India Holton is the author of Indie bestseller The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, and the upcoming The League of Gentlewomen Witches, two fantasy rom-coms set in an alternate Victorian era. She lives in coastal New Zealand, where she grew up running barefoot around islands, following ghosts through forests, and messing around in boats. She spent several years teaching and now writes about plucky girls, unconventional women, and the men who love them. India’s writing is fueled by tea, buttered scones, and thunderstorms.
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What’s the strangest thing you searched for on the internet for your novel?
 It’s hard to remember back to specifics, but I will say that I relied heavily on the internet for research on things as diverse as poetry and gun manufacture, lady’s underwear and how to navigate using a sextant.Â
What book (or author) made you fall in love with the romance genre?
Julia Quinn’s Brighter Than The Sun. I picked it up on a whim from the library and was surprised by how charming and fun it was. My only experience of romance before that had been a few novels from the 1970s, which had a very different tone. I quickly read through Julia’s entire catalogue and branched out from there. Â
What is your favourite trope? Why?
This is such a difficult question to answer because I love so many tropes! But I think marriage of convenience is my favourite to read. I haven’t yet had the chance to write it though!
It’s the morning after, and a lover is making your main character the perfect breakfast in bed. What is it?
This wouldn’t happen in my novels, as the characters generally have servants, and besides, they would not trust a man with something important as breakfast. But generally speaking, as they are English, they would partake of a mild repast: merely tea, toast, marmalade, muffins, grilled tomatoes, ham, eggs, kippers, sausage, mushrooms, and baked beans.Â
What book are you currently reading?
I am rereading Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas, and next intend to move on to my ARC of A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett, for which I am very excited.
The rapid fire question – Tea with the Queen or Spiked punch with a handsome pirate?Â
Spiked punch with a handsome pirate!Â