Good Lord, how can it already be January 2026? I really have been down that rabbit hole a long time. But, I'm back and have a finished novel to show for it AND I submitted it to my publisher! I must say, the story came out of nowhere...was tumbling around in my brain for a couple of years and then, once I began writing it, the words wouldn't stop and I needed to finish it. And it was a fun one to write with the unusual characters and the twists and turns along with a bit of time travel. As with books like this, much research is needed to recreate settings from 1830. Every time I included something, even as simple as a mirror, I had to be sure of the type of mirrors available. But I love doing the research and I learn so much history.
Here's the outstanding cover!
The blurb is completed -
"Dr. Ava Collins arrives in a windswept Cape Cod village to research and write about great white sharks—and winds up living in the eerie Moore Mansion, the only rental available, where locals say the handsome Captain Adrian Moore still roams, seeking justice for his mysterious 1830 murder.
Using a beautiful diamond encrusted
locket, Ava finds herself pulled back in time to live as Adrian’s fiancée
throughout the time leading up to the night of Adrian’s doomed engagement
party.
Thrust into candlelit ballrooms and
shadowed corridors, she must untangle whispered schemes, unmask a ruthless
killer, and guide Adrian toward the truth before history—or her heart—fractures
beyond repair.
As the past’s secrets unravel, Ava
discovers a longing that defies centuries, and Adrian realizes the living woman
who drew him from the grave may be the only one who can set him free —and in
doing so, he will lose her. In a realm where every choice echoes through time,
can a love born of moonlight and memories survive the ultimate distance of
centuries?"
Now that it's in the hands of the editor, I'm hoping the book will be released in March. I'm very excited even though it's my 12th book but it's still exciting to see it in print. In the meantime, I'm working on two sequels...one is an Oyster Point mystery with Jack and Jamie and the second is the sequel to "Treacherous Waters" with Nick and Sabrina. They do end up in Paris trying to solve art thefts.
I also have another "Meet the Author" coming up in March. I love doing these because the attendees have such wonderful comments and questions. They ask how I come up with the ideas for my books, my writing process and some want to know how to become a writer. They always ask about my background which is certainly not the background of most fiction writers.
Well, that's about it for now. I'll be back when something exciting happens...like the book is released!
Judi
