You listen to David Bowie a lot. What's your favorite song of his?
The answer completely depends on my mood. If I need a shot of adrenaline, perhaps before a signing or book talk, I'll listen to “Blackout” or “Putting out Fire”. Or “Suffragette City” or “Rebel Rebel”. If I'm getting ready to write I'll listen to his Heathen album. I also love “Life on Mars”. So yes, it's a difficult question to answer! His Bowie at the Beeb album is among my absolute favorites.

What are you working on now?
I have a few works-in-progress at the moment. I'm taking a break from historical fiction to write some contemporary, magical-real fiction. I love historical fiction, but I just couldn't imagine starting all of that research again! If I'm truly in love with a character, then the research is fun...otherwise, it's drudgery. So I'm having fun writing about characters who wear jeans and sweaters and live in a world pretty much like places I've visited. It's liberating to be able to focus on the character and the plot and not have to worry about researching what she would be eating and what her clothes would look like.

What's your favorite type of ice cream?
Like Bowie songs, it's difficult for me to pick a favorite. Mint chocolate chip. And anything with chocolate and peanut butter. Yum.

You like sheep. What is there to love about sheep?
What's not to love about sheep? They're round and have funny faces and walk around wearing wool sweaters all the time. I don't know if you've ever heard sheep “talk” to one another, but it is hilarious. My husband and I witnessed this while traveling in Scotland, years ago: we heard two sheep baaa-ing at each other, really loudly, clearly having a conversation. They sounded like an irritated elderly couple lost in a parking lot.

What do you love most about writing historicals?
Well, I did just complain a little bit about research earlier...but I loved visiting a time period like Tudor England, that is just so rich with amazing details, things that I never would created on my own. The food they ate, the elaborate clothes, their celebrations and banquets, the music they danced to, their customs and beliefs that seem so strange to us today. Not to mention the people who populated King Henry's court – each one more brilliant and conniving and crazy than the last. And imagine, if someone wrote a novel about a king who had a total of six wives, divorced two and executed another two, wouldn't it seem a bit far-fetched? History is filled with these over-the-top personalities. And for all of his tyrannical tendencies, King Henry really did know how to throw a great party.

Thank you, Ms. Libby! Be sure to check out her website, www.alisalibby.com, especially this page on Catherine Howard, which I found really fascinating.