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: 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


Music Monday: Beautiful Relaxing Music 106, Soothing Relaxation

What was I listening to this week while I was writing? This beautiful, relaxing, and imagination-inspiring piece of music.  And thanks to such lovely music and a few snow days, I had a very productive week.  So, click play and while the music plays, let me tell you a little about my week and share a sample of what I wrote.

Helland, Peder B., Soothing relaxation. “Beautiful Relaxing Music: Japanese Music, Chinese Music, Romantic Music, Meditation Music ★106.” YouTube. YouTube, 30 Dec. 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

To be honest, last Sunday seems like two weeks ago rather than just one. (I write these posts on Sunday’s usually.) We were in the midst of a very, very snowy period here in Nova Scotia.  In about seven days, we went from no snow to about a metre of snow, and that spring that the groundhog said would come early looks incredibly far away! 🙂 However, the last couple of days have been fairly sunny and on the warm side of freezing so things are melting slowly.

While I may be pining for green grass and spring flowers, the snowy days did afford me some extra writing time as schools were closed for three days. So, while my sons shoveled and played video games, I strapped myself to my desk chair and took care of business — a lot of it!

On the publishing side of work, So Very Unexpected made its ebook debut this week on Tuesday and was featured in my post on Austen Authors.  The print version also debuted this week, but later than expected as the storm that started on Sunday shut the city down for a couple of days, and my proof copy was delayed in reaching me. However, both print and ebook versions are now available.

Writing wise, I started a re-read of Listen to Your Heart.  That book is going to be put in an anthology, and I am taking one more swipe at picking up remaining errors — not that I will catch them all. 🙂

In addition to starting the re-read of that book, I also worked on the next Dash of Darcy book called Discovering Mr. Darcy.  I am happy to report that I managed to write just under 8,000 words and have completed the first draft. It is now sitting for a few days before I begin going through it to add in the bits and pieces of description and whatnot that I missed on the first pass.

For me, it seems the editing process is less about cutting things out than it is about adding details in. 🙂 Once I have a second go at that manuscript, it will be off to my first reader so she can tell me what I might still have missed as far as plot goes, and for me and my many charts and list, that is where the publication process begins.

And that was my week — other than getting things ready for the blog and to share on social media and other rather mundane businessy type things and squeezing in some homeschooling on the non-snow days. 🙂

Below is a portion of what I wrote this week. Remember, I was writing the ending of this book, so read at your own risk of spoilers. This scene is where Mr. Collins, who discovered Elizabeth and Darcy in a compromising position, finally decides to see reason.

EXCERPT from Discovering Mr. Darcy:  Continue reading Music Monday: Beautiful Relaxing Music 106, Soothing Relaxation