Coffee With Historical Romance: Long 2016 RITA Nominee Sabrina Jeffries

Jun 30, 2016 | 2016, Blog, June 2016, Sabrina Jeffries

Rae: First, if we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking an iced Coffee as I’m ready for the summer 🙂 !
What would you order?
Sabrina: An iced coffee, too! I drink a lot of iced coffee at Starbucks—a venti with no syrup and a splash of heavy cream.

Rae: Thanks so much for hanging out with me today.
Sabrina: Thank you for having me!

Rae: Congratulations on your RITA nomination in the Historical Romance: Long category for If the Viscount Falls. Super exciting and what an honor. Where were you when you got the call?
Sabrina: At home, as usual. I was thrilled, to say the least.

Rae: For those who are not familiar with your work can you tell us a little bit about this book? I’m looking forward to posting my review tomorrow on the blog.
Sabrina: Dominick (Dom) is the owner of Manton Investigations. In his youth, he was disinherited by his older legitimate brother for helping his younger bastard half-brother and half-sister. Cut off without a farthing, he became an investigator, but he knew he couldn’t afford a wife, so he rather foolishly forced his fiancee into the position of jilting him (in the Regency era, if a man jilted a woman it would result in ruin for her, but if she jilted him, it was more socially acceptable). They’ve been apart for twelve years, and he’s missed her for all twelve. Meanwhile, Jane has finally moved on with her life, despite what happened with Dom, and has accepted a proposal for a marriage of convenience to a friend. But she still cares for Dom, so when a case throws them together and they realize they still desire each other, they have to decide if they can get past what he did, if they’re even the same people anymore, and if they can make a marriage work after all these years.

I had so much fun writing them. Dom is one of those men used to doing everything his way, and Jane just won’t stand for it. He has to learn to compromise and she has to learn to forgive. But she gives him a run for his money first!

Rae: What was the inspiration for this?
Sabrina: As for the inspiration, I seem to love to rewrite Romeo and Juliet. I like lovers torn apart but brought back together (as opposed to lovers torn apart who both end up dead).

Rae: You have multiple series and standalone reads in your backlist, what can we expect in those lines?
Sabrina: Most of my books these days are in series because I prefer a wider canvas, and series give me that. The standalone reads tend to be from my early writing. I don’t really do them much anymore.

Rae: With multiple series, is it easy to keep characters from crossing over?
Sabrina: Actually, I don’t keep them from crossing over. They show up in each other’s series all the time. I feel like my series are still all part of the same world, so sometimes the characters stumble into another series and have fun..

Rae: Each book has fantastic covers – do you have a part in the design?
Sabrina: I often suggest a concept, but for the most part Pocket’s art department is responsible for those covers. They do a great job, thank God, because I’m not much of a designer.

Rae: I love your website – I hope readers check it out – here. I  even LOVE your playlist section.
Sabrina: Thanks!

Rae: I read that you love to work on puzzles, what is the largest puzzle you have ever attempted?
Sabrina: I just completed my largest puzzle recently—5000 pieces. And I will never do another.

Rae: Did you finish it?
Sabrina: Yes, I finished it, but it was more stressful than therapeutic, and I do tend to do puzzles because they soothe me.

Rae: Do you have a favorite theme you like to work on? I hear they can be very therapeutic.
Sabrina: As for themes, I tend to like bright colors and fairytale images. Or quirky ones. I really can’t stand landscapes. I’d rather see a pretty landscape in person.

Rae: Writing with a day job and other commitments is a challenge, do you have a writing ritual or secret location to get the work done?
Sabrina: Well, I don’t have a day job other than writing. I do more work, though, when I use Mac Freedom to block out the internet. Does that count as a ritual?

Rae: Can you tell us how you tackle plotting your series, is it on a massive board, sheets of paper or just write as you go with a simple outline?
Sabrina: As for plotting, I spend a lot of time with a jigsaw puzzle thinking through my plots. Sometimes it takes me as much as six weeks to come up with my plot. Once I’ve got it straight in my head, however, I use a good ol’ synopsis format. That works for me. And then I refer to the synopsis often.

Rae: Thank you so much for being here today.
Sabrina: I enjoyed it!

***** 8 Tantalizing Tidbits *****

1. What is a must read book and why? Lord of Scoundrels. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best historical romance ever written.

2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown? My home town is New Orleans, so that’s easy—you have to see the French Quarter!

3. Castles or Beaches? Castles, definitely. I’m not a beach person. Too hot and too much sand.

4. What is your most memorable vacation and why? My husband and I went to London for the first time together for our thirtieth anniversary. It was spectacular. I finally got to see all the places I write about!

5. If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world for research, where would you go? Anywhere in England. I’m just an Anglophile, what can I say? Why do you think I write Regencies?

6. Are you a binge watcher or weekly viewer? Which show(s)? Weekly, except for old shows I’ve just discovered, and then I binge watch. I enjoy all the NCIS’s, Criminal Minds, Outlander, Poldark, Sleepy Hollow . . . If it has crime or history, I’m there.

7. If you could pick a book you’ve read and make it into a movie, which book would it be (besides yours 🙂 )? The Iron Duke from Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series. I’d love to see that series made into movies..

8. What is the one thing you can’t live without? Coffee. I’m a serious coffee drinker. I never have less than 32 ounces of coffee a day, and that’s a minimum.

Rae: Thanks again for hanging out! Time for another Iced-Coffee 🙂

Happy Reading Dear Readers.

Happy Writing Sabrina!

About the Author:

Sabrina Jeffries is the NYT bestselling author of 38 novels and 9 works of short fiction (some written under the pseudonyms Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas). Whatever time not spent writing in a coffee-fueled haze of dreams and madness is spent traveling with her husband and adult autistic son or indulging in one of her passions—jigsaw puzzles, chocolate, and music. With over 7 million books in print in 18 different languages, the North Carolina author never regrets tossing aside a budding career in academics for the sheer joy of writing fun fiction, and hopes that one day a book of hers will end up saving the world.

She always dreams big.

You can find Sabrina online at:

https://www.sabrinajeffries.com