Travel back in time ...

I wrote this book at a low point in my life and writing it really helped me through a bad place.

I was laid off and unemployed for about 6 months. I know, it doesn't sound like a long time, does it? But man, it felt like forever!

I was living in Minnesota at the time and I was always fascinated by the Jesse James connection to Northfield, Minnesota and the botched bank robbery that took place there.

I decided to drive to Northfield and wander about and see where it all happened, so to speak. While doing so, I came up with the idea for this book. I had to research the time period, the James gang, farming practices, legal issues ... you name it, I read about it. It took me quite a bit of time to figure out how to make it work, and that made the unemployment time go so much faster.

This is the first of three History Patrol books. These are my "reincarnation love stories with a time travel twist" in which two lovers are reincarnated far in the future. They're sent back in time to reconcile the problems they had when they were alive. One catch: one of them doesn't know about the reincarnation, and one does. And the one who does is reincarnated as an animal companion who can't reveal the secret.

In Penance, the pair is Penelope, who doesn't realize that Jim, her dog companion, is really her lover in a former life. They're forced to live through the events that got them killed, but this time Jim has a chance to undo the wrong he did.

These three History Patrol books are among my favorites because they're complicated but really simple at heart: two people who are connected through life and death, who need to make it work.

What a great idea for a series!