Edited by Ekaterina Sedia, Willful Impropriety is a collection of thirteen historical romances from a talented array of YA authors that will make even the most cynic heart swoon; after all, surely there is no historical period more romantic than the Victorian era. Even with the societal pressure for refinement, young hearts cannot be stifled by corsets and ruffles—and indeed, young love is ravenous in Willful Impropriety. Despite the common misperception that Victorians were all prim and repressed, this was a time of great change and societal revolution, all in the name of love. With 13 varied and satisfying romances depicting straight, gay, and LGBTQ couples, this anthology shines a fresh light on historical romance.
Q. What inspires your editing projects?
A. I usually edit anthologies
built around the themes that reflect things I find personally interesting, and
often those include current fascinations. Victoriana and young adult, for
example, are huge genres right now. On one hand, I am always interested in
taking something that is everywhere and making it new again, finding the
writers who can explore the familiar from the interesting angles. And of
course, we want the readers to be able to find the books they want to read and
yet to be challenged and delighted that these stories are not the rehash of the
same old. It’s challenging, but so worth it.
Q. What is your favorite thing
about being an editor?
A. Getting to work with a bunch
of great writers, and to be the first one to read their stories, of course!
Q. What is the toughest part of
being an editor?
A. Finding the stories that are
different and yet go together, to make sure that the writers receive timely
feedback, and just putting together a well-rounded anthology. It’s a bit like
putting together a puzzle, from the pieces that were never meant to fit
together, and yet somehow we have to make it all work.
Q.
If you could not be an editor, what would you do/be?
A. Editing and writing are hobbies for
me, so I guess I would still keep my current job – a college professor.
Q. What would the story of your
life be entitled?
A. “Red Queen: Running Very Fast
to Stay in One Place
Q. What is your favorite book of
all time?
A. Tin Drum by Gunther Grass.
Q. Which character from ANY book
are you most like?
A. I’d have to go with the Red
Queen from Through the Looking Glass.
Q. What character from all
of your books are you most like?
A. Aunt Eugenia from Heart
of Iron, my latest novel
Q. What is your favorite season?
A. Fall. I love sweater weather!
Fashion is another one of my obsessions – I even have a fashion blog, which is
pretty much all about fair labor, feminism, and cashmere. (http://ekaterinasedia.com/index.php/blog/)
Q.
What inspired your book cover(s)?
Or what is your favorite book cover and why?
A. Willful
Impropriety is definitely one of the favorites – not only it is beautiful
and edgy, it also does a wonderful job conveying the gestalt of the book.
Q. Tell me something funny that
happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.
A. It’s not so much funny as it was
surprising, but I go to steampunk conventions quite a bit, and a lot of people
there love Victoriana. Much of the costuming though is very gender-specific,
and you would think that people interested in retro-futurism would explore the
boundaries of gender expression more – it is “punk”, after all! So it got me
thinking, why do people who are so interested in overthrowing the boundaries
remain so tethered by this particular one – and in a way, this brought me to
this book, to the idea of gender-based transgressiveness in Victorian era.
Q. Are you working on something
new?
A. I have just finished editing
two anthologies for Prime Books, Circus:
Fantasy Under the Big Top and Bloody
Fabulous, a book of urban fantasy stories about fashion. There is also a
collection of my short stories that is coming out in December, called Moscow but Dreaming.
Q. Anything you want to say to
followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?
A. Keep reading!
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Emily, AKA Mrs. Mommy Booknerd