by Mary Jo
MJP: I‘m delighted to have Nancy Herkness as a Word Wench guest today. She’s a seasoned contemporary romance writer and we’ve known each other for years. Often writers tend to hang out with other authors in the same genre: historical authors with other historical authors, contemporary writers flock with other contemporary writers, and so forth.
But that’s not a hard and fast rule by any means. Nancy and I met at a New Jersey Romance Writers conference years ago and more recently have made a point of going out to dinner at the national RWA conferences. (Nancy is very good at finding enjoyable restaurants!) And though we write different kinds of romance, we are both (crazy?) cat ladies. <G> Below is a picture of her tabby brothers. <G>
NH: Yes, I am a devoted cat servant to my two tabby brothers, Mobi and Skoda. I adopted them in early 2020, and we have lived happily together ever since.
I’d like to tell the story of how Mary Jo and I became conference buddies because she’s too modest about it. Mary Jo has always been in my pantheon of absolute favorite romance authors, right up there with Georgette Heyer. I loved and admired Mary Jo’s books long before I started writing my own.
So we indeed met at an NJRW conference where I barely said three words because I was so in awe of her. However, a year later, at a Romance Writers of America 
conference, I was grabbing lunch alone in the food court of the mall attached to the conference hotel. Suddenly, I saw Mary Jo walking toward my table. I presumed upon our previous meeting to give her a little wave and say a shy hello. To my delighted astonishment, she asked, “Can I join you once I get my food?”
Well, I felt like a goddess had stepped down off Mount Olympus to dine with me. After that, we bonded over the crazy cat lady thing and made a point to have a meal together at every conference we attended. I still feel a little dazzled in her company, honestly.
MJP: <blush!> I’ve read a number of Nancy’s books over the years and they are always fast, intelligent, and sexy. I recently found the first of her Royal Caleva books (Royal Caleva: Gabriel, the Duke of Bencalor), and it blew me away when I read it. The series is contemporary, but it has elements that resonated with my historical romance writer soul. Nancy, could you tell us about the Royal Caleva series?
NH: Thank you so much for your kind words about my books. That means so much to me, especially considering the source. I’m not surprised that your historical romance writer soul felt comfortable in Caleva since it offers dukes, kings, castles, elegant clothing and jewels, and fancy uniforms. I love historical romances myself, so I imparted some of that flavor to my contemporary world.
Caleva is a fictional country off the coast of Spain where fragrant vaho hibiscus bloom, white sand beaches sparkle, and “dragons” roam the mountains. My Calevan romances focus on the royal family because the royals are strong, powerful, sexy, and flawed. The first book features Gabriel, a guitar-playing royal duke, and Quinn, a feisty American computer hacker. But you also get to know King Luis, Prince Raul, and Quinn’s enigmatic boss, Mikel. They get their own novels as well.
My readers often tell me that they want to book a vacation in Caleva…or maybe even go live there permanently. I feel the same way.
There’s a free novella in the series called How to Plan a Royal Wedding which is exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, so make sure to sign up at 
www.NancyHerkness.com.
MJP: Any idea where this concept came from?
NH: Actually, for once, I have a whole list of ideas of where this concept came from. And here they are:
1. It was early in the pandemic lockdown when my area (northern New Jersey) was getting hit very hard by COVID. I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, so I started reading a science fiction saga (more on that later). I loved the world-building in that series and decided I wanted to try my hand at the challenge, so I invented the fictional island country of Caleva and escaped there to build castles in my writing.
2. That sci-fi saga also featured an emperor, so I decided to write about a royal family. (I am fascinated by the British royals as well.)Since I’m an avid Regency reader, I love dukes. Hence, Gabriel is a royal duke. (I went on to write about Caleva’s king and crown prince.)
3. Gabriel is a brilliantly talented flamenco guitar player. That idea came from a fabulous book by Barbara O’Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids, in which a secondary character is a well-known flamenco tocaor. I thought he was very hot, so I borrowed him.
MJP: Nancy and I are both science fiction and fantasy fans, which isn’t true of most romance writers. After I fan-girled you an email about the Royal Caleva books, do you remember what we discussed and agreed upon?
NH: Yes! We’re both huge fans of Lois McMaster Bujold’s superb Vorkosigan saga. Those books kept me sane through the lockdown. It turns out you even wrote a terrific essay in The Vorkosigan Companion.
Weirdly enough, those sci-fi books inspired my firmly-rooted-on-Earth Royal Caleva series as I mention above. I wanted to create my own world dynamics the way Ms. Bujold does.
