Talking with C.W.Gortner, Tudor Fiction Author of The Secret Lion

If you were given a day to return to Tudor England, what day would you choose and why?

What is more important to you: historical accuracy or writing a good story?

Both. Historical accuracy is crucial to depicting an era: good story is what keeps readers reading. Certainly, for historical fiction such as LION, where fictional characters interact with historical ones, and a fictional plotline interweaves with actual events, story can take precedence. But never at the expense of completely dismissing known facts. If a writer must alter things to accommodate the story, it should be done carefully, within "reasonable doubt." For LION, I did take liberties, but I also took great care to depict the era as authentically as possible.

On the other hand, in my novel on Juana the Mad of Castile (to be published in 2005) there is no fictional plot. It is based on an actual life, and so I stick to facts while offering an interpretation of Juana. This is where historical fiction can be so amazing. The hearts of these historical persons are, for the most part, unknown to us. We interpret them within known facts, yes, but they also often become mirrors of our own selves.

What elements do you consider important to your story-telling? Passion: if you believe it, your reader will believe it. The axiom of so many writing books and programs are: Write what you know. I'd take it one step further and say: Write what you feel. After passion, an excellent grasp of the craft. Novel writing is an art. It must be mastered.

What authors did you like to read as a child and teenager? Now? I've mentioned Jean Plaidy. I also read Zoe Oldenbourg, Lawrence Schoonover, Dumas, Tolstoy, Dickens, and Sabatini. Today, I enjoy Sharon Penman, Pauline Gedge, Reay Tannahill, and I'm discovering new authors like yourself. In nonfiction, Antonia Fraser remains, in my opinion, unsurpassed. I am also a devoted fan of Mary M. Luke, who wrote nonfiction books on the Tudor era in the late sixties and early seventies.

Popular and literary fiction - what do you consider makes a novel, one instead of the other?