Today, I have
bestselling romance author Sabrina Jeffries over to answer some questons about
her work. Sabrina’s latest installment is due to be on the market soon.
So here goes:
1) Sabrina, can
you tell us something about what made you an author?
Believe it or not, when I was 12, I used to lie in bed at night and make
up stories (I had three stock romances--a cowboy one, a medieval one, and a
contemporary about a rock star). I actually remember thinking that one day I
was going to grow up and write them down and sell them to people. I'm not
kidding. I did get waylaid for a decade and a half, but I guess old dreams die
hard. Fast forward to about eighteen years later when I sat down to turn
my dissertation into a published work about James Joyce's play,
"Exile." I snapped and wrote a romance novel instead!
2) You’ve been a published and bestselling author for quite a while, but
can you remember how it was in the beginning?
Oh, yes, especially since I went through that beginning stage
twice--once as Deborah Martin, and then a second time as Sabrina Jeffries.
3) What made you pick Regency romance as your genre?
I love the Regency because of the fine wit, the bawdy character of some
of the aristocracy, and the wonderful costumes. It was a time of change in
English society, which always makes for great dramatic material.
4) How do you
handle criticism?
It depends on whom it's from. If it's from my critique partners or my
editor, I think I handle it fairly well. I'm only slightly annoyed. But if it's
from reviewers I get a little more crazy. I just keep that reaction to myself!
5) How do you go ahead when planning to write another novel?
Believe it or not, I do jigsaw puzzles. They help me plot. I don't know
why. But I work on the puzzle and my ideas coalesce and that's how I start!
6) You have
more than one series (Lord trilogy, Swanlea Spinsters, The Royal Brotherhood,
The School for Heiresses, the Hellions of Halstead Hall and now The Duke’s
Men). It is admirable how you succeed in taking characters from one series and
putting them in another. How do you keep track of them?
I use several tables that list their origins, their looks, their manner
of speech, everything I can think of. I'm a bit geeky that way.
7) Have you visited the places you write about?
Some of them. I've been to Amsterdam (setting of the prologue of When the Rogue Returns) and to London
and to Edinburgh (setting of the rest of the book). But I haven't visited
nearly enough of them!
8) Your newest release,When the
Rogue Returns, is due January 21st. Can you already tell us a little more
about it?
When the
Rogue Returns covers an area little discussed in
historical romances—the creation of good-quality fake diamonds, which began in
the 18th century with a man named Georg Friedrich Strass, who
essentially “discovered” the rhinestone. My heroine, Isabella Cale, is a
jeweler who’s an expert at creating fake diamonds, so expert that she gets
herself and her new spouse, Victor Cale (cousin to the duke in What the Duke Desires) embroiled in a
plot to steal royal diamonds. Ten years later, after the plot separates her
from her husband, they get a second chance at love. I had to do a LOT of
research into diamonds and the diamond industry. What a trial that was! :-)
9) Do you plan
more series? Perhaps lift a tip of the veil?
I'm still mulling over my new series. But I'll be telling readers about
it as soon as I get it finalized.
10) What do you like to read yourself?
Everything. History, romance, biographies, business books, women's
fiction, new adult . . . About the only thing I don't read is inspirational.
Everything else is fair game.
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