A Rare Find: An Author Interview with Joanna Lowell
- Swords & Sapphics team
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
A historical queer romance inspired by The Goonies? Count us in! Today, we chat with Joanna Lowell about her newly released enemies-to-lovers novel, A Rare Find, including the exploration of gender in regency era, the challenges in the current publishing market, and the author's approach to teaching creative writing!
Thank you for joining us, Joanna! Could you start by introducing yourself?
Hi! I write historical romance (among other things), identify strongly as a Gemini, and eat a lot of grapes. I work as a professor of creative writing, and I also co-teach literature classes on romance and witches. (The romance class and the witches class are two different classes, although a romance and witches class would be great.) I live in North Carolina.
Tell us about A Rare Find and what inspired you to write it!
A Rare Find is a queer Regency romance following star-crossed enemies-to-lovers forced to join forces on a quest for Viking gold. The main characters, Elf and Georgie, romp through rural Derbyshire, getting into dodgy situations with sheep, caves, and thunderstorms. I was pretty committed to finding buried treasure as a kid, as in, I dug a lot of holes and thought wistfully about pirates. (My state was landlocked.) I lived in a very small town after my parents moved from the (infinitely more exciting) city, so digging holes for entertainment made for a typical weekend. With A Rare Find, I wanted to explore the angst associated with rural boredom (Georgie) and also the real potential the countryside offers for adventure and wonder (Elf). And I wanted someone to finally find something sparkly in the dirt.
Can you tell us a little bit about your characters? Which, if any, do you identify with most and why?
Elf is an aspiring archeologist whose social circle is limited to her narcissistic father and the younger sisters she’s more-or-less responsible for raising in a tumbling down house on a hill. She seems stiff and reserved in company, but with her intimates, she’s warm and funny and playful. Georgie, her childhood nemesis, is the opposite, all sparkles, lighting up every room, always surrounded by admirers, but with less of a sense of purpose. Georgie has thought a lot about their gender identity, and uses they / them pronouns with friends, most of whom are queer. I scatter little bits of myself across my characters, so I identify in different ways with everyone in the book, a trait here, an insecurity there. I might identify most directly with Elf’s younger sisters, or at least, I drew heavily on details from my own overly theatrical adolescence and feral childhood to write them. Part of Georgie’s character emerged from a conversation I had with a much younger friend about how much relief I would have felt as a child and teen in elementary school and high school (1980s/90s) if they / them pronouns had been option. As an adult, I’ve come to inhabit she / her pronouns in a way that works for me. I feel seen in all my complexities by the people I love, and I know they’d respect my pronouns if they did change. Talking with this friend, though, about my sense of missed possibility made me decide to create the possibility for Georgie, despite their being born in the 18th century. Georgie feels relief and rightness when their gender is recognized by their community, and pronouns are part of that. I relate to Georgie and Elf, particularly to how the two of them negotiate embodiment together.
And which characters do you hope your readers will connect with the most?
I have great fondness for the supporting characters, and I hope readers connect with the whole world of the book, and particularly with the queer community that begins to form in the village, or that was maybe always there, and now Elf can see it. Because I write from Elf and Georgie’s perspectives, and explore their thoughts and feelings, and show their journeys as they face their fears and take big emotional risks, I most want readers to connect with the two of them.
As a reader, what is your favourite romance trope, and have you adapted any for your own books?
I didn’t realize that mistaken identity / disguise was a favorite of mine, until someone pointed out that I’ve used versions of it in several books (e.g., Dark Season, The Runaway Duchess, Artfully Yours). It can be a tricky trope to pull off—how do you ultimately build trust between characters given a foundational deception—but I’m so interested in identity generally, I find it fascinating to explore at the level of theme and plot. I also really love enemies-to-lovers for the angst and the banter and the internal battling as the characters fight each other and also the attraction they can barely control. So good!
Similarly, are there any tropes you’d love to explore but haven’t gotten the chance to yet — or any tropes you tend to avoid?
I love fake dating, and I’ve never written a fake dating book. I’d like to give that one a try. As a reader, I think I can enjoy any trope, depending on how it’s done. I tend to avoid insta-love, just because I usually gravitate toward narrative arcs that frontload the tension and conflict between the MCs—I love a slow burn, with plenty of pining.
Non-binary characters are sadly still lacking in the historical romance genre. Why was it important for you to centre queer identities here, and is there any representation that you’d like to see or write more of in the future?
I’m queer and in a queer relationship, so one simple answer is that I want to see relationships like mine represented in the genre. My partner is trans masc, and a historian of trans people in different times and places. Particularly now, with trans and non-binary people coming under attack in the US and the UK, it feels important to tell stories that center queer love and joy, and that affirm that gender variance is not new. Traditional publishing is still very straight and very white, and I’d like to see the big houses bringing out more and more books by and about LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people, and also more readers finding and supporting a huge, exciting range of books by indie authors. I’d like to see more romances that explore different kinds of relationship structures and that imagine the happy ending beyond romantic couples and nuclear families. On that note, I just read and loved Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall, which I highly recommend.
With both a historical setting and an archaeological hunt for treasure at the forefront of this story, did any extra research or planning go into this story? Did you discover any interesting or surprising facts along the way?
