📚 Up Close & Personal with 'The Reluctant Bridegroom' Arabella Sheraton @arabellasheraton #upcloseandpersonal

Up Close & Personal is one of The Writer’s Life newest features. Here we feature authors who don't mind spilling the beans and telling what it's really like to write, get published and sell that book. Today's guest is Arabella Sheraton, author of the regency historical romance, The Reluctant Bridegroom.

Arabella Sheraton grew up on a diet of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and many other writers of that period. From Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, Arabella has found both enjoyment and inspiration in sparkling, witty Regency novels. She also loves history and generally finds the past more fascinating than the future. Arabella wrote her first Regency romance to entertain her aged mom who loved the genre. Arabella is honoured to share the adventures of her heroes and heroines with readers.

You can visit her website at https://regencyromances.webs.com or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Her latest book is the regency historical fiction, The Reluctant Bridegroom.

On Writing…

I started writing Regency romance to entertain my invalid mom who loved Georgette Heyer and anything Regency. When she complained that the books coming from a big-name publisher all sounded the same, she pressed me to write her a Regency romance. Since I was already an editor in the magazine publishing business, this seemed like a cute project. I called my first Regency novel The Dangerous Duke. Mom loved the story and so did a small publisher I found by accident in an online newsletter. They asked me for more books and the rest is history.

On Being Published…

Because I had already clocked up a few years in magazine publishing, having my book published didn’t really feel all that different. I’d already seen my name attached to many articles on a variety of subjects. It felt a bit dream-like, to be honest. As if it was someone else who had been published. But the boutique publisher was on a roll and asked for more books. Did I have any more? If not, would I write them? Yes was the logical answer. Writing the books came very easily to me because I am so familiar with the genre from personal reading. My latest published book is The Reluctant Bridegroom, which I think is my favourite.

On Publishing Industry…

The industry has changed so much in that writers who were turned down by agents in ‘the olden days’ did not have access to self-publishing and print on demand. Self-publishing etc has both good and bad aspects. Good in that talented writers actually get a chance to bring their books to life. Bad in that there is a lot of rubbish out there where people have not bothered to even do a spell check on their book before uploading to Amazon. I was lucky to be discovered by a traditional publisher and learned so much about the writing craft from several editors who clearly were dragons in the guise of humans. Sadly, my publisher had to close due to the owner falling ill. Luck was on my sad, though, because I found a fantastic distributor that gets involved in the publishing process with their authors and assists with marketing.

On Marketing…

Romance tops the list in “most popular” genres. Within the genre are so many sub-genres. You would think this means “Open Sesame” for romance authors, but not necessarily so. Romance fans are very fussy about what they read and even more so about what they expect from writers in the genre. Regency is a sub-genre and is not the same as historical romance, as any die-hard fan will tell you. The trick is to catch the attention of fans specific to whatever your niche genre is and then work to please them. One can spend a fortune doing marketing, or you can make your fans happy and know that they will share their delight in your books with others. Word of mouth is the best form of marketing, and it is free. I have found that putting the first 3 chapters of my books on Wattpad is a great way to give fans a taste of my writing. I use Twitter a lot as well and have 2 companies that do Twitter marketing for me. Blog tours are another way to introduce your work to potential fans, buyers, and readers. I always do several tours with each of my books.

On Goals and Dreams…

My goal is to keep on writing because I have several ideas bubbling away at the moment. Right now, I am finishing up something slightly different in my Regency writing. To Murder a Marquis is a Regency era murder mystery with a spot of time travel thrown in…. Tips to aspiring authors: 1. Never give up. 2. Make sure your books meet the highest standards of quality. 3. Word of mouth is the best advertising, and it is free, so always tell people about your books and give them a little taste of your work.

Title: The Reluctant Bridegroom
Author: Arabella Sheraton
Publisher: Bublish
Pages: 208
Genre: Regency Historical Romance

Book Blurb

A traditional Regency romance about the vagaries of the heart in a delightful romantic comedy! The handsome Earl of Wenham has no intention of marrying any time soon. His sister Almeria points out to Hugo that he owes it to the title and the estates to marry and produce an heir. Failure to do so means the entire lot devolves upon his second cousin, the Honourable Felix Barstowe. She also reminds him that their father had promised an old friend, Lord Lavenham, that his son should marry Lord Lavenham’s daughter, Miranda. Out of respect for his father’s dying promise (which he had never taken seriously), the earl sets off for Lavenham House. He is stranded by snow a few miles away from his destination and takes refuge in a local inn. He meets up with a heavily veiled, mysterious young woman, who, by her confidences to him, he realises is the elusive Miranda. To his shocking surprise, the feisty Miranda declares she will not have anything to do with someone whom she declares, “is possibly so fat and gouty, that he needs to have a wife found for him.” In fact, she would rather run away with a childhood friend. Intrigued, the earl makes it his business to get to know Miranda better by inviting her to stay in London with his sister. Unfortunately, this strategy annoys his dandyish cousin Felix Barstowe who is determined that the young and healthy earl should not marry and cheat him out of his birthright. Will Felix succeed in a dastardly plan to murder his cousin? A must-read for fans of Regency romance!

“Arabella Sheraton gifts her readers with a beautiful traditional Regency romance when she introduces the feisty Miranda Lavenham and the charming Earl of Wenham. The chemistry between the lead couple in this story is sparkling. Ihave seldom enjoyed witnessing the banter of two people as much as I have between these two, and they seem to bring out the best in one another. I loved watching the self-assured young earl deal with self-doubts and jealousy; it was definitely fun for me and his sister was a puppet-master without emasculating him. I lost myself in the traditional plot and could not have asked for better descriptions or settings. The supporting characters were well developed and entertaining and added depth and value to the story. I’d love to see Miranda’sbest friend get his own adventure as I believe he deserves to find himself a stunning match. I’ve come to expect a good solid read from this author and this story lived up to my expectations. If you are a fan of sweet historical romance,then this is a fabulous choice.”–Pauline Michael, Night Owl Reviews

“The Reluctant Bridegroom starts us off on the right foot as soon as you pick the book up! I absolutely adored this story. It was a quick read, but fun and containing both witty and situational comedy that had me grinning like an idiot on my train. Arabella Sheraton gets full marks from me for her Reluctant Bridegroom!”–Katelyn Hensel, Readers Favorite Book Reviews

“From the very first Arabella Sheraton novel I read, I was forever lost in a world of romance. These novels are absolutely captivating and keep one spellbound from beginning to end. Arabella Sheraton is an exceptionally talented writer.” — Lizette Nolan, romance reader

Book Information

Release Date: April 10, 2015

Publisher: Bublish

E-Book: 208 pages; $2.99

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OVxpZX