Q&A: Alexandra Vasti, Author of ‘The Halifax Hellions’

We chat with author Alexandra Vasti about The Halifax Hellions, which is brings together Margo and Matilda’s novellas, along with a swoony new epilogue, in which the most scandalous ladies in London finally meet their match.

Hi, Alexandra! Welcome back! How have you been since we last spoke for the release of Earl Crush?

So great, thank you so much!! It’s been a wild year with the release of Ladies in Hating last September and now the trad pub/print release of The Halifax Hellions! It’s also Mardi Gras week here in New Orleans, which means we’re wearing glitter and eating king cake three times a day.

Your latest release, The Halifax Hellions, is out February 17^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Sexy, adventurous, feminist, loving, and FUN!

What can readers expect?

The Halifax Hellions is the bind-up of two novellas, about the most scandalous ladies in London, a pair of redheaded twins named Margo and Matilda Halifax. When Matilda elopes with a brooding, dangerous marquess, Margo decides to track her down. For help, she turns to her brother’s best friend—whose buttoned-up exterior hides the face that he’s been wildly pining for her for nearly a decade. Each novella focuses on the outrageous and unexpected romance of a Halifax twin, and they happen simultaneously.

Where did the inspiration for The Halifax Hellions come from?

Back in 2021, I was drafting the book that would become my first published novel, Ne’er Duke Well. And in that draft, I wrote one sentence about a pair of wild twins who had “spent the entire 1814 Season popping up in scandal sheets across London, smoking cheroots in libraries, and emerging from closed carriages with gentlemen at dawn.” And with that one sentence, I fell in love with them. I wrote their novellas and self-published them, and readers loved them so much that they were picked up for traditional publication!

Did you find any of the characters surprised you or changed your original plan as you were writing?

I wouldn’t say that the characters surprised me this time around, but the reader reaction definitely did! I released these for free through my newsletter originally in 2022, so there was no press, no algorithm, no way to really get the word out. (I had 79 subscribers at that time!) But readers took a chance on a completely unknown author and then screamed about these books from the rafters. And that was truly incredible and unexpected. They had been downloaded 20,000 times when I sold them to a traditional publisher the subsequent year.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I loved writing these scandalous twins! I think the question that really drove me as I was writing their stories was Why? I had introduced them as flouting convention, breaking all the rules, etc. And that would’ve had a really negative impact on their life in 1821! So what would have motivated them to act that way? I got to write several conversations between the twins and their friends and family in which they talk about the misogyny of concepts like “reputation” and “female virtue,” and how these ideas were used to control and oppress women. And this is something that women were really talking about in the period! I was very inspired by one of my favorite early feminist theorists, Mary Wollstonecraft.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Writing two simultaneous novellas was so challenging and so fun! I wrote and published the first novella before I started writing the second one, so I couldn’t change timelines, overlapping scenes, dialogue, etc. So there were a lot of pieces I laid down in the first novella that I had to stick with as I was constructing the second. It was a real puzzle, and sometimes I was cursing my past self!! But in the end, I felt that the constraints actually helped me be more creative, as I had to solve problems rather than just ret-conning them.

What does your typical writing day look like?

I try to write every day. My ideal writing day involves exercising in the morning, followed by espresso and writing outdoors at one of my favorite New Orleans coffeeshops. But most days aren’t ideal, and I find myself getting words down at my kids’ soccer practices or in the parking lot while waiting for preschool to let out, etc.

What’s next for you?

My next release is called Scandal of the Summer, and it’s out June 23! It’s a historical romance romp about a runaway heiress, a charming pirate, and the sparks that fly when their schemes collide at a country mansion in Cornwall.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?

Married with Benefits by Ellie Palmer, Just a Highland Fling by Naina Kumar, Sunflower Season by Danica Nava, Starshipped by Cat Sebastian, and Doomsdate by Laura Piper Lee! In historical land, I read and adored Like in Love with You by the incredible Emma R. Alban, and I’m excited to check out  The Very Definition of Love by Sophia Benoit.

Will you be picking up The Halifax Hellions? Tell us in the comments below!