If you go out in the woods today . . .  you probably won’t see many bears, but if you walk around your suburb, you might be surprised. Teddy bears are popping up all over.

People are sitting a teddy bear in their front window, so that parents (or grandparents) with bored, cooped-up kids can walk around their local suburb on a #teddybearhunt. It’s a movement that has gone viral.

It’s happening in NZ and Australia, and my friend Patricia Rice tells me it’s been happening in her local Californian suburb for a while now. And elsewhere.

I love the idea. As well as something for the kids (and their carers) to do, it makes the local suburb seem so much friendlier. And it safely links people in this time of social isolation.

So I pulled out my ancient, beloved, balding, one-eyed Teddy with his equally ancient friend, Snoodle, the sheepskin rabbit and popped them in the window.

As I was tying on their respective ribbons, my dog Milly sniffed them both with enormous interest and a little excitement. But she can’t get to the windowsill, so Teddy and Snoodle are safe.

Do you have a bear in your window? Have you seen any teddies in your neighborhood?
And if you have a teddy, why not pop them in the window as a small friendly hello?

In the lead-up to the publication of my new book, Marry In Scarlet, my publisher has made some memes (pics with quotes from the book) for me to post.
Here’s the first one. Don’t you love that bold blue background?
You can pre-order the book from amazon, PenguinRandomHouse, or your favorite bookstore or this universal link to a wide variety of on-line e-tailers.

In a comment earlier, Neva asked about a book for Marcus, Earl of Alverleigh, from the Devil Riders series. I get so many letters asking for his story, and though I always answer them, I decided it might be worth while explaining here.

The trouble is, Marcus’s story was never in the original publisher’s contract for the series, which is usually written before I’ve started writing.  I’d imagined his role to be as a vaguely villainous distant character-in-the-background, but then as I was writing the other books in the series, he gradually became more important to me. Then in Nell and Harry’s story (His Captive Lady) he really stepped forward and showed himself to be a hero-in-waiting. And then he did it again in Nash and Maddy’s story (The Accidental Wedding). By then I really wanted to him to have his own story. 

When I was in New York, I talked to my editor about it, and she said “fine, go ahead” and so I started on the story. But my publishers then came back a few weeks later and said they didn’t want Marcus after all, and that I should move on to the first book in the next series that they’d approved, starting with The Autumn Bride. So that’s what I did.

I’ve had so many letters asking for Marcus’s story, and I really do want to write it — and I will, one day.  I have had the broad strokes of his story —and his heroine— in my mind for ages, and the prologue and opening is drafted. And somes scenes scribbled down in my notebook.

But I’ll have to self-publish it as an e-book, and my contract restricts me from self-publishing anything longer than a novella (30,000 words). I’m pretty sure Marcus’s story will be longer than that — unless I get frustrated and squish the poor fellow into a novella. But I’d prefer to let the story be the length it wants to be.

The other thing is, as most of you have realized, I’m not a fast writer, and I write one story at a time. I’ve tried doing what some writers do and switch from story to story — one friend of mine writes one story in the morning, and in the afternoon edits a different story. I’ve tried doing that, and it really doesn’t work for me. I need to dwell in the world of my story and the heads of my characters — one story at a time. It’s when I’m “in the zone” that some of my best scenes come to me, and they’re not usually ones I’ve planned. Characters step out and do things that surprise me, but are right for them — and that’s the best part of writing for me.

Nevertheless, I’m trying to train myself to write faster. I’m planning to put out a few novellas and learn  indie-publishing — I’m hoping to write a Christmas novella for Ash (from the Seasonal Brides series) after I’ve finished my current book, which is the first in a new series. But a full novel will take more time and thought. However I DO want to write Marcus’s story, and as I still get a couple of letters every week asking about it, there’s no chance I’ll forget. 

When I do write Marcus’s story, you guys will be the first to know.
In the meantime, stay safe and keep healthy.
Anne
xx