What does the reader expect?
I had occasion to consider readers’ expectations of an author’s work, following a conversation with a friend who’s read a number of my novels and was quite shocked when she came across a fairly explicit sex scene.
As a relatively new writer, I’ve challenged myself to try different types of writing, from light-hearted comedy (so hard!) to a serious, many-years-researched historical biography. I know some authors who choose to use different pen names for different types of writing and each name becomes a brand for a style and content in tune with readers’ expectations.
I haven’t done that, so I apologise to those readers who come across something they’d rather not read. Conversely I’ve also had feedback that a book wasn’t racy enough! Except for A Master of Speculation and A Master of Industry, my regency romances are what would be labelled “sweet” and there’s another on the way.
Watch out for the second Regency Lady novel, which should be available next month. As with my other regency books there is a link to a previous story. If you read Her Secret Ambassador you may remember Charlotte and Robert Fielding, two children on the same merchant vessel as Lady Penelope Derwent, heading for Gibraltar and the Mediterranean in 1817. Charlotte carries a book all about pirates, which Lady Penelope offers to read to them both. Fast forward ten years and we meet Charlotte again about to turn nineteen and setting out on an adventure that will change her life—and a few other people’s along the way, including the Duke of Abbeywell. It’s called His Capricious Lady.
Wishing you all an interesting and stimulating New Year of reading.
I had occasion to consider readers’ expectations of an author’s work, following a conversation with a friend who’s read a number of my novels and was quite shocked when she came across a fairly explicit sex scene.
As a relatively new writer, I’ve challenged myself to try different types of writing, from light-hearted comedy (so hard!) to a serious, many-years-researched historical biography. I know some authors who choose to use different pen names for different types of writing and each name becomes a brand for a style and content in tune with readers’ expectations.
I haven’t done that, so I apologise to those readers who come across something they’d rather not read. Conversely I’ve also had feedback that a book wasn’t racy enough! Except for A Master of Speculation and A Master of Industry, my regency romances are what would be labelled “sweet” and there’s another on the way.
Watch out for the second Regency Lady novel, which should be available next month. As with my other regency books there is a link to a previous story. If you read Her Secret Ambassador you may remember Charlotte and Robert Fielding, two children on the same merchant vessel as Lady Penelope Derwent, heading for Gibraltar and the Mediterranean in 1817. Charlotte carries a book all about pirates, which Lady Penelope offers to read to them both. Fast forward ten years and we meet Charlotte again about to turn nineteen and setting out on an adventure that will change her life—and a few other people’s along the way, including the Duke of Abbeywell. It’s called His Capricious Lady.
Wishing you all an interesting and stimulating New Year of reading.
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