Hello there! Firstly, happy anniversary to JMS Books! I’m so pleased I found the company in 2017 and I’m even happier that I was given the opportunity to publish with them. I have four novels out now, all with JMS, the most recent of which is The Flowers of Time. Like all my books so far, Flowers is a historical-paranormal-romantic-suspense. It follows the relationship between Edie, a plucky lady botanical artist and Jones, a non-binary, possibly grey-ace explorer. It takes place in England and India in the 1780s.
Flowers is the first #ownvoices novel I have written and in retrospect, I think I used it to work through some of my own feelings about being non-binary. I was really pleased that JMS took a chance and accepted it, as so many publishing houses still won’t consider books with trans protagonists. It felt very close to my heart when I submitted it and it was a relief in a way to know that other people felt it was good enough to put out there.
Jones and Edie are going to be around for a while I think—I have another couple of books coming to the boil as I work down my to-be-written list. I can see them becoming paranormal-trouble-shooting detectives, traveling the world. The 1780s was a new period for me to write in and the historical research is fascinating. Before I get to that point I have a release in September (Taking Stock, another #ownvoices book, but this time the #ownvoices is chronic disability) and currently I am in the middle of the third in the 1920s Lost in Time cycle, following Will and Fenn. After that I might need to tackle the story of Edie’s brother Hugh and his friend Bennett, who accompanied Edie and Jones across the Himalayas. But then … I should be able to write more Edie and Jones.