Goodness! It is Monday afternoon and, yes, I’ve had a few cups of coffee already. Lately i’m running as fast as I can to keep up with myself. In the past month I went to the Historical Romance Retreat, did a lightning trip to Ohio, and hosted family here. In and around that I’ve keep up this blog, finished my story for the Bluestocking Belles’ to-be-announced Valentine anthology, and begun a heap of promotion for my story, “The Last Post” in Follow Your Star Home, the Belles’ holiday anthology to be launched November 4 (click the cover on the right to get it at a special pre-order price of $2.99. It goes up to $3.99 November 5). Last weekend the Royal Wedding Hop kept me hopping—and my website too.
In the middle of it all, however, I’ve continued to ponder the issues of my collection of fictional families and what series about them comes next. If you are interested, I’ll be announcing it to members of my Fellow Travelers on Facebook tomorrow. I wrote a series of three blog posts here last month, but I intended to do a fourth, at least briefly.
At the end of Dangerous Secrets, Jamie and Nora have settled in Rome where he is employed as a teacher and translator for the Vatican State. She has custody of her beloved niece Isabella. Did they have children? Yes! At least one, a son. None of these characters have appeared in any of my other books except Jamie who is a wonderful secondary character in Dangerous Works, and is merely mentioned in Dangerous Weakness. Here are the things I wonder:
- What would it be like living as ex-pats in Rome?
- Will Isabella’s aristocratic relatives in the House of Savoy of the Sardinian kingdom continue to plague them?
- How will she feel about her heritage as she grows up?
- Republican sentiments were rampant in Italy in the 1820s; they will only get stronger. How will Isabella react, given her background?
- Will Savoy try to force an arranged marriage on her?
- How will Isabella related to a cousin taking Nora’s attention?
- Will they get back to England over the years?
Will Isabella get to know the children of the other families? - They are unlikely to be central in the next series, but I could see my characters visiting Rome. We’ll see!
Coffee’s done. How about some nice herbal tea today?
DANGEROUS SECRETS is my favorite of the first three books you produced. So I, for one, would love to see Jamie and Nors’s story continue. You present some really interesting questions. Good luck with it.
Thank you so much. I’ve had Isabella’s story in mind for a while, but I’m nut sure when it will fit.