Q. So, we’ve talked about the Rakehell series a lot–what about your
other novels?
A. Well, living in Ireland, it is certainly a place I draw my inspiration from, and I love the history and people. As for the contemporary romances I wrote, again, they were for series romance lines, and I did quite well with them. But while they were fun to write, I leave them to you.

Writing historicals are my greatest real love. I find it much easier to motivate the characters and have some real life and death situations that I can have them deal with as a major obstacle to the happily ever after. In contemporaries, the stakes are not so
high. And I like suspense romance, but mostly, I find it to be a
lot of suspense (and dumb moves on the part of the heroine) and not
enough romance. Just a pet peeve of mine, but for me romance is a
hero and heroine falling in love. I try to show that in every one
of my novels, and hope I’ve succeeded.

Q-You certainly have with this reader. The Rakehell Regency
romance novels are all great, but as you say, go from traditional
to sensual romantic fiction as the series progresses, and no two
books are alike.

A-Because no two heroes and heroines are alike. So for instance, two couples can meet in the same way, like in a coffee house, but what happens next will be based on who they are, their past, secrets, motives, and so on.

Q-Exactly. As you said, you say to yourself, “What would happen if…” and then spin off a dozen or so ideas and follow them to the startling conclusion.
A-I can see someone has been peeking in my Idea book! But
yes, that’s pretty much it, and after the inspiration is the
perspiration. But it’s all worth it if I capture the magic and
power of falling in love, and true love being able to not only
survive all things, but become all the stronger for having been
tested and proven deep and true.

Q-A perfect way to describe them. So, what about the Renaissance Irish books? Sea of Love and The Faithful Heart were so good, I feel sure they should be made into a movie, with a soundtrack by Enya or Clannad.
A. I would love that. Yes, two different heroines, two impossible situations with Ireland being invaded, some great heroes, mix, and yes, explosions abound.

Q. Yes, sparks sure do fly, between your couples, and on the high seas in those books. Then you went back to the Middle Ages for The Hart and the Harp. That one is a bit of a sleeper novel for you. I mean, I couldn’t put it down, but I’m not as sure it’s as popular as the others?
A. It got sandwiched in between my agent at the time trying to get me to write even more than I already do, hence the contemporaries that I wrote. They were fun and certainly I loved writing the love scenes between the character. Star Attraction and Ghost from the Past also have a strong suspense element in them, along with Heart’s Desire too, to a certain extent. So that was a challenge and those three books sort of grabbed the limelight.

Q. Yes, what was that story you told about Ghost?
A. Oh, yes, we were all in a critique forum where you post a chapter at a time and everyone helps with grammar and so on. Well, I posted the first chapter and I had about 10 emails saying, “Oh, goodness, what happens next.” You’re only supposed to post one chapter a month to get one critique a month, but everyone said to put up Chapter 2. Then 3. Then 4.

By Chapter 6 the whole list decided to suspend their usual business to do my book because they couldn’t wait to see what happened next. It was very embarrassing but also very gratifying to get such a huge response. Now I know how Charles Dickens felt when he found out that people were lining the shores on either side of the harbor to get the next chapters of his novels.

Q. It certainly is a ripping tale, as you’d say.
A. And one that was well before its time, sadly, in terms of the world we live in now.

Q. Yes, a powerful biological weapon, extremists in the Middle East, very scary stuff in that book, and yet you wrote it long before 9/11.
A. True.

Q. And the heroine–she walks right into a spider web and wow, does she have a lot of hard decisions to make.
A. But she sure kicks butt in the end.

Q. (Laughs) Yes, another really unlikely heroine who rises to the occasion.
A. Well, who can say what any of us would be capable of doing to save the people we love?

Q. Too true. So let’s go back to The Sea of Love. If I’m not mistaken, Sea of Love was your first published romance?
A. That’s right. And first written one too. Sometimes that is not always the case. So, I read a single line from a history book one day when I was in the college library and the rest as they say, was history. I got the book done in less than 6 months and found a publisher within a week after the first polish of the novel. I tweaked it a bit for subsequent new editions, but yes, it was the first and the reviews and reception I got encouraged me to start writing even more.

