Lauren Royal lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. She likes to attend rock concerts, watch her husband play hockey, and enjoys her kids’ singing and dancing.
Please join me in chatting with Lauren.
HRC: Lauren, you have some wonderful trilogies to talk about. Let’s start with your first trilogy, the Jewel Trilogy, which includes Amethyst, Emerald, and Amber. Would you please give us some background about these books and how they came about?
Lauren Royal: “Well, I'd always heard ‘write what you know,’ and what I knew was jewelry, since I'd owned jewelry stores for many years. So it's not surprising that my first heroine would be a jeweler. The time period also came from ‘write what you know,’ since I'd read a lot of Restoration history (I became intrigued with the period after reading Forever Amber in high school). The rest of the trilogy grew out of the family I created for the first book.
HRC: I know you have been involved in the jewelry business. Can you give us some details about that? Did you actually design and make jewelry like Amethyst?
Lauren Royal: “I worked for a jewelry store during college. It seemed like a good business to me, and I come from a very entrepreneurial family, so it wasn't that difficult to talk my mom into opening a store with me. We called it Royal 14K Gold, and it turned into a real family affair. After we opened the second shop, my dad sold his business and joined us, my husband left his job and joined us, and my younger brother grew up in the business. By the time we sold the shops --fourteen years later -- it had grown to a chain of six stores in malls spread around Southern California.
“Although I did learn a lot about how jewelry is made, no, I never made jewelry like Amethyst. The business has changed a bit since the seventeenth century.
HRC: In each of your books you include some interesting recipes, which you also share on your website. How did this fun tradition begin?
Lauren Royal: “It came about while I was writing my second book. Emerald is a road story, so my characters stayed in lots of inns along the way and always seemed to be eating in a tavern somewhere. While looking for period dishes for them to order, I came across a historical recipe and decided to try it out. My daughter helped me, and we had so much fun cooking and serving it to the family that we tried some more. I thought it would be fun for my readers to try them out, too, so I asked my son to post the recipes on my website. The recipe page proved so popular that I made it a regular feature, and, in my current trilogy, I've put the historical recipes in the books themselves.
“You might notice that the recipe page for Amethyst, my first book, is pretty scanty -- that's because I didn't write that book with recipes in mind, and when I went back I could only find a couple of recipes for the foods my characters ate. Now I make it a point to search out recipes before writing a book! I've amassed an incredible collection of old, long-out-of-print recipe books over the years, hunting them down in used bookshops and online. It's turned into a fun hobby.”
HRC: We know you’d probably rather be writing, but are you one who enjoys time in the kitchen, creating and preparing your own dishes?
Lauren Royal: “Oh, yes, I love cooking, whether historical or modern, and I adore creating my own dishes. I get bored making the same thing over and over, so I'm constantly subjecting my family to new recipes -- sometimes they're great, but other times they're not. And unfortunately, I'm terribly messy in the kitchen, and I hate cleaning up. I'm lucky that my husband and kids put up with me!”
HRC: Do you have a favorite recipe from your books that you enjoy and would like to share with us?
Lauren Royal: “I really like a lot of them! My family's favorite is probably this mushroom pie from Emerald -- they insist on having it every Thanksgiving.”
Mushroom Pasty
Mushrooms of one night be the best and they be little and red within and closed at the top; and they must be peeled and then washed in hot water and parboiled and if you wish to put them in a pasty add oil, cheese and spice powder.
—The Goodman of Paris (Le Ménagier de Paris) by Eileen Power
• 1 ½ lbs. whole button or sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup grated or shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, or a combination)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• one 9? pie crust (lid optional)
Bake the bottom crust. Parboil or saute the mushrooms. Drain, then add oil, cheese, and spices. Mix well. Place in the pie shell, add and slit lid if desired, and bake at 350° F for 35–40 minutes, or until pastry is a golden brown.
HRC: What made you decide to become an author, let alone decide to write romance?
Lauren Royal: “In the third grade, I won a ‘Why My Mother Is The Greatest’ essay contest, and my winning essay was published in a major newspaper. Seeing my words in print was a thrill, and I immediately decided to become a writer when I grew up. Through high school and college and my years in the jewelry business, I sort of lost track of that goal, but it was always in the back of my mind. When we sold the stores, I decided it was finally time to make that dream come true.
“As for ‘why romance,’ although I read and love all sorts of books, I've always found history fascinating, and I do adore a good romance. So historical romance was a natural choice for me.”
HRC: You have three sets of trilogies published so far. Did you start out with trilogies in mind each time, or did one book grow into three as you went along?
Lauren Royal: “I started out writing just one book, but when I got ‘the call’ from my agent saying she'd sold Amethyst, she told me Signet Books wanted two more stories to make a trilogy. The next two trilogies were planned. I find it hard to let go of my characters, so I enjoy writing connected books.”
HRC: Your second trilogy is the Flower Trilogy: Violet, Lily, and Rose. Please tell our readers about these ladies and their handsome heroes.
