Amy Daws on writing about London without going there
Amy Daws, author of London Bound, the latest release in her London Lovers Series, shares how she ensured her London setting feels authentic.
Amy: Most people would be surprised to learn that I started a series called The London Lovers Series without ever having been to London.
First of all, writers' job is to create a world in our minds, and with Google Maps, who needs to spend money on airfare?
I'm kidding. Mostly.
Actually, I just returned from the British Book Affair signing in London, so I can no longer say that I've never been. It was a beautiful full-circle moment for me to finally lay eyes on a city that I've been living in in my mind for the past year.
With that said, the first books in my series, including my newest release, London Bound, were all written before I stepped foot across the pond. And that is all due to the awesome power of imagination!
One might venture to wonder why a farm girl from Iowa would choose to channel London in her romance series.
So I drafted a little list:
• The accent
• The accent
• The accent!
I'm kidding. Mostly.
It all started with my huge, somewhat obsessive affection for British chick lit novels. It's what made me fall in love with reading romance!
I'm not just referring to Bridget Jones's Diary or the Jane Austen classics. I'm talking about Elizabeth Young, Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes. Don't even get me started on Samantha Young. These are awesome, strong, contemporary U.K. romance authors who wrote these great books that made me DREAM of being there!
I simply loved the fantasy of a romance novel across the pond. It transported me to a place I had never been and couldn't fully imagine. And since the U.K. is an English-speaking region, I could connect to the culture without worrying about a language barrier. Although, I visited Scotland on my recent trip overseas and holy cow — they are speaking English, but I couldn't understand 90% of what they were saying! That accent is incredible!
To get back to my main point, London was simply dreamlike to me.
Thus began my London Lovers Series.
And thus began loads of research I did to give due justice to the beautiful city. I did a lot of TripAdvisor research and pored over loads of comments from local people. I wanted to be sure that I was reading information straight from locals, not what some tourist website was spinning into some version of the truth. I even shopped for flats on Airbnb and spoke to hosts who were very forthcoming with information on the neighborhoods. By talking to real people who live and work in the city, I achieved my authenticity and made Londoners proud.
The London Lovers Series slogan is "Where Americans run and Londoners fall." I like to keep my heroines American because I connect more to that first-person POV. And I can describe the city through the eyes of someone who's not as familiar with the area, appealing to both my U.K. readers and my U.S. readers.
Plus, having my outspoken, American heroines — in London — meeting sexy Brits, gives me that fantasy and excitement I so desperately crave in my romance reads.
In the end, I wanted London to be like another character in my books, and I wanted it to come alive in the way my characters did! London is a part of their journey, and I just love that.
So, in an industry of endless TBR lists and tons of awesome authors coming out with new releases every week — it was my hope to write something just a little bit different than the normal American contemporary romance.
London Bound follows Leslie Lincoln and could quite possibly be a series stealer. Leslie is the funny, artistic, outrageous, fiery redhead who everyone wants to be best friends with. She has a much deeper connection to London than my previous heroine because she's been living there longer. London was a safety net for Leslie when she needed it most, so I really dug deep in my research to make the location like another character in London Bound. So consider taking a trip across the pond with my London Lovers!
Find out more about Amy and her books at amydawsauthor.com.