Guest Interview: Julie Lessman, author of A PASSION DENIED
I'm so happy to welcome one of my very dearest writer friends, Julie Lessman, popular author of Revell's Daughters of Boston series. Today Julie shares some fascinating insight into how she researches her stories and manages the ins and outs of such a complicated family saga.
Oh, and Julie has graciously offered to give away WINNER'S CHOICE from her Daughters of Boston series to a lucky commenter. To be entered in the drawing, comment with a valid e-mail address before midnight Saturday, July 11. I'll announce the winner on Monday!
Julie, your attention to historical detail is amazing—enough to place readers firmly in the setting without making us feel like we’re in the middle of a history lesson. How do you go about your research? What are a few of your favorite sources?
Oh gosh, Myra, me?? Historical detail??? Can’t believe I managed to pull that one over on you and everybody else who’s read my books. The reason I find that so funny is that I DESPISE research and actually wrote an article for Christian Fiction Online Magazine entitled “Confessions of a Historical Author who Hates Research,” where I reveal a lot of my guilty, little “secrets.”
But honestly, a lot of the historical accuracy found in my books can be credited to my very detailed prayer partner who reads all of my manuscripts. Karen would say, “Uh, Julie, the chocolate chip cookies Mrs. Gerson serves in chapter seven sound good, but this is 1916, and chocolate chips weren’t invented until 1939.” Or, “Julie, the word ‘sync’ in the sentence ‘A twig with a heart-shaped leaf plummeted to the ground, in sync with her mood’ is too modern for 1916.”
So now I am faithful to my research, doing it mostly as I go along and primarily via the Internet. I have tons of websites that I mark as favorites (all listed in the CFOM article mentioned above), but two of my favorites are http://www.fashion-era.com/index.htm for clothing and hairstyles and The Online Etymology Dictionary at http://www.etymonline.com/. For me, The Online Etymology Dictionary is crucial for ensuring that the words I use are historically accurate for the era. In addition, I keep a “historical facts” file for each book where I cut and paste info to be used later. I also recently had a conversation about research with good friend, Patty Smith Hall, and she highly recommends contacting the Library of Congress for a wealth of information, which I fully intend to do.
Great suggestions, Julie! So much was happening in the early 20th century, so many changes in fashion, industry, and transportation. What has been your greatest challenge as you develop the O’Connor family saga through the years?
Uh … funny you should ask … my greatest challenges so far have been none other than historical research! I practically had a breakdown when I realized inaccurate research almost derailed my plot for book 1, A Passion Most Pure, AFTER I had already sold it to Revell. I was horrified to discover a huge and unacceptable mistake that got past me, my critique partners, AND my editor. A huge mistake that, ironically, was caught by my editor’s husband who happened to be—what are the odds?—an Irish historian! He innocently pointed out to his wife that the O’Connors traveling on a ship to Ireland during World War I would not have been feasible as passenger ships at that time were commandeered for war. Not to mention the annoying fact that German U-boat warfare made it too dangerous for ship travel. YIKES!!
That was the day that I learned just how important research is to a historical romance, and it is a lesson I hope and pray I have learned well. Fortunately for me, after a little sobbing, a lot of praying AND tons more detailed research, I found a perfectly acceptable solution that allowed me to transport the O’Connors from Boston to Dublin during WWI in a totally believable way. Thank you, God!
Discovering a problem like that would definitely throw me for a loop! I can imagine your relief at finding a believable alternative. While each of your books focuses primarily on the romance between one featured couple, several other family relationships also experience ongoing problems and growth. Do you have a system for keeping track of all the storylines?
Oh, absolutely, especially given the fact that in the second 3-book series that concludes the saga of the O’Connors, you will be seeing LOTS more of every couple, which I admit, may get a little hairy come book six (Stephen’s story) when I have six sub-stories going on in addition to the main story between the hero and heroine! YIKES … fourteen characters to keep track of! I used to be a seat-of-the-pants writer rather than a plotter, but trust me, I now have an age/birthday/anniversary chart that would boggle the mind. In addition, I have created incredibly detailed synopses to help me keep all the plots straight for every character, WHICH if the “pantser” in me has its way, may or may not end up being the final story. ☺
I think my mind is already "boggled" just imagining the amount of organization and planning your books demand. Do you have a personal favorite hero or heroine from the series? Whose story has been hardest or easiest to write?
