Ramona Elmes’s A Wanton Adventure releases this week, and she was kind enough to answer some questions for us.
You can get your copy of this steamy historical romance HERE!
Did you always know you wanted to be an author? What is the first story you remember writing?
My initial thought was to say no; I never thought I would be an author. However, recently, some of my lifelong friends have reminded me that I used to tell them I wanted to write when I was a kid. I somehow forgot that as I became an adult. One of the first stories I wrote was a horror story about a man sneaking into a house. I doubt I was even ten years old yet, but in the story, the heroine opens her garage door from inside the house, and on the other side of the garage, a door to the outside is open. A man with a top hat stands there, the moonlight reflecting off him. I’m not sure why I remember it so well, but I do.
Which comes first for you: the plot or the characters? Do you know where the story is going before you begin, or does it come to you as you write?
I start with the characters first. I spend a great deal of time imagining them before I ever write anything down. That is for both main and secondary characters. You never know when a secondary character will become a main. Once I write them down, I do a little character stats thing, similar to a baseball card. It explains their traits, aspirations, age, flaws, and main issues when it comes to love.
I’m definitely a plotter, so I always write out what is going to happen in the story and follow that while I’m writing. Sometimes, the story deviates, but I don’t get too stressed about the changes. Still, I always go back and update my outlines. I also love planners. My family loves to joke about it.
What do you like to read when you’re not reading in your genre? Did you have a favorite book or series when you were growing up?
There are so many great genres out there! Outside of historical romance, I adore billionaire, small-town, and dark romances. T L Swan, Lucy Score, Brynn Weaver, and Emily McIntire are some of my favorites in those genres. Recently, in the last year, I’ve started to explore some of the romantasy books. I also love historical non-fiction. Erik Larson and Nathaniel Philbrick are some of my favorite authors. I love how they write their books. They are so entertaining and make the reader feel immersed in the time period.
Growing up, I devoured all the Fear Street books by R.L. Stine. They were so much fun to read, and I adored how, even though they weren’t all part of one series, they were all connected. I suppose what I’m saying is that I loved the world-building in those books. As I grew older and moved into my teen years, I loved Stephen King and Judith McNaught. I have books from both that I re-read. For King, I read his short stories in Skeleton Crew every few years, and for McNaught, I read Paradise and Perfect at least once a year.
What is the most inspiring place you’ve visited and has it shown up in one of your books?
There are many places that inspire me when I write. For “A Wanton Adventure” in my Brazen Curators series, it would have to be Sardinia. My husband and I traveled there in 2011. We were living in Germany, and the budget airline Ryanair had flights for about fifteen euros, so we stuffed some clothes into a backpack and went. Not once did I ever think of going there, and the region just blew me away.
The cliffs, the water, and the people are all amazing. My husband and I sat on a cliffside, drinking wine and eating meat and cheese. I remember thinking that if I ever wrote a story, I wanted Sardinia to be in it. That was long before I started writing historical romances, but now Sardinia is in one of my books. Amazing!
What drew you to the era you write in?
I love the Victorian era for many reasons, but I think the main reason I write in this time period is its length. It gives me a great deal of freedom to explore various events and write my stories around them. In my Brazen Curators series, the Great Exhibition, the modernization of ship travel, rules governing women, and much more are key to the stories.
I also love the advancements in technology during this time period. This may be the nerd coming out in me, and I fully claim that title. I’ve researched the invention of the telegraph, ship travel, the expansion of trains, and the modernization of houses. It is all so fascinating to me.
