It’s the end of an era, the Civil War era, to be exact. Earlier this week, I emailed the copy-edited version of the sixth and final book in my Heaven Intended Civil War series to my publisher. A Hero Such as Heaven Intended is slated to be published this fall.
It’s surreal saying goodbye to the characters whose lives I’ve created, engineered, refined, and become so fond of over the last 17 years. Doing the math, I couldn’t believe that this series was conceived that long ago. From my recollection, I wrote the first chapter of A World Such as Heaven Intended in January of 2008, when our youngest child was a junior in high school.
That book was meant to not only be a stand-alone, but also the beginning and the end of my career as an author. The blood, sweat, and tears that went into its creation convinced me that I never wanted to write another book again.
Until I started getting feedback on the book. This story resonated with so many people—women, men, and teens, both girls and boys. I had readers from middle school through their early 90s who read and loved the book as much as I did. One of those readers happened to be 93 years old. After she read it, her niece asked, on her behalf, when the sequel would be coming out. A moment of panic set in. Yet, who would I be to tell a nonagenarian (thanks, Google) that there was no sequel? Lo and behold, my career as an author began.
Make that my career as the author of a trilogy. Two years later, in 2016, the second book in the series, A Life Such as Heaven Intended, was released. In 2018, the third, and what I thought would be the final book in the series, A Love Such as Heaven Intended, was released.
Then, in 2020, Cary Solomon, one of the writers and producers of the movies “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned,” expressed interest in making A World Such as Heaven Intended into a movie. Thanks in part to the global pandemic, that project never did see the light of day, but his suggestion for a fourth book in the Heaven Intended series did. A Freedom Such as Heaven Intended, featuring an enslaved young woman as the protagonist, was released in 2021.
The suggestion for the fifth book in the series, A Faith Such as Heaven Intended, came from Brad Birkholz, the photographer who’d shot the cover models and some of the background pictures for books two, three, and four. He wanted to see his daughter Autumn featured on the cover of one of my books. How could I say no to a request from the proud papa of a young lady who was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside? I’m so glad I took on that project. The photo session with Brad’s daughter turned out to be the last one he ever did, as he died unexpectedly in 2021.
Between writing Civil War novels, I had five other books published, including my two time-travel tales, Anything But Groovy (a cross between the movies “Back to the Future” and “Freaky Friday”) and Royal & Ancient, two books with fellow Catholic Teen Books authors, Treasures: Visible & Invisible and Ashes: Visible & Invisible, and my latest book and first foray into contemporary romcom, A Very Chapel Falls Christmas, (Yes, as a matter of fact, this would make an amazing Hallmark-style Christmas movie. If anyone reading this has a connection with anyone from Hallmark, Great American Family, Netflix, etc., have your people call my people. Or make that call me. I’m representing myself at this point unless I can connect with a literary film agent).
At almost every book signing, someone will approach me and ask which book is my favorite. That’s like asking a mother which child is her favorite. It’s almost impossible to answer. But, if I have to pick, it’s A World Such as Heaven Intended. That’s the book that started my writing career, so it’s near and dear to my heart. Seeing as it was the first book I ever wrote, I wouldn’t say it’s the most well-written. As a person who has had no formal education in this field, I have learned so much along the way. Particularly from my editors, who’ve been so patient with me through this learning process.
That being said, I can say with certainty that this is my last Civil War book, and, after my current manuscript is published, Lucky & Blessed: A Tale of Forbidden Love in the Court of King Henry VIII, I will be done writing historical fiction. As much as I love this genre, the amount of research it takes for each book nearly equals the amount of time it takes to write the book. At this stage in my career, and with my husband retired, I’m looking at projects that are lighter reads and take less time and effort to produce.
Not to worry, I’ve still got a full slate of projects I’m excited to work on. During the warm-weather months here in the Midwest, I’ll be spending a good deal of time enjoying the great outdoors with my husband, whether it’s e-biking, golfing, enjoying outdoor concerts, or hiking. But when the cold weather hits, you’ll find me at my computer most days, working on one manuscript or another.
Thanks for being along for the ride! I’ll see you at the next book signing!