RomanceEverAfter

Romance Authors Corner

Make sure and visit Isolde at http://www.isoldemartyn.com

Okay, random selection coming up: Jimmy Webb's songs; ballads like 'Night and Day'; Sydney Harbour at night viewed from the Opera House, sharing a glass of wine with my husband on our back deck, Salzburg, the splendour of a medieval Book of Hours, the song 'Maria' from West Side Story, Camelot at Drury Lane, Daphne du Maurier's pirate hero in Frenchman's Creek.

Writing love stories set against turbulent eras in the past is a way to share my passion for history and, yes, I like a sense of closure but I certainly enjoy the detective work of research and the whole process of creating the heroine's world. It's wonderful to get so much positive feedback from readers who really enjoy the historical subplots. History too often is dusted up and distorted to meet modern agendas. 

I try to be as accurate as I can. I suppose, also, the child in me still hankers for the world of talking animals and wardrobes leading into other worlds and I believe that yearning for magic is deep down in many of us. We need an escape valve. I guess writing novels set in the past is a means of escape too.

My stories include real people in positions of power who were only out for themselves and the sad thing is that nothing much has changed. The historian in me is appalled at the lack of vision and double standards of our so-called leaders. If there was a passing planet, I'd feel tempted to jump ship.

As for reading, I've recently found Disgrace and Eucalyptus really thought-provoking, and I'm working through Samuel Pepys' diary at the moment. I've just finished Anne Gracie's The Honest Thief and I am now reading Marsha Canham's The Pride of Lions. Depends on the mood, doesn't it!

Political conflicts, but not so much that they overwhelm everything else. In three of my novels, my heroes and heroines are on opposing sides which is a wonderful medium for conveying what was at stake. In today's age of the individual and the 'me' generation, it is also easy to forget that people in the past owed had other values that were very important to them. Loyalties to one's king, lord, master, husband, father, fraternity and religion were paramount. Put some of these into conflict with love and you have a strong framework for a story.

Another advantage with historicals is that you can topple your hero's chauvinist attitudes by the end of the book. He may roar at the beginning but he'll end up purring where the heroine's concerned. Historicals also permit the conflict to be within a marriage.

What constraints, if any, does an author face when writing heroes and heroines of historical romance as opposed to contemporary characters?

That is a very good question. If we're talking genuine historical background, then an author has to be very canny and put a heroine in circumstances which permit her some freedom of movement and a chance to make her own decisions. I'm always on the lookout for genuine historical women who managed to use their own initiative, e.g. the lady spy in The Maiden and the Unicorn; and the girl who by lateral thinking escapes from a cruel marriage in The Knight and the Rose. There is always a change in the heroine's life that brings about the adventure.

Unlike the contemporary romance writer, the historical novelist can make great play with the hero's concern that his bride hasn't slept with anyone else or the need to have an heir and these sorts of evergreen issues provide useful conflicts. It's finding a new angle that's important.

There are practicalities that restrain the historical writer. In today's western-world, a secular heroine is on the pill, rarely 'indisposed', wears comfortable clothes that permit easy movement, can journey where she likes without a male, can acquire an education, work, become a doctor or a soldier, enjoy sex without being married, choose her own partner and run her own business. Imagine a world without tampons, hairdryers, irons, running water, toilets, contraceptives, insurance, books and money to name just a few items. It's therefore a challenge to create a heroine that the modern reader will care about but one that is also true to her own era.

How do you go about doing your research for a historical romance? What resources do you find most helpful?

If I can afford it, going to the actual place where an event took place. To stare towards the dark horizon of Pen-y-Fan from Brecon in Wales, walk down a laneway at the Tower of London or stroll the battlements at Amboise or Angers in France-fabulous! There is no substitute for achieving the flavour of a place, and it often provides inspiration and insights that you would not think of otherwise. With my eighteenth century novel, I've found the Internet helpful. I can key in a historical person's name and up comes an actual portrait.

Browsing in a university library is my usual starting point. I need a framework of the facts and then it's a case of daub and wattle-looking for the tiny details that can add authenticity. I also use historical maps a great deal. I've stared at them so much that I think I could find my way around London in 1483 or Paris in 1793.

What qualities do you seek in a romance novel that make it a "keeper?"

That special author's voice. Delightful characterisation-a hero you'd die for, excellent, believable conflict and sense of place, zesty, witty dialogue, a good concept and, most importantly, those 'emotional tension' paragraphs that send a ripple up your spine even though you now know them word by word. Sometimes it is just a couple of wonderful scenes in a book that make the whole thing memorable.

Moonlight and Shadow is set in England and Wales in 1483 towards the end of the War of the Roses. The story was inspired by three things: the Northamptonshire folktale of a girl who put on armour and fought a duel to protect her family's honour, the authentic story of a young man abducted and forced to marry at swordpoint; and finally, being an ardent supporter of Richard III, the urge to tell the story of Richard of Gloucester becoming king from a fresh viewpoint. One of the key figures was Richard's cousin, the twenty-nine year-old Duke of Buckingham, who backed him to the hilt and then…

So I have Miles, a speechwriter and friend to the Duke of Buckingham as hero (Buckingham was known for his eloquent speeches!) and on Richard III's side, I have Heloise, who today we'd call a clairvoyant. Miles is all set to push Buckingham all the way to the throne but then Heloise's obnoxious father intervenes and Miles finds himself saddled with not just an upstart's daughter as his bride but a Yorkist upstart's daughter who is possibly a witch. Heloise, caught in the crossfire, afraid of being tried for heresy, slowly manages to win her husband's heart even though the growing rift between t he two great dukes threatens to divide them. 

There's a strong Welsh flavour to this story because Buckingham's headquarters was at Brecon in Wales. I interviewed a clairvoyant to make sure I was on the right track with Heloise and a Welsh scholar helped me with the medieval Welsh phrases.

You often use animals in your stories-the hero's dog, Errour in The Maiden and the Unicorn and a friendly pig in The Knight and the Rose. Are there any in Moonlight and Shadow?

Yes, this time there's an English stallion named Traveller and a black and white Welsh cat named Dafydd, who is based on a Californian cat called Cagney. I gather Cagney's been signing autographs ever since.

Absolutely. The trouble is that humor is subjective and it doesn't always cross international borders so easily. If I can make my critique group laugh at a particular scene, then I know that at least some of my readers will enjoy it at that level.

What other projects are you currently working on? (Share with our readers about the fourth book you are sending off to the publishers!)

Well, I haven't stopped writing medievals but I felt like the challenge of a different century so I've just completed a love story set in France during the French Revolution and I've tried to avoid the usual clichés. There is not a guillotine in sight. It's been such fun to write and gave me good reason to be in Paris on 14 July-Bastille day! It took longer to complete than my medieval novels. Especially as there was one chapter that the hero and heroine are dragged in from left field when I wasn't expecting it and I had to accommodate it in the story to please them. It meant that some of the ideas I had were totally jettisoned. Did they care? Not a bit of it.

I'm trying to think of a title and my critique group has been having a great deal of fun with suggestions like: The Lady and the Guillotine, Losing my head over him, The Frog and Lily!