Honestly, I believe that a historical fiction writer has to do a fair amount of world-building as well. After all, your characters live in an entirely different time which needs to be conjured up in the reader’s brain with vivid descriptions. That may be part of what appeals to you so much about my Royal Caleva series, don’t you think?
MJP: I agree about the required world-building. Please tell us about the Royal Calevan dragons!
NH: They came from another series of sci-fi/fantasy we share a love of: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to ride a dragon?!
Being a writer of contemporary romance, I can’t put flying dragons in my books. But since I was creating an imagined country, I could give it giant, teal green lizards with gorgeous neck frills to live in the mountains. And no one could stop me from calling them dragons!
I modeled a lot of the life habits of my Calevan dragons on those of the real-life Komodo dragons. It was fascinating—and sometimes a little scary—to learn about the huge, carnivorous lizards! My Calevan dragons are a kinder, gentler version of those intimidating creatures. (MJP: I also researched Komodo dragons for my book The Bartered Bride. Great minds!)
MJP: You clearly did a lot of research for this series. Caleva has a very Spanish flavor. Did you already know the Spanish language, or was this all research?
NH: I studied French in school for years, but I always wanted to learn Spanish. To inspire myself, I located Caleva off the coast of Spain so I would be forced to study the language. After 1,435 consecutive days (remember, it was the pandemic) of practicing Spanish on the Duolingo app, I decided that I had learned just enough to be dangerous and gave up.
However, those 1,435 days gave me enough of a basis in the language to sprinkle it into the books of the Royal Caleva series without too much anxiety. Luckily, I have some early readers who have caught a few of my mistakes. The hardest part is that speakers from Spain and speakers from Latin America often use very different slang. When I look up a word, I need to double-check that it’s used in Spain.
Why do we writers make such problems for ourselves?!
MJP: Because writers are into self-torture? Please post an excerpt from the first book!
NH: Excerpt from Royal Caleva: Gabriel:
Quinn hustled back into the conference room, a leather jacket in her arms and a black leather satchel slung over her shoulder. Her cheeks held a flush of pink that 
heightened the tug of attraction Gabriel felt.
He liked feeling desire for her. It spoke of life and light and pleasure.
“I’m ready,” she said bluntly.
So American. Always rushing. But he liked that, too, today.
He stood, noticing again how tall she made him feel.
“My car is parked out front,” he said, gesturing for her to go ahead of him. He watched the fluid sway of her hips with appreciation, letting the sensual movement stoke his hunger.
When she glanced back over her shoulder, he smiled again, which made her walk faster.
He sighed inwardly. He’d hoped because she was an American, she wouldn’t be affected by his title. His smile turned wry as he remembered he was a client. That alone could explain her unease. The smile faded as he considered that she also knew the details of his abduction. Some people found that unsettling.
He caught himself touching his earlobe and jerked his hand down…
Excerpt continues here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/cu/UIz7hmW/Gabriel. (Don’t hesitate to click. I promise you won’t be signed up for any marketing emails.)
MJP: Will there be more books in the Royal Caleva series? There are at least a couple of characters who look very book worthy!
NH: My original intention for the series was four books: Gabriel (royal duke), Luis (king of Caleva), Raul (crown prince of Caleva), and Mikel (head of security for the royal family). Gabriel, Luis, and Raul are all available for your reading pleasure now. I am currently working on Mikel’s book and intend to have it released next year. (I’m a slow writer, alas.)
However, a new character appeared in Luis’s book without my expecting her. This is what happens when you don’t plan out your series—or your books—ahead of time. I am a total pantser that way. At any rate, my readers found this new character compelling and have requested that I give her a happily ever after. I’m noodling around with ideas about how to do that when I’m not sweating over Mikel’s book.
I should mention that there’s also a novella (exclusive and free to my newsletter subscribers) about Gabriel and Quinn. (You can sign up here: http://www.nancyherkness.com/newsletter/.) And I owe my readers another novella about their wedding.
So I guess there will be more books set in Caleva!
Giveaway!
NH: I am offering a copy of Royal Caleva: Gabriel to one lucky commenter! If you live in the U.S. you could win an autographed print copy (or digital if you prefer). If you live in the UK, Canada, or Australia., I will gift you a digital copy…and mail you an autographed bookmark upon request. The winner will be chosen from those who comment between now and midnight Friday,
Connect with me!
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MJP: Thanks so much for visiting the Word Wenches today, Nancy! Now I’m looking forward to Mikel’s story because he makes quite an impression in the earlier books!
