Austen-Inspired – Page 31

Music Monday: Easter Parade, Judy Garland

I found a clip on YouTube of a song that I thought was appropriate for this particular Monday morning. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it — and don’t forget to scroll on down and read my updates and a story excerpt (if you dare 😉 since it may contain spoilers).

Maldonado, Gregory. “In Your Easter Bonnet – Judy Garland (Easter Parade).” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Apr. 2011, youtu.be/lYac9O3GYTM.

Writing News:

Confounding Caroline: THE scene posts this Thursday. You know — the one where Caroline falls into a betrothal. There are only two more posts after that one, and we will be ready for a new story to start posting after a short hiatus. Confounding Caroline is back from my first reader and just waiting for me to give it some attention before it goes off for the next round of edits. However, it has to wait since I must first attend to…

Mr. Darcy’s Comfort: I finished the first draft of this story on Thursday of this past week. I have begun to reread it and do a bit of polishing in preparation for sending it to my first reader. I hope to have it off to her by the end of tonight or maybe tomorrow. I will be posting the last chapter of the story on Patreon tonight. It took me a little longer to get this story written than expected, but I am still hoping to release it in April. However, it will probably toward the end of the month with a preorder up by April 17th or so.

That means both writing projects are now editing projects. Therefore, I have begun working on two new stories.

Delighting Mrs. Bennet: This will be the next Thursday story and will pick up Darcy and Elizabeth’s story from where it left off in Confounding Caroline. Plans for this story include some hopefully fun twists as well as a naughty little puppy. 🙂

The Sequel to Mr. Darcy’s Comfort: I have had some “conversations” with the characters, and I have some goals, conflict, and motivation sorts of ideas roughly sketched out. However, I have not written a word of this story yet. That will hopefully happen tonight, although my husband is off today, so it might be tomorrow before I get to begin. This story holds promise to be a fun story as well and will star another character that most readers do not particularly like. (Why do I feel compelled to work with the trying characters? :D) Hopefully, there will be a few readers willing to try it because it should be an entertaining read.

That’s it. A lot of transitioning from one project to another. Next week, there may not a story excerpt because I don’t think I will be far enough into either story to be comfortable with sharing from them. Today, the excerpt is from the end of the story, so read at your own risk.

AN EXCERPT FROM Mr. Darcy’s Comfort: Continue reading Music Monday: Easter Parade, Judy Garland

Music Monday: All About Her, Paul Brandt

Today, I’m sharing a song that I listened to for the first time this past week. Yes, YouTube notified me that it had been uploaded the week before, but I didn’t actually take the time to listen to it until now. 🙂 Life. That wonderful thing that we get to live and struggle with each day just kept me from taking the few minutes needed to listen. And then life crowded out any mental memo to listen later. I’m sure that never happens to anyone but me, right? 🙂

I’m glad I finally just pushed a few things aside and listened. It’s a lovely song.

At first, when I decided to share this video, it was just because I liked it and not for any story connected reason. But as I listened to it over and over this week (that’s what I do for a while when I find a song I like), I realized that this song really fits with what I try to write about in my stories — that love that turns your attention from your own wants and desires to the wants and desires of another, that makes you worry about the other person’s happiness even before your own. So, while I didn’t think this would have a story connection, it does — to all of my stories. 🙂

Now that you know all that about this song, let me update you on what I did this past week in my writing life. I finished my first round edits/read-through of Confounding Caroline and have sent that on to my first reader to have her check it over for story stuff. I am not sure at this time when I will be publishing that as Mr. Darcy’s Comfort is supposed to be published first according to my planner. I think I am closing in on the ending for that story, so soon, I will be doing first round edits/read-through of that.

[sidenote: I really appreciate all the comments you left on last week’s Monday post about length.]

So one “finished” story and one almost finished story means I must be starting some new things, right?

Right.

I have started Delighting Mrs. Bennet which will be the next Thursday’s Three Hundred story (beginning May 10), and I am beginning to brainstorm some details for the story that will follow Mr. Darcy’s Comfort. I haven’t settled on a title for that one, but I can tell you it will start a less loved character and shine some new light on him.

In the world of selling books, New Beginnings which is an anthology of Finally Mrs. Darcy, For Peace of Mind, and Through Every Storm, can still be purchased for 40% off at Kobo if you use the 40DEAL promo code at check out. However, that sale ends today. You can read excerpts from those books in the last week’s Friday’s Feature.

There will be a Friday Feature this week as well. I have a book that will be included in a promotion on Kobo starting Thursday of this week. I am still waiting to get the promo code sent to me. I will, of course, send an email to my mailing list and post a graphic about it on social media as well as having an excerpt from the book here on the blog on Friday.

