Ask Stephanie Laurens - September 27, 2012 discussion

Welcome to the group! Stephanie will be answering questions on Thursday, September 27, 2012. In the meantime if you have a question for Stephanie or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in this thread.

On average, how many words a day do you attempt to write? How do you set your writing goals? Do you have a system?

Thank you,
Tracia Byers

Ms. Laurens, I so love all the GREAT hours of escape by reading your wonderful words. My question - will we see a return to Scandal's family? I would love a return to Scotland - The mysterious Catriona and their three Lassies. I am presently reading V. Breckenridge to the Rescue - another hit! Thank you, Helen in Ark.

Hi Stephanie - I **love** your books, especially your heroes :) How do you build various scenes (conversational, sex, conflict, etc.) to help advance your H/h's feelings towards each other without it coming across as formulaic or simplistic?

Just waving! Unfortunately will be away from keyboard most of Thursday but wanted to say hello, you know that I always enjoy your books and I wish you much success with the new release!

ELF

Hi Stephanie, I have read a lot of your books, especially the Cynster books (I love the continuing story of one particular family). I was wondering if there is more to come from them and if you ever worry about the readers getting bored with book after book featuring the same family? Thanks from a big fan from Melbourne.

Do you get writer's block? How do you work through it?

just want to say,
hi stephanie...
love your book so much, love all of your hero also.
your one of my fav author...
greetings from indonesia

I just recently began reading your books and I was utterly amazed. I just wanted to ask you 'Do you have a favourite hero or heroine from any of the books that you've created? Also what inspires you to make a novel?

Love your writing! I will not be able to attend, but I would love for to know your answer:

Who is your favorite hero and why?

Stephanie, I love your books. Your Heroes and Heroines are all perfect matches for one another. Can I ask what inspired you to start the Cynster's series, starting with my favorite "Devil".
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

Stephanie, I've loved your books from the moment I first picked up Devil's book. I was wondering if you were going to continue writing the Cynster books into the future where we see Devil's and Company children on the marriage mart?

-Rachael

Hi Stephanie, like anyone else here I have been reading your books and thanks to my library I have been introduced to the Cynster family and the Bastion Club. I have noticed that a lot of characters are coming from big families or marry into one. Do you come from a big family background? How do you keep up with all the family links and the friendships between the characters? Do you have a family tree like in the front of the books but much more detailed? How do you pick your next choice of H/H? (throw a dart?) - feel free to become a friend here on goodreads or on my facebook page. Manuela

"On a Wild Night" was the first book I ever read that was written completely in English, and since then I have read everything you've written, and it's still not enough! Big fan here <3

Just have one question - which book did you most enjoy to write? I know that for us the readers we enjoy reading, but I'd like to know which one did you really enjoy writing :)

Hi Stephanie..

I love your books! I adore every single one of your heroes and heroine.

Wondering, would you keep the story about cynster family? I always imagine if you will told us about the second generation. It will gonna be exciting to find the story about the children of the Bar Cynster.

Another questions, who is your favorite author and why?

Thank you...

In many exchanges on blogs, review sites, etc., I've maintained that the HEA, because it controls everything that occurs in a romance, will keep the romance genre from ever moving into the what some refer to as the canon of great literature. Please don't take this comment as strike against romance fiction; it has an equally important place, in my opinion. And I like reading it for the same reasons as every other reader, especially yours. I'd just be interested in the response of a romance author whose works and writing I admire. Thanks.

Hello Stephanie! Greetings from Canada! I love your books and of course I fell in love with the Cynster family. My question to you would be: "When you first started writing about the Cynsters, did you expect the series to have so many books or are you just as surprised that there are so many? Are you planning to end the series soon or keep on going?"
Thank you for your time!

Hello Stephanie,

I just wanted to say how much I love reading your books! I especially enjoyed reading the Bastion Club series, even with how this series ended! Will there be any new books to the Cynster clan, whether it be immediate family or one of the spouses families!!! That would be wonderful to see!

Hello Stephanie,

First, I absolutely LOVE all your books!!! I think it's amazing that you can create new adventures for all of the extended family and friends of these beloved characters. My question is how do keep coming up with such wonderful storylines?

