of his head. "I'm afraid not," said Mr. Althorp. "Allow me to enlighten you. All the mule spinners in Rook Mill are men, as are the overseers and the foreman and the clerks.
Every job with an inkling of a living wage belongs to a man, and before you tell me that they must have earned that place," she said as Mr. Althorp opened
his mouth to speak. "Let me finish. Mule spinning, for example. One of the highest positions a man can attain and only a man may attain it. What reason is given for this? Why the weaker sex haven, the strength required to run the machine? This is nonsense. The self acting mule is called such for an excellent reason.
It is self acting. All the heavy lifting, all physically taxing, mechanical motions are done by the mule. The spinner [00:07:00] need only tend it. Therefore, any man or woman of average strength should find it no difficulty. And yet all the mule spinners are men. Does this not seem strange to you, Mr. Althorp?" Mr. Althorp, after it became apparent her question wasn't rhetorical spoke.
"Miss Brewster, would it be possible for you to put your concern in writing? I'd like to go over them in detail with Mr. Jennings." "I'd be happy to," she said, "if I thought it wouldn't be a wasted effort on my part. They've told us time and time again, sir, to wait patiently for all the big important men in the world to notice our problems and eventually solve them.
I've had enough of waiting. I'd like your answer now." "Yes," said Mr. Althorp three sets of eyes got at him. In the absence of a verbal response, he elaborated. "Your foremost complaint is against low wages, correct?" He gestured to Mr. Jennings over his shoulder. "
mr. Jennings and I have agreed to raise them to a level better reflecting the mill's [00:08:00] prosperity." "It should take effect at the end of the week, sir," Mr. Jennings finished. Mr. Althorp nodded and returned to Miss Brewster. "By the end of this week on my word as a gentleman, which I hope you'll come to trust." Miss Brewster continued to regard him with suspicion. Aubrey couldn't entirely blame her. "In the meantime," said Mr. Althorp, "your writings will be most helpful in moving forward with the mill. May I have that by the end of the week as well?"
Brewster stared him down a few seconds more. His hopeful smile never faded. "You may," she said at last, uncrossing her arms and holding out her hand for him to shake. Mr. Althorp did so, still smiling. "A pleasure meeting you, Miss Brewster. If you'll excuse me,
I have some business to conduct with Mr. Warren."
Aubrey jerked upright. Miss Brewster gave a short curtsy and showed herself out. Mr. Jennings bowed to Mr. Althorp and returned to his [00:09:00] office, and so Aubrey and Mr. Althorp were left alone. The reason for it remained beyond Aubrey's understanding. Mr. Althorp, far from forthcoming, let an awkward silence settle between them. After half a minute, Aubrey could stand it no longer.
"What may I do for you, sir?"
Splotches of red appeared on Mr. Althorp's high cheekbones. Aubrey gave serious consideration to inquiring after his health before he could. Mr. Althorp blurted out a question of his own. "Would you care to take a turn about the mill yard with me, Mr. Warren?" The words poured out all at once. The torrent sweeping over Aubrey and leaving him stunned.
It took a moment for him to collect himself. Enough to reply, "Of course, sir."
Althorp's tight smile relaxed in unmistakable relief. He remained silent as he left the office, though several times he bit his lip, and twice he opened his mouth as if about to speak but caught himself, clearing his throat and adjusting his cravat. [00:10:00] On one occasion, he raised his hand to cover his mouth, rubbing his palm over the lower half of his face and on down his neck.
Aubrey found his eyes following the hand's progress as it stroked that slender throat. He hurriedly looked away. They walked on in silence, past the boiler shed behind the mill and back around to the offices. Aubrey stopped beside the door. "Was there anything else you wanted, sir?" He asked. "Yes," said Mr.
Althorp, much to Aubrey's surprise. "I have something for you." "Oh," said Aubrey, his bewilderment, barring a more articulate response. Mr. Althorp preoccupied with retrieving something from the inner pocket of his jacket, took a moment to respond. "A small token of my appreciation for your diligence." Aubrey stared at the object
Mr. Althorp held out to him. A narrow rectangular receptacle with a hinge lid at one end, made of silver and embossed with intricate curl cues around the edges. These ornamental curls framed the central engraving [00:11:00] of Warren in elegant script.
