Arabella Sheraton grew up on a diet of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and many other writers of that period. From Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, Arabella has found both enjoyment and inspiration in sparkling, witty Regency novels. She also loves history and generally finds the past more fascinating than the future. Arabella wrote her first Regency romance to entertain her aged mom who loved the genre. Arabella is honoured to share the adventures of her heroes and heroines with readers.
You can visit her website at https://regencyromances.webs.com or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
Her latest book is the regency historical fiction, The Reluctant Bridegroom.
INTERVIEW
Thanks for letting us interrogate you! Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?
I didn’t start out wanting to write Regency romance. My invalid mother was an avid reader and she read everything Regency she could lay her hands on. But she complained that the stories were all starting to sound the same. Since I was in the magazine publishing business, and an excellent writer, she thought I
could do better and asked me to write her “a lovely Regency romance.” That was the start of my writing career in Regency. When she passed away, I found I loved writing the romances, so I simply continued creating new stories.
Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be? I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?
Writing Regency is a lot of fun and a lot of hard work as well. The stories are set 200 or so years ago and life was definitely much simpler, both in terms of social mores and manners and technology. Well, there wasn’t any technology as we know it these days. In a funny way, that makes it easier to focus on the characters, their drama, their romances, and the thrills and spills of a lifestyle very different from today’s. The hard part is that Regency has dedicated fans that know their fashions, their carriages, their bonnets, and their footwear. It’s imperative to do your research to make sure your heroine is wearing the right outfit to go walking in the park. Language is also very important. One has to be vigilant to make sure expressions that we take for granted were in use back then. It’s a lot of research.
Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?
I was lucky enough to find a small traditional publisher via an ad in an email newsletter. That got me started and I worked with some brilliant editors who are experts in the genre. Sadly, the publisher closed due to ill health but by then I had learned a lot, found my feet, and discovered a very good distributor. So now I am indie and fine with it.
What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about the publishing industry?
I think one can sum it up best with a saying by Joanna Trollope in an interview: “It took me twenty years to become an overnight success.” If you want to be an author, be in it for the long haul.
Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?
My family thinks this is my job, like a normal job. So we must all be mad, I think… I was in magazine publishing, writing, and editing for so many years that everyone just thinks of me and writing going together like ham and eggs.
What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?
Luck. I never subscribed to the newsletter where I read the publisher’s ad. I just found it by accident and then never got it again. Luck struck again when the publisher closed down and I found my wonderful distributor that also does marketing for their authors. I have been fortunate in finding the right graphic designer for the interiors and the right designer for the covers.
How about the social networks? Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?
Twitter works really well for me. I have a nice following, albeit small, and they retweet my news as I do theirs. I also use two very good publicity services so when I can’t tweet about my books, I have two companies doing it for me. I have a Facebook page and I post articles by people who are Regency experts. I don’t use anything else. No time…
Book sales. Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)? How are you making the sales happen for you?
Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet.
What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?
I have nearly finished my work in progress, To Murder a Marquis, which is a Regency murder/mystery and time travel story. Yep. Regency is very accommodating….
Okay, too much sugar for you today! Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in. Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?
I cannot imagine doing anything else. Yes, it’s true. I look back and I think of how far I have come, and I still would not want to do anything else.
1 comment:
Many thanks for hosting Arabella!
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