Happy Holidays! It’s only 11 days until Christmas (for those who celebrate it like I do) and 12 days from Boxing Day … which this year, is also RELEASE DAY for How to Marry An Accomplished Lady!
Finally!
If I get it uploaded in time. (Yikes!)
Currently as I write this, I need to have the final document uploaded to one of my vendor sites in four days. I’m still doing a last read through with Christopher (my Elevenlabs narrator) so that I can see if there are things that need some rewording to make the audio as good as it can and to help me catch any of those last little things that slip through the editing process.
(Such as I’ve found a few missing words and at least one place where two words were repeated. It’s really helpful to hear the story instead of just reading it for things like this.)
I hope your November is off to a tolerable start. 🙂 Ours has been good. Today (Friday) as I am writing this, the skies are gray, and the temperatures are not balmy. My phone tells me it is just 11 degrees Celsius outside (which is not quite 52 F). If it weren’t gray and cloudy, that temperature would feel a bit warmer, I’m sure. 🙂 As it is, I’ve been forced to turn on some heat in the house to keep my fingers, toes, and nose from being too chilled. (Maybe if I type faster, my finger will warm up faster?)
In my writing life, I’ve been busy.
How to Marry An Accomplished Lady (without losing one’s mind) has been sent off to my editor, and the sequel to it is on my writing schedule to be started next week.
I have made the decision to cancel my refresh of Oxford Cottage, which I told you about in a recent What’s Up Wednesday post.
I have finally gotten around to fixing some errors in Finally Mrs. Darcy that have been waiting for me to get to them for quite some time. (I think I also mentioned that in the most recent What’s Up Wednesday post.) I’ve updated the ebook file on Amazon, and just need to re-size the cover for the print book since new formatting software means a different page count (a lower one due to paper saving options) and make a large print version and all the books on sale will contain the corrections.
While I was editing Finally Mrs. Darcy to correct those errors, I put each chapter into Elevenlabs and created audiobook files. If you subscribe to my YouTube channel (which I hope you do because I really need to get to 1000 subscribers), you might already know that the full audiobook edition of Finally Mrs. Darcy is available now to listen to for FREE. I will be putting the files on Kobo and including it in Kobo Plus later this month, and I hope to have news before next month for where you can buy the audiobook directly from me.
All the Teatime Tales stories are now available in regular and large print, and I am currently working on sampling some teas to choose a few that I can use to create a “Tea with Darcy” gift box to add to the Leenie B Books Shop on Etsy.
I have also been working on the next Annilee Nelson novel (that’s my other pen name), and I have written a new portion of our Harriet and the Colonel story which you can read at the end of this newsletter.
There are, of course, several other business type things that I’m doing, but I won’t bore you with those details. 😀
Last month, I mentioned sharing with you how I’m managing to do more projects. It all comes down to lists on paper. Lots of lists. That I clip together into a packet. Each sheet of paper contains things that need to be done for a particular project and room for me to write myself notes about what I’ve finished and what still needs to be done.
Each day, I start with whatever project is top of the list for that day, and once I’ve spent a block of time on that project, I flip to another page and spend another block of time on something else. It comes down to completing small steps on a regular basis, and over time, the big projects get done. It feels organized. It frees my mind from having to keep track of what needs to be done. And, it gives me a sense of accomplishment as I am seeing multiple things getting done and not just one thing. It seems to fit me well, which is likely due to the fact that it’s very similar to how I used to keep track of classes and projects when I was teaching.
It’s not a perfect system, of course. I still miss things or forget to write something down. But for now, I’m really enjoying how it’s working. I’m just so happy that my brain can (mostly) handle all the things these lists are allowing me to accomplish.
That’s it for me for an update. It’s more than enough, right?
Keep scrolling to see the books deals that I have available this month and to get to that new installment of Harriet and the Colonel. (That was a fun, argument-filled bit of writing to do!)
