Branching Out Again

As you know if you've been following my blogs, I've been mainly writing Western books for the last several years. Because of new opportunities and the lack of others, I will be writing in more varied genres next year. I'll still be writing Westerns, but they will be sprinkled with other settings too.

In January, I'll be publishing a book set in Victorian England, which is a real switch for me. Several years ago, I published some retold fairy tales set in England, but they were in the Medieval Period. This one will be set in the last half of the 19th century, the same period as my Westerns. But I've always believed good writers can write in any setting or genre they feel inspired to. Take me for example, I began writing nonfiction articles for magazines because I was teaching at the time, but now I write mainly fiction. Violets for Veronica is available for preorder now.

I will also have another book in the National Park Brides multiple-author project, and this one will be set in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. (The current one is Heather, set in Hot Springs, Arkansas.) I'm looking forward to another one set in the Appalachian Mountain region, where the first books I published, The Appalachian Roots series, were set and where my heritage is.

Then, I'll also be writing another contemporary romance. I haven't written a novel with a modern setting since June of 2023, when Hurting Hero was published. I love historical fiction. After all, I was a history and English major in college, and most of my books will always be historicals. But I like to take a break from the heavy research and write a contemporary story now and then. The writing elements stay the same. Only the setting changes.

So, there you have some changes that will be coming. They are not drastic changes, since I began writing historical books set in the Appalachian Mountains and then a contemporary trilogy (The Farmers), and these will only be sprinkled among my current Westerns. However, I'm excited and motivated by the changes. I just hope readers will give them a chance. Sometimes, they like for authors to stay locked in one genre box, but I've never done that because I like variety. Besides, all my books will continue to reflect my writing style. That will never change.

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