She focused on the Tudor family, consisting of King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary Tudor, with The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen’s Fool about Mary and The Virgin’s Lover about Queen Elizabeth’s alleged romance with Robert Dudley. Her latest novel The Constant Princess is the third in the Tudor collection this time focusing on Katherine of Aragon the first wife of Henry VIII who dreamed and later became Queen of England. Gregory is on a book signing tour and will make a stop at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on Friday, October 6 at 7 p.m. and welcomes new and die-hard fans to visit her Web site www.PhilippaGregory.com to find out about The Constant Princess and other books slated for the end of the year.

Mary E. Montoro: What can veteran and new fans, like me, look forward to The Constant Princess? 

Philippa Gregory: It is vintage Philippa Gregory – looking at a character that is known to history but whose many sides have been neglected. It is the story of Katherine of Aragon whom we all know as the older neglected woman of Henry VIII – but looks at her as a young a beautiful newcomer to court.

MEM Is this a sequel to The Boleyn Girl?

PG I suppose it is a prequel – it tells the story of England, the court, and Henry VIII before the arrival, actually before the birth of Anne.

MEM How is it different from The Boleyn Girl?

PG In many ways I think it is a better book. It sets an international world: that of the crusading monarchs of Spain, in alliance with a newly formed Tudor England. It draws on the history as well as the poetry and art of the period.

MEM What was it about Katherine of Aragon compelled you to write her story? 

PG  I was so impressed with her when I read about her response to the challenge of Anne Boleyn. She was so dignified and courageous to the very end of her life. The more I read about her the more I discovered this unique character, a woman whose vision of how to be a Queen taught not only her daughter Mary Tudor, but even her half-sister, Elizabeth 1.

MEM Do you think she was one of, or the only, favorite of King Henry’s many wives?

PG She was, without doubt, his key relationship. He was married to her for far longer than anyone else, they were married for sixteen years, and she was his first great love.

MEM Why was she forced to marry Henry?

PG  Her destiny as Queen of England was established when she was a little girl and betrothed to his brother, but it was her own determination and decision which married her to Henry. She set her heart upon being Queen of England and she fought for her destiny, staying in England during her widowhood, insisting on her betrothal to the young Prince.

MEM  How would you describe Katherine’s personality, strength and character?

PG  I see her as a woman modeled on her courageous and determined mother. She was a deeply spiritual woman but also powerfully ambitious. Physically she was very beautiful, a red head with blue eyes, and she had great physical courage – she rode out at the head of the English army. She was tremendously determined both as a neglected Princess and as Regent of England. Finally, she had the courage to face Henry VIII and defy him and the Pope himself. She defended her daughter’s inheritance and her own marriage till her death.

MEM Would she make a good role model for girls and women in 2006?

PG I think her ambition and courage makes her a wonderful model for modern women. Sometimes we forget that Henry’s wives were women with powerful and worthwhile lives of their own. We should be aware of these brave and determined women.

MEM What fascinates you about this period?

PG  I think it is such an exciting period of change when almost anything could happen. The oppression of women means that the women who survive are characters of extraordinary courage.

MEM  What is it about King Henry’s two wives that interested you?

PG  Katherine and Anne are remarkable rivals. Opponents in religion, and in their vision of how the country should be allied and run, they were rivals at the most personal level: fighting over a young handsome man. It is a fascinating struggle.

MEM  What books inspire you and pique your interest?

PG  I like books about relationships that make you feel as if you know the people and become engaged in their story, and I only like books that are well written, I love good style and elegant writing.

MEM How do you approach your novel?

PG  I start with the research which is the backbone and the base of the novel, and then I create the characters to conform with the known history and the facts. Then I write and think until the whole thing comes alive, it has to be great story and a real page-turner as well as an accurate historical account.

MEM  How much time during the day, afternoon or evening do you spend writing?

PG  I work at any time of the day or evening and I think I do up to three hours a day, but the reading goes on all the time, wherever I am.

MEM  How much research is involved?

PG  The research is everything to my style of historical fiction, I research for nearly a year before I even start writing, and then I go on researching and reading history all the time.

MEM  Do you write in long hand first or type on the computer?

PG  I always work directly to a laptop now. I carry it around with me and work wherever I am.

MEM  What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

PG  I would say always try to find your own voice, and write as well as you can. Don’t write with an eye to publication or some passing fashion. Try to write something that you think is a fine piece of work, not something that you imagine is good enough, or (worse) better than something that you think is mediocre.

MEM  Would you describe your books as historical fiction?

PG  Absolutely my books are historical fiction, but people often say that I have reinvented the genre. I have a sense that the way that I write historical fiction is a new one – honoring the history, creative and exciting with the fiction, and from the view of a modern radical feminist historian.

MEM  When you first started writing were there any similar genres at the time?

PG  No. I used to like historical fiction writers like Georgette Heyer but she is very much a writer of her time, as I am of mine.

MEM  Do you believe you filled a void that was needed?

PG  I think it was natural that there should be historical fiction which mirrored the change in the way that history was being taught and studied in England. Once the historians started to look at the history of working people, of women, and of minorities, it was natural that the fiction would follow. I am just very pleased that I led this evolution.

MEM: What are your plans for a next novel and when can people expect it?

PG   The next novel is called The Boleyn Inheritance and is about Catherine Howard, Anne of Cleeves, and Jane Boleyn the sister-in-law to Anne. They are three completely different women who were thrown together in the dangerous hothouse of the court of Henry’s later years whose lives depend on each other. Only two survive.

MEM: Any plans of turning one of your novels into a movie?

PG  I am delighted that Columbia Pictures is filming The Other Boleyn Girl on location in England right now with Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana.

MEM: Which one would you choose?

PG  I should love to see The Constant Princess filmed also – the setting of the Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Tudor Palaces in England and Wales would be a wonderful backdrop to the story of love and courage.

MEM: How does your brand of writing contribute to the literary community?

PG  I think people believe that I have created a way to write history which suits modern readers who want a historical fiction which is not snobbish, and not sexist but which treats all the characters as real passionate people whose story is worthwhile.