Elizabeth Ellen Carter on Corsairs and Pirates

Elizabeth Ellen Carter is an award-winning historical romance writer who pens richly detailed historical romantic adventures. A former newspaper journalist, Carter ran an award-winning PR agency for 12 years.

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Transcript:

Sarah Williams:            G’day and welcome to Write with Love. Today I’m chatting to award-winning, historical romance writer, Elizabeth Ellen Carter. Hi Elizabeth, thanks for joining me.

Elizabeth E C:                Hello.  Thank you very much Sarah. Wonderful to be chatting with you.

Sarah Williams:             Wonderful, yeah. So, tell us about your story and how you got into this amazing career.

Elizabeth E C:                I’ve always been a writer. When I ran out of things to read when I was a kid, I started writing my own books. I started writing a girl detective story on my mother’s typewriter. When I grew a little older I realized that being a novelist probably wasn’t a first start career, so then I moved into journalism because at least they pay me to write. And it’s so funny  people  say, “Oh, you’re really good at creative writing, you should be a journalist”. And it’s sort of, in a way, creative writing is the worst quality you can have as a journalist because you’re supposed to be dealing with facts.

So, I didn’t do too well in the hard news department. I really liked features and I really liked talking to people, really exploring their motivations and going in-depth. So I did that for a number of years and in my 20’s I thought, you know, maybe I should write a novel again. And I shudder to think back about those early stories but I started reexploring my local historical. So it will be five years in October that my debut novel, Moonstone Obsession came out. And from there, I’ve got seven full length titles, the most recent one … I’ll do the big plug … Shadow of the Corsairs is book three in a series called Heart of the Corsairs and that’s set in the Mediterranean in the early 19th Century, looking at a real-life aspect of the pirates of the Barbary Coast.

Sarah Williams:             Oh fantastic. Wow. Pirates, who doesn’t love pirates.

Elizabeth E C:                [crosstalk 00:03:10]Good pirates.

Sarah Williams:             Good pirates. So tell us about that initial first book, how did you go about getting published? Did you have to do the submission processes and all those sorts of things? What did you do?

Elizabeth E C:                Well, I wasn’t sure how seriously I was going to take it because it was something to entertain myself initially. But a friend of mine, a big ex footballer, who writes jingles said, you know what, if you’ve written one of these things, you should join the Romance Writers of Australia and they had a competition for unpublished manuscripts and to my surprise, Moonstone Obsession, made the long-list and I thought, well maybe there’s actually something to this. So I started submitting. The third group that I submitted to, a small press in the United States, said yeah, we’ll take it. So it was a really sort of quick entry into the publishing and I learned a heck of a lot. I realize now that even though I was a journalist by trade, I’ve written everything from features on news stories to even writing scripts for radio and TV. There’s a real art to novel writing, which I really hadn’t considered before.

Sarah Williams:             There sure is, and that’s why organizations like Romance Writers are so fantastic teaching us the craft, and then the business side. So, that’s awesome. So, how long between books did you go, did your second one come out with that same small press?

Elizabeth E C:                Yes, yes, I had three titles with them and sort of one every year. It was funny, I was aware…this is the dark side of the publishing industry…I was aware that, as authors, you got to heavily promote yourself, you’ve really got to take control of that. Which is what I did and I was happy with that, but by the time the third book came out with this particular press, there were issues. There were three changes of editors through the process. I didn’t get my cover until an hour before release day.

Sarah Williams:             Oh my gosh.

Elizabeth E C:                I thought, no, you’re not going to get another title from me again. But I’d been working something a little different and this is my Roman Era-

Sarah Williams:             Ohhh.

Elizabeth E C:                -novel called Dark Heart, and I thought, no, I really want to give this a really strong opportunist. So what I did is while I was working on that, I still wanted to have a release for 2016 so I decided to indie publish two novellas. So, the first one is, Nocturne, and that is a Regency Gothic romance. And something a little fun for Christmas, The Thief of Hearts, which is a Victorian mystery romance.

The process after that was really interesting because I did the big submission rounds and I got the loveliest rejection letters in the world for Dark Heart … the sort of, “Yeah, it’s great, love it, but we can’t sell Roman”. “Yeah, we love it, but change the character’s back story, gut this, gut the history, do this, do that and we’ll work with you”. And it’s sort of, “No … no I believe in the integrity of this story”.

