KINSALE, Laura

PERSONAL:

Married; husband's name David.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Santa Fe, NM, and Dallas, TX. Agent—c/o Publicity, Berkeley Books, Penguin Group Publicity, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

CAREER:

Former petroleum geologist; author.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Kiss Award for Outstanding Hero, Romantic Times, 1987, for Uncertain Magic; Reviewers' Choice designation for best new historical romance author, Romantic Times, 1986, for The Hidden Heart; Golden Choice Award for Best Romance, Romance Writers of America, 1990, for The Prince of Midnight.

WRITINGS:

The Hidden Heart, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1986.

Uncertain Magic, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Midsummer Moon, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Seize the Fire, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1989.

The Prince of Midnight, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1990.

The Shadow and the Star, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Flowers from the Storm, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1992.

For My Lady's Heart, Berkeley Books (New York, NY), 1993.

The Dream Hunter, Berkeley Books (New York, NY), 1994.

My Sweet Folly, Berkeley Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Shadowheart, Berkeley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Laura Kinsale, once a petroleum geologist, is now an award-winning romance novelist. After writing ten books in almost twelve years, she took a hiatus from the long, lonely months sitting at the computer—"not what the human body is made to do," she told Rachel Potter in an online interview for All about Romance—and the pressure of producing to a deadline. In a review of her return book, Shadowheart, Kristin Ramsdell noted in Library Journal that Kinsale is renowned for her "well-developed, complex characters, richly descriptive historical detail, and emotionally involving stories." Potter commented in the introduction to her interview that Kinsale's "characters have rich ambiguity, and her stories are full of texture, layers, and all kinds of food for thought. Unlike most romances, they improve on a reread."

Not all reviewers are of a similar opinion: A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found The Dream Hunter, full of "the same tiresome passages … [with] no diverting subplots, no reason, in fact, for the reader to torture him or herself by attempting to finish this tedious tale." However, Denise Perry Donavin, reviewing the book for Booklist, commented that "Kinsale handles her tempestuous characters well." A Publishers Weekly critic described For My Lady's Heart as being "light on vitality and heavy on Middle English, plot twists and tedium." In contrast, a Publishers Weekly critic called My Sweet Folly "a remarkable achievement."

In the process of writing her books, Kinsale composes a seven-or-eight-page synopsis and does a great deal of research, and her plot usually develops from that research. Describing on her Home Page the process involved in writing Flowers from the Storm, in which one character suffers a cerebral hemorrhage, Kinsale said she "spent a fascinating period researching brain damage." Like several of her other novels, the book was a finalist in the Romance Writers of America Golden Choice Award for Best Romance. Nora Armstrong wrote in her review of the book for All about Romance: "If you want to read a book that comes as close to perfection as any historical romance, then pick up Flowers from the Storm. … This is the kind of book—it is the book—to give to someone who disses the romance genre as frivolous and nothing more than soft-core porn for women."

In her interview with Potter, Kinsale addressed the disrespect generally accorded the romance genre. She indicated she once would get upset at how the media and the "uninformed" view the genre but realized there is an "extremely powerful force driving the denigration of romance.… I think it's the snob factor." At tempting to defend the genre just "wore me down.… It's almost weird to me how, in such a capitalist society, the romance genre, which effectively supports the entire publishing business now, is seldom mentioned even in trade publications.… So I gave up trying to fight it. Now i just cry all the way to the bank."

In the late 1990s, Kinsale reached the point where writing had become painful. On her home page she noted that by the time she wrote The Dream Hunter and My Sweet Folly, she was "quite simply writing on nerve and guts alone." When she tried to begin her next book, which was due in a year, she "burst into tears at the very thought of turning the computer on." So she took time—six years—to regain some balance in her life: hiking daily with her dog, riding her horse, pursuing hobbies such as painting miniatures (which she sells on e-bay), taking time for family and friends, and staying away from the computer. The hiatus was painful, however, and she told Potter: "There was not one day of those six years that I didn't try to figure out why and what I should do about it, but I never really did." On her Home Page, Kinsale indicated that for too long she had been pressuring her muse to produce, and if she didn't "I'd take out all the guns and just force it.… after several years of full retreat, I have been entertaining my muse to treaty talks.… We work together for a bit, and then as soon as things seem to be getting a little tense, we break it off and go our own ways."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1994, Denise Perry Donavin, review of The Dream Hunter, p. 735.

Library Journal, May 15, 2003, Kristin Ramsdell, review of Flowers from the Storm, p. 74; February 15, 2004, Kristin Ramsdell, review of Shadowheart, p. 111.

Publishers Weekly, October 12, 1990, Penny Kaganoff, review of The Prince of Midnight, p. 56; September 6, 1991, review of The Shadow and the Star, p. 101; November 1, 1993, review of For My Lady's Heart, p. 72; October 31, 1994, review of The Dream Hunter, p. 59; February 3, 1997, review of My Sweet Folly, p. 99; March 29, 2004, review of Shadowheart, p. 44.

ONLINE

All about Romance Web site,http://www.likesbooks.com/ (October 15, 2004), review of Flowers from the Storm; (May 14, 2003) Rachel Potter, interview with Kinsale.

Laura Kinsale Home Page,http://www.laurakinsale.com (October 15, 2004).