STEPHANIE LAURENS
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Stephanie Laurens is one of my favorite authors, and I jumped at the chance of doing an interview with her. The first book I had the privilege of reading was FOUR IN HAND, and I laughed out loud more than once. This is my first author interview ever, and I am hoping this goes well!
Ms. Laurens was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and was raised in Melbourne, Australia. She did all her schooling in Melbourne, finished university with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, then moved on, together with her husband, to London. In London, she took up a position as a research scientist and eventually headed her own cancer research laboratory.
In her biography, Stephanie writes: "I had read romances since I was 13 - when my mother borrowed Georgette Heyer's romances from a workmate, and I read them after her. THESE OLD SHADES was the first one I read - I was hooked for life. In England, I'd had the opportunity to stock up with Regency romances that were never available in the US or Australia - I still have shelves of them. After our return to Australia, one day I literally ran out of books to read. I wanted a new Regency romance - but there were none in the stores. In desperation, I decided to write one - something I'd always had a hankering to do, but never done."
Ms. Laurens wrote her first book, TANGLED REINS, and it was published by Mills and Boon. She "retired" from scientific life, to more relaxed and fulfilling endeavors, and at much the same time, crossed the Atlantic publishing-wise, and, after some uncertain times, eventually signed on with Avon.
Ms. Laurens answered my interview questions via e-mail since popping down to
Australia seemed to be a bit time consuming. *BG*
Bee: In most of your books, your heroes seem to have a VERY strong sense of family and responsibility. How did you decide to develop your characters along these lines?
Stephanie: It wasn't a conscious decision. My characters and their stories pretty well pop up in my head spontaneously, and then I further develop them, but neither characters nor plots are things I consciously sit down and make up. They are simply *there* and all I have to do is flesh them out and write it all down.
That said, as I write first and last to entertain myself, the commitment of my male characters to family and familial responsibility is probably a reflection of the fact I personally would find those traits important in a man - in a hero, if you will. Luckily, my preferences in hero traits seem to resonate with the preferences of a lot of other women. *G*
Bee: Your books seem to be able to meld a good, fast moving story line with excellent sensual detail. Is it hard to change gears from a writing point of view?
Stephanie: As I write a story chronologically, scene by scene, then as each scene logically follows the last, I don't find any difficulty in moving from one scene to the next. However, your allusion to gears is apt - writing love scenes requires different pacing and literary construction to writing action scenes. Nevertheless, it's all still writing - I concentrate on creating the right *feel* for each scene, be it breezy, sensual, or action-packed. It's a challenge to get it right.
Bee: All the women in your books are strong-minded, independent and more of a match for the men. When did you decide to write about women like this and what makes a good female lead in your books?
Stephanie: Again, there was no active decision on my part, but in this case, the female is defined by the male, and vice versa. My heroes and heroines always come in matched pairs. *G* If you are going to write strong (in a psychological sense), intelligent heroes, then the only sort of female who is going to be a believable match (in terms of establishing an equal partnership with said hero) is a strong-willed, independent, and intelligent heroine. Anything else will create an imbalance - you might be able to work a strong hero and weak heroine to a happy ending, but will it be a happy ever after (still happy in twenty years' time) ending? A strong/weak partnership just wouldn't pass muster with me, and as I said, I first and foremost write for myself as "reader." If I can't believe in a strong hero/weak heroine, I wouldn't expect anyone else to.
As to what makes a good female lead in my books, it's the one woman who believably matches up to the hero - the one you could believe will bring this strong and arrogantly assured man to his knees.
Bee: I especially enjoy the wit and humor in your writing. Your portrayals of confused, intelligent men are very funny. How are you able to capture that vein so well in your books?
Stephanie: This is one of those serendipitous somethings that arise out of the interplay between character and plot. It's also very true-to-life, which I think is why so many readers notice it and nod or smile in recognition. The first 40 years of my life were spent more with boys and men than women, and generally as an accepted peer (my earlier career was in a scientific, male-dominated field). Consequently, I am very aware that most intelligent men find women a total mystery - a very bothersome state of affairs because, of course, the more intelligent the man, the more used he is to understanding and being able to explain and therefore predict and control everything around him. He expects to logically understand everything. It's therefore a horrible surprise to find that this ability does not extend to women, especially not the woman he's got his eye on. I've always thought this one of Mother Nature's little jokes, but the fact is, the more intelligent the man, the more aware he's going to be that he's confused, and the more bothered he's going to be by that.
In terms of capturing the essence of this confusion, as I write from character (using either the hero's or heroine's pov), then the confusion and the consequent stumbles naturally come out in the work.
Bee: Regarding the Cynster series, tell me about the decision to develop a family saga and how this went. You have done this in previous books, but most authors do not continue a story line.
