Smart Bitch Interview with Laura Kinsale

Here at the Smart Bitchery, I have a surprise for Smart Bitch Candy – she doesn’t know I’m posting this, so this entry is part interview-with-wicked-cool-author, and part “Can Sarah hear Candy squee from Portland to New York?”

We are most pleased to present an interview with one of our favorite romance authors, Laura Kinsale, who was kind enough to answer our questions on craft, hedgehogs, and Google’s Library project.

1. You are often discussed on our site among the company of “writers who do romance brilliantly but very differently.” Do you think you have a unique view of romance?

Thanks for the compliment!  I think the driving force behind my books is not so much my view of romance as it it my penchant to become easily bored.  So I tend to create characters that have some odd quirks, I guess, or to put a hero and heroine together who don’t have much in common.  Then it’s a challenge to figure out what they might give one another in an emotional sense.  Once I have a challenge, then I can stay interested in what happens.

2. New book! Details! Please!

After I finished SHADOWHEART,  long before it was on the shelves and there was any controversy among readers about it, I’d already decided that I wanted to do a much lighter book this time. So I’ve pulled a complete 180—if books have family ties, the THE LUCKY ONE is a first cousin to MIDSUMMER MOON and a very distant relation of SHADOWHEART.  I wanted to revisit some of the character styles that I’ve enjoyed in the past—what I think of as “hedgehog humor.” It’s a regency setting.  The hero is a feckless French emigre and the heroine is a wallflower who’s been jilted three times. Her greatest desire is to win the silver cup at the agricultural fair with her gigantic prize bull, Hubert. This doesn’t turn out to be quite a simple as it would seem. First they have to get Hubert out of the kitchen.

Now…as to the next question, when it’s coming out…

The short answer is, I don’t know. 😉

The longer answer is, publishers seem to have expected a “dark” book from me, and THE LUCKY ONE is light-hearted. While I received several offers, none were what I was looking for, and mostly focused beyond that manuscript on contracting for another book from me. I’m not prepared to sign for another (unwritten) book yet, although I’m working on my next one. Once I’m well into it, I may feel comfortable signing onto another deadline.

Now, before this information starts another one of those Woe and Doom discussions out there on the net because “even Laura Kinsale can’t sell a book,” I’ll add a little perspective. I had offers for the manuscript that most people would consider to amount to a nice annual salary. They weren’t bad offers at all. But for my own particular reasons, I didn’t accept.

Right now I write because I want to write, not simply to sell. I’ve found that is the only way I can continue to do it. Naturally publishers have an entirely different perspective. Who could blame them?  What makes sense to me now is to create a small backlog of work, so that I have books that can be published on industry schedules without putting me into driven deadline mode.

3. In your LLB interview from 2003, you mentioned that reading fiction now is like trying to watch a movie after you’ve been involved in the process too long. You lose sight of the forest for the individual knowledge of the lighting, the sound, the craft. Is that still true?

It’s pretty much still true.

4. I love your animal sidekicks, and how they often play an integral role in the story. One of my all-time favorites is Merlin’s pet hedgehog in Midsummer Moon, who literally helps save the day. Why a hedgehog?

The ducks were busy. ;P

5. Another animal question: your books have featured dogs, a wolf, a penguin, a pig, a ferret, several horses, a parrot, a falcon, sharks, a hedgehog—and the new one features a prize bull. In short, everything but a cat. Why no cats?

There are cats in my books!

6. A lot of writers write with soundtracks in their heads, and for The Lucky One, you mention that Alison Krauss’ The Lucky One was an inspiration. Do other books of yours feature musical inspirations?

I’m a musical barbarian; I know nothing much about it and I’m always years behind the curve on what’s popular.  I sometimes listen to a lot of my oldies but goodies while I write and occasionally as a book goes along, some song will strike me and perhaps have a small influence, but this is usually pretty limited.  That said, a reader told me about a song she’d heard that reminded her of THE DREAM HUNTER.  So I went out and got hold of it (Desert Rose by Sting) and now I Swear.To.God that he read that book and then wrote that song!  (The song is more recent than the book, hey.)  It is a perfect match.  Anyone who really liked TDH, especially the desert part, should listen to it.

