Harlequin Historicals Are Often Over-looked - Big Mistake!!

I am often frustrated when I see lists of books that are considered "amazing reads for historical fiction." While I am in no way going to say these books are not good pieces of writing, my frustrations stems from the number of reviewers and "list creators" who exclude the great writing of the Harlequin Historical authors. 

These authors are really in a tough position. Let me explain.

First of all, they are not considered a "series romance." For those of you who read Romantic Times and saw those reviews, there was always a single page devoted to
series romance, such as those found in the other Harlequin lines. I get that. These stories do not follow a "series format" of a certain type of plot, character or setting. But, these books are NEVER considered "single title". In essence, they are in this grey area between series and single title. Tough to market something like this. In any case, these books were put in with all of the other historical books (which they should be), but this is where the subjective nature of this business comes into play, and that is my second, and probably my largest frustration.

Too often, those reviewers and "list creators" will leave these books off due to one of two reasons.

The first being that they are simply "just Harlequin books." Um, no. Just because these books are published by Harlequin does not put them into that series format. These books have the same amount of depth the other stories have, and frankly, often have a lot more depth of storytelling in that 70,000-75,000 word format. Pick up many of the "single title books" and these stories are nothing more than 90,000+ word count of the plots that lack depth and become repetitive. But, since they are in that "larger format" they are somehow considered stronger pieces of writing.

Consider the following authors with great depth of storytelling..

Marguerite Kaye

Sophia James

Bronwyn Scott

Michelle Style

The second issue stems from distribution and sales. Again, these list creators often look at the $$$$. They look at sales. Harlequin had to make some tough decisions during that last recession due to a lack of "shelf space" at the bookstores (what bookstores there were left). The historical authors fell victim to this and now their books could only be found online and NOT in the North American market. These authors just lost a huge market of readers.  Just recently, they have made some pushes to put "some" books out on the shelves, but even then, these authors still struggle due to a lack of market. 

But here is the thing. These authors CAN and DO produce. 

First, they are able to do in a smaller word count what it takes these single title authors an additional 20,000+ words to do. These authors "need an additional 5-6 chapters? 

Single title authors might be lucky to produce 2 books a year. Historical authors? 3-4 and even throwing in a novella or two with collaborations. These authors also continue to fight for every ounce of space and marketing they can muster! They work as a unified force to promote each other's books. They push with huge marketing campaigns TOGETHER to get those sales up.

So, if you are 1) A Reviewer; 2) A list creator or 3) Just a reader, I DARE you, I CHALLENGE you to pick up and read one. You might surprise yourself!

Finding Stories for Historical Fiction

I love historical fiction. When I have a chance to read a fantastic story, it feels like I am transported back into time, getting a great story, and at the same time, learning a great deal about a historical time period. It is unfortunate, however, to read so many stories that the only thing that makes it historical is the time stamp on Chapter 1 or the outer cover that has a character clearly from another time period, or the time stamp from the publisher.

For a lot of authors, this is their only concept for writing something historical, but I want to take the time today to talk about a great approach for developing a great historical piece of fiction. This is actually an approach one of my authors uses on her stories.

One of the first things this author does is travel a lot. She loves taking trips around the world, and while there, take the time to explore the culture and background of the location. She has not come back from a trip yet where she has not found some great story ideas. What she does is pretty simple. She takes those historical tours most hotels and cities offer. As she travels, she learns about individuals who lived during that time. This becomes the basis for a lot of her stories.

Now, let me explain one thing before I go to far. She DOES NOT take those characters and fictionalize their stories. She just uses the lives that those "real" individuals had, and then builds a story 100% on her own using that concept as the ground work.

A second approach that she likes to use is to pick a time period that she plans to write about and then start researching historical events that took place at that time. These might be political upheavals within the country, trade or border disputes, you name it. The key is, find something that is going on and then create characters that would be forced to deal with that situation.

The nice thing about each of these approach is that you have now given yourself access to a ton of primary resources out there on your topic. For example, this author had done a story about early steeple chase races in England. Once she knew the time period, she was able to access actual news accounts of a single race that happened to have a controversial ending. That allowed her to weave a story around that event. What did she have access to? Actual horse names in the race, the riders, the actual bets that took place, the play-by-play account of the race, and a whole lot more. She even got this information directly from the bookmakers right there at the actual racetrack who pulled out the books written at that time. That is killer research!

