A Conversation with Sarah MacLean!
Thank you all who entered. A winner has been chosen and its… ClaudiCG! We will be in contact with ClaudiCG shortly…
Sarah MacLean is *the* new voice is Historical Romance. Her first adult novels, Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake, and Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord, burned up the bestseller lists and her next, Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart, is poised to do the same come May. I met her when we both read at Lady Jane's Salon, and found her to be as delightful as her writing. She graciously agreed to be a part of my The Summer of You Guest Blogging Extravaganza, and we spent a recent morning on iChat, writing in emoticons and making ourselves giggle.
Kate Noble: Good morning!
Sarah MacLean: Good afternoon. 
KN: Ah yes, you and your east coast time, always getting the jump on us west coasters. How goes it?
SM: It goes well. I'm finishing up some day job stuff… and then I have to take the dog to the vet.
KN: You have a day job?
SM: I quit my day job and then accepted when they offered me a 2-day a week gig when someone went to maternity leave. I was like, OH I MISS PEOPLE YES YES I'LL DO IT!
KN: I miss people too.
SM: It's the dirty little secret of writing.
KN: If I go one more day where the only person I see is my boyfriend he will suffer for it. So I joined a vague writing group.
SM: Heheh. My husband comes home and I'm like HOWWASYOURDAYWHATDIDYOUDOAND-WHATDIDHESAYANDWHATDIDYOUSAYANDWHATDIDYOUEATFORLUNCHANDHIHIHIHIHIHIHI! He wants to murder me.
KN: Exactly! And then I'm like: LETS GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING FUN!!!!!PLEASE GOD!!!!! To which he says, "I'm playing Call of Duty with my friends online in 15 minutes, so…"
SM: LOL. You're SOL
KN: But anyway — let's get down to chatting. I wrote questions and everything.
SM: Wow. You're so professional. I will try to sound brilliant and witty.
KN: Question #1: How many times in the last 2 years have you compiled a list of 9, 10, or 11 items?
SM: Ha! Too many times to count! Why do you think I've stopped with the numbered titles? Numbered lists are deceptively simple. And now, I hate them. I have turned to bullets.
KN: I think you chose too high of numbers. Then you sort of have to pad out the middle.
SM: Possibly. Unfortunately Nine's title came after Nine was written…so…it was either a high number or a short book.
KN: Hee. OK, question #2: You and I are both (relatively) young historical romance novelists — and by young, I mean we've been in the business less than 5 years.
SM: And that we have great skin.
KN: And we DO have great skin. But for me it's because I wear a pail of sunscreen every day.
SM: Oh. I thought it was because you'd sold your soul to the SoCal devils.
KN: They're called the Lakers, not the devils. BUT the question: How have you found the reality of the industry to be versus what you thought it would be?
SM: I think there are two big things that I've found to be different from what I expected. First, I wasn't expecting other writers to be so supportive. It's a distinctly romance-thing. Everyone in the genre is willing to take your call or reply to your emails or chat with you at a signing or a conference. It's a little unsettling at first, because you're sort of expecting these rockstar authors to be…well…divas. And I've never had that happen. Although I did lose my courage at RWA when I saw Lisa Kleypas. I couldn't bring myself to introduce myself. I'm told she's fabulous…but I'm scared of her because she's SO AMAZING OMG.
KN: My first conference, I was eating with some other (then) unpubs, and Lisa Kleypas was eating alone — one of my table buddies went up and introduced herself and got a hug. It was a face palm moment for me, b/c I couldn't do it.
SM: awwww… see? I love her. But I get tongue tied just thinking about talking to her. Anyway, I worked in publishing for many years before I was published…and other genres are not so chill.
KN: YA's cutthroat, is it?
SM: Heh. I actually wasn't referring to YA either…I'm very lucky to write in two genres that are super welcoming. Maybe because romance and YA are too-often perceived as some kind of literary step-child.
KN: Exactly! I think romance is so welcoming partially because we get so much guff from the outside. In this community, it's like "it's ok to like happily ever afters here, come in from the cold."
SM: Heh.
KN: I think one thing I didn't expect joining the publishing industry is the way publicity and social media have to become an ingrained part of your life.
SM: Oh, I know. The thing is, I was a total social media geek before I got published. And now, I never do personal social media stuff…everything is done professionally. And the internet becomes such a time suck…I literally have to block my internet connection to get work done.
KN: I just leave the house. That's what the coffee shop vague writing group is for. If someone is sitting directly across from me writing, I feel tremendously guilty not writing myself.
SM: What you don't know is that that person is on the internet.
KN: Don't destroy my illusions, Sarah!