Q. Was that hard?
A. Oh yeah. As I tell aspiring writers, the only thing harder than your first book is your second, then your third and fourth. If you have a hit on your hands, the second book is probably going to suffer a lot by the comparison. Not so much of a hit, well, you’re going to be in even more trouble if it’s not good to great.
The third book is going to be make or break one way or the other and the fourth had better be spectacular, because if it isn’t, your writing career will probably fizzle, because either the first house will have dropped you and you need to find a new one, or your book contract is over and you need to come up with something attention-grabbing enough that will get them to keep you on.

Q. Wow, I never thought of it that way.
A. A lot of writers just think of the first book, and usually the New York Times Bestseller’s list in the same breath.

Q. (Laughs) Totally true.
A. I look at your books and I see the same thing, a good steady progression in books 1 through three, clear writing talent, then in books 4 and five you took off like a meteor.

Q. Uh-oh, sounds like you’re trying to interview me now.
A. Well, I think it’s only fair. (Winks)

Q. Next time for sure. For now let me just say thanks for taking time from your
busy schedule to talk with us.
A-My pleasure. Thank you and all my readers for adoring the Rakehell series
so much, and all my other books.

Q-With more to come soon, we hope?
A-Oh, yes, certainly! Ciao for now.

Q. So is it really going to be the end of The Rakehells?
A. I don’t think so, I still have a few more characters who need to be revisited. The trouble is I might have to fill in some blanks, as it were, between some of the earlier books.

Q. But the last three books, Madness, Beguiled and Beguiled Anew really surprised me.
A. Great, I had hoped they would.

Q. I felt like I had really been on a journey with the whole Rakehell set, and the true end of the Napoleonic wars came as much of a relief to me as it was to them, I think.
A.Glad to hear it. Yes, as long as Napoleon was still alive, he would pose a threat to Europe, particularly England, and as long as that was the case, the Rakehells would be called upon to do their duty, with all the danger that would entail for them and their loved ones.

But yes, I had to try to come to some sort of natural stopping point in the series. You don’t want to keep repeating yourself. I like the variations on a theme, hero and heroine meet, fall in love, rise to challenges, which is pretty much the formula for every romance, but I wanted to still keep coming up with something fresh and new.

Q. Yes, I recall you saying in another interview that all your books start out with, “I wonder what would happen if…”
A. Exactly. And then it can go in any direction, based of course on who the person is and what their challenges, issues or situations are. So for instance Lawrence is about to be married to another woman when he meets Juliet. Normally they would not have a chance at happiness no matter how well-suited they were to each other. Add to that his issues about trusting women and his horrendous background and all the things that are going on behind his back and hers, which the reader knows about but they don’t, and you have a powderkeg ready to explode.

Q. Great stuff. And I thought that was so perfect, the way you tied up all the loose ends from The Matchless Miss and who Alexander REALLY was after all.

A. That was the idea, yes. Alistair is in the other books throughout the series in a supporting role as well, but he was such an outstanding hero, who had suffered a fair deal in his own right, so I was sure he deserved even more of a happily ever after and once I researched my political history of the period, well, he gets to be a near hero in the end. All of the Rakehells working together for the sake of justice and the women they love seemed really fitting as well to round out the series.

Q-And that’s the great thing about your heroines-there’s not a door mat in
sight, but no witches either. How do you strike the balance?
A-A woman can be soft on the outside, but strong on the inside, if
she follows her inner goddess, as my heroines do in the love scenes
I write, which you’ve been so kind as to compliment.

So they are ordinary women, who face extraordinary circumstances, and move
heaven and earth to win their happily ever after. Sometimes the
couples will pull themselves apart, but most of the time it is
their enemies, or the march of history.

But let’s face it, if everything were smooth, fun and easy in the romance, would we
really think that they had fallen in love, and that it would last
for all time?

Q-True. Like Ellen in The Model Husband. I thought her transformation from
teenager into woman was very well done. And Ash too, in the Model books. He
really grows up as well throughout that story arc as a supporting character and then a hero in his own right once he is old enough to marry.
A-Love will do that to a person. Transform them, hopefully into a better person.

Q-Yes, they certainly do seem like real people to me, not just stock
characters you would expect to see in romance novels. You only have a genuine rake or two in the whole series, in fact, compared to the entire Regency genre.
A-Well spotted. And done on purpose. A romantic hero has to be interesting
for more reasons than simply the number of notches on his bed post, in my
opinion. So yes, they are called Rakehells but really only a few of them have a romantic history that would make them really blush.

