Author Interview: Meet Christy Matheson

Feisty Deeds Anthology Author of 'The Inner Good'

Christy Matheson grew up in Alaska before going to college in Massachusetts. She now lives in Oregon. This has given her an awareness of the importance of diverse representation which she uses to write relationship-driven historical fiction. She adds romance, family, friendship, and women’s art to her stories as well. Christy is a member of the editorial committee of Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. When she’s not writing or editing, she spends time with her family, makes her own clothes, and creates embroidery art. Christy writes romantic Regency Fiction about friends, family, & finding one's place in an ever-changing world. She is represented by Kristina Sutton-Lennon with Focused Artists. Look for her novels which are out for submission now.

In Christy’s short story, ‘The Inner Good,’ Felicity fights to be allowed to marry the one she loves against her family’s wishes. Her story takes place on an English country estate in 1775. I loved the lengths and intelligence Felicity uses to work things in her favor. This tender story shares themes of choice, diversity, and love. You can connect with Christy on her website: (https://christymatheson.com/).

Christy’s Interview: ‘The Inner Good’

1.    How did this story come to you and how did you get the idea for your Feisty Female Character?

My second novel is about a wealthy, successful Black British man in 1828, and this story is about his parents. So I already had a number of the logistics set up, and I needed to dive into the emotional details to figure out how, exactly, these two people would have gotten themselves in the place they ended up fifty years later.

As I researched Black Britons in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, I could not stop thinking about what came before all the simple church wedding registries of a Black man and a white woman, including some in the upper classes. As I thought about what sort of education and personal qualities a young woman would require to make this choice with her life, Felicity came to life.

As I wrote in my Author’s Note, the character of Abner Leavenworth is based on real historical figures of the late eighteenth century. Igantius Sancho (the first Black man to vote in a British election, in 1774, and a merchant like my character) describes himself as “an Affrican–with two ffs if you please–” and that dictated my linguistic choice for this story.

2.    What’s your writing process/routine?

My primary job is a stay-at-home and homeschooling mother. When I decided to start writing seriously, I treated it like a real job… around five children, two dogs, and a bunny.  I work very hard to put in 4-8 hours a day, five days a week, but my available time varies each day. I feel better getting household and family chores done early in the day and the week, so I give myself a certain amount of time to complete those. Some weeks, I can get my writing done during “business” hours, but other times, I stay up late at night, or write all weekend – especially when my husband has been on a business trip .

I divide my writing tasks into different amounts of focus. For instance, I can send emails or read for critique partners while monitoring kids or helping with algebra. I use a social media scheduler and plan out posts in advance. I try to take care of all the anthology work on Tuesdays, although during busy seasons it takes more time. I keep detailed notes and clear goals of exactly what I need to accomplish in my writing, so I can jump right in and make progress.

My background is in classical music, and most of the same principles apply to writing. Artistic success isn’t magic, it’s about time, focus, repetition, feedback, and more time.

3.    What was the hardest part of writing this story?

The hardest part was coming up with exactly the right sized incident! I knew I needed an idea that was complex enough to introduce interesting characters and have a true arc, but not so intricate that it would be too complicated for 3k words. I knew that I could use no more than two or three true scenes. It took a couple months of mulling over different variations. For me, I need the whole story idea complete in my head before I start to write. It was so fun to write a short story, because once I started it was done in a week–including sending to critique partners and making revisions!

4.    How do you select your character’s names?

I really am not sure if I came up with the name Felicity Merriweather and then could see her entire personality, or if once I could see her personality the name Felicity Merriweather just leapt out at me.

I have bookmarked a number of lists of British names from similar eras, and I had a lot of fun with the other names in this story. I especially loved naming her twin brother Tristan. Felicity and Tristan – it makes me giggle absolutely every time I open the story. (Anyone else?) What terrible parents they had!

5.    Describe your writing space.

I have a room of my own, with one large squishy chair pointed to face the window – away from all the sewing machines, cutting table, embroidery projects, and watercolor supplies. I have a rug from Türkiye, a couple of antique-ish pieces of furniture to hold my infinite supply of pens and notebooks, and artwork on the walls.

It’s a rare treat when I actually get to use it! Often, I sit on the sofa with the view of my 8th grader’s computer screen to make sure she’s doing schoolwork and not YouTube. I work in the dark in my bedroom next to a kid who is scared to sleep without a parent. I have completed an incredible amount of writing while a little kid sits next to me doing Reading Eggs or math activities on the iPad; I answer questions about what makes the /p/ sound while I contemplate nineteenth century dialogue. To be perfectly honest, that last does not make for an ideal amount of writing productivity, but I’m raising readers!

6.    Do you only write only Historical Fiction or do you write other genres?

Actually, I’m just starting work on an upmarket contemporary romance. After preparing my manuscript to go on sub, I wanted to work on something fresh and different. And then one day I thought, “I don’t have enough dogs populating my imagination. Why don’t I write more about dogs?” That inspired a story set in the world of competitive dog shows.

It has a similar style and themes to my historical stories, but it is completely different working without the constraints of a different era. When I need my characters to be somewhere else…they just get on a plane! Amazing!

7.    What question do you wish someone would ask you about yourself and/or your story and no one has?

What is the role of “diversity” in historical fiction?

It amazes me that this is still an issue, but it is. I just saw a heated argument about how inauthentic it was that an author included two men being attracted to each other – “but it was set in the 1800’s!”

Queer people have always existed. Fat people and neurodivergent people have always existed. By some estimates, by 1800 ten percent of London’s population was Black, and that number was increasing and does not include the significant Asian population.

Homogenizing a population is the political act, not representing the diversity of human beings who truly exist(ed). I believe it is part of our responsibility as writers, as we explore character development and world building, to ask ourselves: Would everyone in this situation definitely have been white? Slim? Interested in a heterosexual relationship? Reading social cues in the same way? It doesn’t mean that every story is about those subjects, it simply is a way to help make our stories reflect the world in a meaningful way.

Personally, it is one of my goals to make sure that many people can see themselves reflected in my work, just like many kinds of people exist in my daily world. I live in a mixed-race family, and I know what a big deal it is for Black people to see themselves in the fiction they love. (Maybe there weren’t a large number of successful Black wealthy men in 1820 London, but there were also not a large number of dukes, and look at all the page time the dukes get!) I don’t say to myself “now I am going to write a book about a person with ADHD,” but in the process of writing, I discovered that one of my POV characters most certainly, definitely, absolutely has ADHD. One romance hero is a small man, and one heroine is fat. A storyline just came together in my mind when I realized that the main character has celiac disease. This is the way the world around me exists, this is the way the world always has existed, and that’s what I write. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Christy’s interview and her story, especially if you’ve read “Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women.” We would also love a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It’s available on Amazon, BookBub, Kobo, and Barnes&Nobles.