Liana De la Rosa: On Writing a Historical Romance Series
Author Liana De la Rosa discusses the inspiration behind her new historical romance, Ana María and The Fox.
Liana De la Rosa is a historical romance author who writes diverse characters in the Regency and Victorian periods. Liana has an English degree from the University of Arizona, and in her past life she owned a mystery shopping company and sold pecans for a large farm.
When she’s not writing, Liana is listening to true crime podcasts and pretending she's a domestic goddess while she wrangles her spirited brood of children with her patient husband in Arizona. Learn more online at lianadelarosa.com, and find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
In this post, Liana discsusses the inspiration behind her new historical romance, Ana María and The Fox, her hope for readers, and more!
Name: Liana De la Rosa
Literary agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Company
Book title: Ana María and The Fox
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Release date: April 4, 2023
Genre/category: Historical Romance
Previous titles: To Love A Scandalous Duke, To Resist A Scandalous Rogue, To Tame A Scandalous Lady, To Tempt A Scandalous Lord, The Captain’s Midwinter Bride, On A Midsummer Night
Elevator pitch for the book: A forbidden love between a Mexican heiress and a shrewd British politician makes for a tantalizing Victorian season.
What prompted you to write this book?
I’ve always wanted to write a book/series that incorporated my family’s cultural history but hadn’t found the right way to do so. I was researching immigration records for another project one day and came across records of Mexicans emigrating to Europe, and wondered what was happening in history to necessitate such a move.
Like a light switch flipping on, I remembered the Second French Occupation of Mexico and suddenly I was inspired. By the end of the day, I had brainstormed the entire series!
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The Luna Sisters series idea first came to me in October 2020, and the series sold to Berkley in April 2021. Now the first book, Ana María and The Fox, will release on April 4th, 2023. The series idea has remained largely unchanged, although initially Ana María, Isabel, and Gabriela were cousins instead of sisters.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Aside from hoping readers feel a sense of satisfaction in the romance and anticipation for the next book (Isabel’s Book!), I hope readers finish Ana María and The Fox with a desire to learn more about the French occupation of Mexico, and history, in general, outside of the Eurocentric lens many historical romance readers are accustomed to.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Keep going. Publishing is a hard business, whether you pursue traditional publishing or you self-publish, and it’s easy to lose confidence or momentum (or both!). But if writing is what you love and you want to share your storytelling with readers, keep writing in whatever manner works best for you!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
