The Legacy Series Begins

Writing The Price of Innocence has been a long journey. It was my debut fiction work, and 18 months after agonizing over its concept and writing the story, I released it to the world.

The story came slowly, and the end results upon the first release were questionable. Even with its inherent problems, it was rated by review sites as a "good read," which encouraged me the first time out in print. Since that time, it has been edited, revised, and updated to what I believe is more satisfying to my readers and to myself as its creator. As an independent author/publisher, that's one of the perks of being able to grow with your books, learn from your mistakes, and re-release a better product for future audiences.

I thoroughly enjoyed researching the setting. It took many months of digging through books, articles, and texts to come up with reality woven into fiction. My goal was to make it historically accurate in setting, customs, and manners, and hopefully, that was evident in its content. I've had questions regarding whether some of the aspects of location and practices were true, and as a result, I started a blog to write about my research. I've transferred those posts to this blog and will continue to add to them for your information.

The book is not a typical romance. It breaks the rules of early meetings and happy endings. It's more of historical fiction, with romantic elements. It also introduces a third party into the mix to bugger the entire story up toward the end, but there was a reason behind my insanity. The third character is hinted at throughout the text by the mention of a letter that Suzette carries with her until her dreams die; she destroys it by fire. His reappearance was inevitable because Robert's life was destined to be one of duty to set the stage for what comes next. Why? Because frankly, it was a way of life during the 19th century. Men of his standing and title married for reasons of convenience and property; mistresses were kept for pleasures and love. It would have been difficult, scandalous, and unheard of for Robert to take Suzette as his wife at this time in the storyline. Though some disagree with my assumption, I felt it necessary to keep to the norms of society rules in order to continue the tale.

My plan for the entire series was born from the ending of my book which elicited bemoans and comments. One reader indicated they wished to throw the book across the room after reading the last page. The latest reviewer threatened to show up at my doorstep with a mob and torches to make sure I wrote a sequel. Point taken! I knew the ending was too stark, and frankly, I had much more buried in my soul for Robert and Suzette that was yet unfulfilled. I did attempt to soften the outcome of the last two chapters in the revised version released in the Spring of 2011 under my new imprint of Holland Legacy Publishing.

I'm happy to report that the story will continue five years later in book two, entitled The Price of Deception. This volume will be written from Robert's viewpoint and the current lives of Jacquelyn, his wife, along with Philippe, Suzette, and little Robert, all cloaked in a myriad of deception. Robert will search for truth and love, and his search will bring surprising results. Read the pages above for more tidbits on what is to come in The Price of Deception and The Price of Love.

If you wish to walk the journey of books two and three with me, I encourage you to sign up for an email subscription to this new blog. I'll drag you along between the pages and give you tidbits here and there. Hopefully, it will entice you to take the journey all the way through the end of book three where I promise to leave all satisfied after I torture my characters just a tad.

My plan is to release The Price of Deception by the end of 2011, and The Price of Love by the end of 2012 in eBook and print. Hopefully, you'll enjoy each!

Fondest regards,

Vicki Hopkins