Today, I’ve got a couple of paintings paired with the book description for Other Pens, book 5, Addie: To Wager on Her Future. I decided not to do an excerpt today because next Tuesday, I plan to start sharing chapters of the book on a weekly basis here on my blog. I’ve shared all the other books at one time or another on the blog, but not book five. So, since my Thursday story has completed, I thought it would be a good time to give Addie and Robert’s story a read-through.
So, without further ado, here is what the book is about:
Whoever said nothing ventured, nothing gained never had her heart on the line…
Hello. I hope your summer (or winter, depending on location) is going well and that you are all staying safe and well. My husband and I have started taking some Saturday drives to various places as we like to do during the summer. The photo is of him walking down one of the boardwalks at Lawrencetown beach last weekend. You’ll notice he’s not wearing very summery clothing. 🙂
We had some nice cool days, and it was actually almost cold at the beach that evening. Today, however, has been a very different sort of day. It was HOT. A trip to the beach would have been refreshing, but sadly it was a workday for us.
But enough of that. Let’s get on with all the writing, publishing, and book news you have opened this blog post to find. 🙂
Writing News
Since I the last time I updated you on my writing, I have written a couple more chapters of Her Convenient Forever, and I have done a bit of planning and plotting on a new Sweet Possibilities story while contemplating how the short story sequel to Matching Mr. Darcy is going to go. Both of these stories will be set at Christmas time.
Here’s how the prologue Sweet Possibilities 2, which sets up why Elizabeth and Mary are at the Gardiners for this story, begins:
Walter looked up the hall and then down. Seeing it was empty, he pulled Grace into his arms for a quick embrace – not long enough by half but enough to assure himself that she was truly there with him. Two days of travelling and stopping at inns in search of her had been two very long days.
“Do not ever leave me again,” he whispered before releasing her. He grasped her face between his hands. “Promise me, you will not leave me.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. Again, it was far from how he wished to kiss her.
[from Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen book 3]
Published to YouTube by LYRICS on October 10, 2014.
Sometimes when I am looking for a song to share on Mondays, I get sucked into YouTube for hours (and that is no exaggeration). I love music, and I find it very inspiring to my imagination. Tonight (Sunday night) was one of those nights. I finally came across this song about an hour and a half after opening YouTube. 🙂 On my home screen, YouTube likes to show me “The Best of…” for various talent shows. I occasionally give in to my curiosity and click on them. While I was listening to a group on one of those videos, I thought, “Oh, I haven’t listened to any tenors music lately. I should do that.” That is how I came to be listening to the Canadian Tenors. When I heard this song, I knew I had to share it with you because it immediately made me think of Walter Blakesley. The lines above the song are how tomorrow’s chapter of Her Secret Beau begins. Continue reading Music Monday: Always There (Canadian Tenors)
It was lovely to be off the road again, and this inn was a touch nicer than yesterday’s, but none of that truly soothed her as it would have on her trip to Bath. Several days on the road when anticipating adventure were much easier to endure than the same number of days spent travelling while one’s heart was breaking.
She closed her eyes. A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away quickly.
“Are you still so disappointed?” her mother asked from where she sat at a table with her needlework spread out. Felicity was flopped across the bed, and their father was below stairs, likely talking with some gentlemen at the bar.
[from Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen book 3]
Published to YouTube by Piano Haven – Sedona on June 16, 2011.
He would have to present himself empty-handed to Grace, and that fact did not sit well with him. He had promised to discover what he could, and he had done exactly that. Yet, the fact that all he could discover was nothing did not seem a fitting way to keep such a promise. Grace would want to know more. She was a curious, caring sort. In his opinion, she owed her sister little, but Grace’s heart would not see it that way. No matter how much she disagreed or disapproved of her sister, Grace would do what she could to protect her sister from harm.
He chuckled, causing his horse’s ears to twitch in his direction.
“I was just thinking about your new mistress,” he said to his horse. “She is a unique lady.”
The horse blew a breath through its lips.
“I tell you she is. You will understand once you meet her.”
[from Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen book 3]
Published to YouTube by Thad Fiscella – Topic on October 19, 2015.
The song selection this week is a bit of a play on words as I have read the story behind the writing of this song by the composer, and he was thinking of the beauty of God’s grace when he wrote it. Obviously, in the excerpt from tomorrow’s story above, Mr. Blakesley is thinking about the things which make Grace beautiful to him — not as it refers to her outer physical beauty but as it refers to her unique character — those things which make her, her. In that reflection, there is a hint of unmerited favour (aka grace) that makes up who Walter’s Grace is. So, being a teacher and a pastor’s daughter, I could likely draw that out into some sort of lesson, but I won’t. I’ll just let you ponder it and listen to this beautiful piece of music which has played nearly every day during my writing time this week.
During my writing time this week, my writing was focused on finishing Grace’s story. I’m almost there. I think one more chapter will do it (but then I thought that when I sat down to write the last chapter, so… LOL) It looks like both Mary’s and Grace’s stories will conclude during the first week of November. Continue reading Music Monday: Beauty of Grace, Thad Fiscella + a Free Book Day
