Historical Romance from an Author’s Point of View

Posted by Jul 21 2011, 2:25 pm in , , , ,

Why do I love reading and writing historical romance? The answer is really quite simple. Historical romances transport me to another time and place and immerse me in a love story. Before I started writing historical romance, I never considered the skillful balance between facts and emotion in these stories, the delicate weave of details within a love story that creates a sense of time and place and brings the plot and the characters to life. Now, as a writer of historical romance, I know firsthand the challenge of blending facts into a story without creating information overload.

While the developing emotional relationship between the heroine and her hero is the central focus of historical romance, historical details serve to sweep the reader away to another time and place. Infusing facts throughout the story without sounding like a travel guide is a writer’s challenge. Research, layering details through multiple revisions, and a willingness to cut facts that don’t enhance the story are my keys to achieving balance between historical detail, story flow, and emotional intensity.

Of course, thorough research is a given. Historical inaccuracies pull a reader out of a story, while details about historical events, clothing, food, transportation, communication, occupations, and social structure – the list could go on and on – provide scaffolding for a believable story.

After I become familiar with the essential characteristics of an era, I map out the plot and research specific aspects of the time period that may factor into the story. What weapons were available? What historical events, landmarks, and people might have impacted the characters’ lives? What literary and artistic works were prominent during that era? In my new release, Angel in My Arms, set during the American Civil War, Union spy Amanda Emerson visits with Confederate first lady Varina Davis and ventures to Richmond’s Libby Prison to rescue a double agent. These historical details add to the tapestry of the story. In Destiny, the heroine’s love of tragic romances factors into the plot. Research to identify popular authors of the heroine’s time provided details that fleshed out the character’s actions and dialogue.

How much historical detail brings a story to life without bogging it down? That depends on the story. Are historical events plot elements, or does the historical setting provide a context for the story? Angel in My Arms and Destiny are set against the background of the Civil War, but the plot events are entirely fictional. Historical details woven throughout the story create a sense of time and place, and references to historical figures can add to a character’s development, but historical name-dropping can result in detail overload. Your characters shouldn’t sound like Joan Rivers on a time travel adventure.

Every author develops a method that works best for him or her. To me, research, layering details, and revision are the keys to crafting a love story that transports the reader to another time and place.

Here’s a brief summary of Angel in My Arms:

Amanda Emerson must break her cousin, a notorious double agent, out of a Confederate prison before his imminent execution. She’s a skilled Union operative, but for this mission, she needs a man. Even a man who looks and acts like a Viking warrior.

Caught with Rebel battle plans and set for a hanging, Union spy Steve Dunham isn’t about to refuse the assistance of the sable-haired beauty who shows up at the jail and slips him the keys to his cell. Of course, she’s there for a reason besides saving his neck – he’s the key to her plan.

He may be trading one noose for another, but he won’t forsake her. The spoils of his victory will be her surrender. And the terms of surrender will be sweet.

CONTEST: Based on the story blurb, who would you like to see portray Steve and Amanda if this were a movie? One lucky commenter will win a pdf of Angel in My Arms.

I hope readers will stop by my website and my blog www.victoriagrayromance.com and www.victoriagrayromance.blogspot.com. I’d love for you to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

Angel in My Arms is available from:

The Wild Rose Press

Digibooks Cafe

Amazon.com – Kindle

All Romance E-Books

Barnes and Noble

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Victoria’s Top Ten Reasons to Love a Pirate

Posted by May 21 2011, 4:14 pm in , , , , ,

I have a confession…this post has nothing to do with history…other than the fact that pirates have sailed the seas throughout history. Given that Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is gracing the silver screen again in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film, I have pirates on the brain. I adore a good pirate romance…my alter-ego, Tara Kingston, has a pirate novella coming out on June 10 from Ellora’s Cave (shameless plug!)…next month, I’ll take a more serious look at pirates. But for now, here are my top ten reasons to love a pirate: 1. You never have to worry

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Ten Things You May Not Know about the American Civil War

Posted by Apr 21 2011, 12:23 pm in , , , ,

April 12 marked the 150th anniversary of the shots fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the first shots of the American Civil War. This war has been the subject of countless books, movies, and documentaries, and even now, more than a century and a half later, the war is a subject of great interest for many. Three of my historical romances have been set during the Civil War…espionage was a critical factor in the war effort on both sides, and female spies such as the characters in Angel in My Arms and my upcoming release, Surrender to Your Touch,

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4 Comments

Bad Girls and the Men Who Love Them

Posted by Mar 21 2011, 12:10 pm in , , , ,

Femme fatale. What does the term bring to your mind? In the latest movie incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, the sleuth is intrigued and besotted by Irene Adler, a notorious thief with a dubious moral compass. She has a soft spot for Holmes, but you’re never sure if she’s working for him, or against him. She’s perhaps the only woman who could take Holmes’ mind off the clues around him, simply because he’s so fascinated with her. Irene Adler’s interactions with Sherlock Holmes call to mind the femme fatales of old. She may be luring him into a trap, or at

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8 Comments

The Allure of Edgar Allan Poe

Posted by Jan 21 2011, 6:19 am in , , , , , ,

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17 Comments

Elizabeth Van Lew – Spy in Petticoats

Posted by Nov 21 2010, 3:10 pm in , , , , , , , , , ,

What comes to your mind when you hear the word spies? James Bond, gadgets, an eccentric Civil War-era spinster known as Crazy Bet. Yes, that’s right…a spinster known as Crazy Bet – Elizabeth Van Lew, a Richmond spinster known as Crazy Bet, used her eccentric behavior as a cover for her ingenious schemes, disarming the people she’s deceiving without ever using a weapon.  The daughter of a prominent Richmond businessman, the devoted abolitionist spent her inheritance buying and freeing slaves before the war. During the war, she spied for the Union, supplying information to Union generals; during her frequent visits

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8 Comments

Bad Boys – And TheWomen Who Tame Them

Posted by Jul 21 2010, 2:05 pm in , , , , , , , ,

Last month, I posted a tribute to bad boys. Judging from the comments, I was right – romance readers and writers love our bad boys. Bad boy characters are appealing on a variety of levels. They’re highly sexual, they thrive on challenges, including women who challenge them, they don’t run from a fight, and in a great romance, they harbor a protectiveness for the heroine that brings out the best in the man. But what about the woman who inspires a bad boy to be a man? What makes a heroine who tames a bad boy, and does it in

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