Mary Reed McCall, author of Templar’s Seduction and Sinful Pleasures, has written this post for The Good, The Bad, & The Unread. Mary is one of the preeminent medieval romance writers in the US.
Reading her bio, I’m struck by how much her background sounds like Jo, from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: avid reader, involved in drama productions and played instrumentS as a kid, writes, loads of sisters and no brothers.
But then she diverges a tad from Jo: she’s even more highly educated, studied in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), has degrees out the wazoo (one of them in Russian), and who knows what else. Oh and she’s a TEACHER!
So, without further ado, please join me in welcoming Mary Reed McCall to our happy little blog family!
The Appeal of Medieval Romance
by Mary Reed McCall
I’m often asked by readers why I’ve spent the last ten years writing medieval romance or, conversely, why don’t I try writing a Regency-set historical, since they seem to be so popular in today’s marketplace.
The answer to the second question is an easy one for me: while I enjoy reading the occasional Regency-set (as opposed to the shorter length “Regencies” of many now defunct publishing lines) romances, I’ve never had an affinity for the time period. In other words, thinking about people and situations and coming up with stories in that setting just doesn’t get my juices flowing. I could probably be a more profitable writer if I was able to write lovely, light-hearted Regency romance – but the fact is, there are others who truly love the Regency era and already do that far better than I could ever hope to, and I’m wise enough about my own limitations not to try to force a square peg into a round hole.
Would I/could I write a Victorian? Maybe. I haven’t shut the door on that possibility yet. I cut my romance-reading teeth on JANE EYRE, after all. 🙂 But my heart is really in the medieval era – and the span of time within that thousand years is probably from about 1100 – 1350. All of my medievals thus far have landed somewhere in that time frame, and though I can’t do it justice in a single blog, I’ll try to give you a little insight into what it is about writing medieval romance that really floats my boat.
It’s my humble opinion that few other time periods lend themselves to stories filled with passion, intrigues, supreme emotional stakes, great physical danger, betrayal, redemption as well as the medieval era. And those are all the kinds of things I love in a romance.
In the medieval era, men and women experienced a kind of equality that had vanished by later historical eras (medieval peasant and/or merchant women worked beside their men and could own businesses in their own right, while ladies of noble birth could own land and were expected to possess the skill to defend their castles and manage their estates during their lord’s absences). Yet culturally women were considered the “gentler” gender, and men were expected to defend and protect their lady’s honor at all costs. They wore costly, beautiful gowns and headpieces, adorned themselves with jewels and ribbons – and contrary to popular belief they were actually quite fond of bathing. I could do a whole blog on the elaborate bathing rituals many medieval people of the noble classes enjoyed, but for the sake of space I’ll just mention that they even had canopies built for their round tubs, to hold in the scented steam and keep out drafts as they bathed. Because of the Crusades, the West benefited from an influx of exotic spice and herbs, and medieval people put it all to good use in the creation of elaborate foods and personal fragrances.
Add to that the fact that men were trained from the cradle, almost, to wield a variety of weapons (so they had nicely developed arms, backs, chests, and shoulders!), that death could come in an instant, whether through the volatile political climate of kingdoms, power struggles, sieges, and religious wars, disease, or the hot-tempered noble down the way that you’d managed to aggravate past the point of good sense – and you’ve got a heady, life-and-death mixture of conflict, ambition, high-stakes, and the potential for passionate yet chivalrous love.
Powerful, sometimes deadly, passionate men and strong, intelligent, and beautifully-dressed ladies…what’s not to like?
So that’s the brief version of what draws me to writing medieval stories. How about you? What’s your favorite historical romance era, and why?
Mary Reed McCall has very kindly agreed to give away a signed copy of her newest (and very enjoyable!) medieval romance novel – The Templar’s Seduction. We will pick a winner out of the comments here. Enter until Friday June 29, 2007 @ 2am CST. You may enter as many times as you wish, please make sure to give a valid email address if you are entering the contest. Good Luck!
I really do keep on meaning to pick these books up. I love reading books with a medieval setting!
Y’know, I was a Medieval Studies major there in college for awhile. Huge geek. But I’ve never quite been able to get into Medieval romance. I find the MA fascinating, but unromantic.
I love this post. It was interesting to see what interests you about the MA, and it gave me a different perspective.
I prefer almost any period of historicals over futuristic.
