René Théodore Berthon, Portrait of Lady Morgan (Sydney Owenson) (1776-1859), Writer, circa 1818. National Gallery of Ireland
I’ve received a great many enquiries about the third Difficult Dukes book. With good reason. It’s been more than two years since the second book, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, was released.
Simply put, the problem was writer's block. I continued to write, but nothing I wrote made sense or went anywhere. Scenes that didn’t work or lead to anything. Scenes that didn’t fit the characters. Ghastly prose. Boring dialogue. I couldn’t make a plot. The characters refused to talk to each other, and as for me, the Author—I was persona non grata as far as they were concerned. No cooperation from Alice and Blackwood. None whatsoever.
I took some time off. That didn’t work. So I simply kept writing, believing that eventually, the block would start to break down. And finally, late last year, I began to see cracks in the wall. But please be aware that the block hasn’t completely disintegrated. No miraculous cure, after which the story came pouring out. Oh, I wish. But it is coming, and the characters don’t hate me quite so much as they did, and writing is no longer the frustrating, deeply unpleasant experience it was for a long time.
Mary Vaux Walcott, Moss Forget-me-not (Eritichum elongatum), 1915, watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum
I can’t predict when it will be done. My deadline flew by ages ago. There is some small comfort in knowing I’m not the only author who encountered difficulties during the pandemic. On the other hand, I’m sorry that anybody else went through this. But we are recovering. I am recovering. The book will get done, this year, I truly hope.
Again, I thank you for your patience and understanding.
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