I’m totally thrilled that I’ve been invited to join the Unusual Historicals blog! I love how they concentrate on a theme per month like “Food” and you can go to learn just a fascinating array of information from different cultures and time periods. With history (and I suspect most things), the more you learn outside of your sphere of expertise, the more cross-connections you can make, and the richer your experience becomes. I suppose that way of thinking may come from my cognitive science background.
Since the Golden Heart® award ceremony so many authors have contacted me to tell me how inspirational it is to see an unusual setting break into the historical romance market. This is premature. I mean, the book isn’t even near the shelf yet! But people have told me about their struggles writing in WWII or Italy or 17th century France.
Wow! I never thought so many people would connect to my writing adventures. Who would have thought that a western setting, something that would seem familiar to readers, could also be such a difficult sale? Apparently, many people feel that if you’re not writing a Western or a Regency, you might as well be writing in, say, medieval China!
I’m still scared to death.
There I said it. I feel like I’m fighting to stay alive now with every word because there’s so many more unknowns. I’ve heard “no market”, “risky”, “too difficult” so many times in this journey. But I hope that in this case, “No market” could possibly mean, “Untapped market.”
Fingers crossed.