Aubrey didn't need to see it open to know it was empty. The box itself was a gift and an extravagant one,
impossible as it seemed. He couldn't deny the reality before him. Mr. Althorp was attempting to present him with a calling card case. What possible use Mr. Althorp thought a clerk who scraped by on 10 shillings a wig could have for such a thing, Aubrey couldn't fathom, and yet there it lay in Mr. Althorp's outstretched palm.
It occurred to Aubrey he should probably respond to this. "I couldn't." He stammered out the expression of anguish. Disappointment on Mr. Althorps face silenced him. "Oh, but you must," Mr. Althorp implored. "I insist." Aubrey hesitated. He could hardly hope to refuse his employers insistence or retain his position.
Besides, as useless as the trinket was, the thought behind the gesture seems sincere. "Thank [00:12:00] you, sir," he said. A second or two afterward, he remembered to take the calling card case from Mr. Althorp's hand. The metal felt warm in his fingers. He slipped it into his waistcoat pocket. Mr. Althorp nodded smartly, satisfied. "You're quite welcome, Aubrey. That is if I might call you Aubrey."
Aubrey gave a start at the first utterance of his Christian name in
Mr. Althorp's aristocratic accent. It carried at ghosts of Aubrey's fantasies, but a twinge of bitterness followed. Of course, Mr. Althorp might presume to call him Aubrey. It was Mr. Althorp's right as his employer and social superior. He could call him anything he liked. Clerk, boy, you there, and a half dozen ruder terms, and Aubrey would be obliged to answer.
By the second time, Mr. Althorp said his name, Aubrey had recovered his composure enough to respond with minimal venom, "As it suits you, sir." "Lindsey," said Mr. Althorp. Aubrey allowed himself a confused frown. "Beg pardon, sir?" [00:13:00] "You must call me Lindsey. That is, if I'm to call you Aubrey, it's only fair."
It took a concentrated effort on Aubrey's part to keep his jaw from dropping open.
Words failed him. He could only stare. Althorp meanwhile seemed blissfully unaware he had said anything out of the ordinary. He maintained his placid smile as Aubrey stared in silence, his mind chugging along like an overworked engine to try and understand what the deuce was happening. His heart beat faster,
his pulse reverberating through the calling card case in his pocket. "Very well," said Aubrey. Then he added, "Lindsey."
Lindsey's smile broadened into a grin.
Katherine Grant: Oh my goodness. I love the micro trope of when in a historical romance, the characters finally use their first names. Oh my gosh. I'm so glad that you read that scene for us.
Sebastian Nothwell: It is one of [00:14:00] my favorite microtropes as well.
Katherine Grant: Well, I have a lot of questions for you, but first we're gonna take a quick break for our sponsors.
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Katherine Grant:
I am back with Sebastian Northwell, author of Mr. Warren's Profession, which we just heard, and also co-host and editor of Right Here, Write queer podcast. And you just read us a delicious sample of this [00:15:00] class differences mill like labor workforce scene. And you know, like we were saying, I love the micro trope of they've just given each other permission to use their first names. Some of the things that stuck out to me in this scene was the, another microtrope that I love in class differences, which is the kind of like the education of the
Katherine Grant: higher class person on how privileged they are and how, no, I can't use a calling card box. So how did you think about that as you were writing this class difference novel?
Sebastian Nothwell: I think that particular microtrope was inspired by how, when I was writing this, at the time I was working boutique retail on food stamps, so I was like
struggling to get gas in my car to get to work, and meanwhile, the [00:16:00] people we were selling to were people with vacation homes and yachts. So like, yes, it was such a vast gulf that about once a week I would encounter a customer who would say something and. It would just be so immediately evident that they lived in a completely different world.
And every once in a while I did let the retail masks slip and tell them something they weren't quite ready to hear. Like,
oh, there was a moment where one of our furniture dealers asked me for my opinion on like how a particular piece of wicker would work on his. Vacation home deck. And I was like, I'm not really in the tax bracket to answer that question. I don't really have, I've never really formed that particular opinion.
Katherine Grant: Right. What was necessary to get to a Happily Ever After in the historical [00:17:00] romance text for these two characters who are from such different backgrounds?
Sebastian Nothwell: It's a lot of trial and error on their parts, trying to bridge that gap and it helps that the aristocratic character, Lindsey, is a bit more open-minded to bucking social norms than most people in his class.