So I guess maybe that’s musical inspiration in reverse.  Or just acoincidence, but I can dream. 😉

7. Tell us how you feel about the Google Library project. Let us have it with both barrels, baby.

Both barrels, you say?  I have no objection to the Google project beyond that fact that they intend to do it without permission from the copyright holders.  Google does not have the right to profit from copying works which are owned by someone else.  They whine that it would be “too difficult” to find the copyright owners, but somehow it’s not too hard to scan the entire body of published literature.  And it’s not like the U.S. copyright office has an unlisted phone number.  Google claims they are offering an “opt out” of the project, but just try to find out how to opt out as an author.  Apparently only publishers can “opt out” as far as I can determine from spending hours that I didn’t have to spare in trying to find something about it on their site.  If you are an author, you are instructed to “contact your publisher” in order to opt out.  So again, the burden is on me to figure who in a couple of different publishing companies would happen to be in charge of this, and it’s fairly likely that nobody is.  So there would be a lot of calls and e-mails and nothing would happen but a big waste of my time, thanks to Google’s laziness in not bothering to find ME, the copyright holder, the person who spent years writing the stuff, to ask my permission to copy MY work for THEIR financial gain (or more likely their deliberate decision to make it difficult so that I won’t bother—a scheme that is succeeding quite well.)  On top of that, in order to opt-out, you are required to submit PROOF that you are the copyright owner!  So here I am, having to come up with documentation that I own my own copyright so I can stop Google from infringing on it without my permission.

So yeah, I think Google is looking for a nice free ride while spouting a lot of high-falutin’ rhetoric about how this is going to increase authors’ sales—which is the equivalent of someone breaking into my house, looking over my stuff and proclaiming that it would be worth something at a garage sale.  If I don’t happen to want to sell it, they’ll just take it and put it in a garage sale for me, and tell me it’s in my own best interest because it will make money for me.  Maybe it will, maybe it won’t—I see no particular proof that someone happening across one of my books in a search engine would make them rush out and buy it new.  If Google wants to create a searchable library of literary works, they can take the time and effort to get permission from the owners of those works.  Just because something is a slight inconvenience doesn’t make it legal.  If this is so great for authors, they’ll be flocking to get their books scanned in.

The Authors Guild, in conjunction with a number of publishers, has filed suit to require Google to obtain the necessary permission to copy protected works.

Comments are Closed

  1. R*Belle says:

    Wow!  You go girls.  Great interview and she is a great author.  Thanks!

  2. Eileen says:

    I’ve long believed there were too few hedgehogs in today’s literature. Great interview! I would love to see more of these.

  3. Keishon says:

    Great interview. Laura Kinsale sets the standard for me. She’s just an awesome writer. I would love to read a light romp but bring on the angst!

  4. Fabulous interview, and great to know a new Kinsale book is coming! Woo! 🙂

  5. Outstanding interview.  Reading that there’s a Kinsale Regency era comic romance in the works just made my day.

  6. Maili says:

    Hedgehog! I honest-to-God love that marching soldier. Great interview, thanks.

  7. Excellent interview! Thank you, Bitches. And thank you, Ms Kinsale.

  8. Candy says:

    I’m trying SO HARD to remember the cats in the Laura Kinsale novels, but I can’t.

    *sobs while putting down crack pipe*

  9. Beth says:

    Maddy sees a cat among the boats in FFtS when she’s wandering about Chelsea after the Eydie incident.

    Robert in MSF has his kinda emotional breakthrough when the alley cat makes friendly towards him, like page 300-something.

    I am not proud of this knowledge. It’s a sickness. Pass the crack pipe.

  10. Cyn says:

    Candy, listen honey, put the pipe down.  Ms. Kinsale is being sly with you!  The only cats I can recall were infant ones that Maddie and her crazy Lord played with in the Garden in Flowers From the Storm.

  11. Kathleen says:

    Pea-green with envy over the interview, ladies (slams back a Genny Cream Ale).  Kinsale is the goddess, and we her humble acolytes. 

    Great interview too! 😉 There’s never enough Kinsale in blogland.

  12. Gail says:

    OMG! Squeeeeeeeeee!!!! (Is that squeeing loud enough for y’all to hear on both edges of the US?)