I actually did an author reading of this book for YouTube a couple years ago. I haven’t had time yet to get Christopher to read the story so I can create an audiobook of it. But if you’d like to hear me read it to you, you can do that at starting here at this link.
Later this month, beginning on November 18, my Leenie B Books Shop will be included in a site wide promotion on Etsy. Everything in my store will be 25% off.
SOMETHING NEW TO READ
Our story about Harriet and the Colonel continues. Remember that you can read previous parts of this story under the menu item Harriet and the Colonel.
Chapter 3, Part 1
“Jimmy says your brother is looking for you, miss,” Harriet’s maid, (name of maid), said to her the next morning when she came to help Harriet with her hair.
“Has he been to his study so early?” A smile of deep satisfaction settled peacefully on Harriet’s lips and in her heart. Edmund would not be able to say she was incapable of being married to a man involved in a secretive business.
“Apparently, he was there an hour ago with some gent – you know the sort. Though neither of us are to know that.” She winked at Harriet in the mirror. (name of maid) was an incredible asset. Not only could she care for clothes and pin hair, she was also excellent at gathering information to relay to her mistress.
“It does seem rather early for him to be welcoming callers of any sort,” Harriet said. “I wonder what it was about?”
“It’s hard to say, miss. Your brother likes to keep his association with some even more private than the rest of his business.”
Harriet would have commented on this, but a loud knock at the door kept her from it.
“I dare say that is him,” (name of maid) whispered.
“I am not presentable,” Harriet called out.
“Harriet!”
“It is most certainly Edmund,” she whispered to her maid as they both only allowed a short soft burst of laughter to escape their lips.
“I am not presentable,” she called again. “I will see you in the breakfast room in half an hour.”
“That is unacceptable,” he replied through the door. “I must see you as soon as possible. You will be in my study. In ten minutes.”
“Fifteen,” Harriet called. “And not a minute sooner, but possibly a few later.”
“Ten.”
Oh, he was testy this morning.
“Fifteen.”
“Harriet!”
“Fifteen. That is my final offer. I simply cannot be seen until my hair is complete, and I am wearing clothes. Why, what if you had an early caller, and I was thoroughly disheveled looking. The news of such a thing could get around town by next Tuesday.” She doubted anyone calling on her brother at such an early hour of the day would be the sort to gossip about how they had seen her without her hair tamed and in a dressing gown and slippers.
“Harriet.” The name rumbled through the door in a growl.
“Has something happened?” she asked. “You seem rather disgruntled with your state in life this morning.”
“Miss, you are wicked,” (maid’s name) whispered. “Teasing him as you do.”
She was fortunate that her brother was more long-suffering than some, and she knew it.
“I cannot tell you about itl,” he answered.
“Do you mean that you cannot tell me now because you do not wish to shout it through the keyhole? Or is it one of those things that you cannot tell me at any time and would rather leave for me to discover on my own.”
“Harriet, you go too far.”
“Thank you. My hair looks just right.” Harriet stood before the mirror and looked herself over from front to back before tip-toeing across the floor and swiftly opening the door. “You are in luck. I am ready before my fifteen minutes are up. However, I will need a cup of tea if I am to forego eating as I normally would at this time of day.” She stepped around him. “Shall I bring it to your study?”
“You will take yourself to my study without a cup of tea.”
Oh, he looked decidedly put out. Something was most certainly afoot. However, a lady who intended to convince her brother that she could face danger was not the sort to be cowed by a few harshly spoken words and a glower.
“That will not do. Would it be acceptable to have a cup brought to me in your study?” She fluttered her lashes.
“Have you always been this impossible?” her brother muttered.
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I fear it is you who brings out the best in my ability to be…” She tapped her lip as if searching for a word. “Passionately independent.”
“Passionately independent?” he cried incredulously before blowing out a breath in exasperation. “Staunchly recalcitrant is more like it! You do realize that most ladies, who speak to their guardian as you have just now, do not do so without suffering for it.”
