Since I am getting this question a lot lately, I’ve decided to start talking about what I’m working on—since it is not a romance. Not per se. It is more of a historical fiction. And a quirky one at that. The story is set at the turn of the century (1907, thereabout) in a very fictional mining town in Wyoming.

Yes, that is a bit of a departure from Regency England. Okay, make that a HUGE departure from Regency England.

But I had to write this book. This story. It has been rattling inside my head for about 7 years, ever since we took a long driving vacation to Yellowstone and the Tetons and then drove across the entire state to go to a wedding in North Dakota. Can I just say: OMG! The Tetons.

As we crossed Wyoming, I found myself staring up at that very blue sky and daydreaming, just like I used do as a kid when we took long driving car trips. Back then, without cell phones or anything remotely entertaining, all a kid could do—especially one who got carsick if she read—was sit in the backseat and stare out the window.

But this time, this trip, an idea came to me. Somewhere between Cody and Gillette. For this story. For this town. Set in this state that I was falling in love with as the miles passed and the scenery captivated my imagination.

So fast forward, I arrived at a place in my life where I could pause writing romances back to back and try out this odd, quirky story that in the ensuing years had grown into notebooks of scribbling ideas. Of pictures. Articles printed from the internet and photocopied from old books. Research notes about everything: professions, food, clothes, stores, churches, entertainment, communities.

Picture credit: Grand Encampment Museum, Encampment, WY

Characters had already begun to whisper their stories to me. Sad Savannah and her great losses. Madeline and her inability to trust. Ninny. Oh, Ninny, who hates going out.

As they trusted me with their fears and doubts and fondest wishes, it became my task to tell their stories. And now that I am nearly a year into this book, countless hours of research later, and nearly half a dozen trips back to Wyoming, I have to say, I am so happy to have this opportunity.

So in the meantime, no, there isn’t going to be a new book in 2018. But my fingers are crossed for something very special in 2019.