Thank you for your time and keep the GREAT books coming!

Sincerely,
Angela Warren

I adore your Cynster books. Have you personally traveled to the UK, and if so, what locations there have inspired you the most? How do you come up with the names for your characters?

Warm regards,

Alpestre St.Johns

Hi Stephanie, I've read all of your books that have been recorded so far on digital talking books for the blind.

I love all of the books and crave to read more. The sighted folks that can just pick up a book and read it don't know how lucky they are.

My question is regarding how you pick the locations like the mansions that the caractors live in. I have an idea for writing a regency novel but get stuck when trying to place my caractors. Thanks for any advice.

Hello Stephanie- Am looking forward to reading Lady Risks All! Loved the Black Cobra series and I adore the Cynsters. Are you going to start a series with the second generation of Cynsters?

Hello Mrs. Laurens,

I would love to know how you come up with your male characters? Are they your dream guys or are they who you think would fit well with the female characters? Thanks so much.

Good morning Ms Laurence,
I picked up one of your novels by chance and since then I've been addicted. I read all of your novels and can hardly wait for the new one. I love the fact that your heroines are all independent - not in means but in spirit- and that they fend for themsemlves. They're a nice take: The heroes are always dashing and a bit on the Darcy or Brandon side which I love. You write beautifully. So here are two questions:
1. Where does the word 'ton' come from? I looked it up in my English dictionary and oculdn't find it so I'm at a loss.
2. How can you write such amazing erotic scenes? Where do you find the inspiration?
Thanks so much for writing all these novels as they're my way of escaping the 21st century with all its hassle and dive into a world of gentlemen and ladies.

Hi Stephanie. Now that you have just two more Cynster sisters left on the current family tree, can you tell us what you might be working on after THE LADY RISKS ALL that is not already up on your web site?

Hi Stephanie. I love all of your books! I definitely love how you work all of your characters from the Bastion, Cynsters, Black Cobra, novellas, anthologies to appear in each others' books.
So my question is, How do you decide on who should appear in who's book?

Ok I'll probably read this one because I've read just about all of your books and I love historical fiction. For this new novel will the formula change a bit? I mean will I guess what will happen by the end of chapter one or will I be surprised? I enjoy it when the female character makes the male character fight for it.

Hi Stephanie! Luv your writing and all of your books:-)
I adore all the Cynster men but in particular, Devil! My question to you is, Out of all of your characters, who is your favorite hero? heroine?

Hello, thanks for the invite! I'm pretty new to your novels, having only read a few, but some of us in the Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired group have been doing buddy-reads of the Cynsters, we're on A Rogue's Proposal now. One thing that has caught some attention is the heroes' reluctance to come out and say "I love you." Devil didn't even say it at all, nor Richard, though they do things to show they love their women. Is there any particular reason for them not saying it, or does it just happen to come out that way when you're writing? Thanks so much for your time! :)

Hi and thanks for the invite! I look forward to the discussion. I love your books and can't wait to see what your plans for future stories are. ~j

Hello, HUGE fan by the way
"a secret love" was the first book I ever read from cover to cover in one week, and after that I wanted more. so I guess I owe it to you that I'm addicted to reading. I own the entire cynster series I think, well I hope so, all I know is that I bought all the books written by you from our bookstore, they don't sell them all here unfortunately :(

I'm working on something now,and I just want to know if you have any tips on writing and if you ever got bored with writing? and how do you know if there are too much or too little details or even dialogues?

Thank you so much for the escape you have provided for me, your fan from Saudi
ASH =)

Ms. Laurens,

I am new convert, your name caught my attention :-) when I was looking for a new author to try out, after picking up 'Brekenridge to the Resue' I have been hooked.

My question is, what drew you to this particular time period of history to write about? Do you have any plans to write any other novels outside of the current time period???

Hi Stephanie !!

I love all of your beautiful novels, but do you ever wish you could go back and re-write any of them ?
If so which ones and why ?
Also what different genre's of books do you like to unwind and escape into ?

