July 13, 2024
Hi. I hope your July is going well. Ours has been rather hot and humid for our part of the world. 🙂 It’s that time of year when I am certain that air conditioning is the greatest invention ever. Haha! I am not a lover of hot weather.
The day before July began (shall we call it Canada Day eve?), I had the opportunity to attend the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. It was a lovely evening and this is a collage of sights from my night out on the town.
I also had the opportunity to meet a Facebook friend (Angela) in person when she was in Truro, Nova Scotia for an event. We met at Fletcher’s Restaurant and enjoyed a meal together, and then, she had brought some books for me to sign for her mother, so I happily did that before or conversation wrapped up and we each went our separate ways. It was was both a new and pleasurable experience for me – despite the rain! Oh! The rain that day was intense. And the food at Fletcher’s Restaurant was tasty. (I had never been there before, but I bet I might visit it again some time.)
In writing news, I’ve been plugging away at getting stories written, but the process is never as fast as I want it to be. 🙂 I am a very impatient author. 🙂 I did fall a little behind on all my projects due to just life things, but I am making progress. In fact, I managed to write over 19,000 words on various projects last month. It’s my highest word count total since January of 2022, which was about four months before I caught the sickness that has led to my current battle with post-viral issues. So, I am absolutely delighted to see June’s word count.
So what does that mean for where I am in each of my Leenie projects? Well, I have completed writing through chapter 9 of How To Marry…, and I have refreshed up through chapter 3 of part one in Oxford Cottage. Oh! And, I’ve just barely started a Harriet and the Colonel story, which you’ll get to read at the end of this newsletter. That’s it for Leenie project updates, so let’s get on with the rest of the book news so that you can get to that bit of new story.
NOW POSTING IN THE REPOSITORY ON REAM AND ON PATREON
First: a reminder that How to Marry… is now posting on Fridays on Patreon and Ream Stories (except for this week, since I fell behind on writing). 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: a reminder that on Thursday’s the Oxford Cottage Refresh project has started posting on Patreon and Ream for all followers (paid and unpaid) as well as on my blog, though you will need the code OCR24 to read it there.
This excerpt is from how the second chapter of the first part – which was what I shared last Thursday on my blog and in the Repository on Ream and Patreon – started.
IN THE TEAROOM
It was Rose Fairbanks turn to post in the The Sigh-worthy Romance Tearoom this month. She shared a teaser from her work in progress, A Letter in the Wind. (Isn’t that a great title?)
eBOOK DEALS
I only have one book promotion to tell you about, but it’s a biggie! All my books (which are not currently enrolled in Kindle Unlimited) are marked down 50% at Smashwords this month because they are part of their sitewide Summer/Winter Sale. We’re talking prices such as some boxsets for $3.99 and many single titles for $1.99 all month long!
You can find me on Smashwords at this link.
THIS MONTH’S PATREON AND REAM FREE READ
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
Remember that poll I had in the newsletter last month?
I was looking for some input about an idea for a new series of stories. Well, I didn’t get a whole lot of replies to the poll – 24 on Substack and not very many comments on my blog, Patreon, or Ream.
As you can see from the screenshot of the Substack poll below, most of the people who replied would be interested in this series, but 75% of 24 is only 18 readers for these stories, and even if I put in the maybe readers, that number of interested readers only increases to 22.
So, now, I have to decide if it’s an idea I should push ahead on anyway and hope that these percentages are representative of a wider selection of readers, or if I should shelve the idea for now since it doesn’t look like one that will earn back the capital needed to create it. Honestly, the way my business finances look right now, this idea has to be shelved for a while. I don’t really have a choice because sadly, I can’t afford to put time into it, so I’ll just have to wait until I can. 🙂
But, regardless of whether or not I write any further stories about Harriet and the colonel in the future, I am writing one now. I had hoped to extend A Music Room Meeting, which I shared in last month’s newsletter, into a novelette like I had with other Teatime Tales short stories.
However, after a great deal of thinking and fiddling with ideas of how to do it, I came to the conclusion that it really wasn’t going to work as I wanted it to, and so, I have started an extended story for Harriet and the colonel set one year after A Music Room Meeting and while Richard is in Hertfordshire during Oxford Cottage.
I honestly know very little about how long this story will be or what it will include. I’m a discovery writer, which means I set out with a little bit of an idea and a couple of characters and let it unfold as I write. So, we will discover all the details together along the way. I do know that I will be sharing a small section of it with you each month as I am writing. Those sections will likely be about as long as the one today is. Perhaps a bit longer. Perhaps a bit shorter. (Today’s is 888 words long.)
