Friday, July 7, 2023

This week in The Loft: Author Lisabet Sarai!

Joining me in The Loft is reknowned author Lisabet Sarai. The author of over 100 erotic romance and erotic stories, Lisabet writes in a variety of subgenres, including historical, paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, and LGBTQ. She has also written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, and a 500-page dissertation. Although she grew up in New England, she now lives in Asia with her husband of more than 40 years and two rescue cats, as she pursues a career entirely unrelated to her romance identity.

Author Lisabet Sarai

S:  Good morning, Lisabet! I have to say, I am impressed by your academic accomplishments. I couldn't face the dissertation, so I went to law school. Not sure how five degrees led me to writing romance, though.

Why did you start writing romance?

L:  I’ve been writing all my life. I became addicted to words at an early age. But I never seriously considered publishing my work until I read, "Gemini Heat" by Portia da Costa. It was in the Virgin Books Black Lace series. Black Lace originally labeled their books as “erotica for women, by women,” but in fact, they’re now marketed as erotic romance. Anyway, I loved Portia’s book. It was intelligent, imaginative and emotionally satisfying, as well as seriously steamy. Having had a rather colorful love life before marrying my husband, I thought I could create something in a similar style, drawing on personal experience as well as fantasies. I wrote the first three chapters of "Raw Silk" and sent them off to Black Lace on a lark. Imagine my amazement when they offered me a contract! In fact, I knew very little about the classic romance genre or its tropes when I started. Unlike many romance authors, I didn’t grow up on a diet of Harlequins. So I had a lot to learn--most importantly, that you can’t call something romance unless it has a happy ending. I’d always thought "Romeo and Juliet" and "Wuthering Heights" epitomized romance, despite their tragic conclusions.

S:  How do you determine the heat level of your stories?

L:  Almost all my stories are sexually explicit. I’ve always been fascinated by the way love and lust entwine. Writing is a way for me to explore those connections. For a particular book, the heat level depends on the characters and the genre. But I will be honest--readers who are uncomfortable with eroticism will probably not enjoy my work.

S:  I have learned that I cannot intentionally determine the heat level of my books. It all depends on the characters and the story. 

Are you self-published or traditionally published?

L:  My first books were published in print, by traditional publishers in London and New York. That was way back in the year 2000. Later, I worked with a variety of indie publishing companies who did both eBook and print, most notably Totally Bound. I learned a lot about the romance genre from them. I first dipped my toe in the self-publishing pool in 2014, with my holiday short, "Slush." The process turned out to be easy and fun. Since then, almost all my new books have been self-published. I’ve also been reclaiming the rights from my publishers for my previous titles and self-publishing new editions. The main reason I like self-publishing is that I have total control--over the content and the cover, the release schedule, the pricing, and the marketing. Although we can all benefit from external editing, I would sometimes have serious disagreements with my editors, both about language and about the story itself. In some cases, I was forced to change things in directions that did not feel right to me. Now, for better or worse, I can write what I like, including the sort of genre mash-ups that I love to create. Of course, self-publishing is also more lucrative. I’m not writing primarily for the money, but I’m pleased to be getting a bigger slice of the pie.

S:  I have to admit, I am intimidated by self-publishing. I admire those who have pursued that path and succeeded.

Do you write in other genres?

L:  Some of my books would be categorized as erotica rather than romance. But even those tales tend to have romantic elements. Under the romance umbrella, I’ve tried my hand at many sub-genres, including historical, paranormal, science fiction, LGBTQ and D/s. I love diversity and I’m easily bored. I don’t like reading an author whose books are all clones of one another. No one can complain about this with my work. From a marketing perspective, this is probably a bad strategy. I don’t really have an author brand. I like to surprise my readers, but I’ve learned that many consumers of books really prefer predictability. That’s one of my pet peeves about romance.


S:  I have been all over the place with my sub-genres, too. I don't even think about the genre until I finish the story.

If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

L:  I don’t feel that I actually chose my career as Lisabet Sarai. To some extent, it chose me. But it has been a fantastic experience, deeply satisfying, and full of joy. I’m very grateful that I’ve been led in this direction.

S:  What inspired "By Moonlight?"

L:  "By Moonlight" was inspired by the poem “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes. (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman) This tale of tragic love and sacrifice has been a favorite of mine since I was in high school. As a teen, I thought the poem was devastatingly romantic. Of course, this was before I started writing romance. I didn’t realize that to qualify as Romance with a capital R, a story needed a happy ending. When I decided to write my own version of Noyes’ story, I knew I had to change the ending. It just wouldn’t do to have Bess and her bandit beloved perish as they do in the poem --even if they do live on as ghosts. In fact, I wanted to play with the conflict in the original, to show Bess ultimately getting the better of the men who mock her and condemn her to death. "By Moonlight" deliberately borrows the atmosphere, and indeed some of the dialogue, from the Noyes poem. The first two chapters follow the source quite closely. I tried to capture the sense of danger, the terrible risk Bess takes in accepting a wanted outlaw as her partner. Then the story veers off into unexplored territory--as indeed it would have to if the lovers are to have the Happily Ever After they deserve.

S:  Is there anything special you would like people to know about "By Moonlight?"

L:  If you look at genre categories, you’ll notice that this story is labeled as FF. Yet, you might not get that idea from the blurb. That is deliberate. I don’t want to give away the highwayman’s secret.

Here's the blurb--

I’ll come for you by moonlight--though Hell should bar the way

In her eighteen years on earth, Bess has never traveled more than twenty miles from her Devonshire village. The raven-haired innkeeper’s daughter has little time to dream of adventure as she labors from dawn to dusk to keep her abusive father satisfied.

Then, at the weekly market in Tavistock town, she meets a handsome dandy who claims her with a single stolen kiss. When the gallant gentleman makes a midnight visit to the inn, Bess learns that her new lover is none other than Kit Latour, a notorious French highwayman who has been boldly relieving the local nobility of their valuables. Well-aware of the risk she’s taking, Bess still offers herself to the seductive outlaw. Even Kit’s darkest secrets cannot quench the flames of her love.


S:  That's a great story line! Where can readers buy your book?

L:  It's available at--


Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/by-moonlight-8

Apple Books:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6450718058

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180643788-by-moonlight

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/books/by-moonlight-by-lisabet-sarai

S:  Lisabet, thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like to learn more about Lisabet and her books, please visit--

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2 comments:

  1. Lisabet SaraiJuly 8, 2023 at 8:58 PM

    Hello, Seelie!

    Thanks so much for having you as a guest. I learned a bit about you, too, from the interview.

    I recommend that you give self-publishing a try - just as an experiment. It is far less difficult than you might think.

    ReplyDelete
  2. J. Arlene CulinerJuly 23, 2023 at 1:23 AM

    I always enjoy hearing what you have to say, Lisabet. What you say about the predictability of romance writing is so true!

    ReplyDelete

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