Beth Ford writes time travel romance, historical novels, and a mystery series starring Cassie Woods, an-end-of the nineteenth-century ground-breaking reporter. Welcome to Coffeetime Romance and More, Beth Ford.

You write both novellas and novels. Is one more difficult than the other?

Novels are harder just because you have the classic problem of the “mushy middle” and how to fill all those pages between where the characters start and where you want them to end.

How do you decide between the two?

It depends on the type of story I want to tell. I’ve used the novellas for the Cassie Woods, Reporter series because each story revolves around a different case. I think of them as more episodic, almost like a television series. For a novel, it needs to contain the entire story arc in one go.

Are the people in your books real or fictional

They are almost always fictional. There are a few exceptions in my new medieval time-travel romance, Love Across Time, where some real people appear. I threw in a scene with Chaucer just because I couldn’t resist. In other cases, characters may be inspired by a real historical figure, but I change their names and some details. I want to have the flexibility to make the story go wherever I need it to without being held to what the real people actually did.

Tell us about your character, Cassie Woods, the reporter.

Cassie Woods is a woman trying to make a career for herself in 1880s New York City, a time when women were certainly not encouraged to do so. We’ve probably all heard of Nellie Bly, who made a sensation later in the decade with her investigative reporting. I set Cassie in the early years of the decade, before Nellie Bly became famous, to really show Cassie being groundbreaking and enterprising. Cassie has a nose for a good case, and a weakness for the handsome Irishman Detective O’Neill.

Your studies took place in Scotland. How did you get from there to Virginia?

I originally landed in Virginia because my dad was stationed there in the military. But I ended up coming back after grad school in Scotland and settled here myself. Interestingly, my parents and brother also ended up in different parts of Virginia, even though none of us would tell you we are from Virginia. But I absolutely loved studying in Scotland, and it will also have a special place in my heart. It was also the perfect setting for studying 18^th and 19^th-century British literature.

The paranormal plays an important role in your books. How about in your own life?

I do enjoy the occasional ghost tour or spirit box tour. It’s a tantalizing possibility. I’m skeptical but open-minded.

What fascinates you about the paranormal?

Do we live on in some way? I don’t think it’s a question we’ll ever be able to truly answer. But there are things that can’t always be explained away by science. The different extent to which people buy into the paranormal makes for interesting storytelling. For example, in my book In the Time of Spirits, the heroine, who is a deep believer in the spiritualist movement of the late 19^th-century, marries a medium, but as his fame grows, she is increasingly led to question whether his talents are real or a scam he is pulling over on everyone.

You are also a public speaker. Do you enjoy talking before an audience?

It took me a very long time to get comfortable speaking to an audience. Even now, I still get nervous beforehand. But now I do enjoy getting to interact with the audience and share a little of what I know.

What tips would you give to those who are terrified of speaking in public?

You just have to have confidence in yourself—which is easier said than done. Remember that people are there because they want to hear from you. You know something that they want to learn about. And doing your power pose beforehand never hurts—seriously, try it. The way you hold yourself can affect how confident you feel. Keep your body language open, and you’ll feel more open to the others in the room. You got this!

Which of your heroines is your favorite?

That is like picking a favorite child—or, in my case, a favorite cat. I love them all, though my favorite probably changes to whichever one I’m writing at the moment because I’m in their head and in their world.

What will you be working on next?

I have a couple of upcoming releases. Love Across Time, the sequel to Love Between Times, will be out June 1, 2026. I am also writing the final installment of the Cassie Woods, Reporter series. Once it is out, I plan to publish a print version of the collected series for the first time. The next project I want to sit down to write is a time-travel rom-com that will bring readers back to the earliest days of Hollywood. Stay tuned!