I’ll figure out a way to store previous story segments so you can re-read and catch up as needed, and I’ll let you know how that works next month when there’s actually a previous story segment to read.
And now, let’s begin our tale about Harriet and the Colonel.
Harriet Phillips ran a hand lovingly over the piano in her sister’s music room as a memory from last year’s ball flitted in three-four time through her mind. Had it truly been a year already since she had waltzed with the man she loved in this very room? What a wonderful night that had been!
Well, not all of it had been delightful. There had been all those other gentlemen to dance with. She blew out a soft breath. There still were many hopeful suitors who spoke prettily to her and requested dances and drives and the like. However, they had no hope. Even before she had danced with Colonel Fitzwilliam and discovered he loved her, her heart had not been available to them. It had always and only ever belonged to her colonel.
“Are you going to play for us tonight?” Her sister Samantha’s question was asked with a laugh. Anyone who knew Harriet knew that she did not play the piano.
“No, I was just remembering.”
“Ah,” her sister whispered. “Do you plan to dance with Colonel Fitzwilliam again tonight?”
“Has he accepted his invitation?” She would be surprised if he had.
Her sister sighed. “No, he has not, though I had hoped he would.”
“I thought not, since he is in Hertfordshire. It would be very strange for him to return just to play your piano and secretly dance with me.”
Samantha chuckled. “Actually, I would not be surprised if he did. Anyone who has been watching him for a year, like I have been, would know just how much he adores you. I dare say even Edmund cannot deny the truth of that.”
Edmund was their brother – their sole surviving brother. He, too, was a colonel, but now, since Matthew’s death, he was also Lord Lillesley and – she sighed – her guardian, who seemed set on the idea that she should marry higher than a second son with a somewhat dangerous profession. How he could deny her the chance to marry his dearest friend was beyond her. She was also not certain how Colonel Fitzwilliam bore with such nonsense – fort that was what it was – utter balderdash. For her brother’s opinion was foolishness through and through.
“It really does not matter to Edmund how much his friend loves me or how much I love his friend. He is bent on doing as father wished when he was alive. At least Matthew had softened to the idea of letting me choose where my heart led.”
“Aw, Harry, you know Edmund will eventually relent. Despite his formidable personality, he is not father. He could never say no to you any more than Matthew could. Indeed, I dare say Edmund is less likely to be able to deny you anything because you have always been his special little shadow.” She hugged her little sister tightly. “He just has not figured out all the ins and outs of being a viscount and whatever else it is that he has on the go.” She gave Harriet a questioning look.
“I cannot say,” Harriet whispered. Her brother had not been pleased to discover how much she knew about the operations he directed from his study at Lillesley House, and she was not about to give him another reason to refuse her wish to be Mrs. Richard Fitzwilliam.
“But you do know?”
“Mostly.” There were still some questions she had not uncovered.
Her sister crossed the room and peeked out the door before turning back to Harriet. “Did Matthew do the same things?”
Harriet shrugged. That was still one of her unanswered questions. “I wish I knew.”
“I still cannot believe it was an accident that took him from us.”
And there was another question without an answer. “Nor can I.”
“Even my dear Julius wonders about how Matthew came to be in that part of town, and you know that my husband is only half as curious as either you or I ever are.”
According to what they had all be told, a paving stone that was loose and wet had caused their sure-footed brother to stumble and die from a head injury before anyone found him. It would have been a more believable tale had he not been found without a pound on his person and his watch chain empty. Someone had most certainly seen him before he was officially discovered, and therefore, a robbery gone wrong seemed a more plausible scenario. However, that possibility had never been put forward. Not even once. It was rather strange that it was not.
She still searched for Matthew’s watch whenever she could find an excuse to enter a shop that might do trade in articles gained through less than proper channels. Not all of them looked as if they were selling ill-gotten wares. Many carried all the standard baubles a lady such as herself or a gentleman of high standing might wish to procure. But she had heard a conversation here and there about special items kept in back rooms and particular cupboards whispered about by shop owner to interested patron. She was likely not supposed to have heard those discussions, but then, all the truly interesting and oddly useful information was obtained by pretending to do one thing while actually listening to what was not supposed to be heard by her.
To be continued…
What do you think? Will he show up at the ball, stay away, or… (fill in the blank)?
