The Duchess of Idaho is Finally Here

The Duchess of Idaho, a time travel love story set on the Oregon Trail, is now available.

I came up with the title for The Duchess of Idaho about 20 years ago when I was living in Idaho. There’s a scene in DOI where Grace Wentworth, my main character, has just arrived in Idaho and she turns on the television to find the movie “Duchess of Idaho” playing on television. As a matter of fact, that scene was based on reality since that’s what happened to me.

I moved to Nampa, Idaho in 2002, and the next day the movie Duchess of Idaho was on TV. I always thought that would make a great title for a book. Even though I only lived in Idaho for a year, during my time there I developed an interest in Lewis and Clark, the Westward Expansion, and the Oregon Trail, an interest that has stayed with me over the years. I had an idea that I wanted to write historical fiction based on the Oregon Trail, but it took some time to figure out what that story might be.

The time travel element of The Duchess of Idaho was inspired by Outlander since I had never given a second thought to time travel before reading the books and watching the TV show, that is except when I watched Doctor Who. At the moment, I have no intention of writing a story about a 2000-year-old alien who travels through time in a blue box, although who knows? Wasn’t Outlander inspired by Doctor Who?

When I first came up with the idea to set a time-travel love story on the Oregon Trail, I didn’t have any sense that the story would be connected in any way to my Loving Husband Series. Finally, one day it occurred to me…what if the time traveler was James and Sarah Wentworth’s daughter Grace? After all, her parents have been touched by magic. Why shouldn’t she have magic all her own?

It took some time to figure out how to connect the dots between the world fans already loved from the Loving Husband Series and my ideas for this new time travel story, but in time it came together. Here are some of my thoughts about writing my first time travel story.

Interested In Reading The Duchess of Idaho?

For readers who might be interested in The Duchess of Idaho because of the time travel or the Oregon Trail background, never fear. The Duchess of Idaho was written as a stand-alone so you don’t need to read the other books in the series in order to follow the story. For fans who love the Loving Husband Series, The Duchess of Idaho will fit right into the world you love.

The book will be available through Amazon, Apple, BN, Google Play, and all online retailers in the coming days. The paperback edition will be available through Amazon by the end of the week and then through other online paperback retailers in the coming weeks.

Did You Preorder a Copy of DOI?

I had originally set up the preorders so that I could start to gather the buy links for some promotions I have coming up. I uploaded a dummy copy to Amazon to hold the slot, and I didn’t advertise the preorders or even the initial release of DOI because there were some snags with the final copy. I figured I’d start promoting the book when everything was all snazzy-like.

Some lovely fans found the preorder links and bought a copy. Thank you! If you’re one of the readers who bought the dummy copy (that’s the copy that’s the dummy, not the readers), please let me know so I can replace it with the final edition. I’m eager to get that mistake fixed, so don’t be shy about emailing me at meredithallardauthor@gmail.com or through the Contact link above so I can send you the correct version.

What’s Next For Me?

I’m taking a brief break from writing. I’ve been focused exclusively on The Duchess of Idaho since October, and it’s exhausting finishing a book, let me tell you. Exhausting in a good way, definitely, but I’m tired!

April will be spent getting the Spring edition of Copperfield Review Quarterly ready for its close-up. Then in May, it’s back to work bringing more of the Wentworths’ story to life with the next book in the series, And Shadows Will Fall, which takes place immediately after Her Loving Husband’s Return.

Whether you’re a Loving Husband fan or a casual reader interested in time travel or the Oregon Trail, let me know what you think of The Duchess of Idaho through the Contact link above. I love hearing from readers.