I enjoy all eras…Medieval and Regency are two of my favorites. But I am just as big a fan of contemporary.
I go through these periods where all I read is historical, or paranormal, or contemporary.
I just finished a Candace Camp (An Unexpected Pleasure) and a Jane Austen (Persuasion).
Julie Garwood used to write some enjoyable Medievals. My favorites were “The Secret” and “Ransom.”
I especially enjoy it when the author weaves a real historical event into the story, like Virgina Henley does with her historicals.
Before I read medieval romance I’d read straight medieval historicals. One of the most fascinating parts of being in Europe was seeing the remains of castles still standing. If only the walls could talk! It has always seemed to me that whatever your social standing in that time period your life was no bed of roses.
I do have Ms. McCall’s books on my TBB list but like Marg haven’t had a chance to pick them up yet. Her passion is catching though, so I’ll be moving them on the list.
Enthralling piece. I feel a Mary Reed McCall glom coming on.
I really do not have a favorite historical period. I have read books set in so many. I do like the Medieval period, but I wish that more authors would set stories during that era in what is NOW Spain. From 711-1492 there was a North African/Arabic/Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula that expanded and contracted as the Christian contingent waged the “Reconquest”, with varying periods of success and failure over the same years. Sometimes, the Christian kingdoms warred against each other, often with the help of Muslim allies. Toledo (in the center of the peninsula) became a center of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultural exchange; its School of Translators helped reintroduce the writings of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, that the Europeans had lost and the Africans and Asians had preserved.
Surely, a talented writer could forge a stupendous historical romance from such a wealth of raw materials!
Saludos,
Kay
I love good medievals and wish there were more available. I understand that you won’t be writing anymore after this series and I can’t tell you how much that disappoints me. 🙁 I have really enjoyed your books in the past and look forward to reading The Templar’s Seduction. In fact, when I get my hands on a copy I may not read it for awhile knowing it’s your last. How crazy is that???
BTW, love the pictures you’ve submitted for this blog. Very cool.
I’m a historical fan. I love just about anything historical. Your books are great as always.
Well – I love medievals. I’m trying to think of why they appeal to me so much and I think a few of the reasons might be because they had to fight so hard for what they had rather than have it handed to them. Also, because of all the political intrigue and wars and things, it seems like life was lived fuller and more intensely. I don’t know if that’s true or not – but I think that’s part of what is so appealing to me about medievals.
I loved your post Mary, that was really interesting. I second the comment on the great photos also!
I don’t really have a favourite historical romance period – if I had to choose, hmmm… Probably have to go with regency and medieval just due to the sheer number of them on my bookshelves!
I love medievals. I don’t even know why, but I’ve always been especially fascinated by the Middle Ages. Knights and ladies, the Crusades, castles. Even though living was hard then, I find it a romantic period in many ways.
Medievals are my favorites of all the historicals, for all the reasons you covered, Mary, I couldn’t say it better. I, too, was sad to hear you may no longer be writing them, and hope that may change in the future.
Thanks for inviting me to blog here, Sybil – and hi to everyone who has stopped by and commented. I love reading your posts! Tt’s always interesting to me to hear what readers think about medievals or just historicals in general.
Although I’m taking a hiatus from writing medieval romance for now (it was a personal decision on my part based on schedule issues – life has become so busy/complex that I can no longer comfortably write a book a year while still having to teach full-time and raise a young family) I do hope to write medieval romance again someday. I love the romance genre. Maybe the market will turn around in the near future and medievals will once again be able to to break that invisible glass ceiling of sales that has seemed to hamper them for the entire time I’ve been writing them…and that might allow me to make the financial decision to scale back on the teaching so that I can write a book a year (or more!) again.
In the meantime, however, I am still writing. Only I’m trying to make the transition to straight historical fiction (ala Phillipa Gregory) and write a book (or two or three, LOL) about the Templars in a larger scope story, taking place at the court of King Philip the Fair of France in the time just preceeding and then during and after the mass arrests. I’m still working out who my point of view character(s) will be, but I’m thick into the research of it now.
I’m also fiddling with a quirky contemporary story that may or may not go anywhere. Both projects have heavy romantic elements – but neither is under contract (again by my choice not to have my agent try to pursue anything just yet), so it’ll be a while until I see if I can make anything gel to my satisfaction. I’m definitely not the type of writer who wants to put out a book just to have one out there; having a full-time job puts a damper on the speed with which I write, but it does provide the luxury of not having to put out a book I’m not satisfied with, just to get the paycheck. 🙂
Ok, enough of this babbling. Thanks again to everyone who has stopped by (and to those who will be coming by today). I’m looking forward to autographing and mailing out a copy of The Templar’s Seduction to one of you!