Yes, and yes! Because this is the first book I’ve ever written set in the early 19th century (1818), I definitely read extra about the social mores of the period—secondary sources and also novels written in the period, especially by Jane Austen and Walter Scott. Archeology wasn’t an established professional field during the period, but antiquarians—wealthy men (for the most part) obsessed with collecting artifacts and studying antiquity—were already forming societies, digging up burial mounds, and publishing their treatises. Antiquaries played a bigger role than I’d realized in shaping British history and politics, working to preserve ancient monuments (while sometimes destroying them with overzealous restoration or excavation) and also contributing to problematic myths about national and racial origin.
Talking with a medievalist colleague, I learned about how ethnically and linguistically diverse early Britain really was, and about the impact the North African abbot St. Hadrian of Canterbury made on education and culture in 8th century England. I tried to dramatize some antiquarian debates in the novel, without going into too much detail—I sometimes get carried away with the research and need to pare it way back when I’m revising.
With quite a few books under your belt, have you faced any challenges during the writing or publishing process? How has the historical romance genre evolved since publishing Dark Season in 2016?
A Rare Thing is my last contracted historical romance, and I know my publisher wants me to pivot going forward, so that’s a big challenge for me as a histrom lover. Traditional publishers are buying less historical romance across the board these days—I’ve been a part of ongoing conversations with other historical romance authors about why this is happening. Most agree that historical romance needs a rebrand. Mass market is ending as a format, and illustrated trade paperback covers don’t seem to have worked for historicals like they have for contemporary romcoms. My agent, who is very wise, says that publishing goes in cycles, and historical romance will come back around, and I really hope it does, and soon. I’m excited by so many of the histrom books that have come out in the past ten years, books with characters and content I never found on the shelves in the 90s. Check out Adriana Herrera, Liana de la Rosa, Elizabeth Everett, TJ Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Alexandra Vasti, and Amalie Howard—their books make a powerful case for the genre and how relevant and radical (and hot) it can be. I hope everyone reads them!
Have any shows, movies, books, etc. influenced your work at all?
Absolutely. I take so much inspiration from other stories and other storytellers across genres and mediums. The show that got me on board with romance tropes: Velvet. It takes place in a fashion house in Madrid in the 1950s and is non-stop over the top in all the most romantic ways. The movies that influenced A Rare Find in particular: Goonies and The Dig. They have very different vibes but both of them spoke to aspects of the novel, the giddy follow-a-map-to-buried-treasure adventure aspect and the more searching archeology-is-about-making-meaning aspect. And finally, the book I’m thinking about the most these days: My Lesbian Novel by Renee Gladman. It’s a brilliant book about writing via Gladman’s obsession with lesbian romance—a book to read and reread and reread.
As a creative writing teacher, what advice can you offer aspiring authors?
Undergraduate creative writing classes (mine anyway) are often more focused on imaginative play and generative exercises than on professionalization, i.e., preparing manuscripts to submit to particular kinds of markets, although we do talk about genre, the publishing industry, and the circulation and reception of texts. Some writers who are just starting out know what they want to write and have traditional publication as a goal, and that’s great, and there are concrete things they can do to move forward (read a lot; check out the relevant literary magazines and presses; get a sense of the current field; build networks with other writers). In classes, though, I like to take the opportunity to get in touch with more basic questions about the creative process (Why do we write? What can writing do and be in the world?) and to encourage experimentation through lots of prompts. I often teach What It Is by Lynda Barry which asks beautiful, strange, provocative questions about the imagination and memory, and has a workbook in the back that gives you so many ways into making images and narratives. So I guess my advice is—even if you have a strong sense of what you want to do already, keep asking yourself why, and stay open to new possibilities. And if you’re just beginning as a writer, or feel uncertain about your goals, that’s okay, that’s actually wonderful. There are so many forms and genres to explore. Let yourself have fun, try things out, and don’t worry if your first attempts are messy. Even our “failures” can lead to unexpected discoveries.
You’ve also written different genres under a few different pen names — are there any you’d like to explore more of in future, and have you developed a preference for one in particular?
If I write more commercial fiction, I might try something contemporary with romance and paranormal elements. I like ghost stories and gothic fiction a lot, so drawing from there. Or I might find myself returning to more language-driven (probably non-commercial) writing projects—I have a few on the backburner. I enjoy switching up modes. Experimental fiction taught me to love sentences, but romance taught me to love scenes. I prefer both!
We’d love a hint about any of your current projects! Anything that might surprise your readers?
I’m not sure if this is surprising, but I’ve been co-writing, with my Jane Austen scholar friend, a modern retelling of Mansfield Park set on a college campus. We’re about halfway through a big, messy draft and are having a lot of fun with it.
Our podcast focuses on media we’re currently loving. Are there any books, shows, movies, or games you’re enjoying at the moment? Any recommendations for our audience? Bonus points if it includes sapphics!
El fin del amor! I’m watching it right now—an Argentinian show that explores expectations about romantic relationships and love. It includes sapphics! Also, I’ve been listening to Rebel Ever After, a super smart and fun romance podcast by romance writer and sex and culture critic, Ella Dawson. I’m actually in London in the midst of teaching the witch class at the moment, so I’ll recommend two of the novels from the syllabus. I love them both so much and they have some sapphic vibes: Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner and I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé.
About the Author
Joanna Lowell lives among the fig trees in North Carolina, where she teaches in the English department at Wake Forest University. When she’s not writing historical romance, she writes other things as Joanna Ruocco. Those books include Dan, Another Governess / The Least Blacksmith, The Week, and Field Glass, co-authored with Joanna Howard.
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