Jayne Goes Back to the Future

It happened again at the signing I did this week. Someone (there is always at least one person) asked me how I got started writing historical romantic-suspense. The question comes up, I think, because most people know that I began my career as a writer of contemporary romantic-suspense. Readers are curious about the process that led me into historicals.

The answer is simple: I wrote three futuristic/paranormals: CRYSTAL FLAME, SWEET STARFIRE and SHIELD's LADY. Those books changed my life. Darn near killed my career, too, as a matter of fact. Back in the Early Jurassic Romance Era nobody and I mean nobody, wanted to read a futuristic/paranormal. People lined up around the block not to buy those books. Some of my best friends and relatives were standing in that line....But I digress.

Up until that trilogy of futuristics I had paid little attention to the historical market. Yes, of course, I had read and loved Georgette Heyer, but that was the sum total of my experience with the genre. I simply never saw myself as a writer of historical romance. As far as I was concerned, all the stories I wanted to tell required either a contemporary or a futuristic setting.

Also, I had majored in History in college and I had a degree in library science. That meant I possessed a decidedly unromantic view of the 19th century. It wasn't the glamorous clothes or the witty repartee of Regency England that sprang to mind when I contemplated the period. I was inclined to think more in terms of incurable diseases of the lung, the risks of childbirth and poor sanitation.

But I had a little epiphany when I considered the dire situation of my career after I nearly destroyed it with those three futuristics. It dawned on me that what I had written in those books -- especially in SHIELD'S LADY -- were three classic 'marriage-of-convenience' stories. Minus the futuristic backdrops, all three could have been told in a historical romance setting. The rest is history. Sort of.

Okay, I did have to get past the reality-based downside of my degrees in history and library science. But writing the futuristics helped me in that department, too. I realized that in those books I was concentrating on the fantasy and that's all I had to do to make the leap to historicals.

When I turned to historicals, I discovered a treasure trove of new plot ideas and themes that continue to refresh and invigorate me to this day . Indeed, I can't wait to sit down to write my next Amanda Quick. (No need to worry about cell phones and forensics when I plot the murder mystery elements! Yippee!!!!!)

We like questions here on the blog so I've got one for readers: What writer got you hooked on historical romance?