She swallowed. It was rare that Edmund threatened punishment. Still, she held his gaze without wavering. “Yes. But how else am I to prove to you that I am not the sort of lady who faints at the first sign of danger or flutters and flies about when touched by the smallest amount of anxiety?”
“Of all the stupid things, Harriet.” He pressed his lips together so firmly that they formed a thin line. She had well and truly pushed him to the limits of his patience. However…
“My tea. How shall it be retrieved?”
“I will have it brought to you, but I will not call for it until you are seated in front of my desk. Do I make myself plain?” His shoulders were lifting and lowering noticeably, which normally would be her sign to desist, but she had a point to carry.
Therefore, she patted his cheek and smiled at him. “A simple, ‘we will have tea in my study’ would have sufficed. I am not slow of understanding, and there is no need to overexert yourself.” She turned toward her open bedchamber door. “(maid’s name) could you please see that a cup of tea finds me in Edmund’s study when you are through with my room?” She turned back to Edmund. “There. It is done. Now, if you would offer me your arm, we could reach your study before (maid’s name) is done with her work.”
“Harriet,” he rumbled in a low and somewhat dangerous tone as he extended his arm, “I ought to…” He shook his head.
“What? Lock me in my room?” she asked as they began a quick march towards his office. “Banish me to the country? Require me to drink only watered down port for three days and not else? You are no longer in the army, my dear brother, and flogging one’s sister is frowned upon.”
“I was not going to say have you flogged. What kind of monster do you think I am?” The words were said with some force and a hint of hurt.
Harriet chuckled, though it was a forced thing. “I know you would never be so cruel to me. However, that being said, I am also aware that I have pushed and prodded you to a place where, if I were not your beloved sister, you might have considered it.”
“Why must you torment me as you do?” he asked in a pleading tone. “I do not remember you ever being so obstinate for Andrew or Father.”
She leaned into his arm so that her shoulder bumped his. “Father died before I had to wage a campaign against his opinions about whom I was allowed to marry, and Andrew? Well, you were on the continent for a time, so you do not know how I tried him on the topic, and, as it turns out, he is not as stubborn as you are.”
“Then, this is all about my reluctance to allow Richard to present an offer to you?” he asked.
“That is the main reason, but it is not the only reason.” She released her hold on his arm so that he could open his study door for her.
“What other reason is there?”
She shook her head. “Some things should not be discussed in the corridor,” she whispered before entering his study and taking a seat.
What a month October has been for some already! I hope you’re all hanging in there and are safe. We’re doing well up here in Nova Scotia. The leaves are starting to turn colours and soon we should see the full effect of that change before they start dropping and raking season begins. 🙂
I’ve finished the manuscript for How to Marry An Accomplished Lady and am working my way through some edits before I send it off to be proofread and returned for final edits. I have not started the short sequel that will go with that book yet. It’s on the schedule for next week.
I’m still working slowly through Oxford Cottage’s refresh and discovering that it will be impossible, without a full rewrite, to limit the point of views to just two or three, so I’m going to polish it up, add depth where I can, and limit the number of point of view shifts where possible but not stress over having more POVs than I wanted.
As you should know, I have started creating some audiobook versions of the vignettes that I have shared in the past in these newsletters and sharing them on YouTube. I’ve also started making my story connections posts into audio versions to share on YouTube using the same narrator.
As I am working my way through these short vignettes, I have learned some of the tricks and hacks to working with the digital voice I am using to make the stories sound as natural as is possible. That’s why I started with the short vignettes. (The voice I am using is a cloned voice that is made available for such use by the voice actor who is paid whenever their voice is used.)
I hope that this audio venture will make my writing more accessible to more people and that it will eventually open up a new means of earning money for my writing business through some audiobook sales on select platforms and through monetization of my YouTube channel. (And honestly, my business needs that because it’s struggling.)
One of the requirements for me to monetize my YT channel is to have 1000 subscribers. I’ve got 72 at this moment while I’m writing this. So, obviously, I’ve got a long way to go there! I’d love to have you subscribe to help that number grow!
