As mentioned in this week’s edition of The Saturday Broadsheet, these three books have had their prices reduced for the weekend. Books 1 and 2 of this trilogy, Unravelling Mr. Darcy and Becoming Entangled, are just $0.99 USD (with all other currencies also reduced) while book 3, Enticing Miss Darcy, is free. Below are the links to each book on in your Kindle store.
He’s determined to win her, but first, Georgiana will need to learn to trust her heart.
As I was sitting down to create this Saturday Broadsheet, I decided that I wanted to attempt to add a little brightness to this day. Therefore, you will find an impromptu free book weekend and sale for this weekend. Keep reading, all the info you need is just down a bit under book promotions.
Writing News
Hey, how has your week been? Kind of crazy? Mine was pretty routine except I had to shift my errand day to Thursday since we are supposed to be getting a heavy dose of rain starting later today (Friday) into tomorrow. I’m not fond of running errands in the rain. 🙂 I also ended up taking a trip to the doctor on Thursday to get some antibiotics and to refill a prescription that is one of those take it daily things.
Those errands and all took all day, so I am hoping to write a chapter of Protecting Miss Darcy this evening or tomorrow. Here’s the list of stories and the progress made along with a small snippet from each:
I thought today I would share a recent addition to my Music Meets Movies YouTube playlist. I had never heard this song before coming across this video, but I like it. It’s the sort of song that sparks the imagination, and we all know how I love a song that can do that. Even better is when that sort of song is accompanied by images from various period dramas as it is in this video. 🙂 There’s story inspiration all through this video, I think. I hope you enjoy it and then read on to hear my writing news and to take a peek at what I was writing this week. There are actually a couple of items I would like to have your opinion on if you are willing to give it.
In writing news…
I have begun edits on Confounding Caroline, and the further into it I go, the more assured I am that my instinct to end where I did was a good one. I have also done a bit of brainstorming for the sequel to that story which will probably be called Delighting Mrs. Bennet. My mind is currently working on a couple of questions that arose during my brainstorming, and I hope to find a bit of time this week to start writing that story as my brain continues to work on the questions. For me, sometimes (or is that often 😉 ) the answers are found as the story begins to take shape.
I am also still working on Mr. Darcy’s Comfort and beginning to wonder if it is indeed going to be a Dash of Darcy story or something longer.
I try not to set word count limits for my stories. I like them to go where they naturally want to go. They end where they end. I don’t fluff them up to hit a particular number nor do I cut out scenes to make them fit in a lower range of words.
Here’s my dilemma, and you can tell me what you think. My Dash of Darcy stories, to this point, have been about 25,000 words (some have been just over 26,000) or less. The concept of A Dash of Darcy stories is for them to be quick reads that fit into busy lives and for people like me who absolutely love novellas. If I wish to put Mr. Darcy’s Comfort in that collection, I may have to extend that upper limit. But that wouldn’t be such a bad thing though, right? Five or ten thousand more words would not make them too long to be a quick read that fits into a busy life, right? I’d love to hear your opinion on this.
Speaking of books in the Dash of Darcy series, they often have companion books and one of those sorts of books just released this past Thursday!
Enticing Miss Darcy is now published!And the first few reviews have been great! Thank you for that. After reading one review that listed Unravelling Mr. Darcy, Becoming Entangled, and Enticing Miss Darcy in order for other readers, I did make a change to the “series” title on these books. Normally, I just list them as either A Dash of Darcy or A Dash of Darcy Companion Story on the retail sites. However, I had worried about readers being able to easily find all three books, and that review let me know that that worry was probably founded in a real need. So, they are now listed as Unravelled, Entangled, and Enticed: A Dash of Darcy and Companions Trilogy and each book is numbered.
Another reader on Facebook asked if I was going to do A Dash of Darcy Companion Duos like I do with the Dash of Darcy stories.
