In May of last year, we announced that Emma-Claire Sunday was the recipient of the 2023 Romance Includes You mentorship with her book, The Duke’s Sister and I. Almost a year later, we are thrilled to have Emma-Claire join us here on the blog to chat with her editor, Hannah Rossiter, all about the mentorship experience and her debut novel, which releases this September!
Emma-Claire, what made you want to apply to the Romance Includes You Mentorship?
Emma-Claire Sunday: Reading a book or watching a movie with a queer happily-ever-after always feels so special, so exceptional. I wish it didn’t. I wish I didn’t have to look so hard for stories of passionate, abundant, life-changing LGBTQ+ love.
There are so many beautiful and important and absolutely valid books about queer characters struggling to come out or being bullied or pining after people they can never be with. But there are so many stories of queer people struggling that many of the young people in my life don’t even know that they can also expect and claim joy.
I applied to the Romance Includes You mentorship because I want to narrate the queer joy that already fills (and has filled throughout history) the lives of people whose love defies societal expectations. The world needs to know that romance includes queer people, and that happily-ever-afters transcend gender and sexual orientation categories.
Hannah, what made you want to be a mentor editor?
Hannah Rossiter: The greatest joy, as an Editor, is working with talented authors and bringing their wonderful words onto the bookshelves of readers around the world. There is no feeling, in turn, quite like reading a writer’s debut novel and realising that they have created literary magic. When I first read The Duke’s Sister and I, Emma-Claire Sunday’s winning submission to Harlequin’s Romance Includes You Mentorship, I had that exact feeling. So, being Emma-Claire’s mentor and having the opportunity to guide her through the publication process has been an utter delight.
Emma-Claire, what has the mentorship experience been like so far? Has working with an editor changed your writing process in any way?
ES: Meeting with Hannah Rossiter every month has directed and propelled and enlivened my creative process. Aside from our monthly Zoom calls, we also communicate via email every time something exciting happens—when I meet a big deadline or the rough draft cover for my debut novel is finally ready. Her edits and suggestions on my manuscript have been invaluable to me as I’ve developed the The Duke’s Sister and I.
But Hannah doesn’t just guide my writing—she gives me a behind-the-scenes look into the publishing industry, into all that goes into book production besides writing, into where romance has been and where it’s going next. She’s also connected me with other editors and mentors I wouldn’t have met otherwise. She and Harlequin have made me feel welcome, talented, and well-equipped for lasting career in romance.
What is the biggest thing that you have learned in the mentorship so far?
ES: When I submitted my application to the Romance Includes You Mentorship (at 11:59pm on the final day of the submission window), The Duke’s Sister and I was only 5,000 words long. I had never written a full novel before. The biggest thing I have learned in the mentorship is that I can do this—I can write a book. The mentorship has helped me believe in myself, and it has provided me with the skills I need to keep writing more books after this. I’ve learned (and am still learning!) so much about time management, historical research, and how to not give up on myself during writer’s block. Someday when I am years into my career, I hope I get the opportunity to mentor new LGBTQ+ authors.
Hannah, what elements (story, process, etc.) have you been focusing on over the course of the mentorship so far?
HR: It’s important to me, as a Mentor, that I am able to both support my author in every way that I can and also make the publishing process as transparent for them as possible. So, over the course of the mentorship, I focus on multiple things. From an Editorial perspective, I am keen to maintain the author’s creative vision for their novel, whilst helping them to develop their literary work. I also consider myself my authors biggest cheerleader, who is there to both advocate for them and shout about why they are so brilliant! Outside of the Editorial process, I explain and help the author to navigate all aspects of the publishing process. In addition, I connect my author with industry professionals, to ensure a growing support team for the author. Lastly, writing and having your first novel publishing can be an emotionally intense journey. So, I always want to provide holistic support to my author.
Emma-Claire, The Duke’s Sister and I is a Regency romance between Charlotte and Loretta, two ladies of the Ton. Why is it important for you to tell LGBTQ+ stories in a historical setting?
ES: A lot of news pundits and politicians have taken to discussing LGBTQ+ identities as if they are a modern trend, as if living outside the gender binary is something people started doing in the 21st century. But that is completely ahistorical! We have evidence stretching back to antiquity that gender and sexual/romantic attraction have always existed on spectrums. We know that same-sex partnerships and gender fluidity often thrived in indigenous cultures before colonialism. And we know that even in the face of persecution queer people consistently found ways to live their lives in community, sometimes quite openly.
The words and labels we use change so frequently, but the simple truth that humans can’t be sorted into rigid categories is a timeless truth. As a queer writer, I have a responsibility—an opportunity—to tell the stories of that timeless truth. There are so many gaps in our source material—because books were burned, because people were silenced, because police reports and trial transcripts skew the facts—so it’s up to historical fiction writers to breathe new life into the queer joy we know was happening.
Hannah, as an editor, why is it important to you to foster diverse voices in the series that you work on?
HR: As an Editor for Harlequin Historical, I am all-too aware that the Historical Romantic Fiction landscape predominantly features protagonists who are white, cis-gendered and straight. Whilst, of course, there are trailblazers in the genre – the beloved Beverly Jenkins, to name just one! – it’s of absolute importance to me that I acquire, publish and champion authors from historically underrepresented backgrounds and their stories. I want Harlequin Historical stories to tell the history of every community, not just one.
The Duke’s Sister and I – available this fall!
She’s supposed to wed a duke…
But it’s his sister she can’t keep her eyes off!
As the ton’s most in-demand debutante, it should be easy for Miss Loretta Linfield to find the perfect husband. So the reason why she is embarking on her third season unwed is a puzzle that nobody can solve. Not least Loretta! Until she meets Charlotte Sterlington… The sister of her new suitor, the Duke of Colchester, is everything that prim and proper Loretta isn’t—bold, daring and rakish! But Charlotte is also everything that Loretta finds herself desiring…
The 2024 Romance Includes You Mentorship is opening to submissions on May 1st! Find out everything you need to know right here on the Write for Harlequin Blog.
