00:08It's been fine because everybody's been very sweet. Of course I've teared up a
00:13bit when they've given me their condolences, but Bob always said if
00:18anything happens to me first, carry on as if nothing happened. Don't give up your
00:25career, you love writing, keep going. Somehow people took a message from the book
00:35that there are women warriors in this world who could go out and conquer the
00:40world. I see a lot of differences in the world as a whole, but I think a woman of
00:46substance still works because it's set at the turn of the century and it's
00:52therefore historical.
00:56I was sitting in the hospital with Bob who was in this deep sleep and unlikely to
01:01come out of it. I suddenly thought Blackie. Blackie O'Neil, her, if you like, sidekick.
01:10Not lovers, but friends forever. And my editor said to me, that's Bob's gift to
01:19you, Barbara.
01:20Oh, there's no storyline without the character. It was Graham Greene. He said,
01:27yes, I always remind myself that character is plot. Your character will lead you to
01:34the path you're going to take. And because your character is your destiny. And that's
01:40what I write about women like that. And I call them my women warriors. Let's take the
01:46current book in The Lion's Den. I saw a boy in my head walking up a hill and he's pushing
01:57a wheelbarrow and he's very puffy. I thought, oh, this is the beginning of a novel. He wants
02:05to be a merchant prince, as they were called in Victorian times. I knew I had to set it
02:12in Victorian times. And that's how it starts, with a thought of a person.
02:21And I've worked since I was 15, you know. When I was rereading A Woman of Substance then,
02:27as I read these three books recently, I thought, they're workaholics. Oh, I've written about
02:35myself. This is me working all the time and having everybody, the women all toiling away
02:42and the work comes first. And I think that you can work and still be feminine and still
02:51be well turned out. You know, I hate people when they say, oh, why are you so dressed up?
02:59I say, no, I'm not dressed up. I'm the way I've always dressed.
03:04I think, I think it was the same thing with Diana, in a sense. Although she was an aristocrat
03:11and was actually more royal, in a way, because she was descended from Charles I, she didn't
03:19get any help or guidance. I think all she has to do is, is watch the way the queen behaves.
03:27You know, she's, she's never made a step wrong. She's never taken a wrong step since she became
03:35queen. And you can't, you know, you don't know what she's thinking. And I think that you
03:43shouldn't reveal too much if you're a member of that family. I know she's not misbehaving
03:49like some others we know, right? But I hope it works. And I think she's pretty and intelligent
03:56and seems to be accomplished in many other ways.
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