Although some people think I am a romantic novelist I have always thought of myself as a rather gritty radical historian.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My books fall in the wobbly middle between historical fiction and historical romance.
I never sat down and said, 'I'm going to write historical fiction with strong romantic elements.' It was just the way the stories went.
Many writers are radical. I am not, because of my age and because of my terrible fear of demagogy.
The pull of history has been a strong theme in my life as a novelist.
I write novels, mostly historical ones, and I try hard to keep them accurate as to historical facts, milieu and flavor.
I've basically thought of myself as a writer, whether I was or not.
Not until my middle thirties did I consider myself a novelist.
I'm a huge historical fiction and non-fiction fan.
I recognize myself to be an intensely naive person. Most novelists are, despite frequent pretensions to deep socio-political insight.
I like to think of myself as an unmediated novelist - or perhaps a national novelist.