Thank-you for your wonderful stories. Your novels are greatly appreciated and they make my lunchtime at work (Monday through Friday) much brighter! The question I have is when you are mapping out your ideas for a book, which comes first - the characters or the plot? Do you build a plot around characters or do you create characters that flesh out and move a plot?

hey stephanie thank you for your amazing novels they are the best i'm a massive fann !!! i just wanted to ask you who's your favourite male hero, female hero,and your favourite book and why ? !!! and what inspires you to write ? and i'm a cynster fan soo if you have more up your sleeve please share soon !!!! luv your work heaps from MELBOURNE !!!! :D i wanted to ask you a more variety of questions but it looks like everybody else has covered them up ! i just wanted to know will you ever or are you planning to try to write any contemporary novels ? plus before you began writing who did you used to read for ? and what made you bold enough to publish you books ?

Hello !!!!! I've read most of your books and the one thing that I keep noticing is the modern themes that keep coming up. Honestly its what I think seperates your books from others. The time may be different, no electricity, no computers but the problems are still the same. I would like to know if you, after deciding your hero/heroine, take a look at what is going on in our world/time now and try to apply it to world of Regency London?
I would love to see another adventure involving Wolverstone and Devil btw :)

Firstly, I'd like to tell you that I enjoy reading your novels, and they're truly amazing. However, I was wondering do you have a large male fan-base that you're aware of or is it mostly a female fan-base. I was just curious if there were a great many of us male fans.

Hi, everyone - waving. Hope it's Ok to start a bit early - I can see so many great questions below.

First, to Tracia:

Ilovetvalot wrote: "On average, how many words a day do you attempt to write? How do you set your writing goals? Do you have a system?


I have a weekly average I like to reach while actually writing a manuscript, and that's 60 pages (@300 words pp) = 18,000 words. 12 pages a day on average. Sometimes I exceed that by a healthy margin, but I usually achieve at least that. Note: this is writing flat out - I've already got an outline, know what's happening, and know my characters very well before I start this stage of writing.

Helen wrote: "Ms. Laurens, I so love all the GREAT hours of escape by reading your wonderful words. My question - will we see a return to Scandal's family? I would love a return to Scotland - The mysterious C..."

Hi, Helen - short answer: Yes! In fact, after Mary's story, the next two in the Cynster Novels will be Lucilla and Marcus, Richard and Catriona's twins. We see Lucilla get the necklace at the end of Mary's book, but she's still got some years to age before her story takes place, and there will be several Barnaby Adair books before you see Lucilla's and Marcus's stories - I'd say in early 2015.

Love2read wrote: "Hi Stephanie - I **love** your books, especially your heroes :) How do you build various scenes (conversational, sex, conflict, etc.) to help advance your H/h's feelings towards each other without..."

Hi - I suspect the answer is: I don't approach storytelling in that way. I start with my characters and the initial whatever that happens to them (like in TLRA, Miranda sneaking into Roscoe's house to save Roderick, and then later Roderick is kidnapped) and then I literally let the story roll, following the character through it. The story/scenes are driven by the characters, by their motivations and reactions - something happens, so because they feel this way, they do this in response, and then...etc - so every scene has a purpose, and the purpose fits the story. I don't think up scenes in isolation and link them together.

Hope that's some help.

E. wrote: "Just waving! Unfortunately will be away from keyboard most of Thursday but wanted to say hello, you know that I always enjoy your books and I wish you much success with the new release!

Hi, ELF - waving back at you!

Sarah wrote: "Hi Stephanie, I have read a lot of your books, especially the Cynster books (I love the continuing story of one particular family). I was wondering if there is more to come from them and if you ev..."

Hi, Sarah - yes, there's more Cynster novels to come. After Henrietta's and Mary's next year, there'll be Lucilla's and Marcus's stories, then eventually Devil's three children will get their stories told, and later several others.