Q-So you would definitely describe yourself as a romance writer and a romantic?
A-Oh yes. Time and time again I’ve see love transform, and Tantric
lovemaking, for instance, in which a couple aims for true spiritual
union, can bring so many gifts to both the man and woman.

Not all the romances in the series are Tantric, mainly the Model
ones, but I do get a lot of questions about those books, in particular about some of
the love scenes in the later novels in the series.

A lot of people have commented on The Model Master, for instance, that there are a lot of love scenes. They are really only in about the last half of the book as they both start to learn to live again, and to really love for the first time. Every love scene is designed to advance character and story, as well as capture falling in love.

Q. I can just imagine what they ask. (Giggle)
A. It is possible. I can give you a non-fiction reading list if you like, but again, yes, everything
about the history and the love scenes are ALL true.

The love scenes are an expression of each individual hero and
heroine in each of the books, so they are NOT formula or cookie
cutter. At the same time, there is nothing in bad taste-it is all
100% heterosexual and consensual and in a loving context between
the hero and heroine.

Q. Absolutely. Not a ripped bodice in sight. So, we’ve got more Rakehell novels to look forward to in the future, which is great. I can’t wait to see Sebastian redeemed.
A. And a few other people with colorful pasts, perhaps?

Q. Oh, good hint. So, we’ve talked about the Rakehell series a lot–what about your
other novels?
A. Until next time…

Q-So your mission is what, exactly, when it comes to the love
scenes?
A-As I said, I started out pretty tamely when I was writing for
certain traditional romance lines, but then I thought, “Why?”
Falling in love is so exciting, and literally being laid bare–meeting, getting to know each other, becoming intimate. Revealing your innermost self to another human being, and
asking for unconditional love, and trying to offer it in return. I
wanted to capture that whole experience, the highs, the lows, and
the passion, above all.

I also got tired of the formula romances where there was a bit of
action, so to speak, on set pages, and then you get the ‘big bang’
on like page 200 of a 218 page book. LOOONG wait for sometimes
a pretty lame payoff.

In addition, I think a lot of romances ‘cheat’ the reader, because,
for instance, the couple already know each other, had issues in the
past, and so on, and so we never really see the falling in love part.

Or, all we see is LUST. The Rake tomcats around until he finally
finds his favorite sex kitten. Who is either a bluestocking and
boring, and he brings out her hidden depths, so to speak, or she is
a shrew and he has to tame her.

Q-Yes, that’s about the size of many of the romances I’ve read
recently. Which is what I loved about The Model Master and The
Model Mistress, and The Model Husband. They are all so ordinary,
yet extraordinary in the way they fall in love.

A-Thank you, that was the intention, and also to give images of
sex-positive, happy relationships, with couples who the reader will feel are
genuinely committed to one another, not just ’settling’ as so many
seem to in Regency romances, for the sake of money, status, because
they have been blackmailed, and so on. I want to show couples who
are wild about each other, and will continue to be, long after the
reader has put down the book.

Q-Yes, and that’s another thing about this series–we get to see
them develop and revisit the couples sometimes years after they met
and married. How long is the time span on the books, roughly?

A-From 1812 to 1822, ten years from the events in The Mad Mistress to the end of the series, or at least what I think it going to be the end. So yes, 10 years, 18 books, and
there is definitely a time span because some of the books, like
Ruthless and the later ones, are very specific about dates and
events.

As I said, the background to the events is the Napoleonic
Wars, so you can expect soldiers, spies, a race against time, and
so on in various of the novels. There is always some suspense, and more to
things than you might think at first glance.

Q-Wow, yes, Ruthless. That’s another shocker of a romance. I don’t want
to give away any spoilers, but I have to say, I read it in one
sitting, I was so embroiled in the world you created in the book. Some of the characters we’ve seen in the background, as well as the ones we know and love, well, wow. What a shock.

A-I know what events you’re referring to, and yes, I had hysterical
readers at the time screaming in agony “HOW COULD I?” until they read
the whole of the book. Phew!

But all of the events in that book really DID happen. I just
inserted my fictional characters into the action and let it rip, so
to speak.

Q-Talk about love scenes there too, in Ruthless. Really magical.
No ripped bodices! And the new characters we get to meet are amazing. And
ironically, take us right back to where the series started.

