Guest Blogger - J.L Salter

A very warm welcome to an old writing friend J.L Salter talking about a wonderful book Duchess of Earl and his writing journey with this lovely book. When Helena kindly invited me to visit her blog, I thought I’d share my experiences with the writing and publishing journey of Duchess of Earl… my affectionate tweak of Regency novels. It was enjoyable to write and (as I re-learned after its third appearance) also enjoyable to read. From my initial notes on Aug. 1, 2013, this novel was to be an affectionate tweak of Regency stories. I thought it would be fun to write a story in which the heroine only THOUGHT she was living in Regency times. It evidently captured my enthusiasm, because I had one day with 7248 words, two days with over 6000 words, two days with over 5000 words, and one day with over 4000 words. Folks, I can’t whip out manuscripts at such a pace anymore… but it’s fun to look back on the times when I could! I’d finished my first draft by Sept. 11, 2013 — just under six weeks. At that point it contained 93,900 words… but sadly, I had to drop this story completely, due to other manuscript deadlines. It was a full year later before I was able to resume work on it. After about 20 more days of work, I had my second draft complete at 105,000 words. My third draft trimmed back to about 103,000 words; fourth draft ended up at 104,400 words. Evidently, I ran a fine-tooth comb through my story because the fifth draft was down to 101,900 words — and this is the version submitted to Publisher A. [Of course, my novel later went through several additional drafts during the various phases of the editing process.] Of further mention: though this title was initially contracted by Publisher A [October 2014]… there were lengthy delays and issues (not related to me) which caused that publisher to later withdraw my contract. Since I had an excellent working relationship with that publisher, I accepted her decision gracefully (though with disappointment, of course). However, Publisher A had meanwhile arranged with Publisher B – with whom I had already been working on several other titles – to take on my story [February 2016]. And thus, my manuscript went through its normal edits with Publisher B… and later [July 2016] was released in digital format only (no paperback). Fast-forward to a point in February 2022 when Publisher B completely closed its doors… and 11 of my fiction titles (including D of E) were immediately orphaned (i.e., no longer available for purchase anywhere). [I’m sure you can imagine my agony.] Over the months and years since Publisher B went out of business, Publisher A has kindly resurrected seven of my 11 orphaned titles. One of those re-contracted [in October 2022] was D of E! Publisher A already had access to the final edited, proofed copy (since she had done a lot of formatting for Publisher B). So… after a quick re-edit by me and Publisher A, D of E was released again, this time in digital form and paperback. This occurred in April 2023, nearly 10 years after I’d written that first complete draft. But even that is not the happy end to my D of E saga. In about the Spring of 2025, Publisher A announced a digital anthology of Regency-related novels and offered to include D of E. Naturally, I agreed… joyfully. So D of E joined with those other stories in the regency anthology. After a few months in late summer, that anthology of seven titles was withdrawn — though I can’t remember why the anthology was set up for only a temporary existence. I mean WOW! what a story! I'm happy to say that you can read this wonderful book again now and to tempt you - here is the blurb! Duchess of Earl By J. L. Salter This is not a Regency… but SHE thinks it is. After a terrible vehicle accident, a young woman suddenly awakens convinced she’s betrothed to a lesser baron in Regency England, 1813. But instead of a baron, she encounters a man named Earl… and this low-key, 2013 Tennessee farm isn’t anywhere near her destination, the Alwoodley Estate. Dusty Earl thinks the beautiful accident victim (temporarily staying in his house) is close enough to kiss, but she believes there are 200 years between them. She’s also expecting a gallant gentleman to transport her to Baron Hertford (her betrothed). Is her name really Georgette Heyer? It’s up to Dusty to find out. An affectionate tweak of Regency novels. Re-released by Dingbat Publishing, 2023 — $3.99 in digital formats. Also available in paperback.

You can get your copy HERE