Well, not so suddenly. My third published novel, The Mesmerist, was a historical novel, based on an actual law trial that took place in the Nebraska Territory in 1900. I came upon the case when I was gifted with an issue of the New York Journal newspaper for St. Patrick's Day, March 1900. The lead story. with a vivid illustration, read, "Prosecutor Shoots Defendant During Trial." I read the story, did some historical sleuthing, thinking this would make an interesting "non-fiction novel" in the style of Capote's In True Blood. But when I was headed to Nebraska to look into the trial's case files I was stopped cold. There had been a fire in the County (i.e. Territory) Courthouse, and all files before 1912 had been destroyed. So, I did an investigation of what is called supporting evidence. It wasn't enough for a non-fiction book, but I had enough characters and plot for a big juicy novel. So I wrote it. The book was published by Delacorte Press in the late Spring of 1977, then in a Dell paperback. Picked up by a few book clubs, translated into French, German, and Portuguese. Also a British Commonwealth sale and widespread distribution. Maybe even nommed for a UK book award. It will be republished by ReQueered tales which has been doing such a great job of putting out earlier novels of mine.

I call the two Victorian era novels published in 2021, Pursuit: a Victorian Entertainment and in 2022, Pursued: Lillian's Story--a duology. It was written as one book but too long -- a real Victorian triple decker--for current audiences. When I kept being able to place excerpts from Addison's story, but not Lillian's, I made that a separate volume. The two mesh at several places, especially toward their simultaneous crises and conclusions. These books came out of my extensive reading in non-fiction of the Victorian period, especially various diaries and journals as well as in novels. Private journals and then mid 20th Century professional studies of various hidden aspects of UK life then, as well as craft notebooks, and even the 3 volume, Diary of a Victorian Girlhood. I'd read it all over several decades for fun, all played a role as sources.

Two more historical novels have been written and undergo polishing at various times awaiting publication. One is based on the life of my ancestor, Giuseppe Francesco Picano (1717-1801) an acknowledged "Old Master" sculptor and painter with works in US and European museums.