–MRM
Your projects sound interesting. Especially the historical fiction revolving around the Templars. I hope we’ll see it in the not too distant future!
Oh, yes! I’m fascinated by the Templars and look forward to what you bring to it in straight historical fiction, Mary.
I prefer gritty medievals that go into the politics, intrigue and battles or at least feature some sort of action, but most Medievals are fluffy and fun, and that is why I stopped buying them. My absolute favorites? The Lion’s Bride by Iris Johanssen, Marsha Canham’s Robin Hood trilogy, and Teresa Medeiros’ Shadows and Lace–I also have a soft spot for a few of Catherine Coulter’s medievals. *g*
Oh yeah, and I can’t forget the Queen of Medieval romances: Roberta Gellis!
Angela, I love the books you mention. Have you ever read Elizabeth Stuart’s “Bride of the Lion”? And for gritty medieval’s there is also Elizabeth Chadwick who is fantastic.
Thanks, Jane and Karen. Now that summer is here, I’m looking forward to digging into the project and seeing what happens. 🙂
And Angela…I hear you with the light and fluffy medieval thing. It’s not my cuppa, either, though so many readers seems to prefer light-hearted fare in their romances of all kinds, and they often seem to offer the reasoning that life today is difficult and challenging enough for them, and they want to giggle and feel “effervescent” when they’re reading a romance.
I, too, prefer adventure-filled, dramatic, emotional medieval romance. Though there are certainly moments of humor and light-heartedness in my books, I don’t think anyone has ever termed them “fluffy”, LOL. There are lots of swordfights (and occasional jousts), full-out battles, deaths, and the exploration of some serious themes (i.e. wife abuse, the criminal underworld of England/London, the arrest and suppresion of the Templar Brotherhood, betrayal, loss of belief in God, redemption, etc)
Other authors you might want to try are Tina St. John, Madeline Hunter, and Shana Abe (Shana’s books were almost exclusively medieval up until her recent “Dragon-shifter” trilogy, which has landed her on the New York Times list, incidentally, and are as well-written, I think, as her medievals, which I’ve always loved). Neither Tina St. John nor Madeline Hunter is still writing medievals, unfortunately (as I mentioned in my earlier post, sales just aren’t there for medievals, unfortunately), and they’ve both shifted into other genres of romance: Tina quite recently to urban vampire romances as Lara Adrian, and Madeline, still under her original name, to 19th century romance (though she made the switch) quite a few years ago).
I know Margo Maguire is still writing medievals, in between her 19th century stories, and Gayle Callen has taken the new pen name of Julia Latham to write medievals again in between her Victorian romances under her original name…but those are the only two I can think of at the moment who *aren’t* writing the more light-hearted style of medieval.
Still, for the three mentioned earlier, I think it’s well worth looking up their backlist medievals, if you like more dramatic, emotional, realistic, and action-filled stories.
–MRM
Medieval romance is my absolute favorite genre, although I read regency romance, too, because there’s not enough medieval. I like stories of people rising above adversity, and they certainly had opportunities to do that in medieval times, no matter their age, sex, or station in life. I like to learn a little bit, too, something I didn’t know about herbal medicine, medieval food, hygiene, fighting or armament, horses, etc.
I don’t care for real characters in historical fiction, because I can’t tell where the historical stops and the fiction begins, especially when the waters are muddied with romance (or politics).
Some of my favorite medieval books are Another Chance to Dream by Lynn Kurland, Dark Champion by Jo Beverly, Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros (sorry, it was just too funny!), Madeline Hunter’s Stealing Heaven and The Protector, Christina Dodd’s Outrageous, all of Iris Johansen’s and Marsha Canham’s. And I know these probably aren’t all strictly medieval and I’ve bunched anything pre-Regency in here, but it’s hard to find books that qualify.
I understand about priorities changing at different stages in life. We’ll certainly miss your books, and be waiting for your return!
I’ve always been intrigued by the Templars, would love to see you do that straight historical, Mary.
I recommend the earlier medievals of Hunter and St. John along with you. I do have some of Shana Abe’s to catch up with now.