Richard rode in silence for a full two minutes before deciding that it was best just to lay out the whole sorry business before his cousin and endure whatever teasing might come. “I am considering selling my commission and applying to my father for the land he has promised me.”
“Have you had your fill of military life or is it more than that?”
Richard rolled his eyes both at the question and the way his cousin was tipping his head and studying him. That look always said that Darcy already knew the answer. “I do not wish to ask a wife to either follow the drum or wait for whatever remains of me to be returned to her, nor do I wish to leave fatherless children if there should be any such blessings to come our way.”
Richard cast a wary sidelong glance at Darcy, expecting his cousin to have some comment, but Darcy did not. Instead, Darcy just rode on, looking forward with an occasional glance in Richard’s direction.
Richard blew out a breath. “It was likely three or four o’clock this morning when I came to the realization that following a lady around and studying her finer qualities to assure her of her worth was not a good way to keep one’s heart from becoming attached to that lady.”
A lifted brow? That was all the response he was going to get? He sighed. Very well, he would continue as Darcy expected him to do. “In battle, it is good to scout out the enemy, study their tactics, and make notes of their strengths and weaknesses. It is not the same with ladies.”
[from One Winter’s Eve]
Published to YouTube by Daughtry on September 28, 2012.
Well, today I have three excepts for you that contain gentlemen at that moment when they are about to admit that their lives need a lady — a particular lady — in them. The first one is from a book that is already published (above the video), the second (just below this paragraph) is from my new release, and the third is from a current work in progress (at the end of this post) which is currently posting on Patreon.
“Congratulations,” Darcy replied, and then after a moment to ponder Bingley’s words, during which he considered his friend married to the sister of the only lady who had, to this point in his life, captured his attention as none other had ever done, he added, “Do not play with her emotions.”
Bingley scowled at him. “I would not.”
“No, I do not think you would, but you must appear to be above such since if you are found wanting, then I shall also be found wanting, seeing as I am your friend. That is, of course, if we can prove to the younger Mr. Bennet that I am not as reprehensible as my actions have accused me of being.”
Bingley grinned. “You do not wish to be found wanting?”
Darcy shook his head. “I think your advice is excellent. I believe I must marry Miss Elizabeth.”
[from Assessing Mr. Darcy]
So that ^^ is my big news for this week. Assessing Mr. Darcy has been published! Thank you to those who have purchased the book and to who have left reviews.
Now that Assessing Mr. Darcy is published, I must turn my mind toward the next release. Mary: To Protect Her Heart has a “Release Day?” sticky note in my planner for next month. I am working diligently toward that goal, but I still do not have the first draft completed. Therefore, that sticky note might have to shift a bit. I hope it doesn’t but that is why it is on a sticky note so it can. 🙂
I am also working on my third short story in the Nature’s Fury and Delights collection. I hope that once I have this third story done, I can start releasing them individually and perhaps in a bundle for those who like bundles.
This third story has been more challenging than the others because I am taking elements of Persuasion and inserting them into a new plot with original characters who live in the vicinity of Willow Hall. It’s the combination of trying to let my imagination run but with a few boundaries that has created the challenge.
New (original) characters and plots take a different sort of effort compared to writing a story with familiar characters (such as Darcy and Elizabeth) because you have to establish who these new characters are and why a reader should care for them. There is also the need to create the source of trouble for the hero and heroine. In a Pride and Prejudice inspired story starring Darcy and Elizabeth, there are some handy villains one can always call up on to stir things up. Not so in an original work. 🙂 And honestly, that’s the part that had me thinking hard this week. I think I have it sorted out, however. This week’s writing sessions will test the veracity of that statement. 🙂
I want to say thanks to pedmisson, who left a comment on last week’s Music Monday, because the characters and the estate in this short story now have names. 🙂 Yay! (I can now stop calling the hero Mr. Bob because he’s Patrick Mullins.]
The next project that is written in my planner is to start the next Thursday’s Three Hundred story. I have two titles I am kicking around at present. They are Loving Lydia and Improving Miss Lydia. It will depend on the direction of the goals and motivations in the story and what the end result should be, and I won’t know that until I get elbow deep into it. But, I’d love to know which title you would pick. Just drop your choice in the comments. [To clarify, this story will be like Confounding Caroline and Delighting Mrs. Bennet. It will feature our dear couple as they move along the path to wedded bliss, but Lydia will be involved in some fashion as part of whatever it is that has to be overcome << that’s vague, huh? purposefully vague]
That’s all the writing news I have for you today, so now, that third excerpt I mentioned above.
AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart:
“Welcome home, my son,” his mother lifted onto her toes to greet him with a kiss when he entered the hall. There had been a time when he had needed to stretch to meet her cheek, but that was many years ago now. She was still as short as she ever was, but he had inherited his father’s height with interest.
“You do not have to wait for me by the door, Mama.” She seemed to always be right here waiting to greet him when he returned from some outing – even when the hour was late, and she should be in bed.
