Author: Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

Music Monday: Somethin’ I’m Good At, Brett Eldredge

Sometimes a song will inspire a story. It can be the emotion of the melody or a simple lyric. And then, there are those times when a song reminds you of a story. That is what this incredibly fun song did for me this week. Read on for a few short snippets of that story and a peek at something sort of new that I started writing this week.

BrettEldredge. “Brett Eldredge – Somethin’ I’m Good At (Official Music Video).” YouTube. YouTube, 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Ok, did you listen to the song? If you did, do you have any guesses about which story or characters this song might have reminded me of? For me, I think I shall never be able to read or write about Whit from A Very Mary Christmas without picturing Brett Eldridge. 🙂

Below is where we first meet Wit.

Nicholas Hammond groaned and rose from his chair. “Why are you here?”

“Good day to you, too, brother,” said Alfred Hammond, flopping into a chair. “You remember Whit?”

“Mr. Whittemore.” Nicholas greeted the young man, who had accompanied Fred into the study. At least Ethan Whittemore had the good sense to look uneasy. Nicholas came around his desk and propped himself on the edge of it, intentionally kicking his brother’s foot while crossing his ankles. “I might ask the same of you, Whittemore. Are you not both supposed to be in school for at least another week?”

“Old man Frohock cannot abide a bit of fun,” said Fred, “and wishes not to see me again until after the New Year.”

Nicholas motioned for Whit to take a seat. “I assume you were part of this fun?”

“I was, sir.”

If Nicholas did not know the sort of young man Whit was, such a concise answer given in such a humble tone might have convinced him that Whit was an innocent caught up in a scheme not of his doing. But, Nicholas knew Whit. Whit was the brains of the pair seated before Nicholas’ desk. The idea for a scheme might originate with Fred, but the planning and execution lay firmly at Whit’s feet.

Whit might be the “brains” of the scheme, but it certainly seems that any scheme he promotes to Fred ends in disaster and near tragedy.

“Grab some coins and your great coat,” whispered Whit as they moved down the hall. “Wickham will be playing cards tonight, and he is an easy mark. I dare say, we can double our money and then arrange for a bigger event where we could win more — that is if you are up to riding against Wickham.”

Fred paused to consider the thought. “But if we lose?”

“That will not happen. Aside from your brother, you are the best rider I have seen. However, if needed, I will write to my father to cover the expense and take my chances with being sent to sea.” He grabbed Fred by the shoulders. “But, that will not happen, for we will not lose — although, tonight, you will lose. We must make Wickham think he has a chance against you. A friendly ride out after the game with a small wager, and then we beg him to let us attempt to win it back — along with additional money from his friends.” Whit slapped Fred on the back. “If not for that lad carrying the milk, the scheme would have worked on Allston.” He chuckled. “Actually, it did work.  We just were not allowed to collect, but this time, there will be no lad with milk and no Mr. Frohock to keep us from our winnings and your brother from marrying.”

He had good intentions. If only he could run a scheme without something going wrong.  Thankfully, he finally got it right. (Although his timing needs some work.)

The door at the end of the room cracked open just as Nicholas stood to draw Mary into his embrace.

“Are you finished? We are getting cold.” Whit’s head poked through the small opening.

“Then I suggest you find the main entrance to the church and use it,” said Nicholas.

“But what is your answer?” Though Whit’s head still poked into the room, he was obviously struggling against someone who was trying to pull him back.

“I have not prepared to leave Longbourn,” said Mary.

“We have seen to that,” Whit slapped his hand in the direction of whoever was attempting to extract him from the room. “Fraser also knows to expect Miss Mary. Not a thing has been left undone.” He finally lost his struggle, and the door slammed shut for a moment before reopening.

“He is persistent,” muttered Nicholas. “What shall I tell him, my love?”

Despite the CircumstancesWhit was just such a fun character to write! And to tie this in with what I was doing this week — I have put together another anthology of previously published stories.  Despite the Circumstances is a collection of four stories that have a common theme of love against the odds. The titles included are Oxford Cottage, Listen to Your Heart, Waking to Mr. Darcy, and A Very Mary Christmas.

