I've had the niggle for a while of possibly wanting to work on another novella. Nothing as long as a novel; working on two of those to begin with and more in sight. Novellas, or novel bytes as my titles with Uncial Press are termed, are a nice size, very do-able, and the author can cross that THE END finish line quite a bit sooner. I've published two so far and I think the itch may be returning.
Historical romances are what I love, and that's what I'd be sticking with, but historicals can be tricky to handle in a shorter format. Maybe that's why some anthology entries are connected to well known series? Seeing as how I don't have any series myself at the moment, nor am I yet running with the big dogs, we'll put that aside for later. Besides, I like the unconnected stories best of all, so it would be new people.
Setting, though, would be something to consider. Normally, I start with characters and then find the best setting for them, which I could still probably do. Maybe characters with a history? Hmm, both Queen of the Ocean and Never Too Late have h/hs with a history already, so I could go with that sort of lost love found relationship again. Certainly, in ages past, there were plenty of opportunities for even the truest of lovers to be separated for a time. Alternatively, there could be strangers with a powerful connection, bridenapping, marriage of convenience, possibly a few other scenarios. I don't need to commit to one at the moment, but the wheels will probably start turning soon. Likely something fairly familiar to most readers; in the novella, space is at a premium and I want to keep the focus on the characters.
Historical setting, h/h, HEA, those are the only must haves for me, so everything else is up for grabs.