As for readers growing bored...that's up to readers. If they do, they'll move on. But I originally wrote purely for my own entertainment, and then was lucky enough that what worked for me ended up working for a lot of women worldwide - so that's what I still do. I won't/can't write a book that bores me - I honestly don't think I'd even start. One thing I do do, and will continue to do, is mix things up a little - like having the Bastions as well as the Cynsters, and now as we go forward, I have several other groups coming along, where the stories will have more adventure (one group) more mystery/crime (another group) and also the Cynsters (more dominated by the emotional elements of love and family) as well as another group similar to them. So...lots of fun to come for me - and I hope for my readers as well.

Sarah wrote: "Do you get writer's block? How do you work through it?"

I would have to confess that the way I write, I don't think it's possible to get writer's block. I'm not even sure what that really is. By the time I sit down to write any given story, it's usually been in my head, evolving and fleshing out, for at least a year, most often several years, and in some cases over a decade. I'm always eager to *finally* be able to write it. And yes, there are points where I slow down a little in the writing, but that's always because there's something that's not clear in the characters' motivations, and I just backtrack and clarify, and then everything rolls on, falls into place, and the characters continue along their chosen path to their HEA. I know that sounds ridiculously simple, but I've been steeped in story since my earliest years (pre-2yrs old) so now more than half a century on, story comes very straightforwardly to me.

Rosalina wrote: "just want to say,
hi stephanie...
love your book so much, love all of your hero also.
your one of my fav author...
greetings from indonesia"

Hi, Rosalina - waving - thanks for stopping by.

Cherish wrote: "I just recently began reading your books and I was utterly amazed. I just wanted to ask you 'Do you have a favourite hero or heroine from any of the books that you've created? Also what inspires yo..."

Hi, Cherish - as to fave hero or heroine, I would have to say I don't have either. To me they are like real people whose lives I get to see in depth for just a short period, and then that's it. Once I've written their stories, I move on, so the hero and heroine I'm most deeply engaged with are the pair whose story I'm writing now (Mary and Ryder as it happens).

As for what starts a story, for me it's always the characters - I'll have one or the other or sometimes both in my head, and usually I have the "what brings them together" bit, too - like an alchemy recipe - take these two types of characters with these particular backgrounds, toss together with these ingredients, stir well, then step back and see what happens :)

Fil wrote: "Love your writing! I will not be able to attend, but I would love for to know your answer:

Who is your favorite hero and why?"

Hi, Fil - thanks for stopping by. Re your question, see my answer to Cherish above.

Carol wrote: "Stephanie, I love your books. Your Heroes and Heroines are all perfect matches for one another. Can I ask what inspired you to start the Cynster's series, starting with my favorite "Devil".
Carol ..."

Hi, Carol - following on from my answer to Cherish above, the inspiration as such for the Cynsters was the Queen anthem "We will Rock You" - played at max volume by my younger daughter. I was writing another story at the time, but the music/words hit me and conjured this picture of six very alpha, very British males in my mind - and literally within seconds, the Cynsters (the first six) were born. From there, all else just rolled on.

Rachael wrote: "Stephanie, I've loved your books from the moment I first picked up Devil's book. I was wondering if you were going to continue writing the Cynster books into the future where we see Devil's and Com..."

Hi, Rachel - yes, you will see some of the Cynster children, Devil's three certainly, Lucilla and Marcus (who will be the first two) and then as the years roll on, several others. It's going to be interesting, because these will be in Victorian times, and I'm sure will have a different historical feel to them. Well, I know they will because I can already see bits of the first five of these books...

So yes, more to come!

Manuela wrote: "Hi Stephanie, like anyone else here I have been reading your books and thanks to my library I have been introduced to the Cynster family and the Bastion Club. I have noticed that a lot of character..."

Hi, Manuela - yes, I come from an big extended family so know of what I write first-hand. And keeping track of the family does rely on a family tree, and I have, for instance, a note to self to sit down and add all the children I'm starting to mention in the backgrounds of books, then update my website tree. Writing it all down is the only way I know of to keep track - and I have a huge spreadsheet of all the names mentioned in each book, going back through all the books.

As for which characters to write next, it's simply the characters I feel most drawn to writing next. Not a cold-blooded decision, but an: "I most want to know about them next" decision.

Thanks for all of your great tales! Anxiously awaiting my copy of The Lady Risks All. Doubleday just shipped it today!!!