This has been a busy year for me with lots of travel and as a result it’s been short on newsletters. I have enjoyed a wonderful few weeks in Australia, however, and I blogged a bit. You never know, perhaps one day I’ll write a book about a hero who’s spent time over there dealing with the transported prisoners.

I also enjoyed some time back in Ottawa, first to speak at the ORWA conference there, and then to visit family and friends. To top it off, I attended the World Fantasy Convention because it was so close – in Calgary. I was delighted to be on a panel with Barbara Hambly, whose books I’ve enjoyed a lot. I also met Cecelia Holland, who wrote amazingly good historical novels. I don’t mean to say she’s not writing good ones now, but she was so young when she wrote her early books, each is set in a different time and place, and yet each brings the time and place to life. Check out the range of her books on her booklist page.

Somehow along with all this, I’ve managed to complete the next book. I sent it off in early November and The Secret Wedding will be out in April, so mark your calendars. (But of course you’ll get a newsletter to remind you when it’s about to come out.) This follows A Lady’s Secret, and is about Christian, Lord Grandiston, the military officer.

As you know, I’m writing a trilogy that fits within the Malloren World, using three friends.

Robin Fitzvitry, Earl of Huntersdown is a charming, fun-loving sort of guy, though he’s been sobered up a bit by the untimely death of his father, which has plunged him into responsibilities he never expected to have so soon. He was the hero of A Lady’s Secret.

Christian Hill, Viscount Grandiston, is a military officer. He’s been plain Christian Hill all his life until recently, and happy to be so, but his father has unexpectedly inherited an earldom, making Christian a viscount and the heir. He’s struggling with this and many other issues to do with his family and his purpose in peacetime when a ghost rises from his past. A ghostly wife; or rather, a very alive one, which is the problem. That’s The Secret Wedding, because he’s never told anyone about that youthful misadventure. Very awkward when he’s supposed to be wooing a rich widow.

Thorn, the Duke of Ithorne, will be next, and though I’m not entirely sure about his story, I have ideas dancing in my head, and they involve a minor plot element that’s run through the other two books.

I’m using a number of elements in this trilogy, including young rakes, secret identities, and masquerades. I’m also giving each hero an animal. Robin has Coquette, the charming papillon dog. Christian becomes involved with a talking cat-rabbit of Hesse, bred to hunt the ferocious fanged rabbits there. Well, sort of. You’ll have to read the book! Tabby and Christian don’t always get along very well.

Another constant is that all three stories start with strangers meeting at an inn. Why? Because I find these extra elements intriguing and likely to create interesting stories. Oh, and all three stories intersect with the Malloren family, of course.

On other news, there are a few reissues out now. Christmas Angel has been reissued, so if you’ve been searching for that, you’re in luck. The mass market paperback of Dragon Lovers is out. And also, my Christmas medieval story, The Wise Virgin, has been reissued by Harlequin in a new collection. It was in a medieval collection called The Brides of Christmas, but now it’s out with two other novellas in A Bride For Christmas. The other two novellas are Home For Christmas by Heather Graham, and Tumbleweed Christmas by Candice Camp.

I’m leaving the best news for last, though. Because the reissue of The Fortune Hunter and Deirdre and Don Juan in one trade paperback, Lovers and Ladies, did very well, NAL is going to be publishing my other traditional regency in trade paperback over the next two years. It’ll be wonderful to have them back in print, and you never know, it might pave the way for a spin off or two, but in historical romance form. There’s Kevin Renfrew, for example, the Daffodil Dandy. People are always asking for his story, and he is intriguing.

Now my web tid-bits. The Domesday Book on line seems a bit clunky and I haven’t had much luck with it, but they have a page on life in the 11th century which is interesting.

The list of landowners – almost entirely the Norman invaders, of course – provides an interesting snapshot and list of names. Click here. I like the entry for Roger de Bully. (Tricky name for a hero!) “Bully, Roger de - Perhaps from Bully-en-Brai, Seine-Maritime. Described as 'famous in Domesday but nowhere else'. Founded priory at Blythe in 1088. Castle at Tikhill, Yorks. Holdings in six counties, mainly in the North but also in Devon.” Famous in Domesday but nowhere else, indeed. LOL!

You’ll also note the number of Rogers, Ralphs, and Roberts. Hard to get much name variety in that period.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned Free Rice but it bears repeating. It’s a fun vocabulary challenge that earns rice for charity.

All best wishes,

Jo

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