|
Welcome Gaelen Foley to The Romance Reader’s Connection. I’m very pleased and honored that you have taken time out to
talk about your work with us.
JR: How long have you been writing?
GF: I got serious with it about 10 years ago.
JR: What kind of books do you yourself like to read?
GF- My favorites are the same kind of book I like to write: well-written, dramatic historical romances set in the Regency
period, preferably with some edgy suspense thrown in to keep the plot moving along at a good clip. They have to have great
heroes or they become wall-bangers pretty quickly for me. I love Elizabeth Thornton, Mary Jo Putney, Anne Stuart, Laura
Kinsale. Outside of romance, I am a big fan of Michael Creighton and Anne Rice.
JR: Your Ascension series begins with a supposedly dead Prince returning to reclaim his homeland and rightful place on the
throne. What inspired you to write this trilogy?
GF: My story ideas seem to percolate up from my subconscious as my psyche's way of processing the impactful events and,
to be perfectly honest, the past wounds in my own life. It's not a simple one-to-one relationship nor is it something I
consciously set out to do. First and foremost, my aim is to tell an entertaining, larger-than-life tale; but in hindsight, after
the story is done, I can often read between the lines and discover what my subconscious was trying to work out through that
particular story. It's kind of like dream interpretation or a tarot card reading--part insight, part imagination. Fiction, after all, is
often called "soul medicine." In the case of THE PIRATE PRINCE, in which the hero is exiled from his homeland and feels he
can never go back because of his many sins, I think it had something to do with my own process of moving away from my
hometown and family in my early 20's under rather tumultuous circumstances. I think Lazar's feelings of loss, guilt, and
homesickness were a fictional reflection of my own conflicted feelings about leaving home as the rebel of my family and the
growing-up process I went through. Writing that book sort of prepared me to move back to my hometown (which I have now
made my permanent home) and to make peace with my past. Looking back on each of my stories, I can see the lesson each
one had in store for me. I never know what it is my subconscious is trying to teach me until the book is done and I've had
some distance from it. I can only hope that the wisdom that comes through is universal enough to be of some value to my
readers.
JR: The follow-up book, my favorite, PRINCESS, takes place years later with the daughter of the couple from THE PIRATE
PRINCE. I loved the whole forbidden love element in this book. What made you choose this theme, bodyguard and princess,
for the hero and heroine?
GF: LOL, PRINCESS seems to be everybody's favorite. When Darius walked onto the scene fully sprung and alive in PIRATE
PRINCE I knew I just had to write about this street-wise kid. He was so hard and jaded that I knew it would take a very special
person to be able to reach him, someone he trusted in spite of himself, the one thing in the world he has ever regarded as
pure. She was born when he was still young enough to have one last, tiny sliver in his "armor." So it had to be Serafina. The
fact that she was a princess, his liege lord's daughter, only made it more torturous for him. We always want what we can't
have. <g> If you like the "forbidden love" theme, by the way, be sure to check out my February release, LORD OF ICE.
Damien Knight is a war-hero who is made the guardian to the ward of his fallen fellow officer. Instead of the young homeless
waif he was expecting, however, Miranda FitzHubert is a drop-dead gorgeous, rebellious nineteen-year-old who dreams of
becoming (gasp of disapproval!) an actress. Instead, Damien plans to marry her off quickly to some suitable man...but first he
must tame her.
JR: PRINCE CHARMING reveals the story about the son. Raphael has grown up since we saw him last in the previous two
books. Did you enjoy working with him "through the years"?
GF: Immensely! It was so cool to see him mature (somewhat!) from a teenaged virgin who pretends to be this big stud ladies'
man, into a 30 year-old jaded playboy who's had every woman that ever struck his fancy and is now incredibly bored. I thought
it was hilarious that the reviewer for All About Romance referred to him as "the Regency version of Euro-trash." That's so
perfect. The trick with that book was coming up with a problem suitable for him. When a guy has royal power, an endless
bank account, fabulous looks, charm, intelligence, women falling at his feet, what the heck can you really throw at him? So I
gave him a heroine who was not impressed by any of it, and kind of took him by the ear and dragged him kicking and
screaming into emotional maturity. That was fun. I needed a fun book after PRINCESS.