Thanks Mary Jo for interviewing Nancy. I’m fascinated with Caleva and want to read it all!
Patricia, I’m so happy to hear that Caleva intrigues you! I have always thought that readers of historical fiction would enjoy my modern royal family as well. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for the interview, Mary Jo.
I love fantasy books with fictional places.
Sounds like an interesting series. I am adding it ro my list of books to read!
Wonderful, JaneA! Caleva is definitely a fantasy country with all the good things…even lilies that cure dementia. Of course, no fantasy is complete without very hot heroes and my royal family is full of those. I hope you enjoy it!
This does sound like an intriguing series since I too love Georgette Heyer, Anne McCaffrey and of course Mary Jo’s books… Taking thematic elements from all of them and putting them in a contemporary book….hmmm…… I’ll have to add this to my too long to read in this lifetime TBR list.
Vicky, given all our common reading preferences, I think you’ll like the Royal Caleva series. I have tried to write them to the standards of all those amazing authors. You’ll have to let me know if I succeeded!
Welcome to you, Nancy! And thank you, Mary Jo, for sharing your conversation.
I’m another who enjoyed Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga though I’ll admit that it’s her Curse of Chalion that is on my reread list. That book also has the vaguely Spanish feel that you mentioned creating for your Caleva series, Nancy. All good wishes to you…and your cats!
Many thanks, Kareni! I love meeting another Vorkosigan fan. Miles is the best! You’re right about the Curse of Chalion; I hadn’t put that together with my Royal Caleva series. Now I’ve got to re-read it too. Not exactly torture, right?
Definitely a pleasurable torture!
🙂
Sorry about the giant smiley face! I had no idea it would look like that when I typed in my colon, dash, and parenthesis. Oops!
Kareni and Nancy– I TOTALLY agree about The Curse of Chalion! I’ve read and it reread it. Cazaril is one on the great (tortured ) heroes.
Absolutely! And we love our tortured heroes!
Wow! A new kingdom to explore! For the USA being a democracy, we citizens are hooked on royalty-watching. We invented our own kingdom of “Camelot” under the Kennedys. The kingdom of Caleva, with its proximity to Spain, especially intrigues me, as I married into a Spanish family. We live in Spain three months out of the year, so I would surely enjoy the Spanish flavor of Caleva. Thank you, Mary Jo, for this informative interview, and to Ms. Herkness for sharing her kingdom with us.
Patricia, I’m glad you’re excited about exploring Caleva. You should especially appreciate it since you are so connected with Spain. I hope I didn’t get any of my Spanish wrong. Where in Spain do you live for those three months? I spent my honeymoon traveling around Spain. It was so lovely and fascinating.
I do love royalty-watching! I enjoy the pretty clothes and well-cut suits, the pomp and circumstance, and the glittering jewels. It’s pure fantasy, right?
Hello, again, Nancy.
We have a home in Granada, Spain. Now that we are retired, Hubby and I divide our three months into a month-and-a-half in late spring, and a month-and-a-half in early autumn, to catch the most pleasant weather that southern Spain has to offer, without enduring the very hot summers. We know the hot summers well, as the summer was the only time that we were able to travel there during our years as teachers. Ironically, I taught Spanish and English, and my husband, the native Spaniard, taught math!
Granada is so beautiful! Probably my favorite place that we visited. You’re so lucky to be there when the weather is at its most delightful.
I’m laughing about the subjects you both taught. You have to work with your talents, don’t you?
Thanks for this interview! I love the story about how MJP and Nancy met, and I am intrigued by the books.
Karin, you have no idea how nervous I was about having Mary Jo sit down to lunch with me. She wrote some of my absolute favorite books, so I was in awe. As my friends will tell you, I am not ordinarily shy, but I was practically tongue-tied. Of course, Mary Jo is the nicest person on earth–and a fellow cat lady–so I very quickly relaxed and enjoyed myself.
Nancy, I’m hardly the nicest person on earth, but definitely a Serious Cat Lady!
Well, you’ve always been extremely nice to me!
If you switch C to K in Caleva, you get Finnish word kaleva, which means a mythical giant or king.
Oh, wow, Minna, that is very cool…and quite appropriate. Thanks for sharing that! I’m guessing by your name that you might be Finnish? I’m headed for Finland next March in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights.
Yes, I’m Finnish. Hope you are lucky the sun is particularly active and see the Northern Lights. They are not a sure thing. By the way, in Finnish the Northern Lights are called revontulet, fires of the fox.
“The name “Revontuli” is a Finnish word meaning “northern lights” or “aurora borealis”. It literally translates to “fox fire”.