Stephanie: Again, there was no decision involved. I got the idea (all at once) for the story of DEVIL'S BRIDE and the subsequent 5 books (the 6 Bar Cynster books). I literally woke up one fine Sunday morning with the basic plot and first scene of DEVIL'S BRIDE and the idea of the other 5 cousins and their stories to follow, all in my head, and thought: Yes, that's a great idea - I'll write it. Next question: Will Avon buy it? They did, and thus the Cynsters were born.
As for the continuing storyline, that's just how the stories occurred to me. As the author, I know what happens, and then I write what I as a reader want to know - essentially satisfying my own curiosity.
By now you'll have realized I'm an intuitive author - I do not, and never have sat down and said to myself: I want to write a book - what should I write about? No. Stories have been spontaneously popping into my head for as long as I can remember - the only difference is, these days, I write them down rather than just dream them to amuse myself. So I never think about what other authors are doing, or what's selling in the market, or in fact, about anything at all in relation to my work. My stories are created to entertain myself first, so I write what would entertain me. Luckily, such stories seem to entertain others, too, so I can sell what I write. That may sound simplistic, but it's what works for me.
Bee: It is so nice to have the previous book characters reappear in later works. Will this continue?
Stephanie: Yes, all the way down the line to book #10 (Simon) and even after that. Realistically, given the sort of family the Cynsters are, family members cropping up here and there is what would logically happen. It's not something I consciously put in so much as something that naturally occurs.
Bee: I have to say, I was shocked when Tolly died. What made you decide to write this in since most romance books do not begin with a murder of a nice young man?
Stephanie: Again, no decision, that was the way the story came to me, but if you consider it, you'll realize that if Tolly doesn't die, you have no story. If he lives or even regains consciousness for long enough, he'll tell Devil about Charles, end of story. And if Tolly weren't there, bleeding to death in the lane, why did Honoria stop, why did she stop Devil, why did they end spending the night together in the cottage? That last, especially, requires a very strong, compelling, and believable justification - a dying young relative provides that justification. Technically speaking, Tolly being fatally shot is the key first pivot point in the story - Tolly being shot and his subsequent death are the catalytic pieces of action from which all the rest of the story flows.
So the reason Tolly dies is that, without Tolly dying, you have no DEVIL'S BRIDE. It's also a suitably dramatic opening, etc., etc. - in other words, the plot point works for a lot of reasons, but the primary reason Tolly's death is there is the simplest one of all - without it, no story.
Bee: I am looking forward to the twin's stories. Will you do them as a pair or separately?
Stephanie: These will be done as separate books, but in the opening scene of the first you hear the twins planning their campaign for the coming Season - they outline the problem they face in finding a suitable husband, and each comes up with a different plan of attack. The books then follow them through the Season, the first following Amanda, who finds her man following her particular plan - although, of course, things don't go quite as she'd planned. Then, in the second book, after Amanda is wed, we pick up Amelia, who has been doing her ground work and now, left alone for the first time in her life, she sets off to snare her husband.
Bee: Having two story lines going at once is sometimes not done well by other books, but this seems to come easy for you if FOUR IN HAND is used as an example. Are there any tricks to juggling multiple story lines and characters in one book?
Stephanie: It's really one trick which applies equally to any multiple plot threads, be they multiple romances, or romance plus suspense, action-adventure, etc. It's simply balance, the amount of book time (pages) spent with each thread. In FOUR IN HAND, which has four romances and a small other plot, during my self-editing stage, I sat down and blocked out how many pages were devoted to each of the 4 romances, and where the segments occurred throughout the manuscript. I had to juggle a little to get the right balance, but the principal romance had the most pages, then the secondary romance had the next most, etc. - the principal hero and heroine meet first, the secondary hero and heroine meet second, and so on. Balance translates to how much "importance" a reader subliminally attaches to any given plot thread. For instance, many mainstream romantic suspense stories are much more suspense than romance - the number of pages devoted solely or principally to the romance are relatively few. In my romances, the romance dominates over anything else by a long way.
Bee: How many more Cynster books will there be?
Stephanie: At present, I'm counting up to ten. I know what comes after (#11-15) but these are connections, not Cynsters themselves, although various Cynsters will appear in the background. And I may eventually return to the girls who are presently a little young - Elizabeth, Heather, Angelica, Henrietta and Mary. Who knows how many Cynster books we will eventually have?
Bee: What authors do you read when you are not writing?
Stephanie: I read a lot of crime fiction, more British than US - Dorothy Simpson and Ruth Rendell at present. I also read romance, mainly contemps at the moment - Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, Susan Andersen, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Elizabeth Lowell and more. And, of course, I adore Janet Evanovich!
