Noah asked Kate Quinn:

Hi! I'm a huge fan of yours, I just finished reading Lady of the Eternal City and it was so fantastic. I was wondering what your path has been to become a historical fiction writer? I'm a history major in my last year of university and I really want to become a writer but I'm not sure which steps to take!

Kate Quinn So glad you enjoyed LEC! As for how I became a historical fiction writer, I can't ever remember a time when I wasn't one. I was writing stories down by age 7, and since my mom with her history degree gave me stories about Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great rather than fairy tales, I gravitated naturally toward history. I never really stopped writing; I had my first full length book done when I was ten (God, it was terrible) and wrote sixteen more over the course of the next 16 years, which is when I finally published one.

So if you are feeling the urge to write HF, do it! Just start hammering out words; I wrote around a university classload, and you can too. Go to conferences to listen to industry tips, if you can afford it - and find writer groups and writer friends online. At some point you'll realize that trial and error is making you a better writer, and when you have something you think is ready (and that your critique partners think is ready) think about submitting it for an agent.

Good luck!

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