Fiction by Courtney Seligman: Erindale Tales Link for sharing this page on Facebook
 The Erindale Tales are a series of novels set on the banks of the Erindale River, which flows through Erindale, an imaginary land similar to early 19th century Britain, as viewed in nostalgic remembrance of "simpler" times. The Foreword to Two Pigs and a Chicken describes the setting:

 There is a land which exists not in ordinary space and time, but only in our collective imaginations. A land where, far removed from the turmoil and strife of great cities and kingdoms, good men can live simple, honest lives, and pass on their values, little changed by the passage of time, to their sons and grandsons, and from them to their sons and grandsons.
 In such a land, romance often takes root and grows. Of course, even for the people who live in such a place, things are not always as easy or as pleasant as we might want to imagine; but when true love blossoms, they — and we — can enjoy a truly magical experience.

 Two Pigs and a Chicken, the first of the Erindale Tales, is the story of Gael, a farmer who barters two pigs and a chicken for a half-starved girl, and gets more than he bargained for. It was originally meant to stand on its own, but even before it was in print I received insistent "requests" for a sequel from those who read preliminary drafts, fell in love with its characters, and wanted to read more about them.
 The resulting sequel, The Maiden All Forlorn, which was meant to tell the story of Moira, a young girl hired by Gael to help his wife (and only briefly mentioned in the prior novel), kept growing until it was too long and complex to be published as a single novel. In the end I broke it into three novels, and added three more to expand upon its original storyline. The six volumes tell a tale spanning forty years and three generations, ending a few years after Two Pigs and a Chicken, so they are to a certain extent prequels, as well as sequels. (An Author's Note at the end of each sequel clarifies the timeline and setting of the series.) Needless to say, such an extended series involves hundreds of people, dozens of whom are major characters, so all six sequels include a "cast of characters" giving a general idea of their relationships and where of greater or lesser importance, their ages at the start of each novel, though every novel is centered on Gael or his friends and relations.
 I originally expected to work on the series in earnest to ensure that new volumes were published every year or so, but due to an extended illness and a contractual commitment (now canceled due to the publisher being purchased by another company) to finish the first Kingdom of the Sun Story beforehand, things were set back a bit. However, all problems were resolved by mid 2016, and as a result the third Erindale Tale, An Unsuitable Suit, was published in 2017, and thanks to the self-isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth one, A Year To Remember, saw print in October 2020, the fifth volume, Just Jamie, was available around the end of the year, the sixth volume, Poor Emily, will see print in very early 2021, and the next two volumes, The Colonel and The Lady and Blind Man's Bluff will be published before the end of 2021.