As a teenager, I wrote romantic short stories involving me and my favorite rock star or movie star at the time. Although I did not share them with anyone except my best friend, I found out later that my sister had found them, read them, and thought they were quite good.

As an adult, my writing mostly consisted of artifact descriptions and exhibit labels and text for the state history museum and then the state historic sites. I helped manage the state’s artifact collections—first as a registrar and later as a curator.

When I retired, my sister suggested that I take up writing again and write in a similar fashion to Georgette Heyer, an English author whom we both admired. Mrs. Heyer’s research of social conventions and language of the times was meticulous. I am nowhere near her penmanship and storytelling, but I like to think that I have at least paid acceptable homage to her.