    What a fabulous interview and we may now anticipate future Kinsale books! YAY!!

  13. Elena Greene says:

    Yes, Laura Kinsale is a goddess. (Picture the humble Regency romance writer bowing and muttering “I am not worthy, I am SO not worthy”…though I did once have a hedgehog pee on the hero’s breeches. Before I’d read Midsummer Moon. Honest!) 

    Though it would be great to see a new book out soon, I wholeheartedly respect her need to keep a healthy relationship with her muse.  Her books are worth waiting for.

  14. Erin O'Brien says:

    Reading Kinsale’s comments about the Google library fiasco makes a small-time author like me want to boo-hoo in my marital-aid drawer.

    The only reason to do this writing gig is because you love, love, love it. And I do.

  15. fresne says:

    I just stumbled onto this site through a link and look a Laura Kinsale interview. All with the coolness and the smart glasses.

    Although, I am a bit confused by the Google book discussion. A quick Google got me this, http://www.policybandwidth.com/doc/googleprint.pdf off of http://books.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/about.html

    “for books still under copyright users will be able to see only a few sentences on either side of the search term….a full page of the book is never seen for an in-copyright book scanned as part of the Library Project unless a publisher decides to transfer their book into their Publisher Program account, in which case it would be under the agreement between Google and the copyright holder.”

    So, unless Laura wants to contact Google and say, “Please display my books on the web,” it sounds like a non-issue.

    And back to the squee, huh, prize bull. Insert bull jokes here.

  16. Laura Kinsale says:

    Glad you all are enjoying the interview! 

    About the question of whether the google project is a non-issue because users can only see a few lines at a time…yes, that’s how google wants it be seen, as if they innocently only copied a couple of lines and stubborn authors and publishers are standing in the way of progress. 

    However, the entire work is copied into the database without permission, and the project is intended to directly profit Google.  This establishes that there is a profit potential in the availability of the work on a search engine, even a couple of lines at a time.  The owner of the copied work should both have the right participate in that profitablity and the right NOT to participate in it. 

    It’s true that copyright owners can’t create a search engine—it’s also true that google can’t create literature to be searched.  There are two sides to this profit equation, but google wants to leave out the one inconvenient to themselves.

    The point of copyright itself is to allow the producer of the work to fairly profit from copies made of it, for whatever that may be worth.  The difference between Google’s project and say, Beth quoting from Midsummer Moon in a critique on her blog, which is a clear-cut case of Fair Use, is Google’s profit motive.  Google’s decision to use copyrighted works without payment or permission immediately makes any other format for a library search engine (say, one that offers copyright owners a fair participation in the profit) impossible. 

    I realize these are esoteric points to most SB readers! I replied to this question because Sarah asked it, not because I’m particularly on a crusade about it.  It just annoys me, because it is one more erosion of copyright that is leading, in my opinion, to all information, including novels, being “free.”  I know where that will lead…it will lead to the sponsor model, like TV, in which the cost of publishing is paid by advertising, rather than by the consumer.  So the advertisers make the decisions on what gets published.

    And that is when I’ll quit publishing books. 🙂

    How’s that for some controversy?  LOL.

  17. DebR says:

    Ok, so if a person hadn’t yet read a Laura Kinsale book (stop throwing stuff at me!!!), which book would y’all recommend starting with?

  18. DebR—You’re in for a treat!  If you’re looking for a “light” Kinsale to start with, I recommend Midsummer Moon.  Memorable hero and heroine, and it has hedgehogs.

    For a more serious read, Flowers from the Storm, and for a real workout that you’ll love, For My Lady’s Heart,.

    I almost envy you the opportunity to be exposed to all of this fine writing for the first time.

  19. Sarah F. says:

    DebR, my personal favorite is Seize the Fire, but it’s really heavy with lots of issues on both sides of h/h.  After that, I agree with Darlene.  For My Lady’s Heart is incredible, but its dialogue is written mostly in a modified Old English.  Midsummer Moon is cute and easy to get into.

  20. Elena Greene says:

    Flowers from the Storm is part of my “conversion kit” (phrase coined by my blog buddy Megan Frampton).  These are books I’ve used—successfully—to convert people who look down their noses at romance novels.

