I'm afraid some of my long-time readers are breaking out the torches and pitchforks, because I seem to be abandoning the Regency. If it's any comfort to them, I have another Regency coming out sometime this year, called Choosing Rob Inman (at least until the publisher decides to call it something else). I'm finishing a three-story Christmas anthology that follows a family from the Regency era, to the Crimean War, to the Indian Wars in the U.S. Then my last novel for Harlequin on my current three-book contract is a novel set at Fort Laramie during the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877. (This should be fun. My personal favorite book is Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army, which contains many of my Fort Laramie stories. I worked there for several years as a park ranger, and it's a spot dear to my heart.)
And then it's on to two books for Cedar Fort, the first due in November, and the next one due in August, 2012, I think. It'll be a busy year.
I can assure you it's a little scary to be branching out into something besides Regencies, but it's also a pleasant change for me. I feel that if I keep writing Regencies, I'm going to get stale. There is only so much I want to say about that interesting era.
Since we moved to Utah in 2009, I've found myself fascinated all over again by my own kind, the LDS kind. There are plenty of competent LDS writers, and I think I'll have a good time in a new arena. I'll be 64 in May, but I have lots to write yet. Readers are welcome to join me, and I hope some will. Readers are certainly free to choose what they want to read, and I suspect writers like that same freedom to write what they want to write.
I truly understand that tendency of readers to want what they're comfortable with. I do the same thing in my own reading. I really like crime fiction, and would be aghast if Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Peter Robinson and James Lee Burke abandoned their tried and true characters. But having said that, Connelly did branch out a bit with Micky Haller, a defense lawyer, and Crais seems to be focusing more on Joe Pike. I'm fine with that.
So we shall see. I'm still pecking away at my computer, with a smile on my face.
The Wedge of the San Rafael
Someone has to live here, in the middle of desert beauty. Might as well be the Kellys.
As much as I'll probably miss your Regencies, I'm delighted to follow you down this new trail. I fully expect that if you're fascinated, I will be as well.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Here's to the Ladies is a wonderful collection. It's one of my favorites, too.
First of all, how exciting is it that you have a blog now! I'm thrilled to get this up to the minute information on your upcoming work.
ReplyDeleteI've ordered the book, can't find it in e-book for some reason but I want the pb as well. So I'll keep searching for the e-version. I like your writing so take me where ever you want to go and I'll read it.
I enjoyed the "Here's to the Ladies" quite a bit, I like Westerns so I've been looking forward to "Borrowed Light" for a while now. So as a long time reader and fan of your work know that I'm excited to see new books from you no matter the time frame.
Carla,
ReplyDeleteI'm another long-time reader who will not be picking up torch or pitchfork. I haven't read the new book yet, but irregardless of my personal opinion I am thrilled for you that you have found a publisher who will buy what you want to write. Wishing you a fun and creative time playing in the new sandbox.
I adore all your works Carla, and while I'll miss your Regencies, I can't wait to see and read what you have in store for your readers when you start to branch out! (really looking forward to your Crimean War era- as the gaslight era is a fave of mine!) perhaps later on you'll surpise us reader with another regency good in the future! ;D
ReplyDeleteNo torches or pitchforks here, either! I've often said I'd be happy to read a grocery list, as long as you wrote it!
ReplyDeleteI just finished Borrowed Light, and really enjoyed it. While I think the ending might have more resonance for someone who is a member of the LDS church, I loved the characters and the historical detail, and I tore through the book in about 2 days!