Connie: It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Once Upon A Romance, Carrie! Robyn and I are anxious to pick your brain about your particular thoughts on the publishing industry as well as your writing process. We’re going to ask a few fun, personal questions, too.
First though, would you tell us a bit about you and your background? Maybe something about your upcoming releases?
Carrie: I was born in California, raised in the Midwest, and found the love of my life in England. Now we raise two elementary-aged daughters, and I write fulltime. My first release was in December 2008, a take on the Robin Hood legends called What a Scoundrel Wants. In it, Robin Hood’s estranged nephew, Will Scarlet, rescues the alchemist who can clear him of murder, but she’s blind, obsessed with fire, and sister to the woman he helped kidnap. The sequel, Scoundrel’s Kiss, featuring a Spanish warrior monk and a troubled English translator, will be released in January 2010.
Robyn: Carrie, I know every person asks why you choose such diverse and unusual places for your stories. Instead of asking "the same old question", I’m actually wondering about contemporaries vs. historicals. In a contemporary book, we’re familiar with culture, slang, movies/actors, etc. Reading a historical, we don’t always have that familiarity or knowledge. What do you think it is about historicals that so many readers seem to, or want to, relate to?
Carrie: For me personally, it’s about escape. I suspect this explains the popularity of paranormal romances and urban fantasy, too. There’s just as much worldbuilding in historicals as in those diverse genres. While contemporaries offer romantic fantasies for readers, I tend to want the whole hog. No Wal-Mart, no school superintendents, no parking tickets. While some go for vampires and magic, I want to read about ancient codes of chivalry, long-forgotten customs, and moments of high adventure and drama. I get that—both as a reader and as an author—out of historical romance.
Connie: You want the book you’re reading to make you sigh and dream like we do, hmm? Let’s take those thoughts a bit further, aside from the chivalry and adventure and drama. As Robyn said, in contemporary romances we’re familiar with much of the setting and environment, yet in historicals the scenes need to be a bit more vividly set. When is the description and detail (i.e. clothes, rooms, transportation) too much? How do you find a happy medium that will give enough detail to stir the reader’s imagination and not take away from the characters and their romance?
Carrie: This is an issue that I believe every author, no matter the genre, must confront. How much is too much? As a recovering historian, I still struggle to separate what needs to be included for the sake of the romance, and what I find interesting from my hours of research. The balance (or lack thereof) may actually explain the dearth of "unusual historicals" on the market; readers might not want to know all of the details an author might feel obligated to include when describing a new locale or era. Once familiar with the Regency or the Old West or the Scottish Highlands, it’s comforting to revisit those places, as a reader and as a writer.
But me…I’m easily bored and always looking for a new research fix 
Robyn: With the Robin Hood legend behind your series, What A Scoundrel Wants and Scoundrel’s Kiss, do you find that you have to keep charts or lists to keep everything straight from one book to the next?
Carrie: Not so much. Because Scoundrel’s Kiss takes place in Spain almost two years after the conclusion of What a Scoundrel Wants, I was really only dealing with two repeat characters—Ada, the heroine, and her besotted friend, Jacob. The change of scenery and a fresh new cast meant I was plunging into unfamiliar territory, which didn’t involve a great deal of note-keeping. But I did overtax the interlibrary loan system. Not so many books on medieval Spain here in my local library system…
Robyn: That’s so funny. I also tend to overuse the interlibrary loan to get my hands on all sorts of books to read.
Connie: But isn’t it also funny (ironic) how some subjects are so readily available and others you have to scrounge for the slightest bit of history and trivia…?
From time to time we read historical romances where the author has let the villain or antagonist have a hugely major role in the story, which of course creates the needed conflict, but can sometimes overtake the romance. How much of the conflict do you want your villains to cause and how much conflict do you want the h/h relationship to cause? How do you find a compromise?
Carrie: Again, this is a tricky issue that many authors must confront, especially those of us who like to write high action romances. Plot can become front and center. Luckily I have eagle-eyed critique partners who are there to highlight any such tendencies on my part. I’m so thankful for their objective, fresh perspectives when I’m revising.
Connie: Carrie, when you’re getting the visual for your story and a gleam in your eye about the characters what do you do or think of to set the tone and get some sparks flying?
Carrie: What a Scoundrel Wants was directly influenced by the many Robin Hood films that have been created over the years. Swashbuckling, derring-do, and big, larger-than-life action. So the story was very visual to me when I wrote it. The words had to provide a cinematic feel. Then came music. I love writing with music to help inspire me. Music is evocative on a non-verbal level much as movie visuals are. Readers can get a taste for what I listened to for all my works by visiting my website and visiting the "excerpts" pages for each one.
Robyn: I had a lot of fun roaming around the blog you created, www.unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com. Can you tell our readers a little bit about the site and what you do there?
Carrie: In 2006, after completing my first manuscript, Serenade, which is set in 1804 Salzburg, Austria, I wanted to see if other "unusual historicals" authors were out there. I wanted to network, support our peculiar little sub-sub-genre, and fatten my to-be-read pile! Now nearly three years later, we feature the who’s-who of unusual historicals, with an author interview and free giveaway every Sunday.
And speaking of free, that debut novel of mine? It’s available as a complete PDF or EPUB file to members of my Yahoo! group. Just sign up at groups.yahoo.com/group/carrielofty and check out the FILES section. Or you can check out a three-chapter excerpt here: carrielofty.com/Serenade.html.