He's much more, he's not quite on Edward Carpenter level, if you're familiar with that particular.
Katherine Grant: I think so.
Sebastian Nothwell: Okay. So Edward Carpenter was a late 19th and early 20th century socialist and gay rights advocate. Okay. So he was ahead of his time on a lot of levels, and one of the more notable events of his life was looking at his middle class upbringing and going, wait a minute, this is all hollow and pointless pageantry.
I'm going to go buy a farm and live on it with my working class boyfriend, and we're going to build a commune.
Katherine Grant: [00:18:00] Okay, love it.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah, so Lindsey's not quite at his level just yet, but he is closer to his level than most.
Katherine Grant: Yes. Yeah. Well, and clearly there's a lot of research, like just in this scene, all of the conversation about the self acting mule and also the detail of the calling card case.
Can you talk to me about your research process for building this world and writing this novel?
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah, it was a lot of fun to research just 'cause I find the Victorian era fascinating, just that kind of shift from a pastoral society to an industrial one, which had begun before the Victorian era happened and continued on after the Victorian era happened.
But it's really that a hundred year span where everyone goes from zero to 60. Yes. And for the mill part of it, I didn't get the chance to travel to England to research, [00:19:00] but I was able to go to Lowell, Massachusetts where they have the Boot Mills museum. Mm-hmm. And the information they have available there, there is just like absolutely mind blowing and extraordinarily helpful in building this world.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. I was just like, oh my gosh. You have looked at a mill. I can tell you've, you've been able to like, really sit with this and, and, and I loved it.
Sebastian Nothwell: I've been fortunate enough to be in a room where they turned on just one of the spinning jennies and the noise that generated was more than enough to the point where before they let you go in, they make you put on ear protection.
Katherine Grant: That's crazy. It's wild. And that was what children were working in in the 19th century.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah. Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Okay, so you write not just historical romance, but you also write fantasy, romance, and paranormal stuff. [00:20:00] What draws you into a story and like, do you know going in what genre it's gonna be? Or do you kind of does the story tell you as you're writing it?
Sebastian Nothwell: I start with character archetypes first, and before I get any story beats down, there's usually a couple of like high intensity emotional moments I want to have happen.
Mm-hmm. So, like for Mr. Warren's profession, spoiler alert, I knew I wanted there to be a boiler explosion, and I was like, okay, what kind of plot do I have to build around that to make that happen and make sense?
Katherine Grant: Do you know why you wanted there to be a boiler explosion?
Sebastian Nothwell: That, I don't know.
That I can't
explain.
I just, I was just like, you know what will really make this hit? Boiler explosion. We'll get the big dramatic set piece. We'll get like the emotional, is he gonna be [00:21:00] okay? Is he gonna make it? We'll get the worrying separated. By time and distance we'll get the, this concern for this other person is consuming my every waking moment.
But because of the constrictions of our society, I can't even pretend that I know him. Like, yeah, just that so. I knew I wanted that kind of high octane emotional moment, and then the rest kind of fell into place like, well, now it has to be at a textile mill. Of course.
Katherine Grant: I love that. I love that idea. And that it, it, it gives you so much momentum to, to start with that really big moment.
This is a question that reveals a lot about me. I don't know if it reveal a lot about you, but on your website, you have Patreon, and a part of your Patreon is that you offer your drawer fic, which is like stuff that you've started writing and it's your unedited work that you're offering up to your Patreon [00:22:00] subscribers and I,
hearing about that, had so much anxiety of like, oh my gosh, you're letting people read that. So my question is, do you have that anxiety at all? How do you overcome it? Or are you maybe looking at this creative life so differently than me that you can tell me what, how I should change my mind?
Sebastian Nothwell: I think it's partially a difference of perspective and partially. If someone has gone through the trouble of subscribing to the Patreon, they're already on my team. So like it's less the work being judged by the general public and more the work being judged by a friend, if that makes sense.
Katherine Grant: Mm. Yeah.
That's lovely.
Sebastian Nothwell: So like it's also the drawer fic that's going up... Of the three going on, four stories I've posted thus far, only one of them after posting have I been like, you know, maybe [00:23:00] I can fix this. So these are by and large works that will never be published in any other form. So this is a way to be like, okay, they can't go on someone's bookshelf, they can't go up for sale, but I can kind of give them a life and let someone else experience this story even in this fractured form.
