Christina Lorenzen began
writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire-ring composition notebooks.
Her first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head
and down on paper. She is currently working on a modern take on her
favorite fairy tale, Rapunzel, for a summer release. Learn more about
Christina and her books at her website.
I had never had much interest in history. In high school my favorite
classes were anything related to reading and writing. When it came to history,
I did the bare minimum so I could pass the classes. It had never occurred to me
that culling an interest in history could be good for my writing. Writing a
historical story never even dawned on me.
The first time I thought about writing an historical romance was about
three years ago, after having picked up a book by Eloisa James. James is an
exquisite historical romance writer. That book led to another James book and
several more by an assortment of authors recommended by friends on Facebook.
After reading those books, I was thinking it might be fun to try my hand at a
time period romance. The first idea that came to mind was a pirate love story.
For some reason I’d gotten very interested in pirates. Probably because there’s
quite a lot of pirate history where I live on Long Island in New York.
After doing hours of research about Captain Kidd’s visit to Gardiner’s
Island, I knew I had my story. I was going to write a romance between Kidd’s
brother and a shop owner on the island. I was tingling with excitement.
It was June 1699 when Kidd’s sloop was spotted off Gardiner’s Island.
Gardiner’s Island was a privately owned island between today’s famous summer
spots, Montauk and Amagansett. When Kidd came ashore, he met the owner of the
island, John Gardiner, as well as his family and servants. Kidd gifted John
Gardiner’s wife with a piece of gold cloth. Shortly after that, Kidd took Gardiner to a beach and let
him watch as he buried boxes of treasure he had brought ashore with him. He
warned Gardiner that he would return shortly and if the treasure was not there,
he would kill his entire family. His plan went deeper than that. Kidd knew that
the Crown was waiting to arrest him and even his crew would kill him if he
returned empty handed. The buried treasure was his bargaining chip. His plan
was to offer to tell the governor of New York where the buried treasure was in
exchange for his pardon. Long story short, his plan fell apart and Kidd was convicted
and hung in 1701.
This fascinating bit of research didn’t appear in my story. Doubt had
crept in. Would I be able to pull off this time period? The dialogue of the
day? Doubt won and I tossed my notes into a drawer for ‘someday’. It was a
movie night with my daughter that led to the birth of my first historical
romance, Healing Seas.
My husband’s grandmother was born in 1912, just weeks before the tragic
sinking of the Titanic. She’d grown up hearing stories about the ship as a
child. When the movie came out in 1997 my mother-in-law had no choice but to
take Grandma Dorothea to see it. Even though she’s long gone, I still can see
the glow of excitement in her eyes as she recalled seeing that movie on the big
screen. Watching the movie at home that night I had the proverbial light bulb
moment. What if I wrote a story about a survivor of the Titanic falling in love
with a man who had also been through tragedy? Captain Frank Shea, a man
disgraced at sea, came to me as suddenly as my heroine Addie Mayfield. And
little by little, with a whole new round of research, Healing Seas was born.
I have a newfound love for history. I found out that while I may not
have enjoyed learning textbook history, researching different time periods has
sparked an interest in me I would never have thought I had. And the wheels are
already turning as I toy with possibilities for a second historical romance. I
just wish I had known all those years ago how history could open new doors in
my writing career.
Healing Seas
After surviving the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic, Addie Mayfield
has been sent to work as a caretaker for a great aunt she has never met in the
small fishing hamlet of Montauk, New York.
Captain Frank Shea has been disgraced, having made a wrong decision on
his ship that resulted in his termination and a bum leg.
With their futures uncertain, they are both anxious to get back to life
the way it was before. Until they meet one another. Can these two people find
hope for the future after all they've lost? Can unexpected love heal two broken
souls?
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Thank you so much for having me on Book Club Friday! Happy to be here!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book. I too enjoyed reading and watching different movies
ReplyDeleteabout the Titanic. Such a beautiful ship to come to a tragic end. I'm sure you'll have a lot
of interest in HEALING SEAS,CHRISTINA. Nice interview.
Yes, I agree. The Titanic is fascinating. Tragic, but fascinating. Thank you for the kind words Diane and thanks for stopping by!
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