Lauren Royal: “When I was done writing my first trilogy, I had a brother left over and lots of people asking for his story (thank you, one and all!). He needed a wonderful heroine, of course, so the first book is her story, and the others are her two sisters'. The Ashcroft family motto is ‘Question Convention,’ and they are all eccentric in their own ways. Their mother is a notorious matchmaker, but Violet, Lily, and Rose are determined to find their own husbands.”
HRC: Each of your books follows a different member of the Chase family through the years. Was this planned from the outset of the first trilogy, or did it evolve over time into what it is today?
Lauren Royal: “It wasn't planned, but, like I said, I have a hard time letting go of my characters!”
HRC: How difficult would you say it was to have your work first published?
Lauren Royal: “It was very difficult to find an agent willing to take on a new writer (and I have forty-four rejection letters spanning two years to prove it!), but after I did find an agent, she sold my first book in three days. I believe getting published takes more than talent --writers also need perseverance and luck. I consider myself very lucky.”
HRC: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Lauren Royal: “The best advice I ever received was to leave out the boring stuff. I try to follow that advice religiously! I usually tell new writers to read a lot, write a lot, and finish that first book. So many people say they want to write a book, but very few actually ever finish one -- they seem to get stuck writing the first few chapters over and over. Finishing a book is the first, most crucial step to getting published.”
HRC: What is the creative process for you behind writing a romance novel?
Lauren Royal: “I start with a complete synopsis of the story, but the finished novel never follows it exactly. The first draft is extremely difficult. While I'm still learning about the characters, it feels like I'm pulling every word from my gut. I enjoy the revision process much more -- taking the mess that is a first draft and making the plot work, making the words sing, making the characters come alive. That's when it turns into a book.”
HRC: Of all the books you have written thus far, which is your favorite? Is there a particular character which holds a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Lauren Royal: “I'm sorry, but I have no answers to this question. My books all come from me, so in a way they're like my children. And like my actual children, I love them all equally for different reasons.”
HRC: Next up is your most recent trilogy, the Sweet Temptations Trilogy, which includes Lost in Temptation, Tempting Juliana, and The Art of Temptation to be released in October. You’ve changed eras in these books and give us descendants of the Chase family. Please give us a peek into these characters’ lives and why you made the time change.
Lauren Royal: “After writing six books and a novella set in the Restoration, I just wanted a change of scenery for a while. I chose the Regency for two reasons: because I like it, and because it was far enough in years from my other stories that I could write about descendants of my original families without having the current characters actually remember them. That would be too sad, I think!”
HRC: Will we be seeing more of the Chase family after The Art of Temptation is published in October? Or will you be moving on to a totally different area?
Lauren Royal: “For right now, I'm moving on. But I won't say I won't come back. (Remember…I have a hard time letting go of my characters!)”
HRC: Your characters seem so real and complex. How do you 'find' or create these endearing heroes and heroines?
Lauren Royal: “Thank you very much for that wonderful compliment! I wish I could tell you how I find or create my characters, but the truth is, I don't really know. Unlike many authors, I don't fill out detailed character sheets beforehand. Neither do the characters just ‘come to me’ or ‘tell their own stories.’ (That would be nice!) I start out writing not knowing much about them, and details are developed as I go along. Nothing really comes together until the first draft is finished, which is why I always need to do so much revision.”
HRC: What era in history intrigues you most?
Lauren Royal: “Oh, there are so many! The Restoration, obviously, and the Regency. But I also love the Tudor era and many others, going back to Roman times. And American history as well, especially the colonial period and all the events surrounding the Revolutionary War.”
HRC: After writing all your historicals, have you ever considered writing a contemporary? How about a paranormal?
Lauren Royal: “I wouldn't rule out a contemporary (I never say never), but I've yet to seriously consider a story set in the present. All of my ‘good’ ideas seem to be historical. As for a paranormal, although I do enjoy reading them, I don't picture myself ever writing one. (I'm afraid I'm just not a woo-woo sort of person.
HRC: When you are not immersed in creating your own fantastic worlds, are there romance writers whom you read? Which authors have inspired you in your own writing?
Lauren Royal: “I have too many favorite romance authors to list, so I'll just say my favorite romance ever is A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux. As for which authors inspire me, all of them! I am a constant reader, and I learn something with every book.”
HRC: Are you able to give us a sneak peek into what you’re currently working on?
Lauren Royal: “Following The Art of Temptation in October, my next novel will be set in England in the 17th century. It's still in the research/plotting stages, so that's all I want to say for now. It's a book I've been wanting to write for a long, long time, though, so I'm really excited about it.”
HRC: What would you say is the most difficult thing about writing?
Lauren Royal: “Everything! Honestly. Not that I'm complaining --there isn't anything I'd rather do than write books. But it's hard work. Then again, I think most jobs are hard work -- especially jobs done well. Writing isn't any different.”
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