  21. Candy says:

    The Shadow and The Star was what did it for me. Ninjas! A virgin hero! Exotic locations!

    My most re-read Kinsale, however, is Midsummer Moon. Merlin is just so damn charming, and dude, THE HEDGEHOG SAVES THE DAY.

    Twice!

    Oh, and Laura: I’m the one who came up with the question about Google, not Sarah. I thought it’d be an interesting hornet’s nest to stir.

  22. Laura Kinsale says:

    Ah, I should have known who was trying to cause trouble. The Turbulent Miss C! 😉

  23. Esthanya says:

    See, I’m going to be on the other side from Laura Kinsale on this one. Baen, a reasonably sized, fairly well respected publisher has been offering chapters of all their books and selected whole works on their website for free, and the numbers that Eric Flint has been muttering about seem to show that the backlist of books that have been offered for free have seen a significant increase in sales over numbers previous to their release…and not only the free books, but the rest in those series as well.

    Hell, I know from personal experience that it works. I’ve bought at least 30 books because I read the first one on Baen and wanted the rest of the series a couple times. And then bought the first one to hand to friends, who then went out and bought the series. The other useful part is if I’m waffling on buying a book, read the first 2-4 chapters online, and decide I can’t live without it, it’s just become a certain sale instead of a ‘maybe’.

  24. Laura Kinsale says:

    Good point, Esthanya, and the kind of info I might, as the copyright owner, take into consideration in making my decision on whether or not to have my book in the program.  But it’s still my decision to make, not Google’s.

    What about, say, books that contain material that certain religions might find offensive?  What if an author preferred that their work not be searchable online because parts of it could be taken out of context and even put them at personal risk?  Yet Google still wants to make this decision for them, for profit.

  25. DebR says:

    Thanks for all the answers evryone.  They were very helpful, although it still took me a little while to decide what to get.

    I just ordered “Midsummer Moon”, “Flowers from the Storm”, “The Shadow and the Star”, and “Sieze the Fire”. I figure that should give me a good mix of fun and deep to dive into.

  26. DebR—you might want to read The Hidden Heart before you read The Shadow and the Star.  They stand alone, but the fantastic hero of TSatS is introduced in THH, and you get much of his backstory there, explaining his traumatic childhood.

    Just my $.02.

  27. DebR says:

    Oh, ok, thanks for the tip, Darlene!  I’ll go check it out.  I might even be able to add that to my order, since I doubt they’ve shipped yet.

  28. Lauren says:

    My whole problem with the google issue is that I’M the copyright holder to my books and they don’t bother to ask me to use my material.

    Sure, I want people to buy my books! While I’d write even if no one read them, I do get a kick out of that part. But that doesn’t mean I like it when someone simply takes something I created and uses it for their own profit without even asking.

  29. fresne says:

    Thank you for the explanation(s). Since I very much live on the other side of the electronic divide, it’s a discussion that puzzles/interests me. (i.e., I’m a geek, and if Socrates was correct, and reading/writing makes you forgetful, how much more addictive the ability to search with a keystroke)

    One of my final papers in college, mumble mumble years ago, was about the relationship of copyright and the printing press with some speculation about how electronic media might affect the current paradigm. (Hey I was in college, I had to use words like paradigm. It’s like a law, only more pretentious.)

    And to bring the discussion back to the interview, based on the comments about the unsold latest, and thinking about the on-going concatenation of publishers/decline of small bookstores, I’ll be curious to see if authors start turning to online as sort of a nouveau version of the small presses from the beginning of print. Which, yeesh, talk about pretentious. Gah! Anyway, thanks. This is hopefully a hornets nest where there is tea and cream dolloped scones and gosh, I feel all off topic. Perhaps, hmmm…my favorite’s always been Seize the Fire. It’s an angsty bread thing.

  30. Gabriele says:

    Someone please, publish that prize bull book under conditions Laura would accept. 🙂

  31. Laura Kinsale says:

    Hey, maybe Google would publish it! 😉

  32. Ron says:

    Laura: Pity your loyal fans, accept one of the offers soon. We can only live so long without our fix. 😉

    Candy: There’s an unfortunate cat in My Sweet Folly who had to eat the wedding cake for Robert because they couldn’t find a replacement for the squirrel yet, I believe.

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