I’ve known I wanted to be an author since I was in the third
grade. Growing up, I dabbled with everything from horror (my first novel was
called Mummies by the Lake—don’t ask)
to fantasy and historical romance. In college, when I stumbled upon my first
Regency romance, I decided that was where I’d focus my passions. In late 1996,
the Regency special interest chapter of Romance Writers of America reported
that Kensington had a hole in its publication schedule and was rather desperate
for Regency romance manuscripts. I sent in The
Unflappable Miss Fairchild and was offered a two-book deal, with the
stipulation that the second book be set at Christmas.
“You can write a Christmas book, right?” my new editor asked.
Of course I could. Couldn’t I?
I didn’t have an idea. I wasn’t even sure how Christmas was
celebrated during the Regency. I remember a squirming feeling in the pit of my
stomach. I ignored it. I was going to be published, and I had been given the chance
to write Kensington’s Christmas Regency. I could do this.
And I did.
After considerable research, I submitted the manuscript for My True Love Gave to Me eleven months
before the intended publication date of December 1998. My husband proclaimed it
the best book I’d ever had published (since it was only my second, I’ll take
that with a grain of salt). To this day, he still laments it was never made
into a movie. But the Sales Department at Kensington thought my title wasn’t
romantic enough. They retitled it The
Twelve Days of Christmas. It entered the world and quietly sank like a
stone tossed into a snow-shrouded pond.
You see, I didn’t know much about promoting in those days. I
was an unknown author. The cover was anachronistic and didn’t even have the
right hair color for the characters. No review magazines deigned to review it.
But to this day, it is one of the books my readers love
most.
I’m delighted to report that I’ve buffed it up (I have
learned something in 35 books); returned it to its original title; given it a
new, more accurate cover; and reissued it for Christmas this year. I hope those
who love it will remember why, and those who haven’t had a chance to read it
will enjoy it.
And who knows? Maybe it will be made into a movie someday.
