Posman Books Spotlight on Romance:

An Interview with Sara Lindsey

by Stacey Agdern

One of the most exciting voices to come out of the historical romance genre is Sara Lindsey. In celebration of the release of her debut novel, Promise Me Tonight, I sat down with Sara to talk about books, writing and the future of the Weston family.

1. What drew you to the romance genre in the first place?

I discovered the romance genre as a reader, long before I had any thoughts of penning a novel myself. Looking back on my reading habits, I am unsurprised I landed where I did. In middle school, I devoured popular series novels (such as The Babysitters Club), which I adored for their cozily familiarity. In junior high I turned to science fiction and fantasy, finding “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” a wonderful escape from the awkwardness of adolescence.

Once I hit high school, I decided the time had come for me to read “real” books, which I interpreted as Oprah’s Book Club selections. After reading four or five of these books I came to an important realization: I don’t really like depressing books about dysfunctional people, however well-written they may be. I want to like the characters I’m reading about and finish the book with a smile on my face. So I picked up a romance novel and never looked back.

You might think one genre would get boring after a while, but the world of romance is expansive. I can choose to read a family series with familiar characters, lose myself in a historical set “a long time ago,” or visit “a galaxy far, far away.” If I’m having a bad day, I know I can open a romance novel and forget my troubles for a few hours, and by the time I turn the final page, my heart is always lighter. In today’s world, where the news is filled with so much heartbreaking tragedy and disaster, anything with the ability to remind us of all the beauty and joy to be found in life is worth holding on to. Romance novels have that power for me, and I have no intention of ever letting go.

2. What is your favorite part of the writing process?

My favorite part of the writing process is researching. This is hardly surprising to those who know me since I am currently getting my Masters in Library and Information Science. There is something truly fantastic about chasing down a piece of hard to find information, and I love knowing that the details in my books are accurate regardless of whether my readers know or even care. For example, in my second novel, Tempting the Marquess, which comes out in June, the heroine, Olivia, is mistaken for a thief and arrested. The setting is London, 1799. Where, I wondered, would she be taken? There is not, so far as I know, a website called LondonPoliceOfficesByYear.com, though such a site would have saved me a great deal of time and trouble.

I began my hunt with preliminary research about the Bow Street Police Office (established 1738), which coordinated the work of the other magistrates offices, known as Rotation Offices. I learned the Rotation Offices were replaced in 1792, under the Middlesex and Surrey Justices Act, by seven public offices (also called police offices). The next thing I had to figure out was where these seven public offices were located. I got a bit lucky here. The British National Archives website has a wiki, Your Archives, where people can share their knowledge of British history and the archival sources held by The National Archives. Some wonderful person who has my undying gratitude posted the text from a memorandum available only on paper in The National Archives’ reading rooms which listed the locations of the public offices: Great Marlborough Street, Hatton Garden, Queen’s Square, Shadwell, Union Hall, Whitechapel and Worship Street. Then the fun really began…

Using the beautifully digitized Horwood’s Map of London, Westminster and Southwark (1792-99), I pinpointed the locations of the public offices to figure out which was closest to Bayswater, the area in west London where my heroine was arrested, and I determined she would have been taken to the public office at Great Marlborough Street. Research is a great deal like detective work. It can be time-consuming and frustrating, but there’s a definite thrill when the final piece of the puzzle falls into place.

3. How would you describe your debut novel, Promise Me Tonight?

Promise Me Tonight is a book with a lot of heart and not a little heat. As is often the case with debut novels, Promise Me Tonight was the book of my heart. This is the book I wanted to read, and I invested myself in every page. This the book of many other hearts as well. I have been influenced by so many great storytellers, and I cannot imagine my characters existing independently from all the great lovers whose stories are so impressed on my heart.

There is a great deal of the classic historical romance in Promise Me Tonight, but the voice (my voice!) is decidedly modern. A fellow romance writer once called my style “ChitLit” – “chit” being an historical term for a young lady – and I think this is the perfect way to describe my writing: historical romance with the sort of quirky energy associated with chick lit.

4. Tell me one thing people wouldn’t expect to hear about writing a historical romance?

I think many people are unaware of the degree of historical accuracy in many historical romance novels. In historical fiction, readers tend to expect many of the less savory sensory details pervading historical life – the stench of a crowd of unwashed bodies or the shrill cacophony of the city market.

This is not to say these details don’t make their way into historical romance – they do – but given that the main focus of a romance novel (historical or otherwise) is the romance between the main characters, and given that less than savory sensory details are rarely conducive to romance, historical romance novels may seem to gloss over or ignore the realities of historical life. This could not be further from the truth. Most historical romance authors I know are avid history buffs who pride themselves on the detailed accuracy of their books. Our details may not be as gritty as those found in historical fiction, but we will take care our Regency misses don’t use “gritty” in that context, since the Oxford English Dictionary places it at 1890.

5. Promise Me Tonight is the first in a series. What can your happily devoted fandom expect to see in the future?

Fans of Promise Me Tonight will be happy to know that the future holds more Weston family fun. In Tempting the Marquess, which comes out June 1, the Weston family series continues with the tale of a brooding widower and the lively young woman who tempts him to believe in love again. January 2011 will see the release of A Rogue for All Seasons, the third Weston family novel, in which a charming rake discovers the wallflower he never thought he would want is actually the one woman he can’t live without.

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You can contact Sara Lindsey through her website at www.saralindsey.net. You can find Promise Me Tonight on sale at the Grand Central Terminal location of Posman Books.