Austen-Inspired – Page 18

Napoleonic Ball – Regency Dances: Cotillion and Reel

Welcome back to Wordless Wednesdays. As I start these up again after my summer break, the plan is to not post every week. I have not settled on a frequency yet. This week’s post goes well with both the first and second chapters of From Tolerable to Lovely since the story begins at the Meryton Assembly and this was the video I had playing on repeat while writing chapter 2’s dance scene. 🙂

~*~*~

“Do you dance, Miss Elizabeth?”

“I do when asked, Mr. Darcy.” She quirked an eyebrow and waited.

“My apologies, that did not come out as I meant.” Darcy gave a small self-deprecating laugh. “I believe what I meant to ask was, do you wish to dance, Miss Elizabeth?”

The half-smile that she wore twitched, and Darcy was sure that she was going to laugh, but she managed to suppress the urge. Her eyes, however, danced in merriment.

“Indeed, I do wish to dance. Did you have a particular partner in mind for me?”

[From Tolerable to Lovely, a Teatime Tales novelette]

~*~*~

MAILING LIST PATREON

The Saturday Broadsheet (August 2020)

We are still enjoying some hot temperatures here. It has been a very warm summer for us, but those temps make our Saturday evening beach walks quite enjoyable. This picture is from this past Saturday’s walk. We checked out Conrad’s Beach. This vantage point if looking back to where our car is parked — waaaaaaay over there near the white house. Because this area with it’s sand dunes is a breeding ground for the Piping Plover (a small shorebird), everyone crosses from where they parked on the road across the boardwalk and to the sandy beach beyond. The beach is worth the trek.

My husband starts vacation from one of his jobs next week, so maybe we’ll be able to venture further afield to walk on some beaches that aren’t so close to where we live. That could be fun.

But enough of that. Let’s get on with all the writing, publishing, and book news you have opened this post to find. 🙂

Writing News

The only writing project I have worked on to any extent since my July update has been Her Convenient Forever. I thought it was going to end at chapter fifteen which I hit last week. However, it hasn’t ended yet. 🙂 Therefore, I have not started any serious work on any other writing project.

In editing news, I have gotten my manuscript back for Protecting Miss Darcy and will be starting the final read-through while making corrections this week. I’m still working towards having it ready to publish by September 3.

That reminds me! There was one other thing that I got written since I last posted. I wrote an epilogue for Protecting Miss Darcy / the Marrying Elizabeth series. I’ll schedule that to post this coming Thursday.

TSB: Three Books – One Free; One New Release, One Soon-to-be-Unpublished

Settle into a comfy reading spot. This is a long one. 🙂

Summer is here in Nova Scotia, and there is no denying its arrival as the weather has let us know, without question, that a new season is upon us. (We’ve had several hot days which is a little earlier than normal for us.) I have had my first osteopath appointment since the clinic was shut down because of the pandemic, and while it was helpful, I still have a long way to go to get all the kinks worked out. However, I now have a treatment plan in place, and that feels good.

As I mentioned in the last Saturday Broadsheet, I am cutting back and taking it a bit easy this summer for health reasons. This will include some changes to what is being posted each week on my blog and the frequency of this newsletter. Starting in July, the Saturday Broadsheet will be delivered once per month.

I have added a new change to my summer business plans.

MM: My Father’s Son (The Tenors)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY THE TENORS VEVO ON JUNE 18, 2015.

Isn’t this a perfect song for the Monday after Father’s Day Sunday? I thought it was. 🙂 I have paired it with an excerpt from At All Costs. Bingley looked up to his father and learned many good lessons from him. In fact, one of these lessons is where the title of this book comes from. It’s here in this line, which is from very, very near the end of the book: “My father taught me many things, but the one he stressed more than any other was that a man must protect that which is dear to him at all costs.” Below is another place in this book where Bingley is thinking about his father.

At All Costs, Chapter 4 Excerpt

“Harris is to leave with you when you leave Derbyshire, is he not?” Bingley cut a sidelong glance at Richard, who nodded, as they walked. Harris was an ever-present annoyance that Bingley would gladly see gone. “Is it not possible to send him back to Brighton early?”

Richard laughed. “I have no reason to do so.”

Bingley sighed. “That is unfortunate.”

And it was unfortunate indeed, for that very gentleman happened to be the one that brought Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth to Pemberley. It was also Harris who took Jane’s arm as they strolled around the garden, and it was Harris who claimed the seat next to Jane when they all finally paused for a rest. And it was also Harris who was now monopolizing the conversation.

“It is a lovely day, is it not?” Harris asked as they sat in the shadow cast by Pemberley across the side garden at this time of day.

It was the consensus that it was indeed a fine day — for the weather was pleasant. However, for two of the party, the day was not so fine as it could have been. Bingley was in general annoyed by the presence of Harris and, in specific, irked by Harris’s attentions to Jane.

MM: Nothing Else Matters (Metallica) Cover (Luka Sulic)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE ON MAY 15, 2020, BY LUKA SULIC

This was another one of those just happened to see it recommended on YouTube songs. I have listened to a lot of Luka’s music both as a solo player and as part of 2Cellos, and I have like nearly everything I have heard. This was no exception. This song is originally by a heavy metal band, so I was interested to see how the song was played on a cello. The results are simply beautiful in my opinion, and I had to share it with you.

I have paired it with a chapter from Waking to Mr. Darcy because in this story nothing else matters as much as seeing to Elizabeth’s well-being.

Waking to Mr. Darcy, Ch. 2

Darcy rolled the sleeves of his shirt, which were several inches too long, so that Elizabeth’s hands were visible. He straightened the collar and pulled the bedclothes over her, making sure to place her hands and arms outside the quilt as he tucked it around her small frame. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her pale face. She was still not warm, but she was clean, and she was dry, and Darcy hoped that the two would be enough to stave off any fever. “I am sorry,” he repeated yet again. How many times had he said those words? He felt as if he could never say them enough. “If there were any other way….” He sighed. “But there was not. I shall be good to you.” He gathered her clothes. “I am sorry,” he whispered it once more before he exited the room.

“You still do not look well,” said Bingley from where he sat near the fire. “Although you are not so pale as you were.” He tipped his head. “In fact, you look rather flushed.”

Darcy chose not to acknowledge the comment or the teasing tone in which it was said. He was feeling rather flummoxed. His heart had already begun to betray him before this evening, but now it seemed to have utterly abandoned all sense of reason. He pulled on his coat and turned toward the door.

“Are you going for help?” Bingley jumped to his feet.