First of all, thank you to everyone who has commented so far and for the lovely things you have all said. It always amazes me to know that I have so many loyal readers in Italy.

To Marianna (#3): Choosing names for characters is not easy, especially when I have written close to 100 novels and novellas. And in Regency England there really were not many names in use. Men were George, William, Charles and a few others. Women were Charlotte, Louisa, Mary, and a few others. If I use different names, I have to make sure that they were in use in the Regency era or that at least they are believable. I justify the strange names of the Bedwyn siblings by explaining that their mother loved to read Old English and Norse literature. Freyja, for example, was a Norse goddess. Other names I take from old tombstones in England and from the indices of research books I use. I also write down place names and street names that take my fancy when I am in Britain.

To Tiziana (#5): You are right. The heroine in THE FIRST SNOWDROP going from fat to thin is a delicate issue today. However, her loss of weight was due to unhappiness after her husband abandoned her, and perhaps her resulting good looks are all our fantasy. Most of us dream of being slimmer than we are!

To Silvietta (#6): My children are all adult and have successful lives of their own. My elder daughter is a nurse in Canada, my son is a production and stage manager in New York, and my younger daughter is a production assistant on numerous musical tours. They are proud of me as I am of them. Last year, when my son was getting married, he asked if I would donate some of my books to goody-bags that were being made up for the guests staying at hotels. I was able to give copies of the newly republished THE IDEAL WIFE to everyone. The new cover looks a bit like a wedding gift wrapped up in ribbon. It was very appropriate.

As for going to Italy--well, perhaps one day again. We were in Rome for a week a few years ago (it had been given to us as a Christmas present). It was VERY hot there, but we loved walking around the streets, and seeing all the famous places too. Our one-day visit to Florence was a special highlight.

To MarchRose (#7): I like to see my old books come out again because I know there is a great demand for them among readers. I made the decision at the start that I would make no changes to those old books. I hate it when writers bring out their old books again but make extensive revisions to them first. An old book should stand as it is. This does not mean that I would not like to make a few changes in some of them! The WEB trilogy, for example, I feel now is too full of minor characters and inner thoughts and other things that slow down the pace. However, those are the books as they first appeared. I can write my new books in the way I like to write now--with more dialogue, more focus just on the hero and heroine, a little more humor.

Mary Balogh