I’ve also discovered some of the ways I can offer discounts on my Etsy shop, so I have one set up for this month. You can see the details of that below, and I have submitted my shop to be included in a promotion Etsy is running next month. So, that’ll be two new promos tried in two months.
There is so much to learn as you try new things! But one should always be learning in my way of thinking.
Welcome to the September edition of the Saturday Broadsheet. If you read my SWR Tearoom post from September 2, you know all my updates. If you didn’t read it, there’s a link below so that you can (it has pictures 😉 ), but here are the highlights:
I’m still working on How to Marry…,Harriet and the Colonel, and the Oxford Cottage refresh. However, they are progressing very slowly at the moment since taking some time off and then having to do some beginning of the month stuff and catching up on emails and all after getting back to work took a bit of time to complete. I was able to start back to writing this week.
I’ve also been working on getting my backlist, non-KU books added to the collections section of Patreon for those readers who would like to subscribe to read them there, and I’ve added more books to the Leenie B Books Shop on Etsy. There is one other project that I’m working on, but I’ll leave news about that until another time when it’s ready to start sharing.
Needless to say, my writing life is busy!
As mentioned, I took some time off in August. During the last week, my husband and I took three days away from home and visited Yarmouth, NS. It was just a relaxed, no real plans sort of trip, which was lovely, except for ending up sick for a couple of days when I got home. I’m still battling the post virus issues that I’ve had for a couple of years, and it seems three days of extra activity, not eating homecooked food where I know all the ingredients, sleeping in a different bed, and all that goes with travelling was a bit too much. However, it did take three days to get to the too much part so I’m calling that a win as it’s definitely an improvement. 🙂
I think that’s it for my update. Now let’s get to the other regular entries to the newsletter. Make sure you hang around to the end if you want to read the newest installment of the Harriet and the Colonel story.
Welcome to the August Saturday Broadsheet. One month from now, school will be underway here in Nova Scotia. The school is clean and ready for the teachers and students to return, and my husband has some time off. That means August will be full of projects and day trips and a messed up schedule for me. 🙂 But getting off schedule before the regular routine of a school year starts is not a bad thing. However, it could put my current projects in trouble. I’ll still have time to work on them, but it might not be as much time as I normally get.
Here is how each current writing project is going:
The Oxford Cottage Refresh has reached the main portion of the novel, and getting the first chapter where I want it is taking some doing. I’ve added around 500 words to that chapter so far, which means the first chapter in the old edition will be two chapters in the new edition to keep them on the shorter side, which makes for easier stopping spots so things like making supper can be inserted into a reading schedule more easily. 🙂 (Or, if you’re like me, you’ll just take your tablet with you to the kitchen and hope to not get too distracted by reading that you burn the supper! Haha.)
I have reached chapter 12 in my writing of the first draft of How to Marry an Accomplished Lady. If the book stays at the hoped for 15 chapters, then, I should be close to the end. Time will tell how that works out.
Harriet and the Colonel is the story I am writing for this newsletter, and this month, I’ve got a longer excerpt that concludes chapter one. Details about where to read last month’s installment are at the end of this newsletter.
And that’s it for writing project updates. I have a couple of writing projects going on for my other pen name, too, right now. So, my writing life is BUSY!
I have one non-writing project that I’m working on VERY slowly. If you saw my last What’s Up Wednesday video update, you know that I have set up an Etsy page where I plan to sell signed paperback copies of my books. I still only have one Leenie book listed. If you want to keep up with that because signed copies for yourself or as gifts are something you would like, you can find my store here and you can follow it by clicking the heart icon. I’ll also let you know in these Saturday Broadsheets when I’ve added a new book to the shop. If there is a book you’d like to see added to the shop sooner rather than later, let me know. Just leave a comment or hit reply if you follow me on Substack and are reading this in your email, and let me know what book it is.
This is my one and only Etsy product so far 🙂 I have 5 copies of it in stock.