SM: Sorry. Right. No. That person is Jonathan Franzen. Working very hard. But I wonder if this is a romance thing, too… I mean, are the literary fiction writers online so much? I mean, I love how close it lets me be to readers. They can FB me and email me, etc.
KN: It's amazing. I love that you get feedback instantly. That you get to know who is reading your books.
SM: But it's not so common with literary authors. I mean, I can't imagine John Irving replying to my email. (Though I would DIE if he did.)
KN: Have you ever emailed him?
SM: No! OMG! That's like talking to Lisa Kleypas at RWA!
KN: OK, this RWA, we are going to break you of one of your fears. Either talk to Lisa Kleypas or email John Irving.
SM: DONE. Stay tuned, readers…it's gonna get wild in NYC this RWA. Sarah MacLean will use her words.
KN: or, her computer.
SM: hehe
KN: Ok, next question: I have read both 9 and 10. I have not yet gotten an ARC of 11 (AHEM) — but I'm struck by the very real cast of characters you surround your hero and heroine with. Which secondary characters do you wish you could give their own story and why?
SM: First of all, did you ask me to blog with you simply so you can get an ARC of 11?
KN: …maybe…
SM: Second, thank you! That question means a lot coming from you…I love your secondary characters. Why do you think I'm so excited for Follow My Lead? Uhm, cuz I heart Jason.
KN:
SM: Obviously, Juliana and Simon get their love story finally in Eleven… And I have a soft spot in my heart for Benedick, Callie's brother…but his heroine just hasn't shown up yet. But I really really wish I could tell Nastasia's story — she was Gabriel's mistress in Nine – she remains my favorite character.
KN: Oh, interesting! She wouldn't be your average aristocratic virgin heroine, would she?
SM: I have this whole backstory of hers in my head…
KN: Novella! Novella!
SM: Maybe someday.
KN: I really loved Kate and Joan in 10. I thought they could spark their own series. In an upstairs/downstairs kind of way.
SM: I love those girls. Minerva House comes back for a bit in Eleven… and I realized how much I wished I had had time to really dig in to the lives of the women there.
KN: See, you've got me thinking now: If I had to chose from my own characters, it would probably be the Wilton Boys from The Summer of You. But they are 7 and 9 in that book, so I'd have to jump a head a couple of decades.
SM: That would be fabulous! They're such trouble!
KN: Ok, next question: Let's talk about sex!
SM: oooh. yes.
KN: (…that's really all I had…)
SM: Haha. Ok…well, when a man and a woman love each other, Kate… No. honestly… writing sex is hard. It slows me down a lot. Because it can devolve into slot A – tab B. And that's no fun.
KN: It takes me a bottle of wine to get through writing my characters' first sex scene. I think its because since it's new to the characters, its ten times more awkward. Writing a second sex scene for a set of characters actually comes easier.
SM: The worst part is when they won't HAVE it. I just finished a book in which there is a very noble hero. And OMG. I couldn't get him to do it! He just wouldn't ruin her!
KN: Damn that noble hero!
SM: And I'd get them right there, in the room, ready! And he'd put a hand to his brow and say, "oh, no. I can't." STOP RUINING MY BOOK.
KN: He's gay.
SM: HAHAHA. No, he managed to do it fine in the end. And he was not at all gay. But he was not having me force his hand. Or any other parts of him, either.
KN: OK, obligatory The Summer of You question: What do you do in the summer that officially makes it summer?
SM: Ooooh… the park. We live a block from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and during the summer, I love meeting my husband after work with the dog and some take out and just hanging out in the park. We watch little league games and Baxter gets to play in the dog pond, and it's a total summer thing.
KN: That sounds beyond awesome. And now, I'm jealous.
SM: Hehe. Come visit!
KN: I will, in June! For RWA!
SM: I might be too busy for summer park days then…but drinking! That is also summery!
KN: Yay, outdoor drinking!
SM: We'll fit right in, in Times Square.
KN: Ok, last question: What's the rest of 2011 going to be like for Sarah MacLean?
SM: I hope it involves holing myself up in my office and finishing a few more books.
KN: Good plan.
SM: I'm also hoping that it involves hanging out with the fabulous Kate Noble at RWA in June.
KN: Yay!
SM: And I might send an email to John Irving. But that might be overkill.
Many thanks to Sarah MacLean for chatting with me today. And to help celebrate the re-release of The Summer of You, Sarah is giving away an ARC of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart! Just leave a comment below to enter telling us if you've ever emailed John Irving (or your heroic equivalent), and the winner will be randomly selected on Friday, March 4th!
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