Sunday Brunch: A Chat with Authors J.D. Netto and Martha Waters

Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel? 

Martha Waters: My new book, To Love and to Loathe, is a Regency rom-com and it follows a couple of characters who played a supporting role in my debut novel, To Have and to Hoax. They had such great chemistry in the first book that I knew I wanted to explore their dynamic further, and I was also really inspired by the many, many wonderful Regency romances set at country house parties – they offer such a fun opportunity for scandalous behavior away from the prying eyes of London society, and I knew I had to write a house party book of my own someday. And that day has come!

What character in this novel do you most relate to and why? 

I think I put more of myself into Diana, my heroine, than I have ever put into another character I’ve written – she’s incredibly self-confident and thinks she knows better than everyone around her (a trait I’ve been trying to train out of myself for years!), but she also has a deeply insecure streak about her artwork, and is uncomfortable with what her art reveals about herself. I definitely poured a lot of my own buried emotions and insecurities into her. 

Why do you feel novels with powerful and unique characters are so popular and have such a voice right now? 

I think that we’re fortunate to be living in a time when there’s an incredible bounty of great books out there for all readers, regardless of their taste, to the point that it can be a bit overwhelming at times – where do you even start with choosing your next book?! But the ones that have characters that just leap off the page, that you know you’ll remember forever – those are ones that really gain traction in a crowded literary landscape, and certainly the ones that stand out in my mind as a reader.

Please describe the content of your latest romantic read and what can readers expect from it. 

To Love and to Loathe is a rom-com set in Regency England, and I’ve been calling it a frenemies-to-lovers romance. Jeremy and Diana, my hero and heroine, have that sort of friends-who-bicker-whenever-they’re-together relationship, and at the beginning of the book Diana bets Jeremy 100 pounds that he’ll be married within a year. Soon after, Jeremy receives a critique of his bedroom skills from his most recent mistress, so he proposes a no-strings-attached affair with Diana, to get an honest review of his performance. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t quite go according to plan – it’s the classic story of friends with benefits who end up falling for each other, with a fun Regency setting and a lot of banter.

What’s next for you in the bookish world? 

I will be honest and admit that writing during a global pandemic has not been super easy, so I’m a bit behind on my writing goals for 2021 at the moment. I do have a couple of projects I’m working on right now, and I hope I’ll be able to talk about at least one of them soon!

Who is your current favorite writer? Why? 

I would have to say Lucy Parker, who writes my all-time favorite contemporary romances – check out her London Celebrities series if you haven’t already! Her books are incredibly smart, incredibly swoony, and have some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read. Every book of hers I read inspires me to try to be a better writer.

Any writing advice for aspiring writers?  

Write what you love – don’t try to write something because you think it’s what the market wants; publishing is such a slow process that what’s trendy right now might not be selling by the time you’re looking for an agent or going on submission. So write something that makes you deeply happy, that you want to see out there in the world, and – possibly most importantly – something that only you could write. Make your book entirely your own.

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