Lauren Gilbert | Historical Fiction & Regency Research ESP70

In this episode of Jolene's Book & Writers Talk, I'm joined by Lauren Gilbert, a Port St. Lucie-based author whose lifelong love of English literature and deep immersion in Regency-era history shapes every page she writes. Lauren shares how she brings authentic Regency heroines to life without the 21st-century makeover, why Jane Austen's private letters unlock a layer of wit and social critique that the novels alone can't deliver, and how she tracks hundreds of research sources across spreadsheets timed in five-year blocks. We talk about her two published novels, her ambitious nonfiction project profiling seven largely overlooked women of power from the Regency period, and what it means to lose a publisher contract yet keep writing anyway. We also get into the tools she uses: the British Newspaper Archive, British National Archives, genealogy records, ProWritingAid's plagiarism scanner, and the unexpected research windfall that came out of the COVID lockdowns. Check out the author's website https://lauren-gilbert.com/ This conversation is for writers drawn to historical fiction, nonfiction researchers, and anyone who has ever fallen into a period newspaper and lost an afternoon. • 00:00 Show Welcome • 00:41 Meet Lauren Gilbert • 01:38 Why Regency Matters Now • 03:05 A Rational Attachment • 04:26 Deep Research Sources • 07:23 AI and Old Documents • 09:25 The Nonfiction Women Project • 13:03 Archives, Online and In Person • 15:05 Plotter or Pantser • 17:44 Tracking Notes and Citations • 21:05 Newspapers Then and Now • 25:07 Advice for Historical Writers • 27:09 Finding Rare Research Books • 30:21 Dinner with History Icons • 32:56 Closing and Subscribe Check out Our Sponsor: Southern Dragon Publishing Website: https://SouthernDragonPublishing.com LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southern-dragon-publishing/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SouthernDragonPublishing Bookstodon Account: https://bookstodon.com/@sodragonpublishing TikTok Page: https://www.tiktok.com/@sodragonpublishing Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sodragonpublishing.bsky.social Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SoDragonPublishing/ Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/sodragonpublishing/ Threads Page: https://www.threads.net/@sodragonpublishing Substack Publication: https://jolenetheauthor.substack.com/ Medium: https://medium.com/@SoDragonPub.jolene.macfadden