A-Yes, Alistair Grant the barrister was a supporting character for so long in the book, all the way back to The Mad Mistress, in fact, and then throughout the series, Guardian of the Heart, The Mistaken Miss, when he gives the fallen Philip Marshal a second chance on a wonderful life. And in Ravished too. As a lawyer, and a secondary character, he’s been very solid, and predictable, so I was not sure I could make him an out and out hottie, but everyone says he
is, so I’m delighted. It’s amazing what falling in love can do for you.

Q. I loved him and the couple together. And you introduce some other great characters too.
A. Yes, some of them were in previous Rakehell novels and the different strands all start to come together in the middle of the crisis that they have to confront in Ruthless. And all of the new friends Alistair makes help continue the series in Madness, Beguiled, and Beguiled Anew.

Q. The last books certainly are shockers on a number of levels. And as you say, you are writing about the real history of the period, so that makes it even more interesting for all of us readers out there. You create, if anything, some even more exciting characters at what looks to be the end of the series. It really left me dying to read more. So is it really going to be the end of The Rakehells?

A. Until next time…

Journalist Evelyn Trimborn interviews Sorcha MacMurrough, author of The Rakehell Regency Romance Series:

Q-Where DO you get your heroes and villains? They are so amazing!

A-(Laughs and points to her head) All in here. I don’t even dare

take credit for some of them. They literally pop right out, almost

fully formed at times. For example, Philip Marshall in The Mistaken

Miss, came into my head almost fully formed one Christmas morning, and was so compelling,

instead of doing all the family things as promised, I wrote for

most of the day. He certainly was a gift.

Simon in Madness was also fully formed from the moment he came into

my head. The heroine’s predicament and the history of the time did

the rest.

Lawrence in Experience was almost the same, except that as I have

said, I like to set myself challenges in my writing, and I realized

I had got all the way near the end (or what I thought would be the

end) of the Rakehell series, over a dozen books, and had yet to

deal directly with a marriage that was not so happily ever after.

Experience was the hardest book I have ever had to write–the sensual

parts were amazing to write, and definitely count as romantic erotica, women’s erotica, but

Lawrence’s hard heart and head and actions towards Juliet the heroine had

me (and many readers!) totally in tears. But again, my heroines are

tough, because I want to show how love can transform and heal.

Q-You mention an unhappy marriage here. That definitely is not the

usual romance novel fare.

A-No, true, but as I said, it would have been true of that period of

time, much more so than the frothy Regencies and historicals we get

from certain authors and publishing houses. I also wanted to show

younger women readers that there are acceptable and unacceptable actions

within romance and love, the difference especially between

consensual and nonconsensual love scenes.

The bodice-ripper type scenes are still being churned out by

certain authors who have been around for a while, and I have to

admit it disturbs me, the message that this might be giving to

young women. No means NO, end of story, and regardless of what the

context might be (what she was wearing, where she was, and so on).

Then there is emotional abuse. Neglect is also abuse. I deal with those topics

in Experience.

Likewise we need to make it clear to younger women in our society that violence in a relationship is

NEVER acceptable.

Only the villains engage in any physical violence in my stories, but it is always there for a reason, never

gratuitous or sensational, any more than the love scenes are there just for filler. They are there to

reveal character, issues they might have, and the path of falling in love.

Q-Yes, your villains. Talk about creepy!

A-Well, that’s the whole point. To be a very strong contrast with the hero in each novel. But

it is also fun to see the heroine sorting out who she can really trust, versus who is after her for their

own agenda. After all, a villain has to be plausible, appear normal, otherwise everyone will know what

he’s up to! The first three books of The Rakehell Regency Romance series, which were written for more

traditional Regency romance publishers, were very much based on

the idea of the heroine wanting to (or being pressured into) making a ’good match’, but having to learn

to trust her judgment and sense, and her heart as her head, to sort the lies from the truth.

Jane Austen wrote about many unhappy marriages in her books-mainly based on

fortune hunters or ill-matched couples, like Northanger Abbey, or Persuasion,

so again, I was being true to life, and adding suspense, while still adding lots of romance.

Q-Like Beauty and the Beast?

A-Exactly. Only in my books, the reader, and sometimes the heroine,

isn’t always sure who is the Beast.