The name originates from an ancient Finnish and Sámi myth or legend about a mythical creature called a firefox (tulikettu or tulirepo in Finnish). According to the folklore:
The magical fox runs across the snowy fells of the Arctic.
The northern lights are created when the fox’s bushy tail sweeps across bushes and low-hanging branches, flinging sparks up into the night sky, or when its fur scratches against the trees.
In Finnish, the word for the phenomenon is often used in the plural form, revontulet. The name is deeply rooted in the natural landscape and cultural significance of the aurora borealis in the region. “
I love this! Now I have a marvelous image in my mind of the fox with his tail throwing out sparks. (I love foxes!) Fox fire is a much more poetic name than northern lights.
Alas, I know it is not a sure thing to see the lights. However, I will still get to see Helsinki, Talinn, and the far north of Finland so I will be happy with the journey.
I have visited plenty of times in Helsinki (usually at summer) and here are some places I can recommend: one of my favorites is The Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. You don’t see many cars there.
Uspenski Cathedral -orthodox church.
Ateneum Art Museum.
Korkeasaari Zoo.
Natural History Museum -among other animals, there is this poor unlucky walrus who got seriously lost and ended up in Finland and sadly, in the end the vets of Korkeasaari Zoo were unable to help the emaciated animal.
Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden.
The Market Squire. “From spring to autumn, the Market Square is active with vendors selling fresh Finnish food and souvenirs. There are also many outdoor cafés at the square. Some cafés also provide meat pastries (Finnish: lihapiirakka). Seagulls have become an increasing menace in the Market Square, swooping down to snatch snacks and ice cream from the hands of unsuspecting tourists.”
Esplanadi -though personally, I think it’s much nicer to walk there at summer.
Foods to try:
Karelian pastries with egg butter. Just make sure it says “karjalanpiirakka” instead of “riisipiirakka”. It’s only the real deal if it’s handmade, if it’s machine made, then it’s just “riisipiirakka”, literally rise pie.
Blueberry pie.
Cinnamon bun and Dallas bun. Yes, despite it’s name, it’s totally a Finnish bun. I hear there is also a Texas bun, but I haven’t tried those yet.
Fish soup.
Food made from reindeer.
Smoked or cold smoked salmon.
If you really crave for a hamburger, forget the red and yellow clown. Try Hesburger try their Double Burger, instead.
So, Kalevala, the name of our national epic, means the place of giants or kings.
Aha! I just ordered a book of Nordic folk tales to read before my trip. I hope there will be foxes and giants in it.
Minna, thank you SO much for all the wonderful things to see and eat in Helsinki! I’m going to copy and print them to take with me. There is nothing better than getting the scoop from a native, so I appreciate the time you took to clue me in.
Caleva sounds fascinating! I love the Spanish influence. The “dragons” are big but harmless. Is there anything dangerous on the island other than humans?
Pat, I’m glad you’re intrigued by Caleva! Man is the most dangerous animal, right? Hmm, there are volcanoes but they’re mostly dormant. The waters around Caleva have the usual sealife, so there would be sharks, I imagine. But that’s about it for predators, I think. Interesting question!
What a lovely interview Nancy and Mary Jo! I am now thoroughly intrigued and will go and check out this series. I love Spain and who doesn’t like a duke or a royal hero? 🙂
Yay, Christina! I’m delighted that I interested you enough to take a look. The first two books are in Kindle Unlimited if you are a subscriber. I’m a big fan of dukes myself.
Here are some Finnish recipes for you: https://finland.fi/life-society/finnish-recipes/
https://finland.fi/life-society/a-poet-and-his-pastry/
https://finland.fi/life-society/we-love-finnish-rye-bread-a-baking-story-that-stretches-across-borders-and-generations/
https://finland.fi/?s=recipe
Helsinki has excellent local train, bus, subway and tram system (Check out the internet links I sent here). Ask about HSL card for instance on VR service point in Helsinki Central railway station and ask also which tram to take to see all the sights! Really, in Helsinki there is no point to use a car.
Minna, this is great information to have! I’m excited to check out the tram. Thank you so much for helping me get ready for my trip. I really appreciate your help.
How interesting, this series is something I need to get!
Real books are better than jewelry to me 😊 signed are even more precious – appreciate the opportunity!
Happy Thanksgiving to all 🦃
Amber, I love your comparison between books and jewelry and I agree with you! I would rather have something great to read than an inert piece of gold (although I do like sparkly things, I admit). Happy Thanksgiving to you too!