I'm so happy this week to have my dear friend and fellow Newfoundlander romance author Kate Robbins on the blog. Kate writes awesome Scottish medieval historicals set in the 15th century around the reign of James 1. Today she's sharing some thoughts with you!
Putting the History into Historical Romance by Kate Robbins
If you’re a fan of the genre, you know there are several sub-genres to historical romance including Viking, Victorian, Western, Ancient, Medieval, the currently popular Scottish, and the uber giant Regency.
Though these sub-genres all take on different settings and eras, they all have one thing in common—readers who crave them. Let me tell you, if you are a budding writer and think you might be able to fudge some Regency detail? Forget it. Readers know these points in history so well, there’s no way around it. And they will tell you if you’ve gotten something wrong, too—just ask Mel Gibson.
That’s not to criticize readers, mind you. I think it’s amazing that the romance genre has produced such avid and dedicated readers. I write historicals set in fifteenth century Scotland. And while it is not as popular as those set during the Jacobite Rebellion, the attention to detail is no less important. The thing I’ve learned is that readers appreciate the attention to historical accuracy.
Every author will step away from the history and let the fiction take over at a different point too, which makes this genre so fascinating. Two different authors can take the exact same setting and the exact same conflict and will produce two completely different stories. That’s the beauty of this genre. There’s a reader out there for every author—and we are so fortunate for that!
Happy reading everyone!
Kate Robbins is an Amazon Bestselling author. Her latest release from her Highland Chiefs series is Enemy of the Highlander to be released on November 21st, 2014.
You can find Kate online at the following