I’d like to hear how you feel about book bundles. Do you think a book should only be “packaged” in a bundle once or would you be fine with the book being in a number of bundles as long as the bundle clearly states which books are contained in that bundle? The reason I ask is because I am thinking of doing some various collections just to offer a greater selection of purchasing options to readers. Frankly, I love a bargain and think book bundles are awesome since I can usually save a few dollars, and I like having options. However, I would like to hear other thoughts on it as well.
For today’s musical selection, I have gone back to my Music to Write By playlist and plucked out this sweet song. It’s one of those songs that is beautiful both as an instrumental number as in this cover by Samuel Solis and with the lyrics.
Did you take the time to listen? If you did, wouldn’t you agree there is a great amount of story inspiration in that song?
Speaking of stories, I do not have an excerpt for you again this week. (Sorry) However, I should have one next week. I have started a new work in progress, but I only have the first chapter done so far. I should have another chapter or two done before next Monday, which should give me the assurance that what I share is going to almost assuredly 😉 end up in the final draft. This also means that I should have chapter one posted on Patreon before the week is over. At least those are my plans.
Today, for those who might have missed Friday’s Feature, is the last day to pick up A Dash of Darcy Duo 2 at its introductory price of $2.99 USD (other currencies also reduced) on either Kobo or Kindle. This duo is a one book set of the previously published Dash of Darcy stories Discovering Mr. Darcy and Unravelling Mr. Darcy.
If you remember from past Monday posts, Unravelling Mr. Darcy was supposed to have a sequel to tell Anne’s story (called Becoming Entangled), but then, it morphed into a trilogy. I have just received the third story of this trio, Enticing Miss Darcy, back from my second reader, and I will be starting final edits of that this week. Publication should be in early March as planned.
I do have some promo’s coming up this week with Kobo. I will send out a newsletter to my mailing list with the info as the days approach, and of course, I will post on social media as well. One promo starts on Wednesday and the other two start on Thursday. I am new to these sorts of promos on Kobo, so I am kind of waiting to see if there is a code that I need to give you before I announce anything. They run through the weekend, so I will strive to put an announcement on the blog on Friday, so you can take advantage of the discounts in time for some weekend reading. 🙂
I think that’s all the writing news I have for you today. I hope that you have an awesome week!
Oh, wait, I want to show you one more thing. I finally got some samples of my mugs from my Society6 store, BonnyLassCreatives. They took a while to get here, and sadly, I had to wait an extra day between getting the notice that they were at the post office and being able to pick them up (after I paid the duties, of course — a drawback to having to order from the US. 🙂 ) However, I love them. I have four — one from One Winter’s Eve, one from With the Colonel’s Help, one from His Beautiful Bea, and the one below, which is from Becoming Entangled and has been my water mug while writing this week. 🙂
Happy New Year! Is there any day of the year when introspection, gratitude, remembrance, and hopeful expectation collide quite as forcefully as January 1 when the blank page of a new year full of aspirations lies before us? Personally, I don’t think so.
SecondSoundLyrics. “PENTATONIX – NEW YEARS DAY (LYRICS).” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Oct. 2015, youtu.be/ZsJt7j96n0s.
For me, the end of one year and the beginning of another is a time to pause and look back at the year which has been before pushing forward with new plans and goals. I’ll limit this post to just looking back at my writing life, and still, this will likely be a longish post.
I tried some new things in 2017.
I wrote my first Touches of Austen novella, His Beautiful Bea. This was a personal success for me as I have always wanted to do Austenesque and original stories in addition to my Jane Austen Fan Fiction work. From a business standpoint, the book was not a great success. It sold very few copies (only 72 copies) so far. However, it has 8 Amazon reviews and a perfect 5-star rating, so that’s pretty good. And I know that new things take time to catch on. I’m not giving up on my Touches of Austen books. I have plans for another one to be published at some point this year.