In the trying something new section of life, Zoe Burton, Rose Fairbanks, and I have been trying out doing live videos on our Longbourn Literary Society on Facebook, and I have figured out how to add those videos to my YouTube channel so I can share them with those who are not on Facebook. You can find the live video from Saturday HERE. [Zoe read a short excerpt from her upcoming release in this week’s live.]

I think that is all the writing/book news and that means it is time to share a bit of what I wrote last week. Remember, this is getting toward the end of the story, so there could be spoilers. Read at your own risk. 🙂

AN EXCERPT FROM Mr. Darcy’s Comfort: Continue reading Music Monday: All About Her, Paul Brandt

Music Monday: Song from a Secret Garden, Hauser

Happy second Monday of 2018! How was your first week? Mine was “interesting.” 🙂 My son and I resumed homeschool classes — sort of. A winter storm altered our plans. The wind howled and rain (not snow for us) pelted the house. Then the rain stopped and the wind calmed, only to pick back up as the storm wrapped around, and the backside of it passed through. We were very fortunate. We sustained no damage and only lost power for a few hours. So, I am not complaining. I’m just saying it created a week I wasn’t expecting.

Hauser. “HAUSER – Song from a Secret Garden.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Nov. 2017, youtu.be/qZSJvyBag8A.

While the wind blew and the candles flickered on Thursday, I found it difficult to focus to write until I pulled out my mp3 player and turned on some music. Music plays such an important roll in my writing process. 🙂 The above song is not one I was listening to on Thursday but is one that I recently added to my Music to Write By playlist on YouTube which I have been using during my writing sessions this week (on days when there is power).

In writing news…

I have gotten One Winter’s Eve back from my first reader, made the necessary corrections, and sent it on to my second reader. I expect to have it back sometime this week so I can start final edits and get a preorder set up for January 15. Release day is scheduled for January 25, 2018.

I have posted three chapters of Enticing Miss Darcy on Patreon and am halfway through writing chapter 4 (excerpted below). I plan to have that chapter completed and posted on Patreon by tomorrow evening. I had hoped to get a full chapter written on Friday, but I ended up spending a good bit of time doing some research for the story. The tentative release day for this book is March 6, 2018. (I did some planning this past week. 🙂 )

As part of my plan, I have switched up my writing schedule just slightly to fit in writing time for Confounding Caroline. I am now doing Work In Progress writing M, T, W, and F, and giving Th over to my Thursday Three Hundred story writing. I will say that, while the power was out on Thursday, I finally wrote the part of Confounding Caroline where we will first see Elizabeth. Those two parts will post on the blog in the second half of February.

That, I believe, is all the writing news I have for you this week. Now, to share a portion of what I wrote on Friday night.

AN EXCERPT FROM Enticing Miss Darcy: Continue reading Music Monday: Song from a Secret Garden, Hauser

Music Monday: I Want Crazy, Hunter Hayes

Sometimes you write the story simply because it presents itself as a challenge. Sometimes you do that business thing simply because you’ve been considering it for some time and don’t want to stand back and look at it anxiously anymore. Some people would call this crazy. I call it life — and growth.

JMGuitarGirl555. “I Want Crazy ~ Hunter Hayes ~ Lyrics.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Apr. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu0vyD7vyM4.

So what craziness have I been up to recently?

A couple of weeks ago now, I set up an online store where I can create some interesting items related to my books because every bookseller needs a section where patrons can purchase a reading-related gift or novelty items, right? My reading-related items store, which is only beginning to be stocked with items, is called Bonny Lass Creatives (my husband came up with the name) and can be found on Society6 at this link >> BONNY LASS CREATIVES

I do enjoy making the graphics to go on the items. It’s a stress reliever, actually. 🙂

This week, I set up a Patreon page. I’ve had it started for some time as I pondered how best to use it. For those who are not familiar with it — according to Wikipedia,

Patreon is a membership platform that provides business tools for creators to run a subscription content service, as well as ways for artists to build relationships and provide exclusive experiences to their subscribers, or “patrons.”

This means that you pay a certain monthly fee to support an artist, and the artist in return gives you a “reward” for doing so. There are all sorts of artists such as podcasters, writers, and musicians on Patreon, and there are as many different ways of working the Patreon subscription/rewards system as there are artists.

For me, I have set up my page to have two levels of subscription:

$1/month for those who curiosity must be satisfied and just want to read along as I create stories – just a dollar will give you access to all my stories as I write them. You will also receive a link to download the Thursday’s Three Hundred story in your preferred format when it is ready for publication.

