Life of a romance writer

ALTON BAY – Margaret Porter has been writing since she was a child.

“I started writing and illustrating stories when I was a little girl. I wrote my first novel as a teenager,” Porter said.

Growing up in the Macon, Georgia area, Porter was a child actor from age 10. Although she was often on stage, she brought her writing material and books to read wherever she went.

“I liked historical biographies about famous women, such as queens. They were interesting to me. Now, I focus on historical biographical fiction,” she said.

Porter has written 16 books thus far, but before embarking upon her career as a writer, she got a master’s degree in radio, television, and film studies, which led to work as a scriptwriter and producer.

Perhaps because she was familiar with writing fictional stories, Porter’s first published novel, “Heiress of Ardara” was in that genre, and a description of the plot states, “A young heiress may lose her heart’s desire as a bitter family feud threatens her love.” That is a basic plot description for a book chock-full of European settings, richly complex characters, and sparks-fly romance.

The book was a success and began what has become a life spent writing, traveling for book research, attending writer’s conferences, doing book readings, and living a fulfilling personal life with her husband. The couple split their time between a Concord home and an Alton Bay summer home. Situated on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, the summer home has been in the family for about 100 years and is a go-to place for Porter.

She said, “Our house in Alton Bay is a six-month residence. I love to write there. Looking out over the lake and the mountains is inspirational.”

Publishing her first historical romance novel took more work than one might assume. Porter said, “I was searching for an agent and publisher simultaneously. Eventually, the Doubleday call came, and at that point, I knew I needed an agent, so I went to the top of my list of possible agents and found one I liked. ‘The Heiress of Ardara’ was one of three completed manuscripts I had written. The ‘Heiress’ was chosen by Doubleday for publication.”

After her first published novel, Porter wrote more historical romance novels set in England and France. Considerable research goes into each book, requiring Porter to travel often to Europe to dig into history, locations, clothing, and what day-to-day life would have been like for the characters in her historical books.

She said, “I often go to the locations I am writing about, and I do research in libraries to access old documents and letters. I also visit museums to look at portraits of people I am writing about or what people of that period looked and dressed like. I find the research enjoyable, and sometimes, I find the basis for my next novel during my travels.”

After many successful historical romance books were published, Porter’s subject matter and time period shifted. She has written books set in the golden age of Hollywood, when stars such as Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and others were popular. Her novels set in that time are not lighthearted. The books are about deeper subjects, and the characters are real people.

Among the Hollywood silver-screen era books is “Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr.” Porter said Lamarr was exceptional, contributing to the world far beyond her movie work.

“She was considered the most beautiful woman in the at the time. While living in Vienna, she was filmed in the first sex scene on camera. She fled to Hollywood when the Nazis came to power, and she went on to become a movie star. But she was more than an actress; she invented a mechanical product that used frequency hopping to prevent jamming of the Allies’ torpedoes by the Nazis. That frequency hopping is the basis for today’s Wi-Fi technology.”

Porter also wrote about Phyllis Fraser, another Hollywood glam-era person, in “The Limits of Limelight.” Cousin to film star Ginger Rogers, Fraser lived an extraordinary life at a time when women were more often seen as objects versus intelligent people.

“A Change of Location” is Porter’s sixteenth novel and first contemporary book. A lot of personal experience went into the story, although it isn’t autobiographical.

“It takes readers to areas in Somerset that are very familiar to me — and only slightly fictionalized — and based on some of my past activity in film and television,” she said.

A new book is now in the works, and it is no accident Porter set the story in the Lakes Region.

She said, “The main character is a New Hampshire person with ties to Lake Winnipesaukee. I am doing research in New Hampshire for this book. The story is set in the present day and will occur in London and New Hampshire.”

With each trip to England, France, and back to the U.S. for story research, Porter lives a life glamorous enough for one of her fictional characters. When she sits down to pen a story about aristocratic young women and dashing men who fell in love long ago, or when she writes about today’s real-life women, Porter is in her element.

She plans to continue writing into the future, taking her readers on a sometimes wild, sometimes educational but always deeply entertaining ride.

For information, visit margaretporter.com.