45. Normalizing mental health issues in romantic historical fiction w/ Ginny Moore

How often do you read romance novels in which mental health issues are a normal part of the main characters?Joining today’s conversation is Ginny Moore, a romantic historical fiction author, middle school assistant principal, and mother to three kids.In this episode, you’ll hear Ginny share not only why her postpartum anxiety and depression went undiagnosed for far too long but also how subconsciously funneling her mental health issues into her main characters has helped her to know herself better, heal, and save her marriage.So tune in to hear more about how Ginny uses romantic historical fiction to push boundaries—both externally among a more formal, ridged society and internally as characters wrestle with their worst sides.Topics discussed in this episode: Struggling with depression, anxiety, and ADHDUsing writing to cope with mental health strugglesUsing two lead characters to reconcile different sides of yourselfForcing characters to reckon with their worst sides amid historyOxford University’s unwanted, first female students How car notes evolved into a full novelThe non-career goal of one writerFinding a great writing buddySharing your other hobbies with your audienceReaching burn out, againFavorite booksAbout Ginny: Ginny B. Moore was the kid who loved kissing scenes in movies and always rooted for Mulder and Scully to hook up. Her first piece of writing was a horrendous fanfic romance based on The Three Musketeers when she was thirteen years old.Ginny started reading romance during the pandemic. In an effort to avoid doom-scrolling social media, she decided to put her own stories to paper. She is a middle school assistant principal and has been in education for eighteen years. Most of her writing is done on her phone or in the parking lot of her kids' extracurricular activities.When she is not writing, Ginny is a slow long-distance runner. She is the mother of three kids, two exceptionally stupid dogs, two codependent cats, and the grandmother to a hermit crab.Get her books:Adding Up to Love: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSB9G8BS The Countess and the Casanova: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2N89ZGW Connect w/ Ginny: Website: https://www.ginnymooreauthor.net Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginny_moore_writes/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GinnyMooreAuthor/ Books discussed during the show: Author Sarah MacLeanAuthor Tessa Dare Thornchapel series by Sierra SimoneJulius Caesar by William ShakespeareMatilda by Roald DahlSend us Fan MailREADY TO TAKE YOUR WRITING FURTHER? Join our Patreon community and access our vibrant Discord writing group to get writing prompts, participate in sprints, download free resources, and more: https://www.patreon.com/erinptcanningeditor