It had to be about passion: the passions of desire and hurt, need and pain, tragedy and profound joy. I knew that when they finally met in person their attraction had to be about more than the undeniably delicious friction of opposites clashing - and delectably crashing - together. From the moment I conceived of the Falcon Club series I had been reveling in every public interaction between the fiery pamphleteer and her arrogant aristocratic critic, and growing thoroughly attached to their slow-burn enemies-to-lovers story.

Secondly, by the time I began writing The Earl I had already known this heroine and hero for years. I love this land, and I poured every ounce of that love into Lady Justice and Peregrine’s race across the countryside. Its villages boast cozy pubs and storybook perfect tearooms, its people are welcoming and warm, and its countryside and cities alike are chock full of history and laughter. Scotland is a breathtakingly beautiful country of emerald hills, ancient fortresses, lakes that reflect brilliant blue skies serrated with clouds of every hue of white and gray. The second time I went there to actually trek that route myself I wanted to have a total sensory experience of everything about the journey, from terrain to landmarks to weather to scents, textures, tastes and sounds.

On one trip I mapped a course for Lady Justice and Peregrine’s flight through the Scottish countryside from the angry mob chasing them. While researching and writing the Falcon Club series I visited Scotland several times, including twice for The Earl. Writing The Earl was a white-water-rapids ride like that.įirst of all, it’s a road trip story, and I adore writing road trip stories set in places I’ve fallen in love with. When I’m writing a novel like this I write every moment I can, and I stay up all night… and then all day… and then all night… and then… Despite other tasks I must attend to (like walking the pup, sending my son to school, teaching class), sometimes I’m so deeply swept away in the rushing, raging, riotous flow of the love story that I simply cannot drag myself away until I’m literally falling asleep over the keyboard. This means that sometimes I stay up all night writing. I write novels the way I read novels: total immersion.

The Earl by Katharine Ashe