$2/month for those who not only wish to satisfy their curiosity but also fill their shelves, two dollars will do it. In addition to access to all my stories as they are written, you will receive a digital copy in your preferred format when each story is ready for publication, so you can fill your shelves – be they in a library or a lovely closet. 🙂

My intention is to post as I write, however, I am still catching up to where I am in my current WIP, so post as I go will be coming….soonish. 🙂

You can find me on Patreon here >> patreon.com/LeenieBrown

Now, to update you on Two Days Before Christmas. I am writing this post on Saturday night while my husband is at work, and so I am projecting (not promising) that by the end of the day on Monday, I will have the preorder set up and will be just waiting for the various publishers to make the links. Hopefully, I will also have the print version uploaded so that can go through the review process. I will, of course, share links on Facebook when they are ready.

Chapter 1 of Two Days Before Christmas is available to read here >> TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

And finally, we come to that challenging story that I am so enjoying writing, One Winter’s Eve. I am about halfway through chapter 10 as of last Friday night, and I have the first three chapters posted at Patreon for my subscribers. I got to deal with Wickham this week while writing, and I got to delve a bit more into understanding Caroline — and she is growing and changing for the better. (Did you doubt that she wouldn’t? I will stand for no recalcitrant main characters — they will be brought up to scratch. 😉 ) Below is a sample from what I wrote this week.

AN EXCERPT FROM One Winter’s Eve: Continue reading Music Monday: I Want Crazy, Hunter Hayes

Music Monday: Period Drama, Once Upon a December

Welcome to December — the month in Pride and Prejudice where, in volumes I and II, Netherfield sits empty, Mr. Collins returns to Longbourn for a short visit, Jane receives Caroline’s letter about Bingley not returning, and the Gardiners come for Christmas and leave with Jane. What a dreadful month! But then, what a difference a year makes! For in volume III, all is right by December, making it an exceedingly happy month. In fact, the Gardiners are expected at Pemberley for Christmas.

lilian hearts. “• Period Drama | Once Upon a December ♡.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 June 2015, youtu.be/_SLyhgk6fp4.

I’ve been stuck in the month of December for some time now, writing-wise. Two Days before Christmas (TDBC), which I began writing on October 24, takes place in December. It begins with Darcy’s arrival at home at the end of November and concludes on December 23. The sequel to TDBC, One Winter’s Eve (OWE), begins on December 23 and will conclude in January. However, I am still in December in that story, and I do not see me finishing the first draft of that story for another week and a half or two weeks — and then I will have to edit that book. By the time all is said and done for these two books, it will likely be halfway through January 2018, meaning I will have been in December for almost three months! 🙂 But I have to say, my stay in writing-land December has not been dreadful but, for the most part aside from a few misty-eyed moments, exceedingly delightful!

Starting today, I will be working feverishly on final edits to TDBC because my timeline for accomplishing tasks for that book has adjusted forward by an email I received from Draft2Digital, whom I use to publish on iBooks and Nook, informing me that to ensure books are processed before various companies shut down for the holidays, all books should be uploaded by December 11! Yikes!

Therefore, I hope to have a preorder setup with a final ebook version of the story uploaded by December 11 for Draft2Digital and by December 12 for Kindle and Kobo. Then, I will work on the print book to get it uploaded, proofed, and ready to release before December 21. Here’s hoping all goes according to plan! 🙂 (And I suppose I need to toss some finishing up school units and preparing for Christmas in there as well — I am going to be one busy girl!)

I may have to take a pause in writing OWE to get the editing done that needs doing this week, but I am hopeful that I will be able to continue rolling along in that story. It has been keeping me up at night as possible scenarios for dealing with a couple of “issues,” aka plot points like Wickham, have been attempting to work themselves out in my brain. However, I am enjoying the story. Colonel Fitzwilliam is pretty awesome — as always — and I am liking (yes, I said liking) Caroline. Getting to know the characters as I wish to portray them is one of the fun parts of a challenging couple such as this — it is also the source of the story-induced lack of sleep as the actions and decisions in the story have to be true to the characters who are revealing themselves to me as I write.

Below, is a lengthy portion from what I wrote this week. In this excerpt, Richard has also been attempting to discover Caroline’s character. He thinks he has reached a correct conclusion. Caroline insists he is mistaken. But who is right — the colonel (and Caroline needs to discover some things about herself) or Caroline (and Richard will have to form a new hypothesis)?

AN EXCERPT FROM One Winter’s Eve: Continue reading Music Monday: Period Drama, Once Upon a December