Alice Murphy is the pseudonym of lecturer, disability activist and debut author of A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about her upcoming novel, forgotten history, non-regency romance recs, and more. Enjoy!

1. Let’s start at the beginning, share a bit of your writing history? 

I’ve loved stories since I was a little girl. Growing up with school teachers, I spent almost every day of summer break at the library, letting my imagination run wild with the authors I loved so much. As I grew up, that love of stories never left me.

After devouring so many romance novels over the years (and, let’s face it, after a childhood of Dear America, The Royal Diaries, and American Girl Doll books), I wanted to try my hand at writing myself. Thankfully, the right idea came along at the right time, and I dove into the book that would become A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love. 

2. What draws you to historical fiction? 

I love writing historical fiction because it allows us to reframe our shared pasts and reexamine our present. For example, A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love was inspired by my discovery of a group called Billy Watson’s Beef Trust, a dance troupe from the turn of the century made up entirely of women over 200 pounds. I’d always been taught that the past was very thin, that beauty standards always trended thin, and that plus size beauty was a modern invention.

However, my research showed me that’s simply not true, and I wanted to investigate why history had been rewritten this way, to bias thin bodies. As I researched, I deepened my understanding of just how much history (particularly at the turn of the century, when A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love is set) actively erases the contributions and participation of disenfranchised voices. So, I wanted to not only highlight a deliberately altered sliver of history, but I also wanted to examine how that resonates in our current time period’s attitudes, prejudices, internalized struggles, etc. 

In short – I love writing from the past because it lets us better understand who we are now and how we got here. A little bit like therapy for the American collective consciousness. 

3. Do you have any favorite tropes to write or want to write?  

Oh, gosh yes! In A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love, I got to write one of my favorite tropes, which is Repressed Hero x Sunshine Girl. Evelyn Cross is definitely a liberated woman in full control of what she wants, while Thomas Gallier plays everything very close to the chest and hasn’t let himself indulge in romance for a very long time. Getting to write them was a joy!

I am desperate to write a marriage of convenience and/or arranged marriage romance. I love the idea that the worst thing that can ever happen to you actually turns into one of the best. Those kinds of stories remind me that I can always write my own happily ever after, even when all the odds are stack against me. Hopefully in the future, a story like that is on the horizon. . .

4. Why did you choose this part of history (or just non regency romance in general)? 

I grew up reading the American Girl Doll books and was always a little puzzled as I became an adult reader that there was so little non-UK set historical romance. I saw a readership (me) that wasn’t being served by the publishing industry, and figured I would just try my hand at it.

The inspiration for this story also contributed to the time period, as I wanted to talk specifically about an inflection point in American history where conservative social and political interests used media, politics, and mass culture to suppress dissenting voices. Y’know. Romance novel stuff. 😉 

5. Do you think that the romance industry is becoming more diversified, not only in characters but in time periods? Any recommendations?

I hope that it is! I think for historical romance to survive its current perceived downturn, we need to expand what audiences can read and enjoy, so diversifying both what kinds of romances we’re writing and when we’re setting them is crucial. I see it a lot in category romance, which is so lovely.

A Manhattan Heiress in Paris by Amanda McCabe and A Viscount for the Egyptian Princess by Heba Helmy are some of my favorites. I love Lisa Rayne’s books, particularly Untamed. Miss Milner Gets a Kitchen by Jane Hadley, A Striking Romance by Lindsey Brooks, and all of Jeannie Lin’s catalogue are amazing. 

I’m also very excited for Lindsay Barrett’s Savannah Royals and Mimi Matthews’ Rules for Ruin, both of which debut this year. 

6. Were there any interesting pieces of research you had to cut from the final draft? 

SO MANY.

The number of books I read when researching A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love is truly eye-watering, so there were a ton of things that hit the cutting room floor. Originally, the book was supposed to end with the big celebration of 1898, when the city of New York as we know it (with its borough system) was officially incorporated.

It was a total spectacle and I thought it would be such a fun place to set an ending – especially since a lot of people don’t know about the incorporation of New York!

Alas, it didn’t fit in the story, and while I considered using it for a potential sequel, so many loose ends get tied up in A Showgirl’s Rules that a sequel doesn’t make sense. Anyway, check out the history of New York’s formal incorporation – it’s fascinating!

7. Do you base any of your characters on the real-life (yet less known) people in history?

Oh, yes! Almost all of my characters are inspired by real-life folks. I’d particularly like to shout out Jules Moreau, a “female impersonator” inspired by the real-life Julian Eltinge, a “female impersonator” who moonlit as a boxer, and Nathaniel Fry, a tap dancer who was inspired by Fayard and Harold Nicholas (the Nicholas Brothers).

8. Can you describe the dynamic between Evelyn and Thomas? 

The dynamic between Thomas and Evelyn was so fun to write. I’m obsessed with them. At the time of writing, since we don’t have many vaudeville videos out there (for obvious reasons!), I spent a lot of time watching movies from the 1930’s and 1940s, since many vaudeville performers and writers took their talents to Hollywood.

In those movies, we see so many showgirls unravelling rich, handsome, and repressed men, charming them out of their place of stasis with their feminine wiles and wit. I wanted to write something in that vein, and Thomas and Evelyn absolutely fit the bill.

But I also love that there is a kind of sight between them. Despite the pretenses they both put on, they have a kinship and see right through each other. He sees her vulnerability beneath the strong-willed performer, and she sees a hurt he’s been carrying for years. They are perfect complements of each other, which makes their love story all the more satisfying. 

9. Why do you think it’s important to show these forgotten and marginalized communities taking control of their futures and gaining happily ever after?

Frankly, we’ve been lied to. Our rich and diverse history has been purposefully erased for political, social, and religious reasons, and when we do not see ourselves in the pages of the history books, we subconsciously see ourselves as aberrant in the present. But we have always been here.

We have always been fighting for better tomorrows. We have always been beautiful, we have always been falling in love, and we have always been making this country and our world a better, richer, and fuller place. I wanted to inspire people to look into that history and feel part of a lineage that otherwise has been denied to them. 

10. What do you want readers to take away from your novel? 

I want readers to know that they are the masters of their own fate. They hold the pen that can write their own Happily Ever After.

I also want readers to come away from the book inspired to research our shared history. They will discover that it’s not as white, non-disabled, Christian, male-centric, cis-gendered, thin, heteronormative, conservative as some people would have us believe.  

11. Any news you’d like to share about upcoming books or socials? 

You can find me and any future publishing news at alicemurphybooks.com or @alicemurphybooks on Instagram.