A Hero, A Barrister, An Escape

Highlighting Linda McLaughlin’s hero, Stephen Chaplin, a barrister. I recently visited Stephen Chaplin, Esquire at his offices in London’s Lincoln’s Inn to interview him. LM: Mr. Chaplin, thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? For instance, are you originally from the London area? SC: […]

Guernsey—Pleasant Beaches, Daring Smugglers, Dashing Pirates

Highlighting Historical Romance: Regan Walker on Guernsey and The French Isles In my new Georgian romance, Echo in the Wind, the hero, Jean Donet, comte de Saintonge, while giving up his privateering with the end of the American War, is not immune to a bit of smuggling to keep England in brandy and tea. Jean […]

It’s Messy. Is It a Process?

Process? I don’t need no stinking process. My book, alas, needs a plot. I’ve read the craft books. I know a scene from a sequel, and I understand the big W shaped romance plot and the four acts that make it up. I get hooks and turning points. I’ve tried outlines, story boards, and scene […]

Titles and Other Painful Decisions.

Readers may have noticed that I’ve been participating in the Marketing For Romance Writers (MFRW) 52-Week blog challenge. The idea is that all the participating authors post on a single topic, and we get to see the wide variation in approaches to the topic. It is a bit fun, and I plan to continue, but […]

A Labor of Love

Highlighting Historical Romance: Jan Scarbrough’s My Lord Raven Writing My Lord Raven was a labor of love. It took a long time with many starts, stops, and twists along the way. I fell in love with medieval history and romance in high school with authors Thomas B. Costain and Anya Seton. Later the romance genre […]

History As We Write It

Highlighting Historical Fiction welcomes Joan Leotta History is not a collection of dates and lists of people. We think this is so when we are in school, but for me, history was listening to my Grandma talk about what went on in her life. What were people’s reactions when our entry into World War Two […]

Girl Against The World

Highlighting Historical Romance welcomes Oberon Wonch whose novel, A Knight of Her Own, was released today. You’ve likely heard of the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, in which William, Duke of Normandy, and his invading army defeated the Anglo-Saxons, killed their king, and took the throne of England. What you might not know, […]

A Dysfunctional Royal Family

Highlighting Historical Romance: Regan Walker William the Conqueror died in Normandy in 1087. Robert, the eldest son, inherited the dukedom of Normandy. William, his middle son, succeeded his father as King of England. William was quick to seize the opportunity. Called “William Junior” by his contemporaries and dubbed “Rufus” by historians because of his ruddy […]

Why and How of Historical Romance

Highlighting Historical Romance: Madelyn Hill answers our questions about the genre. Caroline: Why do you write historical romance (or historical novels if appropriate)? Madelyn: I love to write historical romance because it is my favorite genre to read. I also love history, research and I’m an old movie buff. There are so many great things […]

Turmoil in the Holy Roman Empire

Highlighting Historical Romance: Anna Markland, in which the author gives us a taste of the research involved in moving her series to Bavaria, Saxony, and other parts of Europe. __________________________________________________________ I chose to set my current series, The Von Wolfenberg Dynasty, in medieval Germany. I did this because the series is based on a book […]