Two years ago, all I was hearing was how dead historicals were. Historicals were dead, dead, dead. They were going the way of the dodo and chick lit. If you wanted to get published, you had to write vampires and werewolves–everyone knew that.
Today, I did a quick tally in my head of people I know–and by “know” I mean, have met in person and talked with–who have debut historical novels coming out from major New York houses in the upcoming year-or-something. By my count, that number stands at eleven.
Here are the debut authors in that once-dead genre (note that release dates are tentative the farther you get out):
- Kris Kennedy, to Kensington: Debut Novel, THE CONQUEROR, out May 2009
- Lavinia Kent, to Avon: Debut Novel, A TALENT FOR SIN, May 26, 2009
- Jennifer Haymore, to Grand Central: Debut Novel, A HINT OF WICKED, out May 19, 2009
- Jackie Barbosa, to Kensington Aphrodesia: Debut Single-Author Anthology, BEHIND THE RED DOOR, out June 2009
- Tessa Dare, to Ballentine: Debut Novel, GODDESS OF THE HUNT, out July 28, 2009
- Lori Brighton (website coming soon), to Kensington: Debut Novel, title unknown, out Fall 2009
- Courtney Milan (that’s me!), to HQN: Debut Novella in HQN’s Regency Christmas anthology, ~Oct 2009; Debut Novel, PROOF BY SEDUCTION, ~March 2010
- Susan Gee Heino (2008 Golden Heart Winner for Regency Romance), to Berkeley: Debut Novel, MISTAKEN BY MOONLIGHT, out December 2009
- Beverley Kendall, to Kensington: Debut Novel, A LADY’S COMPROMISE, out January 2010
- Sara Lindsey, to Signet/NAL: Debut Novel, PROMISE ME ALWAYS, out March 2010
- Erica Ridley, to Kensington: Debut Novel, TOUCHED, out late 2010/early 2011
All that doom and gloom two years ago? It turned out kinda like this:
