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08/03/2005 Entry: "Carla Kelly, Laura Kinsale"

All About Romance has short interviews with two of my favorite writers: Carla Kelly and Laura Kinsale.

Says Kelly: Where to begin? Last summer, I was merrily plugging ahead with Beau Crusoe, when Harlequin dropped its little cow pie [they were eliminating retail sales in the U.S. of the Harlequin Historicals line] – whereupon I promptly stopped writing. I had some other things I worked on that haven't panned out. The upshot was, I was left without a book to finish, and no money from that. The editor at Harlequin (and in fairness, I don’t think she knew about the decision to stop the historicals, either) when I signed originally, had said some rosy things about a future with Harlequin, etc. When the picture changed, I realized I didn't have a future with Harlequin, or anyone, for that matter. When my agent called in November to announce that the book was back on again, I really wasn't in an accommodating mood. I’m having a few trust issues with Harlequin, I suppose.

I've enjoyed Kelly's traditional Regency novels so much. (What is "traditional Regency"?)

Says Kinsale: Since I didn't want to write under a deadline for this book, I completed it without a contract. The process of finding a publisher is now underway, so I can't really say when it will be published yet. After spending a long time on a very intense book, Shadowheart, I wanted to give myself a break from that and revisit some of the lighter styles I've used in the past – what I think of as hedgehog humor: a whimsical sort of story where any absurd thing can happen. So this book, tentatively titled The Lucky One, is a bit of Regency froth in honor of all the enjoyment I've gotten over the years from Georgette Heyer's wonderful novels.

(tags: AllAboutRomance, CarlaKelly, LauraKinsale)