And I came within a month of saying, you know what, I’m going to self publish this, it will find a home. And I submitted to Kathryn Le Veque’s imprint, and anyone who knows historical romance knows Kathryn and her absolutely amazing medieval series. And within a week of submission, she sent me a contract.

Sarah Williams:             Oh wow.

Elizabeth E C:                And I’ve been absolutely delighted working with her ever since and she’s got some absolutely top draw historical romance authors and because she specializes in that, it’s just been absolutely brilliant.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, that’s absolutely fantastic. So tell us about your Regency books. So they’re a bit adventure, suspense, come on, give us the blurbs.

Elizabeth E C:                Okay. Well, start with this one which is book one in the Heart of the Corsairs series. That Kit Hardacre and Sophia Green. I love this couple a lot. The three book series is set in the Mediterranean towards the tail end of the Napoleonic Wars. What a lot of people don’t realize is during that time as well there was a lot of slaving from Africa into Europe. I mean everybody knows about the transatlantic slave trade but not a lot of people know about the pirates of the Barbary Coast. And between 1650 and 1830 between 800,000 and 1.25 million Europeans, some as far away as Iceland, were sold into slavery into Africa and Arabia. And so within that context I wanted to explore that and our darling hero, Kit here, is rather damaged by his experience. He was a captive of the Corsairs. His ship was captured when he was a cabin boy and being a pretty young blonde boy, went through quite a horrific ordeal before he escaped. So his passion for vengeance is the underscoring theme in the Heart of the Corsairs series.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, oh wow. So that’s really awesome. So then is the next one in that series, is it a sequel, or is it just?

Elizabeth E C:                It is a sequel, that is Revenge of the Corsairs. It takes up where Captive of the Corsairs leaves off. The hero is the first officer who works with Kit Hardacre, Elias Nash, and the heroine is Laura, a cousin of the heroine. And that is an exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder and dealing with the aftermath of the horrific events because Sophia and Laura end up in a harem [inaudible 00:10:43] and Laura as a result of that is pregnant to her abductor so there is a lot of dynamic. So don’t let anyone tell you that romance is lightweight.

Sarah Williams:             Doesn’t have to be!

Elizabeth E C:                There’s opportunity to really explore deep psychological themes built on the relationships and the dynamics of men and women and family at large is… that’s just made for romance.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, yeah it is.

Elizabeth E C:                That is romance.

Sarah Williams:             Mmm, yeah. And I always think it’s such a great way of exploring history as well. You know, I’ve not heard of that before. So that’s really, really fantastic.

So, number three?

Elizabeth E C:                Number three is Shadow of the Corsairs. That is actually a prequel to the first two. And the hero Jonathan, is an Ethiopian … he’s the equivalent of the son of a Duke … he’s the son of a Ras. And he’s an explorer. He’s had wanderlust all of his life. He’s partnered with a German explorer and everything is going fine and then he is sold into slavery. His camp at the source of the Nile is raided. But he discovers that it wasn’t just a random raid. He was targeted especially  for abduction. So part of Shadow of the Corsairs is, again, exploring love and loss, because Jonathan loses his wife and daughters. And also, looking at how one rebuilds again, as well as the machinations of Ethiopian politics, would you believe? Not a topic that a lot of romance writers [inaudible 00:13:01], but to me I couldn’t set a series in the Mediterranean without referencing Africa.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, yeah absolutely, gosh. Does it take a lot to research this? I mean are you just stumble at it and Google and books for months?

Elizabeth E C:                My husband jokes that its five minutes writing and twenty minutes research. He’s probably not far wrong. But the approach that I take is, and again, it’s was what you were saying before about how historical romance is a great way to explore history, because what it does is, it actually, through the eyes of the hero and heroine, puts you in a particular time and place. And my favorite historical romance authors make you feel immersed in that time and place. That you can smell what they smell and hear the sounds on the street. And it also explores what it would be like to live in that segment of time. So that’s what I try and do as well. So really make it so people feel like they’ve walked in somebody’s else’s footsteps for a few hours.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, absolutely, that’s fantastic. Do you have to do much travel for this? Or do, you know, been able to see these places?

