As an author, seeing your words brought to life on screen is a rare and wondrous thing.
It’s even rarer if you’re a romance author, a genre oft dismissed and devalued.
“Truly, I never thought this would happen to me.
Credit: Netflix. Inset: Roberto File
And there’s a huge market for them.
Still, she was able to read every script and visit the set on two separate occasions.
JULIA QUINN:It has been a very long process.
And I said, “Yes!”
I can’t believe he would assume I hadn’t.
But from that time to when the show will air will be just under four years.
Just waiting and keeping my mouth shut was really hard.
Because it’s so exciting.
You want to tell everybody, but you’re able to’t.
But after getting production going, it has just been uniformly positive and fabulous.
The scripts have been amazing.
As a writer, it’s so fascinating to me to see how they are adapting it.
As you mentioned, they have shifted some storylines.
What was your reaction to all of that?
It’s all fabulous.
A word for word adaptation of my books would not make a great TV series.
Can you tell me more about your set visits and what you saw being filmed?
I’ve visited the set twice.
The first time was in September, and when I visited then, they were doing all location work.
It was the set for much of Bridgerton house’s interior.
I got to see an argument between Daphne and Anthony.
So very high drama.
It was really fun to watch because I saw them rehearsing it first.
And it was just, it was really kind of fun to watch.
[Netflix] took a video of me.
I’m not a big crier, but I definitely got choked up.
It’s so big that they can actually have two units shooting at the same time apparently.
There’s just this whole world in there.
I saw that one getting filmed and that was really fun just to see the family dynamic.
What is it like seeing characters you created and words you wrote come to life?
It’s just this little squeal where her arms are straight at her sides.
And I was like, “That’s just exactly right.”
It’s just made it so rich and wonderful.
Like all Shondaland projects, this show reflects the world as it is.
What did you think about that shift?
The casting is amazing.
It’s important to remember thatBridgertonisn’t a history lesson.
The show is for a modern audience.
What if she had helped raise other people of color to higher ranks in society?
And what would the world look like then?
That’s what they went with and it’s beautiful to see.
How did you react to the news that Julie Andrews was going to voice Lady Whistledown?
I stopped breathing basically.
I wasn’t breathing for so long I legitimately should have died.
Does that make you nervous or feel like added pressure?
I don’t really feel pressure because I just think this is going to be so good.
I get goosebumps, but I’m not nervous because I just know how good it is.
In terms of pressure for people to follow, I don’t think so.
I’d be thrilled to have more like this to see.
I’m a writer, but I’m also a consumer.
It would be great if this opens the door.
I don’t even know where to start.
I think Julie Anne Long’s Penny Royal Green series is amazing.
She’s such a smart writer.
Eloisa James is amazing.
Sarah MacLean writes books that are just so fierce and feminist, and I love them.
I’m just going through the historical stuff right now.
Probably because there’s lots of stuff happening in contemporary romance.
Lisa Kleypas is always fabulous.
There are tons, and I’ll have forgotten 18 of them at least…
They did everything right.
