Today Is James and Sarah’s Anniversary!

I can hardly believe this as I write it, but this very day, April 19, 2021, marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of Her Dear & Loving Husband. As of this writing, more than 200,000 copies of Her Dear & Loving Husband have been purchased.

Every day readers around the globe continue to discover James and Sarah’s story of eternal love. Many of those readers go on to read the rest of the series, and many ask for more James and Sarah stories. It makes my heart glad to know that James and Sarah continue to find new fans after a decade.

Ideas Behind Her Dear & Loving Husband

I talked a bit in this post about how I nearly gave up writing for good. For those of you who might be new to my blog, my journey with James and Sarah Wentworth began in 2007 when I was teaching middle school U.S. history. In the school hallways, I’d see girls holding these black books with an apple on the cover.

Finally, I asked one of my students about the book, and she said, “Oh, it’s Twilight. Don’t you know Twilight?” I didn’t, and I asked her to tell me about it. As soon as she mentioned vampires I tuned out because I wasn’t into vampires. Yeah, I know. But at the time I associated vampires with horror stories, and I’m not into the horror genre. Then I heard a few fellow teachers rave about the book, giggling over it like our teenaged students.

A few weeks later, another student tossed Twilight onto my desk. “I’ve read that book too many times,” she said, “and I have to find something else to read. You can read it.” I appreciated the gesture, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I figured I’d take the book home, skim through it enough to get some character names, and then say how much I loved the story when I returned the book to its owner.

As I skimmed the pages (okay, here’s a Bella…there’s an Edward…) I thought some parts looked interesting enough so I read the whole book. Even though Twilight is meant for young adult readers, I found the story endearing enough to decide that maybe vampires weren’t all bad.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, I did read the whole Twilight series. If I hadn’t read the Twilight books, I never would have watched True Blood on HBO, and it’s more accurate to say Her Dear & Loving Husband was inspired by True Blood. 

Inspiration Courtesy Of True Blood

There’s an episode early in the first season of True Blood (I think it’s episode four, but don’t quote me) where vampire Bill is giving a talk at Sookie’s grandmother’s church. Someone shows Bill a picture of his family from his human days before the American Civil War and he becomes so emotional at the memory.

That’s what clicked my brain into gear. Here’s this vampire who has everything humans only dream of—extraordinary strength, immortal life—and yet he becomes so emotional at the sight of the ones he loved as a human.  After that episode, I wondered…what might happen to a vampire who lives forever? Obviously, the humans he loves would die at some point. Would he forget them and go on? Would he have trouble moving on? What if he fell in love again? Who would he fall in love with? If he was so in love with his wife, could he ever love anyone else?

I didn’t have any immediate sense that there was something tangible like a novel in those oddball daydreams. I like to tell stories, and I’m always kicking scenarios around this empty head of mine, most of which come to nothing.

When I was still thinking of this vampire idea a few months later, I decided to see if there was anything to these daydreams. Between watching True Blood, and reading Charlaine Harris, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and the Twilight books, believe me, I had a brain full of vampire waiting to get out. Luckily for me, that vampire was James Wentworth.

Writing the Novel (Finally)

The exact date I began writing was April 15, 2009. It was a Wednesday. I remember the date because I was off for Spring Break that week. I had just come back from a few days in my hometown, Los Angeles, to spend some time by the beach. Back home in Vegas, I woke up that Wednesday morning and the crazy vampire idea was distracting me again. I made myself eggs, toast, and coffee, sat down at the computer, and typed whatever I knew about this vampire and the woman he loved. The story had a working title—The Vampire’s Wife.

Then I had to decide where the story would take place. At first, I had no sense that this story would move back and forth between past and present timelines. In my initial concept of the story, it was going to be a present-day love story between a vampire and the woman he loves. Choosing the setting of Salem, Massachusetts was important because that’s where the historical fiction element came in.

I Cannot Thank the James and Sarah Superfans Enough

The James and Sarah superfans are the reason the rest of the series exists. At first, I thought Her Dear & Loving Husband would be a stand-alone. After I started writing I realized that it was actually a trilogy. And then fans kept asking for more.

The cool thing about this 10th anniversary is that I know there is more to the story; in fact, I’ve found a few more angles from which to continue the Wentworths’ tale of eternal love. I’m giving the first draft of The Duchess of Idaho, Book Five in the series, some baking time, so I’m letting it rest a bit. But then it’s back to James and Sarah’s world, and Grace’s world (Grace is James and Sarah’s daughter, for those who might not know). It’s fun seeing how the paranormal world still affects the Wentworths even after James’ transformation. What transformation? You’ll have to read Her Loving Husband’s Return, Book Three in the series, to find out.

I will always be grateful to the James and Sarah superfans who saw something wonderful in this love story that transcends time. I had a feeling, over the two years it took me to write Her Dear & Loving Husband, that there was something in this story that readers could connect to. I had a feeling readers would like it if only they had a chance to read it.

Thank you, thank you to those of you who continue, even after a decade, to ask for more James and Sarah stories. The simple truth is I wouldn’t still be doing this without you.

Here’s to another ten years and more Loving Husband stories we can share together!