Writer Unboxed

In the crowded lists of historical romances, bestselling novelist Madeline Hunter has carved an enviable niche. She’s been a publisher’s dream, writing 15 novels in seven years. Careful with historical details as well as prose, she’s been recognized in as many years by the Romance Writers of America’s RITA nominations for excellence in fiction, the highest honor in romance.

We are pleased to bring you part two of our interview with Madeline. (If you’ve missed Part One of our interview with Madeline, click HERE.)

Q: You’ve been honored by your peers in the Romance Writers of America with five RITA-finalist honors, and a RITA win. What was it like to be honored by your peers, and do you feel more pressure because of it?

MH: The contests are really about themselves, not a writer’s ultimate worth. I know of many excellent writers who have not won or been finalists. However, having won I don’t get so nervous if I am a finalist now. As for winning, it was an astonishing experience. I have never been that stunned before. I babbled a bit once I got on stage, then somehow pulled myself together. It was fun and exciting to be so surprised and so shocked.

Q: Romance has garnered the biggest market share in genre fiction, yet it gets the least respect in popular and literary culture. Do you have any thoughts on why that is? Do you find this prejudice changing?

MH: We talk about this a lot in the romance community. There are a lot of reasons for it. First, most of the books are in paperback and the industry just doesn’t respect them as much. Then, it is genre fiction which is a stepchild of sorts, whether romance or other genres. Genre fiction just isn’t taken very seriously and when a genre book is taken seriously, the critics go to pains to explain how THIS book “transcends the genre.” And, of course, romances are books written for women by women, so of course that has an impact even in this day and age. They end happily too, which is considered less literary and serious by definition. Finally, there is all that sensuality in many of the books, so that is something else that can be derided and misunderstood.I think it is getting better, slowly. The prejudice is still there, the clichés still abound, but over the last five years I have noticed more positive articles and stories about romance. A lot of young women are reading our books and of course they do not consider the sensuality at all notable.

Q: What are some of the changes in the romance genre since you’ve started writing?

MH: The biggest change has been in the new sub-genres that have emerged. Some had sticking power, like erotic romance and inspirational and multicultural, and others didn’t.

The industry is on the hunt for new things, so there are faster cycles in the market regarding trends. Publishers want to bring an author’s books out closer together now. Ten years ago it was odd for a writer to have more than one a year. Category romance is a softening market, but the dominant publisher of category romance is exploring new avenues and new kinds of stories aggressively and there will be continued changes in that area.

In general books have gotten hotter, there is no denying it. That in turn affects story development in all kinds of ways that challenge the writer.

Q: Tell us about your upcoming release LESSONS OF DESIRE (releases Sept. 25).

MH: In Lessons of Desire, Phaedra Blair is a nonconforming “outsider” whose lifestyle, beliefs and appearance challenge the norms of society. The hero, Elliot Rothwell, is the son of a marquess and an historian who has to stop her from publishing her father’s memoirs which contain information that will ruin his family. This problem brings them into continual contact and conflict, and ultimately into a love affair in which both their battle of wills and a battle of the sexes play out. Threading through the story is a mystery involving Phaedra’s mother and another regarding Elliot’s parents. I also took the chance that readers do not have to have the characters in England all the time, which has become almost a rule in historical romances these days. So a chunk of the story takes place in southern Italy, along the Amalfi coast.

As an aside I will say that about four years ago I was on the Amalfi coast and saw one of the Norman towers that overlook the sea, built in the Middle Ages to protect the coast from pirates and Saracen raiders. Ever since I have known that I would use that setting in a book. Well, this is the book.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

MH: It is important to write and to keep writing. Aspiring writers probably get tired of hearing that, but it really is the best advice anyone can give. Don’t stop after the first novel while you wait to sell it—begin the next right away. And the next after that. Live your stories as you write them, immerse yourself in that world, and don’t pull your punches based on common wisdom regarding “rules” which, I promise, really do not exist. Let the barrier between your soul and the page become as porous as possible so your voice flows into your words. Read widely outside the genre so the patterns within the genre don’t become so ingrained that you adopt them without even thinking about whether you want to or need to.

Q: What are you reading now?

The Private Lives of the Impressionists, by Sue Roe; Leonardo da Vinci: Fights of the Mind, by Charles Nicholl, and Games of Pleasure by Julia Ross.

Thank you, Madeline!  LESSONS OF DESIRE is available Sept. 25 in all online and bricks ‘n mortar stores.

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