NOW POSTING IN THE REPOSITORY ON REAM AND ON PATREON
First: How to Marry… is now posting on mostFridays on Patreon and Ream Stories (as long as I have a chapter ready to post). We are at the point in the story where you do have to be a paid subscriber to read, but chapters 1-3 remain free to read as a preview to all unpaid subscribers.
Second: on Thursday’s the Oxford Cottage Refresh project is posting on Patreon and Ream for all followers (paid and unpaid) to read (for free), and it is also posting on my blog, though you will need the code OCR24 to read it there.
$0.99 is in USD but all currencies are reduced and these books are available at a variety of ebook retailers and included in Kobo Plus, on Everand, and via Ream Stories subscriptions
You have to be at least a free follower/member at one of these sites to read this book. On Ream, just look for the title on the stories tab on the members page. On Patreon, it can be found on the collections page.
SOMETHING NEW TO READ
As with all works in progress that I share, there will be typos and such in this story because it’s truly first draft work. If you’d like to comment on this story and help me know how it is being received, could you do so by sharing what you like about the story – the theme, images, details, emotions, and structure of a piece.
By keeping critique to positive things (ie what you like) at this stage of my writing process, it will help me as I am creating. I’m not at a point in this story where I need critical (negative) critiques as that can gum up the creative process and completely shut it down. Thank you in advance for your positive feedback. It is helpful, and I am happy to read and consider it.
(I’ll also take suggestions for the two surnames that I have not yet determined I will be using. 🙂 )
Previous portions of this story can be read for free at the following places:
on my blog under the menu item Harriet and the Colonel (password: SBHC)
in the Repository on Patreon (in collections) and Ream Stories
Chapter 1, Part 2
“Pardon me, ma’am.” The butler stepped into the room. “An express has just arrived.”
“At this time of day?” Samantha said in surprise.
“It was not the regular express rider, ma’am.” The butler’s eyebrows rose over a speaking look.
“One of my brother’s men?”
The seasoned servant gave a tiny tilt of his head in affirmation while saying, “He did not wear the Lillesley livery, but he was familiar. Therefore, it might be as you said.”
The man was good at his job, and likely had been visited more than once by Edmund to make sure that he was impeccably discreet.
“It is from the colonel,” Samantha said as she scanned the letter. “He regrets to inform me that he will not be able to attend tonight’s soiree.” She refolded the sheet of paper from which she had read the words. “It is as you expected. He is unable to leave his friends in Hertfordshire even for a ball as lovely as the one he knows I will host.” She smiled. “He is a dear man, is he not?”
“The dearest,” Harriet agreed. Her colonel did not write pretty words just to hear how beautiful they sounded when read. He was not the prevaricating sort. Well, he was not when it came to sending his regrets to dear friends such as Samantha and Julius were to him. However, when it came to his work for her brother – the colonel was exceptionally good at performing a bit of duplicity and sleight of hand when needed.
“He enclosed a note for you.”
Harriet snatched the missive from her sister. “You will not tell Edmund, will you?”
Samantha chuckled. “Would the colonel have sent that to me if he thought I would?”
That was true. Richard was careful when it came to their brother, for Edmund was now his superior, both in business and rank, and held the power to grant or deny any petition to marry Harriet that was put forward. Stepping too far outside the bounds or propriety would not be met with a favourable response. Harriet knew this from experience.
Quickly, she unfolded the precious letter. “It is a piece of music, but just the top line and only single notes.” She sat down at the instrument and began to pluck out the tune. “Oh, my!” she said after having only played five notes. “It is the song he played last year when we were here together.” Tears pricked her eyes. How she wished he could be here tonight – right this moment.
“What a sweet gift! Is that all he enclosed?”
Harriet shook her head as one of those tears that had pricked her eyes escaped and raced down her cheek. Richard’s note was short, direct, and filled with as much love and longing as Harriet’s heart felt.
Samantha sat down next to her on the small bench at the piano.
