The Duke's Reluctant Bride is my first new title by 2014. I'm writing a second series of duke books, but this time keeping them all at 50,000 words so they will be eligible for DC Thompson and Linford Romance. This also seems to be a very popular length in both the UK and the US.
I've now written three books since last summer; two regencies and one mainstream World War II historical. I'm hoping to write two further regencies and the final part of my World War II trilogy this year. I also intend to continue to republish my back list – I have the final Robert Hale book to go up in March and three short novellas in the following three months. After that all my titles will be new.
Although I go through the old books and edit etc, I wonder if my readers can tell the difference between books written at the beginning of my career and books written now. I hope my writing is now more fluent than my first few books for Robert Hale.
Having not written anything, apart from a young adult fantasy romance, in the last three years, to be able to write again is a wonderful thing. Writing five new books a year (as I used to a few years ago) seemed an impossible dream a few months ago – but now I think it's achievable.
2014 is going to be a productive year for me and I hope for everybody else.
Fenella J Miller
Hi Fenella, you're right that the novella length really does seem to be making a comeback which I think is largely due to e-books. There has been a tendency over the last couple of decades for books to get longer and longer. That's fine for a holiday or if you're laid up sick but so many of us have limited time and want a shorter read. I notice the latest Costa is pretty short too! Best of luck with your new publication.
ReplyDeleteFenella - you are so productive! I can't imagine being able to write 5 new books a year so I take my hat off to you and wish you the very best for a productive 2014.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, where did you publish your YA book?
Do you think that more young adults have E-Readers than Romance audiences? I've been pondering this as I see a lot of YA books are E-books but I know a lot of teenagers still seem to prefer paperbacks?