“I don’t like you.”
I actually had a reader tell me that once.
“Um, oh-kay? Why?” or words to that end was probably my brilliant response.
“You made me learn something.”
Well, what could I possibly say to that except again, “Why?”
“I was looking for something light and fluffy to breeze through. Instead, I picked up your book and I was halfway through it when I realized I was learning stuff.”
After delving deeper into that conversation, it turned out this particular reader considered lesfic to be, for the most part, all romance and happily-ever-afters with maybe some occasional mysteries included. She didn’t think there was such a thing as lesbian historical fiction.
Let’s be real; compared to the hetero markets (think Harlequin, etc), lesfic is a niche. An ever- growing niche in the market, especially looking back 20 – 30 years ago. I still remember my very first foray into lesbian literature came in the form of a mystery published by one company and discreetly arriving in the post box in a plain, brown mailing wrapper. Thank whoever that we have evolved and are more visible than ever. Still, if lesbian fiction is a niche, historical lesbian fiction is like the distant cousin bundled up in a trench coat smoking unfiltered cigarettes standing on a dimly lit street corner.
I’m not certain I ever purposefully set out to write lesbian historical fiction. I just kind of fell down the rabbit hole. You see, as a wee little youngster, I was always fascinated by history. We lived in England for a short time and every weekend was spent visiting castles or cemeteries or museums. What?!? – you didn’t do brass rubbings on gravestones as an 8 year old?
Traipsing through the grounds of all that history somehow rubbed off on me. In later years as I began reading fairy tales and watching those Disney princesses on the big screen, I often wondered why it was always the “damsel in distress” and why the girl was never the hero. And, why
couldn’t the princess save herself, anyway? Or walk softly and carry a big stick? Keep in mind, this was well before Xena and her trusty little sidekick made it onto mainstream television.
My very first published novel, Taming the Wolff, was written from the point of view that the damsel in distress and the hero could both be women. And, I really wanted to write about pirates. I didn’t realize until much later how time consuming researching history (even the fictional kind) can be. Not only that, but to work the elements into the novel without making it too fact-heavy. It can be a fine line to walk. After all, history shouldn’t be sitting in a classroom. To me, it’s also about going to places and seeing things. I once actually got to use a real-working guillotine. But, that’s a story for another time.
Let’s see; oh, yeah. Seeing and doing things. I remember visiting Texas every couple of years while growing up. My Granny and Papaw lived in San Antonio and every time we came, Granny always took us to The Alamo. There, of course, we learned about the 189 men that died defending The Alamo from enemy forces. I remember there was one display (yes, one) located at the end of the Long Barracks that mentioned a woman and her daughter that were at the 13-day seige and survived. One woman and one child that were there. No mention of anyone other women being at the battle, as far as I recall from my field-trip time with my Granny.
I recently visited The Alamo again to get a feel for the history as I was working on “Remember Me”, my new novel set during the battle. In the years since that initial visit, I remembered that one display and often wondered “why?” and “what if?” –
Why was so much history written about the male defenders while the women are lucky to be mentioned as footnotes?
If there were other women, which we now know there were, present during the 13-day siege, why do we know so little about them?
What if they played a more prominent role in the defense of the mission than they were given credit for?
What if they were at The Alamo, not just serving as nurses or cooks, but also fighting alongside the defenders?
What if their stories, their voices could be heard?
All these “why’s” and “what if’s” are what prompted me to write “Remember Me”. Women are intelligent, strong, fierce, and independent. Even when History tries to keep us “in our place”. We have a lot of “Herstory” that still needs to be told.
“Remember Me” has an official release date of April 1
st. I encourage anyone that reads it and wants to reach out to me (whether to tell me you enjoyed it or you hate me because I made you learn something), to email me at
delrobertson@ymail.com
I love to hear from readers….and you never know – maybe there’s a topic out there that you might think would make for great historical fiction…
Audio books
Jen Silver
I only started listening to audiobooks about five years ago. Up until then I hadn’t seriously considered having any of my books narrated. However, listening to books that I’d already read gave me an insight into how the different medium could enhance the story. With the right narrator, the words gained new life.
I was lucky to find the ideal narrator living almost on my doorstep, only a few miles along the road. We met for an initial discussion about how she worked and I didn’t need much more convincing to take the plunge. I gave her my two latest books to look at. Not long after that she sent me a sample of a scene from
Changing Perspectives.
This was the game changer. I was sold on making the commitment to have the book recorded. Nicola Victoria Vincent is a wonderful voice actor. Hearing her treatment of different character voices gave the story a whole new depth. (It also showed up some of my writing glitches.)
So that was the start of my journey into audio. Nicki’s now produced two more of my novels –
Starting Over and
Darcy Comes Home. I’ve funded the productions myself and I’m not likely to break even on the costs. But it’s worth it to me to have my stories out in this format.
Quote from Nicki:
"Thanks, Jen, for the kind words. It’s a long process narrating a book as you might imagine, and it begins on the first read of the story. Getting to grips with the world of the story and the characters lives who populate it. I understand the long process that the author has gone through to create that world and all the hours spent thinking these characters into being, so it’s important that I bring the characters to life with real feeling and I’m always thrilled when the author is happy with the work. Thank you, Jen, for choosing me as your narrator."
Links:
Starting Over:
Audible UK /
Audible US /
Audible DE /
Audible CA /
Audible AU /
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Apple Books
Darcy Comes Home:
Audible UK /
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Apple Books
Changing Perspectives:
Audible /
Amazon /
Apple Books /
Beek /
Chirp /
Scribd /
Google Play /
Kobo /
Nook / Also on Spotify
