Every month, I choose a classic quote for whatever I face at that time. In May, my mind was on how long I could continue to be creative in my present genre. I began my journey in Regency romance in 1999! I have always tried to be consistent because I believe that my identity as a writer of humorous, action-packed sexy romance is a sort of promise to my readers. “I, Celeste Bradley, will continue to deliver books of the same kind and quality that I have done in the past, so that you always know what you are going to read.”

Like McDonalds.

Except that I’m a person, not a corporation. I might go through many things in a year, much less nearly two decades! How can I possibly remain consistently Celeste Bradley when I often don’t feel a bit like the same person who started writing my first book?

What if I falter? What if one day I just can’t do it? What if my writing changes without me realizing it and I disappoint everyone who has been so loyal and kind to me all these years?

Locking myself into that past place seemed so drastic–and essentially impossible. Then I realized that quitting altogether would also be drastic (and quite possibly impossible!). I love what I do. I love my characters–oh, those naughty Worthingtons!–and I love creating new and different visions of my Regency romance world.

The fact is, I can’t remain the same. But it occurred to me that my readers are people too. People who change and grow every day, who might go years without reading one of my books, or might binge an entire series in a week. We are all just being human, and I truly believe that most people are really trying to do their best.

So here is my new promise. I will do my best. I will write humorous, adventurous sexy Regency romance–as the writer and woman that I am RIGHT NOW. It might be that I worry for no reason and that I will be able to write stories that you will all enjoy. Or some people may fall away. Some new people may join in.

I love what I do. I love it even more now that I have come to understand that, just like Lewis Carrol’s Alice, “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”

Weren’t we all?