Well, almost, not quite. I did finish the first-round manuscript of Napoleon and Elizabeth, but now I have the editing, cleanup, and the task of turning it from a draft into a published novel. Still on target for an October release, maybe earlier, we shall see.

I have about a dozen scenes I want to go back and add; one is Napoleon playing chess with my protagonist, Jack. Is it real, a dream, or is he really dead...well, just have to wait for the book.

I am well pleased with how the book ended, all 450 pages. Even I did not see the end coming, but that somehow is true on all my books, as I am finishing my final chapter, all those characters who have lived with me for months have a say in how their book ends.

I never set out to write a 450-page book, and it could have been well over 500 pages, but where it ended was perfect, and we will leave it at that.

Again, Napoleon and Elizabeth is a love story for the ages, taking place between 1945 and 1999 - it was indeed fun to go back and reminisce a bit during the 90s. Some will call it dark, maybe, black, maybe, bleak, I don't think so. It is all of these and none of these, and it will, in the end, turn out to be the book you, the reader, want it to be. As for me, it is meant to be a love story...of love lost and gained and...