Along with getting this collection organized and uploaded to the various retailers, I finished going through Discovering Mr. Darcy and sent it to my first reader and have her comments back — I have a few things to work on for that story this week.

And then, I opened my story ideas and partial works folder and randomly picked one to open. This was labeled P&P 4, which means it is the fourth story idea I started writing. I stopped that story at just over 14,000 words! That was probably due to focusing on some other project and then just never came back to this story. Well, I have decided that I will try rewriting it. (My style of writing has changed a bit since that first attempt at this story and rewriting seemed easier than just editing.)  I am not certain where this story is going or if it will go directly to publishing or take a stop in Thursday’s Three Hundred yet, but it is underway. I haven’t gotten very far into the rewrite — about 3500 words or so, but here is a bit of that beginning.  Oh, and I have renamed it, at least for now, as With the Colonel’s Help.  Continue reading Music Monday: Somethin’ I’m Good At, Brett Eldredge


Music Monday: Beautiful World, Tim Janis

Sometimes a scene or a melody, a lyric or a bit of conversation is all that is needed to spark the imagination.  Other times it is just simple curiosity asking questions.  And still other times, it is rest and relaxation that renew the ability to create.  This week, I took some time to refresh my imagination.

Timjanisreocrds. “Peaceful Music, Relaxing Music, Instrumental Music “Beautiful World” by Tim Janis.” YouTube. YouTube, 16 Feb. 2017. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

An exercise I like to do when I come across a lovely piece of music with such gorgeous pictures to accompany it (like the video above), is to add people to the scene.  Is there a delivery boy running down that street with a knapsack on his back, late and fearful of punishment? Is there a girl similar to Miss Morland sitting in the shade of that tree as the house and windmill stand watch in the distance? Is there a child with a basket gathering flowers in the forest? Who waits inside that cottage with the lantern lit and for whom are they waiting? What stories do you see in the pictures and hear in the music as it swells and soften? 

~*~*~

I freely admit that I struggle with taking time to refresh. I see goals and tasks laid out before me, and I tend to push my wants and desires down beneath the feelings of responsibility.  This enables me to get a good deal of work accomplished even when I do not feel like working, but it also makes it difficult for me to take the time necessary to step back and breath before plunging into the next item on that never-ending to-do list.

However, there comes a time when the mind begins to get weary and the benefit of taking some time to refresh is greater than the need to push on and complete a project (or begin a new one).  I hit that wall at the end of last week.  I have just recently published a book and completed a new manuscript for a short novella.  My brain was tired.  It needed to rest.  I fought the need for a couple of days (I’m no quitter, you see 😉 ), but eventually, I could no longer deny the need to just relax.

What did I do while relaxing?  I watched some tv. I read a book.  I listened to some podcasts and to Sense and Sensibility on audiobook. And as my few days of forced r&r drew to an end, I allowed myself to write a couple of short things — nothing associated with any current projects.   [One of those short things, Love is Patient, has been added to my short stories collection which you can find at this link.]

It was refreshing!  I am certain I could have used a few more days of rest, but those deadlines on the calendar could only be ignored for so long. I have begun work once again on the manuscript that I recently finished.  It needs a second going over before I send it to my first reader to get her feedback on the story’s plot.  I have also continued with my re-read of Listen to Your Heart in preparation for that second anthology of books that I want to make.  I have not started any new projects — or at least, I don’t think I have.  You see, one of the things I wrote this week was an idea I had about a year ago for an alternate scene in Mansfield Park.  As I finished writing that scene, I realized that it might not be just a scene. It might be the beginning of a longer story. How long? I am not certain.  I am not even certain that I feel fit to tackle it at present — I think it needs a bit longer to rattle around in my brain, to grow and shift and expand in form if it thinks it is going to be made into a longer work.

So, that leaves me with the question of what to share today.  First,  there is the link above to a short story for your reading enjoyment. And then there is this. The first chapter of Discovering Mr. Darcy as it currently looks after a second pass through.   Continue reading Music Monday: Beautiful World, Tim Janis