Finally, my recommendation is to avoid those "source books" for ideas. These are those generic "Dummies Guides" to a particular time period. While this information is great for some general ideas, getting the great story ideas for your projects is not going to happen.

Just remember that historical fiction is about "real" time periods. Don't fake your way around it and you will have some great success!

Why Some Historical Periods Are Not That Glamorous to Write About

Ahh, the damsel in distress. The knight in shining armor there to save the day. The tall, hot and hunky Scottish warrior clad in nothing but a kilt. This is the stuff of romance novel's wildest fantasies.

But wait [insert screeching tire sound effect here].

While these stories may sound romantic, the reality of the time is something that authors have to contend with when crafting their stories. In all honesty, there are many periods of time where the historical accuracy has to be worked around carefully to insure readers keep what they had for dinner in their stomachs.

If you have ever been to places such as Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Germany, England or France in the winter time, you know that the weather is one of the first things authors have to contend with. It is flipping freezing! I remember a trip with my wife and I to Paris in November and Ireland in December and it was simply cold!Thank goodness for the wine and whiskey! Now add that element to your romance novels set in the 15th-18th centuries. Remember, there is no Under Armour to keep you warm. There is no central heating and frankly, the fires probably didn't do much, especially if you were trying to get a little snuggle action on that cold floor. According to Ellen Costelow, in a post on Disease in the Middle Ages...

Rushes and grasses used as floor coverings presented a very real hygiene problem. Whilst the top layer might be replaced, the base level was often left to fester. As Erasmus noted:

"The floors are, in general, laid with white clay, and are covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned."

Now, let's consider the cleanliness of the time. Sorry ladies, but telling me your hero smelled of sandlewood and bay rum is probably not happening. Showers? Baths? Bah! If you were lucky to

jump into the river to rinse off, you were doing really well. And laundry? Ummmm? That kilt your hero was wearing was not only for work, it was also used for drying off and then sleeping in when you were out in the fields.

And then let's take some time to talk about the disease and so forth. Costelow also notes in her article...

Filth was a fact of life for all classes in the Middle Ages. Towns and cities were filthy, the streets open sewers; there was no running water and knowledge of hygiene was non-existent. Dung, garbage and animal carcasses were thrown into rivers and ditches, poisoning the water and the neighbouring areas. Fleas, rats and mice flourished in these conditions. Indeed this was the perfect environment for the spread of infectious disease and plague: the Black Death was to kill over half of England’s population between 1348 and 1350.

A lack of hygiene amongst medieval people led to horrific skin complaints. Poor people washed in cold water, without soap, so this did little to prevent infection. The more disfiguring skin diseases were generally classed as leprosy and indeed leprosy, caused by the bacterium mycobacterium leprae, can arise from dirty conditions. It attacks and destroys the extremities of the body, particularly the toes and fingers, and sometimes the nose.

I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea. This is not exactly the prettiest of times.

Now, does this mean we don't write about it? No! There is nothing wrong with writing about this time period, but the author does need to walk a fine line of telling the truth about the time period and moving too far into the TMI (too much information) aspect of writing.

I have many authors who submit projects to me that are described as being true and authentic, giving the readers an accurate picture of the time. These are research specialists and pride themselves on that accuracy. (Side note here... I should state that many of these are male writers who are submitting stories to me that are only historical and are no where close to being romance or women's fiction). In reality, the only people who would also love to read things and graphic as this would be historians who are simply studying history.

For fiction, however, readers want don't just want the history, they want the entertainment. This is why we have to walk that fine line.

Greek playwrights also knew this. They had the chorus come on stage to tell us what Oedipus does after finding out all of the wonderful things he has just done with his life. Even modern productions of this make sure to move the action off stage or keep it hidden for effect.

As you consider the research for your books, take the time to also consider how much is too much. Remember the readers. If you really want to provide the accurate portrayal of the time, this is where you websites and blog posts are fantastic for providing the historical accuracy of the time. For a great example of this, take the time to visit Greyhaus author, Ann Lethbridge. Her newsletters do a great job of giving insights into the Regency period!