Author Note

 

 

Since Christmas is my favorite time of the year, I especially enjoyed writing A Wish for Noel. Like Noel, much of my pleasure in the season comes from memories of my mother, who made the holiday so very special. Although the world seems to move faster now, I try to keep as many of her traditions as I can for my own children in the hope that they, too, will carry these memories with them always.

In transferring my love of Christmas to my characters, I was hampered by the discovery that many treasured customs were not around during the late thirteenth century, but medieval revelers still found many ways to celebrate—for a whopping twelve days. And some of our observances, such as kissing under the mistletoe, were just as popular in the time of knights and their ladies.

I am fascinated by those years, as well as the Regency, and enjoy using both periods as settings for my romances. Although the Regency lends itself more easily to romps like The Vicar’s Daughter, I have fun with all of my books, including the upcoming The de Burgh Bride, due out in February. My eleventh historical, it is a sequel to my 1995 title Taming The Wolf, which was nominated for Best Medieval in Romantic Times’ Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

Taming The Wolf introduced the seven de Burgh brothers and left one of them with the onerous duty of marrying The Fitzhugh, the daughter of their enemy and infamous in her own right. I hope those who have been waiting to find out which brother weds the notorious heiress will be pleased with The de Burgh Bride.

As always, I’m happy to hear from readers at the following address. An SASE for reply is appreciated: Deborah Simmons, P.O. Box 274, Ontario, Ohio, 44862.