Celebrating the recent release of their queer take on Austen, Lindz McLeod walks us through the genesis of the book.
Name: Lindz McLeod (she/they)
Based in: Edinburgh, Scotland
What genres/subgenres are you drawn to?
All sorts!
Is writing your full-time focus, or do you have a day job as well?
I’m a PhD student in Creative Writing, so writing—in one way or another—is my full-time job. I also freelance as an editor.
The book: from pen to print
What was the genesis of this book? Where did you get the idea from?
I’d always felt sorry for Charlotte Lucas, and while that was the point, I thought it might be fun to see what happened if I murdered Mr Collins off in the very first line and let Charlotte have a second chance at happiness with the most unlikely Bennet sister: Mary. Charlotte has always had These Queer Feelings but buried them deeply as a result of the rules of the society she moves in, the expectations placed upon her as a daughter, and also who she is as a person—an extreme people-pleaser—but Mary’s self-confidence and burgeoning affection unearths those feelings steadily over the course of the book.
I’ve made the joke that this series—which we’ve called the Austentatious series—could equally be called the Everyone’s Sexual Awakening Can Be Traced Back To Miss Elizabeth Bennet series, though I think Harlequin would struggle to fit that on a jacket.
How many drafts did you go through before you felt it was ready to query? How long did that take you?
We actually sold it as a proposal—five sample chapters and an outline of the entire plot—to Harlequin on our first go, so I had to draft the full MS in the next three months to meet their deadline. That was the first time I’d ever written something so long for someone else’s deadline, and it was a terrifying, exhilarating experience.
Did you work with beta and/or sensitivity readers? How did you find them? How did you incorporate their feedback?
We didn’t use any for this book.
What was your querying process like? How long did it take?
Didn’t need to query, as above.
Once it was in the hands of your publisher, what was the process to get it ready for release?
Harlequin sent the book to UK publishers and several were interested; we ended up having a little auction, and I selected Atom (a Little, Brown imprint) as my UK publisher. Atom suggested having a different cover for the UK release, and their ideas were really cool—I actually love both covers. Audiences have been very vocally divided on the subject!
And now your book is unleashed on the world! How are you feeling?
It’s out now and that feels wonderful! We had a great launch at Waterstones in Glasgow at the end of April, and have had more events since including an ‘afternoon tea’ date at the romance festival in Edinburgh in May, and a library event in London. It’s been overwhelming in the best possible way to wake up to people tagging me on socials every day with their copy of the book, or where they’ve discovered it; from local indie bookstores to giants like Walmart and Target.
What would you like us to know about this book?
It’s a slow-burn romance in the language of flowers.
Who’s the ideal reader for this one? What sort of things do they like to read about?
Austen fans, or people who would like to try the classics but find the writing a little inaccessible. With Unlikely Pursuit, I’ve gone for a middle ground; no one could ever be Jane Austen, so I didn’t try to emulate her style exactly as that would have erased any trace of my own voice. At the same time, the language is close enough to the time period that you (hopefully) should feel immersed in the era.
Your writing process
Are you a plotter or pantser or somewhere in between? How do you do your first draft?
Pantser, as much as possible; I love not knowing what’s coming next and waiting to see what my character decides to do.
How do you approach writing? Are you the type or writer who needs to treat it like a job? Is there a particular time of day you find best for you to write?
I prefer working in the morning and late at night, but I’ll happily work all day on a project or five if need be. I can easily slip into workaholic tendencies and have to be careful that I don’t let them swallow me up.
Geek out about stationery: do you use a notebook? A specific type of pen? Or are you computer all the way?
Computer ALL the way. I dislocated my right-hand thumb a few years ago and my grip has never been the same since, so using a pen for more than five minutes makes my hand ache unbearably. I also type a lot faster than I think, so often the words fly out from brain to hands without stopping to filter through my mind.
Is any of that different for editing?
I read all my work out loud to catch typos and weird sentences; no matter how certain I am that it’s perfectly polished, I always catch several mistakes on a read-through.
Where do you work? Do you have a comfy, creative space at home or are you someone who has to grab the moment wherever it comes?
We turned one of our rooms into a library, and I work there probably 85% of the time that I’m at home. I also have a couple of favourite local coffee shops (shout out to Roasters!) and occasionally take a trip into town to write at Central Library.
What’s your writing soundtrack?
I sometimes make Spotify playlists for books as I’m writing them, to figure out the exact vibes for the scene, but often I work in silence or under the duress of whatever weird music my fiancée has decided to be obsessed with lately. At one point, she played the Severance intro on a remixed loop for over an hour before I realised what was going on, which was a deeply uncomfortable experience!
Do you have a writing ritual?
Not at all. I just write as often as possible, wherever I can. Ideally, it’s a quiet place with plentiful coffee close to hand, but that’s my only real preference.
Where can we follow you / find out more about your work?
You can find me posting about writing or cats (or both) at @lindzmcleod on Bluesky and Twitter, or @lindz.mcleod on Instagram. You could also sign up to my newsletter via my website, www.lindzmcleod.co.uk, which also features links to the many short stories I’ve had published over the last few years.
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet is out now through Atom (UK) and Harlequin (US)!
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