Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a sparkly New Year!

As the end of another year rolls around, I just wanted to stop a moment and thank all my lovely readers for taking the time to get to know my work over the past few years, and supporting my efforts with reviews, sweet emails and even cards. I never thought, when I first set out to be a published writer, that I would have this much success -- or have this many books under my belt. Back then I only wanted to write one story, and for a long time it seemed as if I would never manage to get it published. The distance I've come as a writer since then is truly incredible and I have your encouragement to thank for it.

Writing is something I love very much. Since 2015 it has gone from being a pleasurable pastime squeezed -- with difficulty -- in between office hours, to a wonderful full-time job that I wake up, every day, feeling excited about. To know that my work brings amusement and joy to strangers is really the icing on the cake. But everybody knows that cake without icing really isn't cake at all!

So please keep reading and reviewing. I'm a shy sort, but you can contact me on this blog or on my Facebook page. I am also on Goodreads now. Questions and comments are always welcome.

This year I released four full-length books: Damon Undone; The Peculiar Folly of Long-Legged Meg; The Bounce in the Captain's Boots, and The Mutinous Contemplations of Gemma Groot. At least two of those publications weren't planned, or part of any series, but just popped out of my head and insisted on being told. So that put my schedule a bit off kilter and, consequently, a couple of books I had planned to write this year got set aside to make room for the bossy intruders. Next year I hope to make it up to those characters who had their debuts delayed -- including the next story in The Deverells saga.

But first off the noggin this year will be Slowly Fell - A Tale of Love and Thumbscrews. It is not part of any series yet written, but there is a character you will recognize and, hopefully, be pleased to see again. (I have a habit of not quite being able to let go of my characters, so they tend to re-emerge just where you and I least expect them.) Slowly Fell contains several different love stories, so there should be plenty of romance for those who look for it, but you will also find mystery, family shenanigans, widdershins and more than the usual mayhem. Throw in a few rides on a ducking stool, a two-hundred year old woman who may or may not be dead; a still-room maid with a guilty secret and some suspiciously shiny, new boots; an unsociable blacksmith with an unexpected inheritance; a baronet's widow who cannot resist meddling, and a young woman who sleeps in the almery every night, just in case there is anybody looking to murder her again -- and you have some idea of what to expect. Suffice to say, nobody and nothing in Slowly Fell, is quite what they seem.

You have been warned.

So, I'll see you in the new year with an excerpt or two, and some character showcases -- and any other news that I have to share. In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends -- relax, unwind with a glass of wine (or two) and, when you have a quiet moment among the festivities, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy a good book. It doesn't even have to be one of mine!

Happy Holidays!

Jayne