Q-(Laughing) That’s certainly true. You really know how to surprise us, yet

you’ve given us enough clues that we don’t feel, “Huh? Where did

THAT come from.” Like in The Scarred Heart. I LOVED the way you let us in on the hero’s identity, while still

keeping the heroine in the dark almost til the last minute when she gets engaged! Really well done.

A-Glad you liked it. It wasn’t easy, but very fun to write. I wanted to show that when it comes to love

and relationships, you need to trust your instincts, head as well as heart, and vice versa.

Q-The way you wrote that book was very involving too–because we also start to guess who the

villain is, and we’re terrified she’ll end up in his clutches. And of course he is a spy, so you’ve got the

hero and heroine’s high stakes in falling in love, and then the even bigger ones of what is going on in

history at the time.

A-That’s exactly what I was aiming for, yes. A larger landscape than just rake meets debutante, so again, I

am writing much more historical fiction than Regency romance, though the books are set in the Regency

period. You still get plenty of balls, flirting and wittiness but with real events underpinning the action.

Q-And that’s another thing,action. I really admire the way they are all pretty seemingly ordinary men and women, especially the women, who get thrust into the most amazing situations.

A-But that’s when we’re tested the most, don’t you think? We can only grow through being challenged.

Q-Great point. And I like the way the heroines are not really damsels in distress. That in some cases they actually rescue the hero, either emotionally or physically. Sarah the vicar’s sister helping the blind Alexander is a revelation in her novel.

A-Yes, The Matchless Miss. She does rise to the occasion indeed. A very passionate book, that.

Q-But some of your heroines are not so lucky.

A-Ah, no, they do fall into the villain’s clutches, alas. Like poor Arabella in Guardian of the Heart.

Q-Yes, how hard were those scenes to write?

A-Certainly not easy, but not graphic. I let much of it be implied, but some of the heroines do have to

recover from some ordeals. Again, I am writing realistic historical romance, but it still has

to be romance.

Q-Yes, it certainly is. I mean, your love scenes. Well. Wow.

A-Thank you.

Q-I am going to guess you enjoy writing them? Because a lot of

writers don’t, and it shows. With yours, on the other hand, well,

wow! The Matchless Miss, The Model Mistress, Ravished, Experience, well, those are just

off the top of my head. Wow.

A-(Laughs) Thanks! That is sort of the idea. The lovemaking arises from who the characters are as people

and the circumstances they find themselves in.

Q-And Michael Avenel in The Model Master. What an incredible hero and couple, and it all sets the stage for the later books, especially Innocence and Innocence Afire.

A-Thanks, yes, those three are closely connected, though they are quite separated in terms of the story arc, with time passing as the other stories occur, til all the lose ends are tied up in the series. They are all standalone, of course, but it was great seeing all my characters grow as people, especially Randall Avenel, after having such an amazing brother as Michael to live up to. So if you like the characters, and in particular, all the love scenes in each of those books, then I’ve succeeded in my mission.

Q-So your mission is what, exactly, when it comes to the love

scenes?

A-To be continued….

An Interview with Author Sorcha MacMurrough, Part 1

Author and journalist Evelyn Trimborn interviews the author of

The Rakehell Regency Romance series and other top titles:

Q-How did you get started writing?

A-From the time I was a child, I loved to write stories, or even

re-write popular ones, to give them a more interesting twist or

better ending. Then I spent a lot of time doing academic writing,

but one day, I saw a little line in a history book while I was in

the library, and the rest, as they say, is history. I had my first

novel completed and published within 6 months, and never looked

back. That was the Sea of Love, set in Renaissance Ireland.

Q-What has your career been like as a writer so far?

A-I was extremely unfortunate, and fortunate, to be starting my

romance writing career at about the turn of the 21st century, when

things were changing very rapidly in the world of publishing, and

romance publishing in particular.

Unfortunate, in that traditional publishing was coming under a lot

of pressure from new technology, reader preferences, new authors,

and the need to be ultraprofitable.