“I was not. I was waiting in the sitting room.” She winked and wrapped her arm around his. “You are so cold.”
“I am not cold.” She was always cold. He was not.
“Come. Sit by the fire and tell me about your lady.”
“She is not my lady, Mama.” He would like her to be, but as of yet, she was not. He settled into a chair near the window and not the fire. The heat of India was not something he missed. He had been born into it, but it was not something he craved as some did.
“How can she not be? You are so handsome, just like your father. Can you not make a bargain with her brother?”
“That is not exactly how it is done here, Mama. And you know I wish to have a wife who has chosen me as much as I have chosen her.” He had discussed that fact with her many, many times over the years.
His mother sighed and took up her knitting. “I just want you to be as happy as I was with your father, and I would not mind having a daughter to talk to, you know.”
“Yes, Mama, I know.”
“So tell me about her.”
Gabe sighed. There would be no putting her off. For though small in stature, his mother was not short on determination. He smiled. That was something she and Miss Crawford shared. It was also likely why he could not abide a simpering milquetoast maid for longer than one dance. His grandmother, his mother’s mother, had been the same. Small and unassuming but solid as iron when needed. And both had married successful company men.
“She wishes to see my boats.”
His mother looked up from her knitting in surprise. “She does not wish to sail on them, does she? I can tell her that while it might seem like an adventure for the first few hours, it soon grows dull.”
Gabe chuckled. “You do not wish to take a trip with me to some exotic location?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Ireland would be acceptable. I think we could reach it before I became too bored.”
“Ireland is not exotic,” Gabe protested.
“It is to a girl from India,” she replied. “Why if I had grown up here, India would be exotic, but as I was not born here, India is but common – pleasantly warm, but common.”
“Point taken,” he replied. “I do not think Miss Crawford wishes to sail away on one of my ships, but she is curious about them.”
“And this makes you happy?”
Gabe nodded. “I like her very much, Mama.”
His mother smiled. “It takes very little for one’s heart to decide its course. That is how it was for me and your father. I saw him once before we married and that was enough. I knew that I was not being given away in vain. My heart, as well as my father, would be happy.” She glanced up at him. “Do not give me that look. It was how things were done at the time — one man tying himself to another in some agreement by taking a bride.”
“I dislike thinking of you as a payment.”
She shook her head. “I was no a payment, my son. I was a reward. Your father said it often.”
~*~*~
KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6
This post is loaded with tidbits of every variety. The comments from ‘One Winter’s Eve’ reminded me how much I enjoyed that story. Sigh. I love our dear Colonel and was happy to read a story featuring him.
Next, we have ‘Assessing Mr. Darcy’ which was amazing by the way. I recommend it to anyone who loves a twist to canon.
Looking forward to Mary Crawford’s story even though I have been angry with her since forever. I was prepared to hate her for all eternity but I think you have something different planned. I am anxious to see if you can change my mind about her. The excerpt was very touching as you showed the relationship between the hero and his mother. That always grabs the heart strings.
So many things going on. I can’t keep up. I’ll just wait as things settle and deadlines approach. Blessings on all the hard work you are doing.
As to Lydia, I agree you will have to wade into the story and then decide if it is ‘Loving’ or ‘Improving’ for Miss Lydia’s title page. She has always been a pistol and offers a wide range of character study for an author. There is so much going on with her and she is the type that you can take her in any direction. You just can’t take her anywhere. [Snicker]
Congratulations on the new character name. Great that it fits so well. Have a great week and I am so excited for you as you plow new ground.
Thanks! I can barely keep up with my desire to do things most days. 🙂
Personally, I never ever liked either of the Crawfords, and then I wrote Henry’s story. Well, that ruined that. I liked him after he reformed (still not a fan of him before his reformation, however). And I think it is happening again. I’m actually feeling sympathy for Mary. I never thought I would say that, but her I am saying it. LOL It’s because I have delved into what might make her act as she did, and what I have put there in her background has made me able to sympathize with her. As Gabe thinks to himself and says to his mother just after this excerpt…’Mary knew about oppressive men, but he doubted she truly knew what a strong man was. “I do not believe she trusts men. There have been few in her life who have been worthy of her good opinion.” ‘ She has walls built up for a reason.
I love One Winter’s Eve. The Colonel and Caroline in that story made a good couple, and it was fun making them reluctantly fall for each other.
I haven’t read ‘One Winter’s Eve’ yet, I see what I’m missing by being so slow! I cannot tell you which title for Lydia seems best appropriate yet. I’m wondering if I will have a better idea after she and Lizzy get back to Darcy’s house safely. Will Lydia have learned anything by her impulsiveness? Or will she have escaped what could have been disaster, in an incredibly lucky fashion? Ah, Youth. If we get away with it one time, we think we’re invincible.
The Mary story is really shaping up, and I just know I’m going to like it, tons! You are incredible at juggling all that you do, Leennie, I’m in awe.
