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How long after you started writing seriously were you first published?
What was it about your first manuscript that caught the editor’s attention?
I first started writing in September 1989 (purely to please myself) and
after tweaking the resulting ms to fit the M&B guidelines, it was accepted
about a year later and published early 92. I actually know what caught the
editor’s attention, because she told me – my ‘voice.’ That was pretty much
the same story with selling to Avon years later.
What’s so special about the Regency romance?
If you mean why is it the best selling historical period for romances, I
believe it’s a combination of things. First the scope the period gives for
characters, both male and female, and then there’s the various aspects you
can lump under background – the language, the colour, the titles, the balls,
the clothes, the houses, the horses and carriages. And we shouldn’t forget
the recognisability factor – readers ‘know’ this time period; its familiar
to them, hence comfortable. There’s also the possibilities of adventure and
mystery. All that adds up to a very rich, vivid and varied palette with
which the author can paint.
How do your stories come about?
Just like that – they come. I don’t spend any great time ‘making them up’ or
‘constructing’ them. Once I’ve thought up the characters and the inciting
incident (i.e. who they are, and why they come together in the first place –
the beginning of the background story that links them) I start at that point
and follow the characters through to the end. That’s it. That ‘follow the
characters’ gets me to the end of the first draft, by which time I know
exactly what the story is all about, and then I go back and make sure all
the important information comes through loud and clear, and that each scene
works as effectively as possible.
How much research do you do? What are your most useful resources?
I do not research at all to write. I research to check facts once they’ve
come into the story, and not before. I’ve been reading UK-published Regency
historicals for over 30 years, so I have a lot of accumulated knowledge to
call on. My most useful resource is my old London A-Z for all the streets,
an old Automobile Association map of England for all the country towns, and
the roads between them, and the AA Illustrated Guide to Britain for all the
landscapes and notes on the architecture of towns, the old paths, forts,
agricultural features, etc. Those three I use for every book.
What most excites you about the historical romance?
I think one of the joys of writing historical romance is the ability to use
elements that you cannot use, or at least not in the same way, in
contemporary romance. Such as the marriage of convenience, the woman falling
into the hands of a dangerous and powerful male, the love match disguised as
an arranged or convenient marriage, the ‘compromised bride’ and so on.
I do think writing alpha males is easier in historical, and the heroines are
also to my mind, sharper and clearer, because they don’t have to juggle a
career. They may want a life, but they can more clearly concentrate on
getting that life, in its totally rounded form, than contemporary women who
have more fragmented and sometimes contradictory aspirations.
Could you give us an insight into the habits that have turned you into a
successful author?
Writing books - complete books. Concentrating on telling the story in my own
voice and making it as entertaining as possible. Being prepared to do that –
to deliver the same experience – again and again and again.
Too many authors forget that last requirement. They publish one or two
books, then want to write something different and wonder why their audience
dwindles instead of grows.
It takes being committed to doing whatever it takes to succeed, and
remembering not to focus on what was/is wrong but what is/was right.
Learning what works, and then delivering that to the readers.
One other point bears mentioning. I took advice from no-one. I just wrote my
stories. I’d learned the basic how from reading truckloads. After that it
was all just practice. I wasn’t connected to any group or any other author
until after I’d written my second book. So I never had to cope with the
distraction of a dozen different people telling how I ‘ought to’ do things.
I just wrote the books. Still do.
You wrote eight British Regencies before becoming an ‘Avon Lady.’ What
differences do you find in writing for the English and US markets.
The way you use point of view/distance combination is different, not just
for romance but generally speaking (it even applies to film and TV). It’s
importantly different in writing romance. I overlapped by quite a few years
writing Captain Jack's Woman and other works for the US market and the last
four of the M&B books, so I was very aware of the difference – I had to
adjust accordingly. All my UK books are written using a combination of
omniscient/usually distant or character/medium distant or distant point of
view. My US books use character POV close or very close, almost exclusively.
Apart from that, there’s the sex, of course. For the UK I wrote mostly the
emotional description, and left out most of the physical. For the US I
specifically write both in each scene.
British ‘regencies’ equals US Regency historical, not US regencies which are
a subgenre all their own and do not have a British equivalent (regardless of
what US folk might think).
The next two Cynster novels are being released back to back. What does that
mean, and why was it done?
 The idea of close releases of linked books, - in my case the Cynster twin’s
stories, On a Wild Night on 2nd April and On a Wicked Dawn on 30th April –
is primarily a publishing tactic to build excitement and gain interest
within the industry, thus increasing orders and placement and exposure of
the books throughout all distribution channels. It’s a special effort on
everyone’s part, and as with Andrea Kane’s and Kay Hooper’s earlier
experiences, this does seem to have worked.
The Promise in a Kiss was sold in Australia in a different format/edition
from that in the US. Why, and will it continue?
All my previous Avon books were distributed in this country by the local
publisher who had the distribution rights (originally Trans- world, now
HarperCollins Aust) This meant they imported the US edition and supplied it
to book stores here. From The Promise on, Harper Collins Aust are
sub-licencing or plan to sub-licence from Harper Collins US and produce
Australian editions. Here, the preferred format is a trade-sized paperback.
Also the covers will be different to reflect the different market/bookseller
values. The release dates will still lag the US. For instance, in Australia,
the twins’ books will be a 2-in-1 large trade size edition to be released in
May.
What do you personally find are the big ‘don’ts’ in writing a successful
romance?
The only don’ts are the ‘don’t forgets.’
Don’t forget:
- single title is not category or vice versa. Know which side of the
industry you are writing for, and why;
- to be 100% professional at all times with everybody, not just editors and
agents;
- to write a work that you believe in and make it sing;
- to have your characters strongly described and their motive clear and on
the page throughout;
- never to allow character and motivation to be inconsistent with each
other;
- you must have an emotionally meaningful love story to tell, not just an
interesting background plot;
- never to contrive love story or action plot, and never ever twist an
established character to fit the requirements of either;
- the time you spend talking about writing with other aspiring authors,
reading research books, surfing the Net, checking Amazon’s latest books and
reviews is all time you aren’t spending on your story
And the big do’s?
Write the story. Polish it. Submit it. Do it again.
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New York Times‘ bestselling author Stephanie Laurens
is a guest speaker at our National Conference in August.