Elizabeth E C:                Sadly, not which is why I really, really love Google Earth and of course thank goodness for the internet. As much as I love my history, there’s a lot I couldn’t do without it, because you’ve got instant access to historical research from the finest universities in the world. And to produce something which has actual history, as one of its underpinnings, you certainly couldn’t do it at that frequency that many historical romance authors can do without research being readily available in the comfort of one owns home. So, I would love to, traveling is big on the bucket list because of course the Corsair series is likely set in Sicily and of course Dark Heart, being set in Rome, to be able to actually walk through those place. So, no, the closest so far as has been San Francisco where I was on my way to RT in May. And one of my Christmas short stories, which will be coming out with the Blue Stocking Bells in November, is set in 1920’s San Francisco. So that’s the most recent time period[inaudible 00:15:57].That was fun to be able to walk those streets and really get a feel for the city.

Sarah Williams:             Yes, and 1920’s, that’s almost contemporary.

Elizabeth E C:                It is to me and I guess what the thing is, one of the reasons why it feels contemporary, even though its essentially old, is because we’ve got this permanent record, thanks to film. One of my favorite films was released in 1934 and when you think we are talking, 84 years ago, and yet we can see contemporary, how they lived, what they wore, how they spoke. All of a sudden, something that was 100 years ago really does feel quite modern.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, yeah. That’s it exactly. Wow. So having a background in PR, does that help you, you think, as an author?

Elizabeth E C:                It helps me with deadlines. I can do deadlines really well. I guess what it has done, my journalism background, is make me appreciate that there was a different style of writing. And they are completely different disciplines. So, you can’t just think well, no, I can write a novel. I know lots of journalists who say, yeah one day I’m gonna do that. And I think, no you’re not because the attitude you have is one particular skill set which doesn’t necessarily translate.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, exactly, that’s brilliant. So what have you got coming out next? You’ve got a few releases before the end of the year?

Elizabeth E C:                Ha, ha, ha. I’m crazy. I have just utterly, utterly crazy.the other,[inaudible 00:17:54] made myself. Okay, I have, and I can , oh, the Bell series, exclusively, haven’t quite sort of, we’re waiting for the official  go date. First, is going to be a short novel cathedral Promise of the Bells.

Cora Lee is an American historical romance author, she has organized a whole bunch of authors in a loosely connected series called, Legends of Love. So the brief was, take a legend from history, and reimagine that story in Regency England. So, I’ve picked, Dick Whittington and his cat.

So, I’m having a lot of fun with that. That’s gonna be a childhood sweetheart story. Next on the list, is the story set in San Francisco in the 1920’s, called, A Fine Chance. And that is part of the the Blue Striking Bells Anthology. And I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to reveal the name of the series yet. Watching out for that.

My publisher is also doing a Christmas anthology. So, my story contribution for that is called, Father’s Day. So it features Kit Hardacre here and a reunion story with his father, who is the hero of a series I’m working on now called The King’s Rogues. And that is set ten years prior to the [inaudible 00:19:38]that is set in the early part of the Napoleonic Wars. Our hero, Kit, believes he is an orphan. My publisher asked me, look can you do an extension. I said no. He said, what about another relative. And I thought, his father. So, they’ve got a lovely father, son reunion story. And, hopefully either at the end of this year or early next, book one in the King’s Rouges’ series called, Live and Let Spy. The full book series has titles that I’ve comprised on James Bond films. So, Live and Let Spy, From the Duke With Love, Playful. But a whole lot of fun. There’ll be a little bit lash and tongue, but it will have lots of romance and adventure.

Sarah Williams:             Yeah, oh that’s awesome. So there’s lots to stay around and put our to be read file. That’s awesome. Cool. Well, where can we find you online and stay in touch and keep the eye out for all these covers and releases?

Elizabeth E C:                Absolutely. My website is the best place to do that and that is elizabethellencarter.com or if your having trouble writing all of that down, eecarter.com. And in my book club, if you sign up for that, I do a quarterly magazine for Love’s Great Adventure and the next edition will be coming out in mid September.

Sarah Williams:             Oh, that’s awesome. Well, thank you so much for that today, Elizabeth, that was great.

Elizabeth E C:    Thank you, Sarah. It’s been a lot of fun.