Sorry that it’s been a while since I’ve poked my head out of my writer cave and shown up here. When last you heard from me, I was heading off to the 2017 Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando. I was sadly behind in writing the first book in my new Widow’s Brew trilogy and was a bit despairing I would ever get to “The End.”
But help was at hand! At the conference, I had dinner with my writer pal and plotter extraordinaire Caroline Linden, who calmly reassured me that I did indeed have a big enough plot for the book but suggested I further develop one thread: the need for my hero to marry a well-bred female and produce an heir. That was precisely the nudge I needed. It meant going home and rewriting what I had–and blowing through several deadlines–but finally the book is done, done, done! I handed in page proofs last week. Whew! And that means I’ve posted the first three chapters here. Now it’s on to book number two, which doesn’t yet have a title.
I’ll be at this year’s RWA conference in Denver–hopefully in better shape with Widow’s Brew Book 2!–so if you’re in that neck of the woods, do stop by the literacy signing on Saturday, July 21. I can’t promise I’ll have What Ales the Earl–it doesn’t release until July 31–but I’ll have promotional handouts and I’ll be signing When to Engage an Earl, the last book in the Spinster House series. You can find all the signing details, including a list of authors, here. If you’ve never been to an RWA “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing, prepare for an amazing experience!
Before RWA–and closer to home for me–I’ll be moderating a panel on bringing history to life and actual historical events to historical romance at the Gaitherburg Book Festival on May 19. I’ve not been to that festival before, but it looks like it will be a great day. There will be authors of all stripes and even a Children’s Village for the youngest readers! I might try to lure the grandkids out.