And there were no helps in those days.

I mean, now you could just get on and Google,

you know, how to get published or whatever.

Didn't have a clue.

So what I did was pick up one of these books.

I think it must have been a signet looked inside the front cover and found an address

it was in Canada so I thought great I just bundled up my whole manuscript with a cover letter that was about five lines long, more or less saying, I've written this, wondered if you'd be interested in publishing it, and off I sent it. Well I had a letter back after just two weeks saying well

sorry this is just a distribution center. Someone there had read it and liked it and sent it on to New York and then Hillary

Ross who was editing all these signet regencies at the time she got it and very soon afterwards I had a call from her saying she liked the

and she loved it and she wanted to give me a two-book contract.

That was the voice of Mary Balog, author of

hundreds.

30 years of Regency romances from the Signet line where she wrote regency categories through longer single title regencies and historicals.

You're about to hear a conversation about the early days of the Regency and we hope you love it.

This is Fated Mates everyone. I'm Sarah McClLean. I read romance novels and I write them.

And I'm Jennifer Procop, a romance reader and editor.

We're really excited for you to hear about Mary and all of the things she has to say about historical why it's so powerful and why it feels like home to her.

Well, welcome Mary Bella to Fated Mates. We are so thrilled to have you with us.

Every once in a while we read a book that one of us thinks is like a

robust one of the greatest books there is.

And we did a deep dive episode on your short novel,

a matter of class, because it is one of my very, very

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