You probably will have a better idea once everyone is back at Darcy House and all those last bits and pieces are drawn into a conclusion of the Bennets’ stay in London. I’m sure I will get a better idea as I sit down with my planning page and sketch out what I hope to accomplish in the story.
Oh, today, I feel like the plates are all spinning on their poles but they are wobbling and about to become a pile of shards on the floor. LOL But then, it is Monday, and I got behind on a couple of things this weekend. I’m sure by the end of the night, I will feel more settled into routine — just crossing a few things off the to-do list seems to help with that.
My you are busy lately. Your imagination is boundless, and now I am very curious over Gabe pursuing Mary Crawford. I’m wondering if you are going to be bringing her down a notch to make her worthy of Gabe! Mary has much to learn and hopefully she wont be able to manipulate Gabe! As for the Colonel, I loved his story and now with ‘Assessing Mr. Darcy’, I hope to order it next month and get to it! For Lydia’s story, I think either would work but wait until you are further into it…you might even come up with a different one!
It’s ridiculous what I think I can do sometimes! I really am like the child who fills their plate too full because their eyes are bigger than their tummy. LOL But, if I work on each thing in small amounts (much like breaking my work day into “classes” as I did when teaching) and I work consistently, it will get done without too much stress (there is always some stress).
About Mary’s story (which I could drone on and on about but will attempt not to 😉 ):
Mary has already suffered the loss of Edmund from canon, and then in Henry’s book that I wrote, he has broken ties with her completely because of her actions in that story. And then in Charles’s book (which followed Henry’s) she is once again reminded of her past failures in a not so pleasant fashion by Charles. Mary’s book actually starts immediately following that exchange when she is then confronted by Tom Bertram regarding why she did what she did in pushing Henry and Maria together. So, she’s been beaten down a few times by the end of the first chapter of her story. Her motivations are being revealed, and she’s not happy to see them. By chapter two, she wants to change. She has, as Jane Austen says in MP, grown weary of her friends, and she is really in need of some building up in a proper fashion. That’s where Gabe comes in. He’s trustworthy and steady like Edmund was, but he’s also not going to back away from being truthful with her. To clarify, he’s not rude or mean to her. He’s just open and honest and accepting while still being able to nudge her in the right direction. He seems to understand what she needs. So, it’s been a fun story to this point as I have been letting Mary start to trust him. (She has trust issues stemming from her uncle’s treatment of women that we hear about in MP and then I play with a bit 😉 ) I’m now getting ready to stir up trouble and test that trust.
Yeah, I think you’re right about waiting on naming Lydia’s story. The title needs to be thematic so I need to decide if Darcy is going to be just helping to improve her or if he is going to learn to love her as he helps her improve and because his cousin loves her. He’s going to come to love her as a sister. That’s going to happen. I just need to decide if the loving part is stronger than the improving part, I guess?
My two cents is Loving Lydia. It seems they all love her as she improves especially the Colonel. Can’t wait to read it!
To be honest, my gut is leaning toward Loving Lydia even though my first thought for the title was Improving Miss Lydia. I have some interesting plans for her and Richard. Another honest thing — can you handle so much frankness :)? I am a tiny bit concerned about how well a title with Lydia in it will sell and that thought keeps me thinking Improving Miss Lydia might be more accepted by readers in general as improving her is something that is easier to support but loving her is harder for them to do.
If the story is about Darcy helping Lydia to change, then I think Improving Miss Lydia fits better. I was thinking that adding Darcy’s name to the title somehow might help boost sales😊but maybe wouldn’t fit with your series (Confounding Caroline, etc.). Anyway, “Loving” might tie the title in people’s minds to Lydia’s love interest, whereas “Improving” ties it to Darcy and gives the potential reader a better idea of what the book is about (from what you have told us). IMHO, of course. Sounds like a great story!
Right. I think I have to determine what the main focus or goal of the story will be. Lydia’s love interest will play a large role in the story. So does the improving her lead to loving her or does the loving her lead to improving her? That’s what I am thinking about. I can’t put Darcy’s name in this title as it would break the “branding” of the titles. However, the series title is Marrying Elizabeth, so hopefully that will help some.
I see your point about sales but most of your audience will have read the first two books and already love your Lydia. Not many new readers would start with the third book. I could not wait to read Confounding Caroline, because who doesn’t love the thought!! Now I have to read the rest of the series. In fact, I find it difficult to wait and will be pre-ordering as soon as possible. 🙂
I hope that I am once again worrying for no reason 😀 However, I have seen sequels and other books in a series that are not solely Darcy and Elizabeth sell far less than the Darcy and Elizabeth book (and depending on character featured the numbers go down as some characters are not liked well or no one finds as interesting as I do) However, this series is different in that it has Darcy and Elizabeth through each book and not just mainly one, so I hope that will help the read through rate on the subsequent books in the series even if it does have Lydia (not a favourite) in the title. It does have the Colonel in it so that should help. He’s one of the favoured side characters 😀 But again, I tend to worry too much and probably am worrying about something that doesn’t need me to worry about it.