Of course, how do you know when to trust a middleman? I do like my secondary sources to footnote heavily so I can confirm in the primary source myself if necessary. Primary sources are great but you have to sift through so much irrelevance! I'd much rather have a trusted middleman pick out the important stuff for me. I read almost entirely secondary sources. Little things, like whether 'bear hug' is an anachronism (it is, but I decided to use it anyway) or what the heroine would do with an apple core after she'd eaten the apple (toss it in the fireplace grate, probably), I usually leave a note for myself in the text and research during revisions.ĭo you prefer primary or secondary sources, when you have the option? Sometimes I get stuck and can't continue a scene without information, and then I need to take a research break. I research until the POV characters' world feels solid to me. I have a broad idea of the plot when I start a book, but beyond that I pretty much get in character and feel out the story as I go. An actor that I love, Nicholas Lea, once said in an interview that he has to make a lot of little decisions in the moment, and research helps him make those decisions. I also caught Hamilton fever for a while there and devoured books about Hamilton and Burr, and I've got a Jewish Revolutionary War romance coming out in October in an anthology with Courtney Milan and Alyssa Cole.ĭo you research before, during, or after you draft?Īll of the above.

For my current small-town series I've researched politics, high and low, and women's participation therein queer experiences the Napoleonic wars Jewish life servants and much more. My name is Rose Lerner and I write historical romance, typically set during the English Regency (a flexibly defined time period but I stick to the technical 1811 to 1820).

This interview has been lightly edited.įor the new folks, let's start with a brief introduction to your own romances and particular areas of expertise. The latest novella in the series, A Taste of Honey comes out September 12th. Lemeston books center around the people and events of one small English town. We all do the work, but few of us do it as thoroughly as Rose Lerner, whose vivid Lively St. How corsets work, where to throw away that apple core, what kind of naughty words people would use to describe what they’ve done with or to their lovers. Writing a historical romance novel involves a staggering amount of research.

True Pretenses by Rose Lerner