JR: Your next book had a different writing approach than the first three. With more danger and intrigue, THE DUKE also had a
steamier storyline with the heroine becoming a courtesan. Was it fun or difficult to expand your writing with this different
theme?
GF: I didn't change on purpose, actually. I knew something was different, that I had grown, but it was not something I tried for
consciously. I was too busy striving for historical accuracy! I think the more realistic tone arose from my writing about a real
setting (England) instead of my fantasy island, Ascension. I had to concede more to the realities and mores of the factual
time/place.
JR: Writers need inspiration from somewhere, where do you get yours?
GF: Of course I glean my history books for stuff that really could have happened. But like I explained above, my stories have
to be meaningful *to me* on a deep level or they're not worth the tremendous effort that it takes to write a whole 400+ page
book. I also am very inspired by music. Mozart, Hyden, and Beethoven are staples, of course, and I love ancient music, such
as Gregorian chant and the Masses of Josquin de Pres and the prayer-songs of Hildegard of Bingen, but I also draw from
modern music. I have several copies of Depeche Mode's "Faith and Devotion" CD because it's so perfect for my dark, twisted,
brooding, tortured heroes. <g> I like Nine-Inch Nails, too, and some of The Cure's older stuff.
JR: In LORD OF FIRE: This story is about Lucien Knight, the "bad" twin, a complete opposite of his brother, Damien. Lucien
is a bit jaded and ultimately searching for someone to "save" him. The perfect girl for the job is the innocent Alice Montague.
How much fun did you have playing off the "good versus bad" theme with these two books?
GF: It was a blast! I would hasten to warn the reader that although Lucien states the matter this way--of himself being the bad
twin while Damien is the good twin--you have to remember that Lucien is a tricky and rather devious character. Everything he
says has a double meaning. Though he has accepted the role of the "bad twin," it's not entirely true. He's really just dying for
someone (Alice, preferably) to say, "Oh, there, dear. I know you're just as good as Damien, down deep." <g>
What was really interesting about it for me was that, being identical twin brothers, these guys care *so much* about each
other, but their relationship has become totally tangled up, as a result of each one trying to deal with his loss of innocence in
the war. They went in when they were 22 and thought they were invincible. Now it's ten years later. Lucien's way of dealing
with it was to finally turn away and search for a humane answer (espionage and diplomacy instead of whole scale slaughter on
the battlefield), while Damien's way of dealing with it was to roll up his sleeves and fight on grimly to the bitter end, even at the
cost of his own humanity.
That said, Damien, the so-called "good twin" can be pretty darned bad. He's flawed by enormous pride (well deserved pride,
like the pride you find in a well-trained Marine), loves hard liquor and easy women. He also knows about nine ways to kill a
man with his bare hands. Rather than embracing his dark side, as Lucien does, however, he can't seem to escape it, and it
torments him because he loves honor and high ideals. As a soldier, he is a man highly trained to kill, and the psychological
aftermath of the war has left him terrified that he may at any moment lash out and annihilate some innocent bystander before
he even knows what he's doing.
So with these two books, the whole question of what is right and wrong is something the characters have to explore for
themselves and within themselves, because their conventional understanding of good/bad has been warped by their experience
of war. Fortunately, as you said, Lucien has Alice, who is a woman of unwavering moral
fortitude and clarity.
JR: Which one of these twins was your favorite - the good one or the bad one? If they both had their own appeal, which was
more fun to write about and why?
GF: I loved them both, but I must say Lucien gave me hell in the writing process. You have probably heard authors say that
sometimes characters take on a life of their own. All mine do this, thankfully, but with Lucien, I had no idea where he was
going to take me. He is definitely a shapeshifter or trickster hero, and I continually found myself feeling like he had something
up his sleeve and had not yet decided to let me in on the joke! So I just followed along, letting him do what he wanted to do. I
wrote down what I "saw" him doing and "heard" him saying, then had to rack my brain to figure out where he was going with all
this.
