Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway: Joanna Chambers

Regency romance wizard Joanna Chambers is here today talking Regency fluff! She's also giving away an ecopy of her novella, Mr Winterbourne's Christmas to one lucky winner.

See our 4 review of it here.

Hi, Joanna Chambers here 😊 I’m celebrating the release of my newest book, Mr Winterbourne’s Christmas, the sequel to my short novella, Introducing Mr. Winterbourne.

Today I want to talk about Regency fluff! By which I mean those fun capery historical romances that were instrumental in turning me into the romance diehard I am today. I do love my angst, but sometimes I just crave something a bit lighter, and my Winterbourne stories are definitely on the more fluffy side.

But can Regency fluff be done in LGBTQ romance? Absolutely! Yes, readers are very aware that, for example, homosexuality was illegal in early nineteenth century Britain and that exposure could have grave and terrible consequences for individuals. However, they are equally aware that women’s lives were very hard and that they had far fewer rights than men—but that doesn’t stop us writing M/F Regency fluff. The truth is that most readers are actually very adept at understanding the degree of realism that applies in the books they read.

The way I think of this – as a reader and as an author – is that romance novels, particularly historical romance novels, inhabit a wide variety of universes. Some of these universes are very close to reality and others are very far from it, with every possible variation in between. There are bear traps here for authors: the further away your book’s universe is from reality, the greater the leap you are asking the reader to take in suspending their disbelief. However, there’s a whole bunch of indicators authors can use to let readers know they need to make additional allowances in a particular universe for lack of realism e.g. comic tone.

I usually strive for as realistic a feel as possible in my books, but my Winterbourne stories are a bit lighter. There’s less fretting about things like the constant threat of discovery, or whether it is plausible that the heroes would be as reconciled to their own sexuality as they appear in the society they have been born into. I must admit, it’s quite liberating. It lets me write scenes like the one in Introducing Mr Winterbourne where my heroes waltz together on a terrace under the stars as the orchestra plays.      

One of the great things about LGBTQ romance is how it brings together readers from all kinds of places—longstanding ‘conventional’ romance readers, readers of other genres, readers of fanfic. I love that when it comes to historical romance you can reach out to all those readers in different ways—sharing classic tropes with people who’ve never read them before and reimagining them for people who already love them. 

So, I say, let’s bring on the Regency fluff in this genre. Let’s see it all: harum-scarum elopement stories, broken-down carriage incidents, snow-ins at coaching inns, dancing masters and painting teachers, hairdressers and mantua-makers who pretend to be French when they’re actually cockneys. Let’s have ALMACKS for God’s sake! Balls and musicales and picnics. Reputations ruined and resurrected by haughty dukes who give devastating kisses.

Because don’t we all want that?

And don’t we all deserve it?

We unicorns thank Joanna for helping us celebrate 5 years of unicorning!

About the Author:

Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. She spent over 20 years staring at blank sheets of paper and despairing of ever writing a single word. In between staring at blank sheets of paper, she studied law, met her husband and had two children. Whilst nursing her first child, she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna lives in Scotland with her family and finds time to write by eschewing sleep and popular culture.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Buy Links:

Other stores: https://www.books2read.com/u/boYRQA
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2z6tWD3
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2DguysK

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter to win your very own ecopy of Mr Winterbourne's Christmas. The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (EST) 11/27/18. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner!

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!

Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/18!