Dear Reader,

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! And it's only just over a week until Christmas for those who celebrate that. Whether you give lots of gifts or just observe one of the many festivals that take place at this time of the year with friends or family, it's an opportunity to find light when things seem darkest in the northern hemisphere.

It strikes me how biased toward the northern hemisphere the religious calendars can be. But it's understandable: 87-90% of the world's population lives in the northern hemisphere largely because that's where most of the habitable land is. The southern hemisphere has more ocean than land.

I guess that makes you antipodeans special. ❤️

Moving on...

Holiday romances are HUGE.

When I ventured into the indie publishing romance world, the niche of holiday-themed stories was very new to me. It seems almost all romance writers create them. Right now, three of the 10 bestselling romances on Amazon are holiday themed.

In case you missed it, I, too, jumped on that bandwagon—and had so much fun doing it. It was such a pleasure to focus the lens not so much on the haut ton, but on the artisan class in Regency London, and to revisit some of my favorite secondary characters from The Dressmaker's Secret Earl. ​

Miss Pauline's Perfect Present is a quick-reading novella, perfect for a cozy afternoon.

Plus The Falconer's Lost Baron is well and truly launched!

It's been a whirlwind of promotions and swaps, of thanking bloggers for their lovely reviews and keeping the book in readers' eyes. Those of you who read this newsletter and are indie published know exactly what I mean.

Plus, I'm hard at work on the manuscript for book five in the series. I hope to finish it by the end of the year. Lest you think that writing a book becomes easier as you continue, I must stress that each new book is a different kind of challenge.

That blank page is daunting no matter how many times in the past you've started at square-one.

My biggest writing challenges

Aside from the obvious ones of making the plot hang together and the narrative pace consistent and compelling, I have a couple of very specific challenges that relate to writing this series. They are:

1. Names: By this I mean not just naming the main characters, but all their servants and horses! In my forthcoming book, there are four different households, three of which have butlers, footmen, abigails etc. Can I remember which one goes where? Not while I'm writing. That's what beta readers are for, right?
2. Colors: Which color were her eyes? And his? And what color was the horse? What colors decorate the houses? Not to mention the colors of the gowns!
3. Transportation: This one encompasses not just the different vehicles, but the condition of the roads, the names of the roads, the outsides and the insides of each kind of vehicle, including squabs, backstraps, postilions or footmen, etc.

This may not sound very glamorous or creative, but trust me, I can lose sleep over those niggling little details.

Last but not least, holidays and fairy tales—a free book for you!

I'm so happy to share Marjorie Adams's Not a Wicked Stepmother here! This is a deliciously irreverent and fun read, touched with wit and cynicism and hints of fairytale magic. A lovely antidote for those who savor a bit more of an edge to their Regency reading.

Honestly, this book is such a pleasure. It's one of two in a series of fairytale retellings set in the Regency.

That's all for this newsletter. Once more, I wish you all a warm and nurturing holiday season, however you celebrate it.

Susanne