Robyn: Sounds like you really created a great place for others in your niche of historicals. And my next internet stop will be over to your Yahoo! group to get my hands on Serenade.
Connie: Working in a new/used bookstore I’ve seen in recent years sales in historical romances lag while the sales of paranormal romance skyrocket. The dreaded trends.
Do you think with you and fellow historical authors creating books based in unusual settings and times we can hope to see an upswing and resurgence of the historical romances? What do you think the attraction to the reader is, Carrie, with these unusual settings and times?
Carrie: I started reading romance in the late 80s and early 90s when everyone and her sister was writing a western. Then came all things Regency. In between there, paranormal took off like a screaming rocket. So I comfort myself and my historical-writing amigas that what goes around comes around.
With regard to the unusual settings and times, I have to say that it was, for me, about personal interest first. Only then did I consider the market. This was backward thinking with regard to Serenade, because publishers’ hesitancy always came back to the setting. But it can also be the one bright, interesting thing that sets an author apart from all the dukes and lairds and cowboys. An author still has to deliver a convincing, heartfelt romance, but that initial PING of difference can be an advantage.
Connie: Here’s hoping, for all the avid historical romance lover’s, the "sub-sub-genre" takes off and forms it’s own trend!
Robyn: What is your opinion…fact or fiction: The first book is the hardest to write.
Carrie: Fact. For me. It was a chaotic, doubt-filled process that took six years to complete. I wouldn’t want to have to do that again!
Connie: I can only imagine…Is it harder for you to write and begin a scene when you first sit down to the computer or after an interruption?
Carrie: Beginnings are hard for me. I work the night before, if I can, to block out where I want the next scene to go, or else I’d sit at my computer for hours just fiddling.
Connie: Ok, Carrie, while I could go on asking questions about your writing and thought process our time is running out. Now’s where we get to the fun, personal questions… Some of your favorite foods are lasagna, enchiladas, fresh baked bread. Does this mean they’re your favorites as long as someone else makes them, or do you have favorite recipes?
Carrie: Those are three favorites from family recipes, although I’m open to trying any of them from folks who want to cook for me!
Robyn: For some fun, I’m asking everyone to tell us how adept or how challenged they are in the kitchen. We’re also wondering if you have any culinary disasters lurking in your past that we might enjoy hearing about?
Carrie: Not so much. I experienced a brief moment of kitchen-based experimentation after my daughters were born I think I needed to be creative in some way, even if I wasn’t writing at the time. But now I play it pretty safe. I’m competent.
Connie: You want to visit Salzburg. I assume that would be your dream vacation. What do you want to do there? What would be the first thing you’d want to see?
Carrie: I’d want to see the Dom, the central cathedral that seats thousands of people. And then I’d want to take the cable car to the top of Mönchsburg and look down over the city. My husband, Keven, is dreading this vacation because he knows I’ll transform into an annoying tour guide!
Robyn: As a little girl, during summer break, where could you be found? Were you outside playing, inside playing with Barbie’s or dolls, inside/outside reading, other?
Carrie: Outside playing. My brother is two years younger and we’d go everywhere. Bikes were freedom. And dusk didn’t necessarily mean we were ready to come in!
Connie: Hmm, you had to come in when it was dusk? We had to come in when the street lights went on whether we were ready to or not.
There are some actors (TV and big screen) who seem to have become more charismatic and better looking with age. Who do you think fits this?
Carrie: I’m eagerly awaiting the return of "Lie to Me" to television. I adore Tim Roth. He started out so baby-faced in movies like Reservoir Dogs. Now he has this gorgeous, surly swagger that does lovely things to my imagination. Johnny Depp is another good example of that—so baby-faced and pretty in his youth, maturing into an extremely compelling man.
Robyn: Pepsi or Coke??
Carrie: Coke!
Connie: What is something you find it hard to make it through the day without?
Carrie: Music. Absolutely. I love to sing and dance. For me, they’re the physical side of inspiration.
Robyn: Carrie, you’ve read and researched so many eras throughout your life. I’m wondering how that translates into TV watching choices. Do you prefer reality, drama, sci-fi, or comedy…or something I forgot to mention?
Carrie: Ah, television. "So You Think You Can Dance" is my severe, crippling TV weakness. I picked up two comedy shows from my English husband, "Mock the Week" and "Never Mind the Buzzcocks," and he and I just wrapped up a month-long "Battlestar Galactica" binge. This season, I’m looking forward to "Lie to Me," "Castle," and the new sci-fi dramas "FlashForward," "V," and "Caprica."
Robyn: I am joining you in the " FlashForward" TV adventures. I’d watch more, but I’m running out of TiVo space.
Connie: On that note we’ll say thank you and goodbye. We had a great time getting to know you, Carrie.
Before we part ways, is there anything Robyn and I forgot to ask you that you’d like the reader to know?
Carrie: No, that about covers it. Thanks so much for inviting me to stop by!
Robyn: Thank you again, Carrie, for stopping by to visit us. It was so much fun to get to know you better. I’m glad you’re sticking with your ‘unusual’ historicals. I also would love to meet up in person someday for some of your enchiladas. I speak for everyone here at OUAR when I say we look forward to keeping up with you on the web and we hope to read you soon.