I wrote my first JAFF non-Pride and Prejudice book this year. Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy is a Mansfield Park continuation and part of my Other Pens Collection. This story is the beginning of a short series of books that will use some Austen characters but will be rather original in their content with new characters and plots. I was quite pleased with this book. I never thought I could like Henry Crawford, but I changed my mind. I adore him in this book. He’s really turned himself around. However, he’s not all that popular with readers as he sold fewer copies than Bea’s story did (63 copies), and his story has only 7 Amazon reviews with a lower average rating score of 4.6. However, like the Touches of Austen stories, I am not giving up on this series either, and I do have plans to write the next book in the series this year.
I have also started a Patreon page and have a few supporters there. 🙂 I have just completed posting One Winter’s Eve there. One Winter’s Eve is currently with my first reader being checked for story element errors and is scheduled to be published in late January.
I have also begun a shop, Bonny Lass Creatives, at Society6 and have been slowly “filling the shelves.” I look forward to the creative outlet adding to my shop will provide.
Henry and Bea were not the only members in the Leenie B Books publishing class of 2017 🙂 It was a busy year!
I’ve already told you that my new venture books were not bestsellers — they kind of came in at the bottom of the sales list as in they were the two books that sold the least number of copies 🙂 But what about the books that sold the most this year? Which books did more readers decide to purchase? Well, I had a bit of fun with that and created this little video of the top ten bestsellers. You’ll notice that not all the bestsellers are members of the class of 2017, some are second-year books. 🙂
So that’s a little look back. Now, to look toward the year ahead. I hope to publish 8 books this year (not counting any Thursday Three Hundred stories). Two of those will be the ones mentioned above (One Other Pens book, One Touches of Austen book) and then the others? Well, my imagination will lead me as I go. 🙂
One Winter’s Eve will be the first book published in 2018, and Enticing Miss Darcy will be the first book written in 2018. I hope that these and several other of my books will find their way to your reading list for the year. To help you create your reading list, I have written a fun little list of reading recommendations that I have always followed and will continue to follow called…
The Sassy Girl’s Definitive Guide to What to Read in 2018 and Every Year ThereAfter
[A little preface to the list: To be perfectly honest, this list was written in response to seeing one too many posts on Facebook one year such as “10 books you must read.” (Um, no I don’t have to read them.) OR “12 books that you won’t be able to put down because they’re that good.” (Um, are you gluing it to my hand? How do you know I will like it beyond the first page? Who are you to tell me what I will or won’t like — what I should or shouldn’t like?). Click-baity titles like this are a pet peeve of mine. 🙂 And occasionally, I put my thoughts (my admittedly sassy thoughts) about such things to paper. What follows is a result of one such time.]
I recommend that you read a book if the content is of interest to you.
I recommend that if you pick up a book, and you don’t like what you are reading, you put it down again. (Or you can do as I do and skip to the end just to make sure you know how it all resolves.)
I recommend if you have a book on your real or virtual shelf that is particularly enjoyable to you that you reread it, at least once.
I recommend that you challenge yourself to try something new — but — only if you want to and not because some “expert” tells you to. (Unless that expert is your teacher and your grade depends on it — then, I recommend you suck it up and do your best with it.)
I recommend that when giving recommendations for books, you tell others why you liked a book — kind of like you were taught to do in book reports. If you are going to be critical in your recommendation remember that “because it is stupid” is not really an evaluation. It is just an opinion.
I recommend that you realize that what someone else likes or dislikes and what you like or dislike will likely be different, and that’s ok. They are not idiots if they don’t agree with you, nor are you an idiot for disagreeing with them. 🙂 (And name calling is mean and wrong.)
This may be the most important recommendation of them all. I recommend that you treat reading as the fun activity it is meant to be. Go on…enjoy it!
This list is by no means exhaustive. However, I am almost 100% certain that if you follow these recommendations, you should have a wonderful year of reading!
Now, shall we begin our new year of blog posts and reading with the first scene of a new book? (It’s a longish scene.) If you answered yes, continue reading. If you answered no, well, don’t click that read more tag. 🙂