I realize this probably sounds insane to most of you readers, but I assure you it is a common experience for writers who are
totally immersed in their books, LOL. When he finally decided to let me in on his agenda, I found him very much worth all the
trouble he had caused me. He turned out to be totally charming and a very deep, fascinating sort of man.
Damien is a totally different type of guy. Ask Damien a question and you get an honest answer, though you may have to drag
it out of him. Strong, silent type. Very macho. Man of great deeds and few words. Modest, loyal, and ready to step up and
do his duty, as though he was not embroiled in a torturous battle against his own inner demons. So, in that sense, Damien
was a big relief after Lucien messed with my mind for so many months. I still don't know which one I liked better, but I can tell
you with the heroines, I liked Alice in LORD OF FIRE a lot, but I *adored* Miranda in LORD OF ICE. I think she may be the
best heroine I've done. It'll be interesting to see if the readers feel the same.
JR: As you mentioned above, LORD OF ICE is the other twin's story. Do you plan on writing any more books in the Knight
series after Jacinda's story?
GF: Oh, yes, indeed, I'm happy to say! It looks like it'll finish out to be a seven-book series. This isn't written in stone, of
course, but my editor has given me the preliminary thumbs-up. The whole series is
shaping up to look like this: THE DUKE is about the straitlaced eldest brother, Robert; LORD OF FIRE is of course Lucien's story,
LORD OF ICE is Damien's story.
There is their kid sister, Jacinda; her best friend/lady's companion, Lizzie the blue-stocking (that means a brainy girl, in
Regency-speak), plus two more brothers--Lord Alec, the youngest brother, a total ladies' man and high-stakes gambling rake,
and finally, Lord Jack, the black sheep of the family. As you can see, I have definitely got my work cut out for me! I am
looking forward to writing all their stories.
Numerous readers have asked me, by the way, if I ever plan on writing Georgiana's story, (she's the scandalous mother of this
brood), but unfortunately, though I'm in love with the character, I have to say no. She has too sad of an ending to qualify for
one of my books. Happy endings only!!
JR: What is your next project?
GF: Right now I am working on the story of Lady Jacinda, the kid sister in my Knight Miscellany series. No title yet, but the
tentative release date is January 2003.
JR: Your books have all been historicals so far. Do you ever plan on writing a contemporary? Why or why not?
GF: I'm very focused on staying with the big, dramatic Regency historicals. That's the body of work I really want to build. I
just love the feel of them, the atmosphere, the high stakes, the elegance. They allow me to think big. In any case, my study
of history has convinced me utterly that human nature never really changes; only the trappings of our everyday lives do over
time. The basic things people want out of life, obsess over, fear, and long for are universal. I just happen to prefer ballrooms
and barouches to dance clubs and Lexuses. Real world--eh, who needs it? <g>
JR: What do you hope your readers get from your books?
GF: It would be nice if every book I wrote went onto my readers' "keeper shelf," but that is a tall order. So while I aspire to be
a "keeper author," I will be content with The Big Silly Grin at the end. The Big Silly Grin is, I'm told, the litmus test of a book's
overall success--not in bestseller lists or sell-through's, but on its impact on the reader, which is all that really counts. I want
my readers to feel uplifted, maybe a bit limp after the rollercoaster ride of emotions and suspense that I have hopefully taken
them on. I would like to have taught them some little interesting tidbit about history. Most of all, I want every story to shout
from the rafters this truth that I hold most dear: that there is no wound love cannot heal, no wrong it cannot right, no chasm it
can't bridge, no sin it can't ultimately forgive; that love is our reason for being on this planet...no matter what century we happen
to be born in.
JR: Thank you for taking time out to talk with us. I know I look forward to reading your next installments. Good luck!
GF: Thanks for the interview, and thanks for reading. Have a safe and blessed 2002.
(Click here for a review of Lord of
Fire)
|