Katherine Grant: And are you happy with how your Patreon subscribers react to it?
Sebastian Nothwell: They have been shockingly kind. They have been so, so kind and so supportive, and it's just a wonderful, wonderful community of readers that I'm so grateful for.
Katherine Grant: Oh, that's lovely. I'm gonna try to learn from you and see if I can just a little bit, be less precious about my work.
Sebastian Nothwell: The other part of that, I think is I went to school originally for [00:24:00] illustration and part of the critiques process, which I have learned isn't necessarily standard across illustration colleges was every week you make a piece of art. The professors strongly encourage you to base it on something deeply personal, ideally traumatic, and then you put it up in front of the class and the rest of the class is encouraged to tear it apart piece by piece, point by point.
Just rip it down and you are not allowed to say anything in its defense. The work has to stand on its own. So like, no review I've received has been worse than that.
So like, yeah,
it has given a different perspective, I think.
Katherine Grant: Yes. You, you've built a thick skin. Yeah. And I noticed your cover was illustrated.
Do you illustrate your own cover or illustrate any of your work at all?
Sebastian Nothwell: I do [00:25:00] occasional graphic design work for it. Part of the reason I'm not a full-time illustrator now is 'cause one, I'm frankly not good enough. And two my hands kind of gave out in school. So like, oh no, by the end of my degree, I couldn't draw enough hours every day physically to get good and then keep up with building our portfolio and producing the amount of work I would need to make it full time.
So switched to writing.
Katherine Grant: That's devastating.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah, it was. It was pretty rough there for a while, but then I got a novelist career out of it. So like, you know, silver lining.
Yes. Right. I still get
to tell stories even if they aren't graphic novels like I was originally hoping for.
Katherine Grant: Right. Yeah. But, Wow.
Sebastian Nothwell: My cover art is done by these days.
It is Jan Falk, also known as Thistle Arts across most social media. Okay. He does book covers for me and for a lot of other queer [00:26:00] romance authors across all genres. He's done like paranormal fantasy, historical. He can, and honestly, watching him work has been inspiring because like. Few people have the drive he does to continually improve.
Like even across just my covers, like the way his work has evolved from the first cover I've commissioned to my most recent one, it's like an absolutely incredible amount of progress in like three years. It's insane.
Katherine Grant: Wow. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. And tell me a little bit about Right Here, Write Queer podcast?
What can listeners expect from that?
Sebastian Nothwell: So, the Right Here, Write Queer podcast is me and five other queer authors across genres from like cozy fantasy to horror, and then obviously romance. Every week we have either an interview with an author [00:27:00] from outside of the podcast or discussing our own work or a panel discussing our favorite tropes or like our writing process.
Or every once in a while we have audiobook previews from our back catalog. So right now there are two chapters of my book, Oak King Holly King, that can be listened to for free on that podcast feed.
Katherine Grant: That's so fun. That's a great idea. Yeah. I love, I love the idea of the collectiveness of it and you can get all these different types of content going.
Sebastian Nothwell: It is a real motivating factor in keeping going with it. Just like being able to kind of collaborate 'cause like nothing. No joy hits quite like collaboration in my experience. Like whether it's hiring a narrator or an artist or working together with other authors for the podcast, or even just like giving each other feedback on our work.
Like it's just, it's the purest dopamine hit I've had yet.
Katherine Grant: Mm, that's a lovely way of saying that. Yeah. I mean, [00:28:00] writing is so solitary that when you find your people. It just makes a big difference.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah, for sure.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. Okay. I have one more question and then we're gonna do Love it or leave it. Who are some of the historical romance authors that you think have influenced your work the most?
Sebastian Nothwell: It feels like a cheat and a cliche to say, Jane Austen.
Katherine Grant: You can say Jane Austen.
Sebastian Nothwell: Technically she's a contemporary romance author. It's just her contemporary period was the early 18 hundreds.
So it's a lot of, a lot of Jane Austen. I just really admire her the deft way she handles character building. Mm-hmm. Yes. And just the very like. Subtle satirical, but never unkind approach to narrative. [00:29:00] Mm-hmm. Like she's very much sitting back and having a laugh at everything that's going on, but ultimately she's rooting for her characters as much as you are.
