Interview with Erotic Author Sabrina Darby

  I am so excited to welcome Sabrina Darby to the Backseat on this late Thursday night.

 SD:  Thank you.  I am excited to get to do this!

TK: Well didn't that sound naughty - tell me a little about your writing.

 SD: Well, I guess my writing is actually a bit naughty.  On These Silken Sheets, which released in September through Avon Red, is erotic romance.

TK:  I hear silk sheets are not the most practical bed linens.

 SD:  Hah!  Yes, I would agree with that.  And personally, I prefer high thread count cotton or flannel.  But my characters are not always the most practical.

TK:  So sexy characters are not just authors letting their true selves loose?

 SD:  Well, I think that depends.  I mean, there is some of me in every character, and every story.  Not that I don't let loose in real life...  I think every situation probably comes from a kernel of something that really happened.  Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that.

TK:  Ah...  Do tell...  What part exactly comes from this kernel?

 SD:  Haha.  Ok, let's see.  There are four novellas in the On These Silken Sheets and they take place in the Regency period.  I usually start with a contemporary idea or dilemma and then transpose it back.  So hopefully by the time it is a full story, it is very different from the original idea, and the original kernel.  Sometimes it is a character trait that starts me thinking, sometimes it is conflict between two people, and sometimes... it is a sexual situation.

TK:  Is it hard to translate modern situations back?

  SD:  It can be.  Actually, I did that again in a story I just finished and I am hoping I did it successfully.  Crossing my fingers while I wait and see.

But I think it might be harder the other direction.

I think of writing historical romance as being similar to writing formal poetry.  The constraints are part of what allows for creativity.

TK:  Was that a sexually liberated time in history?

  SD:  I would say the Regency was definitely more sexually liberated than the latter part of the 19th century.  But that isn't something you would necessarily think from reading Jane Austen.  I think in every era there is a subset of society that is more sexually experimental.  I also think there is a big difference between how a era is presented in its literature and media and what actually happens in the privacy of the bedroom.

TK:  How do you create female characters who are true to the time and still heroines modern readers can connect with?  If there were truly as many powerful and assertive women in history as there are in Romance Novels, I am not sure the world would look the same today.

  SD:  Really good question!  I tend to focus on quieter strength.  Out of the four heroines in the book, only one of them does something that is truly transgressive, but she doesn't escape the consequences of her actions.  In fact, that is the central conflict of the story.

  But this is where the constraints of the time force creativity--I need to find ways to make the heroines strong but in a real way.

TK:  A real way for a lady who wears a corset and whose life is controlled by men?

  SD:  Yes, exactly.

Luckily in the time period in which I write, the corsets aren't horribly constrictive!

TK:  Why then?

Why not 50 years earlier or later?   

  SD:  I'd say the early 19th century appeals to me because of the underwear (or lack thereof), the wars, the medical advances (because of the wars) and the politics of the time.   Also, it's modern enough that the characters are not that different than today, but still far enough in the past for me to have emotional distance.

I have a hard time writing contemporary romance. Or rather, I have a hard time romanticizing the present day.

TK:  Are you saying our work a day world, short on million and billionares - Harlequin can not convince me otherwise - is less then romantic?

  SD:  Haha.  I think that there are some amazing authors who spin those tales well.  But for my own personal escape, I like to read historical fiction, historical romance or fantasy with strong historical elements.  So, that's what I write as well.

TK:  Admit it - swords are just sexy.

  SD:  Haha.  Yes, they are.   Although most of the heroes in On These Silken Sheets are, ahem, lovers and might interpret "swords" a bit more broadly.

TK:  Broad are they?

Interesting - where can I find these broad heros?

  SD:  Hmm... at bookstores everywhere?  

TK:  Don't I wish...

Thanks so much for joining me and all the food for thought.

  SD:  Thanks for having me!  For news, giveaways, and a peek at the heroes of On These Silken Sheets, please come visit me at SabrinaDarby.com!

Thanks Sabrina!