Well, I’ll answer the second question first, if you don’t mind. Without question, book 2, A Passion Redeemed, was the easiest book to write—I actually wrote it (almost 500 pages) in two months, and that was working part-time at my day job! It just seemed to flow from me, I guess because Charity is so much like I used to be before Christ that it felt natural to be writing her story. I had to laugh at my husband while he was reading Redeemed because he couldn’t stand Charity. Poor guy, I didn’t have the heart to tell him he’s been married to her (without the incredible physical beauty) for over 30 years! ☺
As far as a personal-favorite character? Well, this may shock you and your readers, but Charity O’Connor is right up there as a favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I love Faith O’Connor, the heroine from book 1, A Passion Most Pure, but in all honesty, she is more like the woman I am today—heavily dependent on God, emotionally involved with Him and a person who prays at the drop of a hat, so I almost feel one with her. But Charity—goodness, my heart goes out to her and the woman I used to be—selfish, manipulative, lost. I think that’s why she fascinates me so much, because I look at her (and women like her) in the same way I suspect God looked at me back then—with eyes full of love and hope that we all can become new creatures in Christ Jesus. And quite frankly, I think she is just downright funny and quirky and such a hoot that she makes me laugh.
The hardest book to write? That would be the third book in the series, A Passion Denied, primarily because at the time I was reading a book by an author that I absolutely LOVE and felt so inadequate next to her. I would sit at my keyboard and want to puke on what I’d written—it was that bad. So I literally “fasted” that author for six months and prayed my heart out for God to help me write the book He wanted me to write. And He did! I’m happy to say that most of my family and friends who have read A Passion Denied like it best of all three books in the series, so that is HUGE relief!
Julie, I assure you, you have no reason to be intimidated by any other author out there! The success of your books speaks for itself. Can you share any details about your next series?
Grin, yes … and oh my, you wouldn’t believe the trouble brewing in O’Connorland! There are six O’Connor children in all, four daughters and two sons, and each one will have their own story. As a matter of fact, I JUST finished Book 1 of the next series on St. Pat’s Day—pretty timely, eh, for a series about an Irish family? It is Katie's story, the fourth daughter, which was fun because she is a pistol who comes of age in the Roaring Twenties, right before The Great Depression.
Books 2 and 3 will be about the O’Connor brothers, Sean and then Steven, all during the exciting era of speakeasies, dance marathons, gangsters, G-men and era criminals like Bonnie & Clyde and John Dillenger. Sean’s love interest will be ... guess who? Emma—Charity’s scarred friend from Dublin! And Steven will be a tall, brooding G-man-type modeled after real-life Elliot Ness. Some of your readers are probably too young to remember this, but I am modeling him after Robert Stack from The Untouchables, who played Eliot Ness in the TV show years ago. I am very excited because all three plots are very involved, include detailed sub-stories for ALL the character couples (can you say “complicated”???) and each plot has surprises that I hope and pray will blow readers away!
Thank you SO much, Myra, for allowing me this time to connect with you and your readers. Anyone who would like to contact me can do so through my website at www.julielessman.com, either by sending an e-mail via my site or by signing up for my newsletter, in which I feature book giveaways. And, of course, your readers will enjoy visiting both of us at The Seekers, our group blog that talks about “The road to publication. Writing, contests, publication and everything in between.”
ABOUT JULIE LESSMAN: Julie Lessman is a new author who has garnered much writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. She is the author of The Daughters of Boston series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. You can contact Julie through her website at www.julielessman.com.
ABOUT A PASSION DENIED: Book 3, A Passion Denied, is the story of Faith and Charity’s little sister, Lizzie, a shy bookworm who dreams of a fairy-tale romance. It unfolds a man’s dark past and a young girl’s shattered dreams … and the God who redeems it all.
Elizabeth O’Connor is the little sister John always longed for. With a fire for God in his belly, he has been her spiritual mentor since she was thirteen, sharing her love of literature and her thirst for God. But when his gangly protégé blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving him, he refuses to act on the attraction he feels. His past won’t let him go there. Unfortunately, “Lizzie” won’t let him go anywhere else … until his dark and shocking secrets push her away.
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