Katherine Grant: Yes. Yes. That's lovely.
Sebastian Nothwell: Authors more generally who've influenced me, I would say. Herman Melville is a big one. Mm-hmm. I read Moby Dick too young and made it my personality for an entirely unforgivable number of years. And then wow.
Victor Hugo.
Katherine Grant: So you like chunky books.
Sebastian Nothwell: I do. And then I write them and I'm like, uhoh, maybe, maybe I should get into some Hemingway and figure out how to trim this down. And then Charles Dickens just 'cause like the Mystery of Edwin Drood. I have gotten three of my own novels out of trying to make that make sense.
Oh, interesting. I think. [00:30:00] I think I finally got it out of my system. But yeah, for, for a while we, we'll see. It was just like, it was just like, well, he left this unfinished, so how, what would have to happen in order to make this make sense?
Katherine Grant: That's very interesting. And very 19th century. So it makes sense that you write 19th century.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well. Now it's time to play love it. Or leave it and find out how many romance rules you like to break!
[Musical Interlude]
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Protagonists meet in the first 10% of the story.
Sebastian Nothwell: I've always followed this rule, but I don't think it necessarily has to be. 'cause I've definitely,
Katherine Grant: well, certainly not in Victor Hugo.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yeah.
You're halfway through the dang book before les amis show up.[00:31:00]
Katherine Grant: Okay. Love it or leave it? Dual point of view narration.
Sebastian Nothwell: I love it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Third person past tense.
Sebastian Nothwell: Can't live without it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Third act breakup or dark moment.
Sebastian Nothwell: Leave it, leave it in the harbor. Tie cement bricks to it. Just let it go. Just let it go. Okay?
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Always end with an epilogue.
Sebastian Nothwell: I've never been upset by the lack of one.
Katherine Grant: Okay.
Sebastian Nothwell: Does that make sense?
Katherine Grant: Yes. Yeah. Okay. Love it or leave it? Always share your research in your author's note.
Sebastian Nothwell: I should be better about this. I haven't done it. If only just 'cause like by the time a book's ready for publication, I'm so done.
I don't want to think about it a second longer than I have [00:32:00] to. Yes. But I have made social media posts sharing my research if that counts.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, it does. Yeah. Are there any other romance rules that I didn't ask about that you like to break?
Sebastian Nothwell: Not that I'm aware of. I know there are definitely things I've done that have upset. People who are expecting something else. But what are your, what are your thoughts on the hurt comfort trope?
Katherine Grant: I like the hurt comfort trope. I think it depends how, it's like anything. It depends how it's done. I don't know that it can be, I don't know that I've read it as the main trope of a book.
It's more like a beat. But I tend to like it.
Sebastian Nothwell: Yes, I have been, stubborn enough, let's say, to use it as the main beat of a story with mixed results. The people who love it really love it, and other people are [00:33:00] very confused as to why there are no fewer than four sequences of characters getting injured and then recovering, and then they're injured again, and then they're recovering again.
I wouldn't even believe it.
Katherine Grant: Oh, interesting.
Sebastian Nothwell: It's something I'd always wanted to see more of in fiction, but I have definitely struggled with how to market it to its very, very pinpointed audience.
Katherine Grant: Is it always the same caretaker or are they kind of like switching off?
Sebastian Nothwell: They're switching off, but like, okay. Even the, even that was a bit much for folks and like, I get it. If it's not like your bread and butter, if it's not what you get out of bed in the morning for, it can get tiresome.
Katherine Grant: Well, okay, now I'm gonna read it to, to have an opinion, which, which story is this?
Sebastian Nothwell: This would be Fiorenzo my, my Historical Fantasy based on, it's a world very heavily based on 18th century Venice. [00:34:00]
Katherine Grant: Ooh, that's exciting.
Sebastian Nothwell: And there may or may not be dragons.
Katherine Grant: Oh, okay. Well, so that's a, that's a good time for me to ask. Where can our listeners find more about you and your many books?
Sebastian Nothwell: You can find me, all my social media, all my books, all my podcasts, my everything on sebastian nothwell.com.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. And I'm gonna put that in the show notes. So listeners, you can just go click. Sebastian, thank you so much. This has been really fun to hang out with you and talk to you and get to know you.
Sebastian Nothwell: Thank you so much for having me. This is a hoot and a holler.
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