Happy Mother's Day!

As a merchandiser for one of the major greeting card retailers in the country, I've been inundated by Mother's Day cards for over a month now. But this weekend is crunch time, so before I head out to put out the last of the cards for those who are late to the party, I thought I'd talk about mothers.

When I began thinking about writing a series of historical romances, I decided to create the perfect mother. Creating a 19th century American family meant lots of children, that much I knew. I figured anyone who could birth nine children would obviously love her babies to distraction, but I was pretty vague about anything else, except that she would be involved in her children's lives. Sometimes to their distraction.

From the first book, The Reluctant Debutante, Charlotte Fitzpatrick took on her own life. She is funny, at times clueless, loves to pull the wool over society's eyes, still flirts with her husband, and has made it her business to find good matches for her children as they get to marriageable age. I've been fortunate enough to have the same editors from the first book, and they know the characters almost as well as I do. During my last round of edits, my editor made the comment that Charlotte wouldn't say what I had her saying. The editor was right. I'd drawn my character so well, her personality is now known to all. Now, I'm thinking about a prequel to my series, about how Charlotte met George, and their family's journey began.

But that will have to wait a while. I've got three more books to write to finish up the Cotillion Ball Series. Valerian, Pepper and Saffron are each impatiently waiting for their turn in the spotlight. And you can bet, Charlotte will be in the middle of each one's story.

So Happy Mother's Day, Charlotte, and all mothers everywhere!