I was also fortunate for the same reasons. So while my books were

accepted by traditional publishers and either made it to print, or

not because the ”lines” I was writing for were ‘killed’, I also

had numerous electronic publishing opportunities to explore. In

addition, readers’ tastes had changed, to something beyond the

sweet Regency, or the bodice ripping historical.Unfortunate, in that traditional publishing was coming under

a lot of pressure from new technology, reader preferences, new authors,

and the need to be ultra-profitable. I got some bad advice from certain

agents I was working with and was encouraged to write for the market,

rather than write what I was really passionate about, historical

romances that have, for want of a better word, an ‘epic’ quality to

them. In other words, that there is more at stake than just the two

of them falling in love.

I was also fortunate to have started my romance writing career then

for the same reasons. While my books were accepted by traditional

publishers and either made it to print, or not because the “lines”

I was writing for were ‘killed’, I also had numerous electronic

publishing opportunities to explore. In addition, readers’ tastes

had changed, to something beyond the sweet Regency, or the bodice-ripping

historical.

So for example, the Rakehell Regency series started as a single

book in the traditional Regency, sweet style, though with a lot of

gritty issues to be deal with (and yes, I do love romantic suspense

too, so every one of my novels has a mystery or crime to be

solved). Then it became a fairly sweet trilogy (because my editor

told me how much series titles sell compared to single title).

By the time Book 4, The Matchless Miss, was clamoring in my head to

be written, I was looking to write the kinds of books I wanted to

read, but could NOT find on the romance shelves. Or even online, at

a lot of the electronic houses! Not erotica, for instance, but

genuinely sensual couples we can believe really FALL in love in the

course of the book and have to work towards their happily ever

after. And couples who really engage, communicate, make love, not

bicker all over the place and act like frustrated alley

cats/fishwives.

My heroes are by no means bored aristocrats, and very few of them

are actual rakes in the series. I also deal with REAL history

(given my background as a literature and history teacher), and do

not set my books in the Regency period only because the fashions

were nice. A writer should never pen an historical romance if the

history is not key in some way. You can just as easily write modern

romance if that is going to be the case.

Q-You use the word gritty. At the same time, though, there is an

almost magical quality to your writing.

A-Thank you, I do work hard at it, because I really want to capture

in the couple not only the feeling of falling in love, but that it

transforms, redeems, heals, makes each hero and heroine grow, and

wrok to be worthy of the other.

Q-That is certainly true of The Scarred Heart, and Guardian of the

Heart.

A-Mmm, yes, Books 5 and 6 of the series. As I said, once I got to

the stage of producing more sensual novels, with more love scenes,

I was looking to challenge myself in other ways. I had a fabulous

heroine in the Duke of Ellesmere’s youngest sister, Elizabeth, and

needed to find her an outstanding hero. At that time, everyone was

asking me to do a sequel or 3 to Scars Upon Her Heart, or

at least let them catch up with the main characters in that novel in some way. I did want to do a series, so it

became the Scars of the Heart series, and The Scarred Heart one of the titles in it.

It was tough doing a crossover book, but the magic of the Irish setting

and the way Elizabeth falls in love in the novel really did

make the book almost write itself in the end.

As for Guardian of the Heart, I wanted Blake the diligent but repressed doctor to get the one thing

he needs most in the world, true love, only to nearly lose it a

couple of times through his own pride, or at least lack of

awareness of who he is and how to love. Arabella becomes an

amazing woman through her suffering in the course of the novel, and Blake rises to the

occasion to be worthy of her.

I also put in a challenge many people can relate to nowadays,

sadly: coming home from war and trying to live a ‘normal life’, and

often finding that life after the war is MORE challenging that

during it.

Q-A good point. When you started the series, the current war had

started?

A-Yes. I think now, looking back, my reaction to 9/11 was to bury

myself in my writing, with the thought that the power of love

really can conquer all. Love, compassion, kindness, even in the

face of some almost overwhelming obstacles, and some pretty nasty

villains.

Q-Another good point. Where DO you get your heroes and villains?

They are so amazing!

A-To be continued….

–

At HerStory Books  Retreat, our mission is to bring you news and reviews from our published authors, plus how tos, industry information, and more in the coming months.  We excel at historical fiction and romance, and our novels range from mildly explicit to romantic erotica, women’s erotica with strong heroines and heroes and slightly edgier love scenes (and more of them!). If you are eager to learn more about our authors and the publishing process, or even to become a writer and published author yourself, we hope HerStory Books Retreat will become an invaluable resource to help you get started, polish your manuscript, find an agent, or get published.