Interview with Fidelis Morgan
by Jon Jordan
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JON:  The first thing I’m curious about is how your theater background brought you to writing mysteries. How did that come about?

FIDELIS:  All my life I have written and acted. I also played music, was very nosey, bossed people about and took things to pieces and put them together again to see how they worked. It was inevitable that I would write mysteries.

JON:  In addition to mysteries, you’ve also written some non fiction work that’s related to the theater and some humorous period subjects. Have you always had an interest in the history of this period?

FIDELIS:  Only since University, where I studied it from my second year onwards, eventually writing my dissertation on Restoration acting.
Having said that, at school in history I was fascinated by Tudor and Stuart history, along with Greek Mythology, Ancient Rome, Camelot, 18th century France, the London of Dickens, World War I (the poets and the mud), World War II (both Hitler and the Blitz in particular), so there are many more places for me to go yet.

JON:  Your main character, The Countess Anastasia de la Zouche, is a very interesting character. Being who she is, and knowing who she knows allows here access to a lot of places. How did you develop her? And is there any reality to her?

FIDELIS:  She's as real as a hotch potch of real people can be. I created her from Lady Castlemaine (ex-mistress of Charles's II, by the 1690s a black-toothed hag with a patchy wig and make up falling off in lumps) Delarivier Manley (an acerbic ex-playwright, journalist and snoop) My late mother (a gentle mix of naivety, nous and gumption) and me (tirelessly energetic - my friends would say exhausting - wily and nosey)

JON:  You attended a boarding school. Do you think you missed out anything by not going to public schools? And, at the same time, do you think you gained anything by going to a boarding school?

FIDELIS:  A boarding school? I went to 3 boarding and 3 days schools. I was expelled from one of each (I am the only person I know to be expelled from Kindergarten). I lasted only a week at my 3rd day school. (Strangely I left of my own choice. Too many people had BO and I hated the way the boys all hogged the Bunsen burners and the girls thought it was cool to sit around filing their nails and talking about make-up and never once complaining that they couldn't get at the Bunsen burners) The main things I gained from boarding school were an early independence and the ability to create an impenetrable glass shell around me even in a crowd.

JON:  As an author, what’s the most gratifying thing to hear from a reader?

FIDELIS:  "You lazy bastard! What do you mean I have to wait a year to see what happens to them next?"

JON:  How important is humor in your mysteries? And what role does it play?

FIDELIS:  In the Countess series it is vital. I use it not only because it is really the key to the spirit of the Restoration but as the Cristotelian/Shakespearean tactic, a counterpoint to horror. It allows me to go further into the grimness of murder. Hitchcock uses it a lot too. His films are very funny between the shocks.

JON:  I’ve heard you speak on it, but could you explain how you find the old phrases and words you use and why you use them? ( I really like fopdoodle myself)

FIDELIS:  I read 17th and 18th century literature and plays all the time when I am writing a Countess book. Whenever a nice strange word or phrase pops up I jot it down for future use. I sprinkle the words into the books like seasoning, and hope that some may catch on again. Modern slang has become very banal. I want to hear people yelling "Pize on you for an insolent crackfart"

JON:  What is the one question asked of you that you never need to hear again?

FIDELIS:  Q. How did you get the name Fidelis?

A1. It was my mother's name and her aunt before her (TRUE answer)
A2. The priest made a mistake at my baptism. I should have been called Clytemnestra.
A3. It is an anagram of Idle Ifs. (Actually Fidelis Morgan IS an anagram of "I fled in orgasm!" Hahaha! If only!)
A4. Mind your own business.
A5. Who knows? Who cares? I was too young to protest.

JON:  Do you think there are some things that modern society could learn from the societies of 200 and 300 years ago? Some things that just made more sense?

FIDELIS:  It all goes round and round. There were things happening during the Restoration era (open mindedness about sexual proclivities; men wearing soft fabrics, long hair, make up and bright colors) that went away and came back, and are rapidly going again.

JON:  If you could meet with anyone from any time, who would it be and why?

FIDELIS:  Elvis.
Why ask why? I want to steal all his jackets and sweaters of course. (Oh lord, what a gorgeous boy he was.)

JON:  Is it always entertaining to have people act out the passions?

FIDELIS:  ALWAYS.
When the people who volunteer aren't very good I notice that people in the audience unconsciously prod them along by making very violent efforts themselves. Everyone should buy a copy of THE RIVAL QUEENS, if only to play the game of acting out the chapter headings in the privacy of their own home.

JON:  Cell phones. Modern convenience or the work of the devil?

FIDELIS:  Marvelous, especially when traveling - if only America had more places within network coverage. (In Switzerland for instance even up the bleakest deserted Alpine peak your mobile phone will work) For people writing modern crime fiction, especially the final chase scenes, the cellphone is an utter curse, as now in most books there is an obligatory early chapter on why the ruddy phone doesn't work in a certain street, or how the hero is a dolt who always forgets to charge the battery, thus explaining why as the mad axe-man staggers towards them in the final chapter they are not dialing 911 (999 in the UK of course).

JON:  You’ve actually driven in Los Angles, something a lot of Americans are afraid to do. Was it exhilarating or harrowing?

FIDELIS:  It was hilarious. I had a bossy woman hiding in a box (SatNav) screaming at me to "keep to the prescribed route" (she pronounced this as rowt, which in the UK means street brawl). I kept flying past exits as I can't tell my left from my right and had 2 post-its on the dashboard with an R and an L. I got everywhere on time so it must have been OK. The worst drive in fact was not the 250 miles I did round LA, but Chicago to Muncie and back, because it was so long and boring, with 150-mile stretches between Miss Bossy's instructions.

JON:  Every time I’ve seen you, you are in a constant state of motion. Do you ever slow down? And if so what do you do to relax?

FIDELIS:  Oh dear, you noticed!
My friends are firmly of the opinion that I never slow down or relax. I suppose I find dashing about quite relaxing. I do like cooking to calm me down, but I usually tend to do this against the clock too, like those chefs you see on TV. I always have loud music on and dance while I'm cooking, and perhaps chat on the phone or to anyone who's visiting. Even if I'm apparently flopped out in front of the TV I am usually reading and scribbling things down and listening to the radio or playing the guitar at the same time. Life is too short to muck about with only doing one thing at a time.

JON:  Is it hard for a non-meat eater to get decent food in the US?

FIDELIS:  YES!

I did have two delightful (though expensive) meals in Chicago and one in NY.

JON:  People don’t really realize the amount of effort that goes into an author touring. What makes it worth while for you?

FIDELIS:  The ONLY thing that makes it worthwhile is meeting the fans, and hopefully making a few new ones along the way.

JON:  I noticed that you took a lot of pictures while you were touring the States. Are you an avid photographer? And do you like the new digital cameras?

FIDELIS:  Oh yes I love taking pics. I adore my digital camera (though I did also love playing about with apertures and film speeds). Many people are frightened off because they think digital cameras are very technologically tricky (it's the word 'digital' that does it I think), but these cameras are a total doddle. I take pictures of odd things. I never take pictures of beauty spots or things where you can buy post cards, which will be better. I detest people with cameras standing in front of me at these famous places and unique events. The important thing then is to be in the moment. But for random and weird moments there is nothing like a quick click.

JON:  What’s the last music act you saw live, and what did you think of the show?

FIDELIS:  Hahahaaha! Alice Cooper in Chicago's House of the Blues. It was one of the 2 nights off I had while in the USA and I went along for the craic. He was very good. Rather effortless and compelling. A truly great stage presence. Back in the UK the best concerts I think I saw were Pat Metheny, Shelby Lynne, Wynonna and Stevie Wonder. I also loved the Nice Jazz festival, but that was more about sitting under an olive tree in an ancient Roman ruin on a balmy night in July and eating socca than the music.

JON:  What can you tell about The Ambitious Stepmother, which will be out in the states next year?

FIDELIS:  The Countess and Alpiew take a job in Paris. They visit Versailles and end up in the Bastille. They meet The Sun King, the Old Pretender, the Marquis of Béchamel (inventor of the sauce) and The Man in the Iron Mask. There are poisonings and disembowelments. There are women who are paid to put things in their mouths; there are men who lock themselves up with a dominatrix; there are buckets full of mysterious creamy sticky stuff. And it all comes to a thrilling climax. What more could one ask of a book?

JON:  What’s the one thing always in your icebox?

FIDELIS:  Not sure what an icebox is.
If it's a fridge there are always many things in it: 3 cheeses - reggiano parmesan, gruyere and cheddar, fresh tomatoes, French mustard, Irish butter, celery, carrots, horseradish sauce, frequently a half finished bottle of French or Italian red wine or champagne. If it's a freezer then: frozen peas, frozen broad beans, supplies of the above 3 cheeses and butter, sliced bread, various specialty vegetarian sausages (garlic and leek, tomato and herbs) Indian treats like samosas, bondas, bhajias etc.