~Stephanie~
This is a list of Stephanie Laurens' published work. Some are a little difficult to purchase since they were printed in the UK.
FOUR IN HAND - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1993
IMPETUOUS INNOCENT - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1994
FAIR JUNO - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1994
THE REASONS FOR MARRIAGE - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1995
A LADY OF EXPECTATIONS - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1995
AN UNWILLING CONQUEST - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1996
A COMFORTABLE WIFE - Harlequin Mills & Boon 1997
CAPTAIN JACK'S WOMAN - Avon 1997 (0-380-79455-1)
DEVIL'S BRIDE - Avon 1998 (0-380-79456-X)
A RAKE'S VOW - Avon 1998 (0-380-79457-8)
SCANDAL'S BRIDE - Avon 1999 (0-380-80568-5)
A ROGUE'S PROPOSAL - Avon 1999 (0-380-80569-3)
"Melting Ice" (in anthology ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES) -
St. Martin's Press (1998 0-312-96599-0)
"Rose in Bloom" - (in anthology SCOTTISH BRIDES) -
Avon 1999 (0-380-80451-4)
The three connected stories, THE REASONS FOR MARRIAGE, A LADY OF EXPECTATIONS, and AN UNWILLING CONQUEST, are currently combined in the anthology, ROGUES' REFORM.
Stephanie's new release, works in progress, and planned stories are:
Next is ALL ABOUT LOVE - Lucifer's story - from Avon Books, February 2001.
Stephanie writes this in her Website:
"I've just received the copyedits of my novella, SCANDALOUS LORD DERE, which will be the lead in the December anthology, SECRETS OF A PERFECT NIGHT, from Avon. A perfect stocking-filler, take my word for it. The other authors contributing are Victoria Alexander and Rachel Gibson. Just the three of us, so the stories are somewhat longer than you would usually find in anthologies.
Meanwhile ... I've been busy documenting the trials and tribulations poor old Chillingworth goes through in his attempts to settle into matrimony without love. Doomed - the poor man never had a chance. Fate and I made sure of it. Of course, he fights and manages to dream up a few novel twists, but in the end, of course, he has no choice but to succumb. His story is very nearly done."
I want to thank Stephanie for taking time off from the Cynsters to do this interview for us.
Your Own Bee
February 2003
Bee: You have a new Cynster book coming out next month. This is part of the Next Generation that started with Amanda and Amelia. Tell us about the book.
Stephanie: Actually, Simon is the youngest Cynster male of the Bar Cynster generation - not the next generation. His sisters, too, are the same generation as the Bar Cynster, just a few years younger.
In THE PERFECT LOVER, readers will learn of Simon's fate. Although he was never a member of the Bar Cynster, he nevertheless is a Cynster to his toes - as his bachelor days roll on, he increasingly feels the need to establish his own branch of the family tree - without that, what purpose has he in life? But to establish a family, he needs a wife. Driven by growing restlessness, he determines to look about him for the perfect candidate.
On his way to look over the country house he has inherited from Great Aunt Clara - a prod from beyond the grave intended to force him to think of marriage - what else is he to do with this house? - he stops at a houseparty at Glossup Hall - only to discover the heretofore bane of his existence, Portia Ashford, is also attending, in Lady Osbaldestone's train. Compelled, as always, to keep a protective eye on Portia, Simon discovers she's set on embarking on some wild scheme of her own - one that involves assessing gentlemen, although for what she refuses to tell him.
Unknown to Simon, Portia has reached her own emotional watershed. She wants children of her own, but for that she needs a husband. But she has to find a gentleman who won't expect her to be meek, mild, and all the other things she's not. In typical fashion, she draws up a list and sets out to find a gentleman to meet her exacting standards.
Needless to say, both Simon and Portia find what they are seeking in the one place they'd never thought to look.
But then a murderer strikes, and the houseparty is plunged into a round of suspicions and revelations. Before Simon and Portia can grasp the future that beckons, they must unmask the killer, and so prevent him from removing Portia, not just from Simon's arms, but from this world.
Bee: It is nice to be able to keep in touch with the entire Cynster family. Do you enjoy weaving past characters into new books?
Stephanie: Yes, it's part of that 'returning to a familiar world' aspect, one I enjoy as much as my readers seem to.
Bee: I was pleased to see some of your older titles re-released, since FOUR IN HAND is one of my favorites. All of your books, except FOUR IN HAND, continue on or are linked to past books. Have you ever considered revisiting Max Rotherbridge and company?
Stephanie:
There are two of my books that are not linked to any others, FOUR IN HAND and IMPETUOUS
INNOCENT, which will be released by MIRA in late February/March this year. But as for
revisiting FOUR IN HAND, that's really not possible as there are no characters left
unmarried, so there would be no romance to tell.
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