“I cannot play this without thinking of you,” Harriet read. “Tonight, I will play it before I retire for the night and waltz with you in my dreams. One day… hopefully, one day… I will waltz with you openly and not in secret. Do try to have a good time tonight despite all the hopeful swains you will have to fend off.”
“Oh, I want to box Edmund’s ears!” Samantha cried.
“For what?”
Harriet folded the paper in half and slipped it under the edge of her leg at her brother’s question.
“For sneaking into rooms and scaring me half to death,” Samantha answered. “I am sure it is not safe for one in my state to be startled in such a fashion.”
Harriet grabbed Samantha’s hand as she rose from where she had been sitting. “Are you pregnant?”
“I am. I was not going to tell anyone until after tonight, but our brother really does need to be more cautious.” She glared at Edmund.
“You are pregnant?” There was a hint of distrust in Edmund’s voice.
Samantha smoothed her dress over her belly, revealing a slight protrusion. “Will this do, or shall I call my lady’s maid to inform you about my missed courses?”
Edmund huffed. “You must admit that your announcement of your condition seems rather convenient to distract me from the true answer to my question.” He wrapped Samantha in a hug – though she attempted to push him away – and said, “Congratulations. I will try not to scare you too often.”
“Thank you. Now, I really must go see that all is ready for our guests. If you are here, then, others will soon be also.”
“No so fast, Mrs. (name to be determined). Everything looked perfect when I arrived. I am as certain that nothing needs checking as I am that your answer to why you wanted to box my ears was not the real reason since I had not scared you until after you said it. Hmmm.”
“The colonel has sent me regrets. He will not be attending tonight, and we all know that is your doing.”
Edmund rolled his eyes. “I did not sent him to Hertfordshire because I did not want him to attend tonight’s ball.”
“Why did you send him there?” Harriet asked. “I thought he was merely visiting family.”
“I did not say I sent him to Hertfordshire.”
“No, you did not, but what you did say implied that you did send him.”
“I hear Mr. (name to be determined) will be here tonight. He seems a fine option as a suitor.”
Harriet batted her eyelashes at her brother. She knew exactly what he was doing. He did not want to admit that she was right. He had sent Richard to Hertfordshire. “And as I have told you before, I refuse to marry anyone who is not Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
Her brother sighed loudly. “His job is dangerous.”
“Is it? And why is that?”
He growled. “Harriet!”
Again, she batted her lashes at him, but this time she only smiled without saying a word.
“You used to be her favorite, you know,” Samantha whispered.
Edmund scrubbed his face. “Used to be? And who is her favourite now? Richard, I suppose.”
“I meant within our family, but I will give you credit for being smart enough to know how she feels about your friend.” Samantha rested a hand on Edmund’s upper arm. “Please, let her follow her heart on this.”
“I wish I could…”
“I do not see why you cannot.” Harriet stood and openly folded her missive.
“What is that?”
“A letter.”
“From whom?”
“No one of significance to you, although at one time he was.”
“Harriet, please, try to understand my position. There are things I know…” He shook his head.
She shrugged. “Is he watching a maid?” That got Edmund’s full attention. It was answer enough. She sighed. “If you can trust him to watch others, why can you not trust him with me?”
“It is not that I do not trust him with you. He is my best man.” He huffed again. “You would not understand.”
Harriet gasped. “Oh! Well, I see.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you see?”
She fluttered her lashes. “What needs to be done, of course.”
“What is that?” trepidation laced his words.
“You would not understand,” she replied with a sassy grin. “And I am not going to tell you.”
“Harriet,” Edmund begged as he followed her from the room, “do not cause a scene or ruin your chances of marrying well. Please.”
“I would never do that.” At least, not unless it was necessary. Richard deserved to marry a respectable wife who could support him in all that he did, and Edmund did not need to fear losing his best man because he got married. She could deal with danger, and she could be an asset to her brother’s work. All she had to do to prove herself and clear the way